Master of the Hoard - Chapter 43 (Patreon)

The room was large. Huge, even. It was circular, sporting three additional exits, and showed signs of once having been a naturally occuring cavern, until they'd decided to remodel. The walls were inexpertly covered in clay the first handful of feet, which looked like the sloppiest plasterwork ever. Really, if the Urten were my interns, I'd fire them. The rest of the room was more or less level, rock floor rugged but traversable. The only construction to stand out were several pools of liquid inside the cavern, large and bubbling. Walking along the pathways beside the pools would be possible, if difficult. I quickly discounted the remaining details - a huge pile of carcasses piled up to the side, some of them half-eaten, and focused on the group on the far side.

Arthor had definitely done his job. The opening leading to the entrance was half-filled with dirt and rocks. However, it was not going to last. Ravahk’s back was toward me as he oversaw eight Urten digging into the piles of dirt. From what I could tell, if eight huge creatures are forced to work under the direct supervision of a dragon, the work goes fast. The central cave was filling up with dust and they were making serious headway into the entrance way. I decided to take advantage of their distraction and stalked inside the cave, moving closer to ambush them.

I almost made it. The moisture in the air from the pools made the rock floor slippery to the step. I crossed a third of the distance when a shout rang out from one of the alternative exits. An Urten dropped his load of weapons and shouted again, pointing at me. I weighed my options quickly and decided to stall. I walked a few steps further, circling the pool, faking a confidence I didn't have. My mental shout rang out into the cavern. "Nice place. I love what you've done with it. Especially the bones."

The green dragon turned around and glared at me. Not so cocky now, eh? I took in the details. Everything about him just cried speed. His body was longer than mine, longer and thinner. His colors weren't entirely green either, more a smattering of emerald and more earthy tones. He would probably fade into the background of a forest or a dirt tunnel with equal ease. His limbs were thinner than mine, but springy. I had no doubt his Agility would be through the roof. His teeth, however, removed any doubt that this was a true predator. He made sure I had every chance to admire them too, as he faced me. "You have broken into my lair. You dare?"

I grinned right back at him. Every moment of his I wasted right now, was one where Arthor was left alone to eliminate the trapped Urten, and where my tiny army could finish off their opponents and catch up with me. In fact, even as I thought that, I felt the presence of Ursam making itself known behind me, and my grin widened. "Yeah. It feels like we got off on the wrong foot at some point, but you did invite me to come in and chat." He looked at me incredulously, then squinted and tilted his head. I smiled at the sound of struggles in the distance behind me. "Oh yeah. I invited my friends. You know, the family of that girl you killed?"

His mental shout was response enough. "Defense." Without any further warning, every single Urten sprang into action. I did the same, firing off a Weakening Fog on the group of Urten before throwing myself to the side, mostly avoiding a cloud of toxic matter exploding from the green dragon to cover part of the room. Unfortunately, "mostly" wasn't good enough. I took one half breath inside the cloud and immediately started coughing, pain blossoming inside my lungs. Dammit. Of course, he would have a poison cloud.

Growling, I told Ursam to attack the annoying dragon and then made my own way toward him, where he was... hitting one of the walls? I cursed as I recognized the spinning lights being revealed from behind the layer of clay slowly being torn away. Another poison tower? Not okay. Then, my head swiveled to see the two Urten tearing away at similar spots on opposite sides of the room. I changed my command, sicced Ursam on one of the poison towers instead, and aimed for one of the others myself. Taking on Ravahk, head-on? I could do that. Probably. Taking him on while I had three poison towers shooting at me and my people? No thank you.

That's when my backup charged into the room. Two handful of Crawls, armed to the teeth, spilled into the room, followed by my entire Talpi army, screaming and shouting. I used the distraction and leapt, flapping my wings once to cross one of the pools and hissed as one of my feet landed just inside the pool. Gritting my teeth, my mental shout came out just as panicked as I felt. "Avoid the pools. They're dangerous." Acidic would probably be a better word as I could feel the caustic liquid biting into the soft flesh underneath my paw, but I was too busy trying to bite down the pain to nitpick.

The next few moments were pure, unbridled chaos. There was movement everywhere and even with my impressive speed, I was unable to follow everything that moved. I noticed Ravahk bearing down on me from the corner of my eye, even as I charged the closest Poison Tower. The tower had just started shooting, and I was dodging, trying to time my attack in order to avoid the worst of it. My enemy was clearly up to my tricks, though. He was waiting, right there, grinning, just waiting for me to start my approach so he could bid me welcome with a poison cloud.

Right at this moment, everything else was irrelevant. The entire battle boiled down to this single encounter, shadow versus green, and green was playing with a stacked deck. Behind us, our minions clashed with lethal, hate-filled cries, but none dared approach us. When the masters struggled, minions kept their distance. Annoying. A little backup would go down nicely right about now.

While my minions held the numeric advantage, the Poison Towers could be game changers. Neither Crawls nor Talpi were equipped to survive a direct hit from one of them. With a growl, I sent a Weakening Fog towards my enemy, watching it clip his wing, and barreled forward towards the tower. The wily green was not distracted, however. A thick poison cloud settled just in front of me, even as the Poison Tower unleashed a salvo of caustic vileness in my direction. Gritting my teeth, I dodged right and then left, trying to keep on the edges of the poison cloud.

I regretted my decision instantly. I had to hold my breath in the vain hope that it would keep the worst of the fumes from my lungs, but my eyes started to water almost immediately and ended up blinding me. This caused me to be half-blind when I reached the Poison Tower, yet I was able to tear it down with all my power. Even as I turned, rocks tumbling to the floor at my side, I felt something ripping into my hind leg causing a stab of pain to spring through the fog. As I bulled through the edges of the poison cloud again, my vision blurred and wavered. My health bar was slowly dropping below half. Still, my Hardened Scales had saved me from the worst of his attack, or I could very well be limping right now.

When my tear-filled eyes finally located Ravahk, he was running in a sprint. Not toward me or my minions, but along the side of the chamber. He took large strides, leapt against the wall and catapulted himself airborne with rapid strokes of his wings. I risked a look at the rest of the room and hazarded a guess that things were going our way. Ursam’s triumphant roar reverberated through the room, as he enfolded the Poison Tower in a massive bear hug, tearing the construction apart in an overwhelming show of force. From what I could tell, my troops were doing well too. The large forms of the Urten were heavily outnumbered and falling back. It had not been without cost so far, however. A couple of prone bodies looked small enough that they had to be ours. All told, I believed they'd be able to handle the Urten in the end. Especially if I was able to survive facing off with Ravahk.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the backstabbing green had come to the same conclusion. I could see his form circling around inside the room, observing the battles, like he was choosing his targets. "Turn your back on me?" I growled. Anticipating what his target would be was difficult. Anticipating his line of sight, however... I followed his path, bobbing and weaving around the cavern. Apparently, even with the size of the cavern, staying safely in the air at speed wasn't the easiest of tasks and his attention was equally focused on all of us below and the cavern walls right next to him. When I was sure he was moving away from me, I released a Weakening Fog, blanketing the air in front of him with debilitating drops.

He spotted it, no doubt of that. Yet, mid-air, even his frantic evasive swerve was not enough for him to avoid my area of attack. He dipped in the air, clearly disoriented before flapping his wings to hover near the ceiling of the cavern. I used the opportunity to direct Ursam toward the final Poison Tower. We had this scene under control now. I just needed to keep the slippery snake occupied for a short while longer. I blinked rapidly. It even looked like I was regaining my eyesight.

"You - you cannot do this." The weakened dragon's voice sounded equal parts affronted and confused. "FIGHT, vermin. Finish them already. I will-" Hovering in the air in the center of the cavern, he released a pain-filled roar and started shaking, correcting his flight with frantic, desperate twitches. For a moment, I reveled in the toll my breath attack had already taken on him, and then his shakes stilled. His body became harder to see, as a cloud of fog, not of my making, started to gather in the air surrounding him. The vicious grey-green substance was light enough to float in the air for a moment before it started drifting downwards and outwards. Where it hit, it sizzled and burned. An unlucky Talpus caught in the center of the cavern started screaming, his high-pitched voice echoing around the room.

I roared in fury. With that one use of power, the battlefield had changed. "Everybody. Back into the tunnel until the fog has gone. Help your friends." The larger, tougher Urten were clearly not immune either, but bore the pain, using the chance to wail away at their enemies who were suddenly forced on the defensive. There were only four, no, five of them left now, but along with Ravahk, they would be more than enough to finish off Ursam and myself. A crushing sound behind me told me that at least Ursam had finished off the final Poison Tower and I called for him to come.

I sent a Weakening Fog toward two Urten who were wailing away on my retreating forces. The attack caused them to stumble, and I followed my people with Ursam right behind me. I growled with frustration as we all backed off, watching the green fog blanket almost the entire cavern. Behind me, Talpi were fighting for my attention, mental shouts battling for supremacy inside my mind. I tuned them all out in favor of the fury that was building inside me. Now, my foe would be able to dig out all the surviving Urten. Where they could then power through the effects of the fog, while they prepared their fire powers. Suddenly, the fight would be turned on its head. "Like. Fucking. Hell." I took a step forward before I even knew it. "Ursam. Heel." Then I dug in my claws and sprang into motion.

Right inside the entrance, I turned to the left and circled along the wall. The fog had stopped spreading at this point. In the center of the cavern, it lay heavy enough that I couldn't gaze through it, but along the edges, it was lighter. Even so, I could still feel the tiny pinpricks as the fog caused my health to slowly drip downwards again. Ursam was trotting along obediently beside me, Still, it would be nothing compared to... I interrupted my train of thought, as I watched a light go up on the other side of the chamber. And there they were. Five Urten, two of them carrying flaming weapons and three more digging into the rubble leading toward the entrance and their trapped brethren. And of course Ravahk.

He spotted me just as I saw him, and dove straight into the cover of the fog. I halted for a split second. The dilemma was real. I was still out of breath attack range of the Urten, and if I decided to go after them, the dragon would be able to attack me from the side with impunity. At moments like this, I lamented not evolving into a red dragon. I could've just burned the fog away, or ignored it with my massive Toughness. I snapped out of it and went on the offensive. One hit. I would be able to take one solid hit, I reckoned. Better let it count. "Ursam. Heel." I focused on a spot right in front of the two Urten, willing an illusion into being. As it snapped into place, my mouth stretched into a grimace that might be called a smile if I hadn't been so grim. Right now, if the Urten turned and looked at the edge of the chamber they would see nothing. Definitely no dragon bearing down at them with top speed.

I don't know if Ravahk saw through my plan or my illusion. The poison cloud thing that sprang into being in front of me as I charged recklessly at the towering enemies was no surprise, however, and I held my breath, closed my eyes and powered through. Beside me and to the left, Ursam's labored whimper gave away his position. Midway through the cloud, I was forced to open my eyes to see where I was going. I instantly regretted the decision as my eyes started hurting like I had been maced and again my eyes started to water. I could just make out my targets right in front of me, completely oblivious to our presence. A shadow from within the fog told me that my adversary was on his way, charging out to attack me from the side. I held back a growl. Just a moment more, and I would have had the annoying grunts. "Ursam. Attack!" I ordered, commanding him to launch himself at the Urten, sending a Weakening Fog ahead of him in their direction, while I veered off to deal with the green.

We met a dragon length from the walls in a towering clash of claws, teeth and scaled bodies. At the last moment, he ducked below my neck, forcing me to the side with sheer momentum, and I threw my body half on top of his. The idea was to pin him down and batter him to death. I almost had him too. The claws of my front paw clamped down on his front leg, digging deep to hold him in place, even as his own claws dragged over my torso, blood spilling and scales ripped from every impact. In an even match, I would definitely be able to take him. Especially weakened as he was, there was no doubt I was stronger and tougher than him. His Agility, however... I growled, as I watched him slither away from my claws in a rain of scales and blood.

"Ursam. Heel!" I shouted, as I moved towards the relative safety of the edge of the cavern. Ursam limped toward me, leaving behind two mutilated Urten and three very surprised diggers. He did not look good, however. His hind leg dragged behind him, a scorched line on the shoulder showing where one of the Urten had tagged him with a hatchet, and blood flowed freely down his face. He would not be able to handle much more. It looked like a single solid strike would do him in, or a bit longer inside this damn fog. Softly, I commanded the giant, furless teddy bear. "Go." I had to repeat it with a gesture towards the tunnel, before he got my point. I would need to practice more sophisticated commands if I survived this mess. This wasn't doing me any favors.

And that left me. One shadow dragon, banged up and hurting at a third health, facing off against three undamaged Urten and a green dragon with all the benefits of the terrain playing to his advantage. I sent another Weakening Fog after the Urten and tagged at least two of them, before limping the other way. Time. I needed time. "You know, for a sneaky, back-stabbing runt, you take a punch pretty well. Did you realize you could have avoided this mess entirely?"

I moved a bit further away from the Urten, who were staring nervously at me. Peering into the fog, I tensed, ready to throw myself to the side at a moment's notice. Was the fog lifting slightly now? There! A poison cloud sailed out from inside the fog, hitting slightly off from where I stood. My evasive maneuver wasn't pretty, but it worked.

The self-assuredness was back in the injured dragon's mental voice. "Avoid it? You sent a Talpus to force me to surrender. A Talpus! A dragon does not surrender to gnats."

An opening. I edged further along the wall toward my people "These gnats have defeated your tough defenders, though. And Jazinth did not tell you to surrender. She offered an alliance. An alliance to me, even if you couldn't bring yourself to ally with a Talpus. She brought presents, for fuck's sake!"

"Pfah. Bribery. How could I know she was telling the truth? Besides, I knew none from my clutch would ever stoop to allying with anybody unless they were desperate. For all I knew, she was laying a trap for me."

Oh yes. The fog was definitely thinning. I could see where he was, inching closer to me from the right, to surprise me out of nowhere. Maybe... I saw the backbones of a plan here. It was reckless, dangerous and entirely too dependent on my followers, yet it might just work. I continued moving further along the wall. I was only three dragon lengths away, now. I kept my eyes trained on the Urten, who were carefully creeping along the wall, just outside reach of my breath attack. Gritting my teeth, I braced myself for what was to come. Regardless whether this worked, it probably wasn't going to be pretty. I took a few further steps and spoke up, "We're clutch brothers too - didn't you know? We're-"

"He's angling for the tunnel. Get him. Now!" A poison cloud sailed out to settle comfortably right behind me, effectively cutting me off from retreat. Pushing through the cloud? Sure. Pushing through with Ravahk about to jump me? Not a chance. Time to enact my plan. I started sprinting, not back toward the tunnel, but along the wall towards the Urten. Once I was in range, I released a Weakening Fog at them. This time, the three lumbering brutes were out in the open and completely uncovered and I hit them all. They managed to lumber onward, straining against the debuffs. I whirled around to face the green beast with my teeth bared and a curse on my lips.

He flew out of the fog like a ghost in a horror movie, billowing clouds parting to reveal the sinuous combination of teeth, scales and claws. This time, I was prepared and I met him head on. The determination on his face turned to triumph, when I accepted his charge. I surrounded his claws with mine and dragged him with me to the ground. We wound up almost entangled, my body clenched up against his side, with our tails struggling to obtain a better hold over the other.

He hissed, struggling in an attempt to get his hind claws to bear against me. "You are no clutch brother of mine. My kin would not be moronic enough to be trapped like this. " The sound of the Urtens’ heavy feet thundering towards us grew louder.

Through a haze of blood, I grinned at him. "Oh, we're family alright. Only in name, however. If you were my real brother, I'd never do something like this." Then I threw back my head and released a Deafening Roar with every ounce of my being. The only sound to follow was that of three thuds, as the Urten hit the floor.

Ravahk still moved against me, albeit groggily. He shook his head to try to clear it of the effect. "I'll kill you. You runt. You don't stand a chance."

Then I laughed. It came out as a rasping bark, right in his face. "I don't need to kill you. I just need to hold you here." My cry rang out like a bell. "Erk! Crawls! Charge!"

Here they came. Like the ugliest angels ever bred. They came tumbling through the cavern, ignoring the discomfort of the fading poisonous fog, some of them even barging through the poison cloud lingering still behind me. The green suddenly realized his predicament, bucking and struggling to escape my claws. I just dug my claws in harder and held on for dear life.

His eyes met mine. I could see the abject terror growing in them. "I... I surrender. Please accept me as your pawn."

In response, I tightened my grip and looked him back in the eyes. And I did not look away. When the Crawls started attacking, when one of his hind claws caught in my lower leg and snapped off, when his eyes finally rolled up in his head and he lolled to the ground, I did not look away. As I finally stumbled to my feet, head heavy from blood loss and the lingering damage from all the poison, I mumbled to myself, "Vengeance. It will have to do."