In the nameless valley of the Labyrinth Forest...

When Azathoth awoke again, a tremendous sense of grief welled up within him.

The grief was so intense that he could not control his emotions and broke down sobbing violently.

He immediately knew that Yva, the great she-bear connected to him in spirit, had passed away.

Suddenly, he felt something icy cold and hard press against his neck. A chilling voice entered his ears:

"Speak. How many came here with you?"

Azathoth turned his head to see a stocky, dark-skinned man holding a knife to his throat. Further back by the rocky wall stood a frail young lad.

The memory of the previous battle flashed through his mind. Murderous intent filled Azathoth's eyes.

"You killed my Yva! You will pay for this in blood!"

Slap!

The broadside of the war knife struck his face, shattering several teeth with its tremendous force.

The dark-skinned man spoke coldly: "My patience is limited. Answer what I ask and nothing more, no rambling."

Azathoth spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with broken teeth onto the ground.

"Just kill me and be done with it!"

Clearly, he sought only death.

The dark-skinned man was of course Shaboreth.

He felt like he had encountered a prickly hedgehog. He wanted to torture the information out of Azathoth, but lacked experience and feared accidentally killing him.

Left with no choice, he turned to Rosen for help, signaling with his eyes - "What should we do?"

Rosen walked over to the corpse of the great bear, circling it once. He stopped by the head and took out his wizard's staff, touching the tip to the bear's forehead.

"Legend says when the Ice Dwarves die in battle, their souls return to the Realm of Hoar Frost."

"Your bear may be dead, but its soul has yet to depart. As it happens, I know some unsavory magic that can summon and trap the soul, tormenting it day after day!"

As he spoke, he kept making eye gestures at Shaboreth, hinting for him to play along.

Shaboreth understood at once. He put on a fierce and sinister expression, chuckling evilly.

"Beast King, I know how much you cherished your bear. I bet you can't bear to see its soul suffer, hmm?"

Azathoth spat out a mouthful of blood, glaring at Rosen with a look that could devour human flesh.

"You're a mage of the Golden Lands, yet you dare to use necromancy here? Aren't you afraid of the soul inquisitors from the Halls of Purification?"

Rosen smiled faintly. "Ah, you know quite a bit. But you're not entirely right."

"The Halls' prohibitions protect only the people of the Golden Lands, not foreign races like you."

As he spoke, Rosen assumed a stance as if preparing to cast a spell.

"The summoning begins!"

"Stop!" Azathoth cried out in anguish.

"Frost Emperor on high! Please forgive your servant Azathoth's betrayal. These foreign scoundrels are too despicable and shameless!"

He looked at Rosen once more. "There are over a thousand of us."

"Over a thousand?!" Shaboreth was so startled he nearly dropped his knife. "Where are they?"

"Deep in the Labyrinth Forest. I don't know the exact location since I've been scouting alone."

Clearly he spoke the truth.

But the forest was so vast, stretching nearly 200 li northward until it met the Snowfall Mountains. A thousand was neither too many nor too few - who knew where these creatures were hiding in that maze?

Although Rosen knew, it had to be teased out reasonably.

After thinking a moment, he asked, "Even if you don't know the legion's location, as the Beast King and vanguard, some means of contact must exist between you and the main force. Tell me, how did the legion communicate with you?"

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Azathoth sealed his lips shut.

Rosen took a deep breath. The moonstone at the tip of his staff emitted a faint glow.

Azathoth's eyes darkened. "We sent messages by ice geese, once every three days."

"Very good. Now, what was your mission as the vanguard?"

"To infiltrate Moon Glow Town, ensuring the lord stood with us. That would let us build a camp in the forest undisturbed."

Shaboreth's dark face turned pale.

"Build a camp?! What are you monsters up to?! Looking to die?!"

He struck Azathoth's skull with the knife's pommel, splitting the skin and drawing blood.

Azathoth showed no fear, staring at Shaboreth with bloodshot eyes.

"You despicable, shameless worms occupy the most fertile lands on the continent yet let them go to waste. My noble ice folk must live in barren, bitter cold while you squander bounty."

"Unjust!"

Shaboreth's face darkened further with rage. "Oh, so you're the 'noble' one, huh? If you're so noble, why peddle vile mind-muddling poison to innocent townsfolk?"

"You outsider vermin used despicable means against us first, so we naturally retaliate in kind! You started this underhanded war!"

"Oh really? How exactly were we despicable first?"

"Seven hundred years ago your god entrapped all the noble beings of the Hoar Frost Realm through deceit. He promised a gathering of the Hundred Tribes to negotiate territorial boundaries, but it was a trap laid in advance!"

"Your god is despicable, so all his people are shameless scum!"

Slap!

Shaboreth shattered the other half of the Beast King's teeth.

"Blaming others for being deceitful when you're just stupid. No wonder your kind is stuck in a godforsaken wasteland like the Hoar Frost Realm."

"You--!"

Azathoth was furious, eyes fixed on Shaboreth as if to bite a chunk of flesh from his face.

Seeing the two about to really fight, Rosen quickly interjected.

"Uncle, our earlier battle was loud. I fear we've alerted Viscount Phyrling already. We need to hurry and finish this."

Shaboreth felt a pang of anxiety. "You're right, he's got me all riled up. You do the questioning."

Rosen looked to the Beast King on the ground. "Tell us! Where's the antidote for the mind-muddling potion?!"

The Beast King held up his bloodied hands smugly.

"It's no mundane potion. The hallucinogenic effect merely conceals the true nature - a beast transformation elixir fused with exquisite transmutation magic. One dose infects the drinker."

"The whole town has partaken, especially the lord who drank the most. With one thought from my master, all citizens will complete their transformation overnight and become our thralls."

"Hehehehe~"

The answer was chilling to the bone.

"What's the cure then?"

"Didn't you understand me? It's magic. Only a god can dispel another god's sorcery. Let your Golden God figure it out."

By this point Rosen had asked everything useful. Time was precious and he had no desire to hear more drivel.

"Uncle, do we take him the long way back to Silvermoon Castle? Or kill him here and go after the dwarves?"

Shaboreth thought for a moment. "Let's find the legion!"

His blade flashed and the Beast King's head rolled off.

He then turned to Rosen. "But how do we locate the legion?"

Rosen had no good ideas either. He planned to just wander the mountains and hope for a lucky break.

But the gods of fate seemed to favor him.

Suddenly, sounds of swooping wings and cawing echoed from the sky.

Following the noise, Rosen spotted a large bird with black wings and white belly perched atop a jutting boulder along the cliff face.

The bird seemed confused, cawing while surveying the chaotic valley below.

Rosen's eyes lit up. "An ice goose used for sending messages!"

Shaboreth instinctively moved to grab it, but stopped after two steps. "The goose flies, we can't catch it!"

Rosen grinned. "You've got it backwards, Uncle."

"The books say these ice geese fly very high and navigate unerringly once locked onto a direction. They fly straight to their destination."

"We just follow its path on the ground."

Shaboreth slapped his thigh. "Aha! Rosen, you're so knowledgeable. What now then?"

"No hurry."

Rosen went to the collapsed wooden tower nearby and searched carefully, finding many items.

There were dried herbs, prepared potions, a coin purse holding over 100 crowns, and a small pouch of moonstones - a dozen or so, plum-sized but flawless and translucent, prime quality.

Lastly he found a small sack filled with dried fish strips.

He pocketed the coins and moonstones. He also took a few potion samples. Then he grabbed a handful of fish strips and scattered them on the open ground nearby.

Seeing the treats, the ice goose immediately swooped down and landed to eat.

While it was engrossed in the meal, Rosen slowly approached and gently picked it up, checking carefully until he found a small leather tube for carrying messages tied to its leg.

Opening the tube, he removed a letter. The writing was in strange runes - completely illegible. He pocketed it for now.

On the other side, the goose continued eating. Once full, it flapped its wings and circled the valley several times before shooting skyward.

The two watched the goose intently as it wheeled higher into the sky before suddenly flapping hard and rocketing northeast.

Rosen quickly oriented himself, confirming the dwarf encampment was indeed northeast of the valley.

"Uncle, northeast! Let's go!"

He cast windstride on himself and raced for the valley mouth.

Shaboreth acknowledged and hurried after Rosen.

The two dashed through the woods, arriving about an hour and a half later at Rosen's hiding spot from last night.

It was past 4pm now, still decently bright. The sun illuminated the rise ahead clearly.

At his first glimpse of the camp, Shaboreth froze speechless.

After a long while, he let out a deep breath. "We've got to get this news back to Silvermoon Castle fast!"

Just the reaction Rosen wanted. He nodded in agreement.

Shaboreth spoke again. "Rosen, time is very tight. Let's hurry back. Wait, we should take the long way around."

He took a few steps but halted again.

"No, we need to go directly or Moon Glow Town is finished for sure."

Nearly two thousand townspeople, all transformed into beasts - dreadful not just for the people themselves, but the beasts would surely fall under dwarven control, bolstering their forces by over two thousand more.

Rosen sighed softly. "Moon Glow Town is already finished, Uncle."

"How's that?"

"The town has a temple with priests. Are these priests blind and deaf? Why no alarm at the mind-muddling potion?"

"The only explanation is the head priest drank the potion first, likely among the very first. He's already a puppet of this foreign god."

Shaboreth was shocked. "How could the Golden God allow his own servants to fall?!"

"Uncle, you still don't understand?"

"This is a divine war! Victory comes with defeat. It's only natural."

Moon Glow Town bordered the edge of the Golden Lands. The Snowfall Mountains rose less than a hundred li north. Cross those mountains and you entered the Hoar Frost Realm.

In the clash between two gods, gains and losses were expected. Moreover, the Golden God's power was declining, so the enemy's influence would rise.

"The priority now is getting this news back to Silvermoon Castle. Everything else can wait."

Shaboreth's face betrayed a moment of reluctance before settling into resigned acceptance.

"You're right. Let's go!"