CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
He was a dwarf in a massive underground cave system. No, it was a mine, carved from stone by the hands (and axes) of his forefathers. His name was Manli. Yes, of course. And here come his brother, Frondi...his axe bloody with the black blood of orcs!
"THEY ARE BACK!" shouted Frondi. "We have little time, come, we must retreat."
"Further and further we retreat," said Manli. "I would rather end it all now, in a glorious last stand!"
"We cannot give up our lives so recklessly," said Frondi, who had always been the more sensible brother, he remembered. "There may be other survivors, deeper inside our ancestral home..."
"Pah!" said Manli. "Cowards, if they too have retreated! We should fight, Frondi! You speak of a reckless death, and perhaps it would be. But it would be a glorious death! To die with mounds of our enemies at our feet, then to go to the afterlife, the endless Halls of Heaven...no dwarf could wish for a better death! Fight with me, brother! Fight and die with me!"
"Manli, we must survive, to carry on the line..."
"Your wife is pregnant," said Manli.
"How can that be so!? I have been away, mining for mithril..."
"I shagged her," said Manli, matter of factly. "Do not be angry, brother! She was in heat, you were away...it was the only way to continue our family's line."
Frondi looked his brother up and down for a moment...then laughed. A hearty, dwarfish laugh. "Truly you have thought of everything!"
"Then will you fight with me, brother? Will you die with me?"
"No, brother. I wll not die with you...for we shall win! WE SHALL SLAY EVERY ORC IN THE MINE OF THRONGORE! FOR THE AXE OF WISDOM!"
"FOR THE AXE!"
Shadows appeared in the doorway of the chamber. The shadows of orcs. Frondi and Manli looked at each other. So much was said in that look, without one word being spoken. They charged, axes held high. The orcs were taken aback. A dozen were slain before they even knew what was happening. The fighting spread into the next chamber, a large hall where once the dwarves had feasted. The floor was turned black with the blood of orcs. Yet the orcs had superior numbers, and for every one slain, ten more would appear. Frondi and Manli fought back to back, their axes flying, their helms turning away most blows...until Frondi's axe arm was slice clean of by a large orcman. Yet he still continued to fight, drawing his knife with his other hand and stabbing the orcman through its vile heart. A blow to the back of the neck sent him crashing down to the stone floor. Manli threw himself over his brother's body.
"YOU SHALL DIE THIS DAY, YOU ALL SHALL DIE...YOUR BLOOD SHALL WASH OVER MY BROTHER AND BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE!"
The Orcs eventually simply piled onto Manli, until his could breath no more.
He awoke to darkness. He felt around. He was surrounded by metal. Surrounded, and confined, in an extremely small space. There was no way out.
He'd heard rumours of it before, of course. The orcs liked to torture their prisoners to the last and for a dwarf, there was no greater torture than being confined in a small space they could not dig their way out of. If it had been rock he may have had a chance, but within the cold prison of iron there was turly no escape. Manli let out a final dwarfish roar of anger, cursing the orcs, cursing the Gods for letting this happen...
He awake again, still trapped inside metal. But it was his body. He was a manslave again. He'd never truly been a dwarf. It had been an illusion. Nothing more.
But he still hated orcs with every fibre of his metal being.
"THEY ARE BACK!" shouted Frondi. "We have little time, come, we must retreat."
"Further and further we retreat," said Manli. "I would rather end it all now, in a glorious last stand!"
"We cannot give up our lives so recklessly," said Frondi, who had always been the more sensible brother, he remembered. "There may be other survivors, deeper inside our ancestral home..."
"Pah!" said Manli. "Cowards, if they too have retreated! We should fight, Frondi! You speak of a reckless death, and perhaps it would be. But it would be a glorious death! To die with mounds of our enemies at our feet, then to go to the afterlife, the endless Halls of Heaven...no dwarf could wish for a better death! Fight with me, brother! Fight and die with me!"
"Manli, we must survive, to carry on the line..."
"Your wife is pregnant," said Manli.
"How can that be so!? I have been away, mining for mithril..."
"I shagged her," said Manli, matter of factly. "Do not be angry, brother! She was in heat, you were away...it was the only way to continue our family's line."
Frondi looked his brother up and down for a moment...then laughed. A hearty, dwarfish laugh. "Truly you have thought of everything!"
"Then will you fight with me, brother? Will you die with me?"
"No, brother. I wll not die with you...for we shall win! WE SHALL SLAY EVERY ORC IN THE MINE OF THRONGORE! FOR THE AXE OF WISDOM!"
"FOR THE AXE!"
Shadows appeared in the doorway of the chamber. The shadows of orcs. Frondi and Manli looked at each other. So much was said in that look, without one word being spoken. They charged, axes held high. The orcs were taken aback. A dozen were slain before they even knew what was happening. The fighting spread into the next chamber, a large hall where once the dwarves had feasted. The floor was turned black with the blood of orcs. Yet the orcs had superior numbers, and for every one slain, ten more would appear. Frondi and Manli fought back to back, their axes flying, their helms turning away most blows...until Frondi's axe arm was slice clean of by a large orcman. Yet he still continued to fight, drawing his knife with his other hand and stabbing the orcman through its vile heart. A blow to the back of the neck sent him crashing down to the stone floor. Manli threw himself over his brother's body.
"YOU SHALL DIE THIS DAY, YOU ALL SHALL DIE...YOUR BLOOD SHALL WASH OVER MY BROTHER AND BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE!"
The Orcs eventually simply piled onto Manli, until his could breath no more.
He awoke to darkness. He felt around. He was surrounded by metal. Surrounded, and confined, in an extremely small space. There was no way out.
He'd heard rumours of it before, of course. The orcs liked to torture their prisoners to the last and for a dwarf, there was no greater torture than being confined in a small space they could not dig their way out of. If it had been rock he may have had a chance, but within the cold prison of iron there was turly no escape. Manli let out a final dwarfish roar of anger, cursing the orcs, cursing the Gods for letting this happen...
He awake again, still trapped inside metal. But it was his body. He was a manslave again. He'd never truly been a dwarf. It had been an illusion. Nothing more.
But he still hated orcs with every fibre of his metal being.
