Defenders of the Realm

by Dave Willmarth

  When the dwarves were done with this first phase, Alexander asked Jeeves to make an announcement that just after sunset he wanted all citizens to gather at the new building to help bless it. He still had some more work to do before then.

  The building now sat looking like a large basement. Alexander removed the dirt on either side with a ramp leading down to a level that would allow dwarves to stand and comfortably shoot through the long slots in each wall. And space for reinforcements to step in, or for ammunition runners to move around. He didn’t expect the battle to take long, but he wasn’t going to underestimate his enemy again.

  He had considered placing the orb and opening the portal in the middle of a magma chamber deep underground. Those demons that weren’t burned upon entry could be crushed by falling stone. But Alexander wanted his people to be in on the battle. He wanted to give them the experience, in both meanings of the word. They could level up and become stronger, and also take one more step toward becoming hardened veteran soldiers. And he wanted to win with as little risk to his people as possible. So he’d gone with this plan.

  His work on the building done for the moment, he teleported back to the keep. Taking a seat in the dining area, he pulled more obsidian from his bag and began breaking off small pieces to make more dragon pins. The dwarves from Broken Mountain were risking their lives for Elysia, and deserved the same protections as his citizens did. He spent some time infusing each chunk with the Undying enchantment and the Healing Light spell that would bring the wearer back from 1 health point to 2,000. When he was finished, the sun was much lower in the sky. It wouldn’t be long until sunset. He scooped all the enchanted stones back into his bag and made a note to have Brick take care of shaping them. Since the dwarves weren’t Elysians, maybe make them some shape other than the dragon pins. He’d suggest the idea to Brick and let him work it out.

  Since he was right there, he decided to check on the smithy and see how the bolt production was going. He found the smiths had indeed arranged themselves into teams. One group was heating and smelting ore into steel. Another was pouring the hot steel into small rods. The next was reheating and pounding those rods into bolts with wickedly barbed heads. Alexander lifted one, admiring the work.

  One of the dwarves approached, saying “We hear’d we’re gonna be shootin them demons up close. So we be makin’ the bolts heavy n hard to pull out. They’ll hit like a hammer n do even more damage comin out than goin in!”

  Alexander shared an evil grin with the smith. “These are perfect! How many do you think you can make in two days?”

  The smith surveyed the pile, then looked to his people. “There be more’n three hundred in that pile now. If we don’t sleep, maybe ten times that number.”

  Alexander shook his head. “No. Take time to rest. All of you. We still need to fight when you’re done. Can’t have all of you exhausted. That is an order.”

  The smith nodded his head, as did several others who’d heard the exchange. The smith replied “That be good thinkin, me King. And we appreciate yer lookin out fer us.”

  Knowing that dwarves were not often mushy, and suspecting the old smith was messing with him, he broke into his very best Brick impersonation.

  “Bah! Lookin out fer ye? Nonsense. Can’t have ye all sleepy, making crooked bolts that’d fly in a circle n poke ye in yer own arse!”

  The dwarves in the smithy all looked shocked for a moment, then burst out with roaring laughter. The lead smith swatted Alexander’s back saying “Well done, me King!”

  Alexander left them to their jokes and made his way back to the dining area.

  He socialized with folks who gathered for the evening meal. Just as the sun began to drop below the trees, Sasha and the others showed up. Sasha told him they’d seen the feed of the memorial at the keep. They all mingled with the citizens, enjoying their supper and sharing stories of the memorial services in and out of the game. When the sun was finally set, Alexander rose.

  “If you’ll all follow me, we’re going to consecrate a new altar outside the wall. I’ll explain when we get there.” He turned and began to walk toward the gates. Jules joined him and put her arm through his. The others all followed with the crowd. Alexander checked his UI as they walked, and was glad to see that Misty, Lyra, and the others had all returned. He’d been afraid they might not. He also noted that all of the duergar, who normally kept to themselves in the evenings, were joining the procession.

  Stopping in front of the building, he motioned for the citizens to surround the place. Father Alric took the lead, stepping down into the building and approaching the altar. Dropping to his knees, he placed a hand on the stone and looked around him. All the citizens dropped to their knees or took a knee and bowed their heads. The dwarves held hammer or sword to heart. Alric began to murmur his prayer to Asclepius as each of those gathered began to pray to their own gods. Alexander himself sent a little greeting to Odin just to keep up appearances.

  Unlike before when lightning or bright rays of light pierced the sky to strike the altar, this time there was only the brightening of the moon as it rose into the sky. The altar began to glow with moonlight, and the jet black obsidian lightened to a soft silver-grey color that sparkled as if it had captured all the stars above.

  When the light faded, the altar continued to glow. Alexander thanked everyone and released them to their evening activities. Most remained long enough to visit the altar, laying a hand on it or whispering quiet words before leaving.

  Alexander kept Brick and the other players with him. The first thing he did was raise the stone to provide a roof for the structure. As soon as it was complete, the stone of the roof took on the same soft glow as the rest of the structure.

  Alexander quickly explained the plan to the group. Grumpy laughed out loud. Max whistled in appreciation. The group made a few suggestions, and their plan was finalized. Brick and the shapers would return and make the final preparation the next morning. Unless they could find Fitz to do it for them.

  Jules and Alexander retired to their rooms. Though it was early still, it had been an emotional day. Tomorrow would be the final day of preparation.

  The day after, they would be taking on the demon army.

  *****

  Fibble had stood by and witnessed the ceremony at the new building. He hadn’t knelt and prayed like everyone else (though he was so small nobody noticed). He didn’t have a god to pray to, and that made him sad. When everyone began to disperse, Fibble wandered back to his hole in the stable tack room. He thoroughly checked for the sounds of any bugs below the floorboards, but it seemed he had scared them good. He crawled into his pile of pillows and loot items and began to think.

  It was a slow process for the little goblin. Thinking wasn’t something he was good at. It wasn’t his fault, being born with a low intelligence to begin with, and being discouraged from independent thinking most of his life. But he closed his eyes tight, gritted his teeth, and tried to his best.

  Boss ‘Zander and others like gods. Give them big magic to kill demons. Fibble want to kill demons. All demons! Need god powers too. But Fibble has no god. Only clan. Where find a god?

  He let out a deep breath and stopped thinking for a minute. It was harder than he’d thought. He needed to rest his brain. He reached for his bottle of spirits and took a good-sized gulp. Sitting back in his pillows, he closed his eyes. “Just short rest, then Fibble try think again.” He murmured to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

  *****

  Alexander was awakened by a poke to the face. He opened his eyes to see two bloodshot red-tinged goblin eyes inches from his own. “Boss awake?”

  The goblin’s breath was enough to motivate him to sit up and get some distance from the little guy. “Yes, Fibble. I am awake now. What’s wrong? Have we been attacked?”

  Fibble plopped down on Jules’ back, using her as a chair. Being the heavy sleeper she was, it didn’t wake her. Alexander looked out the window, then at his UI. It was hours before
sunrise.

  “No attack. Fibble need help. Need god powers like boss ‘Zander and others.”

  Alexander’s sleep-addled brain wasn’t understanding. “God powers? You want to be a god?”

  Fibble thought it over for a moment, then nodded his head vigorously. His ears flapped back and forth, and it sounded like a flock of bats flying by. “Ok. Fibble be a god if boss wants. God of goblins! But… still can be cookiemin’ster?”

  Alexander shook his head. “No, I wasn’t offering to make you a god, Fibble. I’m trying to understand what you want. Why you woke me up.”

  Fibble’s eyes looked up at the ceiling as he tried to remember. Alexander had distracted him with the whole god thing. After nearly a full minute, he smacked his head. “Oh! Fibble need find god. For Fibble. So can pray and get god powers. Kill demons!”

  Alexander finally understood. “We were all praying today, and you didn’t have anyone to pray to. I see. And you want me to help you find a god?”

  This time the ear-flapping nod created an actual breeze. Fibble hopped up and down in excitement, causing his ‘chair’ to grunt in her sleep.

  “Well, let’s see. Goblins worship a dark god, and we can’t have that. What kind of god do you want?”

  Fibble’s eyes nearly crossed as he concentrated. He held his oversized head with both hands as if afraid it would burst from thinking. “God that… help kill demons!” he looked pleased with his answer.

  Alexander sighed. “Okay that would be any of the light gods. And as far as I know there is no god of cookies. So that won’t help us. What else do you like?”

  “Spirits!” Fibble replied instantly. That was one answer he didn’t have to think about. “Pillows! Pew! Pew!”

  Alexander chuckled. The little guy was nothing if not enthusiastic. He thought it over for a minute. “I have an idea. You run very fast, right?”

  Fibble nodded again. He was instantly on his feet and Alexander had to restrain him from demonstrating. “Fast feets!”

  “Well, there is a god named Hermes who also has very fast feet. And he’s a god of light. So if you pray to him, you might get some of that god magic.”

  Fibble looked dubious. “Hermsey?”

  Alexander nodded. “He’s the god of thieves and travelers. And he can move very fast, just like you, Fibble!”

  Fibble looked hurt. “Boss ‘Zander think Fibble a thief?”

  Alexander raised his hands. “No, no! Not like that. Thieves have other skills besides stealing. Do you remember when we first met? You fixed all the traps in the tunnels?”

  Fibble nodded “Keep boss from falling in hole with sharp sticks!”

  “Well that’s one of the things thieves can do. Find traps and disarm them. Fix them. Or make traps for enemies. And open doors that are locked.” Alexander winced, regretting that one as soon as he’d said it. And of course Fibble was immediately intrigued.

  “Open doors… like where Brick keep spirits? And closet where extra pillows live?”

  Too tired to get into an ethics lecture, and not sure it would sink into the little monster’s brain anyway, Alexander just sighed and said, “Yes, exactly.”

  Fibble jumped to his feet and bounded off the bed. He stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Alexander. Motioning for him to follow, he said “Hermsey good god for Fibble! We go see him now, get powers! Learn to open doors.”

  Alexander shook his head. “It’s late, Fibble. Hermes is probably sleeping, as you should be. In the morning, why don’t you go see Father Alric, and he’ll teach you how to talk to Hermes.” He looked toward the chapel and offered a silent apology to both Hermes and Father Alric.

  As it turned out, Hermes wasn’t asleep. He was in fact now standing in Alexander’s bedroom. The young-looking god was maybe 8 feet tall, slim and tan with blonde hair that seemed to blowing in the wind though there was none in the room. He had an amused look on his face. He looked to Fibble and squatted down to be more at his level. “So you want me to be your chosen deity?”

  Fibble’s eyes bulged and he froze in fear. He looked frantically from the god to Alexander and whimpered. Alexander was quick to reassure the little goblin before he peed on the carpet. “Don’t worry Fibble, this is Hermes. He won’t hurt you.” He rose from the bed and bowed “Greetings, Hermes. And welcome.”

  Fibble watched Alexander, then hesitantly copied his bow, saying “Hi Hermsey”.

  The god laughed, scaring the little goblin all over again. He reached out and took hold of Fibble with one very large hand that wrapped around his entire torso. “Do not be afraid little one. As Alexander has said, I will not hurt you. I came here to bless you, and to teach you some things. If I’m to be your god, you’ll need some proper thieving skills after all.”

  The amused god cradled Fibble in one arm like he was carrying a football. He winked at Alexander. “I’ll bring him back soon. Don’t worry.”

  Just like that both Hermes and Fibble were gone.

  Alexander shook his head. “What kind of monster have I just created? I should have thought that through. Maybe told him about Durin or Asclepius. He likes to drink and heal.” He crawled back into bed and spooned a still-oblivious pink bunnymonster.

  When the sun rose a few hours later, Alexander left Jules to sleep in and headed downstairs for breakfast. He ate quickly, then found Brick already working in the smithy, helping the other blacksmiths with bolt production. Alexander shrugged and opened his UI, sending the bolt quest to his friend. Brick stood upright in surprise, then began to laugh.

  “Thank ye, oh mighty King, fer favorin’ me with this noble quest!”

  “Kiss my mighty ass. See if I do you any more favors!” Alexander grinned at him. “Got time to finish our little project down by the moat?”

  Brick replied “Gimme two minutes here, then I be all yers.”

  While he waited, Alexander removed the hundred bits of obsidian he’d enchanted the day before. He set them on one of the work benches and motioned to the nearest of the shapers who’d helped him yesterday. “These are enchanted just like the dragon pins. I thought maybe a few of you could shape them into something appropriate for the Broken Mountain dwarves?”

  The smith grinned and picked up one of the stones. He cupped it between his two scarred, leathery hands and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he held out the stone for Alexander’s inspection. It was a tiny figurine of a dwarf dropping his pants and mooning Alexander.

  “Ha! Well, I guess that’s as appropriate as anything. Should get a chuckle out of our allies. Can you do all one hundred today? And put pins on the back?”

  “Aye, me King. I’ll get some o’ the lads here to help. Easy.”

  Brick had finished what he was working on and joined them. He noticed the little figurine and burst out laughing “Bwahaha! That be a good choice. Show yer enemies what ye think of em’!” He turned to Alexander with his mouth open about to speak when Alexander cut him off.

  “No. We are not changing the dragon pins.” Brick looked disappointed, so Alexander said. “But we could have a complete chess set made and put it in the sitting room in Greystone Manor. Right under Sr’Vok’s head.”

  “Ha! Now yer talkin!” Brick clapped his hands together. The two of them left the smithy and walked down to the drawbridge. They were in no particular hurry, and Alexander wanted to take time to greet the citizens they passed. It never hurt to reassure the troops before a battle, and his people were clearly a little on edge. So he and Brick shook a hand here, told a joke there, generally did what they could to put people at ease as they could.

  Six of the shapers from the day before met them. The others had taken up the blacksmithing quest. But they had enough for Alexander’s purpose. He explained to them what he wanted, and they went at it with gusto. As Alexander watched, Rocky stuck his head up from the moat and trumpeted a greeting.

  Alexander walked over and sat on the bridge. “Hey there bud! Look how big you are! You’ve been eating or
cs.” He called down to his moat monster. Rocky was indeed noticeably larger than he’d been just a few days earlier. His cuteness was also beginning to fade, his head narrowing to a sharper point and his formerly stubby horns growing longer. “You’re just a big bad scary moat monster now!”

  Rocky roared in agreement and shot out of the water, drenching Alexander as he soared over the drawbridge and back into the moat on the other side. A moment later he popped back up right where he’d started. Alexander clapped his hands. “Nice one! Nobody’s getting across this bridge without permission now! And how do you feel about demon meat? Cuz we might have a whole smorgasbord for you tomorrow.”

  Rocky cocked his head to one side as Alexander spoke, like a puppy listening to its master. Alexander imagined his tail wagging somewhere under the water. He removed a stack of wolf steaks from his bag and spent a little time tossing them to Rocky one at a time, unsuccessfully trying to teach him to ‘play dead’. He did great with ‘roll over’ though.

  When the steaks were depleted, he got up and said goodbye to the moat monster. Walking back to the building, he saw that the shapers were already nearly halfway finished. Still soaking wet from Rocky’s antics, he noticed he was dripping all over the stone floor. The sight gave him another idea.

  He opened guild chat and said “Beatrix, if you’re up, could you join us by the drawbridge?”

  “Sure! Be there in five!” the perky little voice answered immediately.

  While he waited, Alexander remembered that Beatrix worked with gems. He wanted to reward her for helping with this project, and to make up for her not being able to loot much after the undead battle. So he produced two medium sized soul crystals and an assortment of precious gems from his bag. When he heard his name called, he turned to find her bounding across the drawbridge atop Bacon. The tiny gnomess looked like an infant aboard the hulking battle boar. When Bacon came to a stop in front of Alexander, she handed him some kind of cantaloupe-like melon, which he made disappear in one big messy bite. After looking to Alexander to see if any snacks were being offered, (none were) he wandered off toward the forest to look for acorns or mushrooms.