On the way to the Depths of Davora.
A couple of the aforementioned days later.
After spending some time as guests of the local dwarves and testing the durability of my draconic body with local food, we finally set out to exterminate the monsters.
Besides the clan head himself and the Old Beards — the oldest and wisest (read: most influential) members of the clan, several dozen identically armed soldiers also went with us.
Chainmail, a flattened helmet, long halberds, and shields.
Just the thing against various monsters and beasts.
Without any sarcasm — it was a really good choice for holding many creatures in melee and allowing archers, or mages like us, to mow down various beasts.
“What are you staring at, elf?” their commander grunted not too friendly — the same Old Beard in armor who had been with their leader at our hiring negotiations.
Ha.
A dragon hires himself out to dwarves so they can build him a lair.
Where in fantasy has that ever been seen, heh-heh?..
“Just the situation is a bit amusing and unusual,” I said, shrugging.
“I don’t recall our races ever fighting side by side.
And now this picture…” I gestured with my palm at the clan troops marching towards our goal.
“Well, we never had common enemies either…
And then these creatures showed up…” the gnome clenched his hand, clad in skillfully made plate armor, causing the metal to even creak.
“In general, I understood the description of these creatures…
But the question is different: did you poke them with torches?
Checked for fire resistance?” I inquired, also striding briskly to keep up with the fast-marching dwarves.
I recognized some of the described ones, some I didn’t.
But the strange thing was something else.
They attacked jointly and simultaneously, even though, by all accounts, they belonged to species that should be competing for territory.
And since they aren’t sentient creatures either, they should have been fighting each other first, not charging as a single mob at the dwarves.
“No,” came the gloomy reply.
“Our miners had no time for that, nor did the guards forced to protect our workers…
What was that guard even posted for?
To prevent skirmishes and theft of our diamonds, and then bam, these creatures came crawling…” shook his head, I think, Ertruff, touching the long scar on his face, similar to the one Geralt had in the third game.
“Then we’ll have to be patient,” I replied, folding my hands behind my back.
“We are most talented in fire sorcery and striking enemies with it…” it was quite obvious that fire-breathing reptiles would be most talented in this element.
“So first, we’ll test the creatures for fire resistance,” I shrugged, not really knowing what else to use besides Fire.
The combat potential of Water is limited; using Earth in an underground area is an elaborate form of suicide, even in places with these supports and adits, it seems.
Maybe lightning…
We could try that after the flame.
And even then, it’s not certain…
So, something from the more complex spells of illusions and those related to spatial manipulation?
Difficult, difficult.
But if it were otherwise, the short-statured bearded folk would have handled it themselves.
“Flame?
Ho!
Then I’ll be glad to see these creatures burn in sorcerous fire!” the dwarf grinned with an evil glint in his eyes, clearly having come to hate the creatures that crawled out of the caves.
Mentally chuckling at his maniacal expression, I fell back slightly from the front of the column and returned to Nimue, who, during the march, had managed to chat with the head of the local mine, who had personally witnessed the appearance of the creatures in the mine shafts deep within the quarry.
The quarry, which finally became visible to us after a half-day’s march.
And I must note, given the locals’ lack of magic and technology of at least the twentieth century, this quarry was simply enormous and incredibly deep.
Just like some insults from the concussed representatives of one amusing thing from my past life.
But let’s not dwell on the negative moments; a whole heap of creatures awaits us here, ones that the best melee warriors on the entire Continent couldn’t handle.
Only elven rangers at range or heavy human cavalry can stand against them.
In infantry, the short folk have no equal, and for something like that to be driven back in the narrow corridors of mines, which can be completely blocked with shields and prevent flanking…
Yeah, we’re clearly in for anything but easy work, anything but…
And the advantages of my draconic race won’t help either.
I hate underground areas.
“Right here,” Gunnrad’s voice rang out as he stood on an artificial ledge before the enormous quarry.
“After we got to the upper levels where light reaches, they didn’t follow us, although some of them definitely wouldn’t have been harmed by the sun.”
“Merlin, do you sense it too?” the golden dragoness in elven form immediately turned to me.
“Hmm…
Yes.
And it’s interesting…” I also approached the edge, ready to revert to my draconic form just in case.
“Let’s see…
Tân, Dewch.
Tyrd, Tyrd I Sancteiddio’r Tân.”
After the words in the Elder Speech and a few movements of my fingers, an ordinary fireball appeared above my palm, which was almost immediately enveloped in sunlight, thereby creating a rather powerful lamp.
One that wouldn’t fall apart at the slightest sneeze or instability in the Locus of the Force, which this place was.
Yes, that’s right, not having their own sorcerers, Clan Fuchs didn’t realize they had dug so deep that they had awakened an intersection, a Crossroads, a crossing of magical currents with an earth affinity.
It’s quite possible that the rampage of various underground dwellers is connected to this.
The magic sent downwards illuminated all the lower levels quite well…
And the creatures that jerked sharply from the light, who seemed to have been sleeping until I disturbed them.
“Khliek-kyu-yuk-yuk!
Ku-ku-ku!
Gr-a-a-a…
R-r-ro-o-o!..” a multi-voiced, piercing screech and loud, furious roaring answered in response.
“Holy shit, there’s a lot of them gathered there…” cursed the commander of the dwarf warriors, peering down into the gradually darkening quarry — my little light reached the very bottom and exploded slightly, illuminating even more creatures at the very, very bottom.
“Alit’s tits…
How many are there…”
“Many.
Hundreds,” muttered Nimue, who was also thoroughly impressed, so much so that her elongated pupils narrowed considerably.
“This is going to be a long job,” I commented on what I saw, freezing with an indeterminate expression on my face and glancing at the clan leader.
“We will provide you with the best construction for your order, Master Sorcerer,” he looked back with complete seriousness, making me look down again.
If I turn into a dragon, in theory, I could create hell down there, just baking the enemies in their own juice…
But that would reveal me to this clan, and that’s a potential lever of pressure…
Or is it?
I could change my appearance later…
The main thing is that they don’t refuse to build my lair because of my race.
Hmm…
I could try it this way first, manually with magic, but…
I won’t risk it.
I’m not strong enough as a sorcerer, and even fifty armed dwarves couldn’t hold back hundreds of creatures, each about three or four times the size of these dwarves.
“This place is a Locus of the Force, esteemed Gunnrad,” I began my preliminary explanations.
“That could have influenced the behavior of the local creatures.”
“Oh!” the bearded man was slightly surprised.
“I’ve heard…
I’ve heard that you sorcerers…
can replenish your magic here…
Then…”
“I understand what you’re thinking,” I gently interrupted the head of the Fuchs clan, but before discontent could flare up in him, I continued just as quickly: “But here you can restore earth magic, not the fire magic we need.
However!
There is a way to deal with them…”
“Earth?
No, I won’t allow a cave-in!” the short-statured man frowned, clenching his hands into pound-sized fists.
“No, not that…” I paused for a moment, thinking about how best to formulate my proposal. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“There is a way, but…
Promise that this will remain a secret.
So that nothing gets beyond those present here…” I doubted the long-term secrecy, but for the time being…
While they’re building our lair…
“And that you will fulfill our order in any case, if we do manage to deal with the monsters and beasts in your quarry…
As for the secret, I promise it will bring no harm to your clan.”
“You speak mysteriously, elf.
You’re being clever…” my golden eyes met his thoughtful green ones.
“Alright.
I give my word that I will fulfill the order if you rid us of all the monsters and beasts in the quarry!
If it doesn’t harm my clan, I will keep the secret.
I swear it before all the warriors and Old Beards, and also Alit!”
Literally all the dwarves and the gnome reacted to this, instantly staring at their leader.
I nodded.
Splendid, now I’m a little more at ease.
“Then…” I exchanged glances with Nimue, who wasn’t stupid and understood the whole subtext of the situation.
Which is why she was grinning.
“Don’t be surprised by anything.
And…
you’d better step back.”
Waiting until the dwarves and the gnome had moved back a couple of dozen meters, including Nimue, who wouldn’t have fit on the ledge with me…
I enveloped myself in a translucent golden radiance, and soon I was looking at the world from a considerable height.
The space for me as a dragon was frankly small, so without much thought, I immediately flapped my wings and shot sharply into the air, slightly crumbling the stone of the ledge.
“My full name is Merinelteratsin…
And as you can see, I am a golden dragon.
Remember your promise, Gunnrad Fuchs,” I telepathed to all the gnomes without wasting any more time.
Just in case.
I don’t want to get a volley of crossbows in the chest when they come to.
“Nimue, don’t transform yet.
Don’t upset our friends more than necessary; let them come to their senses.” The next message went exclusively to the golden-haired person.
“Fine,” the dragoness replied with a note of displeasure, already ready to rush forward and reclaim her true form.
“D-dragon?!” exclaimed the head of the Fuchs clan, slowly coming to his senses.
The dwarf warriors had gotten a grip on themselves, but didn’t reach for their crossbows.
They just raised their shields and halberds — they simply hadn’t had time to think about ranged weapons when a huge, toothy reptile suddenly appears before you and flaps its wings.
“Exactly,” I confirmed telepathically, hovering in one place with difficulty.
“And I advise you not to shoot at me now…” waiting until the dwarf had fully composed himself, I slowly, without making any sudden movements, turned my maw downwards…
and sharply breathed a maximally defocused stream of fire into the quarry.
The unfortunate bearded men flinched again from the bright flame, but still didn’t attack, obeying the rough commands of their commander, Ertruff, who had come to his senses even before the clan head.
“Now you can,” I telepathed to Nimue, flying a little further away and allowing her to also transform and take off.
And then…
Under the once-again stunned gazes of the dwarves and a few gnomes, we began to fly around the quarry, only occasionally flying inside, while releasing as much flame as possible downwards.
“Fsh-sh-sh-sh-sh!..”
Not only does the heat of dragonfire itself have a considerable temperature, but it should also burn up a fair amount of air.
More precisely, the oxygen needed for life by most, even magical, creatures of the Continent.
…In short, after a dozen or two minutes of such action, which our companions were already watching not with horror, but with interest, not a single living creature remained within our sight below.
Well, then…
Now we can be ordinary sorcerers again, going down inside and finishing off the survivors with precision…
And the forces of the dwarf clan will help us with that.
Local extermination complete, time for some good old-fashioned monster slaughter…