“What are you doing, Bruel?” I asked, lowering my sword. There was no chance that I'd be dropping it when threatened with my entire crew at my back but he had earned himself that much.

Bruel and his men were keeping us in check, weapons raised in preparation of an ambush.

Dosor growled lowly, careful to attract no attention from the rebels.

The Allfather mentioned the use of Necromancy at the meeting, they might be controlled.

He scoffed, but kept his hammer raised and ready to swing. “Defending my country.”

“Wait, what?” asked Rachel.

Eva tried to explain, noticing something just a moment before I did, “It appears that we have been deceived.”

“I thought he was the smart one,” joked Bruel, pointing at me.

One of his men raised his sword dangerously close to Rachel's neck as he glanced at Bruel.

He asked “Are you done fooling around or are we-” I grabbed the sword with my gauntleted hand, metal creaking on metal as he tugged at it, abandoning his earlier question to ask me instead. “-What's the idea, Knight?”

I couldn't feel an enchantment from the sword and acted on a pure whim, an instant of rage that I failed to control and was over just as quickly as it appeared taking control.

I wove a momentary spell with my free hand, conjuring just enough heat to get the steel malleable, and bend his blade away.

“She's off limits.” I intoned, Dosor punctuating my statement by protectively curling around the crew.

Good girl.

Rachel was staring wide-eyed at the bent blade as the fact I had just bent a seemingly solid steel blade with my hand settled into the dwarven attackers.

I was kind of proud of tricking even Rachel, and just barely managed to keep a grin off of my face.

Bruel set his hammer onto the ground, leaning onto the handle in a false display of lenience. “Neat trick,” he said unimpressed, “but it won't help you in actual combat. We've got you surrounded.”

“I don't think so,” mocked Ethan, looking back over his shoulder. “We-”

The rebels had heard us and closed off the other tunnel with two rows of soldiers, a hooded figure standing behind them and watching over the exchange.

Ethan turned back around, an uneasy smile on his face. “I stand corrected.”

The hooded figure called out to us “What is your purpose here, Dragonknight?”

I doubt that telling the truth will get us far but diplomacy was best started with the truth and not a lie about your primary goal.

Lie detection wasn't easy to set up, taking an intricate array of runes and expensive materials that they probably didn't have the time to set up. They could probably identify lies pretty easily anyway so I didn't want to risk it.

Politicians were scarily good at figuring out intentions and I really wasn’t the best at hiding mine either but I figured I might get aways with bending them slightly.

“We have been sent on a mission to resolve the delicate political situation you have found yourself in,” I explained, before bending the truth slightly, “we came here to hear out your side of the story and see if we can come to a compromise.”

“There will be no compromise,” replied the hooded figure, raising their hands to the cowl hiding their face.

The cowl dropped and revealed a beautiful young dwarven woman.

Her silver hair dropped onto her shoulders as curls, framing her delicate face in a regal manner.

Her sapphire blue eyes scanned our faces, lingering on each one as if searching for something. A subtle furrow creased her brow, revealing an underlying uncertainty. A delicate smile played on her scarlet lips, the corners lifting hesitantly as if caught between the echoes of joy and the weight of the burdens of leadership.

Her simple chain mail bore the marks of countless battles and the dirt covering it hinted at her being a worker. Contrasting the worn armour, an emerald circlet adorned her silver curls, a beacon of regality that seemed to shine in the tunnels.

She was standing tall for a dwarf with a regal posture that made one feel like they're being heard, exuding an aura of nobility that left me with no doubts about her identity.

This was Princess Thymisca.

Although I immediately knew that this was Thymisca, something caught me off guard.

A large scar spread from her left cheek to the right side of her forehead, clearly magical in origin as it appeared to eat at the flesh even now. It didn’t appear to properly heal, the scar tissue still raw and glowing faintly but not bleeding.

I did a quick hand signal to order the others to bow slightly, joining them. “My apologies, Princess.”

My bow was more of an inclination of my head than a bow as I technically stood above the Princess when it came to pure rank, being a chosen of Ignatius, but I didn't want to appear rude.

She motioned for us to stand straight, her smile widening almost imperceptibly.

“Rise,” she allowed, “I do not stand in front of you as the Princess of Khazur but the leader of a rebellion.”

“What led to this… peculiar situation?” I asked, taking a step forward and letting Dosor guard our back.

Princess Thymisca waved her guards away while her gentle smile stayed on her face. “You may return to your posts and defend our heritage, make your forefathers proud.”

They saluted and left us alone with her and two heavily armoured guards, her elite.

Bruel mumbled something under his breath as he passed us, just low enough for us to hear. “Be respectful.”

It’s not like I was going to insult her! What did he think of me?

We fell in step next to the Princess and went for a walk down the tunnel, flanked by her guards.

“I am grateful for your order allowing you to aid us when our relationship is already this strained,” she started, her gentle smile slowly settling into a quirk of her lips. “May I ask for your name, noble Knight?”

“I am Caleb Interita, newest Dragonknight of the Order,” I introduced myself. “Dosor, as you might have guessed, is my bonded companion, first of her line.”

“Interita…” She mused, idly grabbing my arm and pulling herself close to balance herself in the unsteady terrain of the tunnels. “The name rings a bell but I can't place it at the moment.”

“It's fine,” I reassured her, glad she won't compare me to Mom.

The last light of the camp vanished behind another bend as we continued.

I summoned a candlelight to light our way before the guards could light their lanterns.

“Oh, but I am being rude,” she realised and looked at the rest of my crew. “May I have your names?”

“Rachel Tonitrus,” said Rachel, glaring at her as she added, “Caleb's girlfriend and the alchemist of this group.”

Why did it feel like her glare wasn't solely for Princess Thymisca?

I levelled a look at her, trying to get her to drop the glare. She was supposed to be the one that knew how to act around nobility, being nobility herself.

“Oh, he is one lucky man,” swooned Princess Thymisca, “We might require your services as an alchemist if you can make a healing potion with what is available.”

“I am a Herbalist and a Cleric so I'll be able to heal the majority of wounds or diseases you could encounter,” gloated Rachel, her glare getting replaced by a huge grin. “I'll have a look around.”

“Impressive,” Princess Thymisca mused, taking her time and idly scanning the walls of the tunnels.

“Ethan Lumina,” he said with a bow, ever the showman, “the Scout and First Mate of this fine crew. I'd gladly regale you with the stories of our travels if you have the time later.”

“I'd be honoured.” She expectantly turned to Eva.

“Eva, Archer and Scribe,” she simply stated.

Princess Thymisca continued leading us down the tunnel, either trusting us to get her back safely or keeping track of the way herself.

She nodded.“If you'd like, I could introduce you to some of the scribes that left with me,” she offered, “They don't have access to the records but they know the majority by heart.”

Eva stared at her with a blank expression.

She finally decided on something after a few seconds “Thank you.”

“What an impressive crew,” she complimented us, smiling at Eva. She dropped her smile as a look of concern crossed her face “I mean no offence but are you really the group suited the most for this delicate political situation?”

“There isn't really any group that's suited the best for this kind of situation,” I explained, keeping a pleasant smile plastered on my face to reassure her, “but we have been chosen by the Allfather himself and underwent rigorous training to prepare us for this mission.”

We walked a few paces.

“This isn't like fighting a Hydra,” she said sceptically.

A low groan echoed through the tunnels.

How did she- No, that's just a coincidence.

There aren’t many swamps around these mountains but the Hydra is probably one of the most known monsters from the plains she could reference.

I nodded seriously. “We are aware of that, Princess.”

“Thymisca is fine,” she offered me with no hesitation.

“Thank you, Thymisca.” I continued, motioning to Rachel, “my Alchemist is also the heir of a noble house, having grown up with problems like this and a sizable education.”

“Yes, but I doubt that she grew up with problems rooted in dwarven customs,” she said.

I sighed, a slip up that I was sure Rachel would make me pay for later. “I grew up under a dwarven smith's tutelage and-”

“This is why we seek your support,” interrupted Eva. “We are aware that we can not possibly resolve this entire crisis just by ourselves, but we can work as mediators.”

We rounded a corner and went face to face with a group of Devoured.

The shambling mass stared at us as one, rushing forward with their weapons raised in mindless anger.

The once proud dwarven soldiers had been reduced to shadows of themselves with their armour in tatters. Bones were showing through gaps in the rotting flesh, kept moving by their souls bound through despicable Necromancy.

The smell of rotten flesh permeated the tunnel, the pervasive stink of death penetrating my senses to the point where I could taste the metallic blood and vomit on my tongue.

This was nothing like the corpse of the Hydra. No amount of mud or plants could mask the smell of the rotting horde.

My body seized, a cold shiver running down my spine as the tendrils of fear wrapped around me. Instinctively, I recoiled, a mix of horror and revulsion etched across my face. Too late, I tried to push Thymisca away, the urgency of the situation propelling my every movement.

She clutched my arm in fear, not letting go even as I shook it.

“Move! Stand behind us!” I shouted, my voice edged with a mix of panic and urgency, but her grip only tightened on my arm.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Ethan rushed into the small horde, dodging strikes and cutting off arms in a flurry of movement, ducking between devoured and deflecting their strikes as easily as Dosor could with her scales.

Two swords descended on me and Thymisca that I blocked with my buckler ever present on my arm.

Two arrows took them out a second later as Eva shouted “Caleb! Defence and potshots.”

I abandoned my attempts at shoving Thymisca away as my role settled in and Dosor bit one devoured in half, pulling Thymisca behind me and casting a spell with my one available hand.

The two guards of Thymisca advanced, moving slowly but surely. Their heavy armour blocked most blows as they retaliated with ruthless strikes to the head of the devoured.

One, then two, all the way up to six balls of fire appeared around me, ready to strike at any opening.

Rachel was rifling through her pouches and keeping a look for any injuries that needed tending to while searching for the right acid or bomb to use.

Two devoured fell to my armed Candlelights as Rachel decided.

A vial of acid got flung over my head, hitting a devoured square in the face and dissolving it.

My mana still felt full, nowhere near little enough that I needed to start conserving it.

My calculations got interrupted as the smell of burning hair and flesh joined the cacophony of smells that kept assaulting my senses.

Fire wasn't the way to go.

Fire would produce smoke and stop us just as it had stopped the goblins before.

Most earth magic strong enough to seriously hurt the horde would threaten to collapse the tunnel.

I turned to Dosor. “Prepare to use your breath attack. Rest of you, fall back.”

I traced a spell formula in the air in front of me and activated it by dumping the majority of my mana into it.

Conjuring was expensive!

A thin stream of water shot out from the spell formula hovering in the air in front of me.

The thin stream quickly broadened into a rush of water that subsided a second later, having drenched the devoured and taken up the majority of my mana.

Dosor shot out an odem of pure frost, freezing the water and Devoured in place, the pervasive frost eating away at their flesh.

That didn't stop their single minded determination.

The bones in most of their legs snapped as they tried to claw their way out, blocking the way for the ones behind and clawing at the ones in front.

Thymisca stared at the frozen tunnel of devoured in abject horror, her breath quickening as her once allies reanimated corpses fought tooth and nail to kill us.

“Retreat!” yelled Eva. “There's too many of them. We have to collapse the tunnel.”

I turned around and led Thymisca away, picking her up when she tripped and retracing our steps.

Rachel gripped a glowing red potion bottle in her hand, shaking it violently before throwing it at the heads of the devoured.

It detonated in an explosion of light and flames, rushing down the tunnel towards us in an unavoidable wave of inferno.

Dosor dashed away from the flames and wrapped around us, throwing us to the ground with her wing and covering us as rubble rained down and fire washed over her scales.

She stretched to try and protect all of us, but it only left one of the dwarven guards uncovered.

My Candlelight flickered from the rocking and rapid movement, threatening to go out as my concentration wavered.

The inferno stopped a moment later, a deep rumbling shaking the mountain for moments after.

Dosor slowly unfurled, checking the tunnel for any more threats.

I quickly stood up, having landed partially on top of Princess Thymisca and not wanting to offend her, and helped her up.

She didn't appear hurt but shied away from Dosor and me, understandably so as she just witnessed her practically destroy a horde of Devoured.

“Is everyone alright?” I asked, helping Rachel up next.

We hadn't had time to change into our actual armour, still wearing our fancy outfits from when we met Boldrin.

Well, we had time but none of us thought about it.

I wanted to make sure no one got hurt because of my stupid mistake.

Rachel stumbled, dropping into my arms and clutching her side. “Yeah, just a second. I'll be fine.”

Ethan helped Eva up and moved to the dwarven guard next, throwing a sceptical look towards Rachel.

“You're limping. You were the one who schooled us on hiding injuries,” he reminded her.

I looked at her in concern, trying to get a look at her apparent wound. “Rachel, you shouldn't-”

“Alright,” she conceded, crossing her arms with a huff and denying my attempts to check out the wounds myself.

She was pouting.

I swept her off her feet in a Princess carry, careful to not throw any of the potions on her person to the ground. “Come on, don't be a hero.”

“Is there anything else you need to speak about, Thymisca?” I asked her while checking on Dosor.

Dosor had taken the brunt of the hail of stone but shrugged off most of it, only having taken a few bruised or chipped scales and little cuts on her wings. She was sturdy but also very lucky that no big pieces of debris landed on her.

Princess Thymisca nodded, still shaken from the sudden appearance of the Devoured. “I would like to employ your help in this manner, but not as diplomats or negotiators. Your fighting prowess is impressive, albeit unrefined.“

“Thank you,” deadpanned Rachel, wrapping an arm around my neck, “but we were tasked with returning you to your Uncle's custody.”

“You can not do that,” she immediately replied, eyes widening momentarily as she recoiled from us. “My uncle… he- I am sorry to say, but he…” she choked up. “he succumbed to Necromancy and, in a fit of rage, he attempted to take my life.”

Oh, that must have been traumatic. I- I didn’t know anything I could say at the moment.

The two dwarven guards put a hand on her shoulder each, trying to reassure her.

At least they appeared to have gotten through this unhurt.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. “Bruel and the others found me fleeing the bastion, covered in the blood of my closest advisor, and helped me escape.”

Rachel exhaled softly, tightening her grip on my neck. “I'm sorry.”

“It's alright,” she choked out, holding back tears.

I stopped to let her regain her composure, unsure if I should acknowledge the tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. She was royalty after all and Rachel hadn't mentioned anything like this.

It was not every day that royalty cried in front of you.

She wiped away her tears as she reassured Rachel “You couldn't have known about it, it's not like you talked with any guards or the miners that knew about us. You did all you could in the short time you've been here.”

“Yeah…” said Rachel, dropping her head onto my shoulder.

She dropped her voice to a whisper so no one could hear, her mouth being already an inch from my ear making it easy, “Something's wrong.”

“What was that?” asked Thymisca, turning around and looking at us with innocent eyes.

Her hearing was impressive.

“Mhh?” Rachel pretended to not understand her, raising her head.

Thymisca motioned for us to continue and led the way back to camp, staying quiet for the remainder of the way.

Rachel cast a quick analysis spell on herself as we travelled, frowning.

Bruel greeted us as we entered, a bowl of broth in his hand, “Everyone caught up?”

“Yes, we encountered a group of devoured,” Thymisca reported, passing him. “Please increase our patrols, it was a big group.”

“I wonder how he gets so many corpses to subvert into devoured,” mused Bruel, taking a sip.

Thymisca barely spared a glance as she answered “He is the reigning King. He has enough people he can reasonably make vanish without raising any suspicion. That's probably why he is raising taxes.”

“Of course,” Bruel replied, nodding to the two guards following closely after Thymisca. “I'll catch up with the Riders.”

She vanished into her tent, the heavy flaps providing her just as much privacy as a door would.

Bruel walked over to us.

“Good to see you got chosen for this,” he greeted us, holding a hand out to shake. “We have our job cut out for us.”

Ethan shook his hand with a smile, my hands still being occupied by Rachel. “Great to see a familiar face.”

“How about that drink you offered us last time?” asked Rachel with a cheeky grin. “It helps with the pain.”

“Aye,” agreed Bruel, gesturing to the campfire. “Let's talk around the fire, introduce you to the troupe.”

As we walked over, I decided to ask as curiosity overwhelmed me “How did you make a campfire so far below ground without suffocating everyone?”

“How do you think?” asked Bruel, accepting a drink from one of the Dwarves and handing off the empty bowl.

I thought for a moment.

There was definitely an enchantment surrounding it, but I couldn't make out any details without casting spells.

There weren't any external attachments or storage…

“Are you filtering the coal out of the air and back into the wood?” asked Rachel, leaning forward to look at the fire. I stumbled along as her curiosity got the better of her.

He smiled, proud of her deduction. “Yes, it's a lot more complicated with nuance in materials used and hundreds of variations including a ventilation system that I don’t fully understand myself. It's a spell passed down from the Forefathers that they used to venture deeper than any others, when artificial mana crystals were not yet invented.”

“Why use it instead of the superior mana lights?” asked Eva, sitting down.

I carefully set Rachel down, placing my bag down as her headrest, and sitting down next to her.

“We are hunted by our brother's and sister's,” explained Bruel, a sombre glance to his brother's making his thoughts on the situation clear, “mana lights are easily traceable and difficult to set up and move. The campfire only needs coal and the enchantment, courtesy of our princess.”

Rachel turned around, using my bag to rest her legs and setting her head on my lap. She started rummaging through the countless pouches on her person for the needed ingredients.

“A wise choice.”

Ethan sat down next to Bruel.

Bruel snapped his finger and motioned for them to break out the beer, signalling the end of their shift. “Enough about us. Who did you piss off to get assigned to something like this as your very first mission?”

“I hope no one,” I joked, before explaining more seriously, “I volunteered for this mission. It sounded perfect and pretty simple for a first mission.”

The dwarves uncovered a barrel of beer, filling a few mugs and passing them around.

Bruel laughed loudly, echoing down the tunnels before he caught himself. “It's definitely something. I hope you came prepared for diplomacy. What did the Princess tell you?”

“Diplomacy?” I asked in- not exactly disdain, just displeasure. Looking down at Rachel, I glanced at the salve she was mixing in caution before joking “That's why I recruited her.”

She glared at me, but continued mixing her salve in silence.

Cute.

Bruel chuckled, nudging Ethan. “That'll come back to bite him in the ass later tonight,” he whispered.

“If I didn't know him, I'd say that he might enjoy it,” Ethan answered.

If I knew him, that was a joke, but I didn't exactly know what it was about. Probably something indecent.

Rachel stopped mixing her salve.

She looked at me with a glint in her eyes I couldn't quite place, biting her lower lip in a grin.

Just when I thought I had figured this stuff out, she did something like this. I tilted my head in a silent question for an explanation.

She shook her head slightly, cupping my cheek with her free hand.

Patting it reassuringly before going back to finishing her salve, she mumbled “Nothing.“

I circled back to Bruel’s last question, ignoring that tangent.

“She told us that we wouldn't be acting as diplomats, but as something else,” I explained, flicking Rachel's nose to get her to focus again. “She never said what we were supposed to do though.”

“If she wants to employ you as something else, the only option left would be for you to be the muscle,” mused Bruel with disdain evident in his voice.

He might not agree with her, but she was still in command.

“That's not exactly our strong suit,” I confessed, even though he already knew that, “but what have you been up to?”

He looked displeased with my shift of the topic but indulged me anyway. “Once your mom dropped me off, I barely had two days to get myself acquainted before Thymisca stumbled out of a hallway, covered in blood.”

Rachel lifted her tunic, revealing a wound. It looked just like a bruise for me, but I wasn't our healer.

She started applying the salve as Bruel continued “I helped her escape the bastion and rally support, getting her to send a message for you…”

He stopped to take a sip of his ale. “I hoped for Nadia, but I knew that Uldru wouldn't be able to fit anywhere. It was you or Tobias.”

Ethan nudged Eva, joking “He must be glad he got us.”

Bruel didn't acknowledge the joke, but continued ”We started rallying support but got chased out of town when the guards started searching homes. It hasn't been great as devoured scour the tunnels, probably sent by Boldrin.”

“And then you came along, shaking the mountain and protecting the princess,” finished one of the dwarven guards.

Eva looked like she'd want to say something but decided against it, taking a sip of the ale.

Rachel exhaled softly, relaxing as her salve started working. “What's the plan?”

“We mostly gathered support in preparation of your arrival,” explained Bruel, a hint of embarrassment on his face, “the Princess was sure that she'd be able to get back control when we take care of the corruption, imprison Boldrin and the others that support him.”

“It's never that easy,” said Eva, setting her half-empty mug down.

Bruel scoffed but agreed “Of course it isn’t but no one wants to disagree with the two heavily armed guards and the princess. The two guards barely talk, only agreeing with her ideals when their opinions are asked and disappearing with her. It’s like they’re her shadows.”

“I’d be convinced that they were illusions if I never accidentally bumped into one,” added one of Bruel’s men, making it clear that it was no accident.

Bruel shot the man a disapproving look before turning his attention back to us. “The plan is to push through the tunnels, eliminating any threats in our way, and confront Boldrin in the heart of the corruption. Thymisca believes that if we can break the source of the necromantic influence, the devoured will lose their purpose and disperse.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow, “And how do we know where this 'heart of corruption' is?”

Bruel scratched his head, looking uncertain. “That's the tricky part. Thymisca has some information from her time in the bastion, but it's not precise as she didn’t know of the Necromancy at the time. We might have to explore and figure it out as we go or hope that it is Boldrin.”

Rachel finished applying the salve and sat up, clearly intrigued. “What about the devoured? How do we deal with them?

He sighed, “That's a tough one. They're relentless, and normal means won't stop them permanently unless you destroy the majority of their bodies. We've been using ice spells to slow them down, but it's not a long-term solution. Thymisca suggested that if we can disrupt the necromantic connection, it might free them, but that's easier said than done.”

Dosor, who had been listening attentively, growled lowly as if contemplating the challenges ahead.

“I've read about my fair share of undead,” Eva said, contemplating her texts. “If we can find the one controlling them and take it down, the rest should crumble.”

“That's the hope. But it's not going to be a walk in the park. The tunnels are dangerous, and the deeper we go, the stronger the corruption gets. Not to mention the number of guards loyal to the crown and not Thymisca” Bruel nodded.

Ethan spoke up, “What about the rebels? Are they willing to fight alongside us?”

Bruel glanced at his men, a mix of determination and uncertainty on their faces. “Most of us are ready to fight. We've had enough of Boldrin's madness. But some are still skeptical, especially with the uncertainty of your arrival. Thymisca's presence helps, but actions will speak louder than words.”

I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the mission settling in. “We'll do our best to help you. Our mission is to resolve the crisis after all.”

Bruel raised his mug in agreement. “To unlikely alliances and breaking the chains of corruption.”

As the night wore on, the flames continued their hypnotic dance, their flickering light reflecting in the eyes of every warrior present. The air buzzed with anticipation as we got ready for the assault.

We managed to go through the entire barrel of ale, which barely had the dwarves tipsy, but Rachel was gone, completely drunk.

It might have been the salve or a dozen other things, but she got very cuddly after a few drinks and then promptly fell asleep on my lap.

Dosor wrapped around us, Ethan and Eva setting up their tent besides us and throwing a blanket over us.