Echoes of War to Come
Let them come, we will bare our steel.
Let them flee, we'll drink in glee.
Let them hear the beating drum while we're drunk on rum.
For our king, for our home, if we have gold we're never alone.
So raise your glass and drink your rum for the battles and wars to come.
Songs of war—dwarf drinking song
The caravans rolled on through the vast rot lands. They were surprised the human fort was gone, and it did give them pause, but the land had a mix of burnt wood and growth of the goddess light mixed with rot. They were not sure if the fort was abandoned or fell to an attack. Furthermore, they did not stick around to find out, since profits were all that mattered, not whatever this aftermath was with foolish humans who could not handle the rot lands.
Klug sat next to his friend Yurn, leading the way down the road to this unexpected windfall. Both were drunk, as were the rest of the caravans, celebrating their gains before the coins even entered their hands.
Klug looked over at his friend, cheeks flushed. The rocking of the caravan was upsetting his stomach a bit, but nothing more drinking couldn't fix as he swigged on the bottle.
"EASE OFF!" Yurn snatched the bottle from him and drank it himself, then stared him down. "NEED YA sober fer THE sell!" He frowned since his friend drank more than him and he was only trying to settle his stomach, so he decided to snap back.
"BAH, quit your belly aching! You sure it even safe? Month or so ago I lost profit to those rats." He knew it was legit—he saw the letter—but he needed to throw something back for the man stealing his drink...
Yurn just grunted at first, the rumble of the caravan the only answer. That soured him a bit, but to his surprise his friend did speak, mending his anger somewhat.
"I neva lied TO U and U know tha." They settled in silence for a bit before he went on. "BESIDES, U seen the letter." The letter was from an envoy they had hidden in the city to alert them on deals. It wasn't foolproof—a few times bad info got their loot stolen from thieves, so it soured them a bit.
But rumors from other letters—the thieves being gone for more than a week? Maybe more. That was worth a sell, and worth rushing to risk jumping on profit before more dwarfs learned of it too and quit sitting on their ass. They hated they couldn't rush faster—it took time to gather the supplies they thought would sell—but they made sure they got every dwarf they could get to handle it since the return trip would be much lighter... well, besides the weight of gold, which got endless laughter the nights before and drinking, beating others to the punch and knowing they would get to show off the most profits.
The city was finally in view, and he now agreed with Yurn—he was more drunk than he knew. Even in broad daylight, the city looked shaded in darkness. Even the ground spread beyond it looked like pools of darkness with shaded trees and grass? He knew these lands were full of rot, so seeing any grass would be odd, but black shadow grass and trees? Yeah, ease off the bottle... Yet he debated whether drinking more would help clear things or keep making it worse...
Yet what calmed his mind, and he saw visible ease in his friend, was kids playing with adults outside the walls. They also seemed to have a bit of shadow tint—most looked normal, but now that he looked closer, no... a bit of shadow tint, literally darkness?
"What ya put in my bottle ta fool? I'm seein' shit..." Yurn spoke, annoying him.
"ME? U probably pissed in the bottle—it messin' with meh TOO!"
They bickered, but the caravan never stopped. The families playing beyond the wall finally noticed them and scattered inside. The only one to linger was a single shadow child...
He was wanting to speed up to get a better look. Drunk or not, the damn kid would have to clear up once they got a better look... Yet the shadow child did not linger long as they joined the others inside...
Whatever—the sooner they got inside, the sooner they could sell and be off... Maybe stop by the inn for a quick drink to shake off this piss. Maybe they had a bad batch of rum, which would be disappointing—they just brewed this batch and were selling it too...
Whatever, they'd offer a discount. They heard the slums were used to drinking with rot—even their bad batch would be worth more than that. It just meant it was strong if it was affecting them like that...
The horses started fighting them in panic, forcing them to fight them a bit. Stupid things—there was nothing there that was getting them spooked... He could hear the other caravan men yelling, fighting their horses too... He tried to check the ground beyond the darkness—he saw no snakes. Maybe one stepped in a hole, spooked them all seeing it panic? They were too dumb to know what was best...
Yet as he looked around more, it was odd rolling up seeing no guards. That was not normal and did give a mild pause. The fort? Who cares. But business had rules they followed to ensure profit... If the thieves were really gone, the guards should be on watch to ensure all stayed safe from their return or others just walking in...
Hmm, well, kids were playing, so maybe they were taking a break, yeah... That made sense—it's where they went to get the guards! He started laughing, making Yurn slap him.
"What's ya problem? U gone mad?" He was tired of his friend's crap, so he slapped him back.
"Was just thinking, U FOOL!" He swore his friend was going to strike back, starting a fight, and he was ready with a fist. But his friend was just staring blankly as if lost. That was, till his beard fell from his face and the rest of it started to melt before his eyes. No scream followed, making him question if this was still his drunkenness and wish his friend would hit him to make him see straight.
Yet as he tried to turn his head to take in the scene that defied belief, his own head slipped free to his lap before rolling on the ground. Madness, he thought. How drunk am I to be experiencing this? There's no way a man can live and think without a body for the head to sit on top!
These were his last thoughts as it faded into a dark puddle along with the rest of the caravan. There were 8 carts and 12 dwarfs—5 of which were the true merchants, the other 7 trusted workers they brought to handle affairs of unloading goods. All met the same fate, unaware the one before melted into nothing due to the poison in air.
All were too drunk and excited to question that anything could be wrong, and each assumed that if something was wrong, there would be a more telling sign they would not be able to ignore. But each ignored the subtle truth before them as they all gladly went forward...
Vesperia was happy. For the first time ever, nobody needed to live in the slums or the streets nor the gutters. The sheer amount who rejected the dark allowed a massive influx of free homes and an overabundance of supplies. They were still trying to sort through things—the air being changed was so much cleaner and easier to breathe, but it had a side effect of rotting some foods, though drinks seemed to be just fine. Abaddon whispered to her he was working on ways to make it where food would all stay pure for them, but it was a side issue. They were more happy about the places to stay.
She was with Bobby, the guard captain, and another man she never met before who went by Mr. Smith. It seemed he was an informant for the thieves in the past and was very good with logistics, so he was with her now overseeing dividing the shelters and what supplies to help them in their new life.
When a group of a few parents looking fearful at them with kids and one of the shadow children came to her, surprising them. What caused such concern? She felt she knew the shadow child's name—Luma? Was the name that she heard whispered before, but she was waiting to see what they said. Laughter and playing came from echoes of other shadow children wanting to chase the nearby children, not seeming to care what caused the others' distress.
"Um... they came without permission, but we did not hurt them. We were not told what to do, so we came to tell you." Luma said, making her nod but unsure.
"Uh... who, little one? Who came and where?" She wasn't sure if it was fighting among the dark, which surprised her—everyone was happy, she thought—when one of the parents spoke up.
"Caravans of dwarfs. We did not know what to do, so we ran looking for you." The mother held tightly to her child even as shadow children cooed at the young one she held, distracting her for a moment before she refocused. "Luma knew what to do and led us to you. Well, I think he was just looking for you, but we followed, unsure what to do."
This was bad. If they entered the city of dark, they would die. Surely they saw the change—it was clear as day... It's why we did not bother with guards. We needed the help organizing the people and setting affairs...
"You all did well. I will take the captain with me—we'll settle it. Hopefully we can greet them before any get hurt."
Luma and the families did not look convinced, but the other kids and shadow children cared more about playing more than seeing it through to the end.
"Would Abaddon allow it?" It was Smith who asked, showing concern. "I'm not questioning his power, but why even let them pass the walls?"
She shook her head before speaking. "He's sleeping, trying to condense his new power."
"Uh... really?" Smith asked, scratching his chin but pushing no further. She felt mildly offended he was even questioning, but he was out of the loop, so he deserved a little respect.
"The amount of death was many—he could not take in all the power. He shared the knowledge freely with us. He's trying to consolidate that power and make things better for us. Part of it is no true unity." She held up her hand, turned it into darkness, then back to flesh while watching Smith.
"He gave us power and no oversight, but in doing so he needs to approach things differently."
Smith shook his head and waved his hands. "I don't wish for no trouble—forget I asked. I'm just doing a job." Feeling he was learning hidden truths, which made her smile.
"Do not fear. Abaddon trusts us all—we chose him versus death. He will not harm us just for knowing things. It's just harder for him to share with us. It's why he needs people like us to oversee things."
She looked over and brushed Luma's head. Lost in his own thoughts, he jerked away, annoyed, not liking being seen as a child even though he very much had the mindset and form of one. As she went on, "It's why he made minions of dark to also help oversee things. Thank you, Luma, for helping us. Are they at the gate?"
Luma shrugged. She knew he did not know and sighed. Okay, guess we'd find out then...
The trip to the gate was a brisk one and a bit disturbing—no horses, no dwarfs, just puddles of darkness and all the goods...
Luma followed Vesperia and guard captain Bobby with the shadow children. Smith stayed behind to keep inventory, and the other parents forced their kids to stay home and inside, not wanting to see how this ended.
"This will lead to a war," Bobby said, a grim face.
"Why? Why? Why?" the shadow children all started asking, running up to the carts, snooping and drinking from the puddles till Luma shooed them away. They ran away laughing as he chased after them to try to keep them more in line versus just play.
Though the kids did not wait for an answer, Vesperia wondered the same... "They won't listen? I met a few dwarfs—they always seemed friendly?"
Bobby laughed, a grunt. "You met the happy drunks with coins. I got the pissed dwarfs that killed for the same coin." He slowly shook his head, not liking this. "Just last month they threatened a war for the bastard thieves stealing their goods. It took the king paying double to keep trades going and matters settled...
"Now we have more supplies and dead dwarfs that won't be a simple talk with a few coins changing hands..." Shaking his head. "No, they always seem to want to fight then talk..."
Unsure herself, she still agreed and would let Tom know since he was advising the king. It would be a matter for them to settle, but would it be a war? So soon when they just started to get peace...
"Can they be bought?" she asked hopefully. That surprised Bobby—he was not sure...
"Dunno? Never tried—fuck, never had to? It's not my expertise. I dealt with fallout, passing the word, but beyond that it was beyond me..."
Vesperia listened with half interest. "Well, I guess we'll see, won't we?"27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvwH1y9DsF
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