“Come in, gentleman” were the first words Beleg heard as soon as he finished opening the double doors wide enough to leave the perfect gap for a dwarf of his girth.


    They came from a demon, whose appearance far surpassed the horror he had already been imagining in his head on the way to the rescue of Mim, the bricklayer. However, the manners, shocking and bombastic as they come, were such a surprise that they did not allow the ex-waiter to react in the natural way his body was clamoring for: to run on all fours without looking back.


    “Excuse me, your strong-armed friend is waiting for you in the parlor, just behind this beautiful wall of pyrite and gems. You two and I must be having a discussion, as I''ve been telling him. If you''ll do me the favor of coming in...” he said, as he stuck the black spikes he had for legs a little to his left, leaving room for Beleg.


    A Beleg, stunned by the blue opals of the impossible face of a being of black stone, entered without grumbling and without ceasing to look at the demon. When Mim heard some footsteps, clearly not given by the terrible spikes of the demon “Gimno”, he imagined that Beleg was already present in the dazzling geode and decided to act, though resigning himself to the obsidian chair still.


    “For all that is dear, Beleg, run for your life!” he shouted sitting down, hoping the demon would be content with one prisoner.


    Beleg turned his head in the direction of the sound, imagining that behind the wall was his companion.


    “Don''t worry, your friend is upset about the journey and the tragedy that befell your female friend. Please come with me, you go ahead!” the creature expounded. In a fleeting moment, in a cerebral instant, Beleg accepted that the black demon knew something important about Finna, perhaps he was even involved in the fatal accident. Still impassive, he walked slowly to the opening in the wall, which divided the rooms of the geode.


    “Brother, why don''t you run, did the demonic beast get you? Don''t listen to him or you will end up falling under his spell” said Mim agitated when he saw Beleg appear in the room.


    “There is no need to insist any more my friend, it is time for the parley, now that we are all present. Please, gentleman, sit down” said the onyx beast pulling out an obsidian stool from under the main table of the room. And, as before, so did Beleg, without pause but without sudden movements.


    “Don''t obey him, damn you, what''s wrong with you?” the red-haired dwarf demanded to know.


    “Have you seen his claws or the stakes he has for legs? Where do I run to, Mim, in this hole, from which I don''t even have the strength to get out?” reasoned the dark-haired man.


    They were both silent under the patient gaze of the demon, who waited politely for them to be quiet.


    “Mim! You have a name at last, and how nice to know it, may I ask yours, good sir?” he commented looking at Beleg, paws clasped together. “Beleg is my name, will you let us go?” replied, now calm, the ex-waiter.


    “Before disposing of that matter I would like to address other issues, allow me to do so as I am the host of this meeting” said the demon as he began to prowl the room, certain that his guests would not flee.


    “Indeed, master dwarf, my name is not Gimno, though I have used it for many years. My name is Gog, which in my native tongue would be something like -of the earth- and this not for nothing as you clearly see. To begin with, and to get to know each other better, let me relate to you my situation and what I require of you, good guests.” As he spoke, he began to make circles by digging its singular paws into the ground, which was filled with black gravel.


    “And then we can also talk about your blonde friend” said the walking onyx before beginning his tale, to decisively grab attention.


    “Mim, Beleg, this has been my gome for a long time. And in this precious geode I reside for a very simple reason, I fear to return empty-handed. I came with a mission, of notable importance, and, you see, this is a little hard to tell, but... I came to corrupt your city.” Both dwarves gaped, wondering if now, just like that, they had stumbled upon an existential threat to the fortress.


    “But don''t worry!” continued the demon, trying to appease the spirits. “I''m not going to do it anymore, indeed, I swear I''m not going to do it, for a simple and very humble reason: I can''t!"


    Then Mim interrupted: “The iron will of our people made the task impossible for you, surely!”


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    But even Beleg added “I rather think that you came to your senses, surely you took pity when you saw that we didn''t deserve such a fate”.


    “Such original hypothesis my friends, surely you are respected for your wisdom wherever you come from. Yet you stray from the truth here; but I will enlighten you, gladly.”


    “When I was still able, many, many years ago, I used to go out and do my work. I will spare you the details, but let it be known that I never took a life, nor stole, though I could.”


    “But, one day, as the Sun dawned on your citadel and glimmers of light entered through the openings, which was the time when I was hiding right here in my geode, well... let''s just say things were never the same again.”


    “I was rejoicing in my greatest treasure, Sebastian, the huge diamond bestowed upon me as advanced payment for this very work of corruption of which I speak to you, when through all the tunnels came hundreds of your kin. I could not defend myself, for they were all soldiers, and with them went their king, Golmen.”


    Both dwarves looked at each other, they knew the name, as they all did, but they were surprised to hear it from the onyx mouth that was lecturing them today.


    “The king knew of my purpose in this stratum and, so that I could not continue my arduous work, he left me ruined as you see me.” Then interceded Beleg, now asking, “Is this not your usual appearance?” The stony demon lowered his head, defeated.


    “Friend, you would be ashamed of that question now if you had seen me in my true glory and splendor. My body was of smooth onyx, rather carved as you now see my rounded head. My hands and feet, though always nimble and deadly were slender and delicate looking. My nose and ears were commented upon in the court from whence I came, but they were taken from me by three cruel blows upon my face. And with the true form of my body and my face, my true power was gone."


    "I could no longer convince anyone of my truths, and, thus, the nefarious dwarf monarch fulfilled his purpose.”


    “But why didn''t he kill me there, when I was at his mercy? You may wonder”, both guests nodded, now more interested in the continuation of what was really a piece of their unknown history, than in their lives. “Because I was still useful to him, so a pact was signed, the old-fashioned way” Gog assured them.


    “Not much farther down, through tunnels you have never yet visited, you begin to see beautiful quartz crystals coming out of the rock, lots of them. Soon after, on the descent, you will find that the entire floor is of this same white quartz. And then, you will not be able to descend, for the immensity of this layer of shining crystal surrounds the world completely, and it is very thick and it is very hard. Even your kind would take decades, perhaps centuries to drill a tiny hole to descend.”


    “And you know an easy way through, don''t you?” asked Beleg, unafraid, but thinking what a nefarious bargain the king of his ancestors would have made with a demon of this ilk.


    “Indeed, or, rather, I have the only key to the only door in... probably countless miles” replied the Gog creature.


    “And I have it right here, by the way” he continued pointing to the mark on his head, which he bent down for all to get a good look at.


    The indentation on its forehead continued upward, now revealing itself to be the representation of a sword. Said weapon was superimposed on another indentation that made a perfect circle on the round head of the onyx being.


    “In case you''re wondering, I''ll tell you: it represents my conquest of the world, or that of my prince, rather. Though rest assured, there is nothing left of that dream now, which brings us to the crux of the matter.”


    “How long would you say it has been since, among your kind, this Golmen reigned, who left me so battered?” When the demon asked, Mim looked at Beleg, for he had no idea and knew that his companion was somewhat more knowledgeable about the history of the fortress.


    “It was somewhat before the Sun reduced its heat over the world, hence it will have been something more than three centuries, perhaps four,” Beleg answered, a little proud to get this trivia question right.


    “Well that''s it, there we have it, in all that time I have done absolutely nothing, and it has clearly flown by” continued Gog. “I''ve been waiting for people like you. You want to come down, it''s clear, and so do I, because I no longer wish to continue with this mission. But I have a problem that you can solve for me: I must return with the certainty that I have left your elegant and sturdy fortress, totally and utterly corrupt, prey to greed, avarice, obsession for accumulation, or else my prince will not be happy, it is very important to him."


    "So... why don''t you come with me and... play corrupt, as proof.” Gog checked the impassive gaze of the dwarves, who had been starting to disconnect from reality for a while now.


    “But then I''ll help you, you can go wherever you want in Avernus or even go lower, which I imagine is what you''ll want.”


    “WAIT, wait... you say too many things demon” interrupted Mim, fed up with the stony beast telling him about its problems.


    “You said that to continue descending you have to go through a great layer of quartz, so what is at the bottom of the pit we descended, the one Finna fell through? And why would we want to continue descending beyond the black realm you come out of?”, hard but accurate questions on the part of the mason.


    “Of course, dear Mim, what fine questions I''ll be happy to enlighten you about...”