Chapter 324

Lakyus said it first. "By all the gods…" Her eyes widened with a kind of existential awe.

"There's a… hole… a hole in the goddamn mountain…" The priestess of the water god muttered.

"Aye, about a dragon sized hole, doncha know. See that there hole," he pointed to the gaping mass through which the stars twinkled bright as day, "was made when Jaldabaoth, the Demon Emperor, swung Olasird'arc around by his tail an flung the big brute through the stone.

"But that…" Evileye said, and then whispered [Fly] casting her spell, she rushed to the stone gap while their guide shouted behind her.

"Hey! There's a rope ladder tour my uncle gives, you go up there, you're gonna have to pay for it!"

But Evileye didn't care, she rushed up to the stone, hovering at the edge of the gap, she stretched out her arms to their maximum span and pressed herself against it. She then flipped herself so that she was facing the stone, her arms still extended it. Then again so that she had her back against it. She did it again and again until she'd measured the full thickness of the blasted away granite, and then through the gap she went to look down the mountainside.

"Impossible…" She muttered as she scanned the stone and snowscape outside and saw with her own eyes the giant blown away fragments of rock which had tumbled down the side.

She descended again to land beside their dwarven guide. "That is forty of my wingspan at its thinnest point… you say the demon emperor… threw a dragon through the rock?"

"Aye he did, an that dragon, he landed all the way in the Holy Roble Kingdom, wouldja believe he came back an tole us some stories, he survived the fall, got nursed back to health, had quite a story to tell about someone he calls 'little sister' she's the Queen in Demalbion now if'n you can believe that." Their guide said with a cherubic little smirk amidst his thick and bushy beard.

"The Queen of Frost? These aren't just tavern stories…?" Lakyus asked.

Gagaran scratched her head, "What's the big deal, the demon emperor must have been strong to do it but-"

"Try past two hundred." Evileye interjected, and both Gagaran and the twins sucked in their breath. "If I were to appraise the strongest thing I ever fought by myself, it would be one hundred and ten. The strongest as a group, maybe one hundred and twenty. Jaldabaoth must have had power at least on par with a greater demon god. And possibly on par with one or more of the Six Great Gods."

"Thas what plenty of us roun here say, but the Demon Emperor is dead, very very dead. The Allfather kilt him in single combat while us, the dragons, and the quagoa held off his armies… turns out we had a lot more history than we thought… you really wanna know, my second cousin has a play he puts on for tourists an such, an he makes a helluva good story out of it. I can give you a discount, but it'll still cost a little." The dwarf guide added, but then pointed a stone's throw away. Water was dripping down through the gaping hole in the mountainside, which was caught and run through a wheeled contraption that was attached to a rotating rope which in turn, close to the ground, spun a belt made of many woven wooden slats. Dwarves and quagoa lined the slats and were performing many repetitive individual tasks.

"We gots a coupla these things ready, but over there is the finished product." He pointed to several long metal containers ranging from the size of a small carriage, to longer than four carriages. Each metal container was secured with woven metal straps with leather curved loops folded on the top of the containers.

"That there belt, that's how we make em, see how they lay down that frame of wood? We secure the metal around that, weld it all into place, then pull the wooden frame apart from the inside after its all secure, then the parts go back and we repeat. It's a sharp design based in part on the ideas we got from the Draconic Kingdom. Right smart for long legs." The dwarf guide said, or at least in part 'grumbled'. "Anyhoo, we fastened them cables around an secure it at even intervals an the dragons slip their wings through them loops, with that they can fly damn near anywhere an carry anythin. Iron ore, finished goods, even everyday mail. Fact is, the plan is to use this here spot as a central launching point for the entire mail system of the Kingdom of Nazarick and the nations what come under'em. Course the Allfather's gotta bring in the rest of them dragon folk, an a lot of em are right stubborn. But they'll come around when there's coin to be made, an there's a lotta coin to be made."

"The Allfather… beat that thing that did… that?" Lakyus asked. She ran through all the stories she knew of the six Great Gods, including Surshana… and found nothing. Nothing on par with throwing a dragon through a mountain, let alone beating something that could do that.

"What… is the Allfather exactly?" Lakyus asked as she furrowed her brow, the cargo carriers and the means for making them were suddenly no longer of interest to the priestess.

"Well, lot of us, we say he's a god. He's an ancient bein at least, locked himself away fer thousands a years in some other world to keep Jaldabaoth back… till the demon got unlocked when Dwarf and Quagoa started killin each other. So he come back an took down the Demon Emperor for good an now we both work for'im again. It's good business, and god or no god, thas good enough for me. You wanna know more, I got a wife who wrote a book about it, it'll cost you a few silvers to get a copy though, more'n a few if you want a limited edition signed copy." He grinned and licked his pudgy lips while rubbing his right thumb and forefinger together.

"I… I think we should head back, and get some rest for now, this is… a lot for me to take in." Lakyus said and rubbed her forehead, there was sweat there despite the cold breeze blowing in from the gaping open hole. She wiped it off with her sleeve, and looked at Momon and Lupu. "You two agree, right? That this is a lot to take in?"

"Yes… yes, it is." Momon smacked his chest with a hard dramatic gesture that echoed off the walls around them, "Knowing what I know, I want to know more, and… if possible, we should strive to see the Allfather together when we come to the tournament. Only this way will we know if his presence lives up to his legend."

Evileye inched closer, practically leaning on Momon before she found, to her annoyance, a smug looking Lupu had put herself in the way just in the nick of time.

"Yes! Yes, we must know! Perhaps… perhaps he has some way to suppress the curse of my sword before it drowns me in its desire for bloodshed!" Lakyus said with equal drama, slapping her palm around the hilt of her blade.

'I keep telling you, you dizzy bitch, I do not want your soul! What am I supposed to do with it anyway?! I'm a damn sword, put the pointy end into the other guy, or use the edge of me to cut them in half, and I'm happy! Just please… please stop being such a chuunibyou!' The sword cried out, despairing in her mind.

'Lies! You won't have my pure, innocent, and holy body for your foul machinations! You won't trick me, brute!' Lakyus cried out her retort, and she felt the soul of the sword 'shudder' in response.

'Hentai! You're such a damn hentai!' The sword cried out, and then fell silent.

Lakyus gave a deep sigh of relief and wiped sweat from her brow again, "I've fought him off again… but… to suppress him forever… maybe the Allfather has a way?"

"We'll find out when we get there… for now, master dwarf, take us to our rooms." Gagaran interjected with haste, her eyes darting back and forth between Momon, Evileye, and Lakyus. 'Great, three drama queens… how have we lasted this long?' She wondered, and they followed their guide back the way they came.