A Gathering of Armies

by Christopher Williams

  Anton held up one of his hands in a placating manner. “Be at peace! I was sent with a small token. A gift from my king to your king.” He withdrew a metallic bar from the pouch, and held it up for the dwarves to see.

  The bar was gold, and dwarven runes ran up and down its length. It seemed to sparkle even in the poor light, and a magnificent diamond was mounted on the end. The dwarves stared and their mouths fell open.

  Anton smiled at the reaction. “King Zarum makes a gift of the Rose scepter to your king.”

  Chapter 3

  Derek stepped out into the shadows of the dwarven kingdom of Az’ha’rill’hadell. The kingdom lay at the southern tip of the Az’ha’rill’ha mountains. It was Belgil’s home and he was excited to return, but both Derek and Kara were anxious. The dwarven kingdom was not known for being hospitable to outsiders. In fact, Flare’s recent visit to the kingdom had made him the first human or elf to visit in recent memory, and he had spent his first weeks as a prisoner.

  Kara came through the wizard’s portal right on Derek’s heels. They both were nervous about traveling via wizardry, as for so long it had been a forbidden art. Kara remained so close to him that Derek could feel her shivering.

  They stopped several feet away from the portal, as the light from the portal both illuminated their immediate surroundings and blinded them to what was further away.

  Belgil practically bounced through the portal as he was so excited to be home. As soon as he was through, the portal closed, plunging them into darkness.

  Surprised, Derek felt Kara move even closer, her shoulder and hip touching his back in her anxiety.

  “What now?” Derek asked. “And how can we find our way in this darkness?”

  “Just you wait,” Belgil said, a touch of mirth in his voice.

  “What are we waiting for?” Kara asked.

  Belgil didn’t answer, instead he just stood there in silence. After several moments Derek began to feel his temper rising. What good was a guide who wouldn’t answer questions?

  “Well?” Derek asked. The smile on the dwarf’s face was infuriating. It was then that he realized that he could see the dwarf, and that the gloom must be receding.

  In answer, Belgil’s grin got even bigger. “These caverns have their own natural light source. A mold grows which provides a dim light.” The dwarf waved his hand upward and both Kara and Derek looked up to see a barely-glowing covering across the walls and ceiling.

  “I’ve never heard of such,” Kara said, the awe in her voice unmistakable.

  “Of course not,” Belgil said. “It’s one of our most closely-guarded secrets. In fact, the king may be displeased with me for even telling you.”

  Derek quickly turned his attention from the light, as they needed to focus on more important things. He gazed around at the large tunnel in which they stood. Not counting them, it was deserted. Still though, it was difficult to see faraway, meaning it was possible they were even now being watched from the shadows.

  “Do you know where we are?” Derek asked.

  “I believe so,” Belgil answered. “There were not many places that Flare visited while he was a guest of the dwarves. I believe this is the tunnel leading to the room he stayed in.”

  Derek resisted the urge to snort. From what he’d heard, the room that Flare had been a guest in, had been a cell.

  The dwarf’s logic made sense though, as Flare’s wizardry allowed him to send them only to a place that he had visited before. Derek shivered at the thought – Wizardry! The very thought of it nearly made him ill. For millennia the church had taught that wizardry was a dark art. The very word had been used to scare children and now Flare was actually practicing it.

  “Well, lead the way,” Kara said. Her very tone overflowed with impatience.

  Belgil’s grin slipped away.

  “What is it?” Derek asked.

  Belgil looked uncomfortable. “I’m not sure the king’s going to be happy to see us. He’s not going to like to hear that Ocklamoor has been found and lost. Nor is he going to like to hear that the king of Telur is requesting his assistance.” He began to look even more uncomfortable. “And he’s really not going to like the fact that I brought you here.”

  Neither Derek nor Kara replied to this. Derek felt it was rather unlikely that the dwarven king would come to Telur’s aid, but Flare had sent them to ask and ask they would. He was nervous though, as he wanted to make Flare’s request and then begin the journey to Telur. He wasn’t sure how long they had before the goblin armies arrived. He wanted to make sure he was there before the battle began.

  They stood in silence for several more moments, each lost in their own thoughts, and then Belgil sighed deeply. He waved his hand for them to follow him. He then turned and began walking into the dark.

  Kara and Derek shared a look and then they followed the dwarf into the shadows.

  They walked in silence for about an hour, dark tunnel following dark tunnel. The dwarven home was certainly not beautiful by any stretch of the imagination. The fact was, it was downright depressing.

  They continued walking until Belgil stopped and raised his hand.

  Derek stopped walking immediately, but Kara was not paying attention and stumbled into Derek’s back. “Watch where you’re going,” Derek snapped.

  “How can I? I can’t see anything in this darkness,” Kara snapped right back.

  “Silence!” Belgil hissed.

  The tone of the dwarf’s voice caused Derek and Kara to quiet immediately.

  “What is it?” Derek whispered, after a moment.

  Belgil didn’t even bother to answer, instead he just stared off into the darkness.

  After a moment, Derek and Kara could hear the approaching sound too.

  How could he hear that? Derek thought. Are dwarves’ hearing that much better?

  A few moments later, a small group of dwarves emerged from the darkness. They were walking toward Derek’s group from the direction Belgil had been leading them.

  Derek’s first thought was that this was good news, some of these dwarves could be sent to ahead to notify the king of their arrival. His elation was short-lived though, as Belgil tensed up beside him.

  The band of dwarves came to a quick stop at the sight of Belgil and the two humans. Their surprise was momentary, and the group of six quickly fanned out blocking the tunnel. The leader of the group stepped forward. He was a nasty looking brute. He was shorter than Belgil and nearly as wide as he was tall. His black hair hung down in greasy ringlets, and his two front teeth were missing. He grinned at them, which did nothing to improve his appearance.

  “Well, well. Belgil, you’ve come home, have you?”

  “Very observant, Dimac,” Belgil replied.

  Belgil’s rudeness wiped the smile off of Dimac’s face.

  “Why are you antagonizing him?” Derek asked quietly.

  At Derek’s words, Dimac turned his attention to Derek and Kara. “And you’ve brought strangers.” His grin returned. “Well humans, our hatred of each other goes back a long way. You really can’t blame him, as our clans have hated each other for generations.”

  “Step aside,” Belgil demanded. “I’m taking these two to see the king.”

  None of the dwarves moved.

  “Oh, I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” Dimac said. His tone betraying the glee he was feeling.

  Belgil took a step forward, but paused as the five dwarves behind Dimac moved in closer.

  “I’m acting on the king’s orders,” Belgil said, through clinched teeth. “If you hinder me, I will be sure to make the king aware of it.”

  Now it was Dimac’s turn to move forward. He stopped just a couple of feet short of Belgil, his grin was wider than ever. “The only problem with that is that the king is the one who gave me my orders.”

  “What? What are you saying?”

  “Oh yes. We’ve had our orders for several weeks now, but I was the lucky one that found you,” Dimac gloated.

 
; “And what are the rest of the king’s orders?” Derek asked.

  Dimac ignored Derek and continued to glare at Belgil.

  Derek stepped to the left and Kara stepped to the right, each one loosening their weapons. Derek drew his sword halfway out of its sheath.

  “Hold!” Belgil exclaimed. “If his orders were to harm us, then he would already have done so. He’s just trying to provoke us.”

  Dimac reluctantly pulled his eyes from Belgil, glancing at the dwarves scattered behind him. After a moment, he said, “Take their weapons.”

  For a moment, Derek considered fighting rather than giving up his sword, but that seemed rather pointless. They were outnumbered, and the only way they were getting out of this mountain was if the dwarves allowed them to leave. Reluctantly, he drew his sword and handed it over.

  Dimac and his group surrounded them and led them back the way they had come. The dwarves walked in a circular formation, with Derek, Kara, and Belgil in the middle.

  They walked for about half an hour and then Dimac stopped in front of a large wooden door. He reached out and opened the door, revealing a dark room beyond.

  “In you go.”

  None of the three moved. “And what is to become of us?” Belgil demanded.

  Dimac shrugged. “That’s up to the king, now isn’t it?” He pointed to the doorway. “Get in there, now,” he said, raising a cudgel.

  Reluctantly, the three moved to obey. Kara walked in first, followed by Derek, with Belgil bringing up the rear. As soon as the dwarf was through the door, it was slammed shut, and the unmistakable sound of a key rattling in the lock could be heard.

  The room was dark, even darker than the tunnel had been. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the gloom, as there was only of small amount of light-producing mold on the ceiling.

  A small table and three chairs sat against one wall, Derek noticed that the chairs had been made for dwarves and were rather low to the ground.

  One corner of the room had a floor-to-ceiling screen for privacy. Upon closer inspection, a small chamber pot was discovered behind the screen.

  There were three beds in the small, cramped room. Two of them were obviously made for dwarves, but the third had been modified to be long enough for a human. Several metal torch holders were mounted on the walls, but they were empty of torches.

  “They have been expecting you,” Kara said. At her words both Derek and Belgil turned their attention to her.

  “What’s that?” Belgil demanded.

  “Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Kara replied, waving her hand at the beds. “They were expecting you to return with Holgar and Flare.”

  Holgar was Belgil’s cousin and had traveled to Telur with others to speak to the king on Flare’s behalf.

  It took a moment but both Derek and Belgil quickly grasped Kara’s point. The two small beds had been meant for Belgil and Holgar, while the large bed had been intended for Flare.

  Derek sighed loudly. “So how do we get out of here?”

  Belgil continued to stare at the beds for several more moments. At last, he slumped, moved over, and sat down on the edge of one of the beds. “Has to be that damn Emlin’s fault.”

  Derek and Kara circled the room, each looking for a way of escape. With the exception of the door, there was no other way out of the room. They were trapped.

  Finally, Derek moved over and sat down next to Belgil. “Does this make sense to you?” he asked.

  Belgil shook his head. “Not unless Emlin has convinced the king that I’m working against him.”

  “Will he make us wait here long?” Kara asked as she moved over to join the men.

  Belgil shrugged. “It’s hard to tell. Kings do things for their own reasons, and I’ll be damned if I understand what they are.”

  Derek stood and moved over to the longest of the three beds. He sat on the edge and began pulling his boots off.

  “What are you doing?” Kara asked.

  Derek stopped with his left boot halfway off. “Well, there’s no reason for us to expect anything to happen soon. So, I’m going to sleep while I can.”

  Chapter 4

  Heather stepped through the Wizard’s portal, moving slowly to her right. She had her sword out in front of her, but she could barely see. The hallway they stepped into was nearly pitch-black.

  Enton was right on her heels but he moved off to the left. She could barely make out his enormous shape, but she knew that he held his dual-headed axe at the ready. In addition to being a fearless warrior, she and Enton had a touchy relationship. She had nearly exiled him from the mission in the early days, but more recently had slept with him while they were in Elem, although she blamed the poor decision on too much alcohol.

  As usual, the thought of sharing Enton’s bed caused a lump of worry to form in Heather’s throat. There simply wasn’t time for such distractions, and besides, they might be dead in a day. And, as always, the thought of being dead made her think there was no better time than the present for enjoying oneself.

  Trestus followed Enton into the hall. He, like Enton, was a fellow Guardian. He moved straight ahead, his sword held in his hands.

  Two more people followed Trestus through the portal: Leela and Mikela. Mikela was a mage and another of the Guardians. Heather trusted her and all of her fellow Guardians absolutely.

  Leela was a stranger to Heather. The woman had first met Flare while he was traveling through Dalar in search of Ossendar. Flare had saved the woman’s life and she had guided him through the forest to safety. When Derek and his group had escaped the ancient buried fort of Dahl-Rucka, they had fled into the old forest of Dalar. Leela had been one of the Wildlings that had helped them survive. Leela had traveled with Derek’s group to Elem in search of the ancient dwarven shield called Ocklamoor. Now Leela had come with them to Telur to aid in its defense. Well, assuming that King Darion listened to reason, and since when did kings ever listen to reason?

  “Mikela,” Heather said softly. “Light, please.”

  “Il-lum,” Mikela whispered.

  Immediately a ball of light appeared, driving the darkness away.

  They stood in a long-abandoned hallway. It was a hidden passage that Flare had discovered several years ago. The hall had once led to a hidden study of King Wyndon, but that had been nearly two thousands years ago. Most of the decorations had deteriorated long ago and a thick layer of dust covered every surface. Strangely, the dust refused to get stirred up.

  “It’s enchanted,” Mikela said softly.

  Heather’s reply was to shoot her a questioning look.

  “The dust,” Mikela clarified. “It’s enchanted. That’s why we’re not coughing and choking.” She paused and then added, “Perhaps Cassandra’s work?”

  Heather shrugged. She really didn’t care whose work it was at the moment. Trestus looked in her direction and she jerked her chin on down the hall. Trestus began slowly moving that way, followed closely by Enton. Heather was next with the other two ladies bringing up the rear.

  They followed the hall for twenty feet and then it turned sharply to the left. Several muffled sounds drifted around the corner and Trestus looked back to verify that everyone else had heard it too.

  Heather motioned with her sword and Trestus charged around the corner, Enton right behind him. She followed them and pulled up short as they slid to a halt.

  They entered another long hallway that appeared to dead-end in a blank wall off in the distance. This hallway showed signs of more recent occupation. Blankets and the odd bit of clothing lay on the ground. Here and there were remnants of hastily-eaten meals.

  Initially most of the hallway was in darkness – the ball of light floating near Mikela’s shoulder. As the mage rounded the corner though, the ball illuminated the hallway, driving the shadows away.

  A man crouched along the left side of the passage, his sword pointing at them. He had been hidden by the deep shadows and had escaped detection earlier.

  Trestus imme
diately moved farther to the right, putting more distance between him and Enton. If this came to a swordfight, they would need room to maneuver.

  Enton assumed a fighting stance and began moving forward.

  “Enton, wait!” Heather called, louder than she wanted. “Don’t kill him.”

  “Enton,” the man in the shadows said quietly. He straightened up, the sword-tip drooping to rest on the ground. Standing up, the light showed the man’s face clearly for the first time. It was Aaron.

  There was a moment of silence as they stared around at each other and then Enton and Trestus surged forward to grasp hands with their fellow Guardian.

  Aaron had been sent to Telur by Flare as part of a larger group to talk sense to King Darion. He was all smiles for a moment, looking around at the group. The smile slipped from his face as he stared at Trestus. “Trestus?” he said slowly. “What are you doing here?”

  Trestus gave a quick and abbreviated retelling of how they had come to be in Elem, the death of Enstorion, and Zalustus claiming Ocklamoor.

  Aaron sighed deeply when he learned of Enstorion’s death. The elf hadn’t been close to any of them, but he was a fellow Guardian and the news was troubling.

  “Enough of that,” Heather said after Trestus lapsed into silence. “Were you able to reach King Darion?”

  Aaron’s smile returned. “Oh, yes. It took a bit of deception, but Dagan was more than capable. The king already knew a lot of what we told him, and suspected a good deal of the rest. The Church of Adel had a knife to his throat, though, and there wasn’t much he could do.”

  “The church?” Mikela asked. “What can they do?”

  “It seems they offered the throne to each of the four great houses. They threatened to denounce the king if he didn’t do as they wished. They promised to split the kingdom into civil war.”

  Heather frowned at the news. She was a follower of Adel, although it wasn’t something she was fanatical about. Still, she didn’t like the church threatening to tear Telur apart.

  “The king is pretty crafty, more crafty than I would have suspected,” Aaron said. The four great houses became aware of the high priest’s offer to each of them. Needless to say, they were not thrilled that the same offer had been made to all of them. The king turned that to his benefit and began to secretly work with the houses. They began importing large numbers of weapons and stocking their castles and keeps. He was preparing for war and the church had no idea.”