Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City

by L. G. Estrella

  “Indeed.” Timmy nodded. “That is typically how dwarf cities have fallen.” He grinned at Katie. “Or how they haven’t fallen. Dwarves, Katie, do not abandon each other. You might be able to lay siege to a dwarf city, but I can guarantee that every able-bodied dwarf who hears about it is going to grab a weapon and come running. Sometimes, that’s enough. Other times, it’s not, but I do admire the sentiment.”

  “Aye,” the king rumbled. “No good dwarf would ever abandon his own people.”

  “Then what happened to Diamondgate?” Katie asked.

  The king twitched. “Diamondgate was supposed to be unbreakable in anything less than a month, ample time for us to rally our forces and relieve it. Somehow, it fell in a matter of days, which is why I suspect foul play. I could understand it if the goblins had an adult inferno dragon on their side. But if they did, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. An army of twenty thousand dwarves could not have taken Diamondgate that quickly. For goblins to do so, regardless of their numbers, is madness. They must have had help.”

  Katie looked a bit doubtful, and Timmy couldn’t blame her. As necromancers, they were very familiar with the power of superior numbers. However, she wisely chose to let the king’s comments stand. They’d clearly struck a nerve.

  “I think you’ve missed an important weakness,” Timmy said. “Air. Goblins, much like dwarves and men, need to breathe. Cut off their air, and they’ll die just like anyone else, not matter how many of them there are. Of course, that could take some time depending on how many ventilation ducts the city has and how well defended they are. As you said, the goblins aren’t completely stupid. I’m sure they secured those as quickly as they could. And trying to retake all of the ducts and shut them off might actually be impossible, depending on how they are designed.”

  The king nodded grimly. “Aye. We learned the hard way that our foes would seek to cut off out air if they could. The only way to completely shut off the air intake is from the inside, and if we’re already inside, then we’ve probably already won.

  “On the other hand, we don’t need to cut off their air supply completely… if we’re poisoning their air instead. You wouldn’t even need to poison all of the air ducts. A few major ones would do, especially if you could force the goblins to congregate in a central location.”

  King Barin’s eyes widened, and he began to laugh. “So that’s your plan? Do you truly think no one has tried that against us dwarves before? The city’s main ventilation ducts are heavily concealed and well defended. The goblins would have lost thousands of troops trying to seize them. You’d never be able to find them, and even if you did, you’d suffer terrible losses trying to take them.”

  “Hmm…” Timmy raised one eyebrow. That the king had considered what he was about to say spoke volumes about how long the dwarves had been fighting a purely defensive war. It had been more than a century since they’d successfully reclaimed any of their territory, and it showed in the mindset they brought into battle. “That would normally be the case, but there’s a reason I asked you to bring experts on Diamondgate’s defences with us. And you are the king. I’d wager you know the defences of every major city like the back of your hand. You might even know exactly where all of the ventilation ducts and their defences are.”

  “…” A smile slowly crossed the king’s lips. “You might have a point there.” He scowled. “We’ve struggled so bitterly to retake and hold any of our old territory that we’ve all but abandoned the notion. We simply don’t have the soldiers to spare for such assaults. But, yes, I know all about the city’s defences. I memorised them when I became king, and I’ve been informed of any changes ever since. What do you have in mind?”

  “As you know, Katie and I have been hard at work. It’s why we’ve been requesting so many unusual things.” He reached into his cloak and pulled out a sealed flask. “This is a highly concentrated poison. When exposed to the right chemicals it changes from a liquid to a gas – a lot of gas. What makes it especially relevant to our purposes is that it’s based on a certain toxin found only in the tropical spike fish.”

  “What is a tropical spike fish?”

  “It’s arguably the most poisonous fish in the entire world,” Katie explained. “If you eat one without preparing it properly, you’ll be dead inside of a minute.”

  “It sounds troublesome.”

  “It is. Now, one of the reasons that people aren’t running around killing each other with tropical spike fish poison is that they don’t make very much,” Timmy said.

  “But zombie hydra-spike-fish do,” Katie said. “Hydras regenerate quickly, and that can also apply to organs grafted onto them if you do it right. So if you get the poison sacs from some tropical spike fish, add them to a hydra, and let necromancy do the rest… you can get plenty of poison.”

  King Barin’s brows furrowed. He wasn’t especially fond of zombies, but he could see the many benefits of necromancy. Timmy was hopeful of working with him again in the future. Dwarves were practical people. If hiring a necromancer to wipe out his enemies was the only way to win, then the only things King Barin would worry about were negotiating a good deal and making sure the aforementioned necromancer didn’t turn on him later. “So…”

  “We produced vast quantities of poison.” Timmy took out a second flask. “This is what you mix it with to produce the poison gas. These two flasks alone can produce enough poison gas to fill a decent-sized cavern, and we’ve got barrels of the stuff.”

  “Then you mean to take the ventilation ducts and throw the poison in before blocking the ducts to ensure the goblins can’t get rid of it.”

  “That’s part of it. We can use the ninja rats and our stealthier zombies to take the ducts without risking your troops. There must be emergency exits, but your men can stand guard over those. With the goblins fleeing in disarray and likely to be poisoned…”

  The king’s eyes gleamed. “Oh, my men will enjoy that.” Timmy could tell he was imagining it: panicked and poisoned goblins stumbling out of the city only to run headlong into groups of elite dwarves with vengeance on their mind. “But there are a lot of goblins.”

  “If you back an animal into a corner and give it no way to escape, it will fight to the death,” Timmy said. “But if you give it a way to escape, then you can kill it as it flees. We’ll leave the main gate accessible, and with the poison gas filling the rest of the city, they’ll have no choice but to take it, heedless of the danger. Thousands of them will probably be trampled in the crush for fresh air, and those that emerge from the gates onto the bridge will be in no condition to fight. We’ll be out there waiting for them. Eventually, the pile of bodies should get so big that escape becomes virtually impossible.”

  “And they won’t be able to stay inside the gates,” the king murmured. “That area might be one of the most well-ventilated, but even it will eventually fill with poison gas if we can get access to the right ducts.”

  “Exactly.”

  “It is a fine plan,” the king said. “But my brother is in there, and there may yet be other holdouts too. There are stories of brave warriors holding on for weeks after a city has fallen. I will not have them gassed alongside the goblins.”

  Timmy nodded. “I can understand that, which is why we worked so hard on this particular poison gas. Make no mistake, the gas will be unpleasant for dwarves, but what makes the tropical spike fish so unique is that instead of relying on a single toxin, it generates a cocktail of different toxins, each with varying levels of effectiveness against different groups. Dwarves, humans, and elves all have different physiologies – and so do goblins. We refined the poison to maximise the toxins that affect goblins while minimising those that affect dwarves. The poison gas will still affect dwarves. You’re likely to throw up if you’re exposed to it for more than a minute or two, and prolonged exposure will give you an awful headache, but it won’t kill you.”

  “And the goblins?”

  “It is deadly to them. Short-term ex
posure leads to immediate difficulty in breathing combined with reduced vision, disorientation, and rapid fatigue. Longer exposure – upward of five to ten minutes – is fatal. Given the size of the main chambers in the city and assuming its ventilation system is comparable to Cavernholme’s, it may take anywhere from an hour to several hours to severely weaken or kill most of the goblins inside unless they can find a way to get far more fresh air.”

  King Barin was silent for a long time. “You are a very dangerous man, Lord Bolton, and your apprentice must be too if she helped you devise this poison.”

  “I was the one who suggested it,” Katie said. “Although my master worked out the plan and the finer details. We’ve been tossing around ideas like this for a while.”

  “Her original plan called for people to sneak into the city disguised as goblins while separate groups lured the defenders of the ducts away.” Timmy chuckled. “It was a very clever plan, but it was unnecessarily complicated.”

  “I know, master, I know,” Katie grumbled. “I’ll try to keep it simpler in the future.”

  “Indeed. Not all of the goblins are stupid although most of them are. Some of them might even have magic that can help to disperse the gas or nullify its effects. They could also retreat deeper into the city and secure more areas against the gas. That’s why we need to do ourselves a favour. We have to be visible. We want them in position to defend the city, which will also put them in a perfect position for the gas to do its work since they’ll be bunched up in a few important areas. Once we’ve killed as many as we can from the outside, we’ll have to go inside and finish the job. That’s where the zombies come in. We’ve also made charms to protect you and your troops from the gas, which we’ll pass around before we attack.” Timmy shrugged. “They’re not complicated to make if you know exactly how the gas works. I doubt any of the goblins could make them from scratch quickly enough for it to matter. We’ll also keep some of the gas in reserve, so you and your troops can use it to flush out any goblins that have managed to survive and fortify areas inside the city. It’ll save us from having to run into whatever ambushes or traps they might have set.”

  “I like your thinking,” the king said. “In a clean fight, we dwarves are easily their betters, but goblins don’t fight cleanly. It’s about time we acknowledged that and acted accordingly.” His voice hardened. “It reminds me of something my father once said.”

  “Oh?”

  “In a fight to the death, the only thing that matters is that the other bastard ends up dead and you don’t.”

  “Wise words, Your Majesty.”

  “Aye. It’s a pity he’s not around to see this. I know he’d enjoy it. I’ll have to make sure to kill a few extra goblins just for him.” His eyes narrowed. “I hope my fool of a brother hasn’t gotten himself killed. If you encounter him while we are securing the city, call for me. I will deal with his foolishness.” He grinned. “The only thing I ask is that my finest men and I be given a chance to fight at the main gate when you send in the poison gas. If there’s killing to be done, we’re the ones to do it.”

  “That sounds fair, but I’ll have some of my zombies nearby in case you need any help.” Timmy could respect the king’s desire to do the dirty work himself, but he could not afford to have him fall during the battle. Barin had children, but none were old enough to replace him yet. If the dwarves were to have a king during the upcoming war, Everton would much prefer a battle-tested leader like Barin to an untested boy. “I hope you’re ready. We’ve got a long, bloody day ahead of us.”

  “I can kill goblins all day long, necromancer. Simply send them to me, and I’ll handle the rest.”

  * * *

  Seurat was not the quickest ninja rat, nor was he the strongest or most cunning. However, he was amongst their best at two very important things: impersonating a regular rat and disabling large groups. It was a sad fact that ninja rats were not always good at impersonating regular rats. There were differences in physiology, intelligence, and magic that could allow a keen-eyed observer who was familiar with both groups to tell the difference. Seurat had never been noticed before, and his skills were so great that even those who had trained to identify ninja rats and other such creatures had failed to catch him. Likewise, his skill in disabling large groups was formidable. He could emit pulses of magic that stunned or disabled those caught in the area of effect. He couldn’t kill them or even knock most of them unconscious, but there was no limit to how many people he could affect, as long as they were within range. This made him deadly in ambushes. With the right assistance, he and his allies could easily wipe out the enemy before they had a chance to recover.

  For all that the goblins were mostly stupid – and the laughable tactics they’d employed once their leaders had been eliminated suggested a certain lack of intelligence – it would be foolish to assume that the goblins didn’t have some kind of warning system in place. In all likelihood, they’d simply adopted whatever system the dwarves had set up. Therefore, stealthy teams of ninja rats and zombie cobras had been dispatched to take the main ventilation ducts. The idea was to simultaneously eliminate the goblins protecting the ducts to prevent them sending a warning to the goblins inside. As long as the bulk of the goblin horde remained none the wise, they would assume their air supply was safe. Then, when the rest of the zombies and dwarves arrived, the goblins would begin to mass near the gate and other key defensive areas, leaving them easy prey for the poison gas.

  Carefully, Seurat crept toward the crevice that disguised one of the main ventilation ducts. It was all but impossible to see from the air, and even he would have walked right past it if he hadn’t been told what to look for. Truly, the dwarves were cunning and masterful engineers. He and half a dozen other ninja rats crawled into the crevice. It wasn’t wide enough to admit zombie ogres or other large zombies. However, the ninja rats and zombie cobras had no problems fitting. The two dozen zombie cobras under his command were exceedingly venomous. They were capable of injecting venom that would first paralyse and then kill a goblin in less than a minute, and each had enough venom to bite ten or eleven goblins before needing to withdraw to replenish its supplies.

  The ventilation duct was protected by a fort that had been built into the cavern disguised by the crevice. He could see why the dwarves were so fond of it. The fort followed the natural lines of the cavern and made use of natural rock formations to bolster its defences. It would be very difficult to take with a frontal assault due to its thick, sturdy walls and the rough terrain. The narrow entrance would also make it impossible to bring in siege weaponry. Thankfully, the magical surveillance that should have been watching the area had either been deactivated or only worked for dwarves. He would assume it was the latter. He doubted the dwarves would design a system the goblins could easily take advantage of.

  Seurat turned invisible and began his approach. He and the other ninja rats cloaked most of the zombie cobras, but they allowed a few to be seen. In the mountains, snakes were a common sight, so the goblins had no reason to be suspicious. A few of the sentries even got excited, and he smiled as the goblins on the walls began to discuss the possibly of enjoying some roast snake. Perfect. The more concerned they were with their stomachs, the less concerned they’d be with potential infiltrators.

  There were a hundred goblins inside the fort, more than enough to hold off any band of would-be attackers long enough for reinforcements to arrive from within the city. Although goblins were not as tough or skilled as humans or dwarves, the fort was so well made it would take at least several hundred people to reclaim it. It wouldn’t be a quick battle either, and hundreds – perhaps even thousands – more goblins could arrive to reinforce the fort before it fell.

  Seurat snuck into the fort and ventured deeper until he reached the heart of the building, the chamber that housed the ventilation duct. There was another tunnel beside it with a horn attached. Interesting. The small size of the second tunnel combined with the horn made its purpose clear. This wa
s how the dwarves – and now the goblins – could contact the inside for help. So long as the horn was not used, those inside would assume all was well. Flaring his energy, Seurat signalled for the others to get into position. It was time to begin.

  Once the others were in place, he struck. A wave of his magic rushed outward. The five goblins in the chamber immediately staggered. They gasped but could not cry out, too disoriented to do anything except try to get their balance back. Seurat burst into motion, as did the zombie cobra that had accompanied him. Two goblins fell to his poisoned needles, and another two fell to the fangs of the zombie cobra. The last goblin, one of the larger and tougher ones, got to within three steps of the horn before Seurat reached him. The rat leapt onto the goblin’s back and drove his sword through the narrow gap between the helmet and armour the goblin wore. The poisoned blade slid between two of the goblin’s vertebrae and severed his spinal cord. With a shocked gasp, the goblin dropped to his knees and then toppled to the side.

  Outside, Seurat could hear shouts of alarm as the others struck. A swift gesture strung thin metal wires across the doorway at just the right height to trip any incoming goblins. Sure enough, a goblin rushed through the door only to trip and sprawl onto the floor. A zombie cobra launched itself at the goblin, and the creature thrashed and then fell still as the zombie cobra’s lethal venom took effect. A second and third goblin followed, and one of Seurat’s fellow ninja rats slew both of them with precise strikes of his spear. Behind the dead goblins, Seurat could see more goblins flailing at things they couldn’t see as the other ninja rats struck with deadly efficiency. At their feet, the zombie cobras slithered from one goblin to the next, leaving only death in their wake.