A Guide to Kingdom Building

The flames glowed gloomily as it slowly consumed the Orkamuu's lifeless body. Adaloun watched silently as he sat on the ground, his back slumped from fatigue and hunger. Unfortunately, the jovial Orkamuu succumbed to his injuries and died peacefully even after Orphella and Papillon's intervention. He thought of how fickle life was as a mortal, not even the most powerful weapon could save you from death; not even Papillon.

In his hand he held Wahakim's scythe; the fiery one as he called it in the Orkamuu's native tongue, a name that he couldn't fully pronounce himself. The Orkamuu gave it to him as his parting gift to them. He whispered in his ears the name of his weapon and even then, Adaloun knew that he couldn't use the scythe's true form.

He stared silently at the pale blade while the fire glistened in its reflection. His thoughts wandered on whether they could make it out there alive or not. He was filled with regret over the decisions he made up to this point. If he only would've stayed discreet with his abilities and kept the aetherium a secret, they wouldn't be in this position that they were in.

There was a part of him that wanted to run away from everything, but his heart was bound to his word. He wanted to keep the end of the bargain in hopes of getting a better life. And with that dream, he placed everyone's life at risk. But it was too late for him to feel sorry about it. With all the lives lost during this campaign all he could do was hope for a better outcome than just dying in this unfamiliar place.

The flames crackled as the pyre continued to burn and light the clearing. He turned his attention to his comrades who grieve for the Orkamuu in their own way. Ghwynmyr sang a dirge to him. He couldn't understand what it was since it was sung in dwarven, but from what he felt, it was a song of goodbye.

Orphella, kneeled near the pyre and prayed; all the while groveling in front of Wahakim. On the other hand, the beastman stood unmoving near the flames while mumbling. He knew Urfaal felt guilty for Wahakim's death, especially because he knew he was the one who killed the poor Orkamuu while being manipulated by the plant.

It took a while for the pyre to burn Wahakim. Even Ghwynmyr's powerful flames had quiet the difficulty consuming the Orkamuu due to their natural affinity for fire. After the pyres finally turned his body to ash, Adaloun and his comrades sat silently in a circle as they tried to plan what they needed to do next.

It was a bittersweet moment for them. On one hand, they were finally able to meet and go through this journey together. However, following the deaths of the people around them, it looked like they might die there without seeing the surface.

Their brooding silence was interrupted by Urfaal's sobbing. "We're all going to end up like them, aren't we?"

No one dared to answer that question.

"Let's not focus on dying." Adaloun said. "One dead person is one too many for me already."

"Oh gods! I killed him!" The beastman wailed.

Before Adaloun could react, Ghwynmyr slapped Urfaal across the face. "I'm sorry, Urfie but you have to wake up!" He sighed. "No one is blaming you on what happened! Even Wahakim told you that!" The dwarf stood up and walked away from the circle.

Orphella followed the dwarf and tried to calm him down. It was clear that it wasn't only Urfaal who was upset of the Orkamuu's death. Adaloun recalled Ghwynmyr asking for an apology from Wahakim earlier. He couldn't hear most of the conversation they had but he heard the dwarf said he should've been more careful.

Adaloun turned his attention back to the beastman who stared silently at the dry, dusty ground.

"Hey, Urfaal." He patted his shoulder. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You weren't in control."

The beastman didn't answer.

"Hey, Urfaal, look at me." Adaloun said. "Don't let your feelings overwhelm you right now. We can't have that here…not if you want to survive. Do you wish to see the surface again?" He asked.

Urfaal nodded. "Yes, I would like to see the surface again with you, my friends."

"I do too." Adaloun gently punched the beastman in the arm. "So, cheer up, my friend! We have a plan to make!" He smiled.

Urfaal smiled back. He saw in the beastman's eyes hope and determination. He rekindled the beastman's will and now, he was as pumped as he was.

Not long after, Orphella and Ghwynmyr joined in once again. After a short talk between Ghwynmyr and Urfaal, they finally settled their misunderstanding. Now with cooler heads and determined spirits, they could now focus on their escape.

"If we go further, we can expect a lot of monsters heading our way." Orphella signed.

"What if we go back to where we all entered?" Urfaal suggested.

"No, there's no use of going back at this point." Orphella explained. "There is only one exit in this hell maze, and it is on the other side of this path." She signed.

"How sure are yah 'bout it, Phellie?" Ghwynmyr glanced at the darkness looming in their path.

"I am sure. This bow told me that it's the only way!" She reached for her bow and showed it to the baffled dwarf.

"T-told yah? Yah pullin' me leg?!" Ghwynmyr raised his eyebrow. "Cud use a good laugh, but tis not dah time." He said.

"Believe it or not, Ghwynmyr." Adaloun sighed as he recalled his experience with the noisy bow. "She's telling the truth."

Ghwynmyr and Urfaal looked at Adaloun with a wide-open jaw. They were shocked about his answer and wanted to make logic out of it, but it wasn't making any sense.

"How could a bow talk?!" Urfaal scratched his head.

"Yah…but…ummm…fuck it!" The dwarf scratched his beard and sighed. "Fine! What's the plan?"

"I know something is waiting for us up ahead." Adaloun said as he thought of the pesky god. "We need to strategize our plan of attack."

"Four of us against a plenty o'em!" Ghwynmyr's forehead wrinkled. "Cud use some runes tah minimize our exousia output."

"I can help you with that!" Orphella signed.

"Urfaal, how far can your beast transformation could take you?" Adaloun asked.

"Not as much," He answered. "A hundred counts max."

Three of them looked at Urfaal and nodded.

"Urfaal, use it only when I say so. Do you understand?" Adaloun looked at him straight in the eyes.

The beastman nodded and took his broken sword. "I shall have to make do with this at the mean time."

Ghwynmyr took the broken blade from the beastman's hand. "Lemme sharpen this one for yah!" He smiled.

Adaloun knew that he couldn't make a concrete plan. Zaduriel and the monsters inside the labyrinth were too volatile to make up a good strategy against. He knew his best way to fight them off is to fight them with force. But with only the four of them left, he had to act on it smartly.

"That's it? That was the plan?" Urfaal asked.

"Tis no two ways 'bout it." The dwarf said. "The beasts' ll keep on coming. We only need tah keep fightin' to advance. Tis no smart way to do this, 'cept if we could make some traps."

"Traps!" Adaloun exclaimed.

"We're makin' one?!" Ghwynmyr was confused.

"No, but…" Adaloun turned his attention to Papillon laid on the ground. "Hey! I know you can hear me! Do you happen to know where all the traps are located?" He asked.

"W-what… are you doing?" Urfaal raised his eyebrow. "W-why are you speaking to a bow?"

"Not just any bow!" Papillon floated and approached the beastman. "I am special!" She lowered her voice as if whispering to the beastman's ear.

The beastman and the dwarf were dumbfounded with what they were seeing, they went speechless.

"Ahem," Papillon tried getting their attention. "Yes, I know where most of the traps are and how to trigger them."

"Good!" Adaloun smacked his hands together. "Now, we do have a good plan!"

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I dedicate this chapter to HuddleGuddle. I appreciate your comment on Chapter 18. I still had a lot of things to improve and one of them is the world building aspect. Still, I appreciate you giving your thoughts on the matter especially how their society works! Now, there's another aspect I can improve on!