Crater Creator

15. Body Count

I open my eyes to see that I fell asleep on the fountain with the rock still in my hand. Zunlin is still soundly asleep as if I was gone for a mere twenty minutes. I look around the rock corner, to see the storm is no more. I awake Zunlin; he only slightly moves to push my hand away. I give a small smile, and I crave into the rock with Dreams daggers. It reads, "Take this gem to Nalak, move with haste. I will be with Gimrak, and if you can, prevent Nalak from trying to come and get me. Thank you Zunlin, I'm sorry I ever doubted you, goodbye friend." I place the gem into his hands, and he turns over, rolling away from me. I throw my jacket over him, keeping the sand from hitting his face. I grab my bag, leave the cave, moving back to the grassland, and begin following Dreams trails.

I stop at a river and splash water onto my face, washing away all the grime and dirt. I take what may be my last sip from my flask, "Well Chris you did it," I say into the reflecting water, "You traveled through Dwarven Mountain's, fought goblins, saved loved ones, and now are the last hope for A'Hearn. Remember the last hunt, when you tracked down that buck, it feels like so long ago. You went from an adept hunter to armor-less knight, with the power of the Golems at your side. Well, wait until Gimrak sees me now. Let's go hunt some Dwarves!" I jump up and climb a tree, to scout the area. There, there he is, Gimrak! A Dwarf with black armor, and the ball I have been tracking for a week, the Crater Creator. I pull out my bow, and knock one of the blue arrows; I aim at Gimrak's leg. He is moving toward the gorge, and the Tainted Elves move ahead of him. They are creating a dark green gas that moves above the gorge. The gas slowly heals the gorge, but then I see a bow arrow fly out of the tree line, and strike one Tainted Elf. Gimrak orders them to protect the bridge, as he hurries across the bridge. I fire my arrow at his leg, but one accursed Elf jumps up to take the arrow. I hear a bird whistle come from the tree line, ordering me to shoot. I knock three arrows and kill two blockers and one builder. The bridge begins to shake, but Gimrak is still running. Dream and I are shelling the builders until the bridge slowly crumbles away. At the last second, he jumps to the other side and drops the ball onto the other side of the gorge. He is scrambling to get up but finally gets up. I have but one arrow left, but there is no way I can make the shot from here. A blue smoke cloud forms at the tree line and Dream runs out with his sword and I hop down from the tree with my, "his", daggers we both meet up running straight toward the few remaining Elves. Dream slashes, dashes at them, and I run directly toward one, and knock him over, throwing him into the gorge. Gimrak laughs an evil laugh, "You fool, you tracked me down this whole time, just to stand there and watch your land crumble. Say hello to the most powerful creatures, trapped behind a wall for centuries. I release the beasts from their slumber!" He throws the ball in front of the large metal gate, creating a small dark green orb; rapidly expanding that stands as tall as the door itself. I pull out my arrow and aim it at Gimrak's head and fire, but the arrow vaporizes as the orb grows bigger and bigger. Dream grabs my shoulder, "Run, we got to run!" We begin sprinting back to the tree line, but it blows before we can get there, throwing us into the air.

A loud ringing in my ears and my vision is slow. I turn to look, I see millions upon millions of monsters, and creatures flood into the outside. Dream picks me up and shakes me vigorously. Dream says, "That's it, there's no way we can stop this nightmare, we have failed." He drops to his knees and tears fill his eyes. I place my hand upon his shoulder, "Not yet, I have one secret trick that Gimrak did not foresee. I call for the Golem's to side with me!" I shout into the air. Nothing seems to change; the air is still, so I repeat the words, still nothing. As I keep shouting the words, I see a Troll jump over the gorge and walk toward us. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm sorry, we have failed." The Troll lifts its hand, only to have a large boulder hit its face. The Troll falls with a screeching howl. Dream gets up to see that the Troll is dead, and an Earth stands to take the Trolls place. Dream cannot believe his eyes; I mean who would? These things have been proclaimed dead for millions of years. I climb onto the Earth and Dream does the same. Undead archers, begin shooting our Earth. He blocks it with his hand; I yell out, "When they shoot at you, do you mind handing us the arrows that stick to your hand?" He or it gives a nod, as he throws the palm of his hand into our reach. Dream and I pluck them off and shoot the archers. I am up to shoot the flying creatures to see the Airs clashing with them, throwing them into the Dwarven Mountain or grabbing them and hurling toward the ground. Another Troll, much bigger than the last approaches us, the Earth raises his hands to block the oncoming strikes. The Troll is stronger the Earth, the Troll lets out a yell and raises his fist only to be crushed by a huge boulder. Not an Earth, but the Dwarves from high above see the Golems, and they know that they are under attack. I can barely see them, but I hear mini-explosions from above and I see creatures dropping like flies. Water spills from the Dwarven Mountain, and the Waters emerge. Then torches are thrown summoning the Fires. The Earth carrying us jumps the gorge as if it was just a step. We jump off and land onto a Goblins head, I'm cutting through these goblins like butter on toast, as opposed to that dagger that Nalak gave me, the one with the rusted tip. These daggers are fast and light; I could get to like them. I cut down another Goblin and then they begin running back to the cave. They are not graceful of runners, for as they run they are constantly tripping and staggering. Dream and I laugh as they flee away.

Near the mouth of the cave glows the very same green light the orb cast. The Goblins stop and cower in fear of the light. The light reveals Gimrak, but he has been morphed into a creature that stands as tall as the cave door. Dream speaks up, "Of all the things I thought I would see today Golems and Giants never crossed my mind?" A stampede of Earths moved toward the hulking mass of flesh but they stand no higher than an eighth of his size. They try to stop him but they just are thrown back, some fall into the chasm another smash into the trees. The other Golems take notice and proceed to aid their fellow friends. The Airs fly down to push back the Giant but he just blows them back like a hurricane. Waters ice the floor below his feet to trip him but he just crushes the ice and smashes the ground, causing cracks and forcing the Waters to fall through. The Fires could not even try to get close, the floor was coated with water, and they would extinguish. The Dwarves focus their fire onto the Giant's head; launching large boulders and spewing hot oil onto his head, the Giant proceeds to climb the mountain, stopping every moment to wipe the oil off his face. A yell comes from the tree line and all the Golems turn into their original state. Senex leaves the cover of the foliage, begins to cast brown lightly, and chants toward the mountain. The Giant reaches the top of the mountain, begins grabbing the Dwarves and buildings, and throw them off the mountain. Senex chants louder and the light glows brighter. He finally shoots the light at the mountain, the ground begins to rumble, and the mountain shakes. The Giant holds on tightly as the mountain becomes one, massive Earth. The Giant is simply plucked off and tossed down the gorge; he falls with a terrifying and guttural scream. The Earth sinks back into the ground and reforms into the mountain.

I am relieved, but then the ground begins to shake, it is not over just yet. I hear the sound of the ground cracking and rocks being ripped off the sides of the gorge, and then near the chasm, large, hardened hand peaks over the rock. Dream is at a loss for words and Senex is shocked, I reach back for that arrow I had saved, it is gone. I order Dream to fall back, but he stands still, he is frozen. I try pulling him but he does not budge. Gimrak is climbing out of the chasm, but his eyes prey for us. His eyes meet mine, he is enraged, and I am scared. He finishes climbing out and sprints toward me. I lunged out of the way and Gimrak picks up Dream and tosses him toward the tree line. "No Dream, you bastard you murdered him, just as you murdered my only friend! I will not have you kill anymore; your days of terrorizing A'Hearn are over. Today you thought you'd become King of the Dwarves, but today you ran a crossed me." He laughs, "And just how do you intend to fight me? You're nothing but a pathetic Gnome, against a mighty Giant, watch me merely step on you during our last 'fight'." " You don't know the power of the Gnomes, face your death!"

I howl like a wolf, as I morph into a large, mighty, and powerful Giant. My chest is covered by a large, red chest plate, my legs are red too, and my helm is a bar of bright silver. My bow becomes a grand two-handed battle-ax, brown handle with a sharp red hilt, and the blade of the ax is bright silver. I scream, "For Nalak Spiritsmasher!" I throw my ax at Gimrak's chest; he knocks it away and proceeds to run at me with his fists high. He clocks my face with his strong left hand and tries to reach for my neck. I take the hit, but though I am dazed, I threw myself back from him. He reaches for me again and I push his chest back and jump on top of him. I am bashing his head and he grabs me and flips me over his head. My back hits the ground and he is walking towards my ax. I reach for a large rock that landed next to me when the cave blew up. It is out of my reach, but still, I strain my arm. I can hear him approaching me; my fingertips are touching it. I look up to see him raising the ax over his head, I then grab the rock and stab it into his tendon on the back of his foot. With a loud cry, he falls, dropping the ax. He falls onto his back and now I wield the ax and I lift, "Until death will we fight again." I dig my ax into his skull and leave him there. I shrink down to the ground and sluggishly see the Dwarves running toward me as I blackout.