A solid month passed by with no other hindrances. And the Keeper was ready to move the dungeon again. A small sample of volcanic rock was obtained, and Shadowsbane did not recognize the scent at all. It would be completely new territory. Shade was informed, and scouting shadows were sent. What they found out was very interesting. The area housed a very powerful artifact that boosted the power of any Keeper that held it. And it was being guarded by some very nasty monsters.
There was a strategic meeting being done on how to either get past them or defeat them. The Keeper had moved the dungeon to a location that was just outside of the main detection range of the volcanic region. It was proven that any that took one physical step into the area was quickly found out and hunted down. The monsters were relentless in their ancient duty. The Keeper thought it would be interesting to catch one to use for his cause. He just wasn't sure if they could be tortured into submission.
"We should see if one can be obtained for My dungeon," the Keeper droned out from a Possessed Warlock. "Perhaps we can trap one?"
"It may be possible," Horny mused. Saithe was settled in his lap from where he sat in his throne. They were in a specialized conference room that was newly constructed. Shade was standing to the right of the throne. Orphek was standing on the left as a silent guard. As much as he hated being a guard dog, he had almost direct access to see Saithe. And quite a few were very jealous over this.
"I'm hungry!" Saithe scowled. Her belly had stretched considerably within that month. Horny judged she had another week or two left before she gave birth.
"You heard her," Horny smirked at Orphek. The Dark Angel muttered, but he grabbed the plate of hearts that was waiting nearby from an offered shadow. Moving to hold it out for her, Horny reached over to grab the largest one to give her. She only allowed him to feed her.
"They don't seem to detect shadows, but I must make sure that the lighting is dim enough for them," Shade said. "These monsters are lava based, so they generate their own glow. I can tolerate some light, but too much will even keep me away. I could see about small distractions with enough shadowed areas."
"Hmm. That could work," the Keeper mused.
"We could have a jail set up somewhere nearby," Saithe said, as she chewed. "Set up the bait in the jail. Lure the thing in and shut the gate. Once it's trapped, it's ours. Right? Or no?"
"You may be right," Shade said. "We need to test it."
"Orphek," Saithe said in a point-blank way. "Try and walk into the jail and see if you can get out. If you can't do either, then we'll know."
"What?" the Dark Angel asked. At her mild glare at him, he scowled and set the plate of hearts down. He knew that, if he complained, he could lose his position. He was quite literally her servant right now. Horny and Shade grinned wickedly.
"If you don't come back in five minutes, I'll have Father bring you back," she called out, as he left. Then she looked at her father and grinned. "Wait ten minutes."
Shade started laughing now. Horny was snickering like crazy. The Keeper was quite amused, but he was the one that brought Orphek back the moment the experiment failed. Orphek couldn't simply walk into the jail.
"It would seem that we need one to move into My dungeon territory first. Then it would be susceptible to My whims," the Keeper grumbled out. "That means it would need to be defeated. Then I can do what I need."
"Good. I'll get to beat up something!" Orphek snorted. Saithe seemed to glance away with disdain. Shade was already working on luring one of the massive, fiery creatures onto their territory area. The only problem was that the creature was smart. It seemed to resemble on over-sized, curly-horned stone golem with glowing lava lines in the form of muscle veins all over it. When it got mad, it hurled a fireball and left a trail of fire as it walked. It seemed to resemble Horny, but it was made of stone.
It made no vocal sounds when it moved, as it lacked a mouth. Even the joints it had were perfectly made to keep from grinding together, and lava seemed to fill all the cracks that would make the joints. Glowing red eyes glared out in an unblinking way when it moved back to its general location to guard the artifact. There were four of these things. The Keeper wanted all four.
"We may need to make a stone bridge to build over the lava barriers," Horny said. "Then our Imps will be able to start taking over what they can once they have proper access. If we have them go in at all possible areas, it will be much easier."
"You may be correct," the Keeper nodded. "To attack from all sides…"
"I'm working on it," Shade said. The Trolls in the Workshop were now building the bridge parts that were needed. Now the Imps set the finished bridge parts into the lava easily. This irritated the guardians. The tactic also worked.
The moment one of them stepped foot on the bridge, it was considered in the Keeper's territory. His minions were swift to attack and bring the creature down. If all four were together, the attack would have failed. When they were separated, being overwhelmed was the main weakness. Once it was in the jail to be studied closely, Horny was able to bring Saithe with him to see what it was all about. The moment the lava creature saw Saithe, it seemed to pause.
There was something about her that it liked. It wasn't a sexual likeness, but it was more of a protecting need. It was losing something that it protected for ages. It now found something else to guard. When Horny went to pull Saithe away, the creature tried to follow in an almost obedient way. When it stopped at the bars, it scraped a stony hand over them to get their attention. At how it watched her, she realized something. I actually feel somewhat guarded. Now she seemed to get the sensation that she was being protected.
"Wait," Saithe said when she saw the stern gaze. "I think…it wants to follow us."
"What?" Horny asked her.
"Look at it. It's looking at me," she said. "And the sensation I'm getting…hmm. I need to test something. Put me down."
"I don't know," he growled. She patted his shoulder, and he relented. Now he saw what she meant. The lava creature was trying to follow her around. When Horny studied this, he realized one thing. It likely couldn't sleep. At how it was around her, he noticed that it did want to guard her. She would have a far better way to be protected when I was away. He was now highly amused at this.
"My mate," she said and pointed at Horny. "He is my equal."
The lava monster noticed her condition and seemed to nod. That surprised Horny. It understood her. The Keeper was watching everything silently from his invisible state. This was completely unexpected. Instead of obeying him, it would be obeying her. Now he saw that, in order to get close to her, he would have to Possess Horny. There would be no other way now.
"Saithe," Shade said when he appeared. "What is going on?"
"I think I gained another servant," she grinned wickedly. "My Father. He is an ally. So is the large black dragon here. All are allies unless I say so. I can also let you use your best judgment, but my word comes first."
The creature nodded again, and the Keeper let it out. It moved right behind her to stand behind her. Wherever she went, it was ready to follow.
"I like this better than Orphek," Horny smirked.
"You have three others like you. Can you get them, too?" Saithe asked it. She noticed that it gave off a sensation of disdain. "Ah. We have to do what we did to you?"
It gave off another sensation of disdain. She frowned at this. Horny grumbled out, "It sucks that it can't talk."
"I…can…" the creature grounded out carefully by making odd noise movements from its body. "Just…hard…"
"That's fine. Only talk when needed. I get what you say by what you give off in sensations," she nodded. "However, I do want to know why you feel as you do about the others. Why do you think this?"
"Not…worthy…" it said.
"And, if they fight each other? Or you?" Horny asked. It seemed to glare at him.
"A better question. Are they your equals?" she asked.
"Yes…" it said. "Long…ago…we…fought. For…years. Then…stopped."
"Better to work together?" Shade asked. The creature nodded.
"Do you have a name?" Saithe asked. It shook its head. It never needed a name. "Would you object if I named you?"
"No…" it said.
"Let's wait and see if the other three join us. We can do something then," Horny said. When Orphek appeared, the creature moved to bar him off. It sensed a nasty vibe from the Dark Angel, even though it was told that all were allies. It was told to use its best judgment. This was what it decided to do. To keep the Dark Angel away from her. Horny grinned widely and said, "Okay. I like this thing! We'll keep it around."
"He gained his right to be my champion and guard," Saithe muttered out to it. The creature didn't like that at all. When she coughed and clutched her belly at a savage kick, Horny was quick to lift her to settle over his shoulders. Now it looked over at her.
"She's pregnant with my offspring. Occasionally, it causes her discomfort. It can't be helped. And, no, I will not have it removed," Horny warned. The lava creature nodded at this, but didn't move its unblinking glare from Orphek. "And I take it you don't like him. I don't like him, either, but he did win a challenging fight with multiple others to remain with us as her servant."
"A…slave…?" it asked. Orphek fumed at that and snarled out.
"Not really," she sighed. "He seems to desire me. Since he can't have me, he decided to try and be close in another way."
The lava creature gave a complete sensation of intense dislike. Now it readied to fight. Shade snickered softly and backed away. Horny smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. Saithe blinked her black eyes slowly and sighed. The hard kick she endured did not sit well with her.
"I don't need to fight you!" Orphek snapped. The creature glowered and stomped down to filter lava out and dissolve the floor in front of it. It knocked out a complete hallway floor section to keep from being followed. The Dark Angel glared with shock.
"Not…worthy…" it grounded out and turned to follow Saithe. At the sound of fluttering wings, it turned quickly and pulled up its arm to block a sword attack. On being solid stone, the blade didn't even sink into anything. However, a lava vein in its arm pulsed and seemed to slightly dull the edge of the blade with a slight hint of melting.
"I have wings!" he growled and moved to punch it. Within a split second, the stony face of the creature was enveloped in hot magma. Orphek was now nursing a badly burned fist. Horny was howling with laughter.
"Burn…!" the creature grounded out and let the flooring under Orphek start to heat up and melt away. The Dark Angel shouted and fell backwards into the lava when he lost his footing. The Keeper, however, had swiftly plucked his minion out of harm's way and set him in his Lair to rest and recover. The Keeper was now going to see what he could do to boost his prime minion's defenses to regain his spot at Saithe's side.
"Not worthy. Indeed…" Saithe said and yawned. The creature nodded and turned to follow her. Then it paused with a form of rage. The other three were caught and jailed. And they all noticed Saithe. They all came to the same conclusion to guard her, and only one wanted to be the primary to guard her. The moment the three other lava creatures were released from the jail, they clashed with each other to prove which the better was. It was an old instinct they had. "Horny. Put me down again."
"No," he growled and strode forward with her. "Say what you need to on me."
"Stop fighting. Now," she commanded. The four creatures stopped and looked at her. "Yes, I get it. You all want to protect me now. It's fine. I'll have four protectors. I don't care. All of you are worthy to me. However, I will give you four names. There must be something distinctive about you all that sets you apart."
The four creatures glanced at each other. The first one that was caught now came up to her side and revealed a small chip in its right horn at the first curl. Then she noticed that the horns were different on them all. They all had two horns, but there were at least two spiraled curls going out and back from their foreheads. They were displayed differently to show their originality in creation.
"So, you have a chip. You have your horns curling inwards. Yours are outwards. And yours are the longest," Horny mused at them.
"Very well. You are now called Izaak," she said to the first one. "You, with the longest horns. You are now Drizik. The one with the inward horns will be Erizus. And, the one with outward horns will be Uzok."
The four actually felt a tolerance of each other now. They settled into an easy pace to follow her. Then Horny smirked and said, "If any try to be at her side, feel free to challenge them. I am the only one allowed to mate with her and touch her."
They nodded as one. As much as the Keeper got his powerful artifact, and it boosted his magical range tremendously, he was very irked by this, too. He watched the small group head back to Horny's chamber. The four creatures now moved to have their backs at the bed and watch the walls. They didn't care what she did with Horny. If any tried to gain access to the room, they would know.
"What do you think?" she purred and nuzzled into his chest when his throne appeared. "I definitely approve!"
"I'd rather have them stand outside the door," he grunted. "But, this works."
"If Orphek reclaims his place, he can do that," she shrugged. "He lost it in that last fight. Not much to say about it."
"True. Well, since the Keeper quite obviously has his new artifact, we will need to see what happens next. And you may be due to give birth soon. Maybe in the next week," he judged and placed a hot hand over the top of her belly.
"You would think so," she murmured and yawned greatly. "I'm getting hungry again. But, I'm also sleepy."
"Just relax," he muttered and hugged her to him. "Rest with me."
"Not in my bed?" she asked.
"No. Right here. In my arms," he said and pulled her as tight as he could against his chest. At this, she yawned again and closed her eyes. When he succumbed to sleep, the four creatures glanced at each other over their shoulders. They were now prepared to guard in a relentless way. When a door opened to reveal Orphek, he paused at the sight of the four in the room. Then he was forced to scramble out from the wash of heat that raced at him from an attack by one of them. Drizik had a long-range heat attack that was only used in warning. It always worked well.
When Orphek scowled at this, he saw a Possessed Wizard come up to him to talk. "It seems we have a challenge. Do we not?"
"Challenge?! I can't get close to her to do my job!" Orphek snarled.
"You need to earn your position once more. I shall do some research to assist in this. You need something to block the fire. Give me some time to assist," the Keeper said. Orphek muttered, but he nodded. "You can even assist in some research. If you feel the need to do so?"
"Fine. To make it go faster, I will," he said. He followed the released Warlock to the Library to help hit the books. He needed to look for ice armor of some kind. I needed something that would give me an advantage. What none of them knew was that the four lava creatures had a very hidden communication system within them.
:We are free. And we have names. At last.: Drizik sighed.
:How long have we stood there?: Uzok asked.
:Too long. We fought for so long. Now we are accepted. At first, I did not know what would become of us. I was at a loss when I was caught. I did not know what my purpose would be. Then I saw the female. I knew what I could do. What I was good at. As much as we should fight, I shall obey her wishes.: Izaak said.
:I shall obey no other.: Erizus gave a mental grunt. :She accepted all of us. None ever had. Not even the one that made us to guard the artifact really chose any one of us. We were told to guard and see who guarded best. After our Creator passed, we stopped fighting. No further need to do that.:
:Yes. We shall guard together as we have been. And I do NOT like that other!: Izaak snorted with disgust. :We must keep that one back.:
:What is there to like? That one has flesh.: Drizik smirked.
:That one cannot guard. And that one sleeps.: Uzok snickered.
:A waste of time when one needs to guard.: Erizus growled. They all agreed at that. A perfect guard was one that never needed to sleep or eat. If Orphek tried to reclaim his spot, he would be tested relentlessly. Izaak looked over at Saithe sleeping deeply in Horny's arms and seemed to nod. The lava creature felt a direct kinship with her now. She saved it from a fate worse than death by letting it guard over her. She was able to pick up on what it wanted to do. She gave it a whole new purpose to exist. It would easily help Horny slaughter anything that tried to touch her without permission.