40 Chapter 40- Repentance

Deep inside the mines, a torch flared giving off a vibrating burst of illumination. In the tunnels beyond, only the pitch black darkness could be seen, and it could envelop the miners at any given time.

Water mixed with sulfur dripped from the ceiling as the four dwarves inside the mine breathed heavily, swinging their pickaxes at the yellow tinted walls.

Dust flew about, causing one of the older dwarves, with a balding head and a long white beard, to start a coughing fit.

Chains hung from one of the legs of each dwarf, connecting them in pairs.

As the dwarves swung their pickaxes, the chains clanked and rattled, but when the older dwarf began to cough, a younger one threw down his pickaxe in fury.

Rattling across the dusty ground, the pickaxe came to a halt, and the orange haired young dwarf began to rant.

"These conditions are inhumane, I tell ya! How can they treat us like this? A few more days in these mines and well be poisoned by the fumes!"

The dwarf who was chained to the younger one was middle aged, with dark brown hair and tired eyes. He placed his hand on the younger dwarf's shoulder and looked at him sadly.

"We are no longer in a realm where we have rights. We should be thankful that we are not worse off. Others who got captured from the village might be undergoing far worse tortures than this. At least in this place we do not have to undergo cruel and unusual treatment."

Another middle aged dwarf, the one who was chained to the old man, had blonde hair and a braided beard.

Speaking, this dwarf began to lecture the young one. "You should keep quiet. If the knights are watching us from a distance, we could all be punished for the words you just uttered. Do you wish to die for a few measly complaints? Get back to work before they find out we have been slacking off."

The young dwarf angrily walked over to grab his pickaxe, dragging the brown haired one with him.

Retrieving it, the dwarves continued to swing their pickaxes, placing the sulfurous ore into the minecarts, and shoving them off into the void of darkness, where gravity would guide them along to the entrance of the mine.

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After the dwarves finished filling another load, they all took a breather.

"We better keep this break short, else we risk getting found out.", the blonde dwarf stated.

"They don't even provide us food or water during the workday... its as if they are trying to kill us..." the young dwarf mumbled to himself.

A short amount of time passed, and the dwarves heard footsteps coming from the dark corridor that lead to the entrance of the mine.

"Ah shit! It looks like the knights are onto us! Quick everyone, get to work!", the yellow haired dwarf stated.

The dwarves shuffled and their chains clanked as they quickly began working again.

Sylvester and Reginald came down the corridor, and their faces lit up when they came into the range of the torchlight.

"Dwarves, halt your work! A large incident has occurred, and we wish to explain the situation to you.", Sylvester proclaimed.

"Did they catch onto our slacking off? Perhaps they overheard Drocai grumbling?", the brown haired dwarf thought.

"No, that couldn't be it. He said a large incident has occurred. If he were here to punish us, he would have been straightforward about it."

"What is it, Sir?", the brown haired dwarf asked politely.

Sylvester began to speak calmly. "The third squadron has been attacked, and no longer exists. The captain has been taken into custody, and a few members have been killed. The remaining knights who live are the ones, such as Reginald and myself who have always believed our treatment of the slaves to be unfair."

Reginald began to talk as well. "We do not expect you to forgive us for the offenses we committed against you. Even though we disagreed with the captain, we still silently obeyed his orders, and we are guilty of not standing up for what is right. However, a savior has appeared!"

Silence filled the cavern at these words. "A savior?", the young dwarf, Drocai, asked rudely. "What's with that? What are you guys talking about?"

The blonde haired dwarf put his hand over Drocai's mouth. "I apologize for his rudeness, honored knights.", he stated, kneeling. "Please take out any punishment you wish to put upon him on myself!"

Sylvester looked at Reginald, troubled. "Please listen to me, dwarves! We are no longer masters of yours! We no longer wish to oppress you all as we did before! You all are free to leave! If you wish, you may head back to wherever you have to go, however I have a proposition for all of you.", he exclaimed.

"All of the remaining knights have broken our ties with the corrupted empire, and decided to follow Lord Dubs. He is a warrior of justice, who claims that he will use the combined powers of science and magic to establish an empire that spans the world!"

Reginald cut off Sylvester. "Not only this, but Dubs is extremely powerful. He was able to take out the entire platoon of elite knights without lifting a finger. He claims that he wishes to create a world where the strong do not abuse the weak, but rather protect them!"

"We are offering you the opportunity to become a part of this empire. You do not have to accept the invitation, but if you do then your talents will be put to good use, and your conditions will be very tolerable.", Reginald offered.

Drocai walked over to Reginald and spit on him. "As if I would trust a knight of the empire! You are most likely deceiving us into running away so that we may be placed under a worse punishment- perhaps you wish to justify using us for experimentation? I won't fall for it!"

The other dwarves stepped back in fear of retribution, however Reginald only looked at Drocai with a kind face.

He opened his arms, and began to remove his own armor.

"I have committed a grave sin... against you dwarves, and against my own morals... it is only right that you take your anger out on me... it must have been difficult dealing with the racism and the lack of provisions, day in and day out. Working the long hours around the clock must have taken a toll on your bodies. If you wish, please hit me."

Drocai became overtaken by his emotions and began to punch Reginald repeatedly. He beat the man till he was bruised all over his body, and had a tough time walking, however when Drocai looked up from his rage, he noticed the prosthetic arm.

"What is... what is that?! What is that purple thing protruding from where your arm should be!?"

"I lost this arm when I tried to fight against my Lord, by the orders of the captain. Dubs is a kind ruler, and so he did the favor of replacing it for me in exchange for my loyalty."

Drocai began to hit the ground in frustration. "Is this mans story true? Could there really be a savior? Did these men really have a change of heart, and repent for their actions?", he thought.

The blonde haired man began to speak to Reginald. "Will you take us to speak with this man that you call Lord Dubs?", he inquired.

"Of course, we will. Please, come with us outside the mines.", Reginald stated, as he slowly put his armor back on, with difficulty.

Sylvester reached into his pocket and took out an iron key, and bent down to undo the shackles that bounded the dwarves.

"There is no longer a need for things like these. With the leadership of Lord Dubs, we will remove the shackles that bound this world!", he proclaimed.

Tears began to form in Sylvester's eyes as he undid the shackles. "I am truly sorry for the way the members of my squad treated you all, and for my lack of courage to stop them. I gave into the peer pressure that was exerted on me, and even took it upon myself to beat and abuse you all.", he cried.

The older dwarf looked down on Sylvester solemnly. "I only have a few years left, so I don't really understand what's going on, but if I can live these last few years in peace that would be nice...", he mumbled.

"I will do everything within my power to ensure that is the case.", Sylvester claimed.

Sylvester wiped the tears from his eyes and lead the unshackled dwarves outside the mine, to where Dubs was waiting.

Dubs was waiting in a circle with Arctus and the three other dwarves, all of them middle aged men. One of them had orange hair and a messy beard, a slightly redder tint than Drocai, and the other two had a light brown tone of hair with short cut beards.

Reginald and Sylvester walked over to Dubs reverently and kneeled to him. "We are at your service, Lord Dubs."

Drocai shouted loudly. "What the hell!? That kid is the savior they've been talking about!?"