Chapter 3: The Fortress of Dwarves
And so we marched. I couldn't say how many roaches bravely charged forward to fight for the Queen. The dwarves buried themselves deep in the mountains hording troves of gold and old world technology. They were mostly docile enough as long as you stayed away. However, the dwarven kingdom of Naphelia was next in line to become part of our empire. They would add their own unique lives to our own, or that was at least what the Queen would say. Although, I never saw her, I knew she was there. I could smell her sweet aroma wherever we were, and it would always lead back home to the center of the empire.
In order to capture the kingdom of Naphelia, our forces would have to set up a siege. Their gates were a thousand meters thick. Gears of bronze and lava-mills kept their kingdom running. However, they were entirely dependent on trade for their food supply. The dwarves themselves were small and weak, but their minds were not so.
When we finally arrived to the siege, we felt chills in our bones both inside and out due to the excitement of it all. We finally had the chance to prove our worth to the Queen. There must have been millions of roaches there in order to take the city. A large scale effort as the empire knew their defenses would hold strong. And not just roaches were involved. Dark sorcerers and knights with reputations of brutality and sadism joined our side. Trolls and wyverns joined with us under the control of the Queen. Trebuchets were pushed through and assembled in record time. Stockpiles of food, weapons, and artillery were brought in. So much preparation for so little affect.
Brother and I made it a couple of steps. The next thing I knew, he was blown away. A blast coming from the gate blew right threw him like it was nothing. It looked like a strike of lightning. The blast only pushed me away, but Brother was gone in an instant. There wasn't even a trace of a body. I began to panic. The dwarves were doing something unthinkable. They opened the gates to show armies of giant, bronze creatures coming out. Lightning shot out of their arms. They walked like men, but had the foot stomps of giants. And along the gates, giant mounted crossbows fired bolts of lightning where they stood.
Roaches charged forward chanting, "Glory to the Queen! For the Queen! For the Queen's Empire!"
But those chants quickly turned to either screams of pain or utter silence. The armies of roaches turned from the millions to the thousands in minutes. The trolls were even easier to hit. The wyverns thought that they could take to the skies, but the bolts of lightning went through them, too. It was a slaughter. They had kept technology from the rest of the world that no other had obtained or invented. By using technology from the old world, they had created weapons that could destroy hordes of enemies. They knew we would come and they were ready.
You may ask what I did during this. I didn't try to fight for glory. I fought to stay alive. I tried to take cover behind boulders and the bodies of other roaches. Dirt, blood, and mud mixed together. When the hordes of roaches did get far enough, they were able to attack the bronze giants, but our swords and crossbows were ineffective against them. We fired volleys of arrows at them, but they did nothing. Even if they stuck inside of them, they kept moving as if they didn't feel a thing.
I had to think of a way to salvage the situation.
I tried to recall information about the dwarves that I read up on at the library. Their fortresses were usually impenetrable, but there were flaws. Every one of these mountains had an extra exit for their king to escape through if they did fail in keeping their throne. And that exit could be used as a secret entrance.
But I had no way of knowing where that entrance would be.
And then suddenly, one of the generals picked me and pushed me forward.
"Charge, roach! Get out there and kill for our Queen!" he shouted, "For glory!"
And the next moment, he was shot by one of the bolts of lightning.
As more roaches charged forward with their swords in hand, I had no choice but to charge forward hoping that I wouldn't get blown to pieces. I knew what my duty was. I knew my purpose. It was to fight for the Queen. I couldn't go back lest I be killed by my own superiors.
Bolts of lightning were fired at every direction. Our arrows flew all around. To my dismay, some even hit our own roaches.
And as I charged alongside my fellow roaches, we came upon one of those bronze giants. It had eyes shining bright blue. There was no face. Just a mindless creature created only to kill. I took my blade and tried to hit it, but my blade snapped in two immediately after I did. It tried to fire a bolt of lightning at me, but I dodged and picked up another blade from the ground. I tried to stab into the opening that I could find between the knees. It was a tiny slit, but just enough for my blade to fit. And as I did, the creature's leg began to break and fall apart. I felt like I had cut some arteries, but instead of blood, lava and electricity sparked out. The creature was disabled, but still moving as if still had it's leg. I climbed aboard it's back and began to stab it at the opening in the armpits. More lava and electricity flowed out. Whatever this monster was, it still had weaknesses just like any other armored creature.
As I watched the battle, the odds were stacked against us. But as time passed, the bronze giants were being overwhelmed. Roaches swarmed over them like a wave. We may have lost a lot, but our sheer numbers and willingness to fight gave us the advantage at the end.
The gates closed leaving whatever bronze giants which were outside to die. The dwarves hid behind a wall as they fired more bolts of lightning from their crossbows.
It took time and luck, but I reached the gates without getting killed. By that time, the other roaches began to climb up the gate. When I tried to crawl up the walls, my fingers sharpened and stuck to the walls. Each one of us started to crawl over each other. Our numbers dwindled, but this was my purpose. To fight for the Queen and give her the satisfaction of glorious victory.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone