"You have gained my attention child, what is it you seek?" A woman's sensual voice filled his head with its power and intrigue.
Grimor shuddered as he realized what had happened. He had accomplished what he had set out to, he had garnered the attention of a goddess. In this case, the goddess. He tensed, his knees practically knocking together even as he sat upon them. He was a seasoned warrior, well somewhat seasoned, yet he still felt the urge to soil his pants at the overwhelming power that enveloped him. Was this what it was like to speak to the gods directly?
"My lady, I come before you humbly in search for aid. We are in a desperate situation and should we lose here the fate of the..." He started to explain quickly but the goddess cut him off,
"I know what is at stake child, do not forget who I am. What are you willing to exchange for one of my children?" He paused, he was already well aware of the danger in her offer. She would want something significant there was no doubt. She was famous for her high regard for her children, she would drive a hard bargain surely. What would he exchange? Truth be told he'd give his very life for his prince, and there was nothing more sacred than that to the gods.
"Your life it is then. The woman I will send to you has a grand destiny to play in the world if you are all to survive the coming storm. She will need a loyal guard, and I need new blades in the night. Swear your soul to me, serve my daughter as her personal guard, and you shall have the aid you seek." His heart nearly stopped. He was prepared to do anything, or he thought he had been. He imagined her asking for his blood as sacrifice, or even his life, he was willing to die. Even though it wasn't death she asked for it was similar enough for a man like him. There was no time to ask permission from Bromyr, nor Floki. He had moments at best. No time for questions, no time for bargaining, no time at all.
"I... I will if we survive this. But if we die this night then my soul remains with our ancestral goddess." It was the only bargaining he could manage, he only hoped the fickle goddess of night would accept his terms. He waited with a pounding heart, painfully aware of every precious moment slipping by as the sounds of vicious battle continued around him. The longer he wasn't fighting the more risk his comrades faced of loosing everything.
"Hmm, I could deny you... Leave you to die and hope that Fate may step in and correct this blunder... But I am not feeling cruel tonight. Consider it done, she will arrive before Asha rises above the mountains. You will have the honor of meeting the Hound, my most prized assassin. I hope you realize your incredible luck, dwarf, for very few who contract with her survive." The goddess didn't have to tell him, he knew the title well. Hound, or the Hound rather, was a renowned assassin of grace and skill. More than that she was famous for her brutality and stealth, the number of people who knew her face could be counted on a single hand as rumor had it. The only things the people seemed to know was that she had a mane of flame-like hair and her glowing red eyes. Well that and the fact that the Hound was a woman.
"Thank you, my... Goddess. Your kindness shall not be forgotten." He wasn't certain how to give her the proper thanks or respect for her intervention, however she didn't seem to mind.
"I am not yours and you are not mine until daybreak dwarf... But consider this a mutually beneficial deal. One day you will understand, and when you do I think you shall stand all the taller and more proud for your sacrifice. Now stand and fight with your brothers, do not let the dragon egg slip away from you at any cost." He could feel when she disconnected from his mind and soul leaving him cold, shocked, and weak. She knew about their mission, more than that she didn't want them to fail. Bromyr had been right when he told them about the importance of his dreams.
"Any luck boy?" Bromyr called out as he sliced a creature in half. Grimor stared down at his knees still struggling with the burden of his deal. He startled, shocked as he realized that he was kneeling in a pool of onyx colored blood. It didn't bubble or ooze like he would imagine demon blood to do. He was almost enthralled by it, the swirls of purple, blue, and red almost magical in nature.
"Answer your prince soldier!" Floki called out harshly as he struck a particularly large yet lithe monster in the skull driving it into the ground with a sickening 'crunch'. Grimor startled, shaking his head and drawing his own battle axe from its sheath on his back. His hands were shaking nearly as much as his knees but by the grace of his will he was able to remain standing.
"She has agreed to send help..." He breathed hard as he swung the heavy axe downward cutting the front quarter off of some sort of corrupted ungulate creature, he wasn't certain if it had been a rushdeer or a golbet, either way it was wailing at his feet as he went to finish it off.
"So you made contact?" Bromyr cut in as Grimor hacked through the neck of the creature beneath him. Grimor focused on the animal for a moment, ignoring his prince once again. He noted the fangs in the creature's mouth, they didn't have fangs when they were normal. What had happened to them? Was this what demons did to living creatures? The corruption twisted them into unnatural shapes, even their eyes seemed to give away their secrets. The demon beneath him gave a final guttural scream before its red eyes blinked closed and its body slumped limply into the blood-bath beneath it.
"Y...Yes. Hephatus She has sent to us the Hound, apparently the agent was in our vicinity. We should expect her at dusk." He slashed down again, then up as another creature bore down on him. To his continued relief they moved and acted like the animals they had once been, almost as if they were still unused to their bodies. Yet with each new wave their control and their power was growing.
"Truly the darkest and most reviled monster of them all." Floki spat as he himself managed to break the legs of another ungulate type creature. The animal screamed, its horrific maw opening wide to show row after row of razor-sharp teeth that lead down into a dark red throat. Floki sneered as he lopped off its head.
"Then we are either saved or doomed." Bromyr commented dryly as he stepped back and watched the skies. Bromyr had claimed a dragon was on their trail, truth be told Grimor hadn't seen the creature, though he had certainly heard it. He had never heard a dragon roar before, though that made sense considering their thousands of years of extinction. Yet when the skies split open with the sound of its call there was no denying that there could be no other explanation.
"Can you see the damned creature?" Floki growled as he pushed back the last few demonic creatures near them with a few swift swings of his axe. Grimor looked up too, the skies looked as they had for the past several hours. He was smart enough to know he should be afraid. If Bromyr said there was a dragon then there was certainly something like a dragon in the skies.
"No, but every so often I'm certain I can hear it flap its devil wings. I can't be sure if the creature has a rider or if it's operating alone. Either way I feel it is watching us in case we survive the onslaught of its demonic minions." Bromyr sighed, lowering his axe slightly as he continued to watch the skies. For now they had managed survive the worst of the monsters leaving them a small window of opportunity to rest.
"Do you think the Hound can fight a dragon?" Floki mumbled, kicking away a slightly twitching dead body. Grimor shuddered as he picked his feet up and tried to move away from the blood as it started to slowly spread its way across the forest floor.
"The Hound is mortal like us, whether or not their power is capable of clashing with that of a literal dragon I cannot say. Hephatus is a mystery to me, but if she can bestow that level of power..." Bromyr frowned. Was such a thing possible? Did gods really assist their creations that way? Their own gods had left them in relative silence for decades. The only gifts given in the past few centuries were paltry at best, hardly a significant sign of support from the heavens.
"What is on the line?" Floki turned to Grimor with a serious expression on his face, his eyebrows drawn low in concern. Grimor sighed, setting the head of his axe against the ground to lean on the handle. Floki was still watching him, his dark eyes glittering with a mixture of aggression and curiosity. Floki was similar in stature to Bromyr but not nearly as wide chested or bodied. He was almost as tall but his beard was about three inches shorter and a few shades of brown lighter. He was a formidable man with a hard-as-steel mentality when it came to anything that could link to the prince.
"My loyalties." It was difficult to choke out, he knew it would make them question his every motive from then on out. Hephatus was not a well-received or liked goddess, especially among the dwarven kingdom. To be a follower of hers was practically a cardinal sin. He wouldn't be allowed to serve on Bromyr's personal guard once they returned to the Kingdom. He'd likely get pushed back to the mines to serve out his life in labor. He was suddenly glad the goddess had given him a job to perform after the nightmare was over, but in the end he wished he could have had time to consider it and absorb the reality of it. The weight of his ultimate sacrifice, he had trained his entire life to serve as the King's Guard. Now he would serve as... Well the Hound's guard he supposed.
"So she has had you swear fealty... Typical of a god when asking for help. If you don't serve them then you aren't worthy. You have committed a great service to the crown, I will make sure it is noted by my father should we survive this to return home." Bromyr promised as he prepared for the next wave of monsters. Grimor sighed, drawing up his axe once again as he attempted to fortify himself. He knew Bromyr would try, but Baldyr was a man of law and he would not tolerate Grimor remaining as a guard of any kind lest his new goddess had a desire to have a noble killed. Or worse.
"We should leave him immediately after this is over sir, as an agent of Hephatus should he be directed to assassinate you..." Floki started, but Bromyr cut him off swiftly,
"She hasn't had me offed yet Floki. I know your loyalties lie deeply with me, and for that I'm eternally grateful. But Grimor has served loyally for seven years now, if we are to doubt ourselves here we will certainly fail before this battle has even begun." The party remained in silence, each man eyeing the other warily. Bromyr was right of course, they had all been together for many years at that point and they knew each other better than anyone else. As far as kin went they were more brothers than most, blood be damned.
"Grimor and I enlisted as the Prince's guard together. If anyone is more loyal I would not be able to find them. We've all dedicated large portions of our life to this, to Bromyr. I trained for nearly two decades, and Grimor pushed that at least. This shouldn't bring doubt of all things. Let's focus on surviving and getting that egg back to the kingdom before anything else can go wrong." Rombier spoke up passionately, his blond hair and beard wild and ruff from the constant running and fighting. Rombier was only a year older than Grimor, the two had grown up together amongst the stone streets of their homeland. They had also served in the military together, both aspiring to serve the royalty with their blood for centuries to come. Floki only huffed, though he didn't argue.
"Thank you, brother." Grimor uttered lowly to Rombier. Rombier nodded to him before stepping forward to draw even with him. They both watched the newest wave of demons bull-rushing them with nervous coughs. Would they come in waves? Were they just wearing them down? He wished he could see more of the battlefield, study what was changing and how. Not knowing scared him. He was almost certain they would not survive the night, the multitude of glowing eyes bearing down upon them seemed like a scene from his nightmares.
"The sun is just starting to set." Floki called sharply after they managed to kill their way through two more waves of the demonic monsters. By then Grimor was panting, sweat pouring off his flesh as he leaned heavily on his axe. Dwarves were accustomed to incredible hours of labor, even still every single one of them were sweating profusely and cursing as their muscles twitched in exhaustion. How much more could they take before they died from it?
He was shuddering at the thought of meeting the dreaded Hound despite his deal and despite their dire need for her arrival. He could only hope her power was enough to give them a break to rest and recover, certainly it would take them all to take down the sky beast should it step in. More than that he was tired of staring into the relentless eyes of the demons, every scratch, every blow, it was enough to drive him mad with the knowledge that the creatures were enjoying the process of wearing them down slowly.
"I.. I don't know if she'll arrive in time." Bromyr stammered, his own body showing obvious signs of fatigue. He pointed out towards the valley bottom where the road cut through. Grimor nearly threw up at the sight, Bromyr had spotted what could only be described as a hulking monster. The demonic creatures left alive upon the battlefield were more twisted and powerful than any they had managed to cut down yet. Their bodies were bigger, stronger, and had more limbs than any natural creature. Even their eyes were different colors, no more red.
"Whoever is giving us chase has decided now is the time to finish the hunt." Floki groaned, wiping the sweat from his brow with a shaking bloodied hand. It was obvious death was making the steady march to claim them. While Grimor had been steadfastly ready to give his life for his prince and the cause they were currently perusing, it didn't stop the sheer terror from taking hold of his heart. Of all the ways he had envisioned dying, inside the maw of a demon was not amongst his dreams.
"I hope to see you under the stars of our gods, my brothers." Bromyr ground out as he readied his axe, his eyes fixated on the largest of the demons approaching. The hulking monster was bearing down on them, every step it took seemed to cause the ground to shudder beneath its weight. Grimor could see four glacial glowing eyes in the skull of a bear, a bear that was five feet taller than normal and with two more forelimbs. Its fur was as black as tar pits, and the scream coming from its mouth was truly haunting. Grimor's limbs turned to ice as he watched it rear up, even as Floki rushed forward to block the attack from Bromyr. There was no use... There was no escaping animals like those. No, demons like those.
He watched in horror as the animal bore down, anticipated the sound of breaking steel and wood, the sounds of screaming men as they died. He watched the horde descending on them all wondering what it would feel like to die. Yet at the last second he felt a new presence just behind him. For a split second he was aware of the change, right before everything in front of him lit up like an explosion.