[Mines of Moria]
As the fire demon appeared from around a corner of the chamber, the group's reactions varied in response to the aura of fear the creature radiated.
For their part, both GLaDOS and GIR felt nothing. Being robots had its advantages; the aura simply did not affect them.
Rosella, being a creature of dark nature, a werewolf, resisted the fear without much trouble. Even so, she remained alert, watching the creature and recognizing the obvious danger it represented.
Sadako radiated her own aura of fear, which caused both presences to cancel each other out.
Aegis, for his part, was simply too tough to feel fear from something like that.
And finally, there was Daniel.
Daniel's legs trembled, but he hid it like a champion, staying on his feet while staring at the demon.
The creature did not take long to notice the group's presence, and when it did, it roared loudly and began advancing through the chamber with heavy steps that echoed across the stone floor.
For Daniel, time seemed to slow down.
His mind began working overtime, calculating his chances of survival as he watched the creature approach.
First, he analyzed its speed.
The demon was fast for its size, moving with considerable momentum, but Daniel was certain he was much faster.
Then he considered its strength.
"That thing is much stronger than me," he admitted silently as those eight meters of raw muscle drew closer.
Then his gaze fixed on the massive flaming sword the demon carried, which suggested combat ability and possible intelligence.
"Maybe I can start a conversation," he thought for a moment.
Then he looked back at the demon's face as it approached, staring at him with unmistakable hatred.
Daniel mentally shook his head. "Who am I kidding… that thing wants me dead."
Even so, perhaps being overly optimistic, Daniel felt he still had a chance.
After all, he was not alone. He had Aegis's fighting skill, GLaDOS's robots, Sadako's strength, and well… GIR could serve as a distraction.
Daniel could not help but smile with confidence as he turned to look at his very reliable group.
"Ready to show it who's boss…" he tried to say.
But his voice faded when he saw that his very 'reliable group' was at least three hundred meters behind him.
Even Aegis, who just moments ago had been on top of his head, was now calmly sitting on Sadako's shoulder.
Rosella, noticing Daniel looking at them, smiled at him. "You've got this, boss!" she shouted, cheering him on.
Sadako raised a thumb in his direction.
GLaDOS avoided his gaze.
And finally Aegis, from whom he had expected this betrayal the least, looked at him with indifference.
"I would help you," she said calmly. "But I'm not as resistant to fire as you are."
Daniel's expression tightened. "You're all a bunch of assholes!" he tried to curse them.
But his words were suddenly cut off when a whip of fire wrapped around his leg, burning him.
"Grrr!!" he growled in pain.
Alarmed, he quickly turned his head toward the demon.
The creature was still at a considerable distance, but its weapon was no longer a sword.
Now it was a whip, with which it had shortened the distance between them.
"Fuck..."
Those were his last words before the demon yanked the whip, sending his body flying across the chamber and smashing him into a pillar with a loud
Bang.
Then into another one.
Bang! Bang!
And then into a third, shattering them with his own body before the whip finally released him and he was sent flying somewhere else across the chamber.
GIR, being the dumbest of the group, also seemed the most concerned.
"Do you think he's okay?" he asked innocently.
Rosella, having complete confidence in Daniel, smiled with a certain arrogance.
"He's the boss. I'm sure he's fine."
Aegis, not entirely convinced, moved his pincer to his chin as he thought about it."Hmm… I'd say fifty-fifty."
"I don't care," said GLaDOS, crossing her arms as she watched the demon.
The creature was smiling, clearly amused, already assuming Daniel was dead as it turned to face the rest of them. It took a few steps, preparing to build speed and charge at the group.
It did not get far.
A small portal formed right at the height of its face.
[Threshold: allows the creation of small portals in space that can connect to each other]
The demon, curious, could not help but stop and move closer to examine the small hole floating in front of it. But the moment it got close enough, a fist shot out of the portal at full speed, striking it directly in the face.
At the same time, a burst of air accompanied the impact, amplifying the blow and forcing it to stagger back.
[Air cannon: allows the creation of walls or bursts of compressed air]
As soon as the punch landed and the fist pulled back, the small portal disappeared.
Annoyed, the demon looked for whoever was responsible.
It did not take long to find him.
From the direction where it had sent him flying, Daniel was walking back. Still alive, much to its clear annoyance… and with his hair now glowing more intensely.
[Burn: allows him to absorb the blows of his opponents to power himself up and strike with greater force]
Completely ignoring the rest of the group, the demon focused on its current prey, who had suddenly become far more interesting than expected.
Its whip transformed back into a flaming sword as it began charging toward the human.
Daniel did not stay behind.
Instead of running away, he charged straight at the demon as well.
"Raaawr! x2"
Both of them roared at the same time, ready to begin a fight that would no doubt be quite intense.
However, GLaDOS was not interested in watching it.
"See? He's fine," she said in a bored tone as she turned around, completely ignoring the battle. "Let's go."
The rest of the group showed no objections.
They turned their backs on the epic battle unfolding behind them and began walking toward the exit of the chamber.
Bam… bam… bam…
As they moved away and entered the corridors, the tremors caused by the fight could still be felt through the cave walls.
No one paid much attention to it, and they kept walking as if nothing unusual was happening.
Rosella, bored, quickened her pace until she walked beside GLaDOS.
"Do you know where we're going?" she asked curiously, wondering if they already had a destination.
"We are exploring the rest of the mine," GLaDOS clarified while raising a hand.
From it appeared a small hologram displaying a map of the mines.
"Using Daniel's map and the information gathered by my drones, I managed to create a representation of this place that is accurate enough. We should not get lost."
The Mines of Moria were not exactly small.
In a quick comparison, the place was roughly the size of the city of Mantle, though that comparison might actually fall short. The mines did not only stretch across the mountain; they also extended downward and upward, connecting multiple sublevels through countless secondary tunnels.
Rosella nodded as she looked at the holographic map. "Are we looking for something specific?"
"We are exploring the area to see if it meets my requirements to establish a laboratory here," GLaDOS explained calmly.
"You can think of this as a real estate tour."
"One where we have to get rid of the current tenants," Aegis mocked.
GLaDOS did not dignify him with a response.
Technically, Aegis was correct, though she would not call those creatures or the demon "tenants." At best, she considered them a pest infestation that needed to be removed.
They continued walking through the mine corridors for about forty minutes, moving between stone pillars and wide passageways that seemed endless.
Eventually, they arrived in front of a large stone door, very similar to the one they had used to enter the mine.
"Is that the exit?" Rosella asked curiously.
GLaDOS nodded. "It is the exit. If you want to leave, you can."
After saying that, she completely ignored the door and kept walking as if nothing had happened.
No one in the group moved.
After a few steps, GLaDOS noticed they were still following behind her and slightly turned her head.
"You are not leaving?" she asked, surprised.
Rosella immediately shook her head.
"The pack sticks together above all else!" she declared proudly.
"Because together we are stronger!"
GLaDOS could not help but smile slightly at the answer, though she still noticed a small flaw in the logic.
"And what about Daniel and the demon?"
Rosella shrugged.
"The leader always takes the greatest risk. Besides, it looked like he wanted to fight… I mean, he stayed there standing his ground against the fire demon."
She paused for a moment, thinking.
"Although I was surprised he did not dodge that whip."
Aegis let out a sigh. "That might be a little bit my fault," she admitted with a tired tone.
"I am still trying to teach him how to dodge."
Rosella tried to sharpen her hearing to see if she could still catch any sound of the fight, but with the distance they had already covered, there was absolutely nothing to hear.
"Do you think he is okay?" she finally asked, letting a bit of concern slip out.
GLaDOS rolled her eyes as she raised a hand and deployed another hologram.
"You worry too much," she complained.
On the screen, the fight between Daniel and the demon began to appear.
"I left a few drones behind to keep an eye on him."
In the image, Daniel could be seen launching himself at high speed toward the demon, while the creature raised its claws to respond to the attack.
[Image]
Just before the two of them collided, GLaDOS closed the transmission.
At the same time, a faint tremor ran through the ground beneath their feet.
"See? He is fine," she said calmly. "Now let us continue. We will check on him from time to time to verify that he is still alive, if that makes you feel better… not that I want to watch it or anything like that."
"What did you say?" Aegis asked, making a gesture as if cleaning his ear.
GLaDOS, clearly annoyed, turned to look at him.
"I said we're heading to the library of this mine, you meddlesome crustacean."
"Ha, that's what I thought," Aegis mocked.
The group continued walking for quite a while longer, following the holographic map while taking a few shortcuts through the side corridors to reach the place where the library was most likely located faster.
Of course, they ran into a few minor problems along the way.
As they passed near the edge of an abyss, several of those creatures hiding in the ledges began firing arrows.
GLaDOS didn't even bother looking at them.
She simply raised her weapon and fired several shots into the air.
Each bullet changed direction mid-flight, redirecting itself toward the hidden creatures.
One of them, startled by the sound of the weapon, ducked behind a rock.
It didn't help.
The bullet curved around the rock and struck it directly in the forehead. The same happened to the rest.
As they kept moving forward, they discovered something curious. Those humanoid creatures weren't the only living beings still inhabiting those caves.
Sadako, quite excited, pointed upward toward a wall along the cliff.
Everyone turned their heads, expecting to find more of those creatures, but to their surprise it was something completely different.
It was a goat… or rather, an enormous goat, far larger than normal.
Completely white, at least five feet three inches tall and with a sturdy body.
It stood there calmly, eating the vegetation growing between the cracks in the cliff wall.
Rosella scratched her head, clearly confused. "How is it still alive?"
With the number of hungry creatures living in those caves, she couldn't understand how something so big and appetizing could still be alive.
Almost as if answering her question, a group of those creatures appeared climbing up the cliff.
They completely ignored the group and headed straight for the goat.
They watched them climb quickly, scrambling up the rock with clear intentions of eating it, but the alert goat saw them approaching and reacted without hesitation.
It pushed several loose rocks nearby, sending them rolling downhill. Half the group was struck instantly, losing their balance and falling straight into the abyss.
The rest didn't give up and kept climbing, though several more died in the attempt. Some were hit by more rocks and others simply slipped and fell.
Out of all of them, only one creature managed to reach a small ledge near the goat. But it didn't get much farther.
As soon as it poked its head up, the goat simply rammed it. The impact was enough to send it flying.
"Aghhh!" the creature screamed as it fell into the void.
"Well…" Rosella said with an amused tone. "Mystery solved."
Losing interest in the goat meat, she turned to continue walking with the group.
But she had barely taken a step when she noticed something was wrong.
Someone was missing.
She looked around in confusion. "Where's Sadako?"
"Help! I climbed onto the shoulder of a suicidal woman!" Aegis shouted from somewhere.
Everyone lifted their heads, following the sound. Sadako was pressed against the cliff wall, calmly climbing toward the goat, while Aegis remained on her shoulder.
"Sadako, get down from there! You're going to get hurt yourself!" Rosella shouted, alarmed.
Sadako replied something, but she spoke so quietly that Rosella couldn't make it out.
"What did she say?" she asked.
Aegis, acting as the intermediary, repeated Sadako's message.
"She says nothing can hurt Sadako because she is invisible!"
Rosella stared at her for a moment, first confused and then slowly realizing what Sadako had actually meant. Finally she brought a hand to her face in obvious frustration.
"It's invincible, not invisible," she corrected. "And you're not! You're just out of your fucking mind. Now get down from there before you die!"
Aegis, still on Sadako's shoulder, nodded, seemingly laughing at what he was hearing.
"She says... how do you murder someone who's already dead?"
Then he burst out laughing. "Haha, you have to admit she has a point."
Rosella didn't laugh. If they fell... how was she supposed to explain to Daniel that she had lost two members of the pack while he was busy fighting a fire demon? Just thinking about it already sounded pretty embarrassing.
From above, Aegis shouted again.
"Just keep going! We'll be fine... probably. Besides, now I'm curious what she wants to do with the goat."
"You heard him," said GLaDOS as she resumed walking without giving the matter any further importance.
Rosella sighed and reluctantly followed her, trusting that those two would be fine on their own.
With the group now reduced to three and a whole bunch of robots, they moved through the mine corridors once again, walking between stone pillars and wide hallways that seemed to stretch in every direction while following the holographic map.
After a relatively short time they arrived in front of what looked like an important entrance. A heavy reinforced wooden door stood there, blocking the way, while on each side were two large dwarf statues carved from stone.
The robots approached first and tried to push it open, but the door didn't move even an inch.
GLaDOS, not interested in wasting time, raised her arm, which immediately began reorganizing itself and slowly transforming into an energy weapon that started glowing as it built up charge.
The light grew brighter little by little and a few seconds later it fired.
A ball of plasma slammed into the door with force, destroying it instantly and opening the way inside.
"Efficient," Rosella joked as she crossed the entrance.
As she stepped past the threshold she paused for a moment, observing the place more carefully, immediately noticing that GLaDOS had been right because the place was indeed a library.
Or at least something that had once been one.
Now the place was in ruins. Fallen shelves, books scattered across the floor, and the remains of improvised barricades gave the impression that it had been used as a defensive position, probably the dwarves' last attempt at resistance against the creatures that infested the mine.
"I suppose you want to look for information about this mine..." Rosella deduced.
It wasn't really a question. If they wanted to understand this place, looking for information seemed like the first logical step.
Although there was one rather obvious problem with that plan.
Rosella picked up one of the books from the floor, brushing the dust off before opening it and flipping through a few pages. After reading for a moment she frowned slightly as she looked at the text.
"How are we supposed to understand this without Daniel?" she asked, pointing at the pages.
The book was written in a language she didn't recognize. Rosella was fairly sure that with enough time the two of them could decipher it, but she also knew that process would take far too long.
GLaDOS frowned, clearly offended. "I am not dependent on Daniel. I have my own methods."
Then she turned her head toward a corner of the room where GIR was sitting on the floor, drawing in the dirt with a bone.
"GIR, activate 'Duty Mode'"
The moment she gave the order, the lights in GIR's eyes shifted to a bright red and the small robot immediately stood up, snapping into a military salute.
"I await your orders, my master!" he declared in a much deeper voice.
GLaDOS nodded in satisfaction and pointed at the books scattered around the chamber.
"GIR, begin information extraction."
GIR nodded, and the top of his head immediately opened. A small device shot out into the air, expanding as it flew until it transformed into a cylinder that descended and locked into place on his back.
"Information extraction module installed!" he announced.
Several mechanical tentacles began deploying from the cylinder. They extended outward, lifted him into the air, and carried him toward the piles of books scattered throughout the room.
The tentacles began working immediately, picking up volumes or simply vacuuming them straight into the cylinder.
While the process continued, on the opposite side of the room a creature appeared that was different from the ones they had seen before. It was larger and much heavier than the orcs, with a thick and robust body. In one hand it carried an enormous stone hammer that dragged slightly along the ground.
Even so, no one reacted with alarm.
Despite its size, the creature didn't seem like a serious threat, so everyone decided to ignore it completely.
Annoyed by the noise, it walked toward GIR and raised the hammer with the clear intention of crushing him.
"Threat detected! The mission must be completed at all costs!" GIR growled.
Immediately, a laser weapon emerged from his head. The barrel aligned and fired directly into the creature's chest.
BAM!
It happened so fast the creature didn't even have time to react. It looked down at its chest, staring at the enormous hole now piercing through it.
A second later it collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.
Dead.
No one paid any attention to its tragic and valiant death.
Rosella kept staring at GIR with obvious astonishment while the robot continued absorbing books at high speed.
"What is he doing?" she asked, though she already had an idea.
"When I disassembled GIR I discovered he has some rather interesting functions," GLaDOS explained calmly.
"GIR is a SIR unit, a Standard Issue Retrieval unit... they are basically robots created to be servants," she continued while watching the robot keep working.
"Their main function is to collect information about a planet before an invasion. They also help design conquest strategies, as well as provide technical support and military support."
Rosella slowly nodded, stunned.
"He can do all that?" she asked, genuinely impressed as she looked at the robot who normally acted like a idiot.
GLaDOS shook her head.
"He cannot do it without forcing his programming," she replied calmly. "GIR is a SIR... but he is a very damaged SIR."
At that moment the conversation was interrupted by GIR, who had finished his work.
"Mission complete!" he announced proudly.
A small data drive was ejected from the top of his head. GLaDOS picked it up without wasting any time.
As soon as she took it, the red lights in GIR's eyes vanished and returned to their usual blue. His usual dumb expression immediately came back.
"What happened?" he asked in confusion.
A second later he fell onto his back from the weight of the cylinder still attached to his back. He kicked his legs in the air trying to stand up, but failed to do so.
GLaDOS ignored the scene.
She absorbed the data drive and quickly began processing the enormous amount of information contained in the books: mining, metallurgy, economics, lineages, history, and various logs.
The information was extensive and varied, more than enough to understand what had happened in those mines.
Among the records she discovered that the demon Daniel was fighting was actually a Balrog, an ancient creature of fire that the dwarves themselves had awakened by digging too deep.
She also identified the other creatures.
The smaller ones were orcs.
The large creature GIR had eliminated a moment ago was a troll.
She was pleased to finally know what they were. She was already tired of referring to all of them simply as "creatures."
The records described in considerable detail how the orcs had invaded the mines and exterminated the dwarves, but GLaDOS ignored most of that history since it didn't interest her.
What did catch her attention was something else: Mithril, a metal described in the records as light as a feather and far stronger than tempered steel, which could be found in that very mine.
She immediately began considering several possible applications. Reinforced structures, new containment systems, experimental weaponry... the possibilities were enough to make that place far more attractive.
With that information the decision fully solidified: building her laboratory in those mines was no longer just an interesting idea, it was the most efficient option.
Ready to share the discovery, she turned toward Rosella to say something, but stopped when she noticed her expression.
Rosella wasn't looking at her. She was staring at something behind her with obvious confusion.
Following her gaze, GLaDOS turned toward the room as well and frowned slightly.
The corpses covering the floor began to tremble.
At first the movement was slight, barely noticeable among the scattered remains of the ancient battle, but within a few seconds the shaking became obvious. Even the body of the troll that GIR had eliminated a moment ago began to move slowly.
The empty eye sockets of several corpses began to glow with a faint blue light, and one by one they rose from the ground.
Some grabbed nearby weapons: axes, swords, or hammers abandoned among the remains of the library that had been turned into a bastion.
The robots reacted immediately, raising their weapons and aiming.
GLaDOS and Rosella also drew theirs, preparing for what seemed like an imminent attack.
But something strange happened.
The creatures began to run.
Not toward them.
The animated corpses rushed past the group at full speed, completely ignoring them as they headed toward the mine tunnels.
GLaDOS watched the scene and could only assume that somehow it was Daniel's fault.
"Let's see what you're doing," she murmured, extending her hand and projecting a hologram from her palm.
The image immediately showed the enormous chamber where Daniel was still fighting the Balrog.
Five hours had already passed since the battle began, but neither of them showed any clear signs of stopping.
The scene was chaotic.
Daniel moved at high speed between the enormous stone pillars that supported the cavern, jumping from one to another and using them as cover to block or deflect the Balrog's burning whip, which constantly tried to catch him.
In one hand he held Frostmourne.
The sword glowed with the same blue tone that lit the eyes of the corpses that had just risen in the library.
Both Rosella and GLaDOS immediately deduced that the weapon was responsible for reanimating them.
But that wasn't the most striking part.
What truly caught their attention was that Daniel was missing an arm.
Neither GLaDOS nor Rosella knew what had happened to it or where it had gone. They could only see the empty space where it used to be while Daniel continued moving between the pillars.
From the tension in his posture and the visible exhaustion on his face it was clear that he was not having a good time.
For the first time both of them wondered whether it had been a good idea to leave him alone, and whether they should go back, help him... or rescue him, depending on how much the situation had escalated.
But before either of them could say anything, something unexpected happened.
A bottle materialized in front of Daniel, which he skillfully caught between his teeth without losing his momentum.
[Pocket Dimensions: allows the absorption, storage, and release of matter]
Daniel didn't hesitate for a second. He drank the entire contents of the bottle in a single gulp. From the color of the liquid, both of them immediately recognized it as berry juice.
The effect was immediate.
Daniel's arm began to regenerate at an exaggerated speed. Bone, muscle, and skin grew back within seconds until it fully regained its shape.
It wasn't only due to the healing power of the berries, but to the combination of their regenerative effect with the regenerative factor of the werewolf.
Now with both hands available, Daniel firmly gripped Frostmourne and then launched himself toward the ground, driving the sword forcefully into the floor.
An explosion of blue energy expanded from the impact, illuminating the enormous stone chamber before fading away and leaving behind a brief moment of silence.
A moment in which even the Balrog stopped.
The enormous creature remained motionless, alert, slightly tilting its head as if it were listening to something the others could not hear.
Then it happened.
In the farthest areas of the chamber, small blue lights began to appear. First one, then two, then four, and soon a hundred... a thousand... until they began emerging from every direction.
When they got close enough they revealed what GLaDOS and Rosella had already suspected.
A sea of the undead.
Corpses of dwarves, orcs, and trolls surged violently toward the Balrog without stopping, their eyes glowing with the same blue tone as the sword.
Even the bodies of the orcs that had been massacred by the robots in that very chamber began rising from the ground, shaking off dust and debris as they stood up to join the tide of the undead.
The Balrog showed neither fear nor hesitation as its whip vanished and a sword of fire appeared in its place.
"Gaaaarrrr!" it roared as it raised the blade, ready to sweep away the hordes of undead charging toward it.
But before it could strike even a single one, GLaDOS cut the transmission.
The screen immediately went dark.
"Well, it seems he's fine," she commented dryly as she slightly turned her head toward Rosella. "Shall we continue?"
It took Rosella a moment to snap out of her stupor. She had been watching the scene with a hint of excitement at seeing Daniel fight in such a savage way, though now she felt much calmer after confirming that leaving him alone hadn't been a bad decision.
She nodded calmly, since there were still many places left to explore.
The two of them were about to leave when they heard something: small dry knocks against the stone floor echoing from the darkness of the tunnel.
Clack... clack... clack...
Both turned their heads toward the sound, curious and quite surprised when they finally saw what was approaching.
From the gloom, Sadako finally emerged, riding the large goat they had seen earlier.
From Sadako's shoulder, Aegis spoke with obvious enthusiasm.
"Ladies, you are not going to believe what happened to us."
—//—
Author's Note:
I came up with a lot of ideas for the Daniel vs Balrog fight, but while I was writing it, a little voice in my head started talking.
Little voice: Oh, that fight looks very interesting…
Me: Yeah, it is.
Little voice: But you know what would be more fun?
Me: What?...
Little voice: Showing the rest of the group exploring the mine and not showing the fight.
Me: Wow… that's a total dick move.
Little voice: Exactly!
Me: I'm in.
And that more or less sums up what happened. There are still one or two chapters of fighting left, and maybe it will be complemented with a bit of Vanilla in Vale and the whole drug problem.
If someone tells me that Frostmourne doesn't work like that, that it can't raise a sea of undead just from their bodies and that it needs to steal their souls or something like that, I'LL SAY… you're right! But I'm going to take some creative liberties, because this is a fanfic.
I'm going to start putting the ability being used in a small message below, because I update so rarely that people forget what abilities and items the MC has.
Anyway, I hope you like it. In the next chapter there will be more of the epic fight.
Hugs and kisses!❤️