Rise Of The Godking 20 Trus

The short man left after dropping the bomb on Daneel. As he limped away, Daneel noticed that he was even shorter than he had looked. Apparently, when he had been talking to him, he had climbed onto a pile of rocks so that he could be heard even if he was whispering, so now, his real height became visible.

He was just half of Daneel's 5'10(178 cm).

He looked like a child brought here by one of the slaves, but no one paid any special attention, as if they had gotten used to his sight. Daneel's eyes followed him closely as he reached a vein of crystal and built a careful pile so that he could step on them to get work done, and after that, as if he had been able to feel Daneel's gaze on his back all the while, he winked in his direction and went to a different vein.

After that, he didn't bother looking for him. He had been watching until now to see whether he would vanish into a puff of smoke and turn this all into a dream, but as no such thing seemed liable to happen, he traveled into his memories in search for any small signs of such a hidden figure being present in the Pit.

In the process, he did notice that the short man had been right about one thing: just from the count of the corridors and the number of caverns in each, it was obvious that there were more than 1200 slaves. With so many present, how could he have thought that Reese and his tiny band of helpers would be the only ones interested in an uprising?

'I'm swimming in eddies I know nothing about… and if I'm not careful, I might just drown.'

He went back to work, after that, trying to lose himself in the dizzying patterns of the dots of light again. They constantly kept losing their allure, though, as he kept trying to think about who was waiting for him, so it was with relief that he heard the bell that meant that the s.h.i.+ft was done.

Soon, he was standing in the queue to the teleportation area which would send him back to his cavern. Yet, just as he was about to step forward to four places away from it being his turn, he felt a coa.r.s.e hand catch his and pull him into a perfectly hidden crack in the cave wall.

Its entrance was such that it was angled away from the lip of the cavern where there was some amount of illumination due to the presence of the teleportation area, so once blinded, no one would be able to see that such a thing was present. There was only enough place for one person, so the two of them made a tight fit.

"Here. Say you forgot to put it back, and go back into the shaft."

The dwarf disappeared right after. Despite his short legs, he seemed to have been gifted with speed, as after Daneel emerged from the crack and looked around, he found him nowhere nearby.

He hefted the nail he had been given in his hand. Each mining shaft had a store of nails and hammers that were meant to stay there instead of being carried around by the slaves, so it was the perfect excuse to go back.

'But what am I getting into? If I do this, I'm going to be putting myself in their mercy…'

He contemplated, for a moment, whether it was smart to go forward with the commands of someone he had just met. True, he hadn't been betrayed in the Pit, yet, but he had heard many stories of such betrayals that led to the hangings that often took place on the surface. Like a child who had been told that fire was hot, he had been wary of them even though he hadn't touched it and burn his hand.

'What if it burns now?'

The question had no answer, but as he thought a little bit more, he saw something he had missed before.

If he truly wanted to accomplish things in the pit… Reese and his gang might not be enough.

After all, when put on a scale of 1500 slaves, the ten of them were nothing. They could do tiny things like plans relating to the succubus, but if anything large scale was required, then Reese had no influence.

He had even asked the man about it, and the old healer had waved it away, saying that it was foolish to trust a large number of people when a few could get the job done. He hadn't thought much about the answer then, but now… he wondered whether the man had been bl.u.s.tering, just like he had done before when his hope had been offended.

'Did you think I would think less of you if it was the truth?'

It was possible. But even if it wasn't… Daneel reached the decision that he needed to at least find out who these people were, before even thinking about whether they could be trusted.

'Well, I guess… time to be burnt.'

He walked back in the direction of the shaft, and showed the nail in his hands to the enforcer when the man looked at him questioningly. After reaching the area filled with crystals, he raised one eyebrow as he saw that a s.h.a.ggy slave similar to him in height was standing beside the short man who had disappeared before.

"Go on. Don't forget the cavern you're supposed to sleep in."

The man nodded and left after shooting a fleeting glance at Daneel.

"Is that… supposed to be me?"

The squat man snorted. "After a fas.h.i.+on… yes. You might think that it is luck that we drew an enforcer today who is secretly half-blind. If so … you would be gravely wrong He cannot see any features. He can barely see the heights of people. And he was chosen to be here so that no one would miss you."

Daneel was impressed, but he saw a problem that the man seemed to be ignoring.

"But what if someone that knows me arrives in my cavern? Wouldn't they know that I've disappeared?"

Danel's counterpart had left the cave, leaving only the two of them, alone. With a grin, the man answered, "Oh, don't worry about that… courtesy of a different enforcer, you're going to be down with a spot of severe indigestion, so much so that the caverns around yours will be evacuated and for an entire day, to remove the risk of your infection spreading, no one will be allowed into the corridor. The boss always makes perfect plans. He laughed when he saw yours, and pointed out so many mistakes that we couldn't even keep track of them. Now, enough chitchat. Follow me."

Daneel stepped forward in a daze as the two started walking deeper into the cave. It really was a perfect plan, albeit being quite simple, but what had struck him with surprise most was that whoever he was going to meet… had influence over the enforcers.

Such a thing was unheard of. Reese had even insisted that it was impossible to buy out these heartless individuals as slaves, all too often, had nothing that they might ever need.

His curiosity piqued, he waited while the dwarf walked to a pile of rock that looked no different from any other.

Yet… when it was cleared, a tiny tunnel was revealed.

"You will have to crawl."

Saying so, he went inside, crouching, his bald head barely touching the top of the smooth edges of the pa.s.sageway.

'Wait… how the heck is it smooth? Even the caves dug out for the slaves to reside in were rough!'

The tally of questions in his mind was only increasing, so he hoped that he would find answers, soon. Without comment, he got down on his knees and crawled inside, wondering whether he would come out b.l.o.o.d.y.

Thankfully, the tunnel angled downwards after a few moments. He was able to slide down with no effort, and soon, he even began to pick up speed.

By then, the purpose of the smooth sides was revealed. At the speed he was going, even touching a jagged edge of rock would give anyone a gash big enough to die from.

He slid for what felt like a long time, but in the confines of so much stone, it was impossible to keep track. Just as he was about to ask the system about it, though…he tumbled onto something soft, and had to shake his head to stop the vertigo.

When he recovered, he looked up to see a sight he would remember for the rest of his life.

Hundreds of dwarves stood in front of him, arranged into groups, all with s.h.i.+ny heads and disheveled faces that looked at him with varying degrees of interest and curiosity.

Far in the distance…rose a giant. With long, spindly legs and arms, he was at least twenty feet tall, his hair as long as a fully-grown man and his eyes large pools of milky liquid.

Even sitting, he was magnificent. His voice was a rumble that echoed in the cave, and as he spoke, Daneel's jaw dropped, and he stared, astonished.

"Welcome to our humble abode, Daniel Jerrock. We've been watching you with much interest. We loved the way you dealt with Madeira, that jumped-up pract.i.tioner of power who thinks she is much greater than us, despite being on the same path. Come. We have much to discuss."