"

He moved a cart and moved a mountain,

while wild curses kept on shautin'!

The dwarf you cannot see!

The dwarf under your bed!

The dwarf in your stove!

Build a house, dig a cave,

our folk is always brave.

Lift your hammer, lift a stone,

with strength that breaks every bone.

Hold it high and hold it proud,

with heart that is always stout.

Slam it down, slam it hard,

release along a mighty fart.

Be tough and smart, with every fart, one enemy will depart!

The dwarf you cannot see!

The dwarf in your wife's bed!

The dwarf in your wife's stove!

The dwarf in your wife's . . .

"

  The song sang by a gorgeous white haired women kept getting more rude by the second, but it did not seem to bother her one bit. When she stopped, the face of her companion was a bit red with embarrassment, despite him not being an adolescent.

"We are lucky to make it close to the mountains without any incident, I heard that dwarves should live there. Do you think they will fight alongside the angels or undead?" Nitarja discontinued her singing and Frei groaned, she sang with such a beautifully rough voice that he could not stop himself but stare at her lips moving like a believer captivated by some kind of a holy icon. He had to admit that she really grasped the essence of the verses, remotely reminding him of a metal singer. However, it was obvious that the words were at odds without anyone who considered themselves a lady.

Well, even her voice color, but he liked the way she sang.

"I am talking to you!" She grabbed his nose and pulled gently when he had not responded to her question.

"Aaagh, stop it. I was thinking." Frei protested with his voice distorted in a funny way. "By the way, when have you learned such a good song?"

"Oh, it was before I sucked a dwarf, but he was not that small for a dwarf." Frei decided not to ask for any details and continued in the previous topic.

"It is weird I did not see them while there, they must be under the ground." Frei rubbed his red nose and remembered his journey through the mountains.

"Obviously." She facepalmed continuing her way through the vegetation that ceased to be as dense as before, the mountainous terrain starting to show its hand.

"We need to find where the frontier is and more about the conflict, walking in without knowing a thing will bring us only trouble." Frei walked behind Nitarja that used her feral instincts of the beastfolk to guide them smoothly toward their destination.

"I have been in one mixed settlement of dwarves and humans when we were looking for talents during the last mission from Victor." Nitarja looked at him and continued when she judged that he understood based on his expression. "They have talked about a dwarven city named Karg Hordur that supplied the front line, we might be able to find out more at that place. It should be under a mountain with a giant arena atop of it."

"Damn." Frei's eyes widened when he heard her talking about an arena. It was possible that it was the same place where he faced off against a dragon.

Fine, where he hid under the ground in the presence of a dragon.

"I might know the place." Frei said and reassured Nitarja when he sensed a question unspoken hanging in the air.

"Just a coincidence." He gave her a fake smile and they continued in their journey, leaving the flatlands and hills to enter the mountains of the east.

"By the way, what have you meant by your first question? The dwarves should fight alongside the angels, not with the undead." Frei what puzzled what she had said.

"Yes, according to the original setting that should be the case, but last time I visited a larger settlement, the situation was no longer clear. I think that it is because it feels more real than it should and all the humans, dwarves and others have long figured out that they will become undead if they die." Nitarja suddenly dodged a branch and bent another, sending it right into Frei's face when she passed and let go of it, hitting him squarely on his nose.

"And they are reluctant to fight an enemy they might be joining after death." He ignored the hit, focused on the problem in front of them.

"Exactly, especially those with friends and families that had already lost someone. It seemed that the support for fighting undead is dwindling, leaving angels on the losing side." She tried the same trick with another branch, but Frei paused making a sour face at her, not falling for the same prank twice.

"So, Gabri'El can be killed by the masses even without our contribution, that would be too easy!" A wide smile appeared on Frei's face, contrasting with his previous visage.

"Too easy indeed. I do not think the holy city will fall, mechanisms are in place to prevent one of the sides obliterating the other. Logically, the game designers had to ensure that the conflict continues even if one side has a significant advantage. We should search for Gabri'El before he is pushed back behind the gates of Tyr'Adriael. We will have no chance to get rid of him there." Nitarja stopped, searching for any signs of the arena with her eyes.

"It is behind that mountain." Frei pointed with his finger, still having a vivid image of the place he had escaped from in his mind.

"Fine, we can try to join the volunteers with the dwarven army. They keep themselves back most of the times, not considering it entirely their fight. It should be more safe than joining anyone else." Nitarja explained based on her experience with dwarves. Their options were limited and Frei could not think of a better plan, resulting in his prompt approval of her idea.

  The way to Karg Hordur was dangerous and they had to hide multiple times when coming too close to skirmishes between bandits, undead and humans. They have even came across a force that seemed like undead outlaws that were being chased by other undead. It was odd that even undead had their bandits, clearly not united enough to stand behind a single banner.

  Nitarja and Frei were both relieved when they finally stood at the foot of the mountain with a giant arena at its top, mentally tired after the chaotic journey that took them many days. All that was left was to find the entrance into Karg Hordur.

"We will circle around the base, there has to be some sign of the entrance given the scale of the city. Dwarves might be good builders, but they are still just mortals." Nitarja led the way while Frei was following behind her like a duckling.

She felt it was suspicious how obediently he followed her while keeping to himself.

"Hey, are you alright?" She whispered softly and slowed down, moving her head closer to his. She was concerned that he was still in bad mood because of Valen that had departed by his hand.

"I have an idea, read this." Frei pushed a piece of paper in front of her face. Despite Valen's death really gnawing on his conscience deep in his mind, it was not to the point he would be unable to push it away and concern himself with something else entirely.

Nitarja's eyes followed the short lines written on the small piece of paper, reading with disbelief.

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"

Gabri'El, Gabri'El, victory will bring his smell.

His fists are hard as steel, his skin tight and peel.

Shining hero of his race races, all enemies with ugly faces,

he erases without traces, even when they hold sharp maces!

Gabri'El, Gabri'El, victory will bring his smell.

"

"That's. . . What is this supposed to mean? It is terrible!" She looked at what Frei had created with horror, confused about its contents and horrified by its poor quality.

"We will turn you into a bard, you will sing about the glory of Gabri'El and his heroic deeds." Frei revealed his intentions with a sparkle in his eyes and posed in a way he imagined a famous bard would use to present his work.

"Will I sing this? Are you insane?!" She waved her hand holding the paper furiously, obviously unwilling to comply.

"Listen Ni, I know one thing about wars. Wars have good and bad heroes that become a center of attention during the struggle. I can remember many heroes, evil and good, but I cannot remember many that actually survived to see their legends sung." A devious smile appeared on Frei's face. "We will glorify him, turning attention to him. That way it will become hard for him to avoid fighting and the enemies will focus on him as well. Becoming a hero means becoming a target, he will be unable to retreat and cover behind walls easily while having a big target on his head." Frei explained with fervor, she could sense that he had been thinking about the plot for some time.

Nitarja was looking at him while calming down, what he said made sense.

"Why won't we badmouth him instead?" She asked the obvious, thinking about different variations of the scheme.

"He is still an angel, they can arrest you for tarnishing his reputation, but no one can do anything to you for praising him. At most you can be laughed at." Frei said with a smirk.

"We will turn him into an unwilling hero to kill him, not a bad idea, but we have to rework the verses. They are terrible!" She gazed at the piece of paper with revulsion.

"His skin tight and peel?" She sighed and repeated the most ridiculous parts of the song. "No, we will not redo it, I alone will. You are forbidden to touch it."

"That is bullying!" Frei protested promptly.

"You can sing it yourself if you want, we can be quite famous that way as well." She laughed in his face, while he remained dead serious. "By the way what was that with calling me NI?"

"Just a thought." Frei responded absentmindedly and Nitarja's lips swiftly approached his ear.

"I like it, you can call me that later." She whispered and they proceeded to circle around the mountain, finding out that discovering the entrance would not be as easy as they have thought.

  Examining every potential surface, not ignoring any suspicious flat stone or path ending in a dead end, the two of them advanced slowly in their search while looking out for any groups that could threaten them. In this way, they spent several hours and at some point Nitarja began to read an edited version of Frei's poem.

"

Oh golden wings of hope he flies,

our angel that never dies.

Never falters, never falls,

the hero hears our desperate calls.

Chanting his name as we pray,

Gabri'El shall all nightmares slay.

He comes when the righteous call,

oppressed, maimed. raped or thrall,

it matters not what is your plea,

all evils will promptly flee.

See his bright dot in the sky,

Gabri'El comes . . ."

". . . with an apple pie." An unusual sounding voice finished the verse and Frei exploded with laughter, receiving a hateful look from Nitarja.

"That is not even funny you idiot." She stopped and stared at Frei.

"Come on Frei, your chick will find out anyway, it is so boring to just hang in here!" The voice continued, leaving Nitarja dumbfounded about its origin.

"Alright, alright, I should introduce you." Frei nodded while looking down in the direction of his trousers.

"Unsheathe me first." The voice spoke again and Nitarja's finger pointed in the voice's direction while trembling.

"Frei?! Do you have a talking dick?! Fuck!!" She made a quick step back.

"Of course not! Nitarja, I present to you Crow, a talking . . .eh." Frei took out his sword and held it in front of him, while scratching his head with his other hand. "A talking sword, spear, tankard or simply whatever he fancies. A talking . . . gadget."

"A talking gadget?! I am no gadget! I am a cursed sage!" Crow protested with confidence, extending his blade as if it could add some weight to his words.

"Well, you heard him." Frei nodded with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, peeping sage. How long have you been secretly listening? That was quite rude." Nitarja assumed a threatening posture and Crow instinctively stopped elongating.

"Put me back, Frei." The sword whispered urgently and Frei's brow rose with amusement." Can't you hear me? Put me back! The woman is bullying me!"

"Oh my .. ." Frei shook his head, but returned the talking sword back into its scabbard.

"Just like that? The coward is not even going to apologize?" Nitarja's eyes bulged while she stared at the sword for a moment. "So he can't hear me now?"

"He certainly can." Frei placed the palm of his hand on the sword's hilt and smiled.

"That means I am not finished with you, peeping sage." Nitarja continued to scold Crow.

"Can't hear you woman, can't, can't, caaaan't, can't, can't, can't." Crow kept repeating in defense, assured that Nitarja would give up.

"Can you speak only a single word? Stupid gadget." The fur on Nitarja's ears bristled and her eyes squinted.

"Can't, can't, can't, can't, cunt, can't." Crow kept repeating, slipping in a different word from time to time.

"Stop the both of you! Stop behaving like children!" Frei tried to salvage the situation. Fortunately, Crow and Nitarja seemed to had taken offense and stopped talking to each other.

"Fine, let's pretend nothing have happened and continue. The verses were really beautiful Nitarja, would you please say them again?" Frei blinked at Nitarja a few times, but she was not the one who responded.

" Gabri'El, Gabri'El, from her ass she pulls his smell,

whifs and licks it and pretends its Bluebell.

Nitarie'El, Nitarie'El, whifs his shit and bangs him as well."

Immediately, Frei froze in place and In absolute silence he turned his head to see Nitarja's face becoming bright red. It seemed that the search for the dwarven city would be long and arduous indeed.

  Brutally assaulted by his lovely lady, Frei had no thoughts about resisting and cowardly gave up his talking companion. What followed was a strange match during which Nitarja found out that Crow could change shape and she was unable to kill or break him by any conventional means. When Frei thought that his brain was going to explode due to all the shouting, a part of the cliff's face slid to the side and a small figure emerged from the resulting dark tunnel, angrily stomping its feet.

"By all the mountain gods in existence! Can you please go argue somewhere else?" A dwarf with a face that had a tinge of blue probably due to his emotional excitement shouted at Nitarja who was still holding Crow and Frei that was not for away from them, clearly thinking that the two were fighting. "And stop using that funny voice man, are you a man or not?!"

  The dwarf looked at Frei who wanted to defend himself, but did not want to reveal Crow's identity. As the result, he kept shifting his weight back and forth unable to answer the dwarf.

"Silence is a welcomed change, go in already or my head will explode!" The dwarf gestured behind his back, inviting them to enter the tunnel.

"Thank you! We have been searching for the entrance!" Frei smiled like a kid finding a candy.

"Yep, I have noticed. The whole mountain have noticed." The dwarf grumbled and urged them into the tunnel.

  As soon as they entered, he followed behind them and closed the stone door that fell back into place. Frei and Nitarja had to blink furiously for some time, before they were able to see in the dim light that illuminated the small guardhouse, or rather had to pretend that they saw poorly in dim light to not expose their identity.

"Don't stare at your feet and go." Their dwarven guide urged them forward, clearly intent on getting rid of them quickly.

  They moved swiftly through a series of cramped dark tunnels until they stood in front of another massive stone door, which had been opened again for them by their dwarven companion.

"Go straight, you should pass through the worst part of the slums without messing around, don't stop until you are in the better part of the city." The dwarf nearly threw them out of the section of the tunnels that was clearly for military personnel only. The massive door slammed behind them and Frei took the lead, walking towards the source of light in the distance.

"Don't stare." He whispered in Nitarja's direction when they passed a group of veiled individuals that were clearly trying to escape attention.

"Frei, they were . .. " She answered, not looking in the direction anymore.

"Yes, I can naturally tell given what we are. Do not interact with anyone, we need to get to a more public place." Frei felt the absence of hot blood when he passed the group and knew that they were probably undead.

  They walked further and as the tunnel became wider, they encountered more similar groups that were a mix of dwarves and undead, some of them even not trying to conceal their identity.

"I do no longer think we should try to use your vocal talents here. Based on the situation around us, the allegiance of dwarves is no longer clear." Frei led them through the tunnels and shafts of the slums that seemed to be the remains of an old mine that was not being used anymore. Although it was badly lit and dirty, it still provided some level of security for those that had no money and were too afraid to search for a better luck outside.

"I am not a cow, we cannot cheerfully root for angels when the city is openly sheltering undead." Nitarja answered, her eyes darting all around. Fortunately, neither the shady groups had any interest in communication and they made their way through the abandoned mines like a hot knife though butter. Both of them sighed with relief when they finally arrived at a steel gate that had been blocking the tunnel and was clearly there to enable the city to cut off its less fortunate part if a need arose.

"Hey, let us through! We have been allowed in by a guard." Frei slammed his fist against the gate and a thin slit opened in the metal door, two sharp eyes of a dwarf staring through.

"Show me your papers." He barked and Frei with Nitarja looked at each other with confusion.

"What Papers?"

"Passing though a main city gate, you had to receive a proof of your identity." The dwarf insisted. "Especially if you are humans."

"Wait, we have not passed through a gate, but through a small guardhouse that leads to the surface! We have received no papers there." Frei attempted to explain their situation, but the dwarf kept looking at them with suspicion.

"That is impossible, get lost." He refused their story immediately.

"Get lost?! That is unreasonable!" Nitarja stepped closer to the door, surprised by the absurdity of the situation.

"Either leave the city by whatever unlawful means you have entered, or bother me for a second longer and I will purge you as the invaders you clearly are." The dwarf said with hostility and closed the slit in the door he had been talking through.

"Come." Frei grabbed Nitarja's shoulder and led her away from the door, as they were attracting too much attention.

"How are we supposed to . . .?" Nitarja looked at him and the question had stuck in her throat.

"We are not, cheap labor. We will need to eat and cannot get out. There will surely appear someone offering badly paid jobs, a perfect trap for those who cannot get out." Frei guessed how the slums worked."That might be why the undead are being tolerated here, cheap work for whoever is immoral enough to extract it."

Frei looked around inconspicuously and noticed that there were many that were staring at the gate with longing.

"Extracting might be a good idea." She licked her sharp canines with her tongue. "They will regret the day they have initiated us into their little scheme."