Zephyr took his time before invading the dwarven lands. First, he had his minions harvest the nightmare tree with Durium tools. He did not know what he was going to do with the cursed wood, but he knew it could be useful. He also had his minions begin rebuilding Evernight city; even if it would just be with minions, he wanted it repopulated. He then gave the priests of the black dragon wands created from the unicorn horns he had collected. Lastly, he got his hands on every halfling responsible for troll taming and handling back when they were free, and had them work with his minions on getting some trolls under his control. With all of that taken care of, Zephyr then ventured into the tunnel. It took hours of walking in complete darkness, but soon, he found himself in a rocky, mountainous landscape. It was rather pretty to look at, and sadly, Gnarl ruined it by talking.

"We are on the outskirts of the Golden Hills, home to the dwarves. Now dwarves, sire, they're like beards on legs. Angry, beer-soaked beards on legs!"

"Do you really think I'm so stupid that I don't even know what a dwarf is?"

"Just covering our basses, sire."

"Remind me to give you a beating when I get back." Zephyr then founds a tower gate, as well as sheep and a bridge that looks like it's turned on from the other side. The same side of the canyon as what looked like a big ugly lumbering statue.

"Be glad of that chasm, master. Rock giants don't take kindly to anything squishier than they are. Once you smash it up, you'll see it's nothing more than overgrown gravel!"

"I'll deal with the brute when I get around to it." Zephyr then looked to his right, seeing two stone pillars with lanterns on ropes connecting them, and past it a dwarven mining town. His eyes soon spotted what looked like a pressure mine, and naturally, Gnarl felt the need to comment on it.

"Dwarve's like anything that fires or burns and especially, explodes! Make that their downfall, sire! Yes!"

"Let's not get too hasty. I might be able to scare them into submission." Zephyr entered the lovely little town. He could see dwarven minors getting ready for another long day at work. Then they spotted him.

"Hello, good townspeople, my name is Ze-" He was then cut off by an explosive bolt fired at his face, knocking him onto his ass, in horrible pain.

"The evil overlord has returned! Get the women and children inside, then let's show the bugger what a dwarf is made of!" Screamed one of the crossbowmen, rallying the minors to charge him.

"Fuck this!" Zephyr yelled as he used his flamethrower spell to reduce the entire charging line of minors to ash. Then all he needed was to cast slow on the bowmen, so they could not fight back when his minions charged in and tore them apart.

"So much for scaring them into submission."

"Shut the fuck up, Gnarl! Minions! Move into every one of these stinking dwarf nests, and bring out whoever is hiding for me to look over!" Zephyr screamed his minions, following his command to the letter. He soon had many elderly, female, and child dwarves all gathered up in the center of town. All of them a right mix of terrified and pissed off.

"Liston up, you filthy little beasts! The only reason you are still alive is that I'm feeling merciful! So, anyone who is willing to point out all craftsmen raise your hand." All of the dwarves simply gave Zephyr a glare that could kill a dragon, nun was willing to talk.

"Ok, let's do this the hard way then. You're going back to the dark tower.

There you, and your children, will be tortured for information. The moment we think we have gotten everything useful out of you, all of you will be sold into slavery to live out the rest of your lives in toil. Now move, or will kill you now!" Zephyr forced the dwarves into the tower gate then moved on; the moment he walked to the other side of the town, he saw a slug the size of a minion pop out of the ground.

"I've never seen the point in slugs. They seem to exist merely to be squashed." Commented Rose, making Zephyr laugh a little bit. But then Gnarl started talking and ruined the mood.

"These creatures may be deadly, but they have no love for dwarves." Zephyr spotted a dwarf coming down and attacking the slug. He willed his minions to sweep down, kill them both and plug up the slug hole. Walking further down the hill, he spotted the last thing he thought he would see, living elves.

"He is no dwarf!"

"Let us out! Let us out!"

"Quick... Before the guards return!"

"We are a disgrace to our race... We should have died fighting."

"The mother goddess has forsaken us, do not do the same." Zephyr willed his minions to split up, kill the guards in their holes, and then he broke the elves out with one swing from the Conqueror.

"Thank you, stranger!" The four elves then waved for him to follow them to a spot where five other elven slaves huddled up for warmth by a fire.

"Such a proud race, reduced to servitude. Sometimes even gods have a sense of humor!" Gnarl commented as the elves hugged and reunited with one another.

"Are you the one who saved our brothers, stranger?"

"I am, the name is Zephyr. I walked through Evernight to get here; your kind was extinct, from what I understood."

"We will be soon, friend Zephyr. For our conquerors took our women from us, without them, our race is as good as extinct!"

"We have hope now, brothers! We can fight back against the dwarves, rescue our women, and restore Evernight!"

"If your willing to serve me, I can help with that." All the elves looked to Zephyr, some confused, others inraged.

"You would have us trade on master for another?"

"No, if you serve me willingly, I will guarantee your freedom. Hell, I will even arm you myself." The elves looked to one another, speaking telepathically no dought. They then turned to look at Zephyr, grim acceptance in their eyes.

"Very well, sire. The elves of Evernight will fight for you."

"Excellent. The path to your homeland is clear, return to it. My minions will arm those of you willing to fight, and I will summon you when it is time." The elves ran off, and Zephyr moved his attention onto the vast horde of drunken dwarves below him.

"Those pipes channel beer straight from the brewery. It's potent stuff! Like minions, dwarves are never more ferocious than when they've had a drink. So watch out, sire!" Zephyr looked over the crowd of drunken slobs and saw a covered slug hole. Willing his minions to move the tray covering it, and sure enough, slugs poured forth like an emerald tide. While the drunks were distracted by the slug attack, Zephyr had his reds start firing into the beer-soaked crowd. The sight of burning dwarves was quite pretty but smelled even worse than the greens somehow! After clearing out the stragglers, he discovered a new minion spell. While taking it back to the tower gate, he found another mana stone. Returning them both to the dark tower, Gnarl was kind enough to put his mouth to good use and told him what the spell did.

"Ah, the legion of terror spell! Now this works like berserk, only with the added bonus of inducing fear in foes and friends alike. Always good for a giggle, that one!"

"I will put it to good use in the near future, I think." Zephyr moved on and took the only path left, even if the dwarves blocked it off with barricades and warning sines. After killing his way through some more slugs and runts, Zephyr found himself on the other side of the case from before. A wide-eyed elf ran over a beseeching manner.

"They're trapped down there bey those slimy beasts. What good is gold? They cannot eat it, sleep upon it, nor use it as a weapon!"

"Gold, music to my ears, along with the words 'trapped elves'! We just have that twenty-ton problem blocking our way!" Gnarl said, in his usual unwelcomed way.

"Stand clear, elf. I will take care of this." Zephyr then turned the wheel, rolling out the bridge, so he did not have to walk back all the way to the gat. Smashing the barrier, then activating his legion of terror spell to see it in action. The spell lived up to its name. The rock giant bearly put up a fight before being reduced to rubble. Feeling a little tired, Zephyr returned to his tower for a quick spot of tea before raiding the mine. He was sure the trapped elves could hold out for a little longer.