Legend of the Runeforger: A Dwarven Progression Fantasy

The fire glowing from behind the black dragon’s teeth illuminates both it and the tunnel, and I see that although Vanerak’s hunt failed, he and his runeknights certainly left their marks. Its face is rent down the middle with a terrible scar. One of its wings has a hole near the shoulder and is at a crooked angle. Its left hand, curled around Hayhek, is badly scarred, and its right is gone altogether.

And it always seemed so invincible to me.

Yet injured as it is, I am under no illusions about its power.

“I have the key,” I say, trying to keep the trembling from my voice.

“Then show me it, dwarf.”

Strip by strip I unwrap the leather around my chestplate. The dragon’s eyes flash when the diamond handle glints. The glow in its mouth brightens as tubular rainbows glitter down the perfectly cylindrical stem, and strands of liquid fire drip from its jaws when the last strips fall away to reveal the fractal bit.

I don’t give it over and hold it tight to myself. “Release my friend,” I say.

The black dragon hisses. “I shall once you give it over, dwarf.”

It curls its tail up past its head. A long section is twisted and swollen. I reach out and hang the loop of the key on it, but do not yet let go,

“Release him,” I say. “I’m not as weak as I used to be. You keep your end of the bargain, and I’ll keep mine.”

“Fine, fine. Out you go, dwarf.”

It rests its right forearm on the ground so it can keep its balance, then lifts its hand off Hayhek. He scrambles up and rushes to my side, hastily drawing out his axe as he does so.

“What is this?” he cries at me. “What are you doing, Zathar?”

“I’m... What does it damn look like?”

“The key, now,” says the black dragon. “Now, dwarf.”

“We have a bargain. You tell me about my brother. You tell me where he went.”

“Bargain?” Hayhek says faintly. “A bargain with the dragon?”

“The key first,” says the black dragon. The fire behind its teeth grows hotter.

“No. My brother first. Where did he go?”

The black dragon narrows its eyes. “He went down into the darkest tunnels under the chasm. I followed him for a little while. I was very young, and curious, and entranced by the artifact he’d created. I tracked him to the cavern of...” The black dragon stretches its neck forward and puts its jaws right before my face. “The key, dwarf! If you want to know where he went.”

“You promise to tell me?”

“I promise.”

It is foolish to trust the promise of a dragon. They care for nothing but themselves, and the concept of a fair bargain is utterly alien to them. A dragon takes; it does not give.

And yet I let go of the key. The black dragon flexes its tail up and the key slides down as far as it will go.

“Which cavern?” I demand. “Tell me.”

The black dragon smiles. It flicks its red trident tongue in and out a few times. “Ah, caverns. There are so many of them, do you not agree? Which makes it so hard to remember the name of each one. Those that have names, anyway.”

“Tell me!”

“Let me think...” It makes a show of scratching its head with a claw. “Ah yes... Ah, on second thoughts, maybe not...”

“What’s that key for?” Hayhek blurts out. “Where does it lead?”

The dragon turns to look him in the eyes. The old dwarf cringes back.

“So the other dwarf wants something too, does he?”

“Which cavern?” I demand.

“This key,” says the dragon, not bothering to look at me, “Leads to somewhere very important. I shall not tell you where, however.”

“It’s something of the Runethane’s isn’t it?” Hayhek says. “It has to be.” He looks at me. “What the hell have you done, Zathar?”

“Shut up!” I snap. “Where is my brother, dragon? Where did he go!”

“I have already told you. I told you right at the beginning, did I not? He went down, far down.”

“Where!” I demand, and I level Heartseeker at the dragon’s left eye.

“Into your Runeking’s realm, mayhaps? I do not know for sure. But I will tell you one thing... Your brother was not in a particularly sane state of mind. All the time I watched him, he was muttering to himself. And the strokes of his hammer—well, the rock he tied to his broken hand at any rate—they were very uneven. That’s a sure sign of madness in a dwarf. And he was in the blackness for a long time. And I have heard rumors from below of a black-armored dwarf that stalks the night...” It leans back away from us. “Of course, those are just rumors.”

If you value your life, you should be polite to dragons. Keep an even tone of voice and be careful of the words you use. This is, some dim corner of my mind says, the time to calm down. To be persuasive. To not lose my temper—

“I don’t like liars, dragon!” I scream at it. I take a step forward, still tracking the dragon’s left eye with Heartseeker. “Where did my brother go? Tell me!”

“Such rudeness,” the black dragon snarls. “Such a lack of appreciation for my wisdom. If there’s one thing I despise, it is being spoken back to by dwarves.”

“Where is he!” I scream. Red rage has filled my vision, and a buzzing, hissing noise is filling my ears and drowning out all logical thought and fear. “Keep your promise! I got your fucking key, didn't I? Where is my brother!”

The black dragon opens its jaws. Flame roils up from its throat, but I’m already charging and leaping upwards. The runes of strength on my greaves vibrate with energy, make the steel sing. I rotate my body side-on for range and Heartseeker seeks out its target with maximum speed and accuracy.

Its black tip sinks deep into the black dragon’s left eye. The black dragon roars flame down at me, but the roar is half a scream, and the jabbing agony in its eye knocks off its aim. My armor glows yet does not melt.

I land down hard, recover instantly and jab Heartseeker at the dragon’s belly. Hayhek charges and cuts madly at the monster’s remaining hand.

The black dragon flaps its wings and flies backwards. The wind stumbles us. It lets out another roar of flame that billows down the tunnel. We shout in pain—its aim and heat is true this time and I think I feel a couple of fire resistance runes burst.

But I am in no state of mind to care about being burned alive.

I charge forward once the flame vanishes, intending to take advantage of the monster’s pause—yet the black dragon is thundering down the tunnel away from us. It seems it’s had enough of dwarves and their razor-edged weapons. I give chase, screaming:

“Where is my brother? Where is he? Tell me, you liar! Tell me! Tell me!”

It flaps up out over the blood-red water; the beats of its crooked wings turns the calm surface into a raging mass of froth and steam. Glow-flies are beaten down and vanish into the red maelstrom; the great mineshaft turns nearly to blackness.

A mass of darker black rises, rises, and vanishes into one of the topmost tunnels.

“Come back!” I scream upwards. “Where is my brother! You promised to tell me!” My throat grows hoarse and choked with sobs. I sink to my knees. “You said you’d tell me...”

Something slams into the side of my helmet, knocking me onto my side. I try to get up then Hayhek’s boot hits my chest, toppling me backwards into the water. Cold red covers me, then Hayhek is dragging me upright by my shoulders and screaming into my face.

“A dragon! Yezakh died for a dragon! A dragon! We trusted you!”

“Get off me!” I half-shout, half-sob. “Get the fuck off me! What the fuck do you know, you old bastard!”

“That thing burned half your guild alive!”

I shove him away.

“It burned them alive!”

“I know!” I scream. “You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t see that night in my dreams?”

“You stole the key for it. And then you strung us along so that you could help it!”

“You don’t know anything!”

“You’re a beast. A criminal, a traitor.”

“What the fuck would you know!”

“You’re a traitor!.”

“What the fuck do you know!”

“You sold us out to a dragon.”

I breathe hard to calm myself. “I had a good reason,” I say slowly. “I don’t regret what I did.”

“What reason? Your brother you keep screaming about?”

“Don’t you make light of him,” I warn.

“I should cut your head off.”

“Maybe try to understand my pain before you try, you old bastard. You’re not the only one who’s lost family.”

“How could anything be worth your guildmates burning to death? Worth the death of your friend? My Yezakh! Why did you do it?”

“I was a miner. A fucking miner. No hope, no nothing. Both my parents died in an accident when I was too young to even remember them. All I had was my brother and his hope. His belief that we were chosen for great things, that in the rock something was waiting for us. He said that if only we could find it, we might be able to escape our misery. And I trusted him with all my heart.”

I take a deep breath. Steel myself for the memory.

“And one day he found it. A great chunk of incandesite. Do you have any idea how rare that is? To find a nugget of something worth enough gold to leave the mines?”

Hayhek says nothing.

“It’s nearly unheard of. And you’re meant to surrender whatever precious substances you dig out to the runeknights supervising you, of course. You get a reward—a tenth of what it’s worth, if you’re lucky. Unfair, don’t you think?”

He’s still silent.

“He found the reagent. He snuck it out—too quickly. The other miners got suspicious, chased him down.”

I swallow, and clench my fists to stop my hands shaking.

“Pathetic bastards. Jealous fucks. They beat him to pulp. Smashed both his hands. Worse than that, they killed his hope. I remember that night, in our little room. That was the worst night of my life, Hayhek—not the night the dragon came to the guild. The night I lost him.”

Hayhek remains silent. Maybe his expression has softened behind his visor. Maybe it hasn’t.

“His hands were crushed. Totally crushed—thumbs bent backwards. I told him they’d heal, that we’d get another chance. But deep down I understood that they never would, and that we wouldn’t get another chance as long as we lived. And later that night...”

I feel my eyes well up with tears.

“He left the barracks, walked to the chasm, and threw himself into it. I couldn’t stop him—I was fast asleep. I heard about it the next morning from another miner who saw him go over the edge. I wasn’t even the first to hear about it.”

“I see,” Hayhek says quietly.

I take a moment to compose myself. “And then I meet the dragon," I say. "It tells me about a dwarf who looked just like me in the deep caverns, who was forging gold with two broken hands. Catching salamanders with his teeth and eating them raw.”

“It might have been lying.”

“No. Dragons are liars, but how would it have read my mind to come up with such a story? It was telling the truth. I have no doubt about that.”

“It might have—”

“Might have! Might have! Yes, maybe it didn't let him go. Maybe it killed him. But there’s a chance he’s alive. All I needed was to get the key, and the dragon would lead me to him. That was why I helped it, Hayhek. There's my reason. Are you still going to try and cut my head off? Well?”

“I...”

“You would do anything to see your son again. Wouldn’t you? Well?”

He is silent.

“I’ll make this clear: I will do anything to see my brother again. Even if I have to be a traitor. Even if I have to bargain with a monster. Even if it means my fellow dwarves burning.” I move into fighting stance and level Heartseeker at him. “I’ll burn anyone who gets between me and my brother. Between me and my hope. Wouldn’t you do the same for your family?”

For a long while Hayhek says nothing. Just stands there in the cold red water, thinking.

“Give me your answer,” I demand.

“I don’t know,” he says quietly. “Maybe I would.”

“You would,” I say. “You’d cut me down if I tried to keep you from them.”

“I... I don’t know.”

“You do know.”

“No. I don’t. Is it really worth it to have others die just so that you can get what you want? Even if what you want is everything to you? Was watching your guild burn worth it?”

“It—”

I remember the screams of agony and stop myself.

Was it worth it?

Is it right to sacrifice others for your own happiness? Yet I never thought it would come to my guild burning. It was a risk I misjudged. It’s not as if I burned them myself.

Yet if I knew they were going to die, would I have made my deal with the dragon anyway? I think...

I think I would have. I do not know for sure, but I think I would have.

“I don’t know if it was worth it or not,” I say. “I don’t know if it was right or wrong. All I know is that I want to see my brother again.”

“I see.”

“So do you accept my reason? Or is one of us going to die down here?”

Hayhek steps back and lowers his axe. “No one has to die,” he says. “I... I don’t accept your reason, but I understand.”

“Good enough. But do you understand? Truly?”

He lets out a shuddering sigh. “Yes. I understand your pain. You should know I understand pain by now.”

“I’m truly sorry about Yezakh," I say. "Sorry about my guild. I wish things had never come to all this. But I made the choice to search for my brother, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“I understand. I don’t agree, but I understand.”

“Then let’s find our way back up to the city.”