Upon his return to the castle some of the Stenjin informed Zal’Rodal about new pathways they had uncovered deep in the dungeons and past the prison cells. Perhaps he’d pay the imprisoned adventurers a visit before heading further down. Surely the goblin jailers would have broken their will by now, having a mage on his side would bring great strength to his empire. He would have to find some goblin or orc shamans as well to bring some magic to bear against his enemies, but the shamans have always been more combat oriented and in most cases far less skilled that a traditionally trained human wizard.

  Zal’Rodal made his way to the dungeons and past the throne room, goblins and stenjin greeted him wherever he went, some started following him asking about loot and extra rations but he dismissed them, he had better things to do than delegate. Leaving the throne room he took a sharp left and made his way to the dungeon. He stopped in his tracks for a moment when he heard loud screeching as he approached, maybe somebody was getting tortured. As he reached the cells he saw a goblin yelling at a stenjin while hammering the stone creature’s dome with a stick. The stenjin seemed dully unimpressed.

  “Prisonerz escapez!” the goblin yelled.

  “No, they walk out. I saw them.” The stenjin replied as the stick broke over its head.

  Zal’Rodal cleared his throat, “what is this about the prisoners escaping,” the Dark Lord said while peering into the now empty cell. “You can’t even do your jobs when I leave for a little?”

  “Notz myz faultz, stupid rock let them go,” the goblin said while pointing furiously at the stenjin, “Tellz master rock man!”

  “I saw them walk out but a goblin was with them and he told me that everything was fine.”

  “And you didn’t think so that this was suspicious?”

  “Not really, goblin was prison guard, what he does with prisoners is not my business.”

  “Who was this goblin?”

  “I think the goblin called himself Glol, he was leading the prisoners out of the dungeon maybe two weeks ago, while you were out on the first raid.”

  “Pleaz don’t killz me, not my faultz!” the goblin pleaded.

  “I’m not mad just disappointed, you should all know better, take care not to let prisoners go without my express orders next time,” the Dark Lord said, “and you, goblin, gather a small force and try to track down Glol and bring him to me.”

  “Rightz awayz!” the goblin said and scrambled on his feet before rushing down the hallway. The stenjin just continued standing there staring at the cell. Zal’Rodal decided to continue his way deeper into the dungeon, there was no point in debating anything with a stenjin. The stone creatures did not seem to react emotionally to anything, it was like being told to kick rocks only that one could literally do so right there, they probably wouldn’t notice.

  Zal’Rodal and Migaal continued their descent into the dungeon while discussing their next steps. Zal’Rodal insisted on continued their current rate of attacks and raids on nearby villages while the ferret argued for shoring up their defences and building up strength before antagonising the Arberonians any further. They both knew that this was wise as the goblins were not equipped with handling an open field battle against the Arberonian knights.

  The dungeon’s tunnels spread far and wide, the floor was covered in the dust that the stenjin left in the wake of their remodelling. They saw many of the dungeons walls had been torn down in a circular tunnel shape to allow for passage, at least the stenjin built their tunnels far larger than would be needed for their own small bodies. He was sure Migaal would not appreciate him crawling through the dirt.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  After stepping through one such opening in the wall they entered a larger square room with a large table in the middle, its contents hidden under a layer of dust. Zal’Rodal stepped into the room with Migaal on his shoulder and took a look around, there were a number of maps hanging from the ceiling with borders and names that the Dark Lord did not recognise. He wondered how old this dungeon was, and why it had been abandoned for so long.

  “This appears to be a war room of some sort,” Migaal said, “perhaps we could use some of it while the borders may be outdated the geography itself should not have changed too drastically.”

  “You’re probably right,” Zal’Rodal said while blowing some of the dust of the parchments on the table. There were more maps and lists showing different troop movements, strategies, and supplies. Some of the notes were neatly written while others such as ‘Needz foodz starvin’ were clearly written by goblins or another creature just as intellectually inclined.

  “We will have to organise this place at some point then, perhaps some of the villagers can be put to work here, I don’t trust the goblins around these papers.” The Dark Lord said.

  “A wise decision,” Migaal replied, “Setting up logistics is the surest way of success, there are those that flaunt it as the most important factor to an armies success. Then again those people have never fought a dragon, but since we don’t have one yet we might as well start learning.”

  The two of them moved on to the war room’s adjacent chamber which was hidden behind an arched doorway. They entered a large circular chamber, Migaal sniffed at the air, making strange faces, “I think there’s something magical here,” the ferret said. They looked around the room but found it to be empty in its entirety, Zal’Rodal stood in the centre looking at the walls, the ceiling but noticed nothing. The Dark Lord’s eyes then made their way to his own feet on which he noticed a faint blue line forming a circle around himself, then a further larger circle around the first, then another until the entire chamber was filled. Obviously a magic circle of some sort he thought, he hoped it wasn’t trapped.

  “Migaal, can you do something about this?”

  The ferret pondered for a moment before scampering down from the Dark Lord’s shoulder to take a closer look, “it appears to be a teleportation circle of some kind. I knew something smelt magical in this room.”

  “Do you think you can activate it, is it linked to anything?”

  “I think I could, it appears to be linked to some faraway place, I tried to follow the magic to the other linked location but it is too dark to see there.”

  “Activate the circle then, and let’s see what happens, fortune favours the bold!” They moved out of the circle lest they teleported themselves to the other side of the world on accident and Migaal began his incantation. The magical circle started glowing brighter with every word the ferret uttered, particles of dust were lifted of the ground as the room filled with magical energy and then there was a bright flash of light blinding them for an instant.

  The next instant they were faced with skeletal faces starring at them, skeletal jaws hung in disbelief when they appeared. There were perhaps fifty skeletons standing in the room now all carrying a set of long pikes that came dangerously close to scrapping against the ceiling, they also carried large black tower shields and dark armour covered in rust. One of the skeletons carried a large pole with a cross-section, holding the last remaining tatters of what would have been their flag. The last of the skeletons to show themselves was smaller in stature with an arched back and holding a book so old he feared the pages would disintegrate at the smallest touch.

  The older skeleton holding the book was the first to speak, “Panthus squirrelius panem dolorum! You have freed us from the dark cave, we thank you for it!” the skeleton proclaimed, the remaining skeletons banged the butts of their pikes against the floor when he finished. “

  “What was that you said at the beginning?” Zal’Rodal asked noticing that Migaal was trying to contain his laughter.

  “Just ancient wisdom lord, it is all recorded in this here book,” the skeleton opened the book and the paper started coming lose as it flipped to the page it was looking for, it starred at the dust covered page a moment shook its skull and spoke again, “Nevermind, I cannot find the right passage at the moment. Regardless, we served a Dark Lord long ago and would be glad to do so again. These men? The best of the best. Unbreakable in spirit and trained in the art of war for… for… a very long time. We have just enough bodies to form a pikewall, a skeleton crew of sorts.”