“You made it. Come in, we will have to wait until King Grizzle and King Kraft return before we can continue, but we have a lot to discuss in the meantime.”
“Queen Gemcutter,” the dwarf leading him said.
“Yes?”
“You should know that Fuhrung killed the dwarves who led him here. He also killed another dwarf on the steps near the monument.”
Frau turned toward Fuhrung, but the dwarf continued, “We believe that he was attacked by the Phantom. His story was the same as the others, but we took his weapons to be safe.”
Frau accepted that too easily for Fuhrung. Something was definitely wrong here. “Give him back his swords and leave us. We have a lot to talk about,” Frau told his guard.
He took his swords back from the guards and followed her into the room.
“Queen Gemcutter, I lost Shinestone,” he told her when they were alone.
Frau nodded her head in acknowledgement. “I know. That is the least of our problems at the moment. We have heard that you saved almost all of the dwarves of Shinestone and collapsed the tunnels on the kobolds before you left. There was nothing more we could have expected with the forces we left in Shinestone.”
“Then why have I been summoned?” he asked with confusion hanging heavily on his words.
She stared at him for a moment. “You thought you were being summoned for trial?”
“If not, then why have you summoned me?”
Frau smiled at him. “Fuhrung, you were summoned for a Counsel of Kings. The dwarves of Tiefes Loch have been beaten down for so long that they do not even know our ways any longer. None of them are capable to restore this kingdom to its former greatness. We held a council, and you were nominated as the best dwarf to lead Tiefes Loch. We believe that we will need to allow many of the dwarves here to go to other kingdoms, and bring dwarves from the other kingdoms here in order to guide the dwarves here back to Bordin. They have been lost for a long time, but there are nearly as many dwarves here as in Evermount and Haufen combined.”
Fuhrung immediately felt like he had just taken off a full set of armor. The weight of a trial immediately lifted, and then he remembered the events on the steps. “What happened on the steps? The guards wouldn’t tell me anything. I heard them speak about a phantom. What is going on here?”
The happiness that he had seen on her face when he arrived was immediately replaced and she seemed to age before his eyes. “King Bergmann had pushed the dwarves of Tiefes Loch too far. When we arrived, they joined us. They led us to Bergmann. In his last seconds, he called out to Delvidge and sacrificed his soul. Delvidge granted him an opportunity for revenge. His body immediately dissipated as his soul was vanquished, leaving just his spiritual presence. We weren’t sure about what happened until the next day when dwarves started attacking each other. He began to speak through the bodies of other dwarves, promising revenge. King Stoneheart and Kraft went with Grundel and the others to Portwein. They are going to try to enlist a necromancer there to help us destroy Bergmann’s spirit. Until then, we have to continue to deal with the attacks. The entire kingdom is on edge. No one trusts anyone. Some days there will be nothing, other days Bergmann will take control of someone’s body and kill a dozen dwarves. We are constantly on edge. All we can hope is that the necromancer has some answers.”
Fuhrung stared at her for a long time, processing everything she had just said. He couldn’t believe that any dwarf would ever sacrifice his soul, but after fighting the spirit for his body, he couldn’t imagine any other explanation. “He almost took me,” he told her.
“What?” Frau asked.
“Bergmann. On the stairs, after I killed the dwarf he used to attack me, he tried to take over my body. I felt him inside my mind, fighting for control. It took a while, but I finally was able to push him out. I don’t know how I did it, but I fought him off.”
Frau nodded. “There have only been a few of us who have pushed him out. Grizzle was the first. There have been a couple others. It was the scariest moment of my life. For a moment, I thought he had me. We think that the fight makes him weak. Every time that he is pushed out of a body, there are no attacks the next day, sometimes for more than one day. Hopefully that will be true again this time.”
“When are you expecting the others to return?”
Frau shrugged. “We have no idea. They had to help unseat the old king before they could approach the necromancer. We don’t even know if the necromancer is going to help, but Commander Boris thought they would be able to sway him.”
Fuhrung looked to the door. “If all we can do is wait, I might as well learn as much as I can about this place in the meantime.”
Chapter Twelve
A King’s Challenge
Jerrie woke up to Crissy gently shaking him. “What is it?” he asked, scanning the room for a threat.
“I have kept you asleep for nearly a day. How are you feeling?”
Jerrie sat up and looked around. He still felt very tired and sick, but he felt much better. “I feel okay, I think.”
She smiled. “Good. I have a cart outside to take us to the square. I let you sleep as long as I could. Commander Boris is supposed to be fighting at midday today, and it is late in the morning. We will need to leave soon if you want to make it in time.”
Jerrie nodded and looked around the room.
Crissy smiled at him. “Your clothes are at the end of the cot. Your weapons are in the corner. I will wait in the other room. If you need anything, call and I will come.” Before he started to stand, she put a hand on his shoulder. “Stand up slowly. You will probably be disoriented a little. Your body is still weak. If you try to exert yourself, you will likely pass out.”
Jerrie looked at Crissy’s hand on his bare shoulder. He was reminded that he wasn’t wearing any clothes. He looked down at the thin sheet that was now only covering him from the waist down. When he looked back up, Crissy’s cheeks were red. She turned and walked toward the door.
Jerrie grabbed his clothing from the end of the cot. There was no way for Crissy to know, but his leather vest and bracers were magically enchanted. She had washed all of his clothing and, from what he could tell, she had washed him at some time during his unconsciousness. He slid his boots on, pulling them up almost to his knees and then slowly stood. He remembered how he had nearly fainted the last time, so he prepared to drop back onto the cot. He felt fine though. He stood there for a moment to make sure that he wasn’t going to lose his balance. Once he was sure that he was okay, he made his way across the room and began gathering his weapons. She had brought all of his weapons along with a sword and dagger that must have belonged to the man he had fallen next to. He stowed away his own weapons and slid the extra dagger into his boot. He left the sword where it was. In the other corner was a stack of weapons that she had recovered from the other bodies. She must have assumed that those were the weapons of the men he had killed.
When he opened the door, she was standing in the next room waiting. “Were all of your weapons together? I tried to sort them out. If any of them were missing, I put all of the other weapons I could find in the alley in the other corner.”
“You did well. I left the sword that wasn’t mine.”
She looked at him curiously. “You fought off all of those men without a sword?”
Jerrie smiled. “They thought I was less dangerous without a sword as well. It was a fatal mistake.” He expected her to be offended, but the look she gave was one of admiration. She was genuinely impressed. He wasn’t sure why he wanted her approval, but for some reason he did.
“The cart is outside. We should hurry. The square will be packed with people, and we will have to walk once we get close.”
Jerrie took a look around the room. It was very modestly furnished. Nothing seemed like it would be very comfortable, and it looked like she spent what money she made on herbs and medical supplies. He decided that whatever happened, he would make sure that she was taken care of. She had, after
all, saved his life. He turned toward her as they exited into the alley. “That poppy was making my mind foggy. Thank you for helping me see that. Thank you for saving me.”
“It’s what anyone would have done in that situation,” she replied without turning to look at him.
“Most people would have left me in the alley to die and said it was none of their business. You risked yourself to take care of me, and I won’t forget that.”
Crissy turned her head slightly, but didn’t make eye contact. Jerrie climbed up into the cart, smiling. She stood behind him to make sure he didn’t fall.
Crissy walked around the front of the cart and patted the old brown horse on the nose. The horse looked like it might not make it a block on its own, let alone pull them, but Jerrie had no intention of insulting her or the horse. She climbed up onto the bench of the cart. The bench was an old rotting board that might give way any second. Jerrie knew that having a horse and a cart in the city was more than most could boast, but these were barely that. She flicked the reins, and the horse slowly started moving forward. Jerrie was confident that they could have easily outpaced the beast, but he still wasn’t sure he could last. He felt a lot better, but he knew that after being wounded the healing process could be deceiving.
Jerrie rode next to Crissy silently. His mind drifted between his attraction to her and his worry for Commander Boris. He hadn’t known the man long, but he thought of him as an honorable man and one he would call a friend. Boris was a capable fighter, but he was still recovering from a terrible wound. Thanks to his own recent experience, he knew firsthand how that could affect performance. Boris was missing his sword arm, and even a great fighter like Boris would be at a disadvantage trying to adjust to that.
As they got closer to the city square, the streets started getting more and more crowded. They were about six blocks away when Crissy stopped the cart in front of a small healer’s cottage. “The horse belongs to an old friend. He was my mentor. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have known how to help you. This is his clinic. Do you think you can walk the rest of the way?”
Jerrie answered by climbing down out of the cart. He grabbed the horse’s lead and wrapped it around the post in front of the clinic.
Crissy came up next to him. “Martin will take care of the cart. Are you ready?”
Jerrie smiled at her.
“What are you smiling about?”
“You sure are bossy,” he said jokingly.
Crissy looked down at the ground nervously.
“It was just a joke,” he said apologetically.
She looked up and smiled mischievously. “It’s going to take more than that to hurt my feelings.”
They both smiled and then Crissy started walking. Jerrie fell in step next to her, and they made their way toward the crowded city square.
***
The precession of guards led Boris through the city with Grizzle, Grundel, Kraft, Rundo, and Evelyn following behind them. As they approached the city square, the guards had to part the crowd to get them through. The crowd erupted around them as they approached, and when they made the platform the entire square was filled with deafening cheers. Morder was already waiting on the platform when Boris made his way up the steps. A wicked grin crossed Morder’s face.
Kauffman stepped up to the front of the platform and held up his hands in an attempt to calm the crowd. It took a few minutes. Finally, the crowd calmed enough for Kauffman to be heard. He picked up a large cone that would enhance his voice. “People of Portwein, a challenge has been made, and the challenge was accepted. The winner of this challenge will have the nomination as king.” The crowd erupted, and Kauffman knew he would have no chance of calming it quickly. He turned back to Morder and Boris. Boris nodded. He turned to Morder, who smiled and slid his sword out of his sheath.
Morder’s sword was thick. It was too long to be a short sword but not quite long enough to be a long sword. Along the backside of it were three large steel rings.
Boris had taken a lighter sword than he usually carried in order to wield it more effectively with his left hand. He had taken to the more traditional cutlass used by the majority of the soldiers of Portwein.
Jerrie followed Crissy as she pushed her way through the crowd. Many of the people turned on Crissy but held their protest as Jerrie’s eyes promised them pain. They continued to make their way toward the front until they were less than fifty paces from the platform. Jerrie watched as the challenge was announced. Kauffman turned around and faced Bordin and Morder.
Bordin had barely drawn his sword when Morder charged him. He hopped to the side and batted Morder’s thrust to the side. Bordin was an experienced fighter; he knew he had to avoid trying to block or thrust directly. Morder would entangle his sword with those rings. Morder was a lot quicker than his huge frame would suggest.
***
Jerrie saw movement a few paces ahead of him and off to his right. He looked over and saw a rough-looking man leveling a crossbow. Before the crossbowmen could even finish lining up his shot, Jerrie’s dagger slammed into the side of the crossbow. The crossbowmen pulled the trigger and his shot flew harmlessly toward the stage. The guards near the stage rushed toward the man. The other men around him were all throwing off their cloaks and drawing weapons. Two of them had already turned toward Jerrie. He drew his daggers and prepared for a fight. The fighters were just outside of his reach when there was a flash of light reflecting off of metal and the two men fell at his feet.
There were very few men in all of Gegend who could throw two daggers that accurately and that quickly, and of those few men there was only one whose daggers would disappear after they impacted. He didn’t look for Rundo. He stepped over the bodies of the two fighters and moved toward the original crossbowman. The crossbowman dropped the crossbow he was cranking when he saw Jerrie coming. The fighter tried to draw his sword, but Jerrie kicked his arm, knocking his hand off of the hilt. Jerrie already had another dagger in his hand, and he brought it across the fighter’s throat as he passed. Another fighter came at him from the side, bringing down his sword, and Jerrie deflected it high with his dagger and dropped to his knees, spinning and drawing his dagger across the fighter’s stomach.
The last of the fighters died on the swords of the guards as Jerrie came back to his feet. With the fighting done, Jerrie began to swoon as exhaustion overtook him.
Crissy was there as he staggered, supporting him and putting his left arm over her shoulder. “I thought I told you not to exert yourself.”
Jerrie smiled down at her and then looked up to the stage.
***
Boris was barely able to avoid the next attack. Morder had brought his sword down fast and all he could do was leap out of the way. He rolled and came up on a knee. Morden’s sword swept toward him. Boris raised his sword to block, but Morden was very powerful and with only one arm there was no way he could match that strength. He dropped back as his sword was knocked from his hands, and Morden’s sword went over his head. He rolled backwards and came to his feet. Morden looked into his eyes and smiled his wicked smile. Boris lunged toward his sword, and Morden brought his sword down with a strike that would have finished him if he hadn’t already been changing directions. Morden had been so sure of himself that he didn’t even suspect Boris’ next move.
Morden thought he had won, but Boris had feinted toward his sword in order to draw attention away from his hand. Morden was overextended with a swing that he had put everything behind, and Boris was inside his attack. He slid his dagger between Morden’s ribs and tore it free, opening his lung. Morden stepped back and tried to raise his sword but his body refused him.
He dropped the sword and tried to kick Boris, who stepped inside the kick and ran his blade along the inside of Morden’s thigh. Morden fell to the ground, reaching for his leg. The blood that wasn’t pouring out of his leg was pouring into his lung. Boris stepped up beside him and slid his dagger into Morden’s chest.
Kauffman stepped
forward on the platform and took up the horn. “Boris Sieger is your king.”
Boris stepped up next to Kauffman and saw Grundel and a woman helping Jerrie toward King Stoneheart.
Boris stood and allowed the people to cheer for a moment. Kauffman waited the acceptable amount of time before turning toward him and going down to one knee. The crowd dropped like a wave moving out from the platform. Row after row the citizens of Portwein dropped to a knee and lowered their heads. Boris saw a man crouched down and moving through the crowd. He watched as the man expertly removed people’s purses from their belts with a knife. He nodded to one of the guards behind him who stepped up. “Put a bolt in that thief’s shoulder.”
The soldier leveled his crossbow and took aim. The moment the man moved between two of the kneeling citizens, the bolt slammed into his shoulder. The guard was very good, and the man fell with the bolt still sticking out of his right shoulder. It must have slammed into his shoulder blade. The man would be severely wounded and in an excruciating amount of pain, but he would recover. Boris moved over next to Kauffman and took up the horn-shaped device.
He put his mouth in front of the small end and shouted. “Citizens of Portwein, I accept your nomination. I will do my best to rule with firmness and fairness. I will not tolerate criminal activity in this city. I will serve this city, and I will make it my responsibility to make sure that this city starts to serve its citizens.”
The people all came to their feet and began cheering again. Kauffman stood and turned to him. “Remember those words, and you will be a great king, Your Highness,” he said with a smile.
Boris nodded and made his way to the steps at the edge of the stage. The King’s Guards were there in two ranks. He fell in in the middle of the two ranks and started walking down the street back toward the palace. The guards made a path through the cheering crowd, and Grizzle, Grundel, and the others all followed behind him. When he looked back, he saw that Grundel was carrying Jerrie. He couldn’t stop now, but he would send for a healer the moment they were inside the palace walls.
The Phantom Dwarf Page 6