Dungeon Builder's Harem Book 02 Ch. 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Three days later found me crouched in the brush staring out at the Vorianil Mountains and the industrious dwarves working outside of the Twins' dungeon. They were hauling stone across the valley to the peak that housed the twins' dungeon.

I had traveled here with Maya and Baaghi to scout the Twins personally. Everyone objected. My mother, my little sister, Lana, and Maya. They had all argued against this. But I had to see for myself a way to provoke the Twins into attacking me again.

They would have to come to attack me in person. They now knew their monster girls alone weren't enough to defeat me. They would have to come in force. And I could see why they would have the balls to do it. The dwarves were constructing a fortress.

They were building a castle around the entrance to the Twins' dungeon. The castle was already well underway. The dwarves were laboring bare-chested in the sun, their beards thick and long. They were squat but brawny men who were hauling loads that would have crushed my spine with ease.

I had brought only a small force with me. Three wildhounds (Du, Nos, and Marwo) and Damhanalla my arachne. They were screened around Maya, Baaghi, and myself. My rakshasa's whiskers twitched as she stared down at the valley.

"This is horrible," muttered Maya. "They've enslaved the dwarves who live here."

"Yeah," I said, shaking my head. "This is why they are unafraid. The dwarves are their trump card. Look, there are some with weapons. They're guarding the other dwarves who are working."

"That's terrible." Maya shook her head as she stared down at one dwarf who was yelling at a group dragging stones. "Why would they do that? Help their conquerors?"

"There are always people in any society who support their conquerors," Baaghi said. "When the British ruled India, there had been plenty who would support them and regress their own people. Those who did were rewarded. Wealth. Power. Positions of trust. These dwarves are the same. Opportunistic snakes who sense that they will be better off supporting their conquerors than resisting them. They'll be fervent, too."

"Why?" Maya asked.

"Because they know that if the twins ever fall, then they are dead," I said. "In World War II, when France and Belgium and the like were liberated, those who collaborated were shot. The men, at least. There's a price to pay for siding with your conquerors. Those dwarven overseers will not want that to happen to them. That's why the twins attacked me without fear."

"I don't think we had to come all the way out here to see that for ourselves," muttered Maya.

"I needed to think," I said. The travel had been nerve-wracking. We had to be worried about blundering into an adventuring squad to get here. The wildhounds might be skilled at sneaking, but I wasn't them.

"God, look at the statues," Maya muttered.

There were statues all about the valley. Petrified dwarves huddled in fear. "Object lessons. I really, really hate these twins more and more." I glanced around. "Look, there are the gorgon and the red cap. Ziamili's companions. They must also stick around to remind the dwarves what happens if they are disobedient. The red cap probably drags the dwarves to the gorgon so she could look into their eyes."

"No, not those statues," said Maya. "Look at the fortress. You can see where the wall's not finished. There are statues of the twins in them. Big ones. They've had the dwarves erect monuments of themselves."

"Egos," I said. "They probably think they're gods or something, too. Get the dwarves to worship them and all that shit."

"Yeah," Maya said. Then she glanced at me. "I have an idea. Oh, it's such a dumb one, too. I can't believe I'm even thinking it."

I frowned as she explained it to me. I had a lot of objections, but Maya was adamant that she and the monster girls could do it. It sickened me, but I was the only one there that had a problem with it. And it would be what we needed to get the attack started.

It meant I had to return to my dungeon and prepare. It had to be perfect to receive our guests.

* * / *

A week later, we were ready to execute. I had returned to my dungeon alone. That was the one part that Maya and the other monster girls couldn't talk me out of. They wanted me to take Baaghi back, but Maya's plan would require every monster girl she could get her hands upon.

It was a lonely few days traveling home, but I was just a human now. No one who passed me would think I was anything other than an adventurer in my robes and armor and with my spear. I wasn't one of the dangerous dungeon builders. I stayed in inns and ate the local food.

It wasn't as good as my mother's food.

Once I was home, the preparations were underway. Maya had been refining her plan while I sent her additional wildhounds to aid her. She had the entire pack with her now. They were lurking in the woods, ready to pounce.

My dungeon was ready to repel the attack that would come. Though the twins had Level Two magics like me, I had a feeling they knew another way to travel fast. This world had magic. There were artifacts and wizards. The dwarves might have their own knowledge of it. I had to be ready that the counterattack would come swiftly.

"Maya, we're ready," I said. "You sure you want to do this?"

"I don't mind dying," Maya said. "Just be ready to wake me back up and greet me with kisses."

"That I will," I said, standing in my vault before the Void Crystal. The black gem hummed away, Souleen sitting on it. She fidgeted. She could feel the tension in the air. Today would be a long, long day.

"Execute it, Maya," I sent.

* * / *

Maya shivered at the words. She, the wildhounds, Damhanalla, and Baaghi had figured out the particulars of her plan over the last week of hiding and skulking in the brush overlooking the valley. During the night, they had infiltrated into the castle itself, sneaking in through cover, and now were peering out of one of the supply buildings.

Inside the castle, the gorgon and red cap were in charge. There were a few orcs that guarded one building inside the fortress. The armory as far as they could tell. The dwarves who guarded the prisoners went in there to turn in or receive their weapons during their shift. That was a crucial step to the plan that Maya had come up with.

"Damhanalla, are you in position?" the undine sent.

"The red cap doesn't know I'm above her," the arachne answered. The spider girl was adept at ambushes.

"Take her."

Maya swallowed. She had never imagined in her life that she would be leading a commando-style raid of monster girls to free dwarven slaves. It was insane, but this was her life. She knew she would be called upon to do other such tasks in the future.

Leo was almost alone against the world. Only Fuegin seemed to be his friend, and that man scared the undine. He was powerful. That much was clear. He had his own kingdom. That meant he was dangerous. He had been around for a while, too. He had killed Halia's father.

"Redcap is neutralized," reported the arachne. That was important. The red cap was a monster girl that was a skilled fighter. She was Ziamili's metal companion, absolutely loyal to the dungeon builder who brought her to this world.

A lover and confident.

Now she was bound in webbing and kept from interfering.

"Moving to the armory," Damhanalla said.

Maya peered out the window again, her stomach clenching. This next part would be deadly. They had to time it just right. The Twins would react, but if they were fast, the dwarves might have their chance to be free.

I hope so, Maya thought, the waters of her body rippling from her nervousness.

"Ready," Damhanalla thought.

Maya glanced to the armory. The pair of green-skinned orcs stood before the doors. Amazonian monster girls who were strong and sexy. They held spears, looking ready to stop with force any dwarf who tried to enter unauthorized.

"Attack!" Maya shouted.

The wildhounds burst out of the building and charged across the courtyard. Dwarves shouted in alarm. Their overseers gasped as the monster girls raced past them and shot straight for the gorgon. Behind them, Baaghi loped, roaring with her feline fury.

Maya went out last. She rushed to the armory. A dwarven overseer gasped at the sight of her and then lowered his spear. He rammed it at her. The weapon plunged at her flesh, but she was made of water. She opened a hole in her the spear shot through harmlessly. She grabbed the weapon and wrenched it out of his hand.

Then she hit the squat dwarf across the head with it.

The haft broke. The dwarf didn't so much as grunt. He just swung fists at her. He stuck her rippling surface. The impact knocked her back a pace. It didn't hurt, but it felt odd having waves rippling over her watery flesh.

"I don't have time for this," she snarled and thrust the spear for the dwarf's leg. She wanted to disable him.

He grabbed the haft, stopping the point from penetrating his thigh. Then he wrenched the weapon from her grasp. She gasped and then just cursed. She darted past him as he turned the weapon around. She broke into a sprint, ignoring him.

Damhanalla had one of the orcs tangled up in webbing and then had fallen on the other, but that orc had drawn her sword. The arachne blocked with her front set of legs, her chitin armoring her more vulnerable flesh. Her boobs bounced and heaved as she fought.

The gorgon roared. The wildhounds snarled in savage fury. One of them had no chance. Three of them would lose. But seven and a rakshasa tore down the gorgon. She was on the ground being ripped to pieces.

Her death would let the twins know that they were under attack.

Maya reached the armory. The orc slashed his sword at Damhanalla. The arachne raised her right front leg. The blade struck it hard, biting into the black chitin. The arachne gasped as blackish blood spurted out of the wound. The orc grinned.

"Going to cut you, spider, and watch your legs twitch," spat the orc, her breasts heaving in her metal bikini.

Maya threw herself at the sword arm. She grabbed the arm and held on tight, her watery hands gripping the orc's sword arm. The orc growled, struggling to swing her sword and strike down the arachne again.

"Get her!" Maya shouted, fighting to hold tight. The orc headbutted Maya.

Her vision distorted as waves washed across her head. She shook it and kept holding on, but her grip was slipping. The orc was so strong. Maya didn't have extra strength as an undine. She wasn't good at fighting.

Damhanalla's head snapped down. She buried her fangs into the orc's throat and bit her. She was a spider girl. So, of course, she was poisonous. The orc screamed in pain as the venom churned through her veins.

She collapsed with foam bubbling out of her mouth. Damhanalla turned and wrenched open the doors to the armory.

Maya smiled and darted in. She grabbed a handful of spears and carried them back out. She spotted a group of dwarven slaves. She threw the weapons at them, a big smile on her face. "Fight for your freedom! Fight to defeat the twins!"

One of the dwarfs picked up a spear. The overseer who had tried to stop Maya now shouted at them. He marched on them, holding his spear in his left hand, and drew a flogger from his belt. He shouted at them.

The dwarves, all powerfully built males, snagged up the spears. They were young and angry. They had beards of browns and reds that made them look fierce. Maya winced as they attacked the overseer and rammed spears through his body.

Maya swallowed. The dwarves didn't get to come back. They would die for good. The overseer gurgled and then he went still, his body ripped open by the three spears that had rammed into him. The liberated dwarves saw her standing before the armory.

"It's yours," she said.

Overseers across the courtyard were shouting. They knew that things would get worse. Maya glanced at Damhanalla. She grinned at the Undine, her compound eyes reflecting Maya's pensive expression a dozen different times across the dark facets.

"Let's go!" Maya shouted to Baaghi and the wildhounds. Maya pointed to the entrance into the mountain. A grand affair flanked by the statues. "They'll be pouring out of there any moment."

This was the suicidal part of the plan. The part that Leo had objected to the most. But it was okay if they died. Maya and the others were expendable. They could come back. Their bodies were magical constructs. Nothing more.

Dwarves flooded into the armory to begin their liberation as Maya led the monster girls to the entrance. They set up to fight the orcs, basilisks, unicorns, and yuki-onna that would be pouring out to put down the dwarves.

The longer Maya and her monster girls held out, the better chances the dwarves had at their rebellion. She didn't think they would succeed, but she had given them a chance to win their freedom today.

If they succeeded, they would force the Twins to retreat into their dungeon. Weakened them. Made them easy for Leo to assault with his forces. If they failed...

Am I condemning these dwarves to die for nothing? Maya wondered as the first wave of the Twins' monster girls burst out of the dungeon.

She crouched by the entrance to the dungeon. Damhanalla crawled up the stone facade, carved with intricate scrollwork. She crouched to jump. Baaghi pressed against the wall on the other side of the opening. The wildhounds crouched low, ready to pounce and charge. The clang of metal echoed then the first of the orcs burst out with weapons drawn.

Maya threw herself at the first one. She pressed her watery face to the front of the orc and flowed around the monster girl's features. She smothered her, drowning the monster girl. It only took two inches of water to drown a human.

Maya had heard that somewhere.

When that water could cover a person's face, directed by a will, there was no stopping it.

The orc thrashed and stumbled, Maya holding on. There were only a few ways she could be hurt. Fire, ice, electricity, and thunder. Things that disrupted her liquid form in ways that weapons couldn't. She knew the pain of ice.

The yuki-onna were her biggest threats.

The other orcs fought. One was already wrapped up in webbing and another pinned by Damhanalla. Baaghi ripped the throat out of one of the orcs while the wildhounds jumped in twos and threes on the others.

Swords flashed.

Nos was the first one today, her head spinning off her shoulders. Maya shuddered and averted her gaze from the sight of the innocent face. The orcs were dying, too, melting away. Hela went down. Then Ci before the first wave of monster girls was down. All save the orc that Maya drowned.

She stumbled and then collapsed. Not long after, her body melted away. Maya shuddered. She liked being an undine, but this was not something she ever wanted to do, but more monster girls were running up. The next wave.

The dwarves were fighting back against their overseers. Some of them were yanking down the statues of the Twins. Their anger resounded through the courtyard of the half-completed fortress. They were fighting back. They were stopping the enemy.

Cold swept over Maya. She turned to see the yuki-onna and the unicorns. A horn rammed through Du's body. Damhanalla webbed a yuki-onna, but she froze the spider silk and broke free. Beyond them, marched a blonde and busty woman with skin as pale as frost. She had blue eyes that were as cold as glacial ice.

She had the look of a warrior woman. Someone deadly and dangerous. Maya knew this was Led's Ice companion. A valkyrie. She rushed through the other monster girls, a blade of ice flashing in her hand, and swung it at Maya.

The undine flowed from the attack. The valkyrie, wearing an icy bikini-style armor, roared with fury. Her face twisted with rage. The blade hissed through the air. Maya dodged back. She undulated her body, she twisted to escape that weapon.

But it caught her in the side. She gasped as the cold spread. The ice crystals grew in her. The other monster girls were fighting and dying. The dwarves were shouting. A statue crashed to the ground behind Maya. A great roar of triumph.

Pain twisted her guts. The valkyrie grabbed her by the throat. She glared into her eyes. "Tell that coward that we'll be coming for him. He will pay for what he did."

Maya couldn't answer, the ice spreading through her throat and up into her head. She screamed in agony unending as the freeze spread over her head and then--

She slept. Souleen hummed to her a motherly lullaby. The pain melted away. There was no hurt. She was at peace. Safe. She relaxed, letting Souleen hug her. The motherly woman's breasts pressed into Maya's. Lips kissed her as she dreamed.

"Maya!" Leo called to her. "Maya!"

She gasped as Souleen let her go. Then she was flowing. The world swirled with darkness and then she appeared standing next to Leo in the vault. She panted, looking around the room. Five of the wildhounds were already here. Then Damhanalla spun out of the shadows in the corner. The arachne stretched her back.

"They fought hard, Lord Leo," said Damhanalla.

"That pissed them off," Maya said, guilt twisting through her. She hadn't thought about what would happen to the dwarves if their rebellion failed. "We'll know soon if the dwarves succeeded."

Leo nodded. He had dispatched one other monster girl. A satyr lurked in the woods. Khur would watch and wait, ready to end her own life and come home with the last warning if the uprising failed. She would be their canary, singing out if there was any danger.