∼ Stone Ravens ∼

Chapter - 106

Looking back in surprise, the dwarf lieutenant understood immediately what had to be done. "Beware! Keep an eye out for the warlock!"

If there were demons, a master would always be nearby. The real threat and the source of the problem. In the dwarven cities, the use of magic in any other form than the ancient ways of rune-forging and inscribing was heavily frowned upon. And the use of demonic mana was entirely forbidden, unlike in the rest of Argon. So seeing demons in the mountains of the dwarví usually meant they had a dangerous outlaw on their hands. One that needed either immediate apprehending or a prompt beheading. The latter more often than not.

But the fact that there was not only one but two greater demons, this had to be a powerful practitioner of the infernal. One they might be ill-fit to apprehend. The demon atop its obsidian steed was clearly intelligent enough to understand speech. An enlightened demon by appearances. But when no response but confusion came to the dwarf's commands, it was evident that it did not speak the old language of stone.

"Where's yer master, demon?" He asked once more, this time in the common tongue of Argon but with no less venom. This seemed to strike some understanding in the demon, nevertheless, it still did not provide an answer nor a response. Rather, it simply surveyed the warriors and the surroundings. The demon was watching them with narrowed eyes. As if it was... weighing its chances...

Was this demonic spawn truly going to fight an entire platoon of Stone Raven Dwarves? Just where was this warlock and how powerful were they? After all, if they were powerful enough to oppose the dwarven leagues with such disregard for the consequences, then this truly didn't bode well. Looking to the Raven General, the old dwarf merely nodded. "I'll deal with the warlock if he shows." The lieutenant needed no further instruction.

"Dismount this instance and answer me, demon! Where's yer master?" He repeated as he motioned for the dwarves to tighten their formation, clearly stating that they weren't backing down nor had any intent to let the demons go. This finally seemed to get a response from the demon. Unfortunately, it simply hadn't been the one the dwarf had been expecting.

The demon... flipped him the bird.

Before most of the dwarves could react, the monstrous rock demon sprung into motion, charging right through the line. While dwarven overcoming battle formations were no easy feat by any stretch of the word, how was one exactly supposed to stop a boulder with legs?

"Rune Bearers!" The lieutenant barked.

Acting with a swift calm, two dwarves in lighter armor hobbled forward, their waists lined with a variety of carved runic stones. Stones in hand, the runes started glowing with an arcane light. Suddenly slamming them down into the rubble, the dwarves amazingly enough sent a shockwave of earthen mana through the ground. The mana moved as if an earthquake with a mind of its own, surging right at the fleeing demons.

With an already loose footing, the massive rock demon ended up stumbling, sliding along the rubble for a considerable distance with its massive weight. It was back to its feet just after, but it had been stalled just long enough for the dwarves to catch up.

"Keep an eye out for the warlock! He must be hiding somewhere! Do not lose focus!" The lieutenant commanded to which the dwarves acknowledged in a harmonized chorus even as they attacked.

Sudden explosions of liquidy fire disrupted the dwarves' coordinated attacks, however, those fortunate enough to be equipped with inscribed armor activating their enchantments to cleanse the fire, and those unfortunate enough to not have such means screaming as they were cooked inside their own armor.

It was far from enough to take out even the weakest of the dwarves, but it effectively halted any advancement. And it did not end there. The obsidian beast roared a mighty rumble, rearing back up on its hind leg and with an earth-shattering boom slammed down on the ground causing the stone and rock to suddenly turn to magma. Those not quick enough found themselves sinking into the ground, their armor doing little to save them.

The lieutenant gnashed his teeth, seeing his serious lapse of judgment. He had thought both of the demons physical fighters. However, in truth, one was a spell-caster and the other apparently some half-breed of elemental. These demonic spawn were much more dangerous than mere greater demons.

Tightening his grip around the immaculately made halberd of azure steel, he charged in. Barely avoiding a flying dwarf batted away by the obsidian demon, he twirled the halberd around in an elegant but forceful manner despite his stocky and unwieldy armor. It scored a long streak against the demon's plated chest and across one of its front legs, but the lieutenant found himself shocked to see his rune-forged weapon doing little but put a scratch in the demon's obsidian armor.

The sheer strength of that shell that covered most of its body was beyond any material this dwarf had ever worked with let alone seen. It was on par with the Raven General's armor. It was truly a shame this demon was nothing more than a summon. Otherwise, being able to harvest its natural resources could be enough to forge a set of armor and a weapon fit for a dwarven prince.

Seeing the beast swing for him, he moved out of the way. Or at least, he tried to. Suddenly slowed, feeling his armor heavier than usual and his movements more sluggish, he realized he had been cursed only moments too late. He could not cleanse it in time. With the air in his lungs knocked out of him with a groaning grunt, he was sent flying back.

Dazed, he fought to right himself back up, he could only thank his lucky stars that he hadn't landed in some of the molten magma lining the ground, seeping through the cracks. His damn cuirass had been dented. Not enough to hamper his breathing or put pressure on his chest, but he definitely had a few broken ribs. Nevertheless, he got back to his feet, showing the resilience of dwarves. He had fought in a bar fight in worse conditions after all.

Still, a shiver ran down his back. If this demon had enough weight and force behind it to deform even his armor, then perhaps... they truly were outmatched. Stubborn determination took the short mountain warrior. Letting out a battle cry that came from the pit of his stomach, the dwarf charged the demons, intent on taking out not the impenetrable boulder on legs but the weak spell caster on its back.

Stones cracking underfoot at the strength of his short legs, the lieutenant activated a skill to launch himself at the demon. Charging up his strongest attack mid-air. What the dwarf got in return was not what he had expected, rather he learned an unfortunate reality. The demon wasn't just a weak, flimsy spell-caster.

Faster than the dwarf could've possibly reacted, the demon's tail flashed with blurring speed. He was sent crashing to the ground a second time, having entirely missed his mark as he flew past a grinning demon. Pain ran through his shoulder as surely as the blood ran down his armor. It had punctured the kink in his pauldron, piercing the azure steel chain vest underneath as if it had been paper. The lieutenant could hardly believe his eyes.

As he stared up at the two demons fending off multiple dozens of Stone Raven dwarves, strong enough to be considered some of the lower elites of the dwarven empires, he knew that many would die here today. None of the Stone Ravens had returned to their ancestors just yet, but some were unconscious and others heavily injured. Crippling so for some unfortunate few. His heart ached for his brothers, and as he watched the obsidian rock demon snatch one of his kin with its huge maw of black grinding teeth, he dreaded the noise that followed. Of metal and dwarf screaming alike.

However, before the demon could crush the dwarf within its own tin can of armor, a saving grace came in all its steely glory.

Ripping through the air with such speed and force it deafened those it passed, a hammer struck the side of the beast's head, sending it reeling back as it let go of the dwarf. The lieutenant shielded his eyes from the fragmented obsidian, feeling some of the razor-sharp splinters bite into the kinks of his armor.

Looking back, it was their raven general, standing now with one less hammer in hand. However, with the mere motion of his hand reaching out, he activated a runic script on his gauntleted hands, causing the thrown hammer to hum as it suddenly flew back to his open hand, the recoil rattling his silvery-gray armor. He had abandoned his duty of sensing out the warlock and protecting them from an ambush to save one of his warriors.

The demon atop the staggered beast could only glance at the general in surprised admiration, having barely held on. It barked some command that they were too far to hear, then cast one last glance at the Raven General. Then they turned and ran, no longer interested in battering the persistent dwarves around any longer.

The huge obsidian demon wasn't particularly fast but neither were they. To fight a dwarf was to be the one attacking. Most often never the opposite. So in the end, they could only watch as the demon retreated into the mountains.

"Raven General, we must pursue. If we call on the other outposts, we may still-" He was already retrieving the ivory horn sheathed in a steel case at his hip, but cut himself off when the older dwarf simply shook his head.

"No need."

Pausing, the horn just a latch away from being drawn, the lieutenant hesitated. "But what about the warlock?"

The old blind dwarf stared into the distance, seemingly at the disappearing demons. "I believe he was closer than we thought. No matter. It would be a futile and costly endeavor. The mountains whisper. The Stone Mother warns."

The lieutenant glanced at his superior for a long moment before signing. "Get the injured! We are withdrawing to Óafen barracks!"

It was wounding to his honor as a dwarf to let a dirty infernal practitioner escape after having caused so much trouble, mirrored by the bloodied and grumbling dwarves slowly retrieving their unconscious kin, but there was no going against the Raven General's command.

But this was no grudge gone. He'd remember this grave slight. And forever so would the Stone Ravens of Muz'duú.