Peter of Dwarven Stone (War of Contractia Book 4)

by Tj Dixon

  “General Karina. We have a problem.”

  (Nairon)

  The hole Grunti made for us is dark and cold, especially just wearing this ‘bikini’ as he calls it. The leather collar and golden bell feel really cold against my skin. The string of the thong digs into me even more when I’m sitting here like this than it did when I was moving about in Nirvali, but it is nothing compared to the pain of being tortured or wounded in battle. I have had the misfortune to experience both.

  I have no idea what Grunti is doing, but whatever it is it has his full attention. He just seems to be sitting there manipulating earth and fire magic. He must have a reason to be sitting there like that whilst his city is under attack and we are desperately hiding from my former comrades. The Envoy has mostly sent in human mages so far, but I can sense spiderflies not that far from us. If there are spiderflies then there are certainly elves too.

  Given how many mages are gathered it seems inconceivable that the Envoy isn’t here too and that is what scares me the most. Nirvali may be struggling against humans and elves, but when the Envoy enters the battle all hope will truly be lost. Unless the dwarves have a secret power they are saving for that final battle. If the Envoy is somehow beaten though, will the Fallen Angels enter the battle? Or would they consider such an act beneath them?

  “All done.” Grunti smiles.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “You’ll see when the time comes. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” Grunti says, seeming to suppress a laugh. “Now can you put this necklace on?”

  “Ok.” I say a bit worried now. I take the blue gem necklace from him. I start to put it around my neck but the gems scratch me. I can’t suppress a pained, “Ouch.”

  “Stop. Sorry, I forgot elven skin was so delicate. I’ll coat it in something softer.” Grunti tells me and takes the necklace back. He sits there for a minute holding the necklace and clearly using earth magic. He then hands the necklace back to me. “That should be better.”

  “It is.” I say as I feel how much smoother the jewels are. I put it round my neck painlessly this time. “What did you coat it with?”

  “A thin layer of clear marble.” Grunti tells me with a shrug. I’ve never heard of clear marble, but it has smoothed the necklace without adding any weight or obscuring the gems. “So that collar doesn’t work on elves?”

  “What?”

  “You used magic, even though you were wearing the collar.” Grunti reminds me and I gulp. I had forgotten the collar was meant to seal my magic.

  “Sorry.” I apologise.

  “It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re still my girlfriend. It looks good on you even if it doesn’t do anything, but I’m going to adjust the enchantment on it. Instead of suppressing your magic I’ll have it enhance your magic. It may feel a bit weird when you use magic though. Kneel there and lean forward so I can reach it easily.” Grunti tells me so I stand up carefully and then kneel where he told me to. “Lean further forward.”

  “Ok.” I say and am leaning really far forward now.

  “Not quite so far forwards.”

  “Ok.”

  “That’s better. Now stay like that. This should only take half an hour.” Grunti tells me and I blink.

  “Half an hour?” I ask a little despairing. This position is really uncomfortable so holding it for half an hour will not be fun.

  “I’ll see if I can cut a few minutes off that, but you need to stay still and in this position or I can’t attune the enchantment to you properly.” Grunti tells me.

  “Ok.” I sigh. If it really does enhance my magic it may save my life, so I really can’t complain. I still pray though that it doesn’t take the whole half hour.

  The time drags on and I feel more and more uncomfortable. I can tell Grunti is using earth and fire magic, but that is all I can tell. My legs feel all tingly as I kneel on them like this. After what seems like an eternity he smiles, nods and steps back. I remain still though.

  “All done. You can get up now.” Grunti tells me and grateful it is over I try to stand, but my legs give way and I fall flat on my face. “Are you ok?”

  “Yes.” I sigh and struggle into a sitting position with my legs stretched out in front of me. “I’ll need a minute before I can stand though.”

  “Ok. Take your time.” Grunti tells me sounding worried. I stretch and wriggle my legs until they feel ok. Then I slowly stand and stretch my legs a bit more.

  “I should be ok to walk, but I think I’ll need to walk a bit before trying anything more strenuous.” I tell Grunti.

  “Fine. Elves really are a fragile lot, but I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to my girlfriend.” He says and then starts leading us out of the hole into a small tunnel. I end up having to crawl rather than walk, because it is too low for me to stand. Even Grunti is bent over as he walks.

  “So where are we going to go?” I ask.

  “Where we can help most.” Grunti says and I detect both pride and anger in his voice.

  (Dairon)

  I lead the way towards the source of this enchantment. I may not be much use in a fight as tired as I am, but I am the only one who can sense exactly where the magic is coming from. Peter seems able to sense it a little now, but he only seems to have a vague sense of something in the air. Every step I take I feel more and more tired. I was of course already exhausted from using such a powerful song, so adding a sleep enchantment on top of that really doesn’t help.

  “Not much further now, so keep your guard up.” I tell everyone. Peter nods slightly, clearly already on guard for an attack. Lucy, awake again now, doesn’t react but is also very tense. Kai and Elucia are slightly behind us so I don’t see their reactions. “Just round this next building. Whoever they are, they are really good at hiding their presence because I still can’t sense them.”

  “It almost feels like a swarm of something.” Peter tells me with a frown. I consider his words and the hidden enemy. Could they be…?

  “Faeries?” I ask myself more than anyone else.

  “You could be right.” Lucy says slowly. “I thought I had sensed something like this before. Yes, I’m almost certain they are faeries. Most likely a whole legion of faeries.”

  “Are faeries dangerous?” Peter asks nervously. Lucy saves me the trouble of answering.

  “Very… This could be bad. Interrupting the faeries should be easy, but beating them is another matter. Wind magic, including lightning is absolutely useless. Fire and earth magic are almost useless too, which is why they are so effective against dwarves. What you really need is water magic. Get a faery wet and it can’t use its magic, but to do that you need to get past their defences. Their attacks are mostly wind slices and lightning. They are also really good at illusions, wind shields and, as you can tell, hiding their presence. Dairon could probably beat them if he was at his best, but right now I doubt any of us can.”

  “I can use water magic.” Elucia says nervously.

  “But you have to hit the faeries and get past their defences. I suspect Peter could see past their illusions, but there’s no way you will.”

  “What if I flood the whole area from here?” Elucia suggests.

  “That might work.” Lucy says slowly.

  “No.” I tell her. “There’s a shield up in case anyone tries to do something like that.” Lucy closes her eyes for a moment and then nods reluctantly.

  “So what do we do?” Elucia asks sounding really scared now. As she says it I feel a little less tired.

  “The enchantment has dropped, they’ve noticed us!” I call out and sure enough we are surrounded by lightning. Kai and Peter shield us and then Elucia joins them. Actually she takes their place as her shield is powerful enough that they no longer need to shield. “Nobody attack the faeries. Don’t drop the shield Elucia. I’m going to take power from you.”

  “What?!” Elucia exclaims and for a moment the shield flickers but then it is as strong as ever. Elucia looks at me nervously before say
ing quietly. “Ok.”

  I kiss Elucia and take power from her quickly but gently. I then take a step back and begin to sing. I am exhausted physically so it takes every single drop of my focus to even start the song. I use magic only so the faeries can hear my song. Unlike the one I used on the demons there is no other magic in it. I can only pray the faeries remember and accept my song.

  The attacks stop and one faery floats in front of me just the other side of the shield. The other faeries are still blurred by their magic, but this one reveals her true form. Like all faeries she is thin and frail looking, but appearances are deceptive. Faeries’ bodies are imbued with magic, which makes them at least as strong as an average elf and much stronger than an average human.

  Her skin is pale other than her cheeks, which are a rosy red. Her clothes are red silk shorts and shirt that match her red eyes and short red hair. Like all faeries she appears youthful, but I suspect she is thousands of years old. On her head rests a green crown made from a plant that I don’t recognise. I sense life in the crown so I can tell she must be the legate of the legion. She is the leader I must impress.

  She begins to sing. Her song is a song of challenge that I must answer. My answer must satisfy her. If it does not, we will have no choice other than to fight the faeries. A battle I fear we would lose. At least she has not simply dismissed my claim as I feared she would.

  There can only be one answer to her challenge. There is only one song that might satisfy her. It isn’t one I have been taught but one I have learned and lived. It is the song of my soul. It is not sung with words but formed with my spirit. I close my mouth, my eyes and my senses, blocking out everything around me. I forget about the legate floating in front of me and the battle for Nirvali. I forget about Nirvali, my friends and even myself. My mouth still closed I begin to sing.

  (Nairon)

  I stop, unable to move. All I can do is listen. The tunnel I was crawling along is completely forgotten. This is like nothing I have ever heard before. I have no idea where it is coming from but I know who is singing it. Grunti looks at me and says something but I don’t hear him. Whatever he said is unimportant. Even if I was about to die it wouldn’t matter. All that matters is the song.

  To say that it is beautiful is to say that the ocean is slightly damp. Even so, if I had to explain why it was beautiful I couldn’t. In truth my ears don’t even hear it. My soul however cannot help hearing it. If Nirvali were a city of elves every elf in the city would have stopped to listen, even if they were fighting desperately for their lives.

  This isn’t just a song of the soul, but a song of royalty. A song of suffering and anger, but also of hope. It is a song of a painful past and the promise of a different future. It is a song of sacrifice, but also a wish as pure as fresh snow. It lasts an eternity and yet it is over in just a few moments.

  “What are you doing?!” Grunti demands and I hold my head.

  “Sorry, um, what was I meant to be doing?”

  “You’re meant to be following me! Why were you spacing out like that?!” Grunti yells.

  “Sorry, but if you had heard that song you would have stopped to listen too.” I tell him.

  “There’s no way I’d stop to listen to a song whilst Nirvali and all of its cute girls are in danger!”

  “It was the song of the king.” I tell him.

  “The king? I doubt the King of Nirvali would waste time singing right now.” Grunti says dubiously.

  “Not of Nirvali. The King of Elves.” I tell him and he blinks.

  “But didn’t the elf kings get killed off? I thought everyone related to the kings were killed too.” Grunti says clearly confused.

  “They were, but only their bodies were killed. It seems one of their souls has returned to an elf body.” I explain. Grunti blinks.

  “They can do that?”

  “All souls are eventually reborn, as long as they don’t get sent to hell by a demon or eaten by a god or nature spirit.” I remind Grunti.

  “They are?” Grunti asks, seeming completely unaware of such basic details about the soul. Then he frowns. “So is the king on our side or the enemies’ side?”

  “I’m not sure if he’s on our side, but he isn’t against us. The Fallen Angels are his bitter enemies.”

  “So will the rest of the elves abandon the Fallen Angels and side with us?” Grunti asks hopefully.

  “No. They don’t serve the Fallen Angels because they want to, but because they have to. Unless he can convince them that he is strong enough to defeat the Fallen Angels they will not be swayed by his song.”

  “What about you? Are you going to abandon me for your new king?” Grunti asks nervously.

  “No. I am not worthy to serve the king.” I say with a sad smile. Grunti seems at a loss for words. He is clearly happy I am not abandoning him but seems confused by my reasons.

  “So do you know who this king is?” Grunti asks after a few moments of scratching his head.

  “Dairon, the elf that was with Peter.”

  “That measly little fella is King of the Elves?!” Grunti exclaims. Then he sighs. “Well we have work to do, so we’d better get a move on or it may be too late.”

  (Captain Glorin)

  I was worried for a while but the sleepiness has finally been lifted. General Karina has obviously tracked down and eliminated whoever was maintaining the enchantment. My comrades who had dozed off are waking and those that hadn’t are much more alert. The enemy have obviously noticed because they seem to be preparing an attack. Like us they have reinforcements, but this battle will be ours.

  The enemy begin to advance. They are in ranks, each formed of ten black human men and I have no idea how many ranks, but a lot would be an understatement. Perhaps by now they’ve filled the entire dome with mages. I suppress a smile until they pass the point of no return. Then I trigger the trap with a gleeful smile.

  Over a hundred men are blown apart. Bits of human flesh are thrown around like ore tumbling down the old mine shoots. They had shields up, but their shields were like paper against the power of the blast. We haven’t been in Nirvali as long as in the ancient cities, but we have still had time to prepare a few surprises for our enemies.

  The enemies who survived are unnerved but they quickly form up new ranks and advance again. They are not as confident, but they probably fear their masters more than they fear us. Let’s teach them the folly of their ways. Soon they are in range and we begin to do so. Human after human is reduced to a living, well dying, torch and then ash. With so many dwarves in place their shields can no more withstand our attacks than they could the blast of our trap.

  Even so they continue to advance on us, simply stepping over the ash of their fallen comrades. I am glad we have more of the mana potions because there seems to be no shortage of enemies to burn. It is just fortunate our attacks have a greater range than the enemies’ attacks. If it were the other way round we would really be in trouble.

  Even so, I pray that there aren’t truly an unending horde of enemies. Despite the fear in their eyes I am impressed by their determination. Even seeing their impending fate not a single human falls out of formation or hesitates. Once they are alight they do scream, but only for a moment, because that is all it takes to incinerate them.

  When I fought earlier I was scared of dying, but now it is different. I am confident we will win and I am fighting beside so many of my comrades. Seeing the enemy die one after the other and hearing their dying screams really brings home what war is. I always knew it was about killing people, but knowing that at the back of my mind simply isn’t the same as killing man after man after man.