There was something about flying in on a massive ice disk that invoked a certain reaction from people but Ethan had to admit that the delegation standing in front of him didn’t even twitch when the group descended to the ground. That instantly gave them points in his book as it seems they had embraced the system and all the things that came with it. When the groups walked towards each other Andrew stepped forward with Ethan taking a stand just behind him on the right side. While he wanted to win more allies for his cause he knew Andrew was the right person to carry out the talks for now. But before he could even introduce himself a young looking dwarf stepped forward.
“Mar’Karak greets you! For thou and your companions have graced us with your presence on this historic day! We greet you-” A hand slapped the dwarf on the back of his head which caused him to stumble forward. The look of betrayal on his face as he rubbed his head was priceless. Ethan and even some of the guards had a hard time not to laugh.
“Martin! I thought we said talk normally… this isn’t one of those conventions you used to go to!” Another dwarf sighed and stepped forward, gently pushing Mar’Karak…or rather Martin back towards the others. The dwarves parted for their young member, their shoulders shaking from suppressed laughter. The person now standing in the front gave a little bow and offered Andrew a handshake.
While Ethan still tried his best not to laugh, Andrew seemed to be a bit more level headed and took the offered hand. Both dwarves seemingly tested the others' strength, their hands trembling from gripping or rather crushing the other. Their muscles in their arms bulged which was even visible despite their equipment. Both of them started to smile once they noticed that the person in front of them was as strong as them.
They kept this up for a while longer but in the end the other dwarf was still tapping out first, shaking his hand a bit and laughing. “It’s very nice to meet you. My name is Marshal and of course you already met Martin.” After he said the young dwarfs names he turned his head, the look on his face suggested he should keep his mouth shut. Indeed Martin had opened his mouth and closed it rather quickly, muttering something under his breath.
Andrew laughed and shook his head. “Don’t worry about the kid, he did no harm. My name is Andrew and behind me here is Ethan.” He waved in Ethan’s direction and looked over Marshal and the group he brought with him. They didn’t look that different from the group Ethan was with only the fact that some of them had weird looking symbols on the back of their hands or even on their equipment, which must have been the mentioned runes.
Ethan wanted to skip all pleasantries and discussion and just explore this new magic system for himself but alas there was a way how these things work and he was not against letting someone with a bit more experience handle this. So for now he stayed in the background but listened intently because someday in the not so far future he would have to negotiate for new allies just like this.
But it became apparent rather quickly that dwarves had a different mentally even if they were former humans, because it seemed a bit…easy. “We’re here to see if you guys would be interested in teaming up. It seems the system sent us here for a reason and this cavern is big enough to not only house us and you but a lot more dwarves. Especially with…some developments underway.” Andrew looked over to Ethan, Marshal following his gaze and raised an eyebrow.
“But as you know, strength in numbers is still important even if the system can allow an individual to grow to unspeakable powers. We aren't there yet. More now than ever could we use every helping hand, especially after we got attacked by a mole that found us through the mines…have you encountered them so far?” Andrew guided the conversation, teasing some knowledge that seemed to interest Marshal and casually throwing a life threatening enemy into the mix.
“Moles? I don’t believe we have, how big was it? The only thing we had to worry about so far were cave rats, even those already reaped their toll of lives from us. We had to stop mining in two of our three locations already and the prospectors haven’t found anything new so far. I share this so freely as we don’t really have anything to hide as you can easily see it for yourself if you venture deeper into the cavern towards our temporary home. It’s only a show of goodwill on my part.”
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Andrew nodded and stroked his beard. “I appreciate it, the moles I talk about are massive and vicious, their entire body looks made for combat and traversing the underground so be careful there as we only managed to kill it with Ethan’s help. Well now that we have an actual fortress to call home it makes us feel a lot safer. But I’m not a man for long fruitless talks, actions say far more than words in my opinion. Let’s meet again in a few days and if you are fine with it we can show you our part of the cavern.”
Marshal seemed to think about it for a moment before slowly nodding, he looked at Andrew, curiosity and determination in his eyes. “Aye, that sounds like a good idea. We haven’t interacted with other dwarves before so it will be good to see how you organize yourself.” They had another handshake, this one not dissolving into a strength before both groups separated. Ethan created his ice disk anew and his group was on their way back home.
During the flight the silence was heavy and nobody dared to be the first to talk. In the end it was Andrew who sighed and rubbed his face. “That went better than expected, this group is strong and I can feel it.” He looked at his hand which had started to turn purple in some places, his fingers shaking a bit. “Very strong…well at least their leader is, even going so far as to see if we would react in any way with that Martin kid.” Andrew turned to Ethan and smiled. “They would be a good addition to our little band of misfits. Let’s see if we can’t prepare a welcome for them in the following days.
All the warriors and Ethan nodded, Andrew was right it would only help if their group grew bigger and who knows how many dwarves were still spread out over this mountain range. All of them now in a better mood as they continued their journey home. With the fortress now mostly standing and everybody having a roof over their heads the dwarves could focus on expansion, their mine operation was in full swing again and the first tools, weapons and armor got finished by their respective crafters. Even through small celebrations for reaching milestones they stayed vigilant, they couldn’t start becoming too lax in their vigilance.
The body of the mole was convulsing rapidly while it laid in a pile of dead moles, from the largest and oldest of them to the young that had died instantly. The whole cave was filled with a sickly sweet scent of decay and rot. On top of the mountain of dead moles sat one figure, the body wrapped in white furs, green glowing eyes piercing the shadow of the hood. Eyes fixed on the convulsing mole.
Slowly the movement stopped and the mole got back to its feet, the slim muscular frame it had before was gone. The mole looked bloated like it would burst any second, the fur was deep black and slick with a green liquid that dripped to the ground, the stone sizzling the moment a drop of the liquid touched it. The long tail was split in half, spikes covering its entire length and instead of the graceful movement of the fully living counterparts this one jerked it around like it didn’t really belong to its body anymore. The entire face was gone, the nose was missing completely, rotted away during the transformation. The mouth had grown bigger, the teeth now extending all the way back down its neck, it could easily swallow a human or two in one bite.
The person jumped from the throne made of dead moles and patted the creation on its side. The mole shivering in fear but not moving away despite being physically stronger. The person with the green glowing eyes pointed down a tunnel and gave the mole a simple command. “Go now…there are things you need to kill…after that you can die for all I care.”
Despite its looks, the sickly scent it gave off or the malformed body nothing was lost in its physical strength, just the opposite in fact as when it launched itself forward bones were breaking from the strength it used. The blind mole screamed in pain but its bones were already fusing back together while it reached the tunnel. The creature slammed into the walls while it tried to fulfill its command, looking for a target it could kill. Deep inside of the feeling of fear and sadness consumed everything, it wasn’t an animal any more. Just a beast yearning for the warm embrace of death but magic and its own life force keep it going, no longer its own master.
