All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 222: Fur and Fervor

Chapter 222: Fur and Fervor

The horde of snowmen approached us like a flood of fur. There were far more of them than I had originally expected given my view from above. As they came closer, my sensors were able to estimate their numbers with greater accuracy.

There were far more than there should have been, considering the size of the settlement we’d seen. But the density of the pack didn't seem to slow them down, nor did I see any getting left behind. Each and every one of them was being carried forward in a tight wave of furry white bodies.

As they came closer, I noticed that they were significantly larger than most of the humans I had seen, standing an average of 8.9 feet tall. Their hands were massive, each finger tipped with a claw. Their arms hung down far past their waist, almost to their knees. When they ran, they swung these long appendages, pumping them to add significant momentum to the run. They also used their arms to launch themselves across the ground or over a particularly rocky patch, and it seemed to speed them along as they rushed at us.

If this was a bunch of human adventurers or an army, I might have felt some sort of pressure. But here? There was no cause for concern that I could see. The threat of danger was quite low, really. Whether that was because of our power or the uncertainty of them being aggressive, I wasn’t entirely sure It didn't really matter. I trusted my background processes to warn me if I was in any real danger. Daedalus seemed to agree as we just waited for the tide of humanoid snowmen to reach us.

About 100 feet out, the front of the pack skidded to a halt, throwing up snow ice in the dirt as their toe claws dug into the ground. Not everyone seemed to get the message, and the back of the pack quickly crashed into the front, sending them stumbling several more feet. But eventually, they all came to a halt and dropped to their knees in front of us.

I chirped in satisfaction. They weren’t trying to be a threat! That was nice. They were simply excited to see us. I hoped that meant they would be willing to listen, because they had so much to learn when it came to sanitary building practices.

There was a shuffling in the ranks of the snowmen, and a small pathway opened up from them as they parted. Slowly, a very small snowman who couldn't have been more than six feet tall hobbled towards us, leaning on a cane. She was the only one of them that had any decorations about her. A strand of seashells was strung around her neck, and they clinked quietly together as she made her way towards us.

Taking a closer look at the necklace, I noticed several of the seashells were cracked or just parts of ones. Considering how far away they were from the ocean, it must have been some sign of wealth to have them at all. When she was a dozen feet closer to us than the rest of the snowmen, she, too, went down to one knee. It was a slow process. Rather than diving down, she carefully used her cane to lower herself down before letting out a series of hooting, grunting syllables at us.

I swiveled my attention to Daedalus to see if he understood what was going on. He just shrugged, his massive scaled shoulders shifting as he resettled his wings. "Don't look at me. I don't speak... Snowman? You called them Snowmen, right?"

I told him that it would take me a bit of listening to their conversations before I was able to develop a language model enough to translate. Right now, I didn’t have nearly enough samples to understand them. But clearly, from the way they were staring at the red dragon, they recognized Daedalus. As what, and why? I wasn't sure.

As one, the snowmen went from their knees to bowing, their heads pressed into the snow. Slowly, the elderly snowman in the front reached up and dragged her seashell necklace over her fluffy ears and gently laid it out on the ground before us before slowly shuffling backward.

While I might not understand their language very well, it was clear to me that this was an offering and Daedalus needed no prompting. He lumbered forward. Each step shook the earth, and his scales rolled majestically, each one catching the light in a particular way, giving his walk a shimmering effect. It felt like he’d practiced this particular stride. Kind of like when the castle cat Chester crossed the courtyard and knew who all the humans were looking at.

Whatever it was that Daedalus was doing clearly had some effect. Sounds of awe flowed through the prostrated group until Daedalus reached down with one talon and fished the necklace out of the snow. He looked back over his shoulder at me with a little bit of confusion in his eye. I could see his issue. There was no way for him to wear the necklace. It would not even fit over his talon fully, let alone his head. After a moment of hesitation, he slowly reached up and hung it on one of the horns over his eyebrow. The string of shells clattered as it settled off to the side of his head.

He did look quite comical, in my opinion, but I stifled my laughter. I was sure Daedalus would not appreciate the blow to his pride. The fact that he was willing to wear such a piece of decoration at all was unexpected, given the stories of his past. It didn't sound like something he would ever demean himself to do. Having spent so much time with Archibald must have really changed him.

Daedalus stood over the snowmen and breathed out warm puffs of smoke, ruffling the fur of the 100 or so Snowmen still lying prostrate in front of him. He then grumbled a question at me. "What do we do now? This is not the first time I've been worshiped, but usually, I can at least understand what they want."

I had no answer for him, but the snowman seemed to take his words as leave to get up. They were on their feet and dashing back toward their huts in a matter of seconds.

"Should we follow them?" I asked Daedalus.

He cocked his head. The seashell necklace swayed slightly. "I don't see why not, and it would be interesting if they were gathered here at the source of the disturbance. I would like to know why. I doubt that was a coincidence. Perhaps they know something more."

I agreed. These snowmen must either have some sort of legends about this place or some great sensitivity to magic and energy. The latter would’ve been impressive, as most of the creatures I had met so far had no notion of it. Even I was just beginning to pick those signatures up with my Advanced Sensors. We made our way after them at a more sedate pace, and every once in a while, some of them would look back and make sure that we were following. So clearly, they were trying to show us something.

Once, we were in the snowman's camp. They led us toward the mountain. Daedalus had to walk around the village to get there as there was no way he would fit through any of the gaps in the houses. But I stayed close to our escorts. Hovering around, they didn't pay me too much mind. But as I separated from Daedalus, they looked at me curiously, as if only now realizing I was a separate entity from the giant dragon.

There was a large cave in the back of the mountain. They picked up some torches that glowed at one end. Looking closely, I realized that they were not exactly torches though. Instead of fire, the tools featured a glowing stone that emitted a soft, even light. It was attached to a large stick with what looked to be vines and leather straps. Four of the snowmen and the old lady each grabbed a torch and walked inside the cave. I followed. But Daedalus had to stay outside and just stick his head in, as he was far too large to make it in without damaging everything.

The cave was not too deep, only 103.45 feet from the entrance to the back wall, but it opened up into a wide and surprisingly regular sphere reaching all the way up to the ceiling. It was also covered in paintings. Not the crude paintings of the little humans, but not quite the detailed renditions of images that some of the more skilled, larger humans could produce. There was enough detail in them that it was still very clear what was depicted. A war.

On one side hovered had a giant dragon, along with many glittering warriors of various kinds. They weren’t distinguishable as humans but rather as some sort of other humanoid race with two legs, two arms, and a scary metallic face. Opposing them was a creature with giant bat-like wings and a face made of fire. Surrounding it were more recognizable shapes of demons and other mess makers.

The torchbearers slotted their torches into the four cardinal directions inside the cave. Then, two moved to the dragon and bowed before it, while another two bowed before the demon.. Huh. That was strange. Did they worship both sides? Why? What could compel these creatures to do so? This explained why they held great respect for Daedalus, at least, but raised more questions. Especially since that demon wasn't one I was familiar with.

It didn't match the pictures of the demon lord that I had seen below the castle. But based on Daedalus's old tales, those were probably made long after anyone who actually worked on them had seen the Demon Lord.

Daedalus huffed from behind me. “Look at that. They got the shape of my back spines all wrong. And the color! I’m far more ‘ruby glimmering in firelight’ than whatever that shade is.

Looking closer at the dragon, I realized it was actually pretty close to Daedalus. Daedalus was a tiny bit larger, if the scale was accurate. And his horns were a bit longer than the picture’s, but just barely. It very well could have been artistic license. I had to disagree on the spines though. They seemed to be one of the more accurate details."It seems these snowmen know something about your old war." I flashed to Daedalus. He nodded ever so slightly, careful not to bump into the cave ceiling.

"It appears so. They have better memories than most humans, it seems. Though the fact that they appear to worship both me and the demon is quite disturbing. Perhaps they know something more about it. There should be one of the Lieutenantscaptured around here somewhere. If I remember correctly, at least three went down on this continent."

"Do you think he's nearby? Could that be the cause of the magic drain?"

Daedalus hummed with a thoughtful noise, shaking the cave as he did. "I suppose it's possible. I can't say I remember this particular demon being captured here, but this is definitely a loose artistic interpretation of one of the Lieutenants. Likely by someone who had only ever heard of him. The general shape is right, but the position is a little odd. So I wouldn't be surprised if whoever made this only saw his bound form, not him in action."

"So if the demon is here and drawing power, then we need to find it. Right?" I asked Daedalus.

"Yes, we do indeed. Let’s get on it friend."