Silence beyond Lowki and my heavy breathing descended as the final dwarven warrior fell to the stone. His body was riddled with jagged cuts and tears, lines of bright blood running down his skin, along with several arrow shafts standing out like feathered flags. Tallos’ aim had been nothing short of spectacular as he found the narrow seams of the dwarf’s impressive silvern armor. Azure light surrounded us as I knelt in exhaustion, bringing a soothing chill to my taxed and feverish skin. The glow had a revitalizing effect on my body after such an intense struggle against the lone remaining combatant.
While the first three dwarves had fallen with relative ease, thanks to our successful ambush, the last dwarf proved to be many steps above his fellows in terms of tactical awareness and fighting prowess. Even while outnumbered three to one, not to mention an archer firing the occasional potshot, the weapon master armed only with a sword had dealt as much damage as he received. His brilliant mind immediately recognized the significant advantage Ripley had against him since she was nearly invisible to his heat-sensing vision. The veteran had quickly deduced an impressive counter to what should have been an executioner's poised axe.
At first, we didn’t recognize what the dwarf was doing as he moved around the battlefield. Given Ripley’s supposed invisibility, after several successful blocks and ripostes against Ripley’s slashing sword, it became apparent what he was doing. Our foe was smoothly flowing in and out of the azure glow, toeing the line between each, fighting for a dozen or seconds before transitioning to the other side.
With a start, I understood his tactic. Moving in and out of the light meant we did as well. Therefore, causing Ripley’s body to appear warmer in the blue light and then slightly cooler when moving back into the warmth of the cave. The seemingly simple response to allow the dwarf to engage an invisible foe was only one of the ingenious tactics employed by the expert swordsman during our battle.
Taking stock of everyone’s condition, I needed to intone the words to my regenerative spell upon Lowki and myself, twice, as well as several lesser renewal of bones upon Ripley to bring each of us to our maximum health. Tallos approached with a look of admiration on his face.
“That dwarf was skilled,” he said as he knelt close to the warrior’s body. He touched fingers to the dwarf’s forehead, tilting his head in respect to a fallen foe. “He probably could have taken Ripley or Lowki down if it had been single combat. You would have struggled too, Xaz, if you had to fight him one-on-one. Even more amazing was he only had a single long sword to display his weapon mastery.”
“I’m not going to lie,” Stella said having taken her place on my shoulder after the battle had ended. “If he is an example of what we’re going to face, we could be biting off more than we can chew. I’m betting he was a sliver away from the System listing him as an ‘elite’ when you inspected him.”
“Any idea what he said before he engaged us?” I asked, remembering the dwarf raising and lowering his sword before charging.
“I’ve seen similar salutes like the one he showed us,” Tallos replied as he inspected the modest long sword still firmly held in the grip of the deceased dwarf. Besides the Damascus-like pattern etched throughout the metal, the silvern weapon lacked any adornment or superfluous addition. The design was still elegant as much as it was plain. “I believe it was a sign of respect given from one enemy to another, the code of the warrior.”
“That’s surprising considering the description the System provided about these silvern dwarves,” I muttered as I replayed the battle in my mind. “They seemed nothing more than ruthless killers, bent on the destruction of anyone from the surface. Now, with this warrior as an example, I realize they are probably much more than that. They may be raiders, yes, but at least some of them have a sense of honor.” I turned my head, looking at Stella resting easily on atop my blazeweave kimono. “Can System messages be incorrect? It made them out to be violent brutes who sought the torture of their victims for the fun of it.”
Stella’s paws moved in the air, her mouth opening and closing as if unsure of what information to share. “Hmm, all I can say is there can be outliers within any given group or race. Perhaps this dwarf was more honorable than his comrades, but can’t know for certain, at least yet. I know the System will not outright lie or give false information in its descriptions, but it will take into account what is widely known or believed to be true when it comes to the characteristics of whatever you inspect.”
“I guess it makes sense,” I responded, stretching weariness out of my arms and shoulders. “If most people see these dwarves as monsters and fiends, the System will include that.”
We began investigating the fallen for any loot, though given their armor and weapon were solely made from the toxic silvern metal, I doubted we’d find anything too valuable. As I went about the larger alcove where the dwarves had been gambling, I allowed a blinking System notification to expand in my vision.
Quest Update – “Mystery in the Mines.”
Objective One: Secure the release of Mage Marrek. COMPLETED.
Objective Two: Investigate the local silver mine and identify the cause of villager Corm’s demise. COMPLETED
Objective Three: Eliminate the Subversive Silvern Dwarf threat posed to strike against the citizens of Mammoth. 5 of ???.
Objective Four: HIDDEN
Rewards: Variable. Experience, at least one rare magical item, and a significant increase in reputation.
We still didn’t know how many dwarves were around, so I could only hope it would show the total as we continued deeper into the dwarven tunnels. The fact of not knowing if we were up against fifteen, or a hundred and fifteen, dwarves grated on my nerves. Closing the status window, another prompt appeared showing the growth of several of my spells as a result of the thrilling fray.
Notice! Skill and Spell increase messages have been condensed.
Skill: [Tracking] has increased to level 10. Spell: [Lesser Ignite Bones] has increased to level 8. Spell: [Undeath] has increased to level 5. Spell: [Minor Restless Slumber] has increased to level 4. Spell: [Lesser Renewal of Bones] has increased to level 4. Spell: [Lesser Wyvern Sting] has increased to level 4. Skill: [Execute (Axe)] has increased to level 4. Skill: [Quick Cast] has increased to level 4.
Impressed with the quick jump in several of my lowest spells and skills, I returned my attention back to the stone alcove. It was close to twice the size of the previous sentry posts, likely the reason the group had decided to gather here to throw dice with one another. Several hardened mushroom chairs and a squat table occupied most of the open space. Atop the table was a mixture of dice, cards, and mugs containing an unknown ale. A pile of coins with an irregular shape sat in the middle, looking a lot like a gambling pot. None of the coins looked similar to the signal coin we found earlier, though a few were also cast from silvern. None carried any magic that I could detect. Pocketing the lot of them, I moved to the far wall where a small bookshelf sat low to the ground. It was three feet tall and two feet wide.
The bookshelf was made of the same mushroom material as the rest of the furniture, though it alone had a speckled green color to it. Everything else was dirty brown. Instead of tomes, as I had initially hoped for, the shelves contained dozens of foot-long leaflets made from an unknown type of parchment. The paper was course, as thick as ten regular sheets of paper stacked together and was difficult to bend. Holding a sheet to my nose, it had a sweet earthy aroma leading me to believe it was a derivative of the same mushrooms these subversive dwarves seemed to enjoy working with.
“They really like to use mushrooms to make just about everything. Well, besides their armor,” I said as I failed to comprehend the inscriptions on the dwarven leaflets. Their language seemed to be based on pictographs and was written on the page in viscous black ink. The writing struck me as odd since, from all that we could tell, a silvern dwarf relied solely upon his ability to sense heat to see everything around them. The question of how the dwarves were able to read these leaflets was answered when I experimentally ran a finger across the raised ink. I was surprised to find it was warm to the touch. “Now that’s pretty cool. They made the ink visible to their eyes. I wonder how they did that.”
I waved the leaflet in the air to see if I could cool the hieroglyphs, but even after placing it under the cooling effect from the azure lamps for a long minute, the ink was still warm to the touch. “I wonder how long it lasts,” I said as I poked and prodded the dried ink. Dismissing the trivial thought, I placed the pages in my inventory. Perhaps someone, someday, could help me figure out what they contained.
Returning to the search of the dwarven space, nothing else of note was uncovered. The two weapons left behind in the rush to investigate my undead minion walking by went into my inventory. Both were made from the hardened silvern composite, one a slender long sword and the other a massive greatsword. Searching the remains of our vanquished foes, I looted all their armor and gear, though I did leave the final combatant fully armed and armored.
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This particular slain enemy would soon come under the effects of my undeath spell to assist us in our struggles against his former comrades as we moved deeper into dwarven territory. Since my spell allowed the body to retain all of his statistics and fighting prowess, I was sure he would become a powerful ally. Thinking of my undeath spell did bring a question to mind.
“Hey, Stella?” I asked as gazed down at the corpse of the fierce warrior. Tallos had long since retrieved the arrows previously protruding from the body, though dozens of cuts and gashes still marred most of his skin not covered by armor. “I just realized, my undeath spell was probably pretty close to wearing off when we fought this group. Was it?”
Stella grimaced at the notion as her nails flashed through the air, checking her Accelerator access. “Oh, shit,” she mumbled as her eyes scanned the invisible screen. “He had about a minute to go, there at the end. Sorry, the spell’s duration slipped my mind.”
“That could have been bad,” I mused aloud. If the spell’s duration, which was currently shy of thirteen minutes, had elapsed mid-combat we would have been in quite the predicament with four livid dwarven warriors. “We have to be careful to avoid that from happening in the future. We could have suddenly had a mountain of dwarven flesh descend on us if my minion had dropped before the battle. I know you’re an AI and all, Stella. So, don’t take this the wrong way, but I thought you couldn’t forget stuff like this.”
As I gave her a sheepish smirk, Stella broke eye contact. “I am an advanced artificial intelligence, but I’m no computer,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper as she spoke. “I can make mistakes the same as you.”
“Sorry, I should have chosen my words better. I don’t expect you to be perfect, Stella,” I offered, my face flushing as I turned my gaze downward. Letting out a sigh, my eyes returned to Stella’s small body. She gave an awkward smile in return when our eyes met. I wasn’t sure what to say.
“Learning never stops,” Tallos said in a gentle voice, coming to stand near the two of us. “We cover for each other, making us far stronger for it.” He wore an easy smile that diffused confidence. “Let’s grow stronger from this. The worst didn’t happen, and we were victorious against our enemies. So, let’s take what we’ve learned and apply it to our future endeavors?”
Stella and I shared an easy chuckle at Tallos’ positivity. His words were appreciated nonetheless and reminded me how much I appreciated his presence. Together, we were a well-rounded group of friends who I felt could take on just about anything. Tallos was right. With a playful grin, I held out a palm to Stella.
She dashed through the air, slapping her tiny paw against my palm. Her typical unflinching optimism returned to her lithe and graceful body. She spun a small circuit in the air before tilting her chin upward. She nodded appreciatively to Tallos before placing a paw against her cheek as she went deep in thought. A grin broke across her face as she found inspiration, her nails slashing in the air before her. “There,” she said stretching out like she was on an invisible recliner. “It’s fixed. The next time you use your undeath spell, the minion will have a timer over his nameplate.
“That’ll do, Stell. That’ll do,” I replied cheerily, resting a hand on her shoulder for a brief moment. “Ready to get moving? I don’t think we’ll find anything else around this cramped space.”
Both Stella and Tallos nodded their assent. Lowki beamed up at me before turning around to face the tunnel Ripley was scrutinizing, ever ready to spring at an enemy. I paused a moment, looking at each of my friends in turn, relishing the moment. I really did feel invincible with them. Eyes full of friendship sparkled back at me, rife with encouragement and support.
Nodding to Stella and Tallos, I regarded the honorable warrior’s body. “Time to bring you back to the world of the living,” I uttered before arcane words scratched out from my mouth, splitting the silence with their divergent undertones as if I was speaking in the forbidden language of the dead. The fingers of my hands moved in jarring yet pronounced movements which always felt like they were transforming into clawed versions of themselves. Energy welled between my palms and when the ten-second cast time was completed, the magic lanced into the still body. Glowing red eyes opened, blinking as the undead minion looked up at me.
“Stand,” I ordered, which the dwarf minion immediately obeyed.
“You’ll need to give him all new commands since he’s new to the spell,” Stella said. “When you recast it on him again, he’ll remember everything you said, even if the spell ends.”
As she spoke, a lime green digital timer appeared over the minion’s nameplate. It was counting down from twelve minutes and forty-five seconds. Giving a well-thought-out series of commands, which Stella played an important role in developing, my new minion stood ready to defend each member of our party at the cost of its own life. Tallos and I were marked as his primary focus since Lowki and Ripley would revive should the worst happen.
Seeing him wield the long sword he had put to good use against us, my thoughts returned to the weapons we had looted from the alcove. This veteran fighter had made a crucial mistake in leaving behind his weapon before he died. He had been able to skillfully use the long sword he recovered when a fallen friend, but a part of me wondered if it was his preferred weapon type. Sure enough, he was soon carrying a silvern greatsword in an intuitively designed leather baldric across his back. While we discovered he couldn’t speak, he was able to communicate non-verbally.
It had been Stella’s idea to lay the long swords next to the greatsword in front of him. His favored weapon became clear after she asked simply, “Pick up whichever weapon would you prefer to use.” Responding immediately, he moved for the greatsword and with practiced ease slid it effortlessly into the sheath across his back. He was an intimidating sight, to say the least, with the massive silvern greatsword worn so casually. I counted us lucky we didn’t have to face him wielding the five-foot tool considering how skillfully he moved it around.
Ready as we could be, we began trudging deeper into the cave system but paused as I looked back at the remains of the defeated dwarves a final time. “There’s a lot of tunnels that branch into this one. Something could find them, perhaps a dwarven scouting party? That would be bad, so do you think we should dispose of their bodies to be safe?”
“Easy enough to accomplish, simply toss them into one of the nearby lava tubes,” Stella offered with a shrug. “I’ll leave the work to you or Tallos though. I’ll supervise.” This last was said with a touch of superiority, her voice suddenly acquiring a regal undercurrent.
She lifted her chin just like before with it now seeming as if a crown had suddenly appeared on her small head. Her smugness was replaced in my mind when I imagined her doing the work herself, tugging mightily on one of the hefty bodies with only her bare teeth. It brought a mischievous grin to my face, though I kept my imaginary scene to myself. Instead, I decided to straight up tease her a little. “You’re right. You wouldn’t sully your paws. Don’t worry, Stell, we’ll take care of it. We wouldn’t want you to strain yourself.”
“Strain myself!” Stella responded indignantly. She puffed out her chest and crossed her front paws as if a queen was about to pass judgment over a perceived slight.
Intentionally ignoring the exasperated poodle, I asked my dwarven minion to dispose of the bodies, paying close attention to instruct him not to get too close to the blistering vents. In short order, we were on the move once more. By the time it was necessary to recast my undeath spell, we had not come across any additional sentry posts. None of the familiar blue glow marked our way or indicated other dwarven sentries.
Thankfully our path remained clear as we followed the well-worn and worked stone surface have all its stalagmites being removed along one pathway. With the red tint splashing against the course natural passage from the numerous exposed magma pits, our Darkvision made it easy to press on. It was bright enough it was as if we were standing under a noon sun.
We soon discovered another impressive talent retained by my new minion from his undead resurrection. We were all pleased when he dropped into a low crouch with us, enacting a version of stealth, and was able to move far quieter than his predecessor. While the occasional clank of metal still echoed off the neighboring walls and side passages, it happened far less frequently and was more muffled courtesy of the veteran’s skillful movements. The fear of being discovered because my minion gave us away was diminished greatly.
A short time later, the tunnel floor we had been traversing appeared to disappear from sight a dozen yards in front of us. Carefully approaching the edge, we discovered the floor of our passageway had collapsed, crashing into a shower of rock and stone into what appeared to be an old lava tube running horizontally underneath us. While no active magma flowed below, our path became unclear.
At first, it looked as if we needed to choose our course from three different options. First, we could try to figure out a way to cross the expansive breach from where we stood to the opposite side where our passage stretched away from us into an unceasing gloom of darkness. The problem was the distance was too great, making even a long jump unrealistic. The other two options were essentially the same, just heading in opposite directions. It could be possible the dwarven war band would be coming up from either the left or right pathway of the ancient tube below our feet, though the lack of anything resembling an elevator or pulley system made me doubt this possibility. Unless magic would be involved, there was no current way for equipment to be ferried up to our position, which was a height of no less than fifteen feet.
More likely the floor ahead had collapsed somewhat recently, and the dwarves had not yet built a bridge to span the gap. Then again, I doubted dwarves intended even that considering the dozen or more stalactites reaching upwards from the uneven ground, ever reaching to its stalagmite mate.
The mystery was solved for us when a slight air current brushed against the back of my neck. It had come from the right-hand wall, some ten feet behind us, which didn’t make sense as only hard stone resided there. In actuality, we were all shocked to find a previously unseen passageway when we turned around to investigate. Nearly hidden from view due to its sharp angle cut into the stone, we had unknowingly walked right passed it.
The stone down this channel was meticulously worked without a stone or pebble laying anywhere in sight. Cut like a rectangle, the tunnel looked to have been worked over by a massive stone grinder it was so smooth. Moving into the corridor, we heard faint whispers of hammer on steel from deep within. The corridor curved like it was a languid snake slowly meandering back and forth. Each of our steps brought us closer to the sound of metal being worked, growing louder by the second. Soon, a vibrant ruby glow could be seen on the smooth walls. The light was not caused by any magma fissure, however. This had the distinct waver from fire as it twisted around. Considering the hammering which grew painfully loud in the confined space, it was undoubtedly coming from a forge.
Dozens of indistinct voices could be heard in between the pounding of hard metal. Even if we understood the dwarven language, it sounded muffled to our ears as we were still too far away to make any sense of it. What was clear, however, was we had found our target. A dwarven stronghold. Sadly, from the sound of it, their numbers far exceeded our own.