I could hear the ground beneath my feet crush gravel into dust as I pushed off at a diagonal angle to the right, avoiding the left-handed punch entirely and trailing my blade to sever his arm at the shoulder. The shift in his overall mass caused him to lose his footing and land face-first into the dirt.
You were counting on that, weren't you? Ysevel asked wryly. I might have, I shrugged as I watched Grond struggle to use what was left of his remaining arm to get into a kneeling position. Well played. For a heartbeat, I thought he had you, Mom sent with a sense of both pride and relief.
"Argh, damn you, iskarin! You'll pay for that!" he snarled as he turned to face me with blood pouring from his face and an empty shoulder socket. "You shouldn't have fallen for it, Untouchable," I replied with a scoff and began walking toward him, as the last remaining members of the Bloodmaul scouting party were being wiped out.
"You should have listened to my friend over there," I said, pointing over my shoulder to Irun, who was just ripping his blade out of his enemy's throat. "But now, what to do with you?" I asked aloud, watching his dark eyes grow wide in fear, allowing me to see Kalia with a gore-ridden sword in their reflection, standing just beside me.
Take his head. We'll use it as a bargaining token for the rulers of this land, she sent coldly. Don't we want to try to get information out of him? I asked quickly. No point, no time, and just knowing the Bloodmauls are working alongside the Grayeaters tells me everything I need to know, she sent with a shake of her head.
Before the creature could even realize she and I had some kind of exchange, I did as she instructed and severed his head in one, clean strike, cauterizing the wound at its base with a Pyrus spell. "Here, put it in this. We don't want to frighten any of the locals, knowing these kinds of creatures are in their land," she said, handing me a thick leather bag that was crudely sewn together.
"Anything else?" I asked as I gripped the thick fur on top of Grond's head and stuffed the head into the bag. "Athar's already collecting their right ears, but we should move soon. They have an incredible sense of smell, and with all this blood spilled, it's just a matter of time before reinforcements arrive," she said, already glancing around at the treeline for any signs of movement.
After giving her a nod of understanding, we did everything she instructed us to do regarding the disposal of their bodies in hopes of hiding the scent. Mom piled them all together into a giant sphere of gore and death, pulling the mass of bodies deep beneath the earth to bury them.
"That should buy us plenty of time, but they're going to be looking for them regardless," she said, giving Kalia a nod, which she returned. "Also, it wasn't four at once. It was six, but the other two were almost hitting the floor," she said with a wry grin, but I heard Kalia's harsh chuckle echo within her helmet. "Not bad for your first real fight with them, but let me know when you hit twenty at once," she said between laughs, giving Mom a hefty pat on the shoulder.
Needless to say, we were all in shock while she just walked off as if she hadn't just dropped a meteor on us.
By mid-afternoon, we'd finally caught up to Lokren, though we were forced to handrail the path on the way there in case any more Bloodmauls or Grayeaters were setting up camp. I think Athar was the most grateful we didn't find any more, because I could hear his stomach growling as we went the rest of the way.
To be entirely fair, we were all hungry.
As we approached the city of Narin, I could tell at a glance that this place was far more technologically advanced than any city I'd ever heard of, much less dreamed of. The high, stone walls were covered in runic symbols that glowed with the same sort of stones Lokren used to power his transport. Twin banners flowed gently in the breeze above the titanic stone doors, with Narin's symbol sewn into them: a massive hammer with swirls of mana wrapping around its handle, backed by a deep, green cloth.
The guards atop the walls and those who stood before the massive stone gate wore similar armor to the others who'd first greeted us, though theirs seemed much more polished and refined. Meanwhile, Lokren stood by the entrance, fiddling with something anxiously as he waited for our return.
"Glad you made it safely," Mom said from a distance with a wave, prompting him to glance at us with widened eyes. "That wasn't a stone that just fell in your pants, was it?" she asked when she saw his look of pure astonishment. "It might have been a nice clump of shite to throw at you, but I'm glad you're alive!" he said, immediately putting away whatever it was he was fiddling with.
"Aaand covered in something's entrails. What the hells happened back there?" he asked, putting a hand to his nose when we got closer. "To make a long story short, we found something we think he will be interested in," she said, gesturing to the crude leather bags Athar and I were holding.
His thick eyebrows rose even further in surprise, but he shook his head to get rid of whatever thoughts he had. "I've learned not to question whatever it is you do when you're here, but I've already let the guards know that you'd be coming, as well as the new Lord of Narin, Calduran Lytehammer," he said, gesturing to the handful of them that looked at her, then us with suspicion.
"For the sake of simplicity, I'll be the one escorting you," he said, shifting his gaze toward the large doors that began to rumble as he spoke. There were no commands shouted, nor any sign of guards exerting themselves to swing the massive doors open.
Whatever's opening the doors, it has to be extremely powerful, I sent Ysevel, who gave me an excited nod.
As the seam of the twin doors widened, we caught our first glimpse of the city behind the stone walls. Each street was carefully planned and aligned to extreme levels of accuracy, while the sides of the roads held the glowing mana stones along their edges. I assumed it would be more efficient than lighting torches, but it looked so unfamiliar that even that concept seemed beyond me.
Each building, house, or establishment was built similarly to that of Lokren's, but like the guards' armor, these were much more refined and pristine. "It's incredible," I muttered almost breathlessly, as I noticed there were a few buildings that had the mana stones embedded into their edges. "She's a real beauty, isn't she? Took my people nearly two thousand years to complete, but it's withstood the test of time like no other," Lokren said proudly as we made our way through the dwarven city.
I was so stunned that I couldn't help but blink when he said that, but I knew that the time for asking questions would come eventually. The streets were lively enough to take my mind off things, as children played with strange, mechanical toys that seemingly moved on their own, or merchants who sold appendages made from metal and the glowing stones to imitate a lost limb.
No matter where I looked, I had far more questions than I could ever hope to have answers for.
As we approached the steps leading to the palace entrance, I realized that its construction seemed relatively similar to that of Myrdin's. However, it was built more like a militaryfortress than a royal palace, with its mana stones embedded in the darker, more polished ones.
Lokren briefly greeted the guards before we entered the already-opened doors, and I could tell that something was already happening on the inside, as there were a handful of dwarves shouting and pumping their fists in the air angrily.
What the hell happened here? I sent Mom with a raised eyebrow. Must be about the Thran, or worse, the pulses we've been feeling since we got here, she replied with a furrowed brow as she looked to the far side of the hall. That would make the most sense. I'm sure they're all frightened by whatever's causing them, Ysevel added. Only one way to find out, I said, giving my mom and Ysevel a nod as we began to approach the rabble of dwarves.
As I loosely took in the details of everything around me, I kept focused on the task at hand, since I knew we were likely going to be staying here for a reasonable amount of time. However, just as we got closer to the rabble, I couldn't help but feel an odd sensation in my core coming from Ysevel.
What is it? Are you alright? I asked, unable to sense any sort of danger around us. I'm fine, but I can't shake this strange feeling like I've somehow been here before, she sent back, furrowing her brow. I turned and reached over to her, grabbing her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze before she gave me a nod of reassurance that she was alright.
"Thoma?" I thought I heard a familiar voice call out from over the tops of the angry dwarven shouts that died down immediately. Unsure of what I'd heard, I turned to look in the direction I thought the voice was coming from, only to be met by two familiar faces.
"Holy shit, it is you! Gods above, it feels like forever since I've seen you!" Ed's familiar smile brightened, but while I wanted to run over to my best friend and hug him, I forced myself not to, because the second face wasn't one I was prepared to see with her arm locked with his.
Is that who I think it is? Kalia sent a probing look from beneath her helm, but I could already feel her rage and anger reaching a boiling point. Mom and Ysevel shared similar reactions, though they kept their thoughts to themselves.
Yeah, that's Meliss, I said, already struggling to push down the memories that flooded, feeling my own anger beginning to flare.