Time continued to pass. I continued to stalk my prey. I hunted everyday not for blood but knowledge. Groups continued to come out of the stone doors and I began to count them to keep track of the passage of time. By group number 1789 I felt confident I understood my first word.
I had many vague ideas for many different words but the first word I felt sure of was “Neirik.” It was the name of the creatures that would attack any source of light. When not active the neirik would stand completely still and not react to anything. I had even attempted to climb on one and it didn't react. The neirik were tall creatures but they seemed much shorter because they always hunched there back at a near 90 degree angle. Their limbs were long, especially their arms which would hang down and almost touch the ground in their normal resting position. I had even taken the chance to feel a neirik’s face and Found that they had no nose, only open slits on their face above a wide mouth that almost stretched from ear to ear. Those ears were also massive, being as large as the neirik’s face and coming to a sharp point that was hard enough to draw blood when I gripped it. In contrast to its ears the neirik’s eyes were almost non existing beady globes sunken into their face. They had not a hair on their body and when they were in an inactive state the only difference between them and the wall was the softness of their bodies. They were slightly softer than the unforgiving ground. Slightly.
I was sure of their name because I had seen many of the smaller creatures refer to the bodies they pilled up with derision as they spat the name on their tongues. They seem to look down upon the neirik for their foolish desire to attack any light and I was inclined to agree. They foolishly charged in only to be cut down with graceful ease every time. The neirik were foolish and I found myself resenting the resemblance we shared. Their body and face seem to mimic what I could find on my own person but I refused to accept that we were the same creature. They were foolish, mindless creatures.
As I continued to stalk the small creatures I began to hope that I might find some similarity between us. It was a foolish hope that only served to fuel my obsession but it was not a hope I could squander. I merely decided I would continue to follow, always out of sight, always learning.
I became sure in my second word from group 2134. Dwarves. The creatures I obsessed over were dwarves. I had heard every single group refer to each other with different words that were rarely, if ever, repeated almost like each dwarf had its own word; however, they all responded and addressed each other as dwarves. I assumed that if all the neirik had the same word then the dwarves would too. After I learned these words I found language made more and more sense to me. I learned “stone” from group 2156. I learned “wind” from 2209 and “air” soon after from 2211. 2267 taught me about “men '' and “woman” which I learned to tell the difference between using the pitch of their voice.
More and more continued to make sense for me and I found myself excited by every new group and opportunity to learn. When I wasn't stalking the next group of dwarves I practiced replicating the words I had learned. They were rough. I could feel my throat protest the effort to make it contort in ways it wasn't used to. Still I pushed on so that I too may have the ability to speak those beautiful words. I progressed but the going was slow, even by my standards.
Throughout all the different groups I had heard many speak the words of power that one dwarf had all that time ago. I thought that the clarity those words were spoken with would have made them easy to understand but the effects they brought into the word were all different. “Lihto” would usually either create the sudden blinding light I had seen the first time of a solid ball of light that would hang over the head of the person who spoke the word. Sometimes though it would create an entirely different effect like the one time it created spears of light that reaped the lives of many neirik while also drawing more to their doom. “Grulo '' varied even more than Lihto because I had almost never seen it affect the earth in the same way twice. I did notice however that many more dwarves would use grulo instead of lihto.
There was another word of power I discovered although I was unsure of its effects. I had only heard it once when I was brave enough to place my ear against the stone door the dwarves had left through in an attempt to hear them speak on the other side. Sadly while I was able to barely pick up the sounds of their voices I couldn't make out the words. There was one exception to this however and it was the word “Diuga.” I don't know why this word was so clear to me and why it made my heart race but I quickly decided it was maybe my favorite word so far.
My life continued in this way for a long time as I continued to count the groups as they went by. I was learning more and more but still I remained confused on the significance of the words of power. I didn't understand the words or what gave them the power they had but I desperately wanted to. I was desperate for a chance to know more and I would get it with the arrival of group 5897.
It started out as nothing unusual. I had learned over time how to tell which dwarves knew what they were doing and who didn't. It was clear that this group was inexperienced but they had one member out of four who seemed to know what they were doing. My focus was on another member of the group however because they were very talkative. From the moment they walked out the door she was constantly talking to her two male colleagues who also seemed inexperienced. While I was unable to understand most of what she said I had become quite experienced at reading the nuance of someone's tone when they spoke. That's why I was certain the girl was bragging. Extensively.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
The girl kept up her constant barrage of noise during the long walk to the party's destination. At one point the experienced member of the group finally spoke up in a gruff voice and the group stopped and sat on the ground. It seemed pretty standard amongst the groups to stop in certain positions and simply stay there for a time. They might eat but most of the time they simply sat with their legs crossed for hours on end. After that most groups would just head back to the doors. It was a great mystery to me what they gained from this but I found that I was more interested in their words than anything else.
This group seemed to be eating before they sat cross legged and the girl kept up her bragging even as she ate. Although it seemed the other members of the group finally got a chance to get a word in the conversation when the girl took a bite of her food. Whatever he said though it only excited the girl more as she began to practically bounce in place as she took out a book that I had seen every user of the words of power carry on their person somewhere. She continued to gush about something, presumably the book, as she opened it and showed something to the boy.
As she talked she held up her hand and started to say something. The experienced member of the group shot up when he heard her and he reached out to her as he barked out a command to stop. It was too late however as the girl held out her hand, snapped her fingers, and said “Falsha.” A flash of fire bloomed in her hands bringing with it a beautiful dance of red and orange unlike anything I had ever seen before. It also brought light and even as I felt the familiar rage I had gotten so good at ignoring flare up within me I felt my heart drop knowing what was about to happen. I had seen dwarves lose a man fighting the Neirik once before and that was when the group was experienced and ready, this group was not. It truly was a pity. I liked the ones who talked so much.
The experienced dwarf grabbed the girl's hand and yanked it down causing the fire to go out as he began to yell and pull the girl to her feet. The other two dwarves shot off the ground and grabbed their swords and shifted their feet into a clumsy version of the stance I've seen the hunting groups take when they prepare to fight. A sword was forcefully shoved into the girl's hands as the experienced dwarf began to lead his group back the way they came as quickly as he could. I could hear the neirik coming from both sides of the tunnel and the lead dwarf could as well. He drew his sword and continued to charge forward even as a neirik came skidding around the corner towards him.
He ended the first neirik with a clean swipe that took its head off its shoulders and just continued to run. He quickly encountered three more as he turned the corner with the rest of his group hot on his heels. A precise stab to the heart took the life of the middle neirik and the dwarf quickly pivoted to kick the right one in the chest without even removing his sword. The two other dwarves descended on the left neirik while the girl froze in fear and shakenly held her sword in front of her. The three neirik were dispatched in short order but the group of dwarves were just as quickly surrounded by as many neirik the tunnel could fit.
The older dwarf called out again to his group and they all bunched together in a diamond formation while they began to slowly progress through the ocean of bodies before them. They stopped going for killing blows as they sought to either maim or simply move the neirik out of their way as they pushed forward. Whatever was easier. They were making good progress but it was clear where the linkest link was. As they progressed further and further without finishing the neirik more and more pressure built on the struggling girl holding the backline.
One neirik latched onto the back of its brethren and rode it towards the girl in the back. The girl shifted towards the oncoming threat with panic in her eyes as she wildly swung her blade before her only to catch the oncoming neirik in the stomach with the flat of the blade. The first neirik was blasted back due to the dwarfs natural strength but the second combatant riding on their back used the first as a springboard to leap at the girls face. I would be impressed if I wasn’t rooting for the dwarves.
The girl's eyes widened and she dropped her sword before her and raised her hand towards the oncoming missile of teeth and claws. At the same time her second hand drew the book she had shown off before from the bag on her hip. The timing was amazing because as the neirik bit down on the offering the girl had unconsciously made she screamed “FALSHA” with a terror and venom I had never heard from a dwarf before. The inside of the neirik’s mouth exploded with that beautiful light and suddenly his head was blown to pieces to let out grasping tongues of fire that latched onto the other neirik and continued to burn with that beautiful red-orange light. The girl was not unscathed however as her hand was mangled and she had lost two of her fingers with her thumb barely holding onto her hand with a thin section of flesh. Instead of continuing to run like she should have, the girl groped her arm before the wound and screeched at the top of her lungs.
One of the younger men turned around to help the girl rooted in place only to stop as the oldest dwarf barked out an order. The two younger men's faces expressed their complex mixture of shock, horror, reluctance, and a slight undercurrent of grim understanding as they stared at the older man. He himself looked resigned but determined as he spoke another softer command and continued forward through the sea of bodies. The two men hesitated before following behind him but not before one of them shouted towards the girl something seemingly with the hope to bring her out of her shock.
The girl's head turned slowly, almost robotically, to look at her companions leaving her behind. It shocked her from her stupor as she began to try and run after them. It was too late however because in her stupor she had missed the neirik climbing on the wall before it leaped out and tackled her to the ground. She collapsed and a dog pile of neirik flooded over her as they all began biting and scratching at any exposed flesh they could reach. The neirik were not smart enough to think to attack the vitals or soft area of the dwarfs armor yet this only continued to prolong the girls torment as despite the number attacking her most wounds were gruesome but superficial. They would kill her but it would take time.