A Guide to Kingdom Building - Chapter 168

“What’s with dis place?” Ghwynmyr asked the surviving Orkamuu while putting some pebbles on his palm.

“It’s an odd one, my friend.” Wahakim answered as he slowly rose from the mud and revealed a stump where his left arm used to be. “This place is too sensitive to sound; a little careless movement and your slight voice might turn into a shout here.” He held his stump as he grimaced from the pain.

Ghwynmyr looked around and whispered as low as he possibly could. “W-whut ‘appened to dat?” He asked.

Wahakim smiled tiredly at him, “I tried, my friend. I tried to help our friend, Urfaal but, alas, it was all for naught! I slipped and dropped myself on the ground the thud it caused caught those wretched monsters’ attention and so, they punished me and my brethren.” He sighed as he looked at the deep puddle of mud.

Ghwynmyr felt the pain and frustration on his voice. He understood that feeling since he had to go through that as well. He knew about the pain it caused him miserably for as long as he lived. He placed his hand over the poor Orkamuu’s shoulder and squeezed it.

“A-apologies, lad…if only I—”

The Orkamuu shook his head and took his hand from his shoulder. “I need no pity, my friend. I need to avenge them and escape this hellhole!” He said while pointing at Urfaal. “You better hurry, my friend. Time is not on our side.”

Ghwynmyr nodded and began to execute his plan. “I’m goin tah need ya tah stay more in dat puddle.” He pointed at the thick, muddy basin they submerged in earlier.

Wahakim went back to the puddle and dipped himself in.

“Tis goin tah be fun!” Ghwynmyr grinned. “Yah have weapons?”  The dwarf looked around, trying to find something he could use to protect himself. He knew pretty well that their hides are harder than any armor ever created.

Wahakim shook his head, “We have nay. Our weapons have been stolen by those monsters.”

“Stole weapons, ah?” Ghwynmyr raised an eyebrow, “What’re doin’ with those?!” He asked.

“They cut my arm using my own weapon.” Wahakim answered grimly.

Ghwynmyr nodded as he gritted his teeth, “Where dem hiding it?”

Wahakim pointed at the cave opening just past the broken pillars, a walking distance from the muddy puddle that once hid. The nest-like cocoons hanging beyond the opening of the cave loomed a vibe of danger from the get-go.

“Do dey bring ’em weapons once dey come in?” Ghwynmyr asked.

Wahakim nodded, “They do.” he looked at Ghwynmyr, doubting his plan. “W-what are you planning to do?”

“Watch me,” Ghwynmyr nodded at him.

He stealthily crawled his way near the opening and placed some of the pebbles he picked up earlier. He pressed the small stones gently on the ground, while writing wards on the damp ground. He took a handful of mud and discreetly put some on the pillars before placing runes and some peebles.

He bravely went deeper into the cave, into the lair of the beasts. Either Ghwynmyr was crazy or just a very dwarf, but his actions were gamble far too risky for anyone to think of, let alone do. However, he was confident of his skill. He was trained to do it, as a rebel he took out many Principalian knights with their sneaky tactics, as a fyrwrym killer, he easily snuck behind a dragon and stole its well-kept treasure. This was nothing different albeit it was twice dangerous.

He went farther and saw the monsters high up the cave ceilings hanging upside down with their weapons held tightly in their arms. It was impossible for Ghwynmyr to steal it from that height and from their grip.

He instead opted for another route. He discreetly wrote runes on the walls at the base of the cave’s ceilings and connected it with the runes he made earlier. He made a long line of runes coming back to the puddle at the opposite side of the cave.

“What are these runes?” The Orkamuu asked. “Are these traps?” He asked as he held the stump of his amputated arm.

“Had meself sick of dis monstars!” Ghwynmyr said. “If only tis was given a chance, we could’ve…” He looked at Wahakim and told what he meant through his gaze. He nodded at them signaling it was time. He instructed Urfaal and Wahakim to stay quiet while he executes his plan.

As both his comrade waited silently in bated breath for his plan to begin, Ghwynmyr went back to the cave opening and with a pebble on hand, he started his plan. He took a deep breath and spoke to the pebbles under his breath.

“Blhst, yhr gryt fyr grnt mh! (Your great fire grant me, explosion!)” Suddenly, the small stones lit up in his hand and threw it to the other side of the cave. He immediately hid at one of the pillars to protect himself from the explosion he planned to execute.

“Co’er yer ears!” Ghwynmyr shouted to lure the creatures near the stones.

“I can’t move from here!” Urfaal reminded him.

“Gods’ balls!” He shouted back. “Grit yer teeth, lad. We haf no other way!”

Not a moment passed, and a strong gust the strong gust of wind was approaching them. His shout lured in, he took a look and saw six of them getting towards them. Ghwynmyr grinned, he knew it was only a matter of time for them to meet their doom.

Just as the monsters got near the glowing, hot stones, he immediately snapped his fingers creating a small explosion with the pebbles flying chaotically towards the unsuspecting monsters. The stones were small, but with his magic, it became effective enough to pierce the monster’s tough hide. The trap took down all six of them, they plummeted into their doom, while they wailed the last ounce of life in them.

After seeing such devastation, he immediately touched the stones he placed in each of the pillars, before running towards the puddle to hide. Finally, the flock was rattled! From the other end of the cave, they could hear the screeches and wails of the monsters approaching their dead.

The gust of wind suddenly turned into a wild storm, Ghwynmyr and Wahakim had no choice but to submerge themselves in the sticky mud so as not to get blown away by the sheer force of wind blowing towards them.

Wahakim held dearly for his life as the puddle of mud they thought could save them from the storm was no longer effective against the strong gust of wind that approaching them.

“H-how l…long…should we hold on?!” Wahakim shouted as his hand slowly slipped from the rock that was lodged in the puddle’s opening.

Ghwynmyr looked at the approaching monsters. The last thing he wanted was timing the rocks to explode too earlier or too late. He knew that an error like that could spell their doom. The swarm of the bat-like monsters had finally passed the pillar.

He grinned at Wahakim and snapped his fingers, “Now!”

The stones blasted the pillars, leaving most of the creatures trapped while the rest of the swarm crushed beneath the dead white pillars. The impact from the heavy pillars falling to the ground caused more damage than the petty rock he planted in between the white stones.

Some of the monsters were thrown to the puddle from the powerful impact. However, Ghwynmyr had other things in mind.

“Skwyr!” He shouted as sharp spikes emerged from the ground and skewered the thrown monsters into their deaths.

The monsters tried to fight their way out of the spikes using the last bit of life they had, but the sharp protrusions on the ground proved to be deadly for them. Their bodies slowly limped as they were losing their blood in the spikes.

As their lifeless body hung in the spikes, Ghwynmyr took their weapons and gave one sword to Wahakim.

“I know tis ain’t yers, but should this do fer now?” He asked.

Wahakim looked at the gladius blade and twirled it around before giving him a grin. “This is not mine,” he said. “But this will do!”

Ghwynmyr looked up at his friend and smiled. “Justah lil bit longer, Urfie!” He looked at the barred cave opening. “We’ll get yah out of ‘ere after we deal wid ’em!” He pointed at the remaining monsters who were crawling on the ground dazed and confused.

“What are we going to do with them?” Wahakim pointed at them.

Ghwynmyr grinned, “Activate the rune, now! And make sure to hide as deep as you can in that puddle!” He instructed.

Wahakim nodded and smack the rune with his hand filled with flames. The flame ran through the runes lighting them up in a mellow red and yellow flame, racing towards the lines he created himself. Ghwynmyr looked at the flames intently as it finally reached the other end of the cave and smiled as the nests started to glow and explode just behind the downed monsters.

He jumped back into the puddle with a content look on his face, knowing that the bat-like monstrosities could no longer be an annoyance to them.