“What do we do?” Clay asked as he looked at Noslin.
“Nothing, for now.” Noslin sighed as she replied. “We’ll activate the fallback defences if the Stalkers appear. Until then, we wait to see if anyone made it out. Exile and Mikari are still missing at the very least.”
“Hm, Exile should be able to make it. But I don’t see him abandoning Mikari. So it might take him longer if he’s trying to secure his life.” Clay groaned as he glanced at the agitated players in their battle formations. “Morale is practically gone too.”
“You can’t blame them. We just took the worst beating possible. Our whole expeditionary army was wiped out.” Noslin shook her head as she studied the forest. “It doesn’t look good for us. Their numbers are even higher than we anticipated. Only Exile can reliably survive in this war. The rest of us are just cannon fodder.” ｎ𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｃｏ𝚖
“What we need is time.” Aeri suddenly said as she looked at the gathered leaders. “We need time to push more players into Tier 2.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Beartooth said as he groaned. “But I agree with Aeri. The problem is we don’t have anywhere else to go. Even if we did, when we die, we resurrect in the temple in Valheim.”
“Beartooth is right,” Mikari replied as Exile cancelled his spell, causing the players gathered there to flinch in surprise before congratulating them.
“Listen,” Exile said as he held up his hands. “It’s obvious now we can’t face this threat while defending Valheim. Our only option is to evacuate for now.”
Loud complaints answered him as Exile rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I never said it would be easy. It means once we leave Valheim you’ll have to be careful not to die. So everyone will have to cover each other.”
“We’ll use the Autosphere to enter the tunnels where Nar’Kozz used to nest. If we’re lucky we’ll be able to use them to get outside of the Stalker encirclement. From there, we’ll make our way to a safe haven.” Mikari continued when he saw Exile look at him.
“What safe haven?” Noslin asked as the other leaders shot curious looks in their direction.
“It’s called Himinbj?rg,” Exile replied as he wore a solemn expression. “It’s Ragnarok’s divine realm.”
“You see that mountain over there?” Mikari pointed to the peak of a mountain in the distance. “Himinbj?rg is at the top. It will take Nar’Kozz time to track us down if we can escape there. The mountain will give us plenty of natural obstacles to use in defending ourselves. More importantly, we’ll have enough time to set up strong defences.”
Over the next hour, Exile explained how his Pantheon came into possession of their realm and its features. Including the plan for how to defend Himinbj?rg and allow the players to grow. The leaders set players to keep watch for the Stalkers as they began the evacuation plan.
Several hours after his return to the army, Exile stood in the tunnels where they had first met Nar’Kozz. He watched as the players gathered into their designated groups before he scouted the nearby tunnels.
‘There’re no sounds, and it doesn’t feel like it used to.’ Exile thought as a frown appeared on his face. ‘Is it because Nar’Kozz isn’t down here anymore?’
Many thoughts ran through Exile’s mind as he considered where to set up choke points if they ran into any Stalkers down there. ‘With Nar’Kozz and the more powerful ones being above ground now, with this army we should be able to handle the journey.’
Exile nodded to himself as he found his way back to the ruins where Nar’Kozz had devoured Noslin and himself. ‘We’ve come a long way since then. But so has Nar’Kozz. Now we know there are threats in this game that can grow stronger as time passes.’
He studied those ruins as he allowed himself to get lost in his memories. ‘I’ll escort the army for a while before I find an excuse to search for the First Flame Fragment. It’d be best if I don’t let the other leaders catch on to what I want to do.’ Exile thought as he started his journey back to the Autosphere.
‘Noslin should catch on that I’m searching for the treasure, but I think she’ll keep quiet about it. After all, it’ll only benefit us all if I can gather everything hidden down here.’ He chuckled to himself as he checked his inventory. ‘Hopefully, I won’t run into too many problems.’
Meanwhile, King Bargrux sat on his throne while studying the dwarven emissaries from the other Kingdoms who were glaring at him. ‘Hmph, fools. The lot of them. Things will only get messy if they try to suppress us now.’
“Speak,” Bargrux commanded in a dissatisfied tone.
“King Bargrux! You’re in breach of the punishment handed down to your clan!” The old grey-bearded dwarf in charge of that group announced as he stepped forward. “You took a non-dwarf god as the head of your religion. You’ve interfered with human matters! You revealed our people to the above-ground folks, and don’t think we don’t know about you breaching your grandfather’s prison!”
“So what if I did?” Bargrux snorted as he glared back at the dwarf. “Times are changing. New gods are popping up like weeds. My people deserve their own place again. We surrendered our best mines to the other kingdoms. We’ve been in decline ever since! We’ve paid our dues, and those responsible are long since dead!”
“Pfft! Only the other Kings can decide when your people have paid enough for their treachery!” The old dwarf shouted back as his fists trembled. “Not you! And there is no excuse for taking a Skardian god as your own! You’ve only shamed your people yet again!”
“Silence, you old fool!” Bargrux commanded in a deadpan voice. “What choice did we have? I’m sure the other Kings have already warned any new dwarven gods to stay away from my people! Otherwise, we would have already seen one! If the new dwarven gods have already abandoned us, what’s wrong with turning to one who values us?”
“You are the fool! King Bargrux!” The old dwarf’s face turned scarlet as he spat those words. “The Skardian god that you now serve only cares about dwarven craftsmanship! About using you to better Skardian lives! Tell me, has he given you anything in return?”
The old dwarf grinned as the hall turned quiet. He knew he had the nail on the head. However, his triumphant grin turned to surprise when Bargrux started laughing. He looked to his companions to see if they could explain why the King was laughing, but they shook their heads.
“So what if he hasn’t given us anything in return?” Bargrux grinned as he stared at them. “He’s already made the promise to give me what I want. He even warned me time moves differently for them. As far as I see, it’s too soon to claim he won’t follow up on his end.”
“But,” Bargrux continued as he showed the emissaries a mocking smile. “I already know what will happen if I continued to allow the other Kings to dictate what happens in my Kingdom! Do they think I’m blind? They want my people to suffer and crumble so they can annex my Kingdom!”
The dwarven soldiers around the perimeter of the hall started to slam their shields rhythmically on the ground at that point. The emissaries showed startled expressions at that display. For they knew it was the traditional way for their people to show their resolve to fight.
The emissaries revealed ugly expressions as they glared at Bargrux. They had come there thinking the fallen kingdom would be easy to manipulate into falling in line. However, the situation appeared far worse than their rulers had imagined!
“King Bargrux! In accordance with The Laws of the Mountain, we challenge you to He’Kar Frindur!” The old dwarf roared, and the rhythmic slamming of the shields suddenly stopped!
Bargrux cocked an eyebrow at the group of emissaries as silence reigned in his hall. The dwarven king stroked his beard as he studied the group with a glint in his eye.
“Very well! I recognise the Laws of the Mountain as any true dwarf should!” Bargrux roared so every dwarf could hear him. “You shall put it in writing that you willingly challenged my right to rule! I won’t have the other Kings claiming I murdered you.”
“Don’t be so insolent!” The old emissary replied with a loud laugh. “Even if you are as great a warrior as your late father was, you’ll be exhausted before you can kill us all!”
“Hmph, what makes you think that?” Bargrux replied with a laugh of his own, as he drummed his fingers on the stone armrest of his throne. “We’ll do all the challenges at the same time! I’ll show you our power is far from gone!”
The emissary frowned as he studied what he considered to be an arrogant dwarf. ‘There’s no way he can take us all at the same time. He’s definitely bluffing!’ The old dwarf let a smile play on the edge of his mouth as he analysed Bargrux’s decree.
“Very well. We accept Your Majesty’s terms for the challenge. I expect you to provide the details in writing. After all, we don’t want your people claiming we cheated by ganging up on you.” The emissary chuckled as he glanced around the hall. “Shall we set the challenge for two days from now?”
“No need. I can be ready as soon as I get my armour on. We’ll hold the challenge as soon as we’re done putting the terms onto paper.” Bargrux replied with a malicious glint in his eyes.