Thimble Ironfist

            CRACK! The splinters gave way and the tree fell over with a crash. CRACK! Again with another, and so and so forth the trees fell one by one, leaving a narrow pathway. Heading down the newly made path was an grumbling, grumpy Dwarf.

 Stocky legs stomping down and packing in the dirt, his large, round beer belly juggling with immense girth. Despite the massive belly, the dwarf had a barrel chest and strong arms as thick as the trees that fell with ham sized fists at their ends.

 Another tree stood in the angry dwarve’s path. With a grumble, the stocky humanoid raised his Ironfist and threw a solid punch. The thick rooted tree quickly gave way to the splintering smack and fell over, clearing the way for the dwarf to continue stomping through.

 “BEER!” He roared. “ALE!” He bellowed. “I NEED A DRINK!” He cried, felling another tree that stood in his way no more. This had gone on before the dwarf had finally stopped by a small creek, where he sat for hours before finally giving into his thirst and taking in great handfuls of water.

 “I’ve been lost in this forest fer far too long!” He yelled, collapsing onto the soft, moist ground. There lay for awhile longer, resting until his strength would come back.

 He stroked his thick, black and messy beard, pulling leaves and twits out from it. His beady, black eyes peering up at the sky, whenever he looked down himself his large, beak-like nose would obscure half his vision.

 The dwarf’s smooth head shinned brightly in the sunlight. He was so young and already he was bald!

 Sitting up, the broad shouldered dwarf looked over his Ironfist, the mechanical hand that replaced his original right. Made of tempered steel and silver plating it was a work of art all its own, with intricate and gilded etchings of a mountain ram covering the wrist, mountains etched all along the background, and at the back of the hand was a gilded triangle, simple as that. But it shinned brighter than the rest.

 Though it was a blacksmith’s masterpiece, the real wonder was the mechanical workings. Gears small and large, all gold plated or silver worked on the inside, at the stroke of a few dials worked into the side, the dwarf could make the many hand gestures a normal hand could. But, of course, he rather use its magic to help him smash everything out of his path.

 Finally rising to his stocky, but sturdy feet, the dwarf set out once again and the splintering and crashing fall of trees began shortly after.

 The cave was large and cavernous. The mouth opened wide to the end of the forest, the mountain that it dug into loomed high into the clouds. All around the cave was a large clearing, perhaps trees had once hid it away, but they were all long gone, and the few that remained until it became a thick forest again were bent and broken.

 The dwarf stopped just outside it, he had made the rest of his way through the forest without shattering the tree line with his Ironfist, choosing a more… stealthy approach. At least until he went inside.

 With a grunt and spit, the dwarf bravely walked in his fist held out like a fearsome weapon—in which case it was. Keen to seeing the dark for most of his life, the iron fisted dwarf picked his way through the cave easily. Dwarves were naturals when it came to cave dwelling, so this was no obstacle.

 The stocky creature stopped at the first bend in the cave’s inner structure, hearing a loud snore that sounded deeper within. The sound echoed and bounced off the empty walls, it came from a large beast of sorts, definitely not a bear.

 With lighter steps, the dwarf dwelled deeper and deeper. The snoring became louder and louder, foul winds began to blow across the dwarf’s face, but did not daunt his senses. He’s smelt far worse while working in the mines of his homeland.

 But the deeper he went, the stronger and fouler the winds had become, the snoring roared so loudly it was all the dwarf could hear bouncing from the cave walls. Finally he had come to the last bend and there he crept along the wall separating him from the beast.

 Slowly he peaked his bald head around, peering in with beady little black eyes. There in the middle of the room lay a hulking beast sprawled among piles of bones and fresh corpses of animals and humanoids alike. The thing had an uglier face than the dwarf remembered, with large yellow tusks, a flat nose and a flat head, the thing’s ears were flabby and large like an elephant’s.

 The thing itself was a gray mass of muscular flesh. With broad shoulders and a barrel chest, but a large belly that mocked the dwarf’s and long, but powerful legs that could put him above the trees outside. Its arms looked as if they could touch the ground, even if the thing stood at full height. Long fingered and hairy knuckled hands rested at the ends of its arms.

 A smart man would try to smash the thing’s skull in before it could awaken, however, this dwarf was no man, let alone a smart one. Arrogant and cocky as ever, he raised his Ironfist and roared over the snoring.

 Crimson eyes burst wide open, the creature quickly rose and looked down to see who awoke it from its peaceful slumber. It roared loudly in anger when it spotted the dwarf, standing proud and defiant. A smart man would also run, but again…

 This was the thing that had terrorized the forests, that had claimed the lives of many, frightening the wild life away from their natural homes. This was a cave troll, and they were not to be trifled with. With a warcry of his own, the dwarf raced at the hunched over troll, the cave ceiling was much too low for it to rise to its full height.

 Long, gray arms extended out and tried to smash the stout man then and there, but he had rolled off just in time and quickly picked himself back up on his feet. The troll howled in rage and lashed out again with a hairy hand, slapping the cave floor, the dwarf narrowly avoiding it and charged up at the hunched over monster.

 Ironfist balled up, he swung hard into the thing’s shin, a loud snap followed by an agonized roar echoed throughout the cave. The troll came to a kneel and went into a slapping frenzy at the cave floor. The dwarf ducked under and rolled between its legs. The large troll took some time to spin around, having to be in such a confined space with a broken ankle, and by the time it turned the dwarf was more than ready for it, standing proudly as an easy target.

 The dumb thing took the bait and smacked down with all its might, the blow could have crushed him like a ripe grape, but the dwarf slipped between its long fingers at the last second and swung his mighty fist down. Another splintering crack of bone was heard and the troll roared again in agony, bringing his hand up to hold gingerly.

 The dwarf took this opportunity to charge out of the cave, hooting and hollering and edging for the monster to follow. Enraged and full of fury, the troll crawled out from its chamber and began to limp/crawl through the cave, roaring at the dwarf all the way.

 Despite his stocky legs and large belly, he easily outran the troll, passing through the narrow corridors with ease, while the monster had to crawl or slide between them. The cave was full of twists and turns. It truly was the perfect lair, an invader, such as an army or another cave troll, could easily be caught off guard while sliding or crawling through, giving the current resident the upper hand. An army would be narrowed and choked while the monster just took them out one by one.

 The dwarf had made it out just in time, the troll continued to bellow in rage. The monster finally peaked its head out from the mouth of the cave, roaring and searching frantically for its assailant.

 “HEY UGLY, UP HERE!”

 The troll looked up and there the dwarf proudly stood atop a small cliff just over the cave. The monster reached up with a hairy hand, half its body was still in the cave.

 The dwarf punched down at the rock with his Ironfist, the cliff shook and broke off from the rest of the mountain, sliding down and smacking into the troll. The monster went down with a sudden cry of fear and realization and crashed into the ground with the rock and the dwarf still standing on top, who laughed all the way.

 The crumbled rocks moved and rolled down eachother, the mountain of ruble shifted and an ugly, bleeding head popped out from under, its face full of rage and pain and it began to roar in agonized anger.

 SLAM! The dwarf slid down from the broken and bloodied skull of the troll, the thing went limb the instant his metal fist connected with its softened skull. The dwarf looked back to inspect his handy work and laughed at the fallen monster as its head laid with a large hole in the top and its mouth half open as it was about to roar.

 “And that’s what ye git fer messin’ with Thimble Ironfist! Now…” The dwarf turned back towards the forest, bellowing out loudly: “I NEED A DRINK!”