“How’s it coming, Jerry?” the Black Queen asked.
Jerry jumped out of his seat and immediately knelt before her, prostate. “Your Majesty, we have her on frequency. The EM pulse pretty much wiped out everything else. It’s a good thing you had the foresight to shield the power generator, otherwise we would have lost it too. I’ve only been able to get this one tube radio work—”
“Just get her on. I have no time to talk tech with you.”
“Yes…of course, your Majesty,” he said, nervously.
He turned a few dials slightly, and then began talking into the microphone, “Deepforge, this is Lake Palace, over?”
A female voice came on, “This is Deepforge.”
Jerry handed the microphone to the Black Queen. “Just press this button—”
“I know how to use a microphone.”
“Yes, of course, your Majesty.” He backed away, prostrate.
She grabbed the microphone and began, “Deepforge, this is your Queen. I need a report.”
“Your Majesty! Yes, of course. Well, I still haven’t gotten anything from Daemon or Brendon, but the others have reported that the armies have split forces. Grognor is heading across a mountain path to get here quicker, and the other army is traveling along the River Valley road with the war machines. It’s probably all moot, though. Looks like the damage I did to the inside of the Great Door was unnoticed, but successful. Your army is breaching it as we speak.”
“That’s excellent news. Where are Deccon, Bruno and the Stone Children?”
“Says here… hang on…here it is. Deccon is traveling with the war machines, Bruno and his Stone Children…ok, looks like this Bruno guy disappeared. The Stone Children are with Grognor. Oh! Here comes the bird. Let me get back with you in a minute.”
A few moments passed, and then she came back on the radio, “Your Majesty, we may have a serious problem. This is a note from Daemon, but it’s not in the coded format. It’s his handwriting, but…something’s wrong…”
“I was afraid of this. He’s revealed himself. In any of your messages does it mention anything about Bruno shape shifting?”
“Yes, it says that he turned into …can’t make out the words…well, anyway, strange creatures we’ve never seen before. That’s all I have. Vella is still here and fighting your army. Looks like the chromatics are kicking the metallic dragons’ asses pretty severely, just like you said they would. What are your orders, my Queen?”
“Get out of there. My army doesn’t know who you or the other patriots are, and will kill you if given the chance. Do you have any way out besides the main entrance?”
“No…wait…maybe. I heard of a cooled lava tube, but it was pretty tight as I remember the story.”
“Well, I’ll leave the decision up to you. If you make it out, there will be big rewards waiting for you. Good work, you have gained my favor.”
There was a momentary pause, and then an emotional reply was heard. “Thank you, my most gracious Queen!”
The Black Queen handed the microphone back to Jerry and smiled warmly at him. “You have also gained my favor. You will come and pleasure me.”
“Yes! Oh! Yes, your majesty!” His eagerness was undeniable.
She smiled at Jennifer, who also smiled. She then pulled the velvet pouch from her belt. “So, he’s made himself known. Once I do this, he will be alerted. But, I can’t let him continue on. Time to shut the First One down.” She reached in and pulled out the coin. The velvet pouch disintegrated as she did so.
The snow was falling hard in the northern mountains. The entire landscape was white, whiter than seemed possible. The thick cloud cover obscured the suns, but the landscape was still brighter that it should have been. Everywhere one looked, it was white. The snow got higher and higher, and the horses struggled more and more to get through. Just when it seemed it couldn’t get any worse, the wind began to kick up and the snow began to fall even harder. It had become a full-fledged blizzard. Nobody talked, it was pointless. Hearing was impossible as the wind whipped the walls of thick snow across the mountains, covering the short alpine trees and the army as they traveled.
Grognor and the dwarves had seen blizzards before, but the others in the army were having a tough time comprehending the enormity of it all. Grognor looked around at them, only able to see just the few very close by in the thick wind whipped snowfall. At that point, he felt someone tugging on his thick coat. It was Cray. He looked over to him, but could barely make him out. He was waving, beckoning Grognor to follow. He looked around again, he could see all of the Stone Children trying to get the army to follow. Without hesitation, they did so. It was rough going, but they stayed as close to their guides as possible. As they did so, the short alpine trees and shrubs suddenly stopped on the landscape. They had hit tundra. It was as if somebody had flipped a switch, putting the blizzard in high gear.
Cray yelled into Grognor’s ear, “Give me your rope! We’re going to string everyone together!”
Grognor could barely make out the words, but understood. He reached over and grabbed his rope, having to knock the snow off of it. His horse seemed to shiver as he did so. This was getting serious. He handed it to Cray and tied one end to his saddle. Moments went by, everyone was stopped. This was a bad thing. The snow fall was heavier than ever, and the army was quickly being buried. Cray returned and grabbed Grognor’s horse as another Stone Child grabbed Teelena’s. Teelena was barely holding on, but she was faring better than the humans. Unbeknownst to anyone, they had already lost over two dozen humans from the harsh storm.
The Stone Children guided the army until the storm seemed to calm down a bit. It was an illusion that became uncovered as they moved forward. They could see ahead of them. There was a high mountain peak in front of them, shielding them from the full onslaught of the blizzard. As they continued to move toward it, the snowfall and terrible wind reduced until they stood at the base of a large cave entrance. They could see and hear each other again. The Stone Children continued to guide them in until they were all inside the massive cave.
“I didn’t want to take us here because the route around will cost us another half a day, but there’s no other choice. This storm isn’t slowing down,” Cray explained as he helped Teelena and Grognor off their horses.
“Better we actually get there. Thank you, Cray,” Teelena said.
“Yes, thank you. We need to get a fire going and get our horses and everyone else comfortable,” Grognor said.
The storm raged outside, making loud whipping and moaning sounds as they made camp and assessed their losses. Eugene and the other Naw-nee made several camp fires with the available dry wood, which wasn’t much.
“All we have is the wood we brought with us and the roots in the cave. Once we’ve thawed out a bit we’ll have to knock it down,” Eugene said, motioning to the fires.
“Thank you, this will do fine. Just being out of that will help a great deal,” Teelena said.
They all got as comfortable as they could and got ready for the cold night to come.
Grognor heard a telepathic voice in his head. “Sire, this is Bruno. Send me an image of where you are.”
“Ok, how do I do that?”
“Just look around, and think of me.”
He did so.
“Got it.”
A spit second later, the space in front of Grognor warped, revealing Daemon.
Grognor unlatched his axe. “You!”
Daemon then morphed into Bruno. “No, Sire, it’s me.”
Grognor instantly understood. “Oh, right. So, what did you discover?”
“Walk with me, Sire.”
Grognor looked around, and then right at Teelena.
“She needs to come too,” Bruno said.
Grognor motioned her over, and the three of them walked to a secluded spot in the cave.
“Speak softly, sounds travel easily in a cave,” Grognor said.
Bruno got very close to the both of them. “This is b
igger than we thought, and Sire, you’re really not going to like what I have to say next. Please control yourself.”
Grognor looked at him, apprehensive. He gathered his wits about him and nodded, ready for whatever Bruno had to say.
Bruno continued, “Sire, your sister is a traitor.” He leaned back against the cave wall and waited to see the Emperor’s reaction.
Grognor’s face grew uncontrollably red, nearly as red as his hair and beard. Teelena held onto his arm, eyes wide with shock.
“It’s not true, I refuse to accept it,” Grognor said.
Bruno stepped forward and held Grognor’s shoulder, looking squarely into his eyes. “I found Daemon’s notes from her in his pack. I assure you, it’s true.” He then reached into the bag and pulled out several small scrolls, handing them to the Emperor.
Grognor took them and unrolled the first one. It told of the unsuccessful siege attempts, praised ‘She’, and signed with her own name. He couldn’t believe it, but he was forced to. It was true. His own sister was a traitor. As he fumed, Teelena noticed something else.
“Bruno, what’s wrong with your hand?”
Bruno looked down at his hand, to see a small wound. He then looked up at the wall to see a small, sharp root sticking out with blood on it. “Blood!” He was incredulous.
“Bruno, how can you be bleeding? I thought you were invulnerable?” Teelena asked.
Grognor saw the blood and grabbed Bruno’s hand. Bruno cringed in pain as he did so.
“Oh, shit!” Bruno said with a rare look on his face, the look of fear and pain.
Chapter 15
The blizzard continued all through the night. After the initial ‘thaw’, the fires were put out, and all the remaining coals were gathered for one long-term fire. They tended it, putting just enough of the available wood to keep it going. It ran out a couple of hours before morning. The entire army huddled together, trying their best to stay warm. The dwarves and gnomes were accustomed to extremes of hot and cold. The Stone Children were totally invulnerable to cold. The humans and halflings, however, were the most at risk. The dwarves gave them their thick coats and extra blankets to keep them from dying.
Bruno did very little of anything. Mostly, he sat and cradled his now bandaged hand. Teelena and Grognor tried to talk to him, but he withdrew into himself. Cray and the other Stone Children stayed close to him, also trying to get him to talk, but he didn’t say a word since Teelena bandaged his very small wound.
“What’s wrong with him?” Teelena asked.
Cray tried his best to examine him, lifting his eyelids and looking deep into his eyes, testing his muscle tone, etc. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s… I just don’t understand how this is possible.” He looked at Bruno’s bandaged hand.
“I’m mortal,” Bruno said, rocking back and forth in anguish.
The shock they all experienced was a combination of him finally breaking his silence, as well as his proclamation.
“Mortal?” Cray asked, looking closely at him.
“This has happened before, a very long time ago. I don’t know how it’s here, but it is. I’m mortal,” Bruno said, tears flowing down his face.
“What? What’s here?” Grognor asked.
“It’s…my Kryptonite,” Bruno said, laughing half-heartedly. He still rocked and cradled his hand, frightened out of his mind.
“Your…what?”
Bruno shook his head ‘no’. “A reference from a story…from another world…never mind. It’s a coin with divine properties, created by the gods as a gift for me. It was designed eons ago, before I met my wife to allow me to become mortal. It doesn’t work exactly right, and, technically I’m still immortal, after a fashion. I regenerate very slowly… kind of like my wife did at the beginning. But, I could be totally incinerated. If enough damage was done to me at one time…I could die.”
Nobody understood what he had just said, but listened as he continued. “If it’s on the same world I am, it restricts me to whatever form I’m in at the time it appears. It strips me of all mental talents, allows me to be harmed and…killed. I would eventually regenerate and come back if the damage isn’t totally destructive. I can no longer shift. I am now, in all ways, a Stone Child. I will age, be hurt, and for pretty much every way that’s important, am mortal.”
“We’re back at the beginning, then,” Grognor said. He backed away and looked around at the huddling army. The light was beginning to radiate from the suns as twilight came. At the same time, the blizzard was reducing in intensity. “Bruno, we’re back where we were before you revealed yourself to us. But, we are still a fierce army. Get yourself together, and assume your new identity. I’ll not allow you, or anyone else to wallow in fear and sorrow. You are a Stone Child, and are of the toughest species of humanoid this world has ever known. Get up, and let’s get going. We have a war to win, and I have a mystery to solve…a sister and an elf to deal with. Which reminds me, where is Daemon?”
Bruno pulled himself together and stood up. Teelena and Cray helped him, but he needed no help. He wiped away his tears of self pity and looked at Grognor. “I took him to another world. He’s not going anywhere. If I can ever get to where I can teleport again, I can retrieve him for you to deal with.”
“Maybe you can ‘send and image’ to the dragons, and they can do it,” Grognor said.
“Yea…yea, maybe. What are you going to do about your sister?”
“She will die a traitor’s death, by my hand,” Grognor said, reluctantly.
Bruno nodded and looked over at Cray. “Let’s do this, Brother.”
Cray smiled.
As the day came and the storm waned, the army edged their way closer to the mouth of the cave to look out at the winter scene. What they saw shocked them. Just a few feet away from the mouth of the cave, no more than a few inches from where the Stone Children had guided them in, was a shear drop-off, going at least one thousand feet down into a massive canyon.
“By the gods!” was heard several times as they saw this, now realizing just how close they all were to certain death.
“How the hell are we going to get out of here?” Teelena asked.
“Same way we got in,” Cray said. “Only difference is, now you know what’s over there.” He pointed to the abyss of a canyon.
Several people gulped in fear.
“Come on; let’s get the camp picked up. Grain the horses, eat some breakfast, and let’s go. We’ve got no time to waste,” Grognor said.
“Vella! Come on!” Selena urged.
“We can’t let it just…happen! We have to fight!” Vella argued.
“No! I know of a way out, through a cooled lava tube. It’s tight, but I think we can make it!”
“I won’t abandon them. I can teleport, remember? Screw this! I’ll transform, fight as much as I can, and then teleport as many as I can out before the horde completely overtakes us. You go ahead.”
Selena looked around at the chaos. Drakmids invaded through the Great Door, which had finally collapsed. Dragons circled around the outside preventing any dwarf from escaping. The dwarven army fought with everything they could to fend off the invaders, but the strange humanoids were just too powerful. Vella fought as an elf until she made it to the Great Hall, then she quickly transformed into her true self, a silver dragon. “That bitch is crazy, plain and simple,” Selena said out loud.
The mountains were spectacular. The storm had passed, and the high snow glistened in the suns. The army was assembled, fed, and mounted. They looked out at the landscape and at the sheer cliff next to where they would have to ride. Beyond, the high peaks of the mountains assaulted the sky, rising up quickly in sharp points. As deadly as this terrain was, there was no denying how beautiful it was.
“I’ve never been this deep into the northern mountains,” Delvin said, gazing at the natural wonder.
Most of the others agreed. This was a whole new world.
“How the hell are we going to get ar
ound this?” Grognor said, looking at the canyon.
“Come on, Sire. You’re a dwarf. Certainly you’ve been in this sort of situation before. You’re an experienced mountain explorer,” Bruno said.
“Oh, I’m not worried about us, or our horses. They’re bread for this sort of thing. I’m worried about the humans and halflings.”
Teelena looked over at him. “I never thought I’d hear you say you were ‘worried’ about humans and halflings.”
Grognor looked at her, and then to the obviously scared humans. “Something fundamental has changed in me…”
She smiled and rubbed his arm. “I think that sentiment is spreading. Look.”
Several of the dwarf army helped the humans and halflings get prepared, and gave them words of instruction on how to travel in the high mountains. It was something never before seen. They hadn’t been asked or ordered to do so; they did so out of genuine concern.
“Hating them was a part of life, Teelena. I don’t understand why I no longer have those feelings,” Grognor said, caressing the hilt of Victoria’s sword strapped on his belt.
Teelena put her hand on his, on Victoria’s sword. She gazed into her husband’s eyes. “Her death changed us. All of us. It’s truly a new world.”
“It’s not just her. This whole thing, from when the dragons prevented us from fighting with them, Brendon and Daemon’s deception, the games, that whole thing with Bruno, and…my own sister. I can’t believe what’s happened. These past weeks have been crazy.”
“What are you going to do about her?”
Grognor looked out at the snow covered mountains. “What, indeed.”
Bruno stepped back to them. “Mount up, Sire, Lady. We need to get started before the suns begin melting the snow.”
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