MH3 - Chapter 2: Invaders in the Valley

Dolli dragged her magically enhanced pen across the map in front of her, making the last of the symbols to channel her old Witch of the Wilds magic; Wayfinder.

[NOTIFICATION, SICK ASS MAP_TK]

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The pen was a special design by Boji with an ink reserve specially designed to allow Spark to flow through it. The silver nib of the quill transferred magical intent to the paper and made visible lines where Dolli wanted.

The green magic flared to light on the expansive hand drawn map, showing not only Dolli’s dungeon, Monster Haven, but several other nearby villages. It wasn’t a complete map by far, but it was getting there. A notification blinked in the corner of her vision for the Officer’s Chat.

Dolli had been working on the map for almost three hours, and it was almost done. It just needed a few more touches, and she’d call a meeting for the plan. They could wait a few more minutes.

With a few quick strokes, Dolli put her markers on the map for the three pieces of Sherkahn’s Shillelagh: the Druidic Staff, the Necrotic Gem, and the Celestial Charm. The passages Katrina had delivered were more than enough for Dolli to pinpoint their general locations. Using Wayfinder, however, would pinpoint the exact position on the map when they got close enough.

Dolli sat back and marveled at her creation. The distance from Monster Haven to the first piece—the Gem—wasn’t far, but it was on the edge of hero territory. She looked all the way across the map, sixty miles, to the last piece—the Charm—nestled safely near a large city.

If they moved with haste, they could make it there before the Twelve Days of Crisismas, and banish all the heroes with just enough time left for Taffy and his team to craft the special brew.

Another notification flashed in the corner of her vision, and then a full-view popup appeared in front of the map she’d been working on.

[Warning! Lifespring Regeneration Reduced in Hostile Territory!]

Your dungeon has reduced Lifewell replenishing rates while you rest within [5] miles of another dungeon or village. Move your dungeon [3.5] miles to get out of range of village [New[JH1] Crossroads_TK].

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Dolli’s face flushed with anger as she realized what that notification meant. Those damn heroes had claimed her village’s place between the mountains and started a new village. She opened her other, non-urgent messages and found the one that occurred just before the warning.

[Village Founded: New Crossroads_TK]

Sir Chonks-A-Lot of the guild Neckbeards has founded [New Crossroads] in the Valley Between the Mountains.

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The Officer’s Chat opened at a thought and she skimmed everything. Nubiri had spotted the heroes gathering thirty minutes before, and they were preparing to launch an aerial raid before the notification about the new village appeared.

Perfect. Dolli would like to pay the invaders a visit.

Dolli: Nubiri, is the raid still prepared?

Nubiri: Ready to kill.

Dolli: Let’s conscript some Wispelle for ranged damage. I’ll grab a few bombs and meet you below the crack in two minutes.

Nubiri: Understood.

Dolli exchanged the Spark channeling quill for her magic wand, modified to enhance Celestial aligned damage. She’d rain some starfire down on their heads to help them rethink their claim on the territory.

With a thought, Dolli opened a portal from inside her cottage to the road outside her window and stepped through. She made her way down the road to Boji’s tinkering tower. The goblin engineer met her outside the door with a satchel loaded to the brim with metal balls with a cork sticking from a bottle-like top.

Boji noticed the curious look on Dolli’s face. “Incendiary grenades, Overlord.”

“Excellent,” Dolli said with a grin. “Let’s go.”

Dolli and Boji rushed to the left side of town where their new garden had taken root for growing provisions on the move. It was directly below the crack in the dungeon’s dome, providing the best light mid-day for growing sun-ripened tomatoes and other delicious treats.

Nubiri appeared between the buildings first, then the two new Shrieklaws—Crawfen level thirty evolutions—and a handful of other flighted monsters among several Wispelle.

Boji passed out the grenades while he relayed their use instructions. “Hold upright, then pull off the stopper to start ten second countdown.”

Rufus galloped into view on all fours, then straightened up, panting as he approached Dolli. “Aren’t you concerned about collateral damage?”

Dolli shook her head. “The village hasn’t been founded long enough to attract citizens. Now is the best time for this strike.”

Boji strapped the flame-throwing rider’s mount to Nubiri’s shoulders, then helped the rider’s aboard. Boji was much too large to ride Nubiri with all the gear, but Dolli and two of the smaller, mage-classed goblins were an easy fit.

“Are you sure this is the right move? What if we could make a deal with the Neckbeards?” Rufus asked, following after Dolli.

She looked down at him from Nubiri’s back. “Why make a deal with us when they can come in and take whatever they want? With a stronghold this close to us, they could launch a siege. We have to loosen their foothold now and make them think twice about taking our homeland.”

“Or we could leave,” Rufus shot back.

“We’ll discuss that once we’ve destroyed their building materials and set them back a few days,” Dolli said, then gave a nod to Nubiri.

The Wyvern took off at a run, flapping her wings. She lifted off and curved around the inside of the crystal dome over Haven’s village. They circled once to pick up speed, then climbed through the crack. Crawfew called out behind them with excitement, and their goblin and Wispelle riders cheered.

They burst out into the sky, apexed, then turned down. Nubiri dove, picking up speed once more as she coasted on the cool, fall air. When they were a half-mile out, Dolli could hear the distant panicked shouts of the Neckbeards.

Dolli opened her chat window in half of her vision and typed a message to the raid group.

Dolli: Use Fold Reality to deliver the bombs directly onto the construction sites and material reserves. Don’t give the Neckbeards a chance to take them out of the sky.

“Nubiri, get low and blow smoke,” Dolli shouted from her place on Nubiri’s shoulders.

The wyvern made a noise like a laugh while growling. The flighted monster converged behind Nubiri, hiding in her wake and escaping the drag. They must’ve looked like hell on wings to the little Neckbeard ants running around their buildings on the ground. The heroes had made significant progress in the little less than an hour they’d been there. Time for them to kiss it all goodbye.

“Launch!” Dolli yelled and the goblin flame-spitter shot fiery projectiles at the closest building.

Dolli popped the cork on her grenade and cooked it a moment. Then, she opened a portal next to a would-be-blacksmith shop and shoved the bomb through. A second later, the frame of the building blast apart, going up in flames.

Nubiri inhaled deeply, then unleashed a gout of green smoke on the streets. She pumped her wings and pulled them out of range, banking before coming back around for another run at the blossoming village.

The ground troops scrambled about, searching for ground to air weapons they could use against Dolli’s tactical strike. Nothing sufficed, and their onslaught went on with wild cackles and deep, rumbling explosions.

When the massacre was done, not much remained in New Crossroads but some charred pillars and poisoned heroes. Dolli and her team retreated to Monster Haven as the sun set, shining rays of gold gleaming off the crystal barrier. Ah, home.

The others circled the crack, then descended into the village, but Nubiri circled, watching for threats. She landed on Tortoise_tk’s head and fluffed her wings back. With the job done, the goblins retreated to the ramparts along the turtle’s shell.

Dolli had leveled up from the little raid and took a moment to go over her spells and stat points. TK_DO THING.

When she’d finished distributing all her points and affirming all her choices, Dolli closed the menus and sighed. She and Nubiri watched the horizon in silence as smoke bellowed into the darkening sky from the heroes’ village.

“Will this ssstick really close the hero portals?” Nubiri asked.

Dolli sighed. “I hope so.”

“What will we do when the heroesss are gone? Who will we fight?”

“We won’t have to fight, that’s the point. We’ll be able to grow gardens, explore the wilds, and sip tea in our cottages.”

Nubiri snorted. “That soundsss like your dream. What purpose will a guardian serve with nothing to guard against?”

Dolli didn’t know. She took a deep breath and watched the last orange rays disappear under the curve of Hafheim. What would any of them do? Sipping tea and tending gardens were pastimes for most, not a life, like Dolli had made. Still there had to be something for the monsters.

“Well, you’ll have children to raise, right? I hear they’re a handful all in their own right,” Dolli said with satisfaction.

“Wyvern children roost for a year, then they go off on their own to find mates. Wyvernsss mate for life, and so I will never take another mate. In a year’s time, my life will have no purpose if not for heroes to crush in my powerful jaw,” Nubiri said, baring her teeth menacingly.

Dolli hummed. “What about music? I’ve seen you entranced by Rufus’ lyre.”

Nubiri made a noise like a laugh and curled her wings in. “What will I do with one?” The two claws at the top of the wing join flexed, and then she picked up each foot.

“I think you’re just lacking imagination,” Dolli said and leaned back on the tortoise head.

“Whatever you sssay.”

They watched the heroes scramble to put out the fires that had consumed most of their little treacherous village. Was banishing the heroes the best idea? Dungeons would be nearly purposeless, lest they’re mobile like Dolli’s and can rove over villages—which would be helpless without the protection heroes.

No. They did far more harm than good wherever they went. Heroes treated Hafheim like a playground, like their actions had no consequences. The world would be better off without them.

“Will you still help me, knowing that your fate could be eternal boredom when I succeed?” Dolli asked the pensive wyvern.

Nubiri dipped her head. “You’re my Overlord.”

Dolli looked at the wyvern with a devilish grin. “Hold on, say that again?”

Nubiri snorted, blowing tendrils of green smoke out her nose. “No.”

The wyvern launched from the tortoise head, pushing it down a measure as she did. She turned against the night sky and disappeared into the clouds.

Dolli’s grin widened. “She called me Overlord.”

Dolli opened her chat menu and sent a dungeon-wide message.

Dolli: We have an opportunity to banish heroes from Hafheim. This opportunity would take us deep into hero territory on a perilous quest, but our reward would be freedom from their raids, and the peace to do what we wish.

I want you all to take the night to consider what you would like to do, and bring me your paper votes in the morning.

She patted TK_Tortoise’s head. “What say you, TK_Tortoise?”

Images of hero raids, grand battles, laughter after a successful rebuff, and shared drinks. Along with them came a fond feeling, and then loss. Images of empty maze halls, unsprang traps, and lethargic monsters filled her mind.

Dolli harumphed. “We’ll still party when they’re gone. We don’t need heroes to have a purpose.”

[JH1]I kinda want a pun, not something boring.