He held up the Taglock, and Major Infraction fumed before turning around. Joe thought she was going to storm off, but instead she only lifted her helmet to expose her head. “Do it. Know that you will never repay me for this.”
“Success is its own reward, Major.” Joe jabbed the Taglock forward as he stated the mantra of the Dwarven Oligarchy. An eye oozed off of it and grew in size, consuming the Major’s flesh until it had created a lovely eye socket for itself. Through the entire process, the Dwarf didn’t even flinch.
“That's… it?” She turned and rolled all three eyes at him. “What kind of a puny constitution do you have in that frail body? I’m assigning you an escort if you’re planning on joining this battle. Captain! Get over here!”
Another Dwarf ran over, and Joe saw something that confused him. Half of the teal-colored mustache on her face was ragged, as if it had gotten caught in a door and yanked out. The Major pointed at the Captain. “Joe, this Is Captain Cleavage. Her axe skills are unparalleled. As an example, she’s able to cleave through three Hammer Beasts with a single blow. She will be escorting you, so make sure she can see.”
The Major walked away, and Joe looked at the Captain. “Captain… Cleavage. Um. Okay. Do you accept that assignment? I’ll admit I’ve been feeling a little exposed, and a teammate would be pretty helpful.”
“I look forward to impressing you with my reach. Always ensure you are behind me; anyone who can clearly see my cleavage is slain by it,” she stoically informed him. A double-bladed axe was strapped to her back, the sharp portion extending over her head and the shaft almost dragging on the ground as she walked. “I’m actually looking forward to having eyes in the back of my head, so let’s do this.”
“An eye.” Joe told her, getting no response. “Not… it’s not eyes.”
Already unsure of his new companion, Joe poked the Taglock into the back of her head, and an eye grew to full size before locking on him. He moved around, but the eye only watched him. “How are you controlling where it looks?”
“I’ve had practice focusing.” Joe paused at her words, but… he wasn’t sure if he had just been insulted. It was hard to tell, with Dwarven culture being what it was.
After looking around for the other people that were supposed to be getting an eye and not finding them, Joe realized that all the troops and leaders had entered the tunnels already. More reinforcements had arrived, yet the tunnels obviously hadn’t widened; the line was starting to slow. Joe waved at the Captain, and they hurried to the front of the queued-up warriors. Though they got a few dirty looks—only noticeable thanks to the eyes watching behind them—no one questioned their right to be there.
The tunnels themselves were straight and sharp, lined with broken volcanic stone and obsidian. Brushing against them meant a sure way to take terrain damage, which slowed the Legion ever further. Forced to follow the path and wait, they could only move forward at a non-enhanced human’s running speed; far slower than most of these Dwarves even usually bothered to walk. Though the mountain was massive, thanks to hundreds of years of volcanic eruptions and growth, the tunnel eventually widened out into a sight Joe was familiar with.
They had entered the cavern.
The hollowed-out space was illuminated by the lava flows and dancing lights, which allowed Joe to see the raging war that he had walked in on. Hulking earth elementals slammed hammers of stone onto golems and automatons; spells and arrows fought for air supremacy with crossbow and ballista bolts; and the walls of the fort were being reduced to rubble by hammers, while simultaneously being repaired by mages specializing in earth spells.
“Our troops are being pushed back,” Captain Cleave—as Joe forced himself to think of her—summed up the situation succinctly. “Perhaps if they had been getting constant reinforcements, they would have had the opportunity to penetrate the defenses of the fortress.”
Joe let the eye on his head turn to look at her, meeting the single eye staring at him. That made him feel slightly sick, so he ‘looked’ away. “I strongly feel that this was the right thing to do.”
“I hope we can learn the truth of the matter together, and study it after surviving this battle.” She blithely stated, forcing Joe to take a deep, calming breath. Before he could retort, a howl rolled through the cavern. Joe had never heard such fury in a single statement, but he knew the voice. Major General Havoc was on the warpath.
“You want to retreat? You… filthy cowards!”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Havoc was not having fun. His troops weren’t listening to him. If they needed to die so that Francine would get out here, then they would die. His shouts were so loud that even the war itself could not stifle the echoes that rang through the cavern. “Traitors, every one of you! I… this isn’t going to happen! Not again! I don’t need troops. I told them I didn’t need troops! I warned them… I warned you all!
A silver orb appeared in his hands, and he crushed it with a single squeeze. In an instant, his form was obscured by a dense cloud of silver smoke. The people around him noticed what he was doing and screamed, turning to run immediately. Only the fastest of them, the
