Chapter 38

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

“Well?” Lana Fulmine asked, her lightning wings twitching. An eagerness filled the lightning sprite. “What has my number one fan come up with?”

“Yes, yes, yes, tell us, big bro,” Garnet begged, the exuberant succubus bouncing up and down on her throne.

She can never sit still, thought Lana Fulmine. She would never survive making movies. So much tedious waiting.

“I’m going to parley with the dwarves,” Leo said. He had an eager grin on his face. He slapped his hands together. “I’ve been meaning to do this, and now is the perfect time.”

“Okay,” said Mrs. Baldwin. “That’s a wonderful idea, honey.”

“You need an honor guard,” Terra said.

“Yes!” gasped Garnet. “Let’s use the arachne. They’re so impressive.”

“And scared of their own shadows,” said Crystal. “Like the unicorns.”

“We can be his escort,” Morana said. “Dark Lord Leo, we shall surround you with beauty and deadliness. The dwarves will be enchanted by our charms and bow to your whim.”

“I do have charms,” Alizee said, smiling.

“No, no,” Maya said. “We’re too ... monstrous.”

“I’m not that monstrous,” Morana gasped. “I’m just pale. But I was pale in life, too.”

“And bleeding black shadows.” Maya shook her head, her entire body rippling with water.

“The werewolves and werebears,” Leo said, grinning. “In human form, they don’t look like monsters at all.”

Maya nodded. So did Nina and Hagane.

“It is a great plan,” Lana Fulmine said, completely behind this.

“You need a rear guard,” Hagane said. “In case the dwarves attack. A quick reaction force to come to your rescue on standby.”

“Good point.” Leo stared at the lightning sprite. The movie starlet blinked. “Lana, you’ll lead them.”

“Me?” Shock crackled through her body as lightning danced between the golden strands of her hair.

“Yes, you,” I said. “You’ll lead ... the salamanders, sirens, and oreads. That should be perfect. If I run into trouble, you’ll be there to come to my rescue. And, of course, Garnet can be with you. All of you can.”

Lana Fulmine swallowed. She glanced at Leo. Her number one fan believed in her. She was the first companion he had chosen. He had picked her before his little sister and Maya. She had to be responsible. She wasn’t that coke-out actress drifting through life.

She had importance here.

“I won’t fail my number one fan,” Lana Fulmine cooed.

“Of course not,” Leo said. “I have some dungeon building to do, then we’ll get this done.” He glanced to the right. “Halia, Kassie, and Akiz, you’ll come with us.”

“Course, my Lord,” Akiz said. “It’ll be great. My people will want to crush me beneath two slabs of granite.”

“But you’re not brittle sandstone, are you?” Leo asked.

Akiz laughed.

Lana Fulmine smiled. This would go better than dealing with those adventurers. She had no idea what Leo planned on doing with those three dwarves. They were certainly adamant about not serving him. But so had Halia once upon a time.

A smile spread on the lightning sprite’s lips as she remembered how defiant Halia had been in her prison. She had refused everything. It took Leo setting her free then rescuing the captured maidens of Astovin from that disgusting Jindag to win her over.

“Let’s get to work,” Leo said and marched towards the door

Halia Vobria hardly stumbled when she found herself standing in a different part of the dungeon.

“Bugger the earth with my big dick!” Akiz cursed, stumbling before catching his balance. “I hate when he does that.”

“Poor dwarf,” said Cheekha, one of the werewolves. She patted the top of his head. “Do you need me to rub your belly like a pup to make you feel better?”

“Oh, there’s a part of me you can rub,” he said with a big leer.

Halia rolled her eyes as Cheekha snarled, a rumbling growl. Her golden eyes blazed. She shook her head, her fall of dark-gray hair spilling down her back. “I’m Lord Leo’s bitch, not yours.”

“Worth a try,” Akiz said. “Hard being surrounded by all you naked monster girls.” He glanced to Bhaaloo. “Damn, you got tits as big as a dwarf on you.”

“I know,” the werebear said. “Sadly, you’ll have to use your own hand. Our tits are not to be soiled on your dick.”

“But I can stare at them,” Akiz said. He shook his head. “Need to find me a nice, plump dwarf to take for wife with big, fat titties to fuck.”

“I wish you well on that,” Halia said, rolling her eyes. She put her hand on her pommel.

Her sword ... vibrated.

She frowned at that. It always had a hum when she drew it, but now it was quivering even more. She glanced to her right. The tunnel led to the geode with the Light Glyph shining in it. Halia stroked her sword.

Is it resonating with the glyph?

More monster girls appeared in the room. Lana Fulmine, the rest of the companions, and the salamanders, oreads, and sirens. Akiz grinned at the newcomers. He ran his eyes over the gorgeous forms of the sirens. Fara leaned against the wall and pulled out her book. She wrote in it, her eyes distant, her long and pointed ears hardly twitching.

Halia opened her mouth to mention the sword vibrating to Fara when light flashed to the left. Lord Leo, Kassie, Vilkas, the prisoners, and the monster girls holding them captured appeared on the teleportation circle. He wore his gray robes, Kassie in her blue trimmed in red. She looked excited as she followed him to them.

“I’ve never done a parley before,” Kassie said.

“This will be momentous,” said Fara. She closed her book and slipped it and her phoenix quill into the pocket of her green dress. She went naked around the dungeon, but not today.

“Cheekha, your werewolves lead the way,” Leo said. “Bhaaloo, you’re behind us. Halia, on my right. Kassie, my left. Fara and Akiz behind me. Vilkas, be ready to bring out the prisoner on my command.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Vilkas said.

Halia nodded to her lord, her heart beating fast as she fell in at her lord’s side. Her sword quivered in her scabbard. She glanced to the right once more, but then Leo was ordering them forward. It was time to forge an alliance with the dwarves enslaved by the Twins.

Time to spread Lord Leo’s influence even further.

“Brilliant and revealing, let the light of Lord Shamash float!” Lord Leo chanted. A ball of light appeared before him to drive back the gloom of Led’s inert dungeon.

“Lana Fulmine, wait here,” I said as we neared the sealed-off exit of Led’s dungeon. The dwarves had buried it. “The darkness should hide you.”

“We’ll be ready to go, big bro!” Garnet shouted. “Unless you want to have me out there with you.”

“You’re too inhuman,” said Maya. “You have wings.”

“Fine,” huffed my little sister.

I moved towards the closed-off section, the ball of light floating with me. Illuminate was a useful spell. I didn’t need lights in my own dungeon, but that ended in the remnants of Led’s. If this worked. I would have my own exit out with the dwarves and have no more need of these last bits of his home.

I reached the stone barrier. My werewolves glanced back at me expectantly. The three stood tall and strong at the front, their bodies graceful and lean. I smiled at them and thrust my hand forward, gathering my magic.

“The hammer falls, let the strength of Lord Abzu smash!”

The Expert Level Earth spell struck the stone barrier and shattered it. Rubble exploded outward. Daylight flooded in through the smoke. I hoped no one was hurt on the other side. The tunnel groaned. Rocks crashed to the ground in a thunderous clatter.

“Go!” snarled Cheekha. She and her two sisters rushed forward.

I dismissed the Illuminate spell as the three werewolves vanished into the smoke. I followed after, Halia and Kassie at my sides, Akiz thumping behind me. Fara made not a sound. Nor did the werebears at the rear.

I passed through the smoke and stepped out of the rubble to find my three werewolves standing in a triangular formation staring out at the dwarven settlement that existed here. The dwarves were all pointing and gasping. Some were grabbing weapons and rushing forward. Others gathered children to take them to safety.

“You have no defensive spells on you, Lord Leo,” whispered Halia. “I think you should change that.”

“I don’t,” I said and chanted a different spell. “Voices carry, let the commanding tone of Lady Kittu carry!”

Magnify Voice.

I drew in a deep breath as the shouts of fear swelled. “DWARVES OF VORIANIL!”

My voice boomed through the air like I had the world’s largest megaphone. But it didn’t sound digitized or shrill. Just enhanced.

“I AM LEO, SLAYER OF THE TWINS WHO OPPRESSED YOU! I HAVE COME IN PEACE. I AM NOT HERE TO WAR UPON YOU. TO BRING ANY HARM TO YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE. I WISH TO SPEAK WITH YOUR ELDERS.”

The dwarves rushing forward with their spears slowed to a stop. They stared at each other. I surveyed the area. They had pulled down all the statues of the twins. They had done what they could to erase any evidence of the dungeon builders. This appeared to be a farming community, built on the surface to grow grains in this mountain valley.

“I AM NOT YOUR ENEMY!” I continued. “I AM NOT YOUR CONQUEROR. I WANT ONLY TO SPEAK. PLEASE, DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM NO BUTCHER. NO TYRANT. I AM NOT THOSE CRUEL TASKMASTERS WHO OPPRESSED YOU. I SET YOU FREE!”

“You didn’t bring any monster girls that they would recognize,” Halia said softly as the soldiers milled about in confusion.

“Yep,” I answered after dismissing my Magnify Voice spell.

I watched the town as the minutes trickled by, then smiled as a group of dwarves emerged. They wore the same pants and work leathers as the others, but they had gold plaited through their beard or woven through the braids of their hair. Five of them. “Here come the elders.”

They marched past their guards, hair gray or white, but they were unbowed by age. I walked forward with Halia and Akiz pacing me. Cheekha gave me a questioning glance. “Wait here to save my ass if I need it.”

“You have too nice an ass not to save, Pack-lord,” she purred in my mind, a wild smile on her lips.

I reached the elders who stared at me with hard, suspicious eyes. I could feel how much anger they had in them. They didn’t like dungeon builders. They remembered what the Twins had done to them. I folded my arms behind my back, trying to be strong.

I wasn’t a scared high school boy any longer. I was Lord Leo.

“Thank you for speaking with me,” I said. “I am honored to speak with the elders of the Vorianil Dwarves. I wish to be a friend to those who live in the mountains and to Great Kharabarnath, your mighty capital.”

“You have one of our kind skulking with you,” a white-bearded male said. “Is that Akiz. I knew your grandfather.”

“Elder Kazzik,” Akiz said. “I don’t skulk. I stand proud as one of Lord Leo’s retainers.”