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THUMP
One of the large teeth that were inside the mouths of the wyverns was dropped right in front of him. At first, Leilade wanted to bring an entire head, but the tunnel was actually too small for that. Even the tooth was occupying a large amount of s.p.a.ce in it. Following that, multiple sounds of mechanisms began to resonate, as the ma.s.sive iron gate was opening under her eyes. She had not expected to only have to do that. In a way, those guards were more reliable than the adventurers of Archet.
"By IronSkull's beard! It really is a wyvern tooth. What ... How ... Whwha ..."
"Calm yourself, we have a guest in front of us." Accompanied by dozens of armored dwarves that either carried rifles or axes, one had his helmet off his head while another was wearing a leather outfit. Guessing, she bet one was the commandant of that outpost while another was either a hunter or something like that.
"You have accomplished the task I gave to you. I did not think you would be able to, to be honest." The commandant did not seem embarra.s.sed at all by admitting he sent her to a deadly quest. At the same time, he still did not look at her with a warmer gaze. His eyes were cold as the snow she had seen on that peak.
"However, what you did was something none of us could have accomplished. In fact, even if all the dwarves here fought, we wouldn't have been to do it. Meaning that you are too powerful for us to prevent you from entering our kingdom. Glini here will accompany you to your destination. I hope you stay as little as possible here."
Even after saying this, none of those that were aiming at her decided to do something else. However, it takes far more than just a few firearms to scare Leilade, as opposed to the unfortunate dwarf named Glini. The one in leather armor was beginning to stutter after knowing his fate. "Wh-What? Why me? I shouldn't even be here, why are you doing this unc..."
"STOP! You are now a ranger Glini. Just bring her with you back at the capital and let those in charge deal with her. That means with respect." Hearing those pieces of advice coming from the mouth of his relative, the dwarf could only look at the dark soul that was losing patience extremely quickly. That last sentence p.r.o.nounced by the commandant was like slapping her very face and taking her for a fool. Something she hated.
However, sensing that her hands were changing of color, she repressed her irritated thoughts and calmed herself. Without the Viscount to control her emotions and her fractured soul, she couldn't afford to be angry at everything. But she was not a submissive little girl that could be bullied as easily. And she would not feel any regret if her other self decided to ma.s.sacre all the dwarves for fun.
"Fo-follow me. Ehh ... the day is nice, isn't it?" Shaking her head at the pathetic attempt the ranger tried to engage a discussion, she was far more focused on watching every inch of the corridors they pa.s.sed by. They were not yet out of the outpost, so many dwarven warriors were still looking at her, their weapons ready for a fight. But she could still have a few glimpses of crates of provisions and weapons, especially the powder for the rifles.
With just a small spell, she grabbed a few grains and guessed it was just a standard black powder. Nothing unusual, like many plants in the entire universe had similar proprieties. The only thing she could affirm was that it was nothing compared to what was used against her by that hidden sniper. The weapon that shot at her back in Ma.s.salia was definitely not using this. As for that ranger, he still had his crossbow on his back and was sweating a lot.
"If you, eh, can you ... stay in a wagon?" His worried face was quite comical, almost making Leilade laugh. If she wasn't fearful of her own emotions. But she could understand what was the problem. Right now, she could see two tracks, with one wagon right in front of them. The tunnel was still lightened, allowing her to see the descent going deeper inside the mountains.
"Yes." For whatever reason, her normal voice gave gooseb.u.mps to the dwarf. Climbing the wagon, he waited only to see her directly pa.s.s through the heavy metal that composed his mean of transport. Swallowing his saliva, he pushed the lever near him and the crazy ride began. Even now, as she was floating at the exact same speed as the wagon to stay inside it, Leilade knew it was rare for the dwarves to use that.
The entire Iron Kingdom was equipped with thousands and thousands of kilometers of tunnels. Because of this, even with a map, it sometimes delayed the news to reach the capital by many days. After all, two tunnels could lead to the same destination, but one would take a day and the other three. From what the dwarf she searched knew, it was created after the Age of Darkness. A complete set of tracks, from every corner of the dwarven kingdom to their main city.
Of course, it had to go both ways. But, because most outposts were at the same level as the ground, and the city was far deeper, a mirror set of tracks was also built. Meaning that to do the opposite travel, one had to climb kilometers to almost reach the tallest summit, Clear Peak. From there, dozens of wagons waited in a room under it, all going to a different destination. As for the climbing part, the dwarves had already invented many things like an energy powered elevator.
That way, instead of taking sometimes weeks to transmit one urgent message, only a few hours were used. But that was only for pressing matters. For example, the dwarves that came from that lone mountain were marching in a tunnel they probably already pa.s.sed. After some minutes were the dwarf couldn't stop screaming, she had no choice but to knock him unconscious. Making sure that he wouldn't fall out of it, she patiently waited until they arrived at their destination.
"News from the East? And an urgent one? I hope it's not too grave." A dwarf without a beard, meaning that she was a female, was watching anxiously the still empty tunnel. The sound provoked by the wagon was audible from very far, meaning that everyone that was in the room they were supposed to reach could hear it before seeing it. Near her, a few of her colleagues were starting to get ready to run at full speed.
They were all the best runners in the entire kingdom, ready to transmit any important messages in a matter of minutes. For example, she was in charge of warning the commandant of the Iron Beards while the others were in charge of reporting it to the king for example. Even if it seemed trivial to have such a job, it was not for careless people. After all, those messengers also had to know where their designated target was at all time. For example, it was quite late, so she knew the commandant would be drinking with his friends tonight at the "The Golden Beer".
But to their horror, instead of having a dwarf that was most likely at the verge of throwing up, the wagon was carrying nothing. From afar, they could only see the tunnel getting darker, all the lights slowly being covered by something. Only when it got closer did they notice the two eyes staring at them. Two eyes without a pupil, without an iris.
"He pa.s.sed out." Hearing the young voice talking in their language, none of the dwarves made any movement. What were they supposed to do? Rush to warn those that they were meant to that a monster had arrived? Was it an attack? So why was she talking normally to them? Because she was the closest, she felt the stares of her colleagues to push her to check. Inwardly cursing the fact that they were all cowards, she took a peek at the bottom of the wagon.
And indeed, there was a dwarf. Feeling puzzled whether she should get him out of the wagon or first wake up, she jumped in it. Mainly because she did not want to carry this huge dead weight by herself, and she felt that only a few had the guts to help her. Slowly poking the face of the sleeping ranger, she saw him opening slowly his eyes and extending his right hand toward her face. "Am-Am I dead? Are you an angel?"
SMACK
Because he was still muddled, his hand had missed his target by a lot. Due to the consequence of such a gesture, he was now completely awake, with a red trace of a palm of his face. The woman did not even bother checking if he was alright, only remembering something afterward. Staring at the soul that did not make any move, she wondered how she looked like in her eyes.
"Ouch, I did not do anything wrong. It was just a small ..." Noticing the deadly stare that the female messenger was throwing at him, Glini realized he should probably just shut up. "So, eh. She wants to know something. Also, she killed at least one wyvern." If the first sentence only earned incomprehension, the second provoked countless gasps of surprise.
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To say that the dragons and their relatives were one of the main threats of the dwarves was only the truth. Besides the foes lurking in the depts of the mines and the green tide roaming in the outside, many wyverns had decided to put their nest above the mountains controlled by the dwarves. And unfortunately, some mountains were too far away to be linked with tunnels. Every group of dwarves traveling in those areas became the prey of these flying monsters.
So, to kill one of those monsters was always good news for all the dwarves. Something definitely deserving to be brought to the king. The day where the last dragons would stop breathing will be celebrated in the entire kingdom for many days. That was how deep the grudge between the two races was. However, the one that did it was not a dwarf, far from it.
"So, to who do we say this?" No one knew how asked that, but the different messengers only began to ponder. It was a piece of good news, but not something terribly urgent. Meaning that they couldn't all leave this room to transmit the information. After all, who knew if something terrible wasn't happening right now somewhere else?
"I think, you should probably just lead them to the king. And maybe I should warn the commandant of the Iron Beards." The only female messenger solution was quickly approved by everyone. Both their sovereign and its personal guards should be informed of the presence of that peculiar ghost. Especially since she didn't seem to be particularly evil. It was just weird for an undead to be allowed to enter their kingdom.
After that, she left them and headed toward "The Golden Beer". It was three levels above where they were previously, and right now, it was crowded. Managing to squeeze in the ma.s.s of flesh and beard, she spotted three old dwarves that were playing cards. Stone cards, of course. Apparently, she would make him extremely displeased, as the commandant of the Iron Beards was winning. By a huge margin this evening.
As he was picking up the gold that he won in the last round, the eyes of the commandant found the female messenger. Her uniform was unique, easily displaying where she worked. Switching between his hands full of gold and the female dwarf, he couldn't help but curse. Hearing that, his two opponents turned around to see what caused that sudden anger. Also noticing the incoming message, they both dropped their pained expression.
If one could mistake them as just three old men playing cards, it was true. But whatever the officer of the Iron Beards will learn, they wouldn't have to wait for very long to also know about it. The Royal Runemaster and the Royal Engineer were often called to resolve many problems, as behind them were hundreds of the smartest dwarves in the entire kingdom.
Seeing the messenger talk to their friend, they could see on his face that he was slightly surprised. Dismissing the woman, they all left the tavern in a hurry, only to also be shocked by what happened. There was also a bit of joy, as at least one wyvern plaguing the eastern frontier had been killed. But they couldn't help but feel that the other part was a joke. "Since when an undead is allowed here? In the capital?"