This is taking far too long. It’s been nearly two years; I should've found his fortress by now.
Babossa stood by the entrance to one of the tunnels watching slaves pass by with a sneer on his monstrous face. He towered over them at nearly 16 feet high and 8 feet wide. Built like a mountain of flesh and muscle, he feared nothing and constantly struggled against his urges to destroy everything around him. Dangling from a rope tied about his waistcloth were three skulls he wore as proof of his power; trophies of a recent conquest.
At least those three lightwielders had backbone; these weaklings are pathetic.
He watched the slaves in disgust as they hurried by cowering in fear. They carried rocks out of the tunnel and carried them to the edge of the landing and tossed them down the side of the mountain. Under the watchful, hungry eyes of the demidemons, they quickly scurried back inside to repeat the process.
It’s like watching a bunch of ants, except that the ants would be working harder. Those little pebbles don’t look like much of a burden even for such lowly creatures.
Furious, Babossa strode forward. His massive body caused the ground to shake with his every step as he moved toward the slaves that were coming out of the tunnel. He knew the slaves had heard him approaching, but they had learned not to stop working for any reason, so they kept laboring as if they hadn't noticed.
Propelled by his mounting rage, Babossa focused on the closest slave; a dirty little man with his head hung low. The man didn’t stop working to look up at Babossa's towering form, so he never saw the massive foot coming down on top him. Brutally, he crushed the slave to the ground and stood on him with his massive foot draped across the man's lower torso. Babossa hardly seemed to notice the man’s screams of agony as his thighs and lower back were crushed flat.
“What the hell do you slaves think you’re doing with these pathetic pebbles?” he demanded as he stooped to retrieve the fallen slave's burden. Grasping the stone firmly between his thumb and forefinger, he glared at it for a moment before easily crushing it to dust with his thick, steely fingers.
“Bringing the rock out one pebble at a time is going to stop. You’re all taking too long. You’re all going to be working much harder and much faster from now on... ”
Without missing a beat he bent down again and grabbed the sobbing slave’s arm, his massive hand engulfing most of it. With the ease of picking a flower he ripped the man’s arm off and stood up again. The man screamed again, but Babossa rolled the ball of his foot slightly and crushed the man’s back, chest, and ribs. The satisfyingly tortured screams died instantly.
“Or you’re all going to become snacks!”
He popped the man’s arm in his mouth whole and munched on it noisily, grinding it between his large, flat teeth. The slave beneath his foot screamed breathlessly with his mouth hanging opening as he was crushed flat by Babossa’s sheer weight. Blood sprayed out from under the edge of his foot and gore rose up between his leathery toes as the slaves body ruptured.
A menacing glare at the other human workers revealed the impact of his demonstration. Their eyes wide with panic, the remaining slaves immediately doubled their efforts finding new energy from their fear.
He smiled menacingly as he watched them practically run back into the tunnel once their burdens had been thrust over the mountainside. Out of the seven tunnels he had ordered dug at various points around the mountain; this was the least productive or at least it had been. Four of the other tunnels had been moving along steadily, but still there was no sign of Gormum’s fortress.
He stepped off the man’s body and moved toward the edge of the landing, thinking about the progress that the slaves were making. Roughly a week had passed since one of the tunnels on the far side of the mountain had collapsed entirely. Most of the slaves and demi had been lost with the tunnel, but he hardly cared.
Demidemons are easily replaced and my raiding parties of demi are gathering more human slaves in The World of Light even now. But none of that really matters.
He frowned as his thoughts turned to the only concern that had been nagging him for days: the lack of reports from the seventh tunnel. After the sixth tunnel had collapsed, the few surviving slaves had been sent to the nearest tunnel which happened to be the seventh tunnel. Since then, he'd lost all contact with the demidemons there. They had stopped showing up with daily reports and all those he had sent to investigate had failed to return.
Could the collapsed tunnel have something to do with this sudden lack of communication?
Twin sets of long, bull-like horns jutted from his head above each ear. Occasionally, when he was distracted by something, he scratched at the base of his horns out of habit.
Following the strange habit, he absentmindedly reached up and scratched at the narrow strip of leathery skin between the horns on the left side of his head. As he realized what he was doing, he lowered his hand and scowled. He hated the stupidly predictable habit that made him seem like a mindless animal, but not as much as he hated the thought of someone undermining his plans.
He glanced over at the slaves that streamed out of the tunnel. Invigorated by fear, they were practically running with rocks clutched tight to their chests. The air around them reeked of fear and its unmistakable odor was intoxicating as it filled the great nostrils of wide nose.
He laughed in spite of the constant rage that boiled within him and called one of the nearby demi over to him. The demidemon rushed over to him looking almost as frightened of him as the human slaves did.
“Kill any of the slaves that slow down. I’m leaving to check on one of the other tunnels. Don’t get behind again or else you’ll be joining that one.”
He gestured to the slave that had been crushed. The demidemon followed his gesture and saw the flattened man lying in a puddle of thick gore. It nodded warily and quickly fled back to its position watching the slaves exit the tunnel.
It’s time that I see for myself just what's been happening in that tunnel. Those insects better have a great reason for not reporting to me, not that it will help them much.
He glanced once more at the crushed slave and a hideous smile formed on his lips. He clenched his massive hands into fists that he knew could easily crush stone and felt his blood start pumping.
I may just start with some killing and see if they offer me an explanation freely. Yes, that sounds like much more fun.
Turning away from his latest victim, he strode towards the path that led down from the landing. The first thing that he'd done upon beginning his quest for Gormum’s gallovine had been to cut a wide path around the mountain connecting all of the tunnels together. Despite being on the far side of the mountain, it would only take him a few days to reach the seventh tunnel.
I think I’m really going to enjoy this.
Stepping down from the landing, he raced along the path and quickly left the tunnel behind. He knew all too well that both demi and slave alike were filled with a bone-chilling dread when faced with his awesome might. He could hardly contain his excitement at the thought of crushing more pathetic weaklings. Thoughts filled with gruesome images of the coming bloodbath, he smiled sadistically and the sound of his booming laughter rang out across the mountainside.
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