A Guide to Kingdom Building

The path was dark and cold. After resting a while in the clearing, they decided to move on and find the exit. There was no other way but the dark, narrow tunnel in front of them. They cautiously walked into the path knowing that at any moment, they might walk into some trap. The minotaurs did came out from this same direction, who knows what lies beyond it?

Ghwynmyr feared that they might encounter the worse. He looked around as he carefully treaded the gravelly road.

"Tread gently," He softly spoke. "Tis might be traps 'ere!"

Orphella nodded and tiptoed most of the way, avoiding protruding bumps in the road in fear that it might be a trap. Unfortunately, with the elf's weapon asleep, they were walking blindly into the unknown and if by chance they make a wrong move, it might become their last.

The elf halted and pointed a huge protruding rock on the ground. She pointed at it before walking over it. Ghwynmyr saw her mark and did the same. He then looked back and instructed the other two about it.

"Lads, tis a bump 'ere." He said in a soft voice. "Run yah light on 'ere so yah can see it." He told Adaloun.

Of course, he never needed one. As a dwarf, they worked inside tunnels that ran as deep as the one they are in now, so at a young age, their eyes had been trained and magically enhanced to see the dark as good as the elves and beastmen could.

Adaloun ran the light rune over the bump until he saw it. He slowly walked over the bump while also helping the injured beastman walk over. They were able to walkover it without touching it, however, things were about to get worse.

As they were about to move forward, Urfaal unfortunately moved the wrong way and jolted in pain causing him to go outbalance. He knocked Adaloun to the side causing him to let go of the beastman and hit his body on the wall.

Ghwynmyr caught Urfaal but the sheer weight of the beastman made both of them fall. He was able to move the beastman's head away just in time before it almost hit the rock. The three of them were in batted breath at the close call.

Orphella immediately came and helped him and the beastman up. But when it was Adaloun's turn to be helped at, he shunned them. The human's eyes were wide and sweat trickled from his forehead. His face painted something that Ghwynmyr knew far too well. The way his forehead creased upward and how his jaw dropped, was something he usually saw in the battlefield.

"I nudge on something." Adaloun said softly. "Don't panic…I-I need you to go a little bit ahead of me and—"

"Oh no! I did this!" Urfaal exclaimed.

"Quiet!" Ghwynmyr looked at the beastman sternly.

Orphella stepped in and calmed the panicking beastman down.

"Addie, tis what yah nudged?" He asked calmly.

"I heard it click." The human took a deep breath. "Please, I need you to bring them as far as you can."

"Nay, we need tah—"

"Trust me on this!" His friend insisted. "I will be right behind you! I swear! Just do what I say for now!"

Ghwynmyr clenched his jaw. It was a hard pill to swallow, but it is possible that it might be the last time he'll see his friend. Whatever this trap might be, it might kill all of them if they stayed and he knew all too well that Adaloun was just giving them time to go to a safer portion of the place. But he needed to trust him and so he did.

He grabbed the elf and beastman and ran as fast he could, all the while watching Adaloun. The beastman, however, had other plans. He also grabbed Adaloun by the arm prematurely removing him from the wall. Suddenly, the walls began to light up and with a thunder-like rumble, collapsed starting from where the trigger was.

Now, all four of them started running for safety as the tunnel crumbled behind them. They ran as fast as they could until they saw a glimmer of light from the distance. They quickly rushed into the light and finally exited the tunnel with just a hair away from being crushed and buried inside of it.

The four of them tumbled into the cold, stony ground and laid down there for a few moments. Ghwynmyr sighed in relief. He stood up and saw two monstrous pillars on his left. His eyes traced the pillars' position and saw a bridge connecting the pillars into their side.

"Look!" He pointed at the pillars. "There's a bridge going to those pillars!"

"Could that be it?" Adaloun said.

"I hope so!" Orphella signed.

"Please, let it be it!" Urfaal coughed.

They walked the path leading to the bridge. It was obvious that there was no other way except the bridge. The bridge was wide; wide enough for ten horse-drawn carriages to travel simultaneously. There was a thick fog covering the rest of the bridge.

They knew that something was lurking in the fogs, but they had no choice but to brave themselves and cross the bridge. But before they go into the fog, Orphella first tried to check what's in the fog, if there wer any.

She picked up a pebble and threw it into the fog. They could hear it skipped into the rocks until it stopped. The fog began to glow; like there was light trapped within its thick veil, however, something was strange. The light grew bigger and glowed brighter. It looked like it was rushing towards them; and they weren't wrong.

A gigantic fireball came out from the fog. Luckily, they were able to dodge it before it completely torched them. Ghwynmyr squinted his eyes and saw a pair of glowing reptilian eyes staring straight back at him, before the fog glowed brighter once again.

"Take cover!" He smashed an earth rune stone against the ground and created a thick wall.

Fire began spraying out of the fog. They sheltered themselves as the strong jet of fire scorched everything it touched.  It took a moment of it to finally subside before they heard a blood-curdling hiss echoing from the bridge. That was when he knew, they're going to need more than just rune stones to kill this beast.

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I dedicate this chapter to Seneta_Collins. Your gift is pretty much appreciated! It was a timed gift that gave me a smile on my face! I appreciate it more than you 'll ever know! I hope you enjoy the rest of the !