The Revenant walked them through Nytherai, a settlement that had to be at least one hundred times the size of Valon, attracting stares from everyone they passed, only continuing his tale once they were alone again.

“A dragon?” Alix asked incredulously, sure he had misheard. He had been feeling pretty confident in his ability to deal with anything Babyl could throw at him up until then, but a dragon felt like it was well beyond his skill level to deal with. He had never been to a gym before in his life but the Dark Elves looked like they lived for pumping iron.

“I am sure you noticed the blackened walls on your way here. This mountain is deep and ancient, home to more than just our humble city. One of those beings is a dragon that keeps attacking our forges. I am hoping that the ring you carry might be able to tell us why. I have heard that it can show its bearer truths invisible to the eyes of others. I would prefer not to kill it as dragons are rare and sacred beasts, but I will not put its survival over that of my people.”

“The ring is powerful, but I am still just a normal guy. I don’t see how I can be of any help against a dragon.” Alix had barely learned how to wield a sword, and he doubted any of it would be of use against dragon. He was woefully unequipped for such a job. It felt more like he had gone off track from the main quest and ended up in an area he shouldn’t have braved for a while yet.

The Revenant led them through the perfectly straight streets towards the lake. Everything looked like it had been carved straight out of the mountain. It was hard to imagine how the Dark Elves had managed to live down here for so long. The place had an atmosphere that put Alix on edge. There was little sound other than the flowing water and the striking of hammers in the distance. It didn’t help that all the Dark Elves they passed were built on a scale bordering the gargoyles. They all carried massive weapons of various kinds, mostly giant double edged swords or warhammers. As well as their weapons, they all carried pickaxes twice the size of his own their belts, which looked like a toothpick in comparison.

“I will give you free reign of the city to try anyway. If you succeed, I will be able to provide you with as much iron ore as you need. Right now it is too dangerous to cross the lake to the mines, but there are still large stores in the city,” the Revenant said as he stared out towards the dark lake. The light from the city wasn’t enough to reach the far end of it.

“I have some questions I would like to ask first,” Tifayn said before Alix could reply. He was glad she had come with him. He wouldn’t have known what to say.

“I will answer them as best I can.”

“What are you doing down here? I thought the Dark Elves had moved far from these lands?”

“It was the only place we could go. We have been here so long now that it no longer matters where we once called home. I thought a demon would understand that.”

“I understand, but you could have come to the Darknight already and asked for his help, or offered some yourselves. The Terminus Ritual affects us all. You were once allies of the Darknight and the demons.”

“I heard from my men that you had a run in with some bounty hunters looking for us already. Thank you for dealing with them. It is dangerous for us to be seen outside. I would have come to you in time, but the dragon required my attention first. It has only been a couple of weeks since I heard of the Darknights arrival but it is difficult to keep track of time down here.”

“I think one of you could have easily handled the bounty hunters yourselves. I can see you have spent your time down here wisely. I never heard of Dark Elves looking so…formidable before. Each one of you would be worth ten men in a fight.”

“Perhaps, but our numbers are limited, and our existence here is fragile. It is easier for us to survive in secret, and in silence. Still, we have had to learn how to fight, and so we have become masters of war, but we cannot wage war against a dragon.”

Tifayn continued to grill the Revenant on what had happened to the Dark Elves the past few hundred years, while Alix spoke with the ring.

What can you tell me about dragons?

You would not be the first Darknight to fight one, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There must be a reason the dragon is causing trouble here. It cannot just be the Dark Elves presence, otherwise the dragon would have come for them a long time ago. I would suggest you look for something else that is causing it distress.

They walked until they arrived at the edge of the lake, surrounded by countless noisy forges. The sound of their hammers echoes out across the lake and an acrid tang filled the air from their fires. Mountains of Bludium were piled everywhere, feeding the flames. The lake shimmered with a layer of filth that washed out from the forges. Hisses echoed along the shore as metal was quenched in its waters.

Alix noticed a change of pressure in the air first before he felt the sudden gusts. The fires nearby dimmed as they were almost snuffed out, and the hammering all around stopped instantly. Before he could ask what was happening, a painful roar burst out of the darkness. It echoed until Alix felt like his skull was about to split. Then the dragon appeared out of the dark, winging just at the edge of the light. The roar finally cut out, replaced by a stream of fire spat from the dragons mouth. It lit up the lakes surface for half a mile, and for a brief moment, Nytherai looked like it was illuminated by the sun.

Screams rent the air, but these ones came from the rooftops around them. Dark elves had manned the machines there and were firing silver shafts towards the dragons path along the shore. Alix thought they were large bolts at first, but they were too thick. They were more like tubes that wailed as they flew through the air.

The dragon shied away from the sound, heading back into the dark after a few terrifying passes.

In the silence Alix suddenly realised how terrified he was. His legs had turned to jelly at the sight of the giant beast. His terror hadn’t been helped by the text he had seen above it. Water Dragon, Lv. 8658.

Tifayn grabbed painfully on to his arm, which was the only thing that helped him to stay standing. The Revenant remained annoyingly calm throughout the whole ordeal.

“Now you know my problem,” he said as the hammering picked up again, as if a dragon hadn’t just threatened to kill them all.

“Why do you not fire bolts at it?” Tifayn asked, the same question Alix was thinking. It looked like the Dark Elves weren’t even trying to fight it.

One part of the attack stuck in his mind. The Bludium he had seen before had given off no smoke, and yet something on the lakes surface had ignited with the dragons fire, burning with thick black clouds. The fire itself, still burning off shore, looked to be tinged a sickly green by whatever fuelled it.

“You do not wish to harm the dragon, as it doesn’t mean to harm you either,” Alix said half to himself.

“That is what I think, but I do not know why. The dragon puts on a show, but so far none have been harmed. It fights off any that try to reach the mines, but more importantly it has blocked off our food supply. It doesn’t have to do anything more to destroy us.”

“I think I might have an idea,” Alix said, walking over to a nearby pile, picking up a chunk of Bludium and absorbing it with the ring.

* Obtained 2 Bludium

Then he selected the Bludium and Dismantled it. It broke down into a small amount of charcoal, and a crystalline substance he recognised. He had read about it as an ingredient in several nasty potions, ones he had no desire to craft.

“There is a very toxic substance in Bludium. It must be getting washed into the lake from all the forges. That is what is burning out there,” Alix said to the Revenant.

“Why should that bother the dragon? Our forges have been running for centuries.”

“That dragon is a Water Dragon,” Alix said, the knowledge returning to him from a book he had read in the library. Once he had seen a book that claimed dragons were actually real, he couldn’t resist picking it up. He hadn’t expected the information to come in useful so soon, if at all. “Water dragons can purify water, absorbing and filtering it through their scales. All of the toxins they consume is one of the reasons they are so deadly. This must be where the poison Mr Bones was talking about comes from,” Alix said, directing the last part at Tifayn. For all the Revenants supposed wisdom, he was surprised he hadn’t figured it out himself already.

“I see the powers of the ring do not disappoint,” the Revenant replied, seeming unconcerned with the revelation. “I admit we have stepped up production after we heard of the summoning. Trouble always seems to come our way in its wake.”

“What exactly is it that you are producing down here in such volume? Nytherai looks like it has expanded as far as it is able to in these confines, and every Dark Elf that I have seen has been heavily armed,” Alix asked the Revenant, feeling like there was more the Dark Elf was hiding from him. The Revenant spoke freely and to the point, but he never seemed to say more than was necessary.

“Like I said, trouble always seems to find us, and we have grown tired of it. Why should we be denied the same rights as everyone else just because of the circumstances of our birth? Unfortunately, land in Babyl is limited, and we are the youngest race beneath its boughs. We have no land to call our own, but that does not mean that we don’t deserve some. We wish to live freely among the other races, and to that end we have created a new metal alloy, one that is stronger than steel, something we can trade with the Galdeans for the right to live unmolested. I don’t expect them to agree to those terms immediately, so we have also developed weapons, and trained ourselves in their mastery. If war comes to us, we mean to be ready, and the way things are going, I see no other choice.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Alix wondered if the Revenant had seen something of the future. He longed to ask, but he knew he wouldn’t receive a reply. His fate had no impact on them. In five years he would be gone, but their struggle would still continue. If he wasn’t able to help them, he hoped a later Darknight would.

“If your industry is causing the issue with the dragon, then I guess the only help I can offer is to suggest that you shut it down, or at least scale it back, unless you can find a non-toxic alternative to Bludium. Maybe I will be able to find something in the castle library.”

“If there was such a thing, we would have discovered it by now. Nytherai is all we have known for centuries but still we are hunted. Bludium is the only fuel we have. If I had known it was a Water Dragon that was living in the lake, I would have done things differently. I will do as you suggest, but I am afraid the effects might take a while to become apparent. It is an arduous journey here from the path you came so I imagine you are tired. You can rest in my home if you like, before you begin the return journey. I have another proposition that might interest you, if you would care to listen while I have some of my men bring you some iron ore from our stores. You can wait here a few days if you would like to see the mines themselves, otherwise this is all I can offer.”

Alix couldn’t deny his exhaustion. The crawl through the tunnels had been mentally and physically exhausting. His fear of the roof caving in was lessened in Nytherai, on account of no longer being able to see it in the darkness, but he could at least do with some food before attempting the return journey.

“I could do with a break at least,” Alix decided for the group. “Then we will decide whether to stay or not.” There was nothing that urgently needed his attention back at the castle, but he already longed to feel the heat of the sun on his skin again. It had to be tough for the Dark Elves, being confined to constant near darkness, although he had to remind himself that they were born into it. Still he pitied them, and vowed to do what he could to help them.

The Revenant only led them a short way before they reached a large tower. It was unguarded, and the door was unlocked. Inside, the ground floor room was not as starkly furnished as the barracks, but it still didn’t have the comforts of home. It. A selection of bows hung on one wall beside a rack of weapons, while a Bludium fire burned in a hearth on another. Some tables and chairs filled the rest of the space but Alix was given little time to examine the space.

The Revenant led them up several flights of stairs, passing one level that looked like a workshop littered with crystals in various stages of faceting, until they reached the top of the tower, which opened out onto a wide view of Nytherai. A short wall ringed the roof, low enough that they were able to see clearly over the top of it while sitting in the chairs the Revenant motioned them towards. The skeletons chose to stand guard, a lot more wary of the Dark Elves hospitality than he was. His senses were telling him to trust the Revenant.

Refreshments were brought for them, pure water from the streams before the forges, along with some snacks, which went a surpassingly long way to filling his hunger.

“I apologise that I cannot offer you more but the dragon is interfering with our crops as well as our mining operations,” the Revenant said as the food was passed around. “They are called Granates,” he added when he saw Alix staring at the food suspiciously. “They are grown under phosphorescent light from Firewyrms but the dragon has scared many of them into hiding. If we cannot deal with the dragon soon, our crops will begin to fail.”

Alix picked up a handful of the granates and took a bite. They looked like green grapes but had a consistency and taste closer to apples.

“What were you proposing?” Alix asked once they were all seated and refreshed.

“The Dark Elves have always worked with metal. Even before our time under the mountain, we were known as excellent metalworkers. We were still hated, but the other races respected our work, especially the craftsmanship of our blades. There are old stories from Valon, a time few of us remember. One tells of tools that the Darknight bestowed upon us, forgehammers that brought our work to a new level. They were all lost in the exile. I propose that some of the Dark Elves return to your castle with you and work the forges there, with new tools that you forge them. If a Darknight was able to make forgehammers before, you should be able to make them again. With the work my men do there, they should be able to help you with the rebuilding of your castle, which I am told is in dire need of repair, and also make up the loss here.”

Alix couldn’t see how a few men could do the work of dozens, as there wasn’t room for many in the forge, but he wasn’t about to turn down help rebuilding the castle. With the Dark Elves’ new alloy, he would rebuild it stronger than it ever had been before, enduring throughout the years so that no other Darknight had to go through what he had. Although he thought then on all he had learned in the process. If he had been handed a life of luxury, would he have learned even a fraction as much? Leon was proof enough of how much more he had learned. He hadn’t known anything about crafting the last time he saw the Solknight.

“I will take as many as you are willing to let go. I am sure the village of Valon could be rebuilt eventually, and all would be under my protection. Still, there is room for plenty within the castle. If they can provide weapons and armour for my men, then all the better. I will have to get back to you about the forgehammers.” Alix hoped the previous Darknight had left a record of them. He decided it was time that he learned the skeletons names, so he could ask him directly, if he was among the ones in the castle.

“We can discuss the rest later then, once the iron ore has been delivered. Make yourselves comfortable here, or wander as you wish. For now, I have other duties I must attend to.” The Revenant told them how to find beds if they wanted to sleep, and then left them to do whatever they chose.

Alix wanted nothing more than to fall into bed with Tifayn and forget where he was for a while, but he felt like he should explore the city while he had the chance. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep with the knowledge that there was a dragon nearby anyway. The fear of the roof caving in had diminished, but the fear of a dragon attacking the city was still on his mind. Surely where there was one, there were others.

“If I had known there was a dragon in these tunnels I wouldn’t have come anywhere near them,” Tifayn said once the Revenant had left.

“Are there many dragons in Babyl?” Alix asked. He had always thought it would be cool to see one, but now it was just one more danger he would have to look out for.

“I always thought there had to be some still living, but there have only been rumours of sightings in recent memory. Too many think it sport to hunt them, but they are sacred creatures. The story I heard was that the remnants of them live in Babyl’s canopy but I guess that isn’t true. Let’s hope your theory works and it doesn’t become a greater threat. Still, I’d like to be away from here as soon as possible,” Tifayn replied, looking around for any sign of the dragon returning.

“Come on, let’s go have a look around,” Alix said, thinking anything was better than sitting around waiting for the sky to fall down on them.

Tifayn reluctantly followed him off the rooftop, the skeletons only a few steps behind. Alix had always found them to be quiet walkers before, but on the stone streets of Nytherai they rattled loudly. Maybe the castle was so full of dust that their steps had been muffled.

It turned out there was little to see in the city, other than the interestingly carved buildings, but just as many of them were practical and plain. There didn’t seem to be any sort of market but Alix guessed they had no reason for shops. The city was more of a permanent war camp. There were open squares where dozens of Dark Elves were lined up in rows, practicing their sword forms, and others where they were exercising and lifting weights. Instead of taverns they had gyms.

Alix had secretly been hoping to find a souvenir somewhere, but he guessed the Frostite and the Kingstone would be good enough. He had been on the lookout for a weapons shop as well, but it appeared the Dark Elves worked together as a community to provide for all. If anyone needed a sword, they were simply given it. Water was available for all, as were all the materials available to them in the caves. Although he spotted Kingstone jewellery on the fingers and around the necks of many of the Dark Elves, so there had to be a lapidary or a jewellers somewhere in the city creating more luxury products. He wasn’t able to find them before Tifayn asked if they could return. She wanted to see the sun again just as much as he did.

It wasn’t difficult to make their way back as the streets were all built in straight lines. Once they reached the tower, they found several carts waiting for them outside. They were piled high with dull metallic rock. The ring identified it as Iron Ore.

“I didn’t know how much you would be able to carry, but you can always return for more,” the Revenant said, meeting them by the carts. They were heavy metal things, that looked to have been pulled by the two dozen Dark Elves that had joined the Revenant. It was hard to tell if they were soldiers or not with their giants swords, but they wore lighter armour and each carried a full bag.

“Let’s find out,” Alix said, touching piece after piece of ore to the ring and absorbing it into his inventory. He knew his storage was technically infinite, but he was still restricted by his own physical strength.

Piece after piece disappeared from the cart, the Dark Elves watching with interest as the ore vanished in a shower of sparks. After the first cart was empty, he could definitely feel the weight beginning to drag on him, but he could still carry more. Since he had begun training with the sword, his strength had grown daily, but even then, his new muscles had their limits. He managed to absorb most of the second cart before he had to concede defeat.

“That’s about as much as I can carry,” Alix said. The Dark Elves stared at him with newfound respect.

“I have selected these men to go with you. Take this token as well. It will allow you to return here freely,” the Revenant said, handing over an intricately carved iron rod.

The two dozen Dark Elves, a mix of male and female, gathered their belongings and made their way towards a different section of the cliff face, where a more impressive gate was built into the stone, a much grander thing than the hidden entrance they had stumbled through. This one had a greater number of guards, but they already knew to let them past. The tunnel beyond was just as rough though. Anything more worked might alert others to their presence, although a large iron gate at the heart of the mountain would probably do that anyway.

The path beyond was twice as labyrinthine as the one they had taken in, splitting and rising until Alix was thoroughly lost. Even the pathways on his map had become a convoluted spiderweb that broke and joined, looped, rose and fell.

They passed no rivers as they climbed, and the tunnels remained mercifully dry. Alix thought they were still in the cave once they finally reached fresh air and a soft breeze, but then he saw the stars and realised night had fallen. The mountain surrounded them, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Alix saw that they were far up its side, although looking at his map he could see that they had come out closer to the castle from a nameless cave. He thought Dark Elf Cave was appropriate, and the name appeared beside it. Nytherai now appeared as a dot deep in the mountain.

It was dark, but Alix had no desire to camp out in the woods again. The bounty hunters were nowhere to be seen, but he didn’t want to risk running into any more with so many Dark Elves. He pulled a tonic from his inventory and re-energised.

Tifayn and the Dark Elves ended up having better eyesight in the dark than he did so they led the way down the mountain until they reached the woods and found a proper path. As Alix walked, he could swear his night vision was improving. He had once worked as a background extra in a production filming near Glasgow for some extra money, and one of the scenes called for was shot in the forest at night. He had seen how they lit the scene with dimmed lights high in the trees and by the time they reached the castle gates several hours later, he felt like he could have led the way there himself.

It was then that Alix realised he didn’t know if there were enough beds for the Dark Elves. He stopped before the doors to the castle and turned to speak to them, but they walked right past him to the grounds and began unrolling bedrolls and setting up a camp. Finding them capable of looking after themselves, and too tired himself to speak with them anyway, he turned back to the doors and headed inside to his own bed.