Chapter 37: Unexpected Visitor

It takes a while. I have to transport the dirt back over from where we dumped the dirt from the moat. Wouldn’t want to be digging holes in the camp, after all.

…Excepting the loo.

This would be much easier with a wheelbarrow, but unfortunately, we don’t have one. It occurs to me that it wouldn’t be prohibitively difficult to craft one out of wood. It wouldn’t be as good as the modern ones I’m used to, but surely it would be better than using a shovel.

I resolve to bring the matter up with Boaz later.

For now, though, I dig that dirt. I carry that dirt. I put that dirt down. Rinse and repeat.

Finally, after a few hours of work, I have constructed a compacted mound of dirt nearly as tall as I am. I wasn’t sure how high it needed to be, so I just kept building it higher until I was sure beyond doubt that it was tall enough.

Perhaps seeing that I am finished, Heather comes over and looks at the mound of dirt. “What is this for?” She asks, confused.

“Well, it’s not much,” I say, patting the mound and causing a small cascade down the side, “but it’s still a better target than a wall.”

Heather stares at me in shock. “You aren’t stopping me?”

“Why would I?” I raise an eyebrow.

“But…” She starts hesitantly. “Archery is for men.”

I snort in ridicule. “Like that matters to us. If we refused to do ‘women’s’ jobs,” I say, using air quotes to accentuate how stupid the concept is, “we would have starved a couple years back. You do what needs to be done. In your case, archery is an excellent way to defend yourself.”

“I… I…” Heather draws a shuddering breath and turns around abruptly, dashing off towards her tent.

...Did I do that wrong, or was that a good reaction? I can’t really tell. That was supposed to reassure her that we aren’t going to oppress her, but if she sees those cultural norms as reassuring, I may have made quite the blunder. Or said exactly the right thing.

Dagnabbit, relationships.

...It doesn’t look like she’s coming out again any time soon. Well, I’m overdue for my run. Better get onto that, although I doubt I’ll be able to for as long as usual… My back is a bit sore after all that.

Heather hasn’t started talking any more than she did before, but she has stopped perpetually lurking within her tent, at least. She has stopped bolting down meals, and while she doesn’t join in on any conversation, she sometimes sits and listens for a while before going back to practising archery or whittling arrows.

All in all, it’s starting to look like I did do something right, and that she might slowly start to open up again. I don’t know. Right now I’m just afraid of what might happen if I try to rush too much, push too hard to try and get her to put herself back together again. I think, for now, the best thing to do might simply be to give her time, and keep being open and supportive.

Two days pass in relative peace. The calm before the storm.

A rough hand jerks me awake. My eyes shoot open, my hands already grasping the haft of my warhammer before I stop. It’s Jakin. In the slightest glimmer of light from the moon outside, I can see his grim demeanour. “It’s Dex.” He says shortly, reaching over to wake the others.

Dex? Dex the gnome? The last lingering vestiges of sleepiness slip from me in an instant. How is he here? More importantly, why?

As the others rise from their beds, I hear quick, gasping breaths coming from outside the cabin. A tiny hand grasps the edge of the doorway, and a small form practically tumbles through the doorway.

Jakin clearly decided to let Dex inside the camp - good thing, too. Poor kid is an absolute mess. His normally wild hair is plastered to the top of his head with sweat and he’s practically coughing as he tries to catch his breath. On second inspection, the knees of his pants are torn and bloody, and his face is pale as a ghost.

“The town - the town was attacked.” Dex gasps, speaking quickly despite his obvious lack of breath. “Th- they came so sudden. Couldn’t do anything. Help.”

He starts to sway, but I manage to dash over and catch him before he hits the ground. “Are you alright!? Is everyone alright!?”

“I - most.” He chokes, gasping. “The ones who fought, they…” He stops himself and changes the subject. “They took everything… Even went in Ren’s stinky house.”

My whole body tenses and goes cold. “Ren’s house? Dex, did they take anything from Ren’s house!?”

Dex’s eyes are fluttering slightly, almost drifting closed. I shake him roughly to keep him awake. “Dex! Did they take anything from Ren’s house!?” I practically bellow in his face.

“Books.” He gasps, before fainting.

“Shit.” I curse. “Xiltroth, tend to Dex.” I say, gently handing him over. “Everyone else get ready to go. I’m going to tell Heather what’s going on.”

I run out the door before anyone has time to reply. It’s practically pitch black, with just a hint of light starting to peek over the horizon - a few hours after midnight, perhaps. It’s difficult to navigate in this light, but I know the camp well enough that I manage to make my way over to Heather’s tent, wearing nothing on my feet but a pair of grimy stockings.

“Heather?” I call out, not willing to just burst into her tent.

“Aaron? What?” A voice calls back, sounding groggy and not the least bit amused.

“Sorry Heather, it’s an emergency. Some friends of ours are in trouble and we have to go. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but you should be fine, there should be enough food in the storage building to last you for a while.” I say, already starting to move back to the cabin.

“I’m coming.” She replies, stopping me in my tracks.

“What?” I ask dumbly, my brain momentarily not comprehending her words.

“I am coming.” Heather repeats firmly, lifting the flap of her tent and walking out, bow in hand. “I’m not safe here on my own. Besides, I can’t fit into the storage building.”

I stop to think for a moment and realise that it’s true. “Alright. But it’s going to be dangerous.”

“That’s why I built this bow.” Heather states.

“Fine. Get ready. We’re going soon.” I head back towards the cabin.

“How is he?” I ask.

Xiltroth looks up briefly before continuing to wrap Dex with bandages. “Not good. He’s alive, but he’s got some deep wounds across his back. He’s lost a lot of blood.”

“Hopefully they can help him if we get him back to town.” I say, starting to put on pieces of clothing and armour. “Is everyone ready?”

“Pretty much.” Jakin nods. “But why do yeh seem so upset about Ren’s research being stolen? I know it’s important to him, but I didn’t think you two were that close.”

“We aren’t.” I say, struggling with a greave. “Think about it: his parents were alchemists. They probably weren’t trying to make something so dangerous, but they ended up dead. Now imagine if someone was trying to make something dangerous. Ren’s research would practically tell them exactly what they needed.”

“And now it’s in the hands of some unknown aggressive party.” Jakin nods, understanding. “Not a good situation.”

And that’s just the half of it. If it managed to get back to the kingdoms… Well, historically speaking, the advent of gunpowder weapons rendered medieval defences mostly redundant. If similar explosives came into play and the kingdom with that technology managed to keep the knowledge contained, they would have a rather significant advantage over the other kingdoms.

Chances are that, whichever side it was, they would keep going and attempt to conquer the other four kingdoms. Not a good state of affairs all round, especially when there is a history of racial tensions. Four kingdoms might end up as slaves to the dominant one. Obviously, this is just a worst-case scenario, but dangerous knowledge needs to be kept in hands intelligent enough to understand it and wise enough to know how and when to use it.

Ren, at least, has no interest in weaponizing his research, and that’s good enough for me.

Once I get on all my armour, I ask, “Have you got him stable?”

“As best I can, yes.” Xiltroth says.

“Alright then. Let’s go.” I slip on my pack and carefully slide my arms underneath Dex to pick him up. He’s small enough that I can just cradle him in my arms to carry him.

Meeting up with Heather outside, we set off.

It’s still dark, and almost impossible to follow an already faint trail. However, we have gone this way quite a few times before, and can find our way well enough even without it just by keeping track of our bearing and certain landmarks: a peculiar tree, a mossy boulder…

We make a fast pace, although perhaps not by Heather’s standards, and I carry Dex the entire way. He’s small and light enough to not be a significant burden.

We get attacked by monsters a few times along the way, the smell of blood from Dex no doubt attracting them. Naturally, although Dex isn’t much of a burden to carry, it’s still quite difficult for me to fight while carrying him, so Jakin, Boaz and Xiltroth take care of everything we come across. Heather keeps her bow at the ready, but every time a monster comes close, the twins close to melee range too quickly or Xiltroth crosses her line of fire, and she seems understandably hesitant to fire into a melee.

By the time we reach the mountains, the sun is rising, bathing the land in light.

“You didn’t mention we are going into the mountains.” Heather says hesitantly. “I can’t climb.”

I glance at her horse lower body. That makes quite a bit of sense. “Don’t worry, there’s a path. You should be fine.”

We travel up the familiar path, Heather carefully watching her steps as she goes. Before long, we reach the end… And there’s no cave entrance to be seen.

“What?” I exclaim, taken aback. We hadn’t taken the wrong path, I’m certain of it. But the cave entrance isn’t there.

Boaz steps towards the rock face and runs his fingers along the surface. He pauses. “Wait. It’s here. Just disguised.” He knocks lightly on the rock. “It’s a fairly thin surface of rock. This level of precision and craftsmanship… It feels dwarven.”

“Alright, stand back.” I say, carefully handing Dex to Xiltroth. There is a worrying film of blood on my gauntlets, but I ignore it for now and grab my warhammer in both hands. “Probably best to cover your ears, too.”

Everyone does so except Xiltroth, who now has his hands occupied.

Squaring my feet, I tighten my grip and swing my warhammer into the rock face, smashing through it with a loud cracking noise.

“Well, I think they know we’re here now.” Jakin comments.

“They were bound to notice us sooner or later.” I shrug. “Now it’s just sooner.”

Breaking off the last few stray pieces of rock still hanging in place, I peer into the tunnel entrance. I don’t see anything in particular, but after a moment I start to hear the crashing of metal boots against stone echoing towards us. Because of the echoing, I can’t tell how far away they are, but before long I see a trio of short, stout men in heavy armour trotting out of the darkness - dwarves indeed.

Then the lead dwarf, evidently spotting me, drops his torch and pulls a crossbow off his back, a glint of light from its front telling me that it is already loaded.

“Back from the entrance!” I shout, already getting out of the way. “They have crossbows!”

A screaming quarrel punctuates my warning as everyone dashes out of the line of fire.

“Demons?” Jakin asks gruffly, cautiously peeking into the entrance himself, before quickly pulling his head back. “Dwarves with crossbows? Must be recovered from the battlefield. But those should be military resources - the army would never let mercenaries or the like get them. We must be dealing with deserters. They’re likely to be highly trained, and their armour is high quality.”

At least we have time to think. They have an advantage at range, and no information on their enemy - it’s unlikely they will choose to advance on us and give up on that advantage.

“Hm.” My brows furrow. “Did you manage to catch whether they all had crossbows, or just the one?”

“All of them.” Jakin replies shortly.

“Damn.” I curse, then lower my voice. “I’ll blind them, then you two go in, shields up just in case. I’ll come in behind you.”

Jakin and Boaz nod.

I nod back and put my un-gauntleted hand near the cave entrance, employing an old and simple, yet quite effective piece of magic. A cloud of dust emanates from my hand, drifting into the tunnel in the general direction of the dwarves inside. I can’t aim accurately without line of sight, but there’s no need to aim a dust cloud.

After a couple of seconds, I hear them swearing.

The twins and I nod to each other, and they rush into the cave, hiding the majority of their bodies behind their shields on the off chance that one of the dwarves decide to fire a blind shot and get lucky.

I dash in behind, ducking low as usual in an attempt to hide my much taller body behind their shields, and pull out my mithril knife. There is enough room to swing my warhammer in this tunnel, but only just, and I don’t want to be left open if I go for a swing and there isn’t quite enough space.

As I see their silhouettes outlined in the torchlight among the cloud of dust, I wave the dust to either side. I can see them blinking furiously, but they have dropped their crossbows and have halberds at the ready and pointed in our direction.

The twins are upon them a moment later, angling their shields slightly to either side such that the dwarves’ halberds were pushed away. Their stances are firm, but they are still knocked over by the sheer weight and momentum of the twins’ charge.

Jakin and Boaz each set upon one of the dwarves, employing their military picks to great effect in piercing the dwarves’ armour.

I tackle the last dwarf just as he is attempting to get up, pinning one of his arms down with a knee and setting my knife to his throat in an instant. Just as I am about to slice his throat, I reconsider. Perhaps he could be a useful source of information, and not just about what we are facing. We have been gone from the kingdoms a long while, and he was a fresh source of information.

“Drop it.” I growl.

Hearing the dying cries of his companions beside him and perhaps sensing that he might get out of this alive, the dwarf lets his halberd, previously held in a vice-like grip even after being knocked to the ground twice, drop to the floor of the cave.

Still pinning him to the ground, I strip the dagger from his belt and yank the helmet off his head, revealing a grimy face. “I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer them. Do you understand?”

He attempts to nod, but only manages to nick himself on my dagger. “Yes. Just don’t kill me, please. I’ll leave, yeh’ll never see me again, I swear.”

“If you answer my questions well enough.” I decide. “How many of you are there?”

“Twenty-fi…” His eyes flick to the side, where his dead companions are. “Twenty-three, now. We have the whole place fortified.”

“What sort of fortifications?” I ask forcefully.

“This place, it has a lot of different corridors and rooms. Must’ve been some sort of inn or way station a long time back.” He explains fearfully. “We sectioned everything off with walls. There’s doors in them, but holes we can shoot through as well.”

I nod. “How many crossbows?”

“Eight, including these three.”

I narrow my eyes. “You attacked the village in the valley just past this. Why?”

“I…” He stutters fearfully. “We were running out of supplies, they didn’t accept our money.”

“Then why didn’t you work to make that money?” I growl.

“I, I don’t know.” He cries fretfully. “We were - I was - it was the leader’s decision. I was just, just following orders.”

Jakin glares at him. “Just following orders, eh? Isn’t the reason yeh deserted in the first place because yeh didn’t want to follow damn orders?”

“It… Wasn’t that. Everyone was dying. We didn’t want to die.” The dwarf frantically attempts to explain himself.

I take a deep breath to calm myself and change the topic. “How goes the war?”

“People were dropping like flies on both sides when we left, even trained soldiers like us. We’re all that’s left of our company.” The dwarf grimaces. “Both sides have gained and lost cities and are hiring every mercenary they can find. Morale is rock bottom.”

I nod to myself. One last thing. “You took some books from the village. Where are they?”

“They-”

A loud explosion from somewhere in the cave interrupts what he is trying to say, and I can hear the sound of crashing rock echoing distantly.

There they are. I slice the man’s neck - he clearly had little remorse for his actions. “Is the place going to collapse?” I ask the twins, already edging towards the exit.”

“Should be fine.” Jakin replies leisurely. “It doesn’t look like much, but the people digging this place knew what they were doing.”

Jakin is right. After a minute or so, the rumbling stops, and things return to quiet.

“Alright, it’s safe here.” I call back to Xiltroth and Heather.

They come in, and Xiltroth hands Dex back to me. He looks down and sees the crossbows. “Do you mind if I...?”

“Sure.” I say. “We should probably bring them all back with us. Should be useful.”

He picks up the weapon slowly, almost hesitantly.

“Do you know how to use that?” I ask. I’ve seen him use some sort of wrist-mounted contraption before, but this was just a regular crossbow, nothing fancy.

He holds the crossbow firmly but comfortably and casually checks it over, tests the tension of the string, puts his foot through the stirrup, cocks it and rifles through the belt pouches of the corpses until he finds a bolt to slot in. “I suppose you could say that.” He nods calmly.

I look down at Dex. He really doesn’t look good. “I think this is their base, but we really need to get Dex some help. We should ignore the side passages and just get to town as fast as we can.”

The others nod, and we get going. We soon encounter one of those fortifications the dwarf mentioned. The twins slowly advance on it with shields raised but face no retaliation.

“I don’t think anyone’s here.” Jakin calls back. “They must’ve gone to where the explosion happened.”

I go up to the wall and see that it’s true. There’s nobody there. I test the door, but it’s locked or latched shut. Still, it’s only made of wood. A firm kick fixes that. I duck my head to go through - it’s a bit small.

“I can’t fit through that.” Heather states from behind me.

“Ah.”

Heading back through the doorway, I inspect the wall. It’s made from blocks of stone, but I can’t see any sort of mortar binding them together.

Hm. When in doubt, whack it with a hammer. Carefully setting Dex down out of the way, I give it a good slam, and a few blocks fall out. After the second hit, the wall collapses. “There we go.”

We head onwards. The second fortification is similarly abandoned, but when we reach the third, a bolt whistles forth from one of the gaps and embeds itself in Boaz’s shield.

Before I have time to do anything but duck behind the twins, I hear the characteristic twang of a bow, and I briefly see an arrow speed towards the fortification. I hear it scrape against the stone for a moment, then there is an audible snap, followed immediately by cursing in a gruff voice.

Even after half a minute of waiting, no more bolts sally forth to assault us.

“I think that arrow broke their crossbow, and they only have one there.” I say softly. “If so, that was an incredible shot, Heather.”

“I was lucky. It was just a reflex shot.” She looks surprised at the results, herself.

We advance cautiously on the wall, but there is still no retaliation. So I get Xiltroth to hold Dex again and smash down the wall on top of the dwarf behind it.

An impressively long string of expletives issues forth from the battered dwarf until I smash his chest in.

When we near the final barrier, we find a few dwarves on our side of it, who immediately fire their crossbows towards us.

The twins catch the bolts on their shields, resulting in a total of two bolts being embedded in each of their shields.

Heather immediately returns fire multiple times with arrows that penetrate the dwarves’ armour, but not deeply enough to injure significantly.

Quickly laying Dex down, Xiltroth fires his already loaded crossbow, accurately hitting one of the dwarves in the chest. The bolt pierces deeply into the dwarf’s armour, causing him to clutch at his chest in great pain.

Before the dwarves have a chance to re-cock their crossbows, the twins and I rush across the stretch of tunnel spanning between us, causing them to drop their crossbows and brandish halberds. From there, it goes similarly to our first encounter with these dwarves, except it ends even more quickly, as one of the dwarves is wounded and the other two are hampered by the arrows sticking out of their armour.

We take their crossbows, bolts and any other small items of worth on their person, demolish the wall and head down into the valley.

From here, it should be smooth sailing until we get to town.