Chapter Twenty-Seven
Three days later found me crouched in the brush staring out at the Vorianil Mountains and the industrious dwarves working outside of the Twins' dungeon. They were hauling stone across the valley to the peak that housed the twins' dungeon.
I had traveled here with Maya and Baaghi to scout the Twins personally. Everyone objected. My mother, my little sister, Lana, and Maya. They had all argued against this. But I had to see for myself a way to provoke the Twins into attacking me again.
They would have to come to attack me in person. They now knew their monster girls alone weren't enough to defeat me. They would have to come in force. And I could see why they would have the balls to do it. The dwarves were constructing a fortress.
They were building a castle around the entrance to the Twins' dungeon. The castle was already well underway. The dwarves were laboring bare-chested in the sun, their beards thick and long. They were squat but brawny men who were hauling loads that would have crushed my spine with ease.
I had brought only a small force with me. Three wildhounds (Du, Nos, and Marwo) and Damhanalla my arachne. They were screened around Maya, Baaghi, and myself. My rakshasa's whiskers twitched as she stared down at the valley.
"This is horrible," muttered Maya. "They've enslaved the dwarves who live here."
"Yeah," I said, shaking my head. "This is why they are unafraid. The dwarves are their trump card. Look, there are some with weapons. They're guarding the other dwarves who are working."
"That's terrible." Maya shook her head as she stared down at one dwarf who was yelling at a group dragging stones. "Why would they do that? Help their conquerors?"
"There are always people in any society who support their conquerors," Baaghi said. "When the British ruled India, there had been plenty who would support them and regress their own people. Those who did were rewarded. Wealth. Power. Positions of trust. These dwarves are the same. Opportunistic snakes who sense that they will be better off supporting their conquerors than resisting them. They'll be fervent, too."
"Why?" Maya asked.
"Because they know that if the twins ever fall, then they are dead," I said. "In World War II, when France and Belgium and the like were liberated, those who collaborated were shot. The men, at least. There's a price to pay for siding with your conquerors. Those dwarven overseers will not want that to happen to them. That's why the twins attacked me without fear."
"I don't think we had to come all the way out here to see that for ourselves," muttered Maya.
"I needed to think," I said. The travel had been nerve-wracking. We had to be worried about blundering into an adventuring squad to get here. The wildhounds might be skilled at sneaking, but I wasn't them.
"God, look at the statues," Maya muttered.
There were statues all about the valley. Petrified dwarves huddled in fear. "Object lessons. I really, really hate these twins more and more." I glanced around. "Look, there are the gorgon and the red cap. Ziamili's companions. They must also stick around to remind the dwarves what happens if they are disobedient. The red cap probably drags the dwarves to the gorgon so she could look into their eyes."
"No, not those statues," said Maya. "Look at the fortress. You can see where the wall's not finished. There are statues of the twins in them. Big ones. They've had the dwarves erect monuments of themselves."
"Egos," I said. "They probably think they're gods or something, too. Get the dwarves to worship them and all that shit."
"Yeah," Maya said. Then she glanced at me. "I have an idea. Oh, it's such a dumb one, too. I can't believe I'm even thinking it."
I frowned as she explained it to me. I had a lot of objections, but Maya was adamant that she and the monster girls could do it. It sickened me, but I was the only one there that had a problem with it. And it would be what we needed to get the attack started.
It meant I had to return to my dungeon and prepare. It had to be perfect to receive our guests.
* * / *
A week later, we were ready to execute. I had returned to my dungeon alone. That was the one part that Maya and the other monster girls couldn't talk me out of. They wanted me to take Baaghi back, but Maya's plan would require every monster girl she could get her hands upon.
It was a lonely few days traveling home, but I was just a human now. No one who passed me would think I was anything other than an adventurer in my robes and armor and with my spear. I wasn't one of the dangerous dungeon builders. I stayed in inns and ate the local food.
It wasn't as good as my mother's food.
Once I was home, the preparations were underway. Maya had been refining her plan while I sent her additional wildhounds to aid her. She had the entire pack with her now. They were lurking in the woods, ready to pounce.
My dungeon was ready to repel the attack that would come. Though the twins had Level Two magics like me, I had a feeling they knew another way to travel fast. This world had magic. There were artifacts and wizards. The dwarves might have their own knowledge of it. I had to be ready that the counterattack would come swiftly.
"Maya, we're ready,"
I said.
"You sure you want to do this?"
"I don't mind dying,"
Maya said.
"Just be ready to wake me back up and greet me with kisses."
"That I will,"
I said, standing in my vault before the Void Crystal. The black gem hummed away, Souleen sitting on it. She fidgeted. She could feel the tension in the air. Today would be a long, long day.
"Execute it, Maya,"
I sent.
* * / *
Maya shivered at the words. She, the wildhounds, Damhanalla, and Baaghi had figured out the particulars of her plan over the last week of hiding and skulking in the brush overlooking the valley. During the night, they had infiltrated into the castle itself, sneaking in through cover, and now were peering out of one of the supply buildings.
