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Antarctica, 1301. Continued...
All was quiet for some time, as they watched the goblins slowly break the ice.
“Magnus?”
The dwarf turned around from his shame and faced his friend; his eyes were still somewhat watery and red from crying, regardless of his recent speech defending his decision of keeping the iron ring within his possession.
“Yes, lad?” he replied.
“Considering this be the last time we speak for a while,” Kain continued, trying not to laugh. “I was wondering, where is the legendary dwarven blacksmith’s noble stead?”
Magnus smiled then, knowing his friend was trying to buy himself some more time. The breaking of the final layer of ice was soon to crack, leaving him to get on and do the final step in his deal with the devil.
“Darla?” the dwarf grunted. “The old sow should be here soon enough—how else am I supposed to get home, anyways? But don’t worry; she’s always on time, that one—unless she found a nice mud puddle to crawl into.”
Kain chuckled, and Magnus joined in, to which then they heard a loud grunt and heavy cough that was more like snore approach them from behind. Magnus turning and facing the wind began to see the outline of a four-legged creature trudging along towards him. A large, black, and ivory spotted dire-boar, with radian large tusks then came forward. The creature wore a saddle upon her back and swung it gleefully as she saw her master in the distance. Kain could hear the bore’s enormous footsteps and continued to chuckle to himself.
“That be Darla?” Kain asked.
“Yes,” Magnus replied, smiling. “That be her, alright.”
Darla raced forward and plowed into her master, dropping him onto the floor and soon, the dwarf was covered in dire-bore drool.
“Darla, please girl! Stop!” Magnus said with a laugh. “Look girl, look! Over there be Kain!”
The dire-bore then hobbled over towards the tied crusader and began licking him like an excited puppy dog. But this feeling of joy only lasted a moment, for Darla then smelt the accents of the dwarf’s dwarven metal chains wrapped around the crusader. Immediately she became aggravated, and began to grunt angrily towards Magnus.
“Listen girl!” the dwarf replied to the bore. “This is something you’d not understand.”
The bore grunted louder.
“Listen,” he continued. “Trust me when I say that we will come back for him, I promise. This is only temporary, trust me girl.”
The bore then continued grunting again, and then slowly began to calm down. She then walked away, whip-like tail planted high in the air away from Magnus. Magnus shook his head as he’d seen this, and watched as the dire-boar found a quiet spot to lie for the time being. As all this occurred, Kain continued to watch as the goblins made great headroom with the ice in the distance. He’d hoped that Magnus wouldn’t notice.
“Sometimes I rightfully don’t understand that pig,” Magnus said. “It’s like she has almost human emo—”
That was when the ice cracked below both of the goblin’s feet. The dwarf turned to see the goblins jumping for joy upon finishing their appointed task. There was a look of dread upon the dwarf’s face then, for he knew what needed to be done next.
“The time has come...” Magnus said. “Best be quick about it—hey! Don’t be thinking you're through yet, ya spawns of Satan!”
The dwarf then pointed towards Kain, then towards the box.
“Finish what ya started...”
The goblins listened reluctantly, and did what they were told; pulling—dragging Kain to the oaken casket, then placing him carefully inside. Laying within the box, though comfortable for the situation, the crusader felt like his heart was ready to jump right out through his throat. He looked up at the dwarf then. The eyes of a judgmental friend glaring at the injustice that was occurring before him.
“You’d be comfortable within this box, trust me.” Magnus said. “It’s lined with a soft and plushy metal I created to keep moisture out—if you’d be thinking that you’d drown after we dunk you into the ice.”
“You expect me not to scream or go mad inside this box? Dropping me safely within the ice or not, I don’t know how long I could personally take off this sort of solitary.” Kain replied.
“Thought of that as well,” the dwarf replied.
He then dropped the pack he’d been carrying, and took from deep within its contents, a circular orb that seemed fused with plant-life features. The dwarf placed it in front of the crusader so that he could see the object more clearly.
“For the lack of a better thing to call it,” the dwarf continued. “It’s called a ''Sleeper.” What it does is exactly that. After I light the fuse, I'll drop it here within the box and have you knocked off a few winks in no time. The frozen tundra will do the rest as nature intended.”
“This is madness...”
“No, it’s merely supernatural.” the dwarf said. “We can do things that others can’t and get away with it, until, that is, either party decides to call us home. That's the price we pay for being other than human, my friend. Which is to say once more that I am truly sorry about all this? I wish there could be—”
“Please, “ Kain interrupted. “Not again. Just get it over with.”
“Fair enough...” replied Magnus, and dropped the Sleeper into the box, not yet lighting the fuse.
The dwarf then turned to goblins and urged them to come forward and finish the task.
“Drag the box close,” Magnus said, pointing towards the hole in the ice. “I’ll seal it myself. There is only one more thing that I need to do.”
The dwarf watched as the two goblins whined, but did their jobs effectively. They dragged the box holding Kain towards the end of the hole and waited for further instructions.
“Good,” the dwarf then said, looking at the goblins. “Very good.”
He then slung the blunderbuss over his shoulder and blasted—nearly unloaded—three rounds into one of the goblins. The goblin to the right, the one now dripping with greenish-brown blood and filled with a smattering of tiny holes, dropped to his knees, and fell over; landing squaring into the hole within the lake of ice that he’d just dug out. The goblin to the left, the one that saw his brother decimated, then hesitated in shock, before deciding to lunge forward with large fangs and claws towards the dwarf. Magnus was prepared for this, and saw that he stepped forward at the right moment, placed the barrel of the blunderbuss under the goblin’s chin, to which he retracted a long silver blade from the rifle’s chamber.
Kain heard the shattering of bone explode upon impact, but did not see the gruesome aftermath. Instead, he saw the dwarf hurl the corpse of the goblin into the hole in the ice, then kicked the other one—the one that was there before they’d arrive in after it. Magnus then stepped forward and hovered over Kain’s box.
“Ok,” he said; his face covered with goblin blood-splatter. “Let's get this over with...”
Magnus then lit the fuse of the sleeper, and closed the lid of the casket.