Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty

"What should we do? Let's just leave like this?" Nanfudo asked Santilla. The dwarf looked haughty, with his arms folded across his chest, and although his robes hid his boots, he could still be seen stomping from the flutter of his hem. "You told Regis everything, and you expect us to go back?" the Archon asked back, holding the dwarf by the shoulder and turning him towards the door of Mithril Hall. "If it pleases you. I'll go back and tell the Marquis that we've lost our lives to the generosity of the Warhammers." Nanfudo calmed down slowly, he remembered that he was the betrayer, and stamped his feet and stopped slowly.

"This... this is the truth." He stammered. "Once they understand the real situation, they will find that I have no intention of carrying out that foolish plan of Marquis Erastu." "So you told Regis all about it," Santilla replied, "I'm sure he'll believe you." Nanfudo grunted, and assumed that bullish posture again. "Of course we can't go back!" said the dwarf, "at least not yet. We've got to prove ourselves to the dwarves. Why not? We've been misunderstood and thought to have come here with malicious purposes and malicious plans. Then We just do something to let them know that Nanfudo and Santilla are different from Erastu."

"Well said." Santilla commented, her tone full of sarcasm. "How about we go and crush the orcs now? Maybe we can go back to Mithril Hall for dinner." She stopped and saw Nanfudo's eyes widen. She thought it was just the dwarf expressing his doubts.But soon Santilla heard a voice behind her, and looking around she saw three dwarves coming towards them from the north.Two of them were holding a dwarf with a green beard.The dwarf on Pyke Stoneshoulders' right shouldered him, and the dwarf on his left, his brother Ivan, was wrapping his left arm in a blood-soaked stall.

"Ooooh!" Pike moaned. Nanfudo and Santilla rushed out to meet them. "Oh oh oh," Pike said. "Look at what they've done to my brother!" Ivan growled. "The slab thrown by the giant cut off his hand! Damn it!" "They are now on the high ground, and once their siege engines are assembled, the attack will be more ferocious." Another dwarf chimed in. "It's still small." The three dwarves left in a hurry and came straight to the gate. Santilla and Nanfudo wisely hid aside. "We cannot abandon Mithril Hall at this difficult time." Nanfudo insisted.

Santilla turned her head and looked, the door of Mithril Hall opened, and three dwarves walked in.The consul turned his head immediately, and several dwarf guards rushed out, looking around. "What do you want us to do, Nanfuldo the Alchemist?" She replied, hiding again in a dark corner behind the stone, as if she really needed support. "Perhaps we can go to the orcs and use those compounds of yours to destroy their weapons." It was just a joke, but Nanfudo's eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers in the air. "We can do that," he said. He headed north and began climbing a section of broken wall.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Santilla asked, catching up with him easily. "They need us up there, let's go up and see if there is a suitable position." The dwarf replied. Santilla grabbed his shoulders and stopped him. "Up?" she repeated, pointing to the north cliff. "Isn't there a war up there?" Nanfudo folded his arms again and began to stamp his feet. "Go up." He replied. Santilla laughed mockingly. "You know I'm right," argued the dwarf. "You know, we owe it to the Warhammers." "What do we owe to the Warhammers?" the Archon asked.

"Yes, of course," Nanfred said, and this time it was his turn to put on a sarcastic expression. "We owe them nothing. Even if they stand against the armies of monsters, even if they stand before Mirabar against the orcs and giants, even if they give Torg Hammerbreaker and his companions brotherhood Even if they treat us warmly and trust us—isn’t that enough?” "That's enough, Nanfudo." Santilla waved her hands again and again to express her surrender. "enough." The tall and beautiful woman sighed a long time, and looked up the cliff.The steep cliffs are covered with rope ladders. "It's up there," she said.

"Do you have a spell to get us up there?" the dwarf asked hopefully. Santilla glanced at him and shook her head. He looked frustrated, but quickly put the emotion aside.Nanfudo came to the bottom of the cliff and grabbed the nearest rope ladder. He glanced back at Santilla and began to climb up. It took the pair more than an hour to climb to the top, taking breaks at nearly every prominent ledge. To their surprise, when they reached the top of the mountain, it was not the dwarves who came out to welcome them first. "Regis sent you?" Catti-brie asked, looking at the two of them.

She held out her hand to Nan Foldo, and Wulfgar reached out and pulled Santilla up. "We came by ourselves." Santilla climbed up and began to slowly adjust her breathing. "We are going back to Mirabar. Before we leave, we want to come here to see if there is any place that needs us." "We need to use all the support available now," Wulfgar replied.As he spoke, he walked aside, looking at the vast area in the north, where countless orcs and goblins were gathering. "They attacked us non-stop, day and night." Santilla's eyes followed the barbarian to the position between dwarves and orcs.She really felt that everything the barbarian said was true, and the most obvious evidence was the corpses of goblins and orcs scattered all over the mountains and plains.Blood soaked every inch of the battlefield, and the gray stones were almost stained crimson.

"Our casualties are twenty to one," Catti-brie said, "but they're still attacking." Santilla looked at Nanfudo, who nodded solemnly. "We will help you as much as we can," Santilla assured Bruno's two human children. "It would be great if you can find a way to deal with giants." A dwarf said, that was Banneker Braunanwell, who was striding towards the two. As he walked, he pointed to a ridge to the west, the range of mountains running from north to south. "There they can't reach us with their stones," Catti-brie explained, "but they're not stupid enough to throw..."

"Slabs." Santilla answered for her. "We met poor Stoneshoulders in Guardian's Gulch." "Poor Pike," said Catti-brie. "The Giants are going to be a big problem soon," Banneker interjected. He didn't explain, and didn't need to explain.When looking at the positions of the giants on that ridge, Santilla could already see that the giants were carrying huge parts, and some of them had already begun to assemble.Santilla was no stranger to war, and she could easily guess what it was. "Slabs of rock are nasty enough," Wulfgar said, "but to be honest, those things aren't accurate enough to threaten us, unless we're unlucky like Pike. But if these siege engines are rigged, they'll have enough range Cover this area." "I think they can be installed tomorrow," Banneker added. "Once they have the advantage of range, you must retreat from the cliff," said Nanfudo, and no one objected. "We are very glad that you can come to help us, but we can't hold on for long." Banneker suddenly said enthusiastically, as if his mood suddenly became clear.He turned to Wulfgar and Catti-brie. "Those two will teach you how to find the best position here." Santilla soon realized that, despite the relentless onslaught of the enemy, the dwarves' defenses remained strong.Although the fortifications are not too high or too thick, the angles are just right to protect them from the blows of flying rock fragments, and they are all designed to help these bearded warriors support each other when the enemy attacks.More importantly, the fortifications of the dwarves were built against the edge of the cliff, and the small space greatly weakened the numerical advantage of the orcs.Sandra could imagine the last attack of the orcs, and if they tried to drive the dwarves off the cliff, they would pay a heavy price. The dwarves are also preparing for their eventual retreat.Since there were hundreds of people to evacuate, Santilla could expect that many dwarves would be hit as they descended the rope ladder, and the rope ladder might be broken.Santilla recognized the many dwarves, engineers of Mirabar, who were hard at work on the problem.They were digging a tunnel, more precisely a slide, parallel to the direction of the cliff, through which they could minimize the damage of the stone throwing. "Can you get in?" Santilla asked the bulky Wulfgar. "They also set the ropes for the descent," explained the Savage. "This passage is for the last dwarves to evacuate." "Do you have any spells that can make the tunnel smoother?" A familiar voice came from the tunnel. Nanfedo leaned over to look into the tunnel, and saw Singers Macluuff crawling out of it. "It's good to see you well," Santilla said as the dwarf emerged from the cave. "It couldn't be better," replied Singers, "but we've lost many of our own in the tunnels to the west." "tunnel?" "Under the ridge," Catti-brie explained. "Togg and Singers and the other dwarves from Mirabar tried to hold it, but the attack was too strong." She looked at the dirty dwarf. "But there is no doubt that the orcs have cost more than the dwarves," she added, and Singers laughed. "The tunnel under the mountain?" Nan Foldo asked. "A very complete network of tunnels." Singers explained. "Not very dense, not very wide, but enough to stretch from one end to the other." Nanfudo's expression suddenly became cheerful, and he looked at Santilla. "It's not easy getting there," said Catti-brie. "We must fight our way through the giant pile." Nanfudo nodded, resting his chin on his hand.He paused for a moment, looking back at the cliffs of Guardian's Gulch. "What are you thinking?" Singers asked. "Who knows what he's thinking." Santilla replied with a shrug. "How is Togg, old friend?" "He's fine," Singers replied. He looked to the northeast, and a group of dwarves formed a tight formation behind the low wall, ready to rush out at any time to resist the charge of the orcs.In that team of dwarves, Santilla saw the shadow of the leader of the Hammers, an effective formation he had often used in Mirabar. "Not very good either," Singers added. "He's not very happy about the tunnel being lost." "There are too many orcs," said Catti-brie. "There are also many giants, and they can do magic. It is not easy for the Mirabar dwarves to hold on for so long." "Yes, yes." Singers replied contemptuously. "Perhaps you can get them back," said Nanfudo, joining the discussion again. "Maybe, but I don't see any reason," Singers replied. "We can't get any cheap from the giants. They are the biggest trouble now. Do you see that we can't think of any way to deal with them?" Nanfudo looked at Santila, who sighed and took a few steps to the northwest, putting his hand over his forehead and gazing at the high ridge. "The solution is quite complicated," said Nanfudo, with a big smile on his face. "Unless you can follow the logic step by step." "What do you think?" Catti-brie asked. "I think I've solved a problem now, a problem that needs to be solved now." The dwarf continued to smile and turned to Santilla's back, she was still looking at the ridge in the distance. "What do you think, Santilla?" he asked. "I know you can do something with metal, my friend," replied the Archon. "Is wood okay too?" Nan Fodo looked at the confused faces of Catti-brie, Wulfgar, and Singers. He laughed even wider. Under Santilla's spell, they were able to see things at night like elves, and they were able to fly, which surprised Wulfgar immensely.He was the only one who flew, the others simply floated in the air, and he pulled everyone ahead, over the undulating terrain and hillsides. He kept looking back, they were all invisible, he couldn't see everyone, and he couldn't see the two ropes. He knew they were there, could feel the weight of four on the rope: Catti-brie, Torgue, Santila, and Nanfuldo. Santilla had warned him that flight was not that stable, and when Wulfgar saw that the terrain was level enough to approach the giants and their ballista, he landed, knowing the four were still floating behind.He helped them slow down, and one by one he pulled them over the other end of the rope.Although they tried their best to endure the discomfort caused by the dragging, Nanfudo complained softly, and they immediately held their breath. The giants didn't seem to notice. It took some time for the five to get together, and only Nanfudo and Sandira cast a spell that could see through invisibility on themselves.Finally, they got together and hid behind a high ground. "It's best to go out now," Santilla said softly, "The giant's ballista is right next to you." "I have to wait for five minutes." Nanfudo replied softly. "Five minutes is not long," Santilla said. "Around a group of giants, it's much longer than you think," said Catti-brie softly. Nanfudo left, and Santilla directed three invisible companions to form a defensive formation against the giants to the east. "Just say when you're going," said Catti-brie. "Once you attack, the spell of invisibility will cease," Santilla reminded her. Catti-brie raised Taumari in response, aiming her bow at the nearest giant, but suddenly realized she couldn't aim because she couldn't see where her weapon was. "You two stay here," Santilla said, "you will hear the sound soon." The consul took Togg's hand and left, going around to the direction of the giant's camp at two o'clock. "I'd feel better if I could see you," Catti-brie whispered to Wulfgar. "I am with you," Wulfgar assured her. They fell silent as a giantess passed very close to them. A long time passed in tense silence, the only thing heard was the wind.Even the wind is not very loud, it seems that the whole world is hidden in silence. Catti-brie and Wulfgar were startled by a shout from the north, which sounded like a whole army of dwarves was attacking.The attention of the giants was all attracted, and they looked in that direction together. "To the glory of Moradin!" came a growl, and Catti-brie realized it was the magically amplified voice of Torgg. A bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky, knocking several giants to the ground. Katie shot an arrow at the giantess, and Wulfgar had already gripped his magic hammer and hurled it at another giant who was about to check on his fallen companion. More cries to the dwarf gods rang out to the north, and another flash of lightning appeared in the night, and then a storm with heavy rain came around them.She didn't slow down the speed of fire, the arrows were fired one after another, and many giants began to rush in her direction. Then many of them slipped and fell on the slippery stones, and one even ran near the high ground where they hid, but Aegis-fang flew out and struck him in the chest.Feeling the hole in his chest, the giant fell backwards and sat down on a rock, where Catti-brie shot him in the head. A huge hand appeared in front of her, and the giantess she had shot crawled up, snarling to catch Catti-brie, and she fell sideways. It wasn't the Giantess' work, Catti-brie realized quickly.Wulfgar pushed her aside and took her place.The head of the giantess was exposed, and the barbarian chanted the name of the God of War, and smashed down the war hammer heavily. Catti-brie heard a sound like stones colliding, and the giantess disappeared from sight. More giants rushed over, they rushed across the slippery ground as fast as they could, and some began to adopt other tactics, they looked for stones and threw them at the two.This time it was Catti-brie who pulled Wulfgar behind the plateau, grabbing him by his thick blond hair and pinning him to the ground.Almost at the same time, a huge boulder flew over their scalps. The two quickly separated and prepared to regroup. At this time, they were surprised to find a thin blue line appeared in the night, about six feet high, and soon turned into a door emitting a faint blue light. Santilla And Togg got out of it. "Run!" Santilla yelled, pulling Catti-brie southward. "Where's Nanford?" cried Catti-brie. "Run!" Santilla insisted. They had no other choice, the giants were getting closer and soon they were rushing across the icy field, and stones began to fly at them. They came stumbling, and once someone fell, others would quickly pick him up.In what seemed to be an endless chase, Wulfgar clung to Catti-brie before pulling the protesting Torgue and Santee toward him.The giant's slings kept falling around them, and Wulfgar jumped forward. They ran desperately for fear of being left behind.Gradually, the throwing stones became rarer, and the shouting gradually subsided, and finally returned to nothingness. The four people came behind a stone wall out of breath. "Where's Nanfred?" asked Catti-brie again. "If you're lucky, the giant can't see him at all," Santilla explained. "His potion can easily help him escape." "What if he's unlucky?" Wulfgar asked. Santilla's serious expression told him the answer.Wulfgar had seen many giants in his life, especially frost giants, and he knew what Nanfredo was about to face. "I don't know... how many we killed... I'm sure there was one... that giantess should be dead... well, I wish we hadn't come," Catti-brie said out of breath. "I'm sure my lightning hit quite a few," Santilla added, "but it shouldn't have done them any serious damage." "That's not the point, is it?" Togg reminded everyone. "Let's go, let's get back to the position before the orcs attack. I don't want to deal with the damn giants anymore, it's better to chop off the orcs' heads!" He stomped and the others followed.Each of them bore varying degrees of bruises and abrasions as a result of the night raid.They looked back from time to time, hoping to see the dwarf catch up. They were soon back on the ground, and found Nanfudo already sitting there, smoking an oversized pipe, grinning when he saw them. "What a fun morning," said the dwarf, grinning up to his ears. Dawn soon came, and the giant's first offensive was about to begin.All the dwarves looked into the distance, and several ballistas were being brought out, net bags full of stones were placed on them, and the giants began to install them. The orcs roared down the hill and began to charge, thinking that the dwarves would be crushed by the giants. Ballistas split open one after another. The giant tried to hurl the stone, but soon the ballista was reduced to a heap of debris. All eyes were on Nanfudo.He whistled, fished a bottle from his belt, and held it up high.Inside is a green liquid. "Just a little acid, really," he explained. "Well, you bought us a lot of time." Banneker Braunanwell congratulated the five of them, looking down at the charging orcs on the hillside. "At least from the giant." Howling, the dwarf rushed out, ordering his men to take their places. "They need a lot of parts if they want to assemble these ballistas again." Nanfudo assured everyone. So no one was surprised when news came that many of the parts had been carried up the ridge again. "Stubborn fool!" the dwarf cursed.