Chapter 7 Chapter 5 Ashes

The room was empty and the fire was burning slightly.The figure was aware of the duergar in the half-open room, but he had to take the risk.This part of the tunnel was crowded with too many gray scumbags, and it was difficult for him to go on without a disguise. He slipped in the main passage, and tiptoed past the door to the fire.He knelt in front of the fire, and kept his finely crafted mithril ax beside him.The twilight of the embers made him cringe instinctively, but he felt no pain as he dug his fingers into the ashes. A few seconds later, he heard the side door opened just now, and he smeared a handful of ash on his face, hoping to cover the opening of his red beard and the pale flesh on his long nose, up to the tip of his nose.

"What are you doing there?" came a low voice from behind him. The dwarf, whose face was covered with ashes, blew into the furnace, and a small flame ignited. "I'm a bit cold," he replied. "I need to rest." He stood up and turned around, raising the mithril ax beside him. Two duergars came to him across the room, weapons still in sheaths. "Who are you?" one of them asked. "You are not of the Macquarda tribe, nor do you belong to these tunnels!" "I am Dodo of the Trick," the dwarf babbled, using the name of the duergar he had cut down that morning. "I was on patrol and got lost! Glad I found a room with a fire,"

The two duergars looked at each other, then turned back to the stranger suspiciously.In the past few weeks, they have heard rumors that since the death of the black dragon Shining Shadow they served as a god, the gray dwarves who were killed were often found in the outer tunnels, most of them were decapitated.And why is this guy only one person?What about the rest of the patrol?Of course, the people of the Terick tribe clearly knew that they should not step into the tunnels of the McCorda tribe. And they also noticed, why is there a small part of this guy's beard that is red? The dwarf knew right away that they were suspicious, and he knew he couldn't keep pretending. "Two of my people died!" he said. "Killed by the dark elves." He smiled when he saw the duergar's eyes widen.The mere mention of the dark elves would send the duergar back a few steps and give the dwarves a few seconds to spare. "But it's worth it," he declared, raising the mithril ax high above his head. "I found a nice weapon! See it?"

When one of the duergars leaned forward, in awe of the shining weapon, the red-bearded dwarf gave him a closer look, driving the brutal axe deep into his face.The other gray dwarf put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and the ax backhanded, driving the hilt into his eye.He fell backwards, shaking dizzily, but he knew through a vague pain that his life was over, and a second later the mithril ax split the side of his neck. Two more gray dwarves rushed in from the small room, their weapons drawn. "Come on!" one of them shouted, jumping into the battle.Another person rushed in the direction of the door.

Luck was with the red-bearded dwarf once more.He kicked hard at something on the ground, which slid toward the fleeing duergar, and at the same time blocked the blow with his golden shield. The fleeing duergar was only two steps away from the passage when something slipped between his legs, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground.He wanted to get up immediately, but he hesitated, struggling to suppress the bile that was coming because he saw something tripping him. That was the head of his people. The red-bearded dwarf swerved away from another attack, dashed across the room and knocked the kneeling duergar, sending the unfortunate creature flying out into the stone wall.

But the dwarf lost his balance from rushing too fast, so when another duergar caught up to him, he dropped to one knee.The intruder swung his shield back over the duergar's downward strike, and then his ax swung back low, aiming for the opponent's knees. The duergar jumped back in time, with a bruise on one leg, and before he could fully recover to fight back, the red-bearded dwarf was on his feet, ready to strike. "Your bones will be eaten by carrion creatures!" growled the dwarf. "Who are you?" the duergar asked. "Of course it's definitely not from our tribe!"

A white smile appeared on the dwarf's dusty face. "I am of the Warhammers," he roared, and showed him the crest on his shield, the frothy goblet of the Warhammers. "I am Bruno Warhammer, the orthodox king of Mithril Hall!" Bruenor smiled slightly as he saw the duergar's face turn pale.The duergar fell back toward the door of the cubicle, knowing he was no match for such a formidable opponent.In desperation he turned and fled, trying to force open the closed door behind him. But Bruenor had already guessed what the duergar was thinking, and before the door closed, his heavy boots had already stepped inside.He bumped his shoulder against the solid wood, sending the duergar flying backward into the small room, knocking open a table and chair.

Bruno strode in confidently!He'd never been scared in a one-on-one fight. The gray dwarf had no way to escape, so he turned around and rushed towards him frantically.His shield is in front, and his sword is held high above his head.Bruenor parried the downward cut with ease, and brought the ax down on the duergar's shield.The shield is also made of mithril, and the ax cannot cut through it.But Bruenor's strength was too great, the belt on the shield was broken, and the gray dwarf's arm went numb for a moment, and he hung helplessly.Screaming in terror, the duergar threw his short sword across his chest to protect the wide-open flanks.

Bruenor followed the duergar's sword arm with his shield and elbowed the foe, causing the duergar to lose his balance.Bruenor swung a lightning-fast ax at the same time, and the deadly blade slid off the duergar's sloping shoulder. The severed head of the second fell to the floor. Bruenor murmured approval for the well-done blow, and walked back into the great room.The duergar by the door had just regained consciousness when Bruenor walked up to him and slammed his shield, sending him back into the stone wall. "Twenty-two," he murmured to himself, counting the number of duergars he'd taken down over the past few weeks.

Bruno peeked out into the passageway, which was empty.He closed the door softly, and went back to the fire to touch up his makeup. Bruno fell to the bottom of Glen Canyon on the back of a burning dragon before, and then lost consciousness.He was surprised himself when he opened his eyes.As soon as he looked around, he knew that the dragon was dead, but he had no way of understanding why he was not burned to death while still lying on the smoldering corpse. The canyon beside him was silent and dark; he could not guess how long he had been unconscious.He knew, however, that if his friends managed to escape, they must have made it to the safety of the surface by the back door.

And Drizzt is still alive!As the dragon glides and falls, the sight of the dark elf's lavender eyes watching him from the mountain wall is deeply etched in Bruenor's heart.Even now, for as many weeks as he could count, he used the indomitable image of Drizzt Do'Urden as a support in his despair.Because Bruno can't climb directly from the bottom of the valley, where the walls are straight and steep.His only choice was to slip into the only tunnel at the bottom of the valley and climb up to the lower pit. And to go through a group of gray dwarves, who have become more vigilant since their leader, the dragon Shimmer, was killed by Bruenor. He had come a long way, and every step brought him closer to the surface of freedom.But each step brought him closer to where the duergars gathered.Even now, he could hear the rhythmic sound of the great dungeon furnace, no doubt filled with gray fellows.Bruenor knew he had to go through there to reach the tunnel that led to a higher level. But even here, in the darkness of the mine, his disguise did not bear scrutiny.So what would he do in a dungeon filled with a thousand duergars? Bruenor shook his head, shaking the thought away, and wiped more ash onto his face.He needn't worry now; he's already found his way.He picked up his shield and axe, and made his way to the door. When he got there, he shook his head and smiled, as the stubborn duergar by the door woke up again (just regained consciousness) and struggled to his feet. The third time Bruenor slammed him into the wall and dropped the ax on his head, this time he fell and never got up again. "Twenty-two," repeated the strong dwarf ferociously as he entered the passage. The sound of closing the door echoed in the darkness, and when the sound gradually dissipated, Bruno heard the sound of the furnace again.Dungeon, his only chance. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and with determination, he slammed the ax on his shield and began to stride down the passage toward the voice that called him. It's time for a closure. The passage twisted and twisted, ending in a low arched door leading into a lighted cave. For the first time in nearly two hundred years, Bruenor Warhammer looked down upon the sprawling dungeons of Mithril Halls.It was in the bottom of a great valley, stepped in the shape of the sides, and lined with decorated entrances to the chambers which had once been inhabited by all the Warhammers, and there were many vacant ones. The place was exactly as the dwarf remembered it, and even now, long after his youth, the many furnaces were still glowing with fire, and the lowest level was crowded with bent figures of dwarf artisans.He wondered how many times the young Bruno had looked down upon the splendor of this place with his friends, listening to the regular beating of the blacksmith's hammer and the heavy hum of the bellows? When Bruenor reminded himself that these stooping workers were evil duergar now, he shook off the pleasant memories and brought his mind back to reality and the task at hand.No matter what method he used, he had to cross this empty area, walk up the stairs on the other side, and then walk into the tunnel that led to a higher place. A thud of boots drove Bruenor back into the shadows of the tunnel.He gripped the ax tightly, not daring to breathe, wondering if the time to end his life with honor was approaching.A group of heavily armed duergars approached the arch and continued through, casting a casual glance at the tunnel. Bruno let out a deep breath, scolding himself for being slow.He couldn't afford the delay; every second he was in the zone was a risky gamble.He quickly started looking for other solutions.He has already walked about half of the mountain wall, and he can reach the bottom after walking about five more steps in the shape of a slope.On a higher level, there is a bridge across the valley, but it must be heavily guarded there.If you want to walk up alone, away from the noisy ground floor, it will make him too conspicuous. Going through the ground floor where everyone is busy seems to be the better path.The tunnel on the mountainside on the opposite rock wall is almost facing where he is standing now, and will lead him to the western end of the entire tunnel system, back to the place where he entered the Mithril Hall this time, and then go out to the guardian in the valley.According to his estimation, this has the highest chance of success, if he can really pass through the bottom. He peered under the archway for any sign of a patrol.He was satisfied because the bottom was clear, and then reminded himself that he was the king, the orthodox master of this entire underground area, and then boldly went to one of the outer floors.The nearest stairs to go down were on the right, but the patrol just now was heading that way, and Bruno thought it best to avoid them. With every step he took, his self-confidence increased by one point.He passed the two duergars, and responded to their greeting with a quick nod, without slowing down. He went down two floors, and before he had time to think about how to continue, Bruenor found himself shrouded in the bright light of the huge furnace at the bottom, only fifteen feet from the bottom.He instinctively crouched at the sight of the light, but on a rational level he immediately realized that the light was in fact his ally.Duergar are creatures of darkness, neither used nor fond of light.The ones on the ground floor pulled their hoods down to protect their eyes, and Bruno did the same, making his cover even more flawless.Because of the disorganized movements of those at the bottom, he began to believe that he could easily walk across. He walked slowly at first, faster and faster, but still he kept his body low, the collar of his cloak drawn tightly against his cheek, his battered helmet tilted to cover his Eyebrow.He tried to maintain a lighthearted air, so the hand holding the shield fell to the side, but the other hand rested comfortably on the ax at his waist.If a fight does take place, Bruno is ready. He walked nonchalantly past the three central mine furnaces, and the group of duergarmen engrossed in them, and waited patiently for a small line of ore-carrying carts to pass by.Bruno tried to create a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere, and nodded to the passing convoy, but when he saw the mithril loaded in the cart and thought of these gray scum extracting the precious metal from the rock walls of his hometown , His anger immediately welled up in his throat. "You'll pay the price," he murmured softly.He wiped his brow with his sleeve.He had forgotten how hot the furnace at the bottom of the dungeon was when it was burning.Sweat dripped down his face just like everyone else there. Bruno didn't notice anything wrong at first, until the last passing miners looked at him curiously from the side. Bruenor bent even more, and he stepped away quickly, thinking about the effect sweat would have on his flimsy camouflage.When he reached the first floor opposite the valley, lines had already appeared on his face, and several beards had already shown their original colors. He still thought he could reach his destination safely.But when he was halfway up the stairs, disaster struck.He was so focused on hiding his face that he stumbled and hit the duergar soldier two steps above him.Bruenor looked up reflexively, his gaze meeting the duergar's. The dumbfounded look on the duergar's face told Bruenor that the pretend game must be over.The duergar rushed to him, but Bruenor didn't have time for a serious fight with him.His head hit the duergar's knees, the remaining horn of his helmet shattered one of his knees, and he lifted the duergar back and threw him down the steps. Bruno looked around.Few people noticed this, and the duergars often fought among their own kind.He continued to climb as if nothing had happened. But the soldier didn't pass out after falling to the ground, he was sober enough to stretch a finger up and shout, "Stop him!" Bruno lost all hope of continuing to hide.He pulled out the mithril axe and started to run down the next staircase along the second floor.Yanzhong's warning voices came and went.All of a sudden, there was a big commotion, the ore in the cart was spilled, the sound of weapons being drawn was heard everywhere, and the sound of boots hitting the ground approached Bruno from all directions.He was about to turn and walk up the second staircase when two guards jumped in front of him. "What happened?" cried one of them, bewildered that the dwarves before them were the cause of the riot.They didn't recognize him until Bruno's ax split the face of one and knocked the other off the steps with his shoulder. Then he ran up the stairs, only to change direction, as if he were a patrolman descending from them.Hundreds of duergar were running around throughout the dungeon, their focus increasingly on Bruenor. Bruno found another ladder, and made his way to the second floor. But he was forced to stop there, he was surrounded by ambushes.A dozen duergar soldiers ran toward him from both directions, their weapons drawn. Bruenor scanned the area in despair.The commotion caused more than a hundred gray dwarves to run from the bottom to K, to the step he had climbed. A smile crept across the dwarf's face as he thought of a desperate plan.He looked again at the charging soldiers, and knew he had no choice.He saluted the two groups, adjusted his helmet, and jumped down from the level, landing on the assembled crowd on the lower level.Bruenor took advantage of the situation and continued to roll forward to the edge of the cliff, falling with a few unfortunate duergars, and then falling on the crowd at the bottom. Bruno stood up quickly, cutting his way.The amazed duergars climbed on top of each other, dodging the mad dwarf and his deadly axe, and within seconds Bruenor ran across the bottom floor without hindrance. Bruno stopped and looked around.Where else can he run now?Dozens of duergar stood between whichever exit he saw from the dungeon, growing more organized every second. A soldier charged at him, and was immediately felled by him with a single axe. "Then come!" Bruno yelled contemptuously, wanting to die with a large number of gray dwarves. "Come on, come as much as you want! Try the wrath of the King of Mithril Hall!" A crossbow's arrow struck his shield, taking some away from his pompous intimidation.Almost instinctively rather than rationally thought out, the dwarf suddenly dashed down an unguarded path to a flaming furnace.He stuck the mithril ax into his waist without slowing down at all.The fire from the Fallen Dragon did not burn him, nor did the heat of the ashes he rubbed on his face burn his skin. Standing in the middle of the open stove, Bruno once again found himself safe from the flames.He didn't have time to think about this mysterious matter, he could only guess that it was because of the magic on the boring armor he put on when he first entered Mithril Hall to protect him. But in fact, the protection came from Drizzt's dropped scimitar, strapped into Bruenor's knapsack, forgetting himself, and it saved his life yet again. The flames spit out tongues of fire in protest, but when the magic sword approached, the flames were reduced to very small.But the fire flared up again when Bruno started crawling into the smoke exhaust.He heard the surprised cry of the gray dwarf behind him, and the scream of being on fire.Then came a voice of command over the other voices: "Smoke him!" cried the voice. They soaked many rags and threw them into the fire, and the gray smoke quickly surrounded Bruno.The salt smoked his eyes and he couldn't breathe, but he had no choice but to keep climbing.He searched blindly for a slit into which his stubby fingers would fit, and scrambled upward with all his might. He knew he would die here if he inhaled the smoke, but there was no oxygen left in his chest, and his lungs were crying for air in agony.By accident, he found a hole in the wall, and he pushed so hard that he almost fell in.Is this the tunnel branching out next to it?He was both skeptical and surprised.Then he remembered that all the smoke exhaust pipes in the dungeon were connected to each other for easy cleaning. Bruno dodged the fumes and made his way down the new curved walkway.He tried to wipe the smoke from his eyes as he took a soft deep breath through his lungs, but his black smoke-stained sleeves only added to the sting.He couldn't see the blood on his hands, but he could guess his injury through the sharp pain at his fingertips. Exhausted as he was, he knew he couldn't afford to be here.He crawled along the little tunnel, hoping the stove under the second pipe wasn't in use. The floor in front of him sank, and Bruno himself almost fell off the pipe.He noticed that there was no smoke, and one wall was broken, climbable like the previous one.He strapped on all the equipment on his body, adjusted the helmet again, and then moved a little, regardless of the pain in his fingers and shoulders, trying blindly to find a place for his hands to grasp.Soon he was able to move steadily again. But the seconds seemed like minutes to the weary dwarf, and the minutes felt like hours, and he found himself resting as much as he climbed, his breathing becoming heavy gasps.During one such break, Bruno thought he heard movement above him.He paused, thinking about the sound.He thought the shafts didn't lead to higher passages, or the city above.They are direct access to the open atmosphere on the surface.Bruenor tried to look up with his soot-filled eyes.He knew he heard a voice. The mystery was solved in an instant, as a monster-shaped thing fell to Bruno's precarious position, its furry feet attacking him.The dwarf knew right away that he was in danger. It was a giant spider. The pincers that removed the venom opened a gash in Bruenor's forearm.Regardless of the pain, and the possible consequences of the wound, he reacted with considerable anger.He forced himself to climb up, put his head against the bulbous body of the hideous thing, and pushed against the wall with all his strength. The spider snapped its pincers to his boots and poked him with all of its feet except the one used to hold it in place. For the desperate dwarf, there was now only one possible attack left: moving the spider away.He grabbed the furry feet and bent over to try to snap them off, or at least pull them off the clinging wall.His arms began to tingle from the poison, and his foot, which was protected from the pincers by the boots, was bent and perhaps broken. But he didn't have time to think about the pain.With a growl, he grabbed another foot and snapped it in half.Then they both fell down. The stupid spider curled up as best it could, letting go of the dwarf's grip.Bruno felt the air rushing past him, and felt the wall close to them.He just hoped the pit was straight enough that they wouldn't crash into the sharp jutting rock.He scrambled as hard as he could onto the spider's back, keeping the mass of body between himself and the imminent impact. They made a loud "snap" and fell to the ground.Air burst out of Bruenor's lungs, but he wasn't seriously hurt because of the burst spider below, splattering sap.He still couldn't see, but he realized that he must have returned to the lower level of the dungeon, just luckily in a relatively deserted area (because he didn't hear any warning calls).Dizzy but not losing his nerve, the tenacious dwarf managed to get to his feet, brushing the spider juice from his hands. "There will be a storm tomorrow," he murmured, remembering the ancient superstition of the dwarves about killing spiders.He began to crawl back into the pit, ignoring the pain in his hands, ribs, and feet, and the poisoned burn in his forearms. And the idea that there are other spiders crawling on it. He climbed for hours, tenaciously moving up one hand at a time, and pulling himself up.The unknowingly spread venom made him gag and drained all the strength in his arm.But Bruno was tougher than Rock.He might die from the wound, but he decided it should happen outside, in the free air, by daylight or starlight. He wants to escape from Mithril Hall. A gust of cold wind blows away his tiredness.He looked up hopefully, but still saw nothing, maybe it was midnight outside now.He watched the wind and knew he was only a few yards from his goal.The rush of adrenaline made him climb to the exit of the smoke exhaust pipe, where a iron grille cover blocked the way out. "Fuck you, I curse you in the name of Moradin's hammer!" Bruenor cursed.He jumped from the wall and grabbed the iron bars above with his bloodstained fingers.The bars had begun to bend a little under his weight, but remained roughly in their original shape. "Wulfgar can pull it away!" said Bruenor, already on the verge of a nervous breakdown from exhaustion. "Lend me your strength, my gigantic friend," he said to the darkness outside as he began to pull. Hundreds of miles away, Wulfgar was tossing restlessly in a bed against the wall inside Sea Sprite, seized by the nightmare of losing his master, Bruenor.Maybe the spirit of the young barbarian really went to help Bruenor in this desperate moment, but it's more likely that the dwarf's indomitable fortitude was really stronger than iron, and a bar was pulled so low that it could be pulled from the stone wall. , so Bruno pulled it off. Bruenor hung one hand in the air, throwing the bar into the void below.He had a wicked grin on his face, wishing there was some gray guy at the bottom of the flue at the moment, watching the dead spider and looking up to figure out why. Half of Bruno's body went through the hole he had pulled open, but he didn't have the strength to push his ass out.He had completely lost his strength and accepted the place, yet his legs were still dangling a thousand feet in the air. He put his head on the iron bar next to him, and then fell unconscious.