Master of the Hoard - Chapter 39 (Patreon)

Jazinth left the next morning. She wasn't alone. A handful of scouts, Aelis, included, followed her to help scout and assure that she would make it safely to the lair as well as be able to report if something went wrong. Oh, and to help carry, too. We had scrounged up quite the impressive gift bag, if I were to say so myself. A finely crafted spear. A fancy necklace we'd gotten from the red's hoard, now with a Strength buff. Finally, an assortment of huge slabs of meat from all the enemies we'd vanquished lately.

The message should be clear. "Look. This is what you get by being our friend. Also, see that? That's Clencher meat. And Shambler meat too. Tons of Dweelers there as well. How tough do those Urtens look now, huh? You want to mess with somebody who can kill all that?"

A handful of us saw them off. There was no huge ceremony or anything. Why would there be? Risking your life inside the mountain was an everyday experience. Sure, diplomatic missions were something new, but still. Jazinth and the scouts were risking their lives to improve the lot of the tribe. Just your regular Wednesday. Still, for me it was the turning of a page. The first step to what could become a major change inside the mountain. The chance to create an actual goddamn society of sorts and not just struggle for survival every single day. I mean, it wasn't like I had any actual clue where to start, and two dragons working together were more bound to be a force of nature than founders of a nation. Still, it was a start of sorts.

I decided to take three Clenchers out on a walk to pass the time and almost instantly regretted it. The hulking animals could tell that I was distracted and abused the situation, trying to challenge my authority at every turn to make off in separate directions. In the end, I was forced to abandon the project and weaken the trio, so I could herd them back home. Cursing, I tried to visit Timothy and see if he'd wake up and distract me for a while.

The day went by slower than ever. Talpi checked in with me now and again on different subjects and I tried to keep my temper in check. Key word being "tried". As I sent Laive packing with a rant on baby-sitting, I realized I was not fit for company right then. After a bit of soul-searching, I even realized why. It wasn't just the fact that I sent Jazinth out on a dangerous mission. It was more a question of feeling inadequate. Knowing that somebody else was better suited for a task and accepting it were two different things.

Again, the lack of my hands was killing me. I needed a distraction. I needed the satisfaction of taking the old fence apart piece by piece, replacing rusty screws and repainting the boards. Followed by that final, blessed ice cold beer at work’s end, when I admired the progress. Or losing myself in the familiarity of an old game, trying a new build in Fallout 2 and seeing how it would change the experience. This world needed entertainment!

In the end, I resorted to the current number one go-to pastime - checking the loot in my hoard. The word had spread that I was in a mood and I was able to lose myself for a while in the mindless tedium of going over the items, checking for any new magical abilities and considering whether I wanted to remove them from the hoard to improve my minions' abilities or keep them in the hoard for possible future gains.

At a certain point, however, I was just fiddling about with the items, my unseeing eyes staring through the hoard while I worried about Jazinth. There would still be at least 18 hours before there was any chance for any news. It was too much. A growl built in my throat, and I abruptly got up. Creziel watched me stride by, caution clear in his eyes. "I'm going hunting. I'll be back later." I could feel the nervousness wafting from him, but he wisely kept quiet.

That done, I went on a rampage. I could wrap it up in other fancy words, but that's what it was. I took my aggressions out on anything that moved. At first, I didn't find anything, so I ranged farther than I typically would. I had no set plan, no goal and especially no precaution. Usually, when I spotted something new, I would take my time, observe the creature and assess how best to handle the situation. Not today. Today I ripped into anything even remotely threatening, like a red dragon gone berserk, charging in without a thought. I carved a path of carnage westwards, leaving a trail of dead creatures and monsters behind me. At first, I was mildly horrified by my own actions, but the beast inside me reveled in the possibility to let loose, and the further out I ranged, the more opposition I met. After eight hours, I had passed the place where we'd faced off against the Tainted Shamblers and was still pushing onwards. My erstwhile fear of getting lost in the labyrinthine tunnel system was gone. Even with the swirling, confusing network of tunnels and caves all tangled up like the world's worst 3D-puzzle, a handful of minutes with my map would still grant me the way back to familiar straits.

Not that I was wasting my time looking at maps. Right now, I was facing off against the most earth like creature I'd seen in awhile. Roaches. Or, at least, what roaches would look like if they were half my size, shelled, armored and with a couple of huge, razor-sharp mandibles. I slammed into the side of one of the monsters, tipping it on its back with a well-placed swipe of a claw. My tail flew in a wide circle towards the remaining armored beasts, intending to knock them back while I finished the first monstrosity. They did not comply, however. Even though they were small, the ugly creatures were dense, and my tail only pushed back the first one slightly, allowing the rest to center in on me, chittering in anticipation. Sometimes I loved being a shadow dragon. With all my Agility, leaping backwards to put some distance between me and my pursuit was a matter of seconds. A Weakening Fog and a few well placed tail strikes later, and I was free to roam through the center of the debuffed roaches, tearing through their carapaces with ease. Staring at their shredded remains, my adrenaline-pumping heart had but a single request: More!

I went a bit further up inside the mountain. Not too far, but it was necessary. Down near the lower layers was where the losers were left to struggle between ourselves, the lowest of the hierarchy. Even though odds were good of something trying to pick a fight with you on a daily basis, the real fights were still far between. Not only that, far too many creatures were clever or observant enough to hear my approach and run away. I was not looking for a nice hike through the mountain. I needed a fight. A real fight, to distract me from the things I could not affect.

At first there was no change. However, half an hour after finding a tunnel going towards the next layer, I found myself beset by Dweelers again. This was different, though. This time, they got the jump on me, and they immediately dispersed throughout the huge, hole-riddled cavern, playing tag while slinging spells at me. Normally, I would have used tactics. Created an illusion to hide behind while I snuck closer, trying to gather them all in a tight spot to affect them with a Weakening Fog or carve them up wholesale. Perhaps they were expecting exactly that. Whatever the reason, they were prepared. Lighting, fire, poison and frost struck from all sides, splattering on my scales and hurting me. Meanwhile, I disregarded any attempt at strategy, weakening them when I could, stunning anybody unfortunate enough to move within the reach of my Deafening Roar. Then overpowering anybody caught in the open with my superior speed. I took them down. It was not fast, but it was ugly and bloody. Also, the vast majority of their attacks missed, because I never stayed in place for more than a second at a time. My Agility was certainly coming into play here. Finally, I found myself staring down at their dessicated corpses, wondering when I had gobbled down half an entire Dweeler. They were clearly larger than the Dweelers in the lower layers but... I didn't care. The pain was already disappearing and I had over two thirds of my health left still. More. I needed more.

Spinners were annoying, I discovered. Aelis had told me about them, but up close, they were more difficult to handle than I had expected. Distracting, elemental and fast. They looked for the world like stalactites, unfolding into massively winged toothy nightmares when prey entered their range. Oh, and a bat-like creature should be a spindly thing, right? No. The tough, leathery wings assisted the creatures to spin about near the ceiling, moving in leaps and bounds as if they ignored gravity, while shooting filthy, claw-sized spikes from within their abdomen. Wherever the spikes or stingers hit, the area sizzled and deadened the flesh, removing some of the sense of touch. They were weak, though. Weak! I took two down with a Weakening Fog, leapt towards another trio and let a Deafening Roar fly, sliding to position myself right beneath where they would drop and take them both out. Except - they didn't drop. I glanced up to see their horrible wings unfolding from where they had protected themselves. Even as I leapt to beat them down, my hindquarters were peppered with a barrage from behind.

My right hind leg hurt like hell, but I powered through it, roaring in defiance as I leapt to take down the filthy backstabbers. Except my leg went out from under me. I slid over the rocky ground, face-first, roaring in surprise and hurt. Meanwhile, the monsters behind me were taking advantage of the situation, sending stinger after stinger my way. I gracelessly fought my way to my legs, ignoring the fact that one leg was half dragging behind me. A few rapid, clumsy jumps brought me into an adjacent chamber of the cave, momentarily out of sight.

I was going to crush those gnats, grind them into submission before I... with a heave of effort, I tried to regain my center. I needed to move and I needed to move away from here. Gnats, they might be, but they were fast and they were able to protect against my ranged attacks when they got their defenses up. I started hobbling back where I came from even as the first three Spinners danced underneath the rocky overhang to spread out into my chamber.  I met them with a Weakening Fog, grinning weakly as one of them fell senseless to the floor and the others scattered. Then I legged it for home.

The aftermath wasn't pretty. I had been careless in my approach, enraging the swarm of monsters before I even knew they were there, and the huge cavern held an impressive amount of the pests. Maybe deciding to fight an enemy when you didn't know their numbers or what they were capable of wasn't the brightest idea after all. The next half hour was a soul-crushing, protracted running defense with me taking evasive maneuvers constantly and returning the occasional potshot at my hunters. Slowly, I culled the herd, decreasing their numbers, even as they hit me again and again. My tail was dragging against the hard dirt floor of the tunnel and my control of my lower body was feeling even more sluggish when the last three Spinners finally stopped chasing me.

I had plenty of time to consider my actions while I limped my way home. While letting loose like this had felt really, breathtakingly good, it was also dangerous. My instincts had yelled for me to just continue, give in to the blood lust and keep dominating any enemies foolish enough to cross me. If other dragons felt like this, even some of the time, I might be completely crazy trying to talk sense to one of them. This was going to be the last time I gave into my emotions like this, that was for sure. The rush was real, but at some point, my brain had just shut off. Going higher into the mountain without any sort of knowledge of the area, even knowing that enemies would be tougher and more numerous? Stupid. I’d even failed to reach the next level. There was less than a 1,000 xp separating me from level 15 and, likely, my next feat.

I did manage to succeed in what I went out to do. I had spent enough time that when I returned, I likely wouldn't have to wait for ages until they returned. Licking my wounds,  I limped my way back to the lair. Also, in my mad rush to get away from the Spinners, I'd gotten myself well and truly lost. Nothing seemed even remotely familiar. Fortunately, my map only held the new areas I'd scouted and it was a matter of moments to plot a route that would intersect with one of the earlier caverns, right near the decline leading back to the lower layers.

Of course, it didn't work like that. That would have been too easy. The tunnels kept veering off, and the final cavern that seemed viable was a dead end. I spent two hours retracing my steps and finding an alternate route that led me back to familiar ground. My mood grew progressively darker as I shambled back toward my lair. I really needed some good news.