Crater Creator

3. Running with the Wind

Therefore, we take off to Mianach Óir. We rested two miles away from the settlement. I remember that Nalak said there were Goblin's that ravaged the miners. Well, that is great, that means that I have to go through narrow, tight, and complex tunneling systems. It is a terrible place to try to use a bow, so I try tying a sharp stone to the end of my walking stick. However, the only string I have is the sling on my quiver. Oh, I am so stupid I did bring rope with me. I have a rope but no sharp rock, so I am stumped. Nalak turns to me and says, "That bow won't help us in the mines. Here, take this dagger." To me this is not a dagger; it is a short sword. This is because I am a three-foot Gnome. The dagger is one foot long, engraved with tiny green emeralds in the hilt. The metal is silver and it is very light. I slashed at a branch; it spilled in two.

"Just in case you don't know," started Nalak, "Goblins are roughly the same size as a Dwarf. Goblins tend to hunt and patrol in groups; they have a higher advantage in packs. I saw the Goblins were being led by a Troll. Trolls are a bit larger than Human men are. They are also more muscular and powerful. They are intimidating but quite stupid. That is why I found it queer to see it leading Goblins in the mines. We did not have to fight the Troll. Hopefully, we won't ever!"

We gather up the camp and head off. It was not too long before we unexpectedly stopped. "Get down! There is a Sonora over there," said Nalak! "They are extremely dangerous. They can emit a high pitch sound that can explode your brain. They are aggressive because they have no armor, and they know that is a huge disadvantage toward them. They kill anything they see, the sound comes from their pores all over their body. We can't rush it, so we will have to distract it with something." Let us see if maybe we can throw a rock behind a bush. No, no that will not do It may be smarter than that. "Hey, Nalak does the Sonora use precision, or does it shoot all over the place?" "It focuses it," said Nalak, "Why?" "Well," I said, "If we can attract an animal to move over, there behind the trees and bushes. The Sonora will be so focused on the animal it will ignore us. Once we're behind it you can smash it in the back with your hammer." " Well strip me down to my undergarments and call me your Aunt Sally," Nalak oddly put. "I'm glad I asked you to come with me. I think I saw a bear a little bit back. You stay here and I'll go lure over there, be back in a flash." " Wait, wait I do not think that is such a good... and there he goes. Oh, those wrenched Dwarves. I guess I'll sit here and babysit the Sonora."

It has been hours since he left. Sonora has moved on, he is not here anymore. What is taking him so long? Should I track to see where he went, or stay here? What if I do not go, and I find him... What if I leave to go and find him and he comes back, to find that I have run off? After some time I concluded. Forget it, I am going after him, let the good lord Aizel watch over me.

Sometimes when I am unsure about a situation, I do a quick prayer to Aizel, the Watchful Protector. This is a God I made up because the Gnomes have pointless gods like the God of Rosemary bushes, or the God of nutrients. The Human Gods are about war, fire, destruction, and havoc; they are too violent for the likes of me. The Dwarves do not believe in gods at all, they think only the simple-minded believe in such tales. I made mine up so I could build just a little bit more confidence in me.

I follow the footsteps of the Dwarf, humongous compared to my tiny feet. I am very paranoid when it comes to places I have never to before. Therefore, I keep looking left and right, up and down to prepare myself for something. I see broken branches, critters tracks turning and running. Finally, I find bear tracks. I am not a tracker, but I know what I am doing.

Therefore, I can tell the bear put up a fight, but not with Nalak. Something else was here with them. I see hoofed prints, two of them, maybe a satyr. Maybe when Nalak came to get this bear the satyr wanted it for food or pelt. Satyrs are supposed to be in Dwarven Mountain's regions, not the woods. It appears as though one or two Satyrs attacked Nalak. I see footprints and hoof prints everywhere so that must have been a sword fight. What is this, orange blood? Huh, maybe Nalak wounded one of them. As I stand up, I hear a faint and deep war shout, coming from the North, towards the Dwarven Mountain. I unsheathed my bow, nocked my arrow, and was ready to fire. I run toward the shout. I find an outpost being invaded by Satyrs. One turned toward me, with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes, pulled out his dual-edged swords, and lunged at me. The beast did not even take its second step before it was lying on the ground. I tagged him right between the eyes, and with two quick pumps of my arm, another pair of enraged Satyrs joined the first. I then rush into the outpost.

I find Nalak being doubled teamed by Goblins and Satyrs. He was in trouble. I decided to start shooting arrows at the Goblin's surrounding Nalak. After I nocked three arrows and killed the Satyrs, I began to fire on the Goblins. I reached for another arrow and found I had only one. I put my back to Nalak, pulled my short sword out, and fought back-to-back with my companion. They attacked in a mob, fighting slovenly and slipshod. We backed into a tunnel. Nalak picked an explosive ball out of his pack and lit it on fire. He tossed it back to the cave entrance and we ran deeper into the cave. We brushed by a small group of Goblin's as the entrance exploded. Goblins and Satyrs flew from the blast and a support beam fell, causing the rocks to cave in and making it so nothing could get in.

We both are sweating, coughing, and dying of thirst. Nalak smiled and said, "You crazy ol' Halfling you could have gotten yourself killed." "Well," I said, "I could have let yourself get eaten by Goblins or strung up by your skin by the Satyrs. Alternatively, I could have saved your skin and meat by tracking and finding you. Which would you have preferred?" Nalak starts, "Now don't you get cocky with me little man. Thanks for coming after me, mate. Also, do you have a canteen on you?" I say, "Indeed I do, but you would probably prefer this." I hand him a canteen full of ale. "Mate, is this the ale you bought for me?" I said, "I'd buy ale for the road and so I did. It's a special canteen. Whatever liquid is put into it never runs out! Drink up! We have quite a journey ahead of us." I said. "Cheers to the capturing of my prince, may his footsteps sink into the very ground." Nalak cheered.