A Rattling Monster - Chapter 122：Finding the Dwarves

DIE! In front of me, dozens of ratmen were laying on the ground, dead for good. In those past days, after I escaped Ronta and the horde of ratmen, I traveled to the North, toward the mountains of the dwarves. What I didn’t expect was the sheer numbers of ratmen located between me and my objective. Even now, I still encounter groups of slaves and weak warriors. The good thing is, they are not infected with the same poison as the one fighting me near Ronta. So I can finally regenerate my mana.

-Master, every slave is dead. We also killed the three assassins located above us.

Good work number one, you did very well against those lowly lives. The new number one is even better than the previous one, but he is a lot scarier than before. Since I couldn’t make my army travel and because of the number of ratmen, I couldn’t create more lich or ghouls. So, I finally put in action my idea about the spirits. And therefore was created number one, two, three, and four. My four wraiths, the first undead of my ghost army. Strangely, I managed to accomplish something I thought was impossible.

Yes, I am talking about their weapons. I don’t know if it is because they are not really living or material, but they possess a scythe and a cloak. Meaning, they are literally the personification of the grim reaper, you know, all the images about Death. Maybe because I imagined them like that, but I was really baffled by the presence of the clothes and weapons. I will have to try it later, with my skeleton warriors. Because if I can create something for them, they will be a lot better than just some naked ghouls or zombies.

As for the cost of my wraith? Nearly the same as my [Purple Moon], but it is totally worth it. Imagine something coming from the ground and cutting your legs while you are walking. Or, even if you are climbing a wall in a cavern, you can still be hit by something from the other side of the wall. The only fact that I permanently have my [Veil of Darkness] activated, to protect me, has reduced the number of wraiths that I could create. But, better live with less undead than die with a lot of them.

But that forces me to sometimes use my orbs to kill the fleeing ratmen. The moment one dies, everyone instantly split up and it is a nightmare for me and my troops to catch everyone. Even if my wraiths are two times faster than a ratman and don’t have the problem of stumbling on obstacles, twenty ratmen running in multiple directions is too hard to catch. And I have no idea if it is really the real direction, it has been two days since we entered the mines.

(I told you, we need to go North, but two mountains have fallen in the hands of the ratmen. Or at least were destroyed, so I have no idea if this one was destroyed a century ago or days ago. And how am I supposed to know which tunnel lead to where? There are dozens of them, some are destroyed, some not. Were they destroyed intentionally and you need to float through the rubbles? I don’t know. This time, I have to admit, I have no idea of where we are going, except that we are still going toward the North.)

Ok, now I have three choices, right, slightly to the right, forward? What should I do?

(Right is blocked, forward is blocked and slightly to the right is … blocked. Damn, I failed to see that coming. Ok, I … I … have no clues.)

Great, fantastic, I am lost and you are lost too. Why didn’t I expect that when you first propose that stupid plan? No, we were in some plains, with a lot of vision around us. We could have defended Lucia, use the ramparts to protect my undead. And even if we failed at that, I could still have floated fast enough to reach Atria and reform my army there. Instead, we are in some dark and humid tunnels, completely lost, and I don’t even want you to ask me to float through something that is not a tunnel. Because at that point, I can stay in the stone for a good amount of time before I exit.

(Ok, I was just thinking that you could have found a big cave by doing this, but if you don’t want fine. Ok, spirits in front are all in hundreds of meters of stones, so nothing, oh wait, a dead end. To the right, however, past the destroyed tunnels, I see a big cave. And no ratman inside, well, no ratman visible at least. But I still see some destroyed buildings from the dwarves. Let’s go to the right.)

I float with my four ghosts through the rubble inside the tunnel. For a few minutes, we see nothing, it was truly a destroyed tunnel. When we finally leave it, I can see what Oslo was describing, more broken things and no sign of life. I sigh after seeing this, I should have never trusted that god, thinking that it was a smart plan. It always goes wrong at some point. After that, Oslo points the direction of the North, and I float toward that. Broken houses, check, broken stone tables, check, broken well, check. Broken gate, check too. All is broken and nothing seems to be recent, a lot of dust is circling around me. So, at least, I know that I am inside one of the two former mountains of the dwarves.

That gives me a slight hope that they are all still alive. I just want the army that was facing the ratmen to not be completely destroyed, to still have some troops. Because otherwise, just the sea of ratmen will bypass all their explosives and overrun the dwarves. And I hope they are not currently fighting, to make me more useful at creating undead. Maybe I can even ask them to supply me with some blood, allowing me to …

(You really think they will accept this? Feeding blood to an undead?)

Hey, I was not the optimistic god that told me to join the ranks of the dwarves. You are already betting on them allowing me to live and fight side by side. If you are capable of imagining that, I don’t understand why supplying some blood to me will that big of a problem.

(True, that’s true. Ok, keep going, four tunnels. Great. I love this country.)

Same here, best thing ever. I am even beginning to regret the desert of the djinns. Ok, you know what I am done, this time I choose the tunnel, and it will be … slightly right.

(Again? Well, if you want, let me check your failure. Annnnnnnnnd, no you were right. That’s a viable tunnel, destroyed, but in the end, it opens another cave.)

Sigh, I am not even happy to know that. Just another cave, great news. I will be able to see more broken things laying around, that’s so good.

(Hold on, there is nothing on the ground, the cave is clean. Is it bad or good?)

Honestly, I have no clue. I would say that, since a tunnel reaches this cave, clean means some dwarves have gone inside it. I hope. Broken things are bad, they mean that no one care about them and they are useless. So that’s a good thing, try to find a tunnel open for real.

(Ok, let me see, I have only one tunnel, it is a big one and … YES! FOUND THEM!)

For real? Are they here?

(Well, not really, I just found some explosives inside the tunnel. So they are expecting the ratmen to pass through it or they will blow this tunnel in a few minutes. But that means someone is nearby or watching the exit, let me see, ok, they are defending the exit. That means, it should be one of the first lines of defense from the dwarves. Like, the ratmen pierced many destroyed and sealed tunnels, they arrive here, they saw the dwarves, they warn their fellows, they attack and BOOM! No more ratmen!)

Yes, I finally reach the tunnel, but where are the explosives? I search for a few seconds, and I only see a grenade behind some rocks. They have really hidden well the trap, I can see it because of my vision and the vision of the spirits. After checking that, however, I follow the trail of ghost near the tunnel. I can’t just float inside the tunnel and leave by the normal exit. That would mean, expecting the dwarves to not make everything explode when they see a ghost ratman floating toward them. No one would do this.

After exiting fifty meters away from the tunnel, I see all the dwarves guarding it. They can’t see me since I am above them and they are too focused on the tunnel. They have already built some small stone wall, to block the incoming ratmen. I can see some holes dug too, they have really prepared it well. A little farther, I see a true fortress, a real one. Inside, in a room, a dwarf clearly wearing clothes from a higher quality. That should be the commandant. I float inside the roof of the cave, and only above the fortress, I fall down. I am so silent that the dwarf isn’t even noticing my arrival and the four ghost accompanying me. He is too absorbed reading the report on his desk. Maybe I should do something.

Cough cough