“Urgh!”
“Don’t move! You’ve been out for a long time.” Fjora sighed with relief as she studied Bjorn’s confused expression.
“I can’t see out my left eye,” Bjorn grumbled as he turned his head to look at her. “I’ve lost it. Haven’t I?”
Fjora nodded slowly as she avoided his gaze. “You were poisoned too. Skalr did his best, but your eye was beyond saving.”
“Mm.” Bjorn closed his eye as he let out a long sigh. “Get me some food and mead. You can catch me up on the details as I fill my stomach. It feels like it’s eating me from the inside out.”
Fjora’s eyes went wide before she burst into laughter. “Sure, I can fetch you something. But try to keep it down while I’m gone. Skalr is still unconscious over there.”
Bjorn frowned as he propped himself on his elbow to look at the man in the other cot. “What happened to him?”
“We don’t know.” Fjora shrugged as she gently made him lie back down. “Just keep yourself still for a bit. We’ll talk soon.”
‘Seems things really went to shit without me.’ Bjorn chuckled to himself despite his condition. ‘Hm, it’s going to take time to get used to fighting with one eye. Luckily I’m blessed by Exile, so I can afford to get used to it in real combat.’
Bjorn frowned as he thought about Skalr’s condition. ‘Was he poisoned too? I don’t see much being able to take him out of a fight.’ Bjorn chewed on his tongue as his annoyance grew. ‘Those pointy-ear bastards got us good. Ania must’ve had the army retreat. Since we’re still alive and in a camp, they haven’t pursued us. We’ll need to regroup and form an army big enough to smash them off the face of Skardia!’
‘No, we should capture enough of them to offer Exile a rug fashioned from the skin! Yeah, that sounds good.’ Bjorn smiled slightly as he raised his hand to his missing eye. A cloth had been wrapped around his head to keep him from picking at the injury.
‘Well, no use crying over it now. As long as I can still bring glory to the gods, I’m fine with losing an eye.’ Bjorn’s memories felt fuzzy as he tried to remember what he could of the battle. He remembered seeing the shaft of an arrow as he fell from his horse.
‘An arrow, huh? Damn, that was a good shot.’ He had to praise the archer’s skill to hit so small a target from that distance. ‘I hope they’re still alive.’ Bjorn’s eye gleamed dangerously as he considered what he’d do to that elf if he ever found out which one it was.
Luckily, he wasn’t left alone with his thoughts for too long as Fjora returned with some stew and bread. It took some time for her to help him up, and for Bjorn to devour the food. A satisfied burp escaped Bjorn as he handed the plate, bowl, and spoon back to Fjora before taking the mug of mead.
“Ok, start from when I fell from my horse. Don’t leave anything out. I need to know everything that happened.” Bjorn glared at her with his one good eye as Fjora recounted the battle.
He stopped her several times to have her elaborate on certain things. However, by the end of her account, Bjorn wore a deep frown.
“I see.” Bjorn chuckled. “Skalr’s likely suffering from mana abuse.”
“Mana abuse?” “Hm, it’s in the book he gave me. When a witch, sorcerer, runelord, or other magic user casts a spell they use something in their body called mana.” Bjorn’s gaze moved to Skalr’s unmoving figure. “If they use too much, they’ll collapse. It’s like when we run out of energy in a battle. We can’t do anything, and pass out. But mana takes longer to recover when you run it that low.”
“Do you know how to help him?” Fjora asked as she cocked an eyebrow.
Bjorn shrugged as he lay back down. “We need to wait for him to recover on his own. There’s nothing else for it.”
Suddenly, a loud horn blew through the air, startling the pair as they recognised it. Bjorn cursed, it was the worst possible time for an enemy attack! He was still weak from his long sleep, but he’d be damned if anyone thought they could keep him from the fight!
Meanwhile, King Bargrux glanced at the chasm where they would mount their defence. Barricades and dwarven legions blocked the bridges the enemy would have to ascend through. His gaze wandered to the portable siege weapons being set up at various vantage points.
‘Hm, if things go poorly we can destroy some of the bridges to slow the advance. But we can’t entirely cut ourselves off or we won’t be able to trace the tunnels back to the other kingdoms.’ Bargrux stroked his beard as he turned his attention to the god beside him.
“What do you think?” Bargrux asked as he gestured to his people’s preparations.
Clay studied the layout with idle curiosity as he considered what he would do in their situation. His eyes narrowed as he heard some of the king’s advisors grumbling from somewhere behind them.
“Ah, don’t mind them. They’re just concerned at me letting some unknown dwarf to them be so close to me.” Bargrux chuckled. “Hm, I don’t blame them. I had to take the form of a dwarf and seal most of my divine power to participate. What story did you give them about me?”
“Bah, I told them you’re one of the secretive Stonesingers. Those dwarves hide in the depths of my kingdom and rarely poke their heads out of their holes.” Bargrux shook his head as he glanced at the dwarves behind them. “Nobody bothers them though. They can communicate with the mountains and earth like no other dwarf can. They can coax it into moving in any way they need.”
“That’s a great excuse for my power,” Clay mumbled as spotted Midas moving about somewhere below. The latter hadn’t upgraded his Avatar spell yet, but his Tier 2 Authority would work best in his current state anyway.
“So, what do you think?” freewebnσvel.cm
“Right, can you move legions to these five points?” Clay replied as he pointed them out. “Depending on what happens, I can connect those points to other bridges to allow your people to launch a pincer attack on our enemy.”
Bargrux raised his eyebrows before letting out a slight smile. “It will be done. Anything else?”
“Pull half of those troops back on those two bridges. We’ll break lure the enemy into them with the fewer troops then break them under their feet.”
“Hm, I see. They’ll have to funnel through that bridge there, creating a chokepoint. That’ll slow them down if we reinforce the barricade and post more troops there.”
“It’s also in a perfect location,” Clay said as he glanced at the siege weapons. “All of them can target that area, raining hell down on the enemy army. That’s where we’ll break their army.”
Bargrux cocked an eyebrow at Clay’s evaluation. ‘I guess he’s not a god of war for nothing.’ Bargrux grinned, but it vanished when two large wolves appeared from the abyss below. They moved at an unbelievable speed as they leapt over the barricades in their way with ease.
“Prepare your troops Bargrux. The enemy will be arriving soon.” Clay squinted into the darkness as he waited for Skovi and Skalla to reach him. “What’s the situation?”
“I lost count of the enemy’s forces. There’re several heroes among those I saw.” Skovi growled as he sat down. “Gods are coming too. Skalla’s alerting Lord Exile now.”
Clay shook his head as he saw the glee on Bargrux’s face. “I doubt Exile will come unless we can’t handle it ourselves. He’ll despatch others from Ragnarok to fortify us.”
Skovi nodded at Clay’s words. ‘The master is busy with his own priorities. Half his mind is on the north, and the other half is looking for answers.’ “Shall I send out the alert?” Skovi asked.
“I think they know, but go ahead.” Clay sighed.
Skovi howled into the chasm where his voice was amplified so every dwarf heard it. Thousands upon thousands of dwarves snapped to attention as the torches shone off their weapons and armour. From up here looking down, they looked like bright stars against the dark of night.
“Exile has sent word to deploy more gods here. He says there’s more Skardians headed here as well.” Skalla said as she lay down beside Skovi. “What of ‘her’? Will she be joining us?”
Clay chuckled at Skalla’s aggressive tone as he considered it. “She’s nearby. I’ll have her join in if she’s needed.”
Skalla growled at that statement as her hackles rose. She would gladly never be in ‘her’ presence again. Skalla shivered at the thought as she turned her attention to the chasm. The beating of war drums sounded from somewhere inside the darkness below. Dwarven warcries filled the air as Bargrux’s forces responded in kind as they waited for the enemy to show themselves. Clay felt the dwarf king tensing up beside him.
‘I don’t know if he’s nervous, or eager.’ Clay thought as he shook his head. ‘Hopefully, he won’t cause too much trouble for me.’
He hummed quietly to himself as he sensed the divine power of the gods below. ‘I guess I should let her know we’ll probably need her.’
[Master! Is it time?]
‘Not yet,’ Clay sighed as the sound of his Divine Beast’s voice echoed in his head. ‘But be ready.’