1st Granite, 560
Carefulrogue carefully slipped the book in his hand back into the shelf where he kept it. He had the briefest of flashes where he saw another dwarf taking a book down from a room not unlike the one he was in, reading a few pages, before returning it to it’s place. Then, the image disappeared just as quickly. It happened regularly, these flashes. Sometimes he’d see dwarves picking through the dead, finding the books, sometimes the living keeping logs, seeing what was written. It was never the same vision, but he remembered them all vividly. Sometimes he was fighting, sometimes mourning. A few times he found himself lifting his axe up, as if to strike something, or his eyes wet with tears.
He sighed. Rogue only had a partial understanding. He could tell none. Red Hammer had a habit of destroying magical items, and he wondered how that inquisition would extend to him. Better to not find out. Closing and locking the door, he moved away from his hidden library, and back into the fortress proper.
A few hatches and secret entrances stood in his way, but he moved them aside easily, before locking them back into place. He’d return later, for more private work. He’d kept a crude sign up, keeping the miners and children from playing or trespassing. Looked well enough like the other miner’s handwriting, enough at least to not raise suspicion. Still, getting in was always the difficulty.
Climbing up the stairs, he waved at a few other soldiers, coming in for practice with our Gamer Captain-Apiks. Rogue hadn’t questioned it. Yet. He didn’t even know how to approach the topic. He was sure he’d watched the fort burn down under someone with the same name. He was certain of it. Apiks wasn’t a common name for Forumites.
Carefulrogue reached the training room, where already the others were practicing attacks, fighting ghost targets visible only to them. A smile twisted his lips as he fell in beside Apiks in the corner. He focused on the space before him, and the colors swirled into a shape striking out at him. Dodging away from the apparition, he struck out, dissolving it with a blow. He liked this trick. It was a better way then swinging at just air. Once the purple disappeared, he conjured another, a little harder, and dodged, weaved, parried, and struck again. And again. And again. There were few other times he found himself so at peace, than at practice.
“Ahem, Apiks?” The words broke through the relative silence of the room. The clatter of chainmail, and the breathing of Rogue’s companions the only sound up until that point. An image flashed of a battle being fought, one where men fought and died in a narrow brick corridor, goblins and trolls crawling over their dead to get at the dwarves fighting like madmen.
The vision faded. Rogue turned.
“Apiks,” said Red Hammer, standing at the doorway. “I’m done with being the overseer. I’d like to pass on the responsibility to y-”
“No,” Rogue said, before he entirely realized it. “He’s needed to lead the squad. Another should take the lead.” All eyes shifted to him. He hadn’t planned for it to go that way.
Apiks muttered slowly to himself, barely enough breath to each word to be heard. Rogue only caught a handful of them, “...time… gods…device… to the… ”
Red Hammer sighed. "Alright, I suppose you'd be just as good an overseer. You'd better not fuck this up."
“Wait-just-a-minute, I don’t want the-” he got out before Apiks interrupted.
“No, you’ll do for now,” he said in a cool fashion. It sent chills up Rogue’s spine to hear it. “I’ll remain here, for the time, until another leader can be picked.” His gaze felt as if it was looking straight through him, and yet saw him in the same moment. His lips moved passively again, forming words with no sound.
Knowing no other solution, Rogue left. He gulped loudly to himself. A vision of great death rose before his eyes, before he forcibly banished the image. He had work to do.
I'll get on it. Expect bulk updates every few days.
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Topic: NecroThreat IV: Fortress for BFEL, God of Necromancy (Read 516464 times)