They searched around the cave trying to find a way out different from the ominous dark tunnel that seemed the obvious way out. Zalrodal tapped his knuckles against the ceiling from which he fell and could faintly hear it echoing on the other side, there was obviously something behind the stone but to turn it was a different matter entirely. They tried for a while longer knocking and gliding their hands along the stone walls to find any secret mechanism but nothing could be seen or felt. Finally, Migaal pointed the flame in his hand towards the tunnel and it sprung forth floating and swaying in the air, he repeated this process a couple more times until the tunnel and Zalrodal’s surroundings were illuminated. They would have to take the tunnel out or remain inside the cave till someone found them.
The Dark Lord walked down the path of hewn stone, the path was too perfect to be natural, whatever had built these tunnels was quite skilled at working with stone or quite skilled at stealing from those that were. Glol the goblin walked behind his lord, he held a small dagger in front of him, the only thing that could be heard in the tunnel was the sound of his knees clacking against one another. The progress through the tunnel was fast, the stone was nice and smooth and with the way now lit it could even be said to be nice to walk on, if it weren’t for the fact that they were stuck under a mountain.
The young goblin stopped in his tracks and grabbed something on the floor before stopping the Dark Lord. He raised a fisted hand towards him. Tufts of fur peeking out between his small fingers, it was a sign that they were getting closer to the creatures. Zalrodal took the fur in his own hands and immediately noticed some strange things about it, for one the dark fur had no smell, at least not the smell of any living creature, additionally the fur felt somewhat unnatural as if created and not grown. “Do you recognise this from somewhere?” Zalrodal handed the fur to the ferret sitting on his shoulder. It took the fur between his small paws and gave a sniff or two before looking at it further with unwavering concentration.
“I do not recognise its make? It is not the fur of any living creature or at least not one I recognise. Perhaps this creature's species has never passed through any of the hells. Whatever it is, I am sure we will figure it out soon, I can hear voices through the tunnel.” Migaal had something that Zalrodal or the goblin did not, superhuman ears, demonic ears to be precise capable of hearing even the faintest noise. He was slowly regaining his powers and would grow in power as he continued in the realm of mortals. Regardless, the group continued delving through the tunnels until the faint voices became clear to Migaal and the nonexistent voices became faint to Zalrodal.
They saw a light shining through faintly at the bend of the tunnel. Migaal immediately extinguished his array of floating flames and they approached. The voices became clearer as they echoed through the tunnel. “Who are they? We haven’t seen goblins around these parts in a while!” an elderly voice said. “They have a leader now, some tall man clad in black. We saw them come up the mountain.” a younger voice responded. “Do you think they are the ones that stole the mountain heart?” a third asked. “They do not feel like the same intruders, the thieves were humans. Humans joining in with goblins is unheard of. It is still a danger to have such creatures near our mountains,” the old voice spoke again.
Zalrodal peaked his head around the bend of the tunnel. His face hidden in the darkness of the tunnel and the black ferret leaning over his shoulder to see what lay beyond. On the other side of the tunnel was a small room, three creatures stood in it speaking in hushed tones. The same voices they were hearing before. The room itself was barren, it seemed more like a meeting point between separate tunnels than a room in and of itself. The creatures within were covered in fur from head to toe, they were slightly taller than Zalrodal’s goblins and looked much rounder in shape. One of the creatures turned to face the tunnel Zalrodal was in, the fur only covered the outside of its body and a face made from carven stone looked into the darkness of the tunnel, yellow eyes poking around in the darkness. Its moon-like eyes locked onto Zalrodal’s and it raised a fist of stone towards him.
Stolen story; please report.
“They have entered through the entrance of the peaks!” the youngest of the creatures yelled. Immediately the other two turned, near identical faces looked at Zalrodal, the same yellow eyes protruding into the darkness. The Dark Lord stepped forth into the light of the room. He stood at his full height now that he was out of the tunnel and towered over the creatures. “Who are you?” the older creature of stone asked.
“My name is Zalrodal,” he swept his cape aside revealing his new clothes, “I am lord over the castle of the mountain and its dungeon, you are within my territories and worry my underlings with your watcheers.”
“These are our own lands given to us by the mountain itself,” the oldest proclaimed, “you cannot take it from us!”
Zalrodal gave a look to Migaal on his shoulder and made as if to sit down in the air as a chair materialised under him, “Let’s not speak about what I can and cannot take, we would have a short conversation otherwise and that wouldn’t be very interesting,” Zalrodal looked at the creatures and crossed his legs, “I am looking for more followers to join my cause, world domination that is. It would be beneficial for both of us to join forces, once you join me you can have as many mountains as you wish for all I care.”
“We do not wish to rule over any more mountains, we only wish to have the heart of the mountain returned to us, some thieves stole it after finding one of our secret entrances.”
“Let us say that if and only if,” Zalrodal rose from his chair that disappeared as he took his first step away from it, “that I find this heart of the mountain and return it to you, would you then be willing to join me?”
“If you did bring it to us, we would be glad to join such a generous ruler but I do not know how helpful we could be in helping your designs. Our people have not fought since the first reckoning, none of us even remember what a fight feels like.”
“That is not an issue, I am impressed by your work in these tunnels, you seem to be quite proficient in working with stone. An empire needs builders as much as it needs warriors. But you mentioned your people? Are there more than three of your kind? I have not heard of or seen your kind before.”
“We are the Stenjin, we have lived under the mountains for millenia, we used to live in greater numbers but we no longer number even a hundred. With the theft of the mountain heart even the few of us that remain will soon crumble to dust.”
“Very well, we shall return this mountain heart to you, in exchange you will serve me. Are we in agreement?”
“The Stenjin are in agreement, we shall give word to our own that you are searching for the heart with us. They will help in finding it, return it to us as soon as possible. Our life essence is in the stone.”
Zalrodal and his group were led out of the tunnels by the youngest of the Stenjin, they passed through many rooms similar to the one they had found with other stone creatures standing around and speaking to one another. They all stopped as Zalrodal approached until their guide explained the situation, at which point a look of expectation filled their eyes. They were wary of strangers but even more so of not having their treasure returned to them.
The Stenjin had built a complex tunnel network under the mountain with a number of different exits on all its sides. They owned no furniture and the few of them that seemed to be sleeping simply merged into the side of the tunnel and sat there in silence. They were strange creatures that seemed to be completely made out of stone, the fur only holding loose pieces of rock together and pressed against their bodies. Zalrodal left the tunnels and a couple of the creatures offered to guide him towards the last known location of the thieves. They had hidden within the forest, away from the goblins and villages. They would be chased out of their hiding spots and whatever they stole returned or acquired for his own Empire and then Zalrodal would have new servants to build his empire.