Deepforge (20 page)

The Drakmid became distracted just enough that he didn’t see Grognor yank the sword out of his own side and slice upward, severing his head.

Grognor then jumped onto the snout of the blue dragon as it went after Teelena. He plunged the stolen sword deep into the dragon’s neck, causing it to react and twist around the other way.

Selena saw what was happening, and realized how close they were to a magma vent. “Grognor! Left!” she yelled, and ran through the battle to help with the effort.

Grognor and Teelena heard the yell, and instinctively looked left, seeing the vent nearby. Grognor then grabbed onto the sword and pulled hard, causing the dragon to react and pull the other way. Teelena yanked her sword out and taunted the dragon. “Come on, big fella! I’m just a little dwarven girl! Come on, come and get me!”

The dragon roared and lunged at her. She jumped out of the way just as Selena slid under the dragon, smashing its front leg with her hammer. The creature’s bones snapped, causing it to lose balance. It instinctively flapped its wings, but Grognor was ready; he jumped up and grabbed one of the wings, using his weight to pull down.  It worked. The dragon fell over, right into the magma vent. Grognor jumped off, falling onto the floor with a loud thud.

The dragon fell into the vent hard, splashing magma up high into the Great Hall. The Drakmids had not anticipated this, and several of them died before they realized they were in danger. Large globules fell down, incinerating at least a half-dozen. The dragon roared one last, terrifying scream of pain before it was burned to death.

This got everyone’s attention on this side of the Great Hall. Drakmids stood back, realizing they had lost nearly half their numbers and the blue dragon in just a few minutes. The battle stopped for a moment, the two sides facing off.

“Drakmid sport!” Teelena screamed and ran forward with a hammer in one hand, and a sword in the other.

Grognor smiled and glanced at Selena.

“I knew I liked that girl for a reason!” Selena said.

Everyone else rushed forward, cutting through the Drakmids to the point that several of them elected to escape out the Great Door rather than suffer defeat.

As the last few of them retreated, Teelena looked at Selena. They both said it at the same time, “Magma launcher!”

Grognor wondered if the launchers were even operational after the siege. He nodded at the girls, and then motioned for the rest of the army to follow him. They headed to the other side of the Great Hall. Teelena and Selena headed up the ramp to the launchers, practically giddy with excitement.

Grognor and the others raced around the massive curve of the Great Hall, until they came upon the battle already in progress. Bruno was seen throwing the body of the white dragon into a magma vent, screaming, “Noooooo!”

“Oh, shit!” Grognor said, not wanting to know what had happened.

They saw soon enough; nearly a fourth of the Stone Children had been frozen to death by the white dragon. The rest of them tore through the Drakmids using the same tactic, the Stone Children first, then the dwarves.

As they pushed the Drakmids back, Grognor and his division met them and crushed them like a vice. The whole thing was over in less than a half-hour. They had taken back Deepforge.

A few remaining Drakmids still fought, to their sorrow.

Grognor then saw the body of Cray at Bruno’s feet. He had been frozen. “Damn. Bruno, I’m so sorry.”

Bruno chased down the last Drakmid, tears pouring down his face. He tore the enemy’s head clean off.

A loud swooping noise was heard as a magma launcher was released. The massive globule of molten rock flew across the valley. The escaping Drakmids didn’t have a chance.

As Bruno twisted the head off the last Drakmid, he looked around. It had quieted down. That was the last of them. Blood and bodies were everywhere. He looked down at the body of his friend Cray.  As he looked up again, he met the eyes of Grognor and everyone else. Nobody cheered victory, they just tried to catch their breath.

Bruno looked up at the high radio tower, and quickly ran up the stairs to the top, Grognor right behind. He grasped the microphone, and with heavy breaths, he keyed up. “Are you there, bitch?”

There was silence.

“Come on, answer me!” He yelled into the microphone.

“This is Jerry.”

“Tell your queen we’ve taken back Deepforge! The Deepforge Empire…” He looked at Grognor, “The
Grognor
Empire! Are coming for
her head
! Grongor Rules!”

Everyone below heard him and began chanting, “Grognor rules! Grognor rules! Grognor rules! Yeaaaaaah!” At the tops of their lungs.

Bruno unkeyed the microphone, and then tore the radio from its wires. He threw it out the tower window where it crashed into pieces on The Great Hall floor in a large puddle of blood, sending splatters and blood covered radio parts everywhere.

“What the hell was I thinking? Did I just do that?” Bruno said out loud.

“Yes,” Grognor said, “you sure did. That just happened. Not so scared anymore?”

“Sire, I’m scared as hell. You don’t know how powerful that creature is.”

“Well, she’s not seen the likes of us, Bruno.”

“We’re really going after her and her army, aren’t we?”

“Yes we are.” Grongor smiled.

“Jesus. It’ll be a slaughter.” Bruno shook his head ‘no’.

Grognor slapped Bruno’s back, grinning. “That’s the spirit!”

Bruno started to say ‘no’ to correct what he meant, but then remembered that line from a movie he had seen on Earth a long time ago. He couldn’t help but laugh.

“Noooo!” the Black Queen screamed as Jerry gave her the message. “How is this possible?!”  She roared and quickly formed into her dragon shape.

Everyone shook from fright as she roared and spewed acid everywhere. They began to run for their lives as she raged. She then breathed a massive cloud of chlorine gas, killing everyone within range, all but Jennifer. She simply stood back, completely unharmed.

“Your Majesty!” Jennifer yelled.

The massive dragon looked down at Jennifer and immediately calmed down. She fell into her human shape and stood in front of Jennifer. “Forgive me, my love. I’ve lost myself again, haven’t I?”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Jennifer bowed with respect.

Now calm, the Black Queen pulled Jennifer close, hugging her. “Thank you. You always know what I need, when I need it. Remember when we met?”

Jennifer squeezed her and genuinely smiled. “Yes, you were raging then, too. I was the only one left in that retched city, and you took me away.”

“Hmm, yea. There you were, standing there looking so pretty. I had burned everything. I couldn’t figure out why you weren’t dead. You were unharmed and not afraid of me. I guess I fell for you then.” She pulled away and looked into Jennifer’s eyes, caressing her face.

Jennifer blushed and looked away. “…and I for you, My Queen.”

“Are you glad I killed him, Jennifer?”

“Your mate? Well, I can’t say I liked his personality much. He always seemed so…jealous.”

“Kraal always thought I belonged to him. He felt that he saved me, therefore I was his property. Too bad for him he wasn’t immune to fire. So, you don’t think that was too…rash?”

“My Queen, three’s a crowd!” Jennifer smiled. “I’m so glad
I’m
immune.”

“What do you call that again?”

“Progressive Cellular Regeneration. I inherited it from my grandfather when I lived here, in the future. In fact, my condition seems to be an even better version than my grandfather’s. It’s made me totally invulnerable. Those scientists on Earth were experimenting on me, trying various…methods…to harm me. Bastards. I wish I could kill them all over again.” Jennifer’s face grew a bit dark with the memory. “You’d be amazed at what can be done without inflicting physical harm.”

The Black Queen caressed Jennifer’s hair. “My immortal lover. It’s strange. In another reality you and I are distantly related.”

Jennifer laughed. “Like that ever stopped anyone!”

“Come on; let’s get that damned army moving before the dwarves get the drop on us. I guess we had better get The Craft fired up too, just in case we have to escape. Plan B.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

The Black Queen transformed into her dragon shape with Jennifer riding her back.

Jennifer looked over at The Craft. “I hope we don’t have to leave. I like it here. It’s my true home. I never liked Earth or Mars.”

The Black Queen laughed. “Me neither!

The Craft was a non-descript eight feet tall by four feet rectangular box with strange markings, and a locked door on one side. It sat mostly unnoticed on the far side of the throne room. “It’s been a good Craft. I guess that ‘Mister Smith’ fella was sorry he left it sitting around, eh?”

“Undoubtedly!” Jennifer laughed. “I’ll never forget the look on his face when you dissolved him with acid. Glad I got the key first! He actually thought I wanted to travel
with
him again after he left me to be tortured. Imagine?”

The two of them rose high through the already crashed dome and into the sky above the Palace.

Chapter 18

“T
hey’re in Lakeshore,” Vella said. She had just arrived at the war machine detachment, checking in with Deccon.

“Good. What about the others in Deepforge?” Deccon asked.

“Most of the warriors elected to stay behind. There’s still some innocents, I need to get them out as soon as my energy regenerates enough. There were a lot of people to take. It’s not going well. Maybe you could go? I can stay here and help the detachment?”

“Yea, I’ll go right away. There’s something you should know, though. We found out who three of the traitors are. Brendon, Daemon, and, you’re not going to believe this. Rebecca.”

“No! Well, Brendon I can believe, but the other two?”

“There’s apparently more. We don’t know who, though. Ok, I’ll get to Deepforge and see what I can do there. What else has happened?”

“The metallics have returned and joined up with the Nords. They’ve engaged the Drakmids and chromatics at the southern end of Deepforge valley. Looks like Deepforge is lost, my love.”

“Don’t count us out yet. Any idea where Grognor and the others are?”

“No, none. They may have arrived already.”

“Ok. I’ll let Bōddy know. We’re still about a day out, hope we’re not too late.”

“What shall we do about the Great Door?” Selena asked as they tossed the last of the Drakmids’ bodies into the magma vents.

“We’ll seal it with stone until this war is over,” Bruno said.

“Seal it?” Grognor asked.

“Yes. We have the skills to seal it and once again make it a refuge of safety. We’ll use an interlocking design that nothing will get through. I wish we had done so sooner.”

They finished cleaning up, and had funerals for the fallen. This was a surprise to Selena, who had not believed in doing so in the middle of a war. Grognor told her why it was important. As they began the process of sealing the door, Deccon appeared.

“Oh, sure.
Now
you show up,” Selena said.

Deccon couldn’t believe his eyes. “You’ve taken Deepforge!”

“Hey! It speaks
and
it sees!” Teelena said, sarcastically.

“You all be nice,” Grognor said. “It’s good you’ve come, Deccon. Yes, as you can see, we’ve taken it back. Not without losses, though. We’re sealing it up, and are planning to join the battle in the valley. We’re taking this war to the Black Queen herself.”

“Who?”

Bruno cut in, “The Black Queen. I’ve had run-ins with her before, and she’s bad news. She’s a black dragon, but with other abilities. I suspect that has something to do with why Bahamlo left. It’s not Lotanna like he thought.”

“A dragon…” Deccon said, thoughtfully.

“Yea, a bad one, too,” Bruno said, looking at Deccon with a strange look on his face, “a…really bad one…D e c c o n…” He pronounced Deccon’s name especially clear for some reason, continuing to stare at him.

“Well, I’ve dealt with really bad dragons before. If we can just rally enough metallics, it shouldn’t be a problem. I just wish Bahamlo hadn’t left. I wonder what this has to do with the Dragon King prophesy?” Deccon said.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on this subject, and on what everyone told us when this war started. Does anyone else remember a visit from a couple of gods?” Grognor asked.

Everyone shook their head ‘no’.

“Gods?” Bruno said.

“Yea, I still have this image in my head of a couple of gods visiting us, right when we met with Brendon. It’s like a dream, but a really vivid one.”

“No, it was just us, Sire. Vella and myself. Don’t you remember?” Deccon said.

“I just can’t shake it. I must have been a dream, but…why does it linger? Well, anyway. This whole thing has me thinking that this is more than just some maniacal rogue dragon wanting to kill us and take Deepforge for some hidden metal. There’s something deeper, and I also think that EM pulse had something to do with it.” Grognor shook his head.

“Well,” Bruno started, “whatever it is, we’re up against a formidable foe. I can tell you that from personal experience.”

“Tell us of your experiences with her,” Deccon said.

Bruno got a dark look on his face. “She’s…she’s devastated entire worlds. Worlds with advanced technology. Billions of lives snuffed out. She even came after my wife and I personally.” He held his head down. “She’s the worst enemy I’ve ever encountered. Think about that.”

“Is she a god?” Grognor asked.

“Worse. She operates outside of their authority. Not sure how…”

“Well, she won’t succeed here. We’ll show her that coming to Ahl-Thoor-Hees was her biggest mistake,” Teelena said.

“We’ll need this,” Selena said. She produced a reproduction of Markog Drgoodondt’s exploration map.

“Yea, looks like you’re going to get to explore after all,” Teelena said.

“Well, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Grognor said.

Construction continued until all but a small opening was left.

They all assembled just outside and readied. They were all on foot at this point, but ready to make war. The Stone Children sealed up the door and then looked out at the valley. Far down to the south, the dragons could be seen battling in the sky, and the sounds of war could be heard in the distance.

Bruno looked up at the valley walls and pointed at some of the distant peaks on either side. The Stone Children understood without him ever saying a word. Grognor and the others noticed this, and had to know what they were planning.

“What’s wrong?” Grognor asked.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Bruno said. “In fact, we’ve realized something very important. We’ll have a huge advantage.”

“How do you figure?” Teelena asked.

“Stones, pure and simple. Even where battle is taking place, more on the hills than in the valley, they’re still close enough to the peaks that we can make it work.” Bruno pointed at the high mountain peaks just before the valley floor became shallow, close to where the battle raged.

Everyone looked at where he pointed, then back at him, questioning his point.

“We’re the Stone Children. Perhaps you’ve noticed that we have a way with rocks?” Bruno motioned to the sealed door, smiled, and then picked up a large stone lying nearby.

This was a normal thing; the Stone Children were able to handle any form of rock like it had no weight. Bruno looked at the other Stone Children, and twenty of them picked up some impossibly large rocks. Bruno nodded. They all threw the rocks across the valley at the opposite hill. The sound of them flying through the air caused small sonic booms. A split second later, the rocks hit the opposite hill like a cannon shot, exploding in pulverized dust.

“This is why dragons have never been a problem for us,” Bruno said, smugly. “All we need is to catch them in open area where there are abundant rocks around, and we’ll have them. Better than giants.”

“Giants?” Selena said.

“Yea…never mind,” Bruno said. “Come on, how about some dragon sport? Ummm…sorry, Deccon…”

Deccon chuckled. “No problem. I know about your abilities, remember?” he pointed to his head, revealing an old scar.

“Well, that’s what you get for sneaking up on us that way, I told you!” Bruno laughed as Deccon smirked.

“You said it, Bruno. It’s time to turn the tides,” Grognor said.

The Deepforge army marched down the valley toward the battle, eager for victory.

“Come on!” Eric the Nord yelled as he rushed forward, clashing with the line of Drakmids. The Deepforge dwarves fought alongside them. Metal clashed with metal, sword and shield, axe and helm. Chaos ruled the scene as warriors fought valiantly. The Drakmids’ armor was no longer superior to the others; the Nords had brought along specialized weapons of unbelievable craftsmanship. Their swords and other blades could easily slice through the Drakmids’ armor. They had brought enough to share with the dwarves. This evened the odds.

The armies fought on the ground as the dragons fought in the air. Metallics and chromatics clashed, fire and chlorine, ice, acid and lightning. They clashed physically as well, talon and tail, bite and grapple.

“Knock off their helmets!” Bergnor yelled as he swung his hammer at the nearest Drakmid.

“Stop showing off, Brother!” Kergnor laughed as he bisected a Drakmid with his huge battle axe.

The battle continued on several days and nights, with casualties on both sides. The dwarves and Nords continued on without any apparent fatigue, but the Drakmids seemed to lose their will after the fifth day. The dragons, however, continuously filled the sky with epic roars and the various types of breath weapon. Only a few dragons fell, but when they did it was a very big deal. Especially when one of them fell onto the battle below. Warriors from both sides would typically be crushed, and several more would run for their lives. After the defeated dragon hit the ground, it would become overrun by the warriors trying to get the each other. The battle spanned Deepforge valley side to side, and the dead bodies began to become obstacles themselves. The Deepforge/Nord army would always strip the Drakmids’ bodies of armor and anything else of value, and likewise with the Drakmids when one of the others fell. This just caused more chaos for the others to deal with, as the armies began to resemble each other. Killing one of their own was becoming more and more common.

As the armies fought fiercely, something strange happened. Kergnor was fully engaged fighting a Drakmid when he got a glimpse of something on a nearby mountain peak. This caused him to lose his focus, and he suffered a hit to his side. He yelled in anger and spun around, connecting and bisecting the offending Drakmid. Having dealt with his immediate annoyance, he once again turned his attention to whatever it was on the mountain peak. As he did so, he saw a blur of movement emitting from the glimpse. By the time he realized what it was, it was obvious.

A tall grey colored biped stood very obviously on the nearby mountain peak and picked up an impossibly large stone. Then, it threw the stone at the nearest dragon, a red. The stone flew so fast that it caused the very air to make a strange whining noise. Once in flight, it was nearly impossible to keep the stone in sight. A very short time after the launch, the stone impacted and nearly vaporized the red dragon’s head in a loud ‘thud’. The dragon’s body crashed to the ground just north of the fighting.

“By the gods!” Kergnor exclaimed, still not understanding what he was seeing.

“They’re here! Praise Odin!” Eric yelled.

The Nords all yelled a mighty war cry and began to back away from the Drakmids.

“We need to get back, this is going to be the craziest thing you’ve ever seen!” one of the Nords yelled.

“Fall back!” Kergnor yelled, to be echoed by everyone else.

The combined army began retreating when they all saw the war machine division just coming over the last hill into Deepforge valley, getting ready for battle. All at once, the sky was filled with missiles of nearly all kinds. Large stones began flying from the mountains, impacting the chromatic dragons and killing them with massive damage. Cannons and trebuchets from the other side were quickly anchored and implemented. Cannonballs flew over the heads of Deepforge/Nord army, impacting and exploding in the Drakmids’ army. At the same time, arrows filled the sky arching over and down into what was left of the Drakmids. It was all over quickly. Nearly seven thousand Drakmids and several dozen chromatic dragons lay dead, causing the water of the Deepforge tributary to be nearly dammed up. Cheers of victory echoed across the valley.