The few day of the journey across the snowy landscape had been tough. Steep cliffs and deep valleys and so much snow that the two undeads had to wade through. From times to times, the black-clothed vampire even had to carry the skeleton, muttering in complaint every time about how fragile Alderon was and how much he would owe Ezra when they successfully escaped the squad of beastmen.

The beastmen were after them, hack in heel, without rest as the two groups ascended the mountains. They had tried to shake off their pursuers but it was hard, and they feared a battle was unavoidable. While the prairie wolves would be hard pressed to follow Alderon and Ezra’s scent, the footprints in the snow were easily seen and trackable.

"What the fuck is that?”"

It was as they advanced up the mountains that they discovered smoke. A lot of smoke. It originated from a valley in the mountain range and rose up into the sky, forming a beacon of grey.

“It seems to be smoke," Alderon answered.

Ezra stared at Alderon for a while, deadpanned, trying to figure out if the skeleton was joking with him or not. Of course it was smoke! But that wasn’t the answer he had wished for!

The vampire shook his head and said. “Yes, but why is there smoke here? This region should be devoid of people.”

“Perhaps it’s travellers, like us, who have lit a fire to keep warm.” suggested the skeleton.

“Possibly,” acknowledged Ezra. “but that much smoke… why would a bunch of travellers light fires that releases so much smoke? Heck, if not for the place we’re in, I’d think it’s an army camp or something.”

Ezra looked at the smoke. The winds were blowing hard, so the smoke spread quickly, but Ezra wasn’t battered from the razor-sharp winds at all. Instead it was Alderon, still dressed in his shabby clothes. He had thought of putting on his armour to shield himself from the cold, but then again, that might backfire and make them slower than they already were.

The beastmen squad was one or two hours away, had Ezra concluded earlier from god knows what information, and considering their speed and resistance to cold, they were on the verge of catching up, so the two undeads couldn’t allow any mistakes.

“I’ve decided. Let’s go down the valley. Perhaps we can find a cave. “ Ezra decided. He was mainly the one who made the decisions. Not that Alderon could come up with something better.

“I do wonder though,” muttered the vampire as they waded through the snow in the downward slope. “why are they so persistent? Did we kill their king’s heir or what?”

While the mountains were white and pretty, there was actually quite a bit of vegetation in the valley. That was one of the reasons to why they decided to enter the valley. Well, why Ezra decided for them to enter the Valley. The vegetation would allow them to prepare an ambush if they didn’t find any cave. And the last reason -- what if the travellers were from the mighty lich’s faction? That maybe Alderon and Ezra could get them to help.

Unfortunately, it could just as well be beastmen or dwarves, while the latter was more believable since this region was closer to their domain.

As they came down into the valley and moved closer to the point where the smoke originated from, they began hearing voices. And it wasn’t the kind of voices they wanted to hear.

“Now, my dear skeleton friend, we’re in even more trouble than before,” Ezra said.

Alderon nodded nervously.

“Let’s take a closer look” the black-clothed vampire and crouched down, moving under tree branches with unparalleled swiftness deserving of his kin’s reputation. Alderon followed him.

“This… we need to quickly report this to master!”

Ezra and Alderon looked out from the bushes, peering at no other than thousands of beastmen. The beastmen had set up a large camp. Hundreds of tents were scattered across the open area of the valley, made from beast skin and held up by wood poles hammered into the hard soil with its frozen crust now broken.

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Further to away, as the ground turned into an upward slope, a large tunnel had been created straight through the mountain rock. Beastmen walked in and out, pulling mining carts filled with stone.

“Why are they making a tunnel through the mountain? Is that what they call mining? Is it from those kinds of places that the ores I smelted in the black castle to make weapons came from?” asked Alderon curiously.

“I’m not completely sure what they are doing but there can only be one reason except for mining, which I find very unlikely since this region is too much if a hassle to start a mine in.” the vampire explained. “and that reason is an invasion. An attempt to invade the kingdom of dwarves and leave the endless wasteland they have been forced to live in for so many years.”

He then laughed. “And yeah, it’s from those kinds of places your ore comes from.”

“Isn’t this good for us?

“For our faction, yes. But for us, you and I? Right now? Not as much.” Ezra said. “however, if we can successfully relay this piece of news to master, who can then talk with his own master who will talk with the leader of all undead, we will be plentifully rewarded.”

“But we need to escape first.” added the vampire. “Come, let’s search for a cave to hide in.”

The two undeads left the beastman camp and searched for a cave where the upward slope began. By chance, they found one, a crack in the mountain rock, and entered. Ezra did something that made Alderon gasp. He smirked and muttered in a weird language unknown to the skeleton. In a flash, a small ball of fire materialised in his hand. Alderon could now see the interior of the cave and they discovered it to be quite a lot bigger than they had expected.

"Let's go down. Perhaps they will be resigned to follow. Either way, trying to escape from them in the same manner as we've done these couple of days is impossible now since the camp will most likely help them." said Ezra solemnly. "try to escape from a thousand beastmen with rested wolves? No thanks!"

They carefully stepped further into the cave. Ice covered the walls stalagmites hung from the ceiling, glistening from the light shed by the ball of fire in the vampire's hand. It was strangely quiet in the cave and not even the sound of wind reached their ears. They discovered that the cave was inclined, leading them up and not down.

"This cave is strangely large and orderly." Ezra pondered. "It makes me wonder, was it really formed naturally?"

Just as Alderon was about to answer his vampire ally, he was at a loss for words. Was it because of what Ezra said? Well, not exactly. 

Congratulations! You are the first to discovered the hidden instance the tomb of the Dwarven King Thalgraes Heavyhand

The Tomb of Dwarven King Thalgraes Heavyhand

Long ago, when dwarves fought against dragons, there was a kind dwarven prince who's best friend was the son of the red monarch. They often met and played in a small lake lit up by luminous rocks. However, Alrunenth and Thalgraes's friendship didn't last long. Their fathers, the red monarch, Ailzrarth the fire dragon, and the iron king, Aramid Heavyhand, soon discovered this forbidden friendship. In an attempt to sever the friendship, they constrained their children within their respective domains. Years passed and the friendship dawned. But against all odds, when the red monarch and the iron king died, the two friends came to power. And as they met on the battlefield, everything that existed was that old friendship, shining more brilliantly than all those years ago. And so, the dragons and dwarves laid their grudges and hatred behind and joined together as one people, following the steps of their two great leaders.

Here lies the tomb of the great unifier, Dwarven King Thalgraes...

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