22 – RUSCKAN VILLAGE – A DRAGON VEIN

The mission was still not over. It took a while for David to realize this and that, having killed Griglir, he could no longer extract information out of him.

He could have despaired. He could have hit the air and cursed himself for his rash actions. He did none of that, however. What he did instead, was help the village rebuild after the devastation of the monster.

He found the crystal, and put it back where it belonged. A low hum resonated through the chamber, made of white stone and pulsing lines that lit up as soon as the central piece was back. The very air seemed to change, to become less oppressive, fresher, better.

And a shield appeared around the village. The symbol that everything was going to be all right.

For two days, work went well. The villagers were motivated and the morale was high. David worked alongside them, using his magic and his special tools to hasten the reconstruction.

“Okay, I’m going,” he said.

“Keep an eye out, lad. Even with the device back, it’s still dangerous to go to the forest.” Al old man said, and slapped David’s back.

“Oof.” He joked, faking a stumble.

The man laughed. “Go.”

David reached the edge of the forest, crossing the swamp with ease now that it was no longer filled with dangerous monsters. As soon as he was by the trees, he spotted those that were of most interested to him and set out to work. He could not suck a whole tree into his inventory, because it was still attached to the ground, so he took out two axe heads from his storage.

With his telekinesis, he took control of them and began to pound the trunk of the tree from two sides until it fell. It was hard to control them well enough, and to impress enough force to fell a tree, but it was better than doing it by hand. Brushing the sweat off his brow, he sucked the tree into his inventory.

He kept going for a while, lazily gazing around from time to time and enjoying the warm sun on his skin. The breeze too was pleasant, and the sounds of the forest intermixed with the chopping were relaxing and good.

His whistling stopped, however, when he heard the clang of a myriad of metal tools in the distance. He stalked back to the little hill, and took a peek to see what was making such a sound. Armored men, hundreds of them, marching towards the village.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Not men, he corrected himself. Green manlets, and red horned things. Goblins, and demons.

He tensed up, and lowered his head. Safe behind the cover of the hill, he tried to reason why they were marching towards the village. This was an army, not a monster horde, and he was quite sure that it had something to do with what Griglir was doing.

He wished, now more than ever, that he didn’t kill the dwarf so hastily. But then again, he remembered how strong that person was, and how dangerous. If he hadn’t killed him swiftly, maybe he never would have been able to.

It was too late now. He had to run back, and see if he could somehow deal with the situation. Hoping, of course, that this was the last task before the mission could be considered complete.

He arrived, panting and sweaty. Entering the village from the back gate, he reached the front one and joined the large crowd that had gathered. They were all watching the army in the distance, approaching at a fast pace through the grassy fields.

“Who are they?” One voice asked.

“They’ve come to finish the job.” An elder man said.

“I’m scared, mommy.” A child.

David pushed his way to the front, and turned around to face the crowd. Upon seeing him, their eyes lit up and hope filled their hearts.

“Please,” they pleaded him. “Help us.”

“I will. I will do everything in my power to help you!”

He set out. The protective shield around the village was like a dome of glass, transparent and intangible, but at the same time impossible to trespass if you were an enemy. He walked right up to the edge and waited there, seeing that the enemy army too had stopped quite a distance away and now only one armored figure was approaching.

He was large, red, and horned. Even among the other demons, he was by far the largest and most impressive. His weapon was a mace, flaming and red-hot, and his armor was crimson. David waited until he spoke.

“I am Erloth. Commander of this army. What is the meaning of this?” The demon demanded.

David looked at the demon from behind the protective dome.

“The meaning of what? We are just minding out business here.”

“Where is the halfling? Why is the village still standing?” The demon kept up with his demands for explanations.

“Let me guess. You cannot enter, as long as the crystal defends the village.”

The demon spat. “Filthy humans. How dare you oppose our strength! We will lay siege to this place, and eventually the shield will fail, and you all will perish.”

He turned his back, and stomped away.

“Wait! What is it that you’re looking for here? This village is meaningless, you wanted to destroy it after all, so what do you want?”

The demon laughed. “You’re sitting on a treasure, and you don’t even know it? Pathetic, as usual.”

“Why don’t you… enlighten me.”

“Of course, little man. The dragon vein! What did you think, that this shield worked on its own? Of course not, it’s powered by the dragon vein below. And we want it.”

The demon turned around once again, nostrils flaring in disrespect, and went back to his army.