Part 72

As we walked through the caves that lied underneath Dram, I kept on looking at the dwarves and Askalaad in particular, just to make sure they weren't planning on using violence against us. There was a chance, after all, that they couldn't be trusted.

I was glad to have been allowed to walk in the back of the group, so I could watch them closely. So far, the plan to look friendly worked. However, even if my instincts told me to back off of the Lazarus dwarves, my mind told me to push forward with the plan. If I could convince them to work for me, or maybe even coerce them into joining my army, then perhaps I didn't have to look at them with caution.

Immortality was a boon I couldn't ignore, after all. All of my monsters were capable of respawning, so death wasn't something I needed to watch out for. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for myself or Hazel.

Luckily, Askalaad didn't take me or Hazel as a threat, though he didn't think the same of Icarus. As we walked, Akalaad kept on sneaking a few glances at him, though he did so quickly and without much movement.

"Why don't you tell us about Dram, Askalaad?" I suggested. Askalaad turned his gaze away from Icarus as he looked up at me, then he smiled softly.

"Yes, that's a rather good idea," Askalaad said. He looked away from us and turned his gaze back to the tunnel, "I suppose I should start with Dram's origins. Dram itself is thousands of years old, even outdating some of the first humans. In the past, the land above us was lush with flora and food. It was a paradise on Woroch, one that we weren't able to keep. With the humans came other races, such as dragons and demons."

"Dragons and demons," I muttered. I looked back at Askalaad, then asked, "Does that mean some races are older than others?"

"Yes," Askalaad said as he nodded, "Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. Every race has a different history, so you'll hear a different story if you ask the elves. However, as far as the dwarves know, all of the races were created in different ways other than the originals."

"The originals?" Hazel echoed, "Are humans or dwarves not among those?"

"If you ask the elves, they are," Askalaad said, "Although, the dwarven texts say something different. The origin races, the three magical ones, came long before anyone else. The dragons, for example, are Edera's original race. In the beginning, this continent belonged to them. We're not sure how they were created, nor how they. We're just invaders. Demons came from Omealaes, the dark continent, and sailed here on ships of metal a few centuries after humans came around. Fairies came from Aihorus, the continent of light, at around the same time and flew across the ocean as the sun rose."

"The Dark continent? The continent of light? What do you mean?" I asked.

"We do not know," Askalaad said with a gruff voice, "The historical texts never explained the reason to us. The continent of light and the dark continent are just what they are called. Even today, we call them by that name and rarely ever use their given names."

I looked at Hazel, who just shrugged at me.

"I never heard of them called by that name," Hazel told me. I felt confused as I turned back to Askalaad, then assumed it had something to do with the cultural differences.

"How do your history books explain the origin of the other races?" I asked. Askalaad turned to me, a frown upon his face.

"Do you want to learn about Dram, or do you want to go over the history of the world?" He asked. I froze, then nodded.

"Sorry," I said with a quiet voice. Askalaad nodded, then turned away from me. As soon as his gaze left my figure, my expression disappeared. I felt annoyed that I couldn't ask more, but stopped myself when I remembered that I needed to be on good terms with these dwarves.

"The dragons treated us well, so long as we didn't aggravate them," Askalaad said, "On occasion, they even traded us some of their jewels or magical items for some alcohol or other luxurious items. The dragons were very honorable. When one of them made a promise to you, they would never break it. A few of them would forget, as they tend to be forgetful creatures, but they would never mind if a small dwarf would remind them over a small thing. The dragons weren't the type of race to hold very much value over anything other races would need to survive, such as food or water. Instead, they loved gold, jewels, and anything magical. The ones that Dram had to deal with, the brown dragons, were as sturdy as they were tolerant of alcohol."

I nodded, a small smile upon my face as Askalaad complimented my race. Askalaad laughed as he spoke, but his voice soon turned sorrowful.

"When the great war began, Dram was just one of many to stay in hiding," Askalaad said, "When the dragon races looked upon the continent of Edera, they saw the carnage and decided to fight."

"The dragons did? Out of all creatures to go to the aide of others, I would've expected dragons to be the first to turn the other direction," Hazel said as she looked at Askalaad with a confused expression.

"Dragons live too long to care about other races," Askalaad said, "It's simply not in their blood. You will never find a dragon that feels the same sorrow we feel when a loved one dies. They can build friendships and fall in love, but their sorrow and sadness are fleeting feelings compared to our sorrow and sadness. It's not about the other races, Ms. Hazel, but the continent itself."

"Property?" I muttered. Askalaad nodded.

"Property. The dragons at the time considered the whole of Edera as their property. When they saw it destroyed, they responded with outrage," Askalaad said, "From red dragons, the most wrathful of the dragon races, to green dragons, the most feeble, all dragons responded the same. In the end, though, it got them all killed. With no dragons around, we had nobody to protect us. We were defenseless against the armies of an entire continent. It didn't take long for the mountain to fall under attack."

"Who?"

"Demons," Askalaad responded, "Demons were the ones that started the great war, as far as we know. When they attacked, they did so with the aid of the human armies. We were forced to burrow underground and lock the doors. Over time, our elderly started dying. It was a tough time for us. I was only a boy at the time, so I hardly remember it, but I do remember the struggle we had to push through."

"You were only a boy?" Hazel gasped, "How old does that make you?"

"Ha!" Askalaad laughed, "I stopped counting once I reached three thousand. Anyways, with our dead piling up upon the streets, one of our researchers came to us with a solution."

"The Lazarus fungus?" I asked. Askalaad nodded.

"The Lazarus fungus is famous," Hazel said, "Even the surface knows about it, but every single one of the corpses the fungus has taken over has been wild and unpredictable. They act on just their instincts. How did you manage to keep your sanity?"

Askalaad looked at Hazel in silence for a moment before he answered.

"I don't know," Askalaad answered. Both Hazel and I looked at each other for a moment, confused, before Askalaad broke the silence, "It's the honest truth. Lazarus didn't react the same way to us as it would've to others. We were able to keep our sanity, though our identity is another thing entirely. When Lazarus was first used against us, a few of us reacted in the same way you'd expect. They turned violent and couldn't be controlled. A few were taken into custody, as we didn't know what was happening to them, but a few others had to be killed on the spot because of their strength. We were lucky that we had a few holy priests with us. Most of the others lost their personalities, almost like they turned into entirely new people, and a few others lost all of their memories. I was only a boy when Lazarus was given to me."

"Wait, what? How did you age then? Shouldn't the fungus have stopped that?" Hazel asked.

"It took time, I'll admit. However, after a few years, we learned how to control it. Sometimes, it's automatic. When we die, we come back to life. Other times, such as when we get injured, we can focus all of our concentration on the injury and heal it faster than the Lazarus fungus would've healed it normally. When we age, we can choose to keep our bodies old, or we could make them younger again. Some of the dwarves prefer an older look while a few others prefer a younger one. I know a mage that prefers to stay in his childish body."

"Once the count of our dead stopped, we began to turn our attention back to Dram. Most of Dram was abandoned, so we expanded deeper into the mountain. With no need for food or water, we no longer needed to travel to the surface," Askalaad said, "It was a game changer for us, one that allowed us to completely rebuild."