Igneous hurried to Maxwell's house. When he arrived, there was only a pile of flaming rubble.
"Maxwell!" Igneous jumped to lift the nearest piece of stone wall, hoping that the councilman might still be alive. He heaved one piece out of the way, and moved on to the next.
Some solid-built Magnorites approached the scene. When they saw Igneous, they marched straight for him. "Hey!" Igneous shouted. "Can you help me clear this rubble? There's a councilman living here!"
"We know." The leader of the group said, "which is why you are coming with us." They picked up Igneous like a chicken and dragged him away.
"Hey, let GO of me!" Igneous squirmed and writhed.
"Oh, shut up, you!" One of the henchmen kicked him in the head and everything went dark.
The desert sun slanted into the alleyway. Four Magnorites carried an unconscious Igneous towards the main street. "Comon, this is the fastest way to the tunnel. We'll bury this idiot along with the rest of Cydonia."
"Oof!" As soon as the group turned onto the street, a miner bumped into them and dropped an armful of pickaxes on the ground, blocking their path.
"Pick up your dung and get of my way." The leader of the group kicked the tools into the Magnorite, making him wince as the jagged edge hit his thigh.
"I'm terribly sorry, sir." Borgen replied as he bent down to pick up the pile. "Let me just get all this out of the way."
"Move aside you clumsy oaf!" Another ordered.
"Yes, yes, right away, sir." Borgen took the first pickaxe on the pile, then, with a flash of his wrist, hurled it at the group.
"Ah! You treacherous little-" The pickaxe cut off the Magnorite leader's rocky left arm in one swift strike. The other henchmen dropped the still sleeping Igneous on the ground and rushed to help. Borgen took one pick in each hand and arched his legs like a bow. He shifted his weight to his right leg, raised his right hand over his head, and extended his other towards his enemies, ready for a fight. The henchmen drew their knives and charged all at once.
Borgen slammed the ground, bouncing up more pickaxes. One by one, he hooked the tools, now formidable projectiles, with his own double blades and tossed them at the oncoming trio. The henchmen dodged and Borgen pounced on them. He struck the first Magnorite head on, reducing his brain to dust with one swift stroke. As the second approached, Borgen whirled around and brought his other pick down. His adversary blocked with his long knife and Borgen brought his other hand from beneath, striking the Magnorite square in the chest and digging out a hole straight through. He slumped to the ground. The third henchman skidded to a halt, and ran for help down the alleyway along with his one-armed leader. Borgen leapt into the air and landed in front of them, pickaxes raised.
"How…" The crippled Magnorite stammered, "How are you a master of the ancient art of…"
"Unfortunately, you won't find out." Borgen pounced off the wall and swiped his weapons across both of their stomachs. The orange light faded from their bodies and they fell to the ground.
"Igneous! Wake up!" Igneous slowly opened his eyes. The sunset was in his eyes, melting with Borgen's orange light.
"What? Where are we? What time is it?" Igneous sat up. "Last thing I remember, I was at Maxwell's house, and…"
"Yeah, I know. The others told me." Borgen helped Igneous onto his feet. "But there's not a moment to lose! The tunnel has reached Cydonia and Malakai is personally overseeing the final steps. We have to act now in order to stop them!" Borgen slung Igneous' arm over his shoulder and helped him towards the cave leading to the tunnel.
"I think I can walk now, thanks, Borgen." Igneous took his arm off of the other's shoulder. They were now approaching the mouth of the cave, and the sight shocked them.
Mountains of TNT blocked the entrance on both sides. In the middle, Magnorites were loading the explosives into minecarts and sending them down the tunnel. Dead Magnorites scattered the surrounding grounds, and some were still dueling, careful not to scrape the casks.
"Oh, no" whispered Borgen, "Our fellows are being overwhelmed. I'm afraid the only way to stop this madness now is to detonate whatever they have already placed early. That should warn the Cydonians." They hugged the wall past the duels and into the entrance. Borgen grabbed an empty minecart returning from the tunnel and moved it to the opposite track. "Come on." He jumped in with Igneous and sped off.
They could see the shimmering torch light as they approached the cave at the end. This is it, Igneous thought, time to save the world.
"I'll pull the minecart off the track so they don't find out." Borgen whispered.
"Good idea." Igneous whispered back. It would be foolish to just charge in like this. At least they must assess the situation first.
The two found a crevice near the cave's mouth and watched. A troop of Magnorites were laying the TNT from the minecarts all around the tavern, stashing them in cracks, lodging them on ledges, and piling a pyramid on the ground.
"Isn't that Malakai?" Igneous pointed at the biggest Magnorite of the group.
"Most definitely. He must be overseeing the last steps." Borgen drew out a redstone torch. "Which means we must sneak in to detonate the TNT." He started out of the crevice.
"Wait," Igneous held him by the arm. "Let me talk to them first. I think I can dissuade them from this plan." He stretched out his other hand for the torch.
Borgen just stared at him. In all his life, at least, he lived long enough for Magnorites, he had never seen one so learned yet so foolish.
"And if they don't listen?"
"Then I'll be the one to detonate the TNT."
"Alright." Borgen slowly handed over the torch, feeling the other's hand tremble.
"Please, take my books." Igneous took off his sack. "If I do not come back, please help my knowledge live on." Borgen took the volumes, but it felt heavier than a pile of rocks. "It has been a pleasure knowing you, Borgen." And Igneous marched into the cave.
"Hello! Good day, gentlemen!" Igneous announced. The group of Magnorites looked up.
"A tiny Magnorite." Malakai leapt down from a hill of TNT. "What are you doing here? You should be ashamed of your size."
"Oh, see." Igneous switched hands, but still kept the torch hidden behind his back. "I'm not from K'arthen. I was born in the North and lived my life around other people. I'm here because what happens here affects Magnorites everywhere and I think we, Cydonia and K'arthen, can resolve this issue peaceful…"
Malakai pounded the ground. "Shut up, you runt! I see your time among the other pathetic kingdoms have made you soft. Were you bullied? Shunned? Why didn't you stand up and fight?"
"Because," Igneous shifted the torch in his hands again, "We shouldn't be fighting. We need to learn to coexist with those whom we share Ardonia…"
"Coexist?" Malakai boomed, his voice echoing in the cave. "Coexist? And give others a weakness to exploit?"
"Working together is not weakness." Igneous argued, now he was feeling the torch's handle up and down. "We shouldn't be blowing up Cydonia- we should be making peace."
The group stopped their work and surrounded Igneous. Malakai pounded the ground again. "Peace? Peace made us complacent! Peace made us weak!" He marched towards Igneous, flanked by half a dozen Magnorites, equally solid-bulit. "When I took K'arthen from those corrupt weaklings and rallied the Magnorites to fight, our drive allowed us to destroy Cydonia and save ourselves from a slow doom. And now, again we have grown weak."
Malakai raised his arms to the crowd. "In moments we will destroy the city of Phaethon from below. Cydonia will retaliate, but they will not have the power to stop us! We will conquer Cydonia and avenge our defeat!" He raised his right fist. "All hail to K'arthen, the greatest of the five kingdoms!"
"All hail to K'arthen!" Replied the crowd.
Igneous steadied himself. His shaking and fidgeting were gone. "I can't let you do that." He said quietly. Pouncing on the closest pile of TNT, he grazed the tip of the redstone torch across its surface. The explosive jumped to life, starting its deadly countdown.
"Stop that!" Malakai shouted. "It's gonna blow before we are ready!"
"That was always the plan." Igneous said quietly. He struck alight a second pile as Malakai bore down on him.
"Then I'm gonna make sure you DIE BEFORE ME!" He picked up Igneous by the neck and threw him into the cave wall. Igneous crumpled on the ground and tried to stand up. Malakai pounced and grabbed him by the neck again. He slammed Igneous onto the hard floor, and raised him again. He launched Igneous across the cave, landing in another TNT mound. Igneous smiled, and thrusted his torch into a TNT. Then, everything went black.
Outside, Borgen jumped out of the minecart just in time to see the tunnel collapse behind him. He looked towards the rubble in a silent and solumn solute.
"Rest in peace, you bookworm. Let this be the last epic page of your story."
Borgen led a few fellow Magnorites to the gate on the Cydonia-K'arthen border. The Cydonian representatives were already there, and their faces were darker than the caves.
"Ich hope you've komm to explain ze attack on Phaethon." The Minister of K'arthen, whom Borgen recognized by his robes, spoke with his arms across his chest.
"The true attack never took place, Mr. Hasan." Borgen explained. "The previous leader of K'arthen, Malakai, had planned to detonate over a hundred sets of TNT beneath Phaethon to incite further war between our kingdoms." Hasan crossed his arms tighter. "But there are many of us in K'arthen who want this hostility between our two nations to end. It was the actions of one brave Magnorite, Igneous, who sacrificed himself and prevented the attack."
Hasan exchanged a word with his companions, who shook their heads. He raised his voice, "So bekause von of your attacks failed, you vant us to make peace?"
"No, I want us to make peace because the time for civil war has long ended, and many in K'arthen are starving. To ensure our trust, we offer you these ores," the Magnorites pushed forth three large chests brimming with iron, gold, diamonds, and lapis. "so trade may resume as it once did."
Hasan's guards took the chests as their leader had another group huddle. Some nodded, a few shook their heads.
"Very vell, ve vill give peace ein chance." Hasan put his hands behind his back and leaned forward. "But know this, you burnt our farms, salted our fields, und dransformed our kingdom into ein desert. If you think zese vill bring peace, du are mistaken. K'arthen has a lot to make up for bevore ve can truly resume trading."
"Thank you." Borgen bowed, "This will be the start of something greater. K'arthen and Cydonia must become allies once more if we are to be victorious in the wars to come."
"You'd better hope so." Hasan said. Whipping around he walked back with his group, leaving Borgen in the desert winds.