Crater Creator

4. Family Reunion

We decided to wait a while and catch our breath. The area around us was drenched in the filth of Goblins. There was another tunnel that led to Aizel knows where. We were lucky enough to find a lantern with oil. I knew we had to go through that tunnel eventually, but we rested a bit. I had to break the silence, by asking about what had happened to Herzad. "Nalak, what happened to the High King Herzad exactly?"

Disgruntled he said with a hateful tone, "The High King Herzad was a very wise king, he was the inventor of a lot of tools we Dwarves use now. He ruled Vontüll when I was a mere lad. He was indeed my idol. I prayed and strived to be as great as him, so I may rightfully be the High King of Vontüll. Nevertheless, sadly enough, the King's coupling outside of his marriage has prevented this. Back then, we had peace with all races, Humans, and Pure Elves; this is after the Gnomes were brought down by the Pure Elves. Vontüll is an enormous city built on top of the highest Dwarven Mountain in all of A'Hearn, the land we all live on in case you did not know. The first-born had made Dwarven Mountain their home. They carved out the inside of the Dwarven Mountain the old-fashioned way, with steel pickaxes. It took them hundreds of years to build their city. When they finally completed their build, they decided amongst themselves that Herzad should be their ruler. Inside of the Dwarven Mountain is the sacred city of Vintunder where none other than Dwarf-kin is allowed. The reason why is when we had peace with those...Pure Elves, we allowed them to come and study our history. The Pure Elven King came to Herzad to demand that he must destroy Vintunder or else dreadful creatures would rise from the ground and kill everyone. They said that "Heh, so you mean to tell me," he started laughing as he was talking, "that this city is a beacon for the 'unholy' creatures from a place where the 'demons live'." Herzad laughed in the Pure Elven king's face, I mean who can blame him. Once religion comes up, especially as asinine as demons and devils, dwarves no longer care what you have to say. Therefore, the sly Pure Elven King sliced off Herzad's head with a Dwarven great-sword that was given to the Pure Elf King to show respect to the Elven race. My memory is very vague about what happened after the betrayal. All I know is that we chased the Elves into their hidden Grassland. They drew in the dirt that created a huge raven separating the Dwarven Mountain and Ídchanar. They created Devils Drop to prevent us from crossing into their territory. They hid in Ídchanar instead of running farther away. They use hidden tunnels to sheath themselves from opposing enemies. It is because their mortal form can die, but not when they are in their spiritual form.

As it turns out the Pure Elves were right. Lichs and thousands of other vile and foul, undead, creatures rose out of the ground. They attacked when we set the High King's coffin into the ground. They rose from the old graves of fallen Dwarves. We had to seal the entrance and build on top of the Dwarven Mountain. No one in the entire world is permitted to go in there. Wait, tie my beard into a noose, and hang me with it. Gimrak is not after Vontüll, he is going to demolish the entrance and release all the deadly creatures. You think Satyrs and Goblins were nasty. They were small enough to escape, but the Lichs and other undead creatures remain tucked away in the Dwarven Mountain. The worst part is I do not know what else lies under the Dwarven Mountain. Anyway, I think we have rested long enough. Let's get a move on before we are found."

As we tread on, we walk past the corpses of Dwarves and Goblins. Weapons scattered all across the ground, bloodstains on the walls, walls collapsed and Goblin's lie under the rocks. It reeks on death and I felt as if there was something still alive, something faintly brushing aside me. As I did a full sweep, I could see miles and miles show an abundance of bodies. The air tasted foul and I can hear the pitter-patter of drops of water hitting the hard, cold, and bare rock. I can also hear the running footsteps echoing throughout the caves. We walk past a mineshaft full of precious gems, jewels, and a miscellaneous of others. It seemed just a waste to leave all this undefen... wait, whose shadow is that behind the rock.

Without hesitation, I pointed out to Nalak, "Nalak I see movement over there behind the rock." Nalak stopped and said, "It's nothing but a greedy Goblin, you wait here I'll go cut its throat." He pulls out a small, gold, and pronounced dagger and slowly creeps up the moving shadow. He disappears behind the rock and lets a bird whistle telling me to come over here. It turns out to a badly injured Dwarf, drenched in blood. He turns to Nalak grasping his hand and says quietly in Dwarvish, "Nalak vїn tul senj gul sëlta ol Vontüll..." Then he said in the common tongue, "Stop Gimrak before he destroys all of A'Hearn, goodbye Nalak royal guard and son of Bulhig." He dies with an eerie groan, as his hand ceases to grip Nalak's, he lets out his last breath, cold and chilling.

A tear runs down Nalak's face, as he places the lifeless Dwarf's hand on his chest. He says in a very slow and sad voice, "My fellow miner, my Dwarven brother, my friend; you have done your best to fend off that accursed prince. Rest now and wake when you see the grand fortress in the sky and the High King Herzad resting upon the throne of Caelum. Farwell, Jervaid."

Nalak sheds a tear as he closes Jervaid's eyes and places two small gold coins on top of Jervaid's eyes. Nalak sniffles as he picks himself up then brushes past me. He wipes the tears from his eyes then says, "We should get a move on, we must not linger." He says it in a serious tone, but his voice is crackly and chocking. He was fighting the tears, but they were overwhelming him. His eyes are watery and red; he kept rubbing his eyes, in denial of what just happened.

His silent mourning then changes from, about to burst into tears, too, a hateful, merciless, dangerous, and horrendous mercenary. He spies a party of Goblin's patrolling the area and lunges toward them. The Goblin has chittered and point at the Dwarf wielding a sword and a hammer. They create a formation to stop Nalak, but this did nothing. Nalak broke their lines; in a flash, he tore open the Goblins by knocking their heads off with the hammer. Hacking and slashing at their exposed chest until their guts spewed out. It came down to the last Goblin, Nalak threw down his weapons, and the Goblin shocked with fear turned to run. Nalak grasps him, turns around toward the Goblin so he can look into the Goblin's eyes, and squeezes his head until it popped. Nalak drops the headless Goblin and lets out a war shout in Dwarvish, calling for Gimrak. The shout was loud enough to shake the Dwarven Mountain.

One Goblin stood up and let out a loud screech, maybe a call for reinforcements. Nalak turned right round, reached into the Goblin's mouth, and pulled out its throat. It was indeed gruesome and I could not take it all in so I fainted. I awoke to Nalak to find that he was not there. Luckily and unfortunately, there was a lot of blood, which caused him to create footprints of blood. I plugged my nose and jumped over the deceased Goblins. I follow the trail to a hole in the wall with the stench of Goblin and another I have not smelt before. I carefully examine the hole to make sure it is not rigged or leads to a straight shot down. It looked like it was safe enough to climb. I found it was not booby-trapped at all, so I climb into the hole.