Battleborne

by Dave Willmarth

  Red sighed. He had a point.

  “Yes, many of my kind are as savage as you say. We generally consider humans, and most of the races other than dragons and elves, to be lesser beings good for little more than food or amusement. But not all of us feel that way.”

  Max didn’t want to pursue that particular discussion, still suspicious of Red’s actions and motivation to an extent. So he just said, “I’ll do what needs doing. If you can’t stomach it, so be it. Your objection has been noted, and the blame lies with me, not you.”

  He sat in silence for the remainder of the time until Rockbreaker returned. He simply gave Max a brief nod, then walked away to join the interrogators. Max knew they’d come get him if they needed him. Resolved as to his course of action, Max distracted himself by going through the loot he’d picked up from the greys.

  There were the usual bits of gear he’d become accustomed to: chain mail pieces, plate mail, nasty looking swords and knives, some gems, gold, silver and copper. One of them had dropped several bars of Grey Steel, which Max assumed was some special recipe crafting material that they used to make their weapons.

  The most interesting drop was a staff that he guessed had belonged to the mage.

  Spellcaster’s Crutch

  Item Quality: Excellent

  Durability: 90/100

  Attributes: Wisdom +3; Intelligence +2; Mana Regeneration +15%

  This staff can be used to store up to three precast spells. Spells cast using the staff have zero spell cast time, and 20% increased effectiveness.

  Max whistled to himself. This staff had seriously good attributes. For one, you could store a few life-saving heals to use if you were out of mana. The fact that spells were insta-cast meant that spells that took a few seconds could be stored in here to be used in the heat of combat, when a second’s delay could mean death or defeat. And the increased effectiveness meant extra healing or damage on his targets. If he cast Nature’s Boon using the staff, it would heal for two hundred forty points instead of two hundred.

  The thought of extra healing made him think of Dalia. Searching the camp with his eyes, he spotted her near one of the cook fires. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground and using a mortar and pestle to grind something. Getting to his feet, he walked over, receiving smiles or nods from several of the dwarves as he passed.

  Standing behind the healer, he used the butt end of the staff to poke her in the back, gently. She turned to look over her shoulder, mouth open and ready to scold someone. When she saw that it was him, she simply said, “It ain’t polite to sneak up on a lady.”

  He made a show of bowing deeply to her after stepping around to her side. “My apologies, lady healer. I bring a gift, courtesy of a grey dwarf mage. She won’t be needing it any longer.” He held the staff out in both hands, offering it to Dalia.

  She took it in hand, eyes nearly crossing as she Examined it. Her mouth curled into a smile, and she refocused on Max as she hugged it to her chest. “This be fer me? Ye don’t want to keep it and use it yerself?”

  “I figure it’ll help you to keep me alive in the coming fights.” He shrugged. “And I plan to focus on dealing damage.” He smiled at her. “I’ll keep the next one.”

  Dalia got to her feet, looking around. She called out a couple of names and beckoned for the dwarves to join her. As they walked over, she said, “There be a spell… takes three druids, and some rare materials to cast. The casting takes a full minute, assuming there be no mistakes. If this staff will hold that spell…” Her voice trailed off as she began to consider it.

  “What does it do?” Max was intensely curious.

  “What? Oh. It be a nature spell, o’course. An area heal that covers a circle a hundred paces wide. It heals allies and damages foes at the same time.”

  “So, just like my Drain spell?”

  Dalia tilted her head. “No… yer spell drains the life energy o’ yer target to heal ye directly. This one does no’ transfer energy, just inflicts damage.”

  “But if you could modify it to transfer energy, it would make the spell more effective, wouldn’t it? Both in damaging the enemy, and healing friends?”

  “Aye, I suppose it would.” Dalia looked thoughtful, until the arrival of her fellow druids interrupted her musing. She showed them the staff and explained what she had in mind, and they immediately shared her excitement. All three ran off to find the ingredients they needed. Ten steps away, Dalia paused and shouted over her shoulder. “Thank ye, Max!”

  He smiled and waved at her, not sure she even saw as she turned away.

  Max sat at one of the fires and chatted with the other dwarves for a while. He found he enjoyed their carefree attitude toward life. They followed a strict code of honor, but beyond that, their lives were about having fun. And fun included battle. They were all looking forward to the upcoming fight. A few of the younger ones bragged about how many greys they’d kill. The aged veterans teased them, because that’s what grumpy old dwarves do. They passed around small kegs of ale, which the dwarves drank like water.

  The evening dragged on, and it became clear that the dwarves would not be attacking. The generally accepted scuttlebutt among the troops was that the generals were hoping for some inside information from the prisoner. A few screams had been heard from the tent set up for interrogation, and the dwarves generally seemed to approve of the harsh treatment.

  And it wasn’t long before a dwarf was sent to fetch Max.

  He followed the messenger to the tent, where Rockbreaker waited by the door. He spoke quietly to Max, and then opened the flap, ushering him inside before following him in.

  The grey recognized Max immediately, and recoiled in fear. He was chained to a chair, one side of his head bloody, both eyes blackened, and at least a couple of teeth missing. Max ignored his condition and played his part, baring his teeth in the cruelest smile he could manage.

  “You should have talked to the dwarves here when you had the chance. I’m not civilized like them. I don’t have their sense of honor. In case you can’t tell, I’m half monster. You’re nothing but meat and experience to me. Now, tell my friends what they want to know, or I will begin devouring your flesh piece by piece until you do.” He growled for effect, baring his fangs again.

  The grey dwarf spat at him, fear mixed with defiance in his eyes. He began to struggle against his bonds as Max stepped closer. Max nodded to Rockbreaker, who stuck his head out of the tent for a moment. “Last chance, lunchmeat.” Max drew his belt knife and took another step.

  Rockbreaker cleared his throat. “Max, we anticipated your desires, and your hunger. I took the liberty of having this first piece cooked for you. We, uhm… weren’t sure if you preferred the flesh raw, or cooked.” He handed over a metal plate with a single piece of roasted meat on it. Max looked down at the plate, then over at the bloodied side of the grey’s head where his ear had been sliced off.

  “Roasted ear?” He held up the ear-shaped bit of meat, the grey’s eyes widening in horror. “Not my first choice, but it’ll work as an appetizer.” He stared into the prisoner’s eyes and held his gaze, not even blinking as he brought the meat to his mouth and tore about half of it off with his sharp teeth. Chewing thoughtfully, he continued to stare into the grey’s horrified eyes. “Not bad.” He spoke while he made a show of chewing carefully, then licked his lips. “Normally I’d go for the tongue first, but we need you to be able to speak, don’t we?” He swallowed his mouthful and tore off another chunk, making a big show of it.

  “What do you think I should try next? You don’t have much fat on you, but I have a recipe for the cooks to fry up your nuts with some animal fat, vegetables, and seasonings. We’ll share it. I’ll eat one, and you’ll eat the other. You might be the first grey dwarf in history to eat his own testicle.” Max popped the last bit of meat into his mouth, raising his belt knife again and giving a significant look toward the grey’s crotch, smiling cruelly. Behind him, Rockbreaker made some gagging sounds, then left the tent
. Max tried not to smile. The dwarf had played his part perfectly.

  The grey dwarf recoiled, straining against his bonds and tipping the chair backward until it fell, his head impacting the stone floor. Max advanced, still holding the knife. “I won’t lie to you, this is going to hurt. There will be a lot of blood, but you already know that I can heal you. I need you to live long enough to tell us what we need to know.” An idea occurred to him that would benefit the dwarves and himself in more than one way. He grinned at the trembling grey in a slightly more friendly manner.

  “On the other hand, if you speak now I will allow you to keep your junk. And I’ll allow you to return to your city intact.” He stared at the gash where the missing ear had been. “Well, mostly intact.” He licked his lips and took one more step.

  That pushed the grey over the edge. He wet himself, and began to babble. “I talk! I talk! You not eat me! I talk, and go home? Please!”

  Max did his best to look disappointed as Rockbreaker, who had been listening at the door, pushed aside the flap and entered along with two other dwarves, including one holding a pen and paper. Looking at the dwarf he assumed was in charge of the questioning, he growled, “I’ll be right outside, if he fails to give you what you need.”

  Rockbreaker followed him out. Shaking his head as he walked with Max away from the tent, he said, “Ye be one sick bastard.”

  Max grinned at him. “Your cook did a great job. That bit of steak looked exactly like an ear. And it tasted great. Even gave me a strength buff.”

  Rockbreaker looked down at his feet, silent for a moment. Finally he said, “They couldn’t get the steak to look right. I’m afraid that was the actual ear. But I suppose it makes sense for grey dwarf flesh to give ye strength.”

  Max froze, his stomach churning as he turned to face Rockbreaker. His gag reflex calmed though, when he saw the dwarf’s face break, and the captain began to laugh. “Ha! I got ye! O’ course it were steak. Damn, Max.” He patted Max on the back. “Ye look a little green.”

  Max was not amused. “You’re lucky I didn’t puke on your boots.” He grumbled, accepting the prank in the nature it was intended.

  Chapter 14

  Red woke him with a shout. “Fire! Fire! Get up, Max!”

  Max sprang up from his bedroll on the stone floor of the cavern, wildly looking left and right, trying to find the fire. His pulse was pounding, and he blinked rapidly in confusion. When he didn’t see a fire, or anyone else reacting as if there were a fire, he turned to locate a giggling Red, growling under his breath.

  “Dammit, Red.” he grumped.

  “Oh, relax. A girl’s gotta have a little fun once in a while. And you’re so easy.” She grinned at him, her tiny eyes sparkling with amusement. “Anyway… I thought I’d remind you before you run off and fight that you have some attribute points to assign. Might as well have you be the best you that you can be.” She paused and tilted her head, reviewing her last words to make sure they made sense.

  With a quick nod, she continued. “If I may be so bold, I suggest you put them all into Wisdom. Your physical abilities are already more than enough for swinging your sword and drawing your bow. And since you gave that sweet, sweet staff to the dwarfess, you should use your points to improve your magic abilities. Starting with increasing your mana pool.”

  Max nodded his head, agreeing with her recommendation. He pulled up his status display and assigned all three of his points to Wisdom, bringing it up to twenty seven. He watched as his mana pool jumped from a little over five hundred to six hundred, the extra point in Constitution he’d earned upon leveling boosting the number along with Wisdom.

  “Alright, now I suggest you find someone to teach you some offensive magic. I’m told the dwarves aren’t big magic users, at least when it comes to battle. They have healers, of course. But most of their magic is centered around their professions. Sensing veins within stone, seeing in the dark, imbuing attributes into weapons they forge, that kind of thing. For them, battle is a thing of physical strength, skill, and courage. But I bet if you asked around, you could find someone to teach you something useful.”

  Max was beginning to forgive her for the wakeup. She was making sense, and being helpful. Which of course made him suspicious. “Alright, I’ll go ask the captain. Or Dalia. Maybe the druids have some good offensive spells.”

  “Speaking of druids, you should figure out what you want to be when you grow up. As in, what class you want to pursue. Learning random spells here and there is fine for now, but once you’ve picked a class, you’ll get some spells that have bonuses to them. And probably some specific skills, as well. You’ll become a more effective… whatever you choose to be.”

  Max didn’t have a lot of experience with classes. He’d heard his guys arguing about different schools of magic, and magic users versus melee combat types. There was a constant argument between two of them over whether paladin tanks with their holy magic abilities were better than straight warrior type tanks.

  “I don’t know yet which direction I want to go. I mean, I’m pretty effective with the bow so far. If I learn some long distance damage spells, I could become a back-of-the-pack fighter, protect the healers while the melee types bash it out on the front lines.”

  “So you plan to stay here with the dwarves? Maybe join their army, or their guards?”

  Max’s eyebrows went up. He hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. His only plans had been to learn some basic crafting so that he could repair or forge his own gear, then go kill a hundred orcs to fulfill his promise to Regin.

  Red held up both hands in a stopping motion. “I know, you don’t know yet. I’m just trying to get you to think ahead a little bit. Plan how you move forward, instead of just doing everything by the seat of your pants. Take some time to think it over, and we’ll talk again.” She faded from sight as Max started toward where he thought he might find the captain.

  It didn’t take long, as the captain found him first, shouting his name. Max changed direction and met Rockbreaker near one of the cookfires. “Good morning. Any news?”

  “Aye. The grey give’d us information on two tunnels that lead into the city. One on this side, and one in the back. We sent a runner to the kobolds to give em the information on how to find the one on their side.” He shook his head. “The generals argued most o’ the night about whether to attack today, or to let the kobolds soften em up first. Attack when they’re busy lookin’ the other direction.”

  “And what was the final decision?”

  “We attack today. In an hour or so. Which is why I need to speak with ye.” The captain looked uncomfortable. “I hear’d ye promise the grey he could go home if he talked. But if we let him loose, he’ll warn his king about us usin’ the tunnels. The generals ordered me to kill him, but if I do, and the gods took ye at yer word that he’d go free…”

  Max nodded. He quickly reviewed his conversation with the prisoner, trying to recall his exact words. His intent had been to let the grey dwarf return to his people with horror stories about the monster that had eaten his flesh, and was coming for the king’s head. At the time, he was expecting the prisoner to give up troop strength and location information, not disclose a secret entrance that the Darkholm dwarves could exploit. The information would do them no good if the grey dwarves knew that they knew.

  He pondered going back on his word and killing the grey. After all, there was no proof that anything he’d told the dwarves was true. There might not be secret tunnels. Or they might not be where he said they were. And just like that, he had his answer.

  “I didn’t say when, or how, he could go home. We’ll take him with us. He can show us the tunnel we need, and guide us through. That way we keep my promise, he gets to go home. And if he misbehaves, tries to warn his people we’re coming, we kill him.”

  Captain Rockbreaker nodded. “Aye, that be an idea. Still risky fer you, if we have to kill him. The gods may take vengeance upon ye. But I’ll do as ye say if yer willin’ t
o take that risk.”

  Max nodded, only slightly nervous. He was pretty sure he could use the grey’s cowardice to keep him in line while they infiltrated the city.

  “Right, then. We’ll take a force of two hundred or so warriors and engineers into this tunnel of his. The rest will make a big show of a frontal assault on the gates with our siege engines. We get inside, and either kill the king, or make our way to the gates and open them. Then hope we can hold em’ long enough for the rest of our lads to charge through.”

  Max felt his pulse quicken in anticipation of the battle. He also felt slightly sick to his stomach. The dwarves were betting a lot on him and his prisoner’s information.

  The captain started to turn away, but Max stopped him. “Any chance there’s a magic user here that could teach me some long distance damage spells? I’d be happy to pay them for their time, if it’s not too expensive.”

  Rockbreaker thought it over. “If the tunnel be there, and we manage to take the city, me king will reward ye with anything ye want, within reason. But if ye want to learn somethin’ right now…” His eyebrows bunched together and his lips pursed as he stroked his beard thoughtfully.

  “Aha! Old Puckerface be here, somewhere. He can teach ye.”

  “Puckerface?”

  “Aye, but don’t ye call him that. His name be Ardon Spellslinger. We call him puckerface because he can’t swallow a gulp o’ spirits without coughin and makin this funny face…”

  Max grinned. “Sounds perfect. Any idea what he’ll charge me?”

  “That’d depend on the spell ye want. A hundred gold, maybe? Or a good bottle o’ spirits. Or some combination of both.”