Master of the Hoard - Chapter 31 (Patreon)

I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world because they'd never expect it. - Jack Handey

"We're taking down the Dweelers." My exclamation was more abrupt than I intended. The existence of our unnamed ghost had me more on edge than I liked to admit.

Aelis just nodded. "Should we call for Roth? His martial knowledge will be helpful in determining our exact approach."

"Waste of time." Aelis stared at me, shock and surprise crystal clear. I rubbed the nub of my forehead with the back of my paw. All that screaming had given me a headache on top of everything else. "What I mean is, he’s not needed for this talk. I just want to know exactly what we're facing. Roth will join us when we leave, so he can help us on our plans then."

"I understand, Sire." She sat down on her haunches while she stared off into the distance. "Dweelers tend to be our worst natural predators. Not because they are more dangerous than other enemies down here in the lower layers. You will find that everything you have faced at this point basically view a Dweeler as a tasty snack. However, since they share a lot of our characteristics, we tend to stumble into one another more often than is good for either of our peoples. Besides, Dweelers have a huge advantage over our people."

"You mentioned magic at some point, didn't you?"

"Exactly. The Dweelers are not intelligent as such-”

“What does that mean? They’re on a level with the Crawls? I mean, if we could still subjugate them… turn them into allies.”

Aelis shook her head. “No. We cannot reason with them. They do not communicate as such. Yet they do have an innate connection to Deyra that most of us lack. This means that you never know how they will react and they always react as a pack. If you surprise a Dweeler and stab it, it can be less trouble than taking out a Birnworm. If, however, you miss your initial attack, you may find yourself poisoned with a mere touch. Or fleeing from a living torch. Or having your lungs fill with water with no way to expel it. All the while any nearby Dweelers will be sprinting towards you from their mental shared connection." She expressed the last part with a tiny shudder as a pang of revulsion escaped her. Seemed like that may have been an unpleasant memory.

"Understood. They're weak, though?"

"Yes. And short legged. Not as fast as we are. But they have a language of sorts and attack in packs." She shrugged. "We tend to be able to scout them out, avoid them or surprise them. When they get the jump on us, however? It is rarely pretty."

I nodded. "In that case, I believe you should enjoy getting some long-delayed revenge. Do we have any numbers?"

"Nothing exact. More than 30. Less than a full hundred."

"Thank you, Aelis. How is the hand treating you?"

She grimaced at her stump. "No real issues, Sire. The wound has healed over.  It does confuse me a lot, however. The loss of the paw seems to influence me in ways it should not. Sometimes, it hurts where the paw used to be, if you would believe that?"

"Phantom pains. I've heard of those. Supposedly, they should grow less in time."

"It is not just something limited to me? That is good to know." She frowned. "My sense of balance has also worsened, somehow. I could not tell you how the loss of a paw affects my legs, but there you have it." We sat in silence for a while. I patted her shoulder softly with a claw and she looked at me in surprise. Then a tiny butterfly of gratitude escaped from her.

I looked at my claw and repressed a smile. It was a welcome change to see my claws spreading something besides death and destruction.

Aelis looked down and spoke softly. "The profession change has helped. I am faster now, more limber. Not as strong, but that is not an issue." Her mental voice trailed off as she stared off into nothing. I was about to suggest we move on, when she spoke again. "Onyx. Sometimes - Would you tell me about where you are from?"

I smiled. "What would you like to know?"

"Just - sometimes it is comforting to know that there are places out there that are less harsh."

So I talked. About nothing in particular. I told her about all the wonderful things about Earth I could come up with. About spas, massages and amusement parks. Candy and bakeries. She moved closer to me, resting near my feet as I talked. There were so many things I could have mentioned, but didn't. Right now, I just talked and talked to ease the hurt of this one tiny Talpus.

“I have a daughter, you know? We are not close anymore, but we used to be. Especially when she was young. Sometimes, we would steal away, just the two of us. Obviously, her mother knew, but she would keep up the act. So Dina, that’s my daughter, and I would grab a handful of fruit or snacks and we’d hide somewhere. In the garden, in her bed, wherever. And then I would tell her stories. Silly stories, filled with grand adventures and always, always with a happy ending. Sometimes, while I talked, she would grab my hand and just smile at me - and it broke my heart, but in a good way.”

In time, Aelis slept and I stayed there, unmoving, with pangs of emotions running through me. It would seem I might miss my old home and life more than I had considered.

The next few days were uneventful. I returned to my regular schedule for a while, only now, I would spend half an hour each day trying to get through to the magical prisoner.  Once, I believed I connected to him. Instead of responding, he broke out in a frenzied laughter, blabbering about his vengeance. I wasn't giving up on the idea. If I were able to break through to him, I might be able to learn so much. About the necromancer, surely. Maybe about the world. Or - well, he looked normal. Like a human. From Earth. So I'd be damned if I gave up on him just because it seemed he was irreparably insane.

The Farm was improving. Fields, Jungle and Fungi Room – every corner of it. I could already tell that the second chamber was growing well, Talon Rot and other growths spreading out across the floors, stalactites and walls. At this point, they had gathered four different types of fungi. A tall, arrow-shaped type that glowed in the dark in a decidedly poisonous yellow, but Aelis assured me they were edible. By now, they had dragged fine dirt in to cover the entirety of the floor in the Fungi Room and mix it with manure. I had the last Growth Boost created and also managed to create another Training Chamber in the same room as the first one, expanding the effective field to fill the entire room. To both my surprise and Roth’s, many Talpi and even a few Crawls were so impressed by the gains from training that they decided to put in extra hours. I was definitely going to encourage that.

We left after three days, a larger group than usual. Roth, Aelis and my request for new Talpi that hadn’t yet been out for one of these strolls. I needed to ensure that everyone became familiar with what we were doing as well as having the opportunity to gain levels outside of just training. Also, the fight against the red dragon proved beyond doubt that my minions needed to become more accustomed to combat. This way, even if they remained noncombatants in general, they shouldn’t freeze in combat situation should we be attacked. I also had two thirds of the Crawls come along. So far, their contribution was limited, but I had high hopes for their broad backs and tiny pea brains. In time, my hope was for them to be the frontline fighters I needed. So far, they were more fragile than what I liked, though.

I had planned for Roth to provide me with a foolproof plan. The martial Talpus tended to have an excellent strategic mind, even if his vocabulary was limited . During our march, however, he wasn't being too helpful. "Pfah. Obviously, I can't help you, Onyx. I've told you this before. Our one and only ally is the mountain. If I don't know where we’re fighting, I can't create a plan."

I expelled a huff of air in annoyance. "So you keep saying. But at least you can tell me what you usually do when you fight them?"

"Run." Maybe it would have been better to have him in that conversation with Aelis afterall.

"Come on."

He laughed and punched my leg. The high-pitched sounds sounded weird on the squat being. Though his punch left a lot to be desired against a dragon, it did feel a lot more solid. At this rate he might just be able to take on a dragon after all. Nah, not really. "Okay, I did that to annoy you. It’s true, though. If Dweelers jump us, we run or, nine times out of ten, die. They react fast and however they talk, you either take them out right away, or end up with more of the critters inbound."

"So... ambushes?"

He nodded. "Exactly. A while back, Aelis found three of ‘em in a tiny cave without getting spotted. Then, she returned with help and jumped ‘em when they went to leave the place. Bam! In and out in two minutes, and away with the meat before any others came." Roth had warmed to the subject now, and a gleam in his eyes accompanied his animated movements as he swung around his two-handed sword to emphasize his point. "Yeah. Hit ‘em hard, hit ‘em fast - that works. Then pull back quickly, or you’ll have the entire group after you."

I pondered his words for a while. "That's exactly what I needed. So this mental connection… how does it work?"

He shrugged. "No clue. We don't talk."

"Still, we might use it to our advantage. I wasn't looking forward to hunting them all down, but if all we need to do is tick them off and wait for them to come rushing, it might be easier than I thought."

"True. Or maybe not. If they spot you, they'll only be rushing to get away from you. Dweelers aren't clever, but they're not dumb."

The rest of the march was mostly uneventful. At one point, one of the scouts had us standing in complete silence for half an hour while he and Aelis spread out and investigated their surroundings. Eventually, they blew it off as a false alarm, concluding that the multitude of unknown tracks in the dirt were old enough that we were safe. Probably. It was a sobering reminder that "There's always a bigger fish" was a very real thing inside the mountain.

We didn't walk in a straight line. The scouts left and returned all the time, reconvening to inform us about the progress, dangers and options. From time to time, a team would leave us to harvest plants on a side path, and we had an unexpected mid-travel snack when we surprised a handful of plant-eaters scurrying to get away from us. Armor-plated armadillos with a lovely smoked taste, even if they weren’t cooked. Yum..

Eventually, Aelis judged that we were getting close and asked us to settle down inside a large, low-ceilinged cave while she went to scout. I provided her with Camouflage and the rest of us relaxed for a while. This time, the wait wasn't too bad, mostly because I felt pretty good about Aelis' skills. I did get the chance to think about our approach. So, I would have to lure in all the Dweelers without alerting them to my presence and, when they arrived, somehow take them out without having to take the brunt of angered spell-casting from an entire Dweeler tribe. Huh.

Aelis returned three times to have me recast Camouflage before moving out again. Eventually, she manifested, blurred form shimmering into view as she settled unmoving in front of me. "Sire. I am done."

"Great. What are we dealing with?"

"Bad news. They are more numerous than expected. At least seventy Dweelers total, but at a guess, there will be ten to twenty that I could not account for. The majority occupy a large cave ten minutes away, while several groups roam the periphery, hunting or scouting."

Her emotions were clear as day. Caution, coupled with unease. "Thank you, Aelis. In your opinion, if we take down one of those groups, what's going to happen?"

A pang of distaste accompanied her words. "We'd be busy. Within minutes, the first couple of groups would attack and the main group would arrive... maybe ten minutes later."

I nodded and addressed Roth who was resting on the ground. "In your experience, would you be able to handle the smaller groups without my interference? We don't want to scare them away if we can take them all out in one swoop."

He shook his head without hesitating. "No. Even with the Crawls on our side, it would become bloody. The Dweelers would stay at a distance and bombard us with elemental forces. We could ambush one group, sure, but several, arriving on top of each other? No. It would be a bloody mess, and not of the good kind."

My claws clacked an unhappy dance on the rocks in front of me as I thought. We really needed ranged weapons. "So we'll have to be able to somehow weather their attacks without being overwhelmed until the main group arrives. Any suggestions?"

Roth got up and stretched. "Let’s go elsewhere. We don't need this and can't afford to do it."

The clacking sounds stopped, as inspiration struck me. "We should just be elsewhere. Of course. You're a genius, Roth."

"You not listening at all, dragon? Even if we run and fight, we can't hurt them at a distance, and they’re good runners."

My laughter boomed out over the cave. "Yes and no. I'm listening. I'm just coming to a different conclusion than you. One question. Do they share what's happening? If you've ambushed a couple of them, will they know how they were ambushed?"

Roth shook his head in denial. "No. We hit some with rocks from above, once. The group that came running after didn’t look up."

"Great. So there are limits to their communication. Okay, Aelis, we will need a specific sort of cave system for this to work, and we might have to work on it a bit on top of that. Here's what we need..."