A Rattling Monster - Chapter 133：Audience with the King of the Mountain

I kept following Dustag, since he was going to join Thongril for the fake meeting. Apparently, none of them were really happy to announce my existence to the rest of the dwarf army, and absolutely not happy to let the humans hear that I am here. But, now, they will have too. And, it will be easier after doing this, for the reports from my spirits and all. Because, apparently, Meldun the king, was very happy about the fresh and reliable news, but his engineers not really. They were not called as often, and they were beginning to wonder how their king managed to know such things, even before them.

But, each time they verified a news, they saw that it was true, so in the end, they didn’t complain and just verified the validity of everything. That way, that allowed Thongril to see the power of my spirits. Talking about spirits, during the days of travel, I created 6 talking blue balls, or talking spirits, for the future. The number of wraiths is good enough, and I can’t currently create more lich. So here we are, in the audience room. And by we, I mean, I am right under the ground, Dustag, Gloni, and the two additional lieutenants that I forgot the names. In front of us, Meldun, the king, twenty Iron Beards, a lot of dwarves, one human knight and Thongril. The latter began to express his orders.

-I know that you are baffled by this sudden information, but it is true. The army of the ratmen are prioritizing the West, and right now, the situation is dire. In a few days, we will probably lose all the fortress on the side of the Deep Mountain, that will open a way to the capital. As you probably know, this will mean that the fortresses located in the eastern part of the Grey Mountain Kingdom will be at the mercy of the ratmen. We can’t let that happen, so, you will leave right now, and ask your different commanders to begin the retreat. Now, go, for Makan!

-FOR MAKAN!

I see the two lieutenants and Gloni leave and begin to run out of the room. Bori is already knowing this, but to gives the illusion, Gloni has to run too. Poor fellow, he had to run everywhere those past days. As for Dustag, he is currently anxious. He has no idea what he should do since he was here just to guide me. I knew where the room was, but I can’t say that. Because that would mean I am spying or someone with bad intentions could turn that information against me. Not a single chance I mess that up.

I can see the King of the Mountain look at the engineer, with a troubled face. I guess that should be his role to announce the news to the rest of the kingdom. But, there is a knight right here, and he is visibly very tired. I can even see some blood on his armor. He just came back from the front, and the fight was very hard. I know that. But, with a bit of luck, he isn’t the main general of the human army, meaning he won’t have the same power. I try to look, to see if he has anything special. But he is looking like the knights in Atria, except, more tired and exhausted.

-Knight of the Holy Kingdom of Aria, honorable members of the clans, I have reunited you in this day to talk about something that some could find impossible. I know that, in the last few days, you have heard me talk about things that are currently happening outside of the city. More specifically, talking about the battles with the ratmen. I informed you of very precise matters, things that none of you knew. Even my engineers were in the dark, but each time, I was right. Therefore, I will tell you how. You can raise now.

I guess he is talking to me. Should I come with all my wraiths? That would be very frightening. But at the same time, I will have to make them appear anyway. Better sooner than later. Leaving the ground, 9 ghosts can be seen appearing behind the poor Dustag. The moment we are doing this, I can see the pale faces of the dwarves and the colors leaving the face of the knight. He is trembling, and even fall on his butt. He truly didn’t expect the destroyer of Atria to come and appear here.

And now here I am, with still my form of a ratman, but less menacing. The only part that I never managed to reduce is the red eyes, with the dark light inside them. But now, I have a face looking more similar to a human, with just a nose particularly long. I guess that changes were not really appreciated at the same level that I do, because, they are still shouting and screaming. The only good thing is the lack of reaction from the Iron Beards. That’s good, if they were to overreact, they could probably hurt me. When the clamor finally stops, and everyone finds his calm once again, the discussion can be resumed.

-I know that you have a lot of questions about his, unexpected help. But know this my fellow dwarves, he is the reason of that information. And he helped greatly the eastern side, as this brave engineer can tell.

A moment of silence after this, and even with the king saying this, the poor Dustag is submerged with emotions. He really has a hard time finding his words, I guess he is not particularly high in the ranks of the engineers. So talking to the king himself, in front of all the clans, that’s a little hard. But finally, he regains his calm and starts to tell everything that happened. How I managed to spot the assassins and kill them. How I created a horde of zombies, allowing the dwarves to freely fire at the ratmen, without any casualties. How I knew the precise locations of the tunnels, and the incoming rat ogres, giving enough time to arm the cannons and targets the incoming threats. How, after the battle was over and the ratmen were retreating, I traveled to the eastern fortress and help the dwarves there. How I was responsible for those dark shadows that numerous warriors reported, the very same shadows that slaughtered the ratmen.

After saying this, Dustag was visibly shaken, and someone brought him a glass of water. But except that, silence reigns supreme here. No matter who they are, dwarves or the human knight, all were baffled by my actions. And I even have the support of the king and the Iron Beards, since not a single one of them moved to attack me. So clearly, the King of the Mountain has already decided of this.

-Mi-Mister dwarves, king Meldun. I am not feeling very well, excuse my departure.

The human says those words, and after that, quickly rush out of the room. I guess right, he isn’t really in charge. He will gather the different generals from the army of the holy kingdom, and come back here. Because I can see in his eyes the hate that he hides inside him. I am responsible for the death of his family, friends, people. The truth is, I know that at the end of this war, I will probably have to fight them. Until then, the dwarves will not allow any infighting, or, open actions. Meaning that if I or the humans make a move toward the other, Meldun will strike back.

But that departure provokes a huge noise from the other dwarves. Some are even calling Dustag a traitor, to side with the undead. None of them dare to say that to their king, but most are thinking along those lines. Even if my contribution speaks for myself, I am still, in the end, a ghost shaped like a ratman. And my wraiths are not exactly very friendly looking. More like, ready to kill everyone in this room. For a few minutes, Meldun lets all those dwarves do as they pleased. They are getting more and more overbearing, and some are even directly accusing the king to collude with the undead. When that sentence is pronounced, Thongril loudly smash the ground with his powerful axe.

-SHUT UP! WHO INSULTED THE KING? YOU, LONGBEARD? OR YOU, SHINYHAND? ANYONE ELSE?

That is extremely efficient, the calm is finally coming back. An angry warrior shouting at you is still as useful as ever. But Thongril didn’t end with just that.

-Listen, you know me. If there were a single chance that one of our dwarves was injured or dead because of that ghost, I would have personally beheaded him a long time ago. But in this war, his information was extremely useful. And his army is very strong, he is capable of creating undead to defend our proud kingdom. Do you want more dwarves to die, or let some mere zombies take their place? Because that’s the current choice? As for his deeds with the Holy Kingdom of Aria, he acknowledged it. He didn’t deny it in the slightest, but he also told me that it’s a war between the humans and him. And it won’t be a problem in this more important war. As for trusting a single word of what he said, of course, I won’t. But his acts are talking, and they are irreproachable. So tell me, what do you want, noble dwarves?