You are Summoned

Chapter 230. Tunnel to Nowhere.

With the dwarven attack thwarted, I left the others here to guard the bridge in case any other attackers climbed up. While they stood watch, I hurried down the tunnel toward where the dwarves were supposed to be working.

I didn’t know exactly how far from us they were, but it had to be a good distance from where we had been digging. I was saved from scouring the mine searching for them when I spotted one of the dwarves looking around confused at the lack of mining going on in our original location.

“Why aren’t you working?” the dwarf asked.

“We were attacked, I was coming back to let Bolvan know,” I said.

“Attacked by what, and where?” the dwarf asked, getting right to the point. I appreciated that about the dwarves. They could be gruff and come off as rude, but I think it was more because they saw no need to waste time on pleasantries.

“By the bridge where we’ve been dumping the debris from the tunnel. It was a group of dwarves that attacked us,” I advised. The dwarf in front of me dropped his hand to his axe at my mention of fighting other dwarves. When I gave the description of our attackers, he looked even more upset, but did pull his hand away from the weapon.

“I’ll get Bolvan, we’ll meet you at the bridge,” the dwarf said before turning and running back down the tunnel toward his comrades.

I made my way back to the bridge, and things there appeared quiet for the moment. I had left the fallen where they lay. It would be up to Bolvan to decide how they were disposed of. Before long, I could hear boots stomping and armor clanking as someone approached.

A moment later, Bolvan and a score of armed and armored dwarves came charging down the tunnel. He stopped his troops in front of me, staring at the fallen dwarves scattered around the tunnel. The look on his face hardened into a scowl, and his eyes glared with both anger and loss.

“The fallen clan were here. Rico, tell me everything that happened,” Bolvan demanded. I gave him a rundown of the events, from the loss of Blieek and Khurr, to our desperate battle against the odd dwarves. While I spoke, the dwarves remained silent and still, and after finishing, several long moments passed before Bolvan finally spoke.

“This clan,” Bolvan started, gesturing toward the dwarven bodies around him. “They were once part of my own people. While we prospered both in our mines and in the world above, they refused to see the surface, calling us traitors to our race. There was a split between us, a split that was neither happy, nor bloodless. They descended into the depths of the world, and we remained as we had been.”

Looking at Bolvan’s dwarves and the ones I had fought, I couldn’t see the resemblance. The only thing similar between the two was the equipment they used. Bolvan’s weapons and armor were almost exact copies. Whatever effects the split between these two factions had between their peoples, both sides retained the same smiths.

“Bolvan, there’s over a dozen bodies here, how did this one man defeat them on his own?” one of the dwarves asked, glaring at me in disbelief.

“With my minions and my magic. If you must know, there were more than a dozen, we had several of them fall off the cliffs edge or get knocked off the bridge as they climbed up to attack,” I said, not feeling all that happy about the dwarf disparaging my ability to defend myself.

“My men will take things from here, Rico. Return your people to the mine and resume your work. Nossug, your squad will stay here and deal with the fallen. I want you to also build some defenses here, and on the other side of the bridge. We won’t have the fallen clan take us unawares again,” Bolvan ordered to me and the dwarf who had doubted my abilities.

Leading my team back down the tunnel, I could see the dwarves start to heave the bodies over the cliff while others ran across the bridge to scout the other side. I had no idea where the tunnel on the other side of the bridge led, and Bolvan wasn’t in the mood for questions. Wherever it led, it was important enough for Bolvan to send out some of his warriors to protect it.

I led my team back down the tunnel and we resumed our mining. After a while, I was able to resummon both Blieek and Khurr who continued their duties pushing the mine cart to the bridge and dumping out our refuse. I accompanied them on one trip, noting that each end of the bridge had a small squad of six dwarven warriors protecting it.

In addition to the warriors at the bridge, patrols began to move through the tunnels, and we’d see a group of four dwarves march by every hour or so. We didn’t experience any additional problems during our work, and my minions didn’t seem to mind the hard labor. If I noticed them slowing down at all, I hit them with a Health Bloom which seemed to alleviate any minor injuries or muscle tears they might have been experiencing.

It was a boring task, hour after hour I went about helping where I could, and our tunnel continued to grow longer. A small cot and barrel of clean water to wash in were provided for me. Thankfully, my minions didn’t need to eat, sleep, or have other bodily functions. My fallen minions had long ago been respawned and I didn’t have any further casualties.

The contract had said this was a long-term assignment, and I was beginning to believe them as days passed. I had no accurate way to mark time, and simply was going by how many times I needed to sleep and eat as we worked. Bolvan, or one of his mining experts, a one-armed dwarf named Korbal, would come by and check our progress. They would take rock samples to test but didn’t bother to tell me what they were looking for, or why we were even digging this tunnel.

Our tunnel also took a few twists and turns based on Korbal’s suggestions. For the most part, his changes of direction made sense, and allowed us to avoid some sections of solid rock. Other times, it seemed like his choice of direction was arbitrary. No matter which direction we were told to dig in, one thing remained constant. We were digging downward, deeper with each shovelful we hauled out of the tunnel.

“Hold up!” Korbal ordered during his latest visit. By my estimation we had been at this for over a week now, and I was more than ready to finish and see sunlight once more.

“What’s going on?” I asked the dwarf as he held up a small metal tube to the end of the tunnel and listened. He shushed me to silence, and I stood there waiting for something to happen.

“Human, listen here and tell me if you can hear anything with your weak ears,” Korbal demanded, handing me the strange metal tube. Mimicking his actions I held it to my ear, and up against the wall of the tunnel. At first, I couldn’t hear anything, but after concentrating, I began to make out a dull hum in the distance.

“I hear a humming noise, what is that?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but we may need to alter our direction, or start a new tunnel spur. This deep, there’s plenty of things nastier than the fallen clan that we might run into. Stop digging and keep quiet until I can get Bolvan down here,” Korbal ordered before taking off down the tunnel.

Glad for a break, I had the team stand down as we waited for my summoner to arrive. For a while, nothing happened, but then I began to hear it, even without the benefit of the magical metal tube that Korbal had. The hum grew louder by the minute, and it was now accompanied by the sounds of digging. Soon, the tunnel walls began to vibrate, and I ordered my team further up the tunnel.

In the distance, I could hear the dwarves returning, but the wall at the end of our tunnel began to bulge outward. Not having much time, I organized my minions into a defensive formation, melee in the front, with Glurk and Khurr behind with their ranged weapons. Behind the ranged fighters I stood with Elida, ready to support our forces with the magic at my disposal.

“Rico, what’s going on?” Bolvan asked as he appeared with a half dozen other dwarven miners.

“Korbal heard something, and we stopped work, now, that sound keeps getting louder and whatever is on the other side of our tunnel is about to break through,” I said, pointing to the bulging wall.

“By the gods, is that what I think it is?” one of the dwarven workers said, his face etched with fear as he slowly backed away.

“Run, we need to evacuate these tunnels!” Bolvan ordered.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A foe none of us can stand against, get out now, Rico. It might already be too late,” Bolvan said before turning to run.

“Whatever it is, we’ll buy you some time,” I replied, staying put where I was. After a week of digging, I’d gladly face some burrowing monster if it meant not only ending this summoning, but also possibly bumping up my rating.

Bolvan shouted something but I couldn’t make out what he was saying as he ran further down the tunnel. He must have agreed to me staying behind since forced compliance didn't seem to activate. For such a short guy, he could really move when he was motivated to. The wall bulged ominously once more, and I ordered my team further back as the dirt and stone began to fall. Whatever was digging toward us was about to make its entrance.