The Crafter's Darkness: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 4) by Jonathan Brooks (e book reading free txt) 📕

trees.”  He mimed looking around as if searching for them with a smile before he turned back to her and frowned.  “I just realized that I didn’t introduce myself; my name is Palzerk Gorerender, and this is my Warband.”  Palzerk then introduced all 28 of his Warband by name, though Furbrea struggled to remember any after the first few.  She was usually great with putting names to faces, but over the years some of her memory tricks didn’t work so well anymore.

“Thank you, Warband Leader Palzerk, and welcome to Grongbak,” Furbrea said, bowing slightly at the waist before continuing.  “As for the fruit, as well as the other food, it comes from the same place as these weapons.”  She handed the one meant for the rest of the Warband to him first, to gauge his reaction, while keeping the other one close to her for the moment.

“This…this is certainly steel, and high-quality steel, as well.  This almost looks like monster loot to me, which is nearly impossible; there’s only one dungeon that I know of that drops steel from their monsters, though it’s a rare drop.  You’d need to kill dozens of them for just one of these swords, though there are only a few that can actually work the metal left in Orcrim.”  He examined it a little closer, before grunting and passing it to the Orc on his left, who also exclaimed over it and smiled at what he was holding.

“Where did you get this?  I’ve seen a few steel swords over the years, though none of them appear that finely crafted.  Do you just have the one?  If that’s all you have, I’ll trade whatever you want for it.”

She handed him the other sword, the one meant for him, before she answered.  “No, we have enough swords for your entire Warband, though this one would be yours as the Warband Leader.”

He was as suitably impressed with the new sword made of some unknown metal, marveling at how much lighter and stronger it seemed compared to the steel sword.  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this is made from titanium, but from what I understand there aren’t any sources of titanium in all of Orcrim.  The only examples I’ve heard of titanium are in some of the larger Warlord houses, and they guard them jealously.  The story is that their families received them hundreds of years ago from the…”  He stopped as he looked at the sword in his hands and then at her with a questioning look in his eyes.

She nodded, knowing where he was going.  “The Elves, yes.  This is where all of this is coming from.”

There was silence from around the central fire as everyone took in that information.  There was a natural distrust of the other races that was instilled into all of the Orcs, though it wasn’t necessarily hatred – just an aversion to working with them.  Regardless, it was the truth and she wasn’t going to hide it from them and what they were getting themselves into.

“The Elves have masterfully crafted weapons, delicious food, and powerful spells to aid, but what they don’t have are enough of them to stave off their eventual destruction by the dungeon monsters becoming more dangerous every year.  They want to trade these weapons – and even some improved chest armor if you are interested in it – in exchange for help.”

“Help?” Warband Leader Palzerk asked suspiciously.  “What do you mean by that?  We can’t leave our territory undefended to go fight their battles, or else we’re the ones that will be in trouble.”

Furbrea shook her head.  “No, they don’t want you all to come.  Their offer is for a portion of your Warband to help them for a year at the rate of 1 member for every 3 that is fully armed and armored.  After the year is over, those that are being used as…mercenaries…to help them can return back to Orcrim if they want to, or they can re-enlist to fight for another year, giving another 3 members of a Warband the same weapons and armor.”

Now it was the Leader’s turn to shake his head, reluctantly handing Furbrea back the sword.  “I’m sorry, there’s no way I would do that to any of my Warband.  I respect what the Elves are willing to do, and I even trust them to return our people after a year, but I won’t sell my people—”

“I’ll do it,” one of the Warband members said abruptly from across the fire.  Furbrea couldn’t remember her name, but she stood up and stared at her Leader as if daring her to deny her choice.

“Perceine, I won’t have you or any of my Warband—”

One after another, every single member of the Warband except for one stood up and proclaimed that they would do it, prompting a silence from everyone else as they comprehended what was going on.  “Palzerk, we need these weapons if we are to survive long enough to grow stronger, and I and every member of this Warband—” Perceine continued into the silence, though she looked disappointedly at the one member that hadn’t stood up, “well, nearly every member, are willing to give up our lives so that you and those with you can succeed.  You deserve to be a Warlord one day, we all know it, and this could be what starts you on that journey.”

The Warband Leader was silent for a few moments as he looked at his Warband rebelling against him, though they were doing it for him.  “I don’t know.  These would definitely help us, but I don’t want to throw your lives away.  For all I know, the Elves will want to just use whoever helps them as meat shields that can be used up and thrown away, and none of you might even survive for that full year to come home.”

“That’s a risk we are willing