"You make weapons here?”
"Yes. We’re not on anyone’s side, so the kingdom leaves us be, but we do have to forge for ourselves. It’s the only way,” Godwain explained.
"I see. I’m glad you’re not being hunted.”
Kek remembered what happened with Hendrick and the campsite. It hurt to think about.
"Anyways, come in, have some food. I’d also like to discuss what my daughter was doing out there,” he said.
Kek was led to the hall. Alina and Rita were shown the baths after they asked the dwarves where they were. Faye was near the spring, drinking water. Kek knew this was one of the few times they could go off and do their own thing, which he was fine with. He had a small amount of gold, so he could purchase a weapon or two.
The chief led him to a home, and in there was Valeria. She was reading a book, and when she looked up, she smiled.
"Hey father.”
"Hello sweetie. Everything good?”
"Yeah. I see you’ve met Kek,” she said.
"Indeed. This is the man who saved you, right?”
"Correct. He helped me,” she replied.
"It was nothing,” Kek said.
"No, by all means! I'll give you food tonight, and we’ll even give you a weapon as thanks,” he said.
Kek was surprised he was treated like a king. That night, everyone got fed the freshest mutton in the land. Kek never tasted anything so good. He learned from the dwarves that they were a people that mostly kept to themselves, but if the outsider was friendly enough, they would surely open their doors. Kek felt like he belonged here, something that was a rare feeling, but also quite nice.
At the end of the night, Godwain moved toward Kek, giving him a sword.
"I noticed you have some puny little iron dagger there. Here is a steel sword. I know you can’t wield it until you gain another level, but I figured giving it to you immediately would be quite helpful,” he said.
Kek thanked the man, putting it onto his back.
"Thank you, sir.”
"You’re most welcome! I'm glad that I can help,” he said.
The rest of the night seemed alright, but Kek had trouble sleeping. He heard the sound of someone nearby, and when he turned, he realized it was Valeria.
"Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
"I could say the same thing. I wanted to talk to you,” she said.
Kek patted the spot next to her, and as she sat down, she took a deep breath.
"I want to come with you,” she started.
"Why’s that?”
"Because you guys are actually fun. My dad is so boring, and I wish I could prove my worth. He says I should stay here, to better my skills before I even dream of leaving the village. But I want to go. I want to see the world out there,” she told him.
Kek nodded. "I can’t say you can come with us yet, because that’s up to your dad, but I do believe that if you ask him nicely, he’ll probably help,” he said.
"Yeah, but I need to prove it. How do I do so?”
“Maybe show your skills. Take down a monster,” he said.
"I know that. I just...I'm not sure what else I can do,” she told him.
Valeria seemed torn and Kek wanted to help.
"Just sleep on it. Maybe when we leave you can ask your dad if you can tag along. We’re going to save the kobolds, and take down someone that Alina has beef with, a woman named Sephy.”
Valeria looked at him with fear.
"Oh. Her.”
"You know her?” Kek asked with surprise.
"Yeah, but I don't’ want to talk about it.”
Kek didn’t know how to approach this. His charisma wasn’t anywhere near charming enough to ask. She left, leaving Kek alone.
Valeria knew something, and he wanted to find out what it was. However, it was time to fall asleep.
He made his way over to the bed he was given, passing out shortly after. It was the best sleep he’d had in a long time. At this point, nothing could go wrong. He had people by his side, and hopefully Valeria could talk to her father. He wouldn't mind her on the team since she was so strong.
But, what woke him up the next morning wasn’t the sound of the dwarves, nor was it Faye telling him to quit being a lazy bum and wake up. No, what he heard was a scream.
He jumped out of bed, looking at the sight, and he realized Valeria might be able to prove her strength sooner than he thought.
9
Valeria stepped out, looking at the horned troll. Kek and the others got themselves together, with Kek holding the dagger that he acquired a little while back. The horned troll looked at them, spikes all over his body, and a look of anger on his face.
Valeria stepped forward, ax in her hands, holding it unsteadily. Kek looked at her, concern present on his face.
"Are you going to be okay with that?”
"I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” she said.
"Okay,” he told her.
He noticed Valeria’s stats; that her charisma was low. It was only at 5, which might have been why she couldn’t prove to her father that she was strong enough to fight this enemy. Immediately, Valeria stepped forward, looking at the troll.
"Hey ugly thing! Wanna fight,” she said.
The troll growled at her, stepping forward and shaking the ground. Unfortunately, since Valeria’s dexterity wasn’t all that high, she moved about in an unsteady manner, crying out loud.
"Ahh, what do I do?” she said to herself.
Kek moved forward, putting his body in front of her, blocking off the horned troll’s first attack. It hit Kek straight in the chest, causing him to let out a cry and fall. Valeria went over to him, looking at the creature.
“Kek! Are you okay?”
Kek could barely move. Valeria sat there, and she looked over at Rita. Rita used her side attack, but it hit the horned troll in an area where spikes were, so she fell back, grimacing in pain. Alina tried to use magic to conjure up an ice storm.
"I’m going to use Howling Blizzard! I want you to attack at the last possible second, Valeria,” she said.
"But--”
"Do you want your father to accept you for who you are? I know you want to come with us, but the only way you can is if you prove your worth,” Alina said.
Valeria felt her power start to grow. She rummaged through her pocket, taking one of the strength tonics that her village made. She popped the cap, placing it to her mouth, gulping it all down. When it hit her stomach, she felt like her powers were growing.
“My father said never to take this unless I was in danger,” she said, as she grabbed the ax, this time with a bit more control, and as she looked at the monster, she waited for the cue. “Yes, I feel it!”
Meanwhile, Alina and Faye were trying to hold off the monster. Alina had her ice magic, and Faye had her fairy magic. But it wasn’t doing much, and the troll kept moving out of the confines. The people in the village were trying too, but most of them didn’t have their weapons.
"We need to get rid of this, and fast!” Alina cried out.
"Let’s work together. You have some ice magic, right? I have one spell. When we freeze him, we let Valeria know, and she can deliver the final blow,” Faye said.
"Listen princess, I don’t like you, and you don’t like me. But if you want to make it somewhere, we’ve gotta fight this. Kek is down. The troll will destroy this damn place if we don’t do something fast,” Faye said.
Alina nodded. "Fair enough. Let’s do this.”
The two women got themselves together, ready to attack. Alina motioned for Valeria to get ready to strike.
‘When you have an opening, use it,” she cried out.
Valeria watched, nodding. She could feel the fear seeping forward, her entire body shivering with worry. But she looked at the troll, the creature that would be the deciding point of all of this, and as she readied it all, she felt eager to begin.
"I’ve got this,” she muttered to herself, ready for more.
&nb
sp; The troll lunged forward, a huge, sweeping strike about to hit Valeria. As it came down, the creature was frozen in place by two bouts of ice. It seemed like it was going to only get worse with wear, and it made Valeria realize just what was going to happen if she messed up. The fear of completely fucking everything up made her feel anxious, but she braced herself.
When the troll was frozen in place, she ran toward it, ax swinging, and when she hit the creature straight in the soft part of his body, she let out a cry. She watched as the creature continued to cry out with every single motion, and as she finished her final attack, she watched as the creature fell to the ground, blood spilling out. The ice encased him, and as she saw him shiver in defeat, she looked at Alina and Faye. They raced over, each of them embracing her.
"You did it,” Alina said.
"I did?” Valeria replied.
"Yep. He’s down,” Faye pointed out.
The creature’s corpse lay heaped on the ground.
Soon, the inhabitants of the village gathered around one by one. Each of them cried out with joy upon spotting the felled beats.
When Valeria’s father came and saw what she’d done, the surprise was impossible to miss on his face.
"You did it,” he said.
"I did, father. I saved the village,” she said.
"I don’t think we could’ve done it without you. All of us were incapacitated, without any weapons at hand. But you saved everyone,” he said.
Valeria had a look of triumph, but she saw Kek there, still down for the count. She raced over and looked at him, immediately fearing the worst.
“Kek! Are you okay?” she asked.
The kobold groaned, moving up and looking at her with a dazed expression.
"I’m okay. What just happened though?” he asked.
"Well, she saved all our asses,” Faye said.
Rita was in the corner too. The three women that weren't down went to her as well.
"Is she okay?” Valeria said.
"I have a healing tonic. Let me give it to her,” Alina said.
She opened the cat woman’s mouth, holding it there. She dropped a little bit, but then realized Rita needed it directly in her mouth.
"Well, I guess I'm going to have to do it,” Alina said.
She took the liquid and put it in her mouth, tilting the other's head. The sorceress pushed the contents down the other woman’s throat. After a moment, Alina pulled back, looking at Rita.
Rita’s eyes fluttered open, staring at Alina with surprise.
"Did you just kiss me?” she asked.
"Yeah, to save your life,” Alina said with a scoff.
Rita blushed, but then she spoke.
“Thanks, I guess. You didn’t have to do that,” she said.
"Well you didn’t have to fall to the ground and almost die. Kek is out of commission too, so I had to save both of you,” she told Rita with a huff.
“Gee, sorry,” Rita said.
She got up, gasping in pain as she saw the spikes.
“Shit this hurts.”
She pulled them out slowly, and soon Kek moved toward the entire group, looking at each of them.
“Everyone alright?” he asked.
"Been better, but yeah,” Alina said.
"Anyways, let’s head over to the chief’s hut. He took Valeria there,” Alina said.
Kek looked in the distance at this, seeing that things were certainly changing. He walked everyone over, looking out at the distance. Hopefully, the father would allow Valeria to travel with them, since she was a valuable asset.
When they got in, the chief smiled at them.
"You’re alive,” Godwain said.
"Barely,” Kek replied.
"Yeah, looks like you guys were pretty banged up. Anyways, come on in,” he said.
The group stepped into the small dwarven hut, and soon Godwain spoke, smiling.
"Anyways, it seems like Valeria saved everyone,” he said.
Valeria blushed, and her father then spoke once more.
“The truth is, we wanted to help, but it seemed that everyone in the village was put under some strange spell when the creature came in. I think it’s got some magic attached to it,” he said.
Kek thought about what he said, but before he could speak, he heard Alina chime in.
"Was it...on the creature?” she asked.
"Yes. It was,” he explained.
She stepped back, shock present on her face.
"What’s wrong??” Kek asked.
"Yeah, what’s got your tongue tied?” Faye added.
"I just...I know what happened,” she said.
“Then what happened then, lady?”Faye said.
“That troll was sent by Sephy. She’s magicked the animals here to attack. I don’t know why it didn’t affect me. Perhaps it’s because I'm not a part of this village. But it seems like your daughter was the only one unaffected,” Alina explained.
"I think it’s because of this,” Valeria said.
She brought forth a charm, and when Alina saw it, she gasped.
"You have this too,” she said.
Kek looked at her, and then Alina looked at Godwain with shock.
"Where did she get that?”
"From her mother. But why?” he asked.
Alina pulled out her own, showing it to the other man. "I’ve got one too. It’s a magic charm used by those who were sent to fight Sephy. Sephy and I have a score to settle...she’s my sister,” Alina explained.
The dwarven leader looked at her with wide eyes.
"You’re Alina, aren’t you?’ My wife’s former best friend,” he said.
“The one and only,” Alina added.
"Oh gee, I didn’t even know this. I’m sorry,” he said to her.
"It’s okay. Your wife was Galinda, wasn’t it?” Alina asked.
"Yes. She knew Sephy, they were best friends for a long time. But Sephy went to the dark side,” he explained.
"And I'm guessing your wife went with her,” she said.
“So, Galinda wanted to fight the other woman. They had a fierce battle, and she got attacked and was killed by the one thing she loved,” he explained.
Alina felt the tears start to flood to her eyes.
"I’m sorry,” she said.
"It’s okay. You didn’t know. I honestly thought she’d make it, but unfortunately, fate had other plans,” he said.
"I understand,” she replied.
"But thank you. For being there, Alina. Thank you for saving my daughter. I know it's a risk to let her go on and follow you guys, and at first I didn’t want this, but I think...I think I want her to go,” he said.
Alina looked at him, seeing the tears welled up. She nodded.
"I’ll take care of her just as I took care of your wife,” she said.
“Thank you. I heard you went to the forest in seclusion. I felt like I'd never see the day you’d be back. And I honestly thought you died too,” he said to Alina.
"I thought I did as well,” Alina said.
"Well, I trust that you’ll protect Valeria. She’s like her mother, but still has much to learn,” Godwain explained.
"I’ll protect her with my life. Thank you.”
Godwain gave Alina a hug, and Valeria got herself ready for the journey. The rest of the party was sent to the medical area, and each of them were treated for their injuries, and made sure that they were in top fighting condition. Kek wanted to learn more about Alina, and her relationship to Valeria. He didn’t know Alina had such a troubled past, but maybe that's why she was so bent on coming with them. The wood witch had a reason for doing everything that she did, and hopefully it would all be explained soon.
10
After they finished the final preparations, the group left the village. Alina and Valeria were together, with Rita and Faye near the back. Rita was still a bit shocked over what happened between Alina and her, but Faye seemed to brush it off.
“Everything okay?” Faye asked Kek.
>
"Yeah. I just feel like we’re all getting into something a lot bigger than I thought we’d be getting into,” he explained.
"I see. Yeah, I feel it too,” Faye told him.
"I just worry about everything that’s been going on. How close we are to the end, how far this may take us. Hopefully we’re near the wood serpent soon, because I'd like to free the kobolds whenever possible,” he said.
"We have a ways to go,” Alina said.
Kek sighed, but soon they were crossing down the other side of the mountain, each of them fighting and gaining some experience along the way. Kek wanted to learn more about Alina and her backstory, so that night, when the rest of the camp was asleep, he found her near another brook they discovered.
“Can’t sleep?” Kek said.
"Yeah. I'm just worried, that’s all,” she told him.
He sat down next to her, holding her hand for a second. She looked at him, and he smiled.
"You’re worried about Val, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Valeria is a big reason for my worry, yes,” she said.
"Wanna talk about it?”
Alina looked torn, but then she nodded.
"Yes. Because I trust you,” she replied.
"I feel honored,” he said with a smile.
"You should be. I don’t trust many,” she said.
"Don’t blame you. Sounds like you had a hell of a time before I came along,” he pointed out.
There was a pause, and then she spoke.
"I’ve known her mother ever since I was young. I'm 200 years old now, but about 150 years ago, Galinda and I were best friends. She was half dwarf, half human, and her family were magical beings as well. She learned magic from her mother, who was a great friend to me. The two of us were so close, and honestly, if I was attracted to women, I would’ve married her,” Alina said.
"Damn,” Kek said.
"Yeah. She was so important to me. But then, she met Sephy. Sephy was someone who knew of the dark teachings, who was a part of the kingdom before the war. When the war happened, she ended up splitting and doing her own thing. We managed to help the winning side,” Alina explained.
“So you wanted the rebels dead.”
Kek felt slightly discomforted knowing this.
Deeper Down: A Monster MC LitRPG (Kobold's Quest Book 2) Page 4