Chapter 4: Book II. Chapter 3
Inir Noen. Derergon's Solution. A Talk with Inrag.
Hmm ... this bug has a high level. He was somewhat smaller than most of his relatives, but he possessed hands and torso—like those of the two-legged. A small metal shield hung on his back, which Grolm was attentively watching, and a scabbard with a sword was attached to his belt.
There was no hatred or anger in his eyes. Only fatigue and a little kindness appeared in them when he looked at Inir. His two faceplates were slightly faded and looked like Hyde's mustache. And it was clear that all the other spikers unquestioningly did everything that the old man said.
"Alright." Derergon raised his hand to silence the spikers, and Inrag duplicated the order. After that, the leader of the mercenaries turned to the beetles' doctor. "Your beliefs are hard enough, so I think you will be a great ruler for your whole race."
"But how?" Inir was confused. "I'm just a doctor, and I didn't beat either Narr Nutt or you."
"You wanted to change everything here, didn't you? Don't say that you didn't, I wouldn't believe it." The mercenary smiled. "So fate gave you a chance."
"Der, are you sure?" Garadan asked his commander. "We are losing such great power."
"I'm sure, Gard. We'll manage without this power," said Derergon, before adding, "And your grandfather will help you with it."
"I will be honored." The old man nodded, looking into Derergon's eyes.
"You are very much alike." The leader of the mercenaries answered the unspoken question and continued the conversation with Inir. "He has enough experience to help you in this difficult matter."
"How come?" The spikers were surprised.
"Why him?"
"Are you kidding?"
"However, I have several conditions," continued Derergon. "No more wars. They do too much harm to the first level of our cave. Small bugs that appear near the exit to the surface suffer not only from the rippers but also from other creatures from the surface
A number of species have disappeared because of these wars, including the Karkants. Only one was left, and he was on our side. And despite his low level, you could see what he was capable of.
If we had not fought, then there would have been many warriors like Sel Er on our side against the rippers. Remember who kills us, who takes our lives, and who brings the count of rebirths down to zero."
"Rippers!" shouted one of the spikers.
"Precisely," the mercenary leader confirmed.
"I think we are going to have a hard time right now," the magician whispered in the elf's ear.
"Quite possibly," the archer agreed. "But I still do not think it will come to that."
"Relax." Lintirionel grinned. "Nothing terrible will happen. Sel Er will not allow that."
"But you shouldn't forget that not all of them are bad and not all of them have come to kill us," said Derergon. "There are those who can take our side, which will significantly increase our chances of survival. So my second condition will be the conclusion of peace between the mercenaries and the spikers—as well as with the two-legged."
"An interesting idea." Inrag grinned. "I feel, Kroark Karak, when he finds out that we are now friends with the two-legged, will choke on his poison."
"That's very interesting." The elf smiled, considering her further plans, the likelihood of accomplishment of which was now significantly higher. It only remained to get to the second level, to the treasury.
"All the subtleties of drawing up the contract will come a little later, and now it is necessary to release the gravediggers," said Derergon.
"They are kept nearby," said Inrag. "Inir will show you the way."
We went after the spiker doctor, and Skal just burned with impatience, because he was so eager to see his relatives. On the contrary, Mohr was absolutely calm, and only thoughtfulness betrayed his slight excitement. However, he could think not only about meeting with other gravediggers.
"Tell me about Inir," Derergon asked when everyone else had gone. "He's not really a spiker, is he?"
"Ehh." The old man sighed. "I had hoped you wouldn't notice."
"Spikers have never had healing abilities, so it was most logical to assume that he is not one of them," the leader of the mercenaries explained.
"It is strange that other spikers did not have these assumptions, and if they did, they preferred to remain silent."
"He's half Karkant, isn't he?" the mercenary said, looking inquiringly at the old man.
"His mother was a Karkant." Inrag nodded. "It was from her that he inherited these abilities, which I tried to hide, but at some point, I did not succeed."
"Why hide such talent?" Derergon was surprised.
"I don't know why I am saying this to you, but something tells me that you can be trusted - even though we were enemies a couple of hours ago," said the commander of the spikers. "His father was the previous ruler of spikers, and he was my son. Their family did not happen to last long.
Narr Nutt defeated my son and wounded him severely during the fight. Ghin knew that I would take revenge on the new ruler, and he did not want that to happen, so he asked me to protect the family.
Narr Nutt would not allow the former ruler to live among the rest, and he could kill his family if my son took them with him. However, he could not do this, because he knew that the warriors could not obey the orders of the new ruler, but they would do everything their commander ordered them to do. But we have underestimated Narr Nutt.
When Ghin left, he was able to lure Riniorla out of the town several months later. She missed her lover too much, so she didn't hear the voice of reason.
Narr Nutt killed her and put all the blame on the Karkants, accusing them of the incident. The spikers respected their previous ruler, and a deep rage flared in them.
I tried to explain that Narr Nutt lied, but the new ruler had already earned enough trust among all the people, so they did not listen to me.
The new ruler pursued his own goals, which I would not know, and the spikers always had a warlike temper, so they joined the war.
Thanks to the numerous artifacts of Narr Nutt, we won, but the price was high. However, you already know that. Many were wounded, it was hard for Inir to look at that, and he healed one of the warriors.
It was then that Narr Nutt learned about his abilities. Considering this ability to be a very entertaining acquisition, he ordered several warriors to follow my grandson all the time.
And I could do nothing - the only thing I could at least do was to protect my grandson, Inir. Still, in terms of levels, I was inferior only to Narr Nutt and Karag Garak.
"That's interesting," the mercenary leader wondered. "However, I think that the reason for the war with the Karkants lies in something else. Too much is still incomprehensible, but I am sure that the rippers with whom Narr Nutt dealt are directly involved in all the troubles of our dungeon."
"If we assume that their goal was to unleash war, then the question immediately arises - why do they need it?" Inrag folded his paws in front of him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone