The Black Dragon

by W. D. Newman

CHAPTER 18

  THE NAMING

  “Now, you need to give them your name,” said Mueller.

  “Oh, sure” said Ben. To begin with, he felt rather silly naming the gnomes. That they were making such a big deal out of the whole thing just made matters worse. However, the gnomes obviously attached great importance to a name, so Ben was as solemn and as reverent as possible when he bestowed his last name upon Harry and Bobo. He decided to include Mueller in this makeshift ceremony too and began with him.

  “I need all three of you to kneel down on one knee.”

  When the gnomes were in position, Ben stood before Mueller and unsheathed his hunting knife. “Mueller, do you promise to defend your newfound freedom and to faithfully uphold the laws of the new and liberated Kahzidar?”

  “I do,” Mueller answered.

  “Then, I here by name you Mueller Alderman, a free gnome of Kahzidar,” said Ben. He tapped Mueller twice on each shoulder with his knife. “Rise up and, umm… be free.”

  Ben quickly performed the ceremony on Harry and Bobo. When he was finished, one thing was certain; the three Alderman gnomes standing before him were different now. He could see the hunger for true freedom in their eyes and the determination to achieve it in the way they set their jaws. He could also tell that they would now do anything for him. Now he had three insiders to help him rescue his friends and possibly many more. Things were finally beginning to look up. “Okay,” he asked them, “what’s our plan?”

  “As I said,” Harry answered, “there is already an underground movement, among the Holediggers, to remove Ringwald. Bobo will go into the city and spread the word among the dissenters that the overthrow is taking place tonight. While he is doing that, we will descend into the mines and rally the Holediggers and Mudcrawlers down there. When the rebels from the mines arrive in the city, they will go straight to the elevators and secure them first. We cannot let the elevators get destroyed; we must capture them in working order. The ones that are already stationed in the city will attack the upper levels as soon as the skirmishes break out at the elevators. The Stonebreakers will be busy defending their homes and we should be able to capture the elevators and start bringing up the rest of the Mudcrawlers.”

  “That sounds like a good plan,” said Ben.

  “It is," Bobo interrupted, with much excitement in his voice. "And if I may take my leave, then I’d better be on my way. I have many Holediggers to speak with tonight.”

  “Tell everyone to watch for the skirmish at the elevators. When those start, begin your attacks at once.” reminded Harry.

  Bobo nodded and set off down the tunnel, toward the city, at a brisk trot.

  Harry turned to Mueller. “It has begun. Lead us to the slave mines, we have much to do.”

  Mueller told Harry to extinguish his torch and to follow quietly. The torch, he explained, was too bright and smoky. They would travel, instead, by the dim glow of a rock buster. Mueller led them down the twisting tunnels, to the left, away from the city. Eventually, the tunnel opened up into a wide space, where the river from the Crystal Cave, up above them, spilled over a high ledge into a dark lake. “Go slowly and carefully from this point; the way is slippery,” said Mueller.

  They followed him onto a narrow shelf of rock that disappeared behind the waterfall. The path was extremely slick and everyone had to press their backs to the rock wall and slowly shuffle their feet to make the crossing without slipping. Once behind the waterfall the path began to descend rapidly.

  “I hope we don’t have to come back this way,” Ben remarked. “I’ll be too pooped to even stand up straight.”

  “I’m afraid there are only two ways,” said Mueller. “This one we are taking now and the elevators. We will bring the Holedigger converts back this way. They are healthier and stronger than the Mudcrawlers. When we reach the city, and capture the elevators, we can begin bringing up the Mudcrawlers. We’ll have to divide our forces between guarding the elevators and attacking the city.”

  “Is it a good idea to divide our forces?”

  “The only ones who will stand with Ringwald are the Stonebreakers and the Holediggers outnumber them two to one,” Harry answered. “They will probably flee the city.”

  “So there may not be any bloodshed?”

  “That is what we are hoping.”

  "Good," said Ben, "I really don't want anyone to get hurt."

  It took them a good hour’s march to reach the slave mines. Mueller’s secret passage led them to a small crack in the wall of the great gorge, hundreds of feet below the city. They slipped through this crack and darted into the shadows of the giant boulders that littered the stone floor of this subterranean canyon. The basin was also riddled with deep rifts and pits, where fires burned brightly and cast eerie orange shadows on the black stone walls.

  “Where to now,” Ben whispered?

  “This canyon is round,” Harry answered. “There are wide tunnels, spaced all the way around the canyon like spokes on a wheel. These tunnels lead into various sections of the mines and at the head of each tunnel are the driver’s quarters. These driver's quarters are barracks that have been carved into the stone walls and the Holediggers that live there are called colonies. There are twenty Holediggers in each colony; ten drivers and ten watchers.”

  “How many tunnels are there?”

  “There are twenty-four tunnels,” said Mueller, "and twenty-four colonies."

  “That means there are four-hundred and eighty Holediggers, guarding over two-thousand Mudcrawlers,” said Ben. “It seems that there are enough slaves to easily overpower the guards and escape.”

  “Oh, Ringwald has certainly thought of that. When sunlighters and gnomes are brought to the mines, they are told that if they ever try to escape, their families will be sought out and destroyed.”

  “Besides that,” said Harry, “everyone thinks the only way back to the city is by the elevators. If the Mudcrawlers did take over the mines, Ringwald would simply cut the ropes that lift the elevators and starve everyone to death.”

  “Are we going to go to each barrack?” asked Ben. “That will take too long.”

  “No. You and Mueller make your way to that large flat rock in the center of the canyon and hide there, in the shadows. I'm going to my barracks which is in that direction," said Harry, pointing across the canyon, to the left of the center rock, "and then to Bobo's barracks. His tunnel is right next to mine."

  "Then what?" asked Ben.

  "All of the gnomes in my colony, and in Bobo's colony, are part of the underground movement. Actually, all of the Holediggers that are stationed down here are part of the movement, but I want to have more than two gnomes by your side when you give your speech."

  "Speech?" said Ben. "You never said anything about a speech!"

  "Nothing fancy; just talk about freedom and a liberated Kahzidar. Then offer your name to anyone who will join the cause. Do a ceremony just like you did with us."

  "Don't worry," said Mueller, "you'll do great. You have a natural gift for leadership."

  "We'd better get moving. Watch for a light. When you see the light, you and Mueller climb up on the rock and wait for us. I'll introduce you and then you do your part. Once everyone has been named, we'll send one gnome to each of the remaining barracks to bring them back to this location, where you will speak once more and do one final naming before we leave."

  Ben checked his watch. It was well after midnight and it looked like there was no rest in sight. He wondered how Amos was doing and how close Jonah was to the Twilight. He hoped the storm was not too much for him. He also worried about his sister and his Grandma too, but he knew that Gob and Nob would protect them with their lives. Half an hour later, a torch flared brightly on the other side of the canyon.

  "There's the light," said Mueller. "Let's climb up."

  The rock was only about six feet high and Ben and Mueller were able to scale it easily, even in the dark.
Once on top, they watched the torch weave and bob as the Holediggers in Harry and Bobo's colonies made their way across the rock cluttered canyon floor. Soon, thirty-nine gnomes were assembled below them. Harry handed the torch up to Mueller, so that everyone could see Ben clearly. Mueller held the torch up and motioned for Ben to step forward and begin.

  Ben swallowed. The lump in his throat would not go away and his palms were beginning to sweat. However, after a brief introduction from Harry, he eased up to the edge of the rock and cleared his throat.

  "Hello. My name is Ben. Ben Alderman. I come from a faraway place; a place called The United States of America. It is also known as the land of the free and the home of the brave, but that freedom was not given to us; we had to fight for it and earn it. Yet, even after our country gained its freedom, many people there still kept slaves, even though others believed it was wrong. There were other problems too and, eventually, the country became so divided that the two sides went to war with each other. It was a long and terrible war. Thousands and thousands of people died."

  All eyes were on him now and every gnome appeared to be intensely focused on what he was saying. He wiped his palms on the seat of his pants and continued.

  "Our leader then, a great man named Abraham Lincoln, was one of those people who believed that slavery was wrong and that all people should be free. He delivered a famous speech, called The Gettysburg Address. I had to memorize that speech in school and I would like to share it with you now...

  Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

  Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

  But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

  At the end of the speech, Ben paused and a soft murmur ran through the Holediggers assembled below him. Mueller leaned over and whispered into his ear, "You're doing great, don't stop. Get on with the naming."

  Ben took a deep breath and held his hands up for silence. The Holediggers edged closer to the rock to hear what he would say next.

  "And so, if there are any here who are ready to give their last full measure of devotion, so that Kahzidar may have a new birth of freedom, then kneel down and receive your naming."

  All nineteen gnomes from Harry's colony and all nineteen from Bobo's knelt as one. Ben drew his knife and brandished it above their heads. "I hear by name you Alderman gnomes, and may the government you establish of the gnomes, by the gnomes, and for the gnomes, never perish."

  A great cry went up from the gnomes as they leapt to their feet. The fire had been lit. The revolution had finally begun.

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