Deepforge

by R. J. Washburn

  “Didn’t you just say something about the afterlife a while ago? Come on, we need to help everyone else,” he said, helping her to her feet.

  “Wait…” Bōddy started, “so you’re…”

  “She’s immortal. Surprised?” Bruno said.

  “Yea, wasn’t expecting that. Well, good!” Bōddy smiled and continued digging through the rubble. “Has anyone seen the Emperor?”

  Kergnor came stumbling up, pointing at the Drakmid army. “What the hell are they doing?”

  They looked at them, nearly forgetting their presence as they dealt with the wave. The Drakmid army with their dragon companions simply watched, not moving.

  “This would be a perfect time to attack us, why aren’t they? The metallics are gone and we’re prone.” Kergnor said.

  All at once, the Drakmid army turned to make a fast retreat. Eric came running up with several Nords with him, many of them badly injured. “Has anyone seen Grognor? Where are the metallic dragons? How many have we lost? Does anyone know?”

  “Oh…my…god!” Thrúd said, slowly backing up as she looked toward the ocean.

  They all looked as well, once again not understanding what they were seeing. It was nearly as tall as a mountain. It emerged from the ocean onto the beach, and walked along dragging its massive tentacles behind, as much crawling as walking. It was an abomination. It looked like some sort of cross between a giant squid, or an octopus with some sort of sea humanoid. It was terrible, beyond the very definition of ugly. It was beyond gigantic, and it was very hungry. It looked exactly like the shape Bruno had shown the people a few weeks prior.

  “Is that a…” Bruno started.

  “It’s a Kraken! It’s a goddamn Kraken! Run for your lives!” Thrúd screamed.

  Bruno noticed a person directly in the path of the Kraken. “Is that Grognor in front of it?”

  Sure enough, Grognor had dug himself out of the rubble. Seeing the impossibly large creature bearing down on his people, he made a decision. He would battle the creature and keep it from hurting anyone.

  Eric and the Nords couldn’t believe their eyes. They began to prepare for battle.

  “No, retreat and prepare for battle with the Drakmids. Do not worry about the Kraken,” Eric said. He shoved his sword into the ground and said quietly, “It is not your time, Kraken. Go back from where you came and wait for your proper summoning.”

  All of the survivors found themselves panicking and running for their lives, ironically toward where the Drakmid army had run.

  Thrúd grabbed Bruno. “Come on, we have to get out of here!”

  Bruno pulled away. “I can’t let him do this. He’ll be killed!” He began running toward the defiant Grognor, who stood with his axe ready to battle the creature.

  Suddenly, the creature roared. It was a roar that would rival any of the dragons’. The force of the roar itself knocked several people down, and burst a few eardrums with the expanding shockwave. Grognor fell several yards back. He furiously jumped back to his feet. “Come and get some, beasty!”

  The Kraken stopped in its tracks, abruptly turned around, and quickly retreated into the sea. It displaced an enormous amount of water as it disappeared beneath the waves.

  “…and…don’t come back!” Grognor yelled, victorious.

  “How?...how the hell?” The Black Queen was flabbergasted as she watched the Kraken retreat apparently at the sight of Grognor. She looked up at the scryer and Jennifer, who also had a perplexed look on their faces. The Queen wasn’t angry so much, just very confused. In moments she finally got over her shock. “Ok, well, then…my army will attack them in their vulnerable state, before their metallic companions return! Pin them against the sea and the shield! Kill them all!”

  “Prepare for battle!” Eric commanded the Nords. Before anyone realized what was happening, the Drakmids stormed toward them. Everyone scrambled to find a weapon, while still digging people out of the wreckage.

  Grognor was quite pleased that his very presence was enough to scare away the unfathomable beast. Bolstered, he turned around to boast. Instead, he saw more horror. Dead bodies lay intermingled with the debris, people he had been friends with, family. When he saw the familiar face of his brother Mergnor, he gasped. He was very obviously dead. “Noooooo!” he screamed and ran the grey body. He lifted up his brother’s head and gazed into the lifeless eyes. His body had been torn nearly in half by a large timber from one of the war machines. Tears poured down his face as he cried and mourned his brother. As he did so, a horrible thought passed through his mind. “Teelena!” he screamed her name, already crying and horrified by the possibility of her being dead. “Teeeeeelena!” he screamed over and over. He desperately searched for her until he heard the battle cry and the sounds of battle beginning. He looked up to see the massive Drakmid army quickly bearing down on them, and no sign of the metallics anywhere. He then remembered Teelena had been taken by the metallics just seconds before the wave hit, and that seemed to give him a bit of comfort. Not having her near still worried him. Looking around at the destruction and the battle beginning, he grasped his axe and ran toward the Drakmids.

  Everyone ran toward the Drakmids and their chromatic dragons, determined to defeat them. The Stone Children began throwing all manner of debris at the dragons, knocking them out of the sky as they came. The elves met with the Drakmids first, slicing and shooting arrows as fast as they could. The clash of metal grew louder and louder as more Deepforge Empire warriors met with Drakmids. The Nords hit them next, clashing with massive weapons of all types. The dwarves along with everyone else hit next, until a massive clash of warrior on warrior raged.

  There was no order to this battle. It was a chaotic mix of passionate warriors trying their best to kill each other. The Drakmids may have outnumbered the Deepforge army, but they were no longer superior in their weapons and armor. Any outside observer would have a difficult time difficult time discerning who was who. Deepforge warriors of all kingdoms wore the same type of armor as the Drakmids, but shiny and with the Deepforge logo clearly painted on. They also used stolen weapons, so that sparks flew from the metals clashing. Of course, now there was a new variable. The Deepforge army had done the final stage to the mithril, so they were even tougher and shinier than the Drakmids. Now the swords and other bladed weapons of the Deepforge army cut through the unfinished mithril of the Drakmids. The numbers were deceptive. The Deepforge army was outnumbered two to one in this battle, but more Drakmids fell. It wasn’t one sided, however. Many Deepforge warriors fell as well.

  As the battle raged on the ground, the chromatic dragons became distracted by the incessant attacks by the Stone Children. They tried to spew acid, blast fire, electrocute, freeze and all manner of attack at the Deepforge warriors engaged in battle with the Drakmids, but there were two major problems. One, being the fact that the armies were too intermingled to only hit their enemies. The other, was the fact that the Stone Children continued to throw massive missiles at them. Ballista missiles, broken arrows, large timbers, even dead Drakmids were thrown at the dragons. Each hit by the Stone Children caused either instant death or severe damage to a dragon. If a still living dragon lost his flight by an attack and crashed to the ground, it was quickly torn apart. It wasn’t only the Stone Children attacking the dragons, though. The Naw-nee and others good with missiles shot massive amounts of arrows up at them. Eugene and his warriors stood in a line near the ground battle, a few dozen yards away from the Stone Children. Many of the elves joined them.

  Alva calmly aimed his bow at the dragons as everyone else rapid fire. “Come on, just turn that way. Just a little more.”

  “What exactly are you aiming at?” Eugene asked as he rapid fire arrows into dragons, only hitting about every sixth.

  “If you look at their necks, you can just barely see a little smudge near the top. See it?” Alva pointed.

  Eugene stopped firing and looked at where Alva pointed. “Yea, I see it, what is it?”

  It’s
their secondary aspiration spot. It has something to do with keeping their spine cool, or something. If you can hit that spot, it’s a kill…if you can get the arrow in deep enough.” He slowed his breathing and let his arrow fly. It soared through the air and hit the smudge, sinking all the way into the dragon’s neck. The dragon screamed and went limp, crashing into the ground battle. Several people were crushed.

  “Nice shot!” Eugene exclaimed. “Bet you can’t do that again.”

  Alva smiled and took aim as a red dragon bear down on them, inhaling and preparing to expel a blast of fire. Eugene aimed at the smudge just as Alva let his arrow fly. It pierced the secondary aspiration spot, instantly killing the beast. They had to run to get out of the way as the dead dragon hit the ground, plowing up the earth.

  “Wow! That’s even better than an eye shot!” Eugene said.

  “Yea, a good solid hit in the secondary aspiration spot is always an instant kill.”

  Suddenly the sky filled with metallic dragons. Upon them rode several warriors, ready for battle. The dragons didn’t waste time dropping off their passengers; they attacked the chromatics, now out numbering them. The aerial battle raged as did the ground war for hours as the armies tried their best to destroy each other. At long last, the Deepforge army began to get more of an edge.

  All at once, the chromatic dragons and the Drakmid army began retreating to the west, at full speed.

  “Pursue!” Grognor ordered. There was no hesitation. In fact, the pursuit had already begun before Grognor had given the command. Deccon landed and let his passengers off, including Teelena. She and Grognor shared a grateful glance, and then ran with the rest of them. From behind was heard an unearthly sound. It was the horses. They had finally rallied and came running. Many warriors were able to grab a hold of a mane and catch a ride. The pursuit lasted several days, the armies only resting for short periods.

  “What do you mean, ‘we’re losing’?!” the Black Queen raged.

  The High General quivered with terror. “Your Majesty, see for yourself.” He motioned to the scrying device, nearly losing his bowels in terror.

  The Black Queen shoved them both aside and peered into the device. The now shiny Deepforge army cut through her warriors with unexpected ease. At that point, the metallic dragons returned and engaged the chromatics, who were already fully engaged by the Stone Children. She roared in anger. “This is impossible! How close are they to the dome shield?”

  “They’re on the edge now, my Queen. The royal army is at its edge,” the High General reported.

  “I’m growing tired of these defeats! We are much more powerful than them, and more numerous! This is unacceptable!” She looked over at Jennifer and calmed herself. “Ok, sound the retreat, and have them retreat west, then south to the opening. Once they’re inside, I can attack them directly without the restriction.”

  “Your Majesty, are you sure about that? We can’t afford to lose you,” the High General said.

  “Once they’re within my circle of power they won’t be able to stop me. This may just work out in our favor. Have our army retreat all the way into the great valley. We’ll hit them there from both sides in an ambush. Then I’ll find Grognor and deal with him and the First One myself.”

  “Yes, your Majesty,” the High General said.

  Chapter 23

  The chase continued until the Drakmids and their chromatic dragon companions retreated through a shimmering opening in the dome shield.

  “Halt!” Grognor ordered as they all watched the Drakmids disappear into the distance.

  “What?” Bruno asked. “Come on, let’s get them!”

  “It’s a trap,” Deccon said.

  “Yes, it’s obviously a trap,” Grognor began, “let’s make camp here. We’ll send a detachment back to the battle sight and deal with the dead. The rest of us will remain.”

  “Look at the ground,” Eugene said. “Thousands of them have come through. This must be their only passage. But, I still don’t understand what’s the significance of this invisible shield.”

  Bruno walked up and touched the unseen energy field. “It’s her.”

  “What do you mean, Bruno?” Teelena asked.

  The elder elves began inspecting the dome.

  Bruno looked back at them. “I’ve been thinking about this, and I think I have it figured out, at least in part.” He looked at Deccon and Bōddy. “Why hasn’t she simply gone to Deepforge and taken it herself? Remember, I’ve seen her and her dragons destroy entire worlds with advanced civilizations. The fact that we’re still alive means something.”

  “What have you figured out, Bruno?” Grognor asked.

  “I think she’s restricted somehow. Believe me, if she could have done so already, she would have taken Deepforge a long time ago. I would bet this energy field is marking the limit of her direct power, and the main reason she’s had to recruit others to do her bidding. Something…or some one, has restricted her power outside this dome.” He nodded to his wife.

  Everyone thought about this for a moment.

  “Once we get inside, our fate is sealed, one way or another,” Bōddy said.

  “Yes, I think so,” Bruno said.

  “Well,” Grognor began, “one thing is certain. We now know their entrance point. How wide is that? Fifty feet or so? We’ll hold them here and rest. If they try to get through, we can take them. I’m not sure about entering, though, knowing what we know now. Once we go in we’re in her territory. It could spell death for us all.” He looked over at Bruno’s wife. “Thrúd, we could use some of your father’s guidance on this.”

  Thrúd shook her head. “I’m not in direct contact with him, or any of the gods. Prayer is the best we can do, even for me.”

  At that point, Eric and the Nords came to the impromptu meeting.

  Eric overheard what Thrúd and Grognor had said. “We already know the answer, Thrúd.”

  They all looked at him, confused.

  “What do you mean, Chieftain?” Grognor asked.

  “Look at the facts,” Eric began, “the last time we prayed, the gods sent Thrúd with the message they can hear us, and we are on the right path. How would we look to the gods if we cower at the realization that we now have to face our foe when the odds are not in our favor, even after we’ve had consistent victories?”

  Grognor shook his head. “This is a different situation. It’s her territory, where she has all the power. It may be suicide to face her in there. We may need to come up with another plan. I really don’t think the gods would have wanted us to take unnecessary risks.”

  Eric scowled. “Oh, I can tell you. Not only do they want us to continue, they have openly decreed by their limited abilities that we are, in fact supposed to continue. Otherwise, what the hell have we been doing all this time? I would also like to point out that we lost over a thousand warriors a couple days ago with the wave and the subsequent battle. People we loved. Close friends…family. We would dishonor them by cowering now. Sire, if you decide not to continue, you will be known as Grognor the Coward!”

  Grognor’s temper raged, and he jumped off his horse, axe in hand. “How dare you talk to me like that!” He stood face to face with the Nord.

  “Who are you, Grognor of Deepforge?” Eric asked as he pushed up against the Emperor. “Are you the Emperor who will lead us to save our world, or will you cower at a real challenge? Maybe your beard should be trimmed down to match your wife’s, huh? ‘Little Miss Grognor’, fetch me some beer at once!” He pressed his chest against the angry dwarven leader.

  Grognor snarled at the Nord leader as everyone gathered around. Teelena jumped off her horse with her hammer ready to strike the Nord Chieftain down.

  Then, he got it. Grognor looked into the judgmental eyes of Eric and backed away. He screamed at him, “I am not a coward. We will continue into the Black Queen’s realm, and we will destroy her and her army. I’ll not settle for anything less!”

  Eric smiled. “There’s the Emperor
I know. The Nords stand at your command, Sire.” He and all the Nords bowed with respect.

  Teelena glared at Eric, but understood his tactic. It was sound. She latched her hammer and looked over at Grognor. “I hate to admit it, but he’s right. It goes back to what we’ve already stated. She has to be taken down. Now, it’s not just a matter of survival, but of honor. We must honor those we’ve lost. Let’s go kill that bitch!”

  Everyone heard the Empress, and spontaneously cheered.

  “It’s been stated that this is a trap,” Grognor said. “She will die in her own trap. The Black Queen will die at our hand, and we will reclaim our world!”

  The cheer continued.

  So, knowing it was a trap and that the odds would be stacked against them, they continued on after a couple night’s rest. The perpetual guard at the entrance saw no activity on the other side.

  “I can go no further, my love,” Thrúd said as she snuggled with Bruno on the last night before they continued on.

  “I don’t understand. You’re immortal, and one of the best fighters. We need you, Thrúd...I need you.”

  “There are certain rules I was told, instructed. One of these was that I was not to enter her realm under any circumstances. If I do, she’ll become aware of my presence.”

  “There’s so much we don’t understand about this, Thrúd. I hate only having half the story.”

  “I know. Me too.”

  Thrúd stayed behind as the army rode though. She and Bruno shared one last tender moment before they separated.

  “Come back to me, Husband.”

  “I will, I promise.”

  They hugged, kissed, and separated. Thrúd stood alone as the army disappeared into the distance.

  Moments later, she was in Bilskirnir. She had been recalled. Thor and Sif stood before her.

  “Don’t worry, darling. He’ll be ok,” Sif said as she embraced her daughter.