Valkyrie's Shadow

Stone and Blood: Act 4, Chapter 8

Stone and Blood: Act 4, Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“Hmm…this is not very satisfying.”

Florine glanced over at Boobeebee, who was holding the boulder-like corpse of a Gazer Watcher between her forearms. The Zern hero examined the lumpy sphere with a dissatisfied tone in her voice. How she could examine anything without eyes was still strange to Florine.

Boobeebee described it as a sort of Blindsense. That, in turn, meant that she couldn’t perceive purely visual things, which Florine thought was a shame. The Zern could not appreciate beautiful scenery, as their Blindsense only perceived a limited radius around them. They also couldn’t discern colour or detect written script, which meant that they couldn’t read books.

Still, knowing all that didn’t help her figure out precisely why Boobeebee found the Gazer corpse dissatisfying.

“Is it because you didn’t get to fight them?” Florine asked, recalling what Boobeebee had mentioned before.

“No,” Boobeebee replied. “It is because these corpses do not appear to be edible. It is a warrior’s place to defend the hive, but not being able to consume the attackers means that there are no gains to be made from doing so.”

“…I see.”

Florine theorised that this natural sense of satisfaction amongst the warriors of various races contributed to the seemingly ubiquitous culture of raiding that she saw everywhere. It was not only a practical activity, but a ritual one that lay at the core of a warrior’s identity.

The strength of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Undead forces caused many of its tribal additions to immediately recognise that their own warriors had mostly become obsolete for the purposes of security and were thus encouraged to ‘do what they were good at’ instead. That was easier said than done, however, and Florine also wondered what the warriors themselves had to say about the situation that they now found themselves in.

Boobeebee broke the Gazer corpse in half. Too late, Florine looked away. Thankfully, the expected eruption of gore didn’t happen. Just like the exterior of the corpse, the interior appeared to be nothing but stone. Boobeebee released the fragments, which dropped to the street with a clatter.

“They’re spiteful buggers, huh?” Velgath spat on the remains, “They can turn your finest warriors into a pile of dust in an instant and don’t even have the courtesy of leaving behind crafting materials.”

Stone was a crafting material, but she supposed that it would be next to worthless if one lived in a place surrounded by it. With the way that they came into existence, she wouldn’t have been surprised if they didn’t leave anything behind at all.

“This time around,” Uldun added, “even the slaves didn’t leave any corpses behind. Well, not unless you want to try your luck with Undead remains. What does the Sorcerous Kingdom do with them?”

“Even if they were raised from a fresh corpse,” Florine replied, “dead Undead don’t last for very long. The real equipment that they were wearing will remain, however.”

“Not that they had anything worth mentioning,” Uldun said.

“How are things going at the front?” Florine asked.

Once the clash at the intersection had concluded, Uldun ordered his forces to advance and sweep up the buildup of Gazer forces. They came down to examine the aftermath once the block ahead of them had been cleared.

“We’ve bottled them up at the landing zone,” Uldun answered. “They’re still teleporting troops to our side, so it looks like they haven’t realised that the Directors they sent over have been neutralised.”

“Are you going to continue fighting them there?”

“It’s not as if we have any direct say in what the Gazers teleport over, but I’ve already sent that squad of Elder Liches over to Grimmantle to give our enemies a poke. If the teleporting stops, then that should mean our job is pretty much done here.”

“If that happens,” Velgath asked, “where are we going?”

“We’ll return to Felhammer Citadel to get a better idea of what’s going on,” Florine said. “Though if I’m not mistaken, Prince Felhammer will be ordering an offensive from Hardar.”

As much as she disliked war, Lady Albedo expected her to observe the Dark Dwarves’ operations and offer her insights to the Royal Court. So far, the only things that she had come up with could be broadly summarised as ‘the Realms Below has a lot of people’ and ‘the Realms Below is filled with horrible people’.

The former felt like a vast understatement, but it was difficult to put into terms that people living on the surface could understand. Probably the best way to put it was that, while Khazanar only looked like it was around the size of the Duchy of E-Rantel on a map, it was like thirty or forty Duchy of E-Rantels stacked on top of one another.

Therefore, in terms of surface area, Khazanar was huge. One could take the Sorcerous Kingdom, Roble, Re-Estize, Baharuth, Slane, and the Draconic Kingdom and stick all of those countries into the same space.

Before coming to the Dark Dwarf realm, Florine had no clue that something like Khazanar could exist. The most powerful states that she knew of had been the six great nations around the centre of the continent and she now wondered how they compared. Furthermore, Khazanar was supposedly the former colony of another Dark Dwarf country in the Middle Realms.

Thirty minutes later, the squad of Elder Liches returned, looking none the worse for wear. They settled onto the pavement not far from Uldun’s post and a representative came forward to deliver their report.

“We have carried out our task.”

“And?” Uldun frowned up at the Elder Lich.

“Conditions for success or failure were not outlined,” the Elder Lich said.

“Then what did you blow up?” Uldun asked.

“We bombarded a one hundred metre length of street along the cliffside east of the destroyed Grimmantle Bridge,” the Elder Lich said. “The defensive response was limited to a group of Watcher-type Gazers, which we dispatched with our Wraith escorts on the way back to Felhammer. Mana reserves are now at twenty per cent.”

Uldun exchanged glances with the officers nearby.

“Looks like they weren’t on guard at all,” he said.

“Think they’ll tighten things up?” Kydin asked.

“Can they?” Another officer said, “You all saw how they fought just now. It’s all about overwhelming numbers and brute force. Their defence is probably just about as effective.”

“There’s no way that they’d have enough Standards to effectively defend the borders of every principality,” Uldun agreed. “If they did, they’d be throwing them at us along with their Watcher sorties.”

He turned to the Elder Lich representative.

“Take your squad and get your fill of Wights before heading back to regenerate mana. Velgath, since you’re going to the citadel anyway, let them know that we could use more squads of Elder Liches to conduct reconnaissance in force over Grimmantle.”

“Report!” A Deepwarden jogged up to them, “The Gazers stopped teleporting reinforcements over.”

“And that,” Uldun said.

“Sure thing,” Velgath replied with a salute.

Florine’s ‘attendant’ returned to where Florine was watching the proceedings. They then left the command post and went underground, boarding the train being used to deliver supplies and personnel to the front. It was a trip that Florine had made several times over the last two days, so she had long run out of new things to look at.

“That all felt rather informal,” Florine said.

“Informal?” Velgath looked over from her seat, “What do you mean by that?”

“To be honest, I’ve only attended a few strategy meetings held by the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Royal Army, but those all had a sense of being very ‘procedural’.”

“Seemed pretty normal to me,” Velgath replied.

Maybe she had chosen her conversation topic poorly. Before attending the strategy meetings held in the Draconic Kingdom by Ludmila and her officers, her only window on what they might be like was provided by tales filled with distinctly unique characters, interpersonal rivalries, and flaring tempers as prominent figures attempted to gain influence and prestige. In Re-Estize, war was the province of men, so that was as close as she could get.

They spent the rest of the journey in silence, and the citadel allowed them entry with a minimum of fuss. Prince Felhammer was in the great hall with several of his lords and their attendants. Their discussion abruptly ceased upon Florine’s entrance.

“Enjoy yourself?” Prince Felhammer asked.

In response, Florine looked at Velgath. The Dwarf woman stepped forward and cleared her throat.

“We have our results from the probing attack on Grimmantle,” she said. “The Elder Liches met with light, reactionary resistance. The Gazer offensive stopped shortly after. Uldun’s requested additional Elder Lich squads to continue harassing Grimmantle and get a better idea of what things look like over there.”

“He used up the one we sent him already?” Prince Felhammer asked.

“They went through four-fifths of their mana on that single attack,” Velgath answered.

The prince rose from his throne with an annoyed look.

“We were attacking to get a reaction,” he said, “not melt Grimmantle into slag. We’ll send replacements, but tell Uldun that the point of him attacking Grimmantle is to keep the Gazers off balance and on edge, not to conquer it. He doesn’t need to empty the collective mana pool of a dozen Elder Liches all at once to do that.”

“…we’re not going back, my prince.”

“Finally get tired of delivering supplies?”

“I’d like to accompany the next phase of your operation, Your Highness,” Florine said. “I’ll be taking my escort with me, of course, so we won’t take up any resources from your forces.”

“Will the Sorcerous Kingdom do anything if you get disintegrated?” Prince Felhammer asked.

“We have this convenient thing called resurrection magic, Your Highness.”

“Then I hope that someone in your escort has a broom and dustpan. We leave in an hour.”

“‘We’, Your Highness?” Florined tilted her head curiously.

Prince Felhammer walked past her on his way out of the great hall.

“I am the Commander-in-Chief of Clan Felhammer’s army, after all,” he said. “This isn’t a war that can be conducted from a distance. Besides, I wouldn’t miss taking Khazanar for the world.”

Taking Khazanar…

With that, what she had suspected since the initial report that Khazanar was under attack was confirmed. Since the terms of the Undead security lease disallowed using them for waging war against other polities, Prince Felhammer was more than happy to let the Gazers do his dirty work for him. With the other clans eliminated, he had become the sole claimant to the entire Dark Dwarf realm and was now using the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Undead to liberate his holdings.

As she returned to her state room to prepare for the trip, she wondered if the Sorcerous Kingdom would be willing to amend the terms of their Undead security leases. If not, she dreaded how many more Falagrim Felhammers they would create as word of their services spread.

“Velgath,” Florine said, “how do you feel about your father’s methods?”

“What methods might you be referring to?” The Dwarf woman asked as she looked out of an arrow slit in the suite’s drawing room.

“Using the Undead lease the way he does,” Florine answered. “Letting the rest of Khazanar burn when he has the power to save it. Don’t you think it’s a waste?”

“I guess Humans might see it that way, as short-lived as they are. If it were a more normal situation, it may have even been suicidal. But the Undead forces from your country change all of the rules. I assume that you understand at least that much.”

Florine released a quiet sigh. Anyone who read the terms of the lease probably saw the potential avenues through which the Undead security forces might be employed, but she tried to be optimistic about them. After all, the Undead stationed all around the Sorcerous Kingdom set a precedent for their intended use. She harboured hopes that the Royal Court would intervene if anyone went against the ‘spirit’ of the lease, but Khazanar had proven it not to be the case.

“As you say,” Florine said, “the existence of our Undead security forces change all of the rules. But that also includes what avenues you can take with your rivals and enemies.”

“You should know us better than that by now,” Velgath replied. “‘Saving’ the other clans might incur something like a debt, but that won’t wash away centuries of bad blood. In the long term, what my father’s doing is a better move for Khaznar’s future.”

“How so?”

“Well, think of it another way. What would happen if we prevented the other clans from being destroyed?”

Florine came over to sit on a hard stone stool near the row of arrow slits. The fires emanating from across the chasm had long burnt out, but that grim scenery had been replaced by the azure lighting of Felhammer’s city streets far below.

“You said that it wouldn’t change much in the relationship between the clans,” she said, “but with everyone leasing Undead security forces, no one would be able to do anything. Khazanar would need to learn how to function without the threat of force hanging over the clans.”

Velgath let out a derisive snort.

“More like the clans will focus on other ways to bring each other down,” she said. “The Undead ‘security’ you’ve leased out is only suited for one facet of security – defending against violent physical actions. They won’t detect a thief stealing something from a stand or shop, nor will they save anyone being stabbed in their beds unless they happen to be standing in the room when it happens. They sure as hell can’t detect or defend against political intrigue or economic attacks. All of that stuff is something that the clans do regularly because violence is rarely an option between the principalities.”

“…so your answer to that is to have all of the other clans removed.”

“It’s not complicated,” Velgath shrugged. It may take a millennium or two to repopulate, but, when we do, we’ll be in a far better position than we were before. I’m not sure what your country’s long-term objectives are, but I assume that they operate under notions that every other country runs under. Strong, stable nations are more desirable as neighbours than weak, unstable ones. Weak, unstable neighbours are better off being absorbed by stronger ones. My father is turning Khazanar into the former while avoiding the fate of the latter.”

“The nations in the Realms Below believe that, too?”

“They sure do. It’s even more important down here because you can get things like Gazer hives popping up under your ass. Areas with weak governing authority are just a breeding ground for trouble.”

It was a basic rule of governance that every scion learned early in their education, and it applied not only to countries, but to a country’s fiefs, as well. Unfortunately, achieving a state of strength and stability was easier said than done. In Re-Estize, it was next to impossible since those who challenged the law were usually far stronger than those who enforced it.

In the case of Falagrim Felhammer, his actions showed that he was not merely living out some childish ambition. He was adhering to that same basic rule by unifying Khazanar after all of its destabilising elements were removed. It was a highly unconventional move that wouldn’t work in a normal situation, but, as Velgath mentioned, the presence of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Undead security forces changed all of the rules.

With the Undead, an insignificant tribe could challenge a huge country over a tiny bit of ancestral land and win. She didn’t even know how far back a claim could go before it was deemed invalid for that purpose. Considering that the Sorcerer King pressed an ancient claim for E-Rantel, all sorts of upheaval was in store for the future. There were countless nameless Farmers everywhere who claimed ancestry to one king or another.

“So you wouldn’t do things any differently if you were in the prince’s boots?” Florine asked.

“I’m sure that I’d end up doing things differently,” Velgath answered, “but I can’t think of any better way to do it than what my father’s doing right now. It’s great to have our prince back.”

“You know,” Florine said, “I never asked why he had been exiled in the first place.”

“Well, it’s not exactly a secret. Even our allies considered him too dangerous to leave in his seat, so they brute-forced him out politically.”

Great. The Sorcerous Kingdom’s client in Khazanar is a Dark Dwarf that even Dark Dwarves think is too dangerous.

“Anyway,” Velgath said, “you done here? The train to Hardar’s going to be packed.”

When they reached the bottom of the citadel, they found Prince Felhammer and his entourage lined up for the lift. Florine spotted Agni with the prince, but Baerwynn wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Your mother isn’t coming?” Florine asked.

“We can’t have everyone go,” Velgath answered. “She’s freshly resurrected, besides.”

She could have at least seen her husband off. Then again, they were Dark Dwarves.

“Looks like you two caught up with us,” Prince Felhammer said.

“If we hadn’t here,” Velgath said, “we certainly would have waiting for the train to Hardar.”

“Hardar…? Oh, I suppose you haven’t heard. Our forces in Hardar reached the end of the way that the council took. It leads to a hidden harbour on the lake two days out.”

“So we’re going to have to storm an enemy port?”

“Our scouts have already picked out a likely target,” Prince Felhammer said. “I was going to ask you to help out, but since you’re not so keen on–”

“I’ll do it,” Velgath said. “Anything to get out of being a maid.”

“You have maids?” Florine asked.

“Of course we do,” the Prince said. “You probably just never noticed them going around.”

It was said that servants were only visible when they needed to be, but his claim went more than a bit beyond that. Florine tried to recall anything that even remotely fit the description, but her memory came up short. The beds in her state room were just slabs of stone and the rest of her accommodations were equally severe, so it wasn’t as if a maid had to come in and change her sheets or anything.

After descending to the city level, they took a rail line to Grimmantle Bridge. From the destroyed remains of what must have been an architectural marvel, they took a set of lifts down to Lake Khazanar. The port there was already filled with ships loading Dwarves and Undead alike, while even more were awaiting in the waters beyond. Florine stared at the bustling wharves as they slowly made their way through.

This place is as large as Corrin-on-the-Lake.

The utilitarian Dark Dwarf architecture made it far less pleasant, however. Corrin-on-the-Lake was the second-largest port city that she had ever been to, with the largest being Oriculon. The ports of Re-Estize and the Empire simply didn’t compare.

As they walked along the water, Florine recalled what Uldun had said about the Gazers and pulled the hood of her mantle over her head. Liolio let out an odd noise before squirming out.

“Sorry about that,” she said. “Will you be alright?”

Liolio pipped in affirmative before settling down atop her hood. In front of them, Prince Felhammer entered a large, keep-like structure where a number of Dark Dwarves silently awaited him around a table on the second floor.

“Well,” Prince Felhammer said, “aren’t we all excited?”

“Most of the fleet’s waiting offshore,” one of the Dwarves replied. “It’s not every day that we get to attack Grimmantle.”

“Any changes to our target port?” The prince asked.

“Only that it’s getting quieter. The defenders are probably on their last legs.”

“The defenders?” Florine frowned.

Several heads in the war council turned their dour gazes upon her. Prince Felhammer nodded at the previous speaker.

“Grimmantle’s port across the way here is still being defended by Clan Grimmantle,” the speaker said. “If our timing’s good, we’ll arrive just as the last of them fall.”

“And if they haven’t?” Florine asked.

“Don’t worry,” Prince Felhammer answered. “We won’t be using the Undead to attack in that case. Our army is more than enough to clean up what’s left. What about our Gazer friends?”

“With everything that’s going on above,” another Dwarf at the table said, “they’re pretty lax down here. We haven’t noticed any patrols at all since yesterday.”

“Then let’s not waste any more time. If Grimmantle is still defending the port, our advance forces will take care of it. Otherwise, we’ll get in as far upland as possible before making contact with the Gazer forces. Any questions?”

Several seconds passed in silence. Prince Felhammer rose to his feet.

“Good,” he said. “Then I’ll see everyone on the other side.”

Florine followed the prince down the pier to his vessel. The troops already waiting on board made room for Florine and her entourage. Isoroku and the Elder Lich sergeant in her escort sent up a set of Wraiths each to watch over them from above. After a moment, Florine realised that Velgath wasn’t with them any longer.

“Is Velgath coming with us, Your Highness?” She asked.

“She’s already gone ahead,” Prince Felhammer answered. “That sort of thing is her regular line of work.”

“I see,” Florine said. “No wonder she leapt on your offer. Thank you for lending her to me for the last few days. She’s been very helpful.”

Prince Felhammer peered at her dubiously, as if trying to figure out what ‘helpful’ meant.

Darkness engulfed them shortly after leaving the harbour. Florine looked in every direction, but she could see nothing aside from her immediate surroundings and the distant illumination of the city two kilometres above them lighting up the cavern ceiling. Before she knew it, they were drifting into the empty harbour in the principality of Grimmantle. Velgath stood grinning on the pier as they disembarked.

“You won’t believe who I found,” she said.

Behind her were two Dwarves with sacks over their heads. The second Dwarf was cradling a babe at her breast. Going by the quality of their equipment, they were likely important figures. Prince Felhammer gave them the barest of glances before sending his gaze out over the harbour city.

“How many Grimmantles are left around the port?” He asked.

“Near here,” Velgath answered, “just these three. My unit and I have already cleaned up the area along the wharf.”

“And the Gazers?”

“They haven’t reached the harbour city yet.”

Prince Felhammer nodded at his officers, who started bellowing out orders to organise the landing. It was only after that did the prince turn his attention to the three Dwarf captives.

“Now, let’s see what you’ve dragged out.”

Velgath removed the first sack with a flourish. Both Prince Felhammer and the captive’s eyes widened upon recognising one another.

“Felhammer,” the captive, an aged Dwarf with countless curls in his white beard, spat.

“Grimmantle,” the prince replied. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“I should have known it was you,” Grimmantle said. “Come to prove yourself useful to your Gazer allies?”

“We had nothing to do with the Gazers, actually,” Prince Felhammer replied. “It was just a convenient coincidence. If it makes you feel any better, the Undead are with us.”

“So you’ve sold your soul to your new masters.”

“It’s nothing so dramatic. Just a simple lease contract. The rates are quite reasonable.”

Prince Felhammer stepped forward, pulling the hatchet on his left hip out of its hoop.

“Wait,” Florine grew pale, “what are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing?” The prince yanked the first Dwarf up by his collar, “This is the so-called Prince of Grimmantle. An enemy.”

The old Dwarf’s rich beard blossomed crimson as Prince Felhammer drew the blade of his axe across his throat and dumped him off of the pier.

“This is what we do to our enemies,” the prince told her.

He reached out for the woman holding a babe in her arms, dragging her forward and slashing her throat open as well.

“This is what we do to their children.”

Prince Felhammer snatched the blood-soaked babe from the dying Dwarf woman.

“No!” Florine shrieked.

The prince casually tossed the baby into the air. Before it hit the ground, he booted it far out into the dark waters of Lake Khazanar.

“And this is what we do to their children’s children.”

“With the way that you are,” Florine said quietly, “you’ll never run out of enemies.”

“Yeah, well, that’s life,” Prince Felhammer shrugged. “Now, let’s get this next enemy out of the way.”