He began his research again starting immediately at the break of day. On his map, the place where he found himself appeared to be immense. The north end of the mountain chain was just a few miles away, but the mountains could easily extend thirty miles or more to the south! Besides that, the entire range appeared to be riddled with trails that could only be accessed through climbing, and each one could lead to a potential entrance to the subterranean home of the dwarves, so that in the end, the young man didn’t know where to begin. Finally, he chose a small, winding, and narrow path that formed a ledge with the solid wall of a cliff to one side, and a steep drop off to the wide plain on other, so that he could see where it led. However, he quickly decided to avoid paths like that, unless in a last ditch effort; Glaide had a fear of heights, and walking mere inches from the edge would do nothing to calm that fear.
He began to head towards the north, sticking to the places where the wide plain bordered the steep cliffs and bluffs of the mountains. If his calculations were correct, he would reach the northernmost edge of the mountain chain towards the end of the day. However, it was difficult to decide exactly from such a simple map: while it likely showed the positions of the villages precisely, chances are no one had ever measured the length of the entire mountain chain! Besides which, it appeared to be more just a pretty design than an accurate depiction of them. He was forced to rely on it nonetheless.
Noon arrived. Glaide had found nothing beyond an endless collection of pebbles, and his eyes were starting to hurt from straining to see an opening in the vast stone walls. He found a spot near a small woods to eat. After a while, doubt began to pull at him. He had started under the principle than the dwarves lived in the mountains, but what if they simply lived near them?
He stopped to listen to his surroundings, hoping to distinguish the sound of a river – or of some other source of water – and was surprised to hear the crunch of twigs. He had his back to the woods, so he turned to scan the trees. The noise seemed to be rapidly approaching, and one would almost say that it was a bulldozer at work in a zone of deforestation. The adolescent stepped hastily back, drawing his sword at the same time, astonished at the thought that he was no longer alone. Something clearly wasn’t right.
Suddenly, the vegetation in front of him exploded, lifting with it a gigantic cloud of dust, and propelling pieces of bark everywhere. Glaide held up his cape to protect his face from the shards. Though it lasted only seconds, when he lowered his cape, he froze in fear for a moment longer. Before him stood a creature the likes of which he had never before encountered. It measured about ten feet tall, had skin the color of stone, and it stood with its head bent forward, as if its head was a heavy weight being pulled to the ground. It looked frail and sickly, though at the end of one of its long and scrawny arms hung a massive mace, covered in rusty metal spikes. The adolescent didn’t know what to do. “If I take even one blow from that weapon, that’ll be the end of me,” he thought. “If the attack doesn’t break every bone in my body, I’ll either be ripped apart or decapitated by it...”
The yellow eyes of his enemy fixed on him for a moment. A muffled roar began in its chest, growing into a cry that could have been the sound of an explosion, though it was sharper. Glaide began to take steps to the side, hoping to skirt around his enemy. It didn’t look very intelligent, but it probably wouldn’t want to let its prey escape alive. The young man tried to gain some time, thinking as quickly as he could all the while. He gripped his weapon so tightly that the joints of his fingers began to turn white. Sweat pearled up on his forehead.
The few bits of advice Tyv had given him had been valuable against multiple enemies, if they were also more or less the size of humans; the adversary he faced here, though, was alone and massive. Glaide thought back to his combat against the chimera on Earth, but at that time, it had been two against one, and it had been a simple wild animal, more than an actual henchman of Baras. The situation he now found himself in was different; the monster before him knew that it faced a human. It was certainly a disciple of the God of Evil, which made it horrifically dangerous.
The two opponents faced each other for a moment more, then the monster yelled again and seemed about to charge. However, two other cries suddenly rose up, and two silhouettes flew out of the woods with dazzling speed, striking the creature with powerful chops from their axes. The monster staggered under the attacks, its gigantic mace swinging from side to side. One of the new creatures was hit with a crushing blow that reverberated metallically, and sent it flying. The adolescent paused a moment in surprise, then got control over himself and ran to aid his two providential saviors. He ducked down to avoid the mace, then struck his enemy in the torso. However, his movement was ill-assured and very weak, and the skin, which was not just the color of stone, but seemed to also have the resistance of stone, caused the sword to bounce off, sending the young man stumbling backwards.
Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, the creature that had been struck came soaring back into the fight, and threw itself again at the monster. Glaide couldn’t believe his eyes: it was still alive, and – to crown it all off – angry. The tide of the battle turned suddenly; the chops of the axe passed through the natural armor of the monster as though it didn’t exist at all. Soon nothing remained but a pile of bleeding flesh.
Glaide had never felt so useless.
He sheathed his sword angrily and turned towards the newcomers. Again, and for the third time in just a few minutes, his jaw dropped; he had just discovered dwarves! About four feet tall, they had long white beards – braided for one – and this, added to their bushy eyebrows and long hair, made it look as though they had more hair than skin on their faces. They wore gleaming armor of an incredibly resistant material; even the metal plating where the one dwarf had been struck remained undamaged. Their helmets were covered in beautiful gold-colored detailing, and their weapons, with their short handles and wide, sharp-edged blades, had a menacing look to them. Despite their stocky appearance, great pride was visible in their faces, and it was with a look of astonishment and a bit of disdain that they considered the bungling warrior that faced them, his mouth open wide.
They turned away quickly, and began to speak to each other with their gravelly voices.
“Another mountain troll,” began the one with the braided beard. “They’re starting to come down often lately.”
“Mmm... That doesn’t bode well,” grumbled his companion.
Glaide was flabbergasted. The individuals standing before him seemed to pay no attention to him at all; they spoke to each other as if he wasn’t even there! He decided to point out his presence, and cleared his throat loudly. The dwarves turned towards him, and he spoke.
“I... um... Thanks for helping me. My name is Glaide.”
The two looked at him for a moment without saying a word, then turned back to continue their conversation.
“Hey, wait. Listen to me!” exclaimed the adolescent. “I... I want to speak... to your king...”
This phrase seemed to have the desired effect, as one of the bearded creatures spoke to him.
“You want to meet our Lord? You, who don’t even know how to fight? Who are you, then?”
“I’m Glaide, and I’m a protector.”
This word, that seemed to produce miracles before humans, and that immediately attracted kindness, seemed to produce nothing but a slow smile. The attitudes of the dwarves did seem to soften slightly, though.
“A protector, you say? But what is such a man doing beyond the frontier? And without his magician, too?”
“Well, actually, that is a very long story, but mainly I wanted to encounter your people, and to speak with your leader.”
“We have plenty of time to listen to your story. Unless you’d rather that we say goodbye now...” At that, the two dwarves turned, as though to leave.
“No, wait! I’ll tell you everything. But just please hear me out, even if some of the things that I say seem crazy...”
; “Alright then, kiddo, get on with it!” With that, the two settled down comfortably on a stone.
Glaide recounted his whole adventure. He told them where he came from, who he had encountered up until then, and took the opportunity to bring the dwarves up to date with all of the problems that Galadria was experiencing, with the water shortage, the barbarians, and everything. This seemed to interest the dwarves. Apparently they had had little news about the affairs of the world since they had become recluses within their mountain.
It took half an hour for him to tell the entire story, and at the end, one of the two warriors began to speak.
“Please excuse us for our conduct earlier. We knew nothing about what has been going on in the world around us today, and we have great respect for the journey and choices that you have had to make. It has been a long time since anyone has voyaged between the worlds. We dwarves had even come to think that guardians had entirely disappeared. But it seems that your coming, and that of your friends, has marked the beginning of a new era. Know that I appreciate you, and if the decision were up to me, I would gladly lend you a helping hand; we have passively waited for far too long. But I cannot do anything for now. Come with us. We will take you to meet the king of the dwarves.”
With that, Glaide – happy at this first victory – and his new companions began to walk. They walked along the edge of the plain for a time, then took a small, pebbly path along the edge of the facade. It didn’t climb very high. After a few meters, the two combatants stopped. There was nothing remarkable about the stone here, but the dwarves placed their hands on it, recited a short phrase – one that Glaide could not understand a single word of – and the stone disappeared. “It was an illusion,” thought Glaide. “That piece of the cliff didn’t exist at all. I could have searched forever...”
The interior was somber and dry. There was a torch there that one of the dwarves hurried to light. Then, they began the long descent through the tunnels of the dwarves. The two individuals seemed to know exactly where they were going, and didn’t stop even once. And so Glaide travelled through immense rooms cut directly into the mountain, most of which seemed to have been abandoned. His companions explained that there were countless tunnels that were not used at all. There were simply too few dwarves to occupy all of them.
Their walk proved the perfect occasion for the adolescent to ask a few questions. Along the way, he learned that the monster he had faced had been a mountain troll. There were also flatland trolls, though they were less massive and less agile than their fellows. Their skin was also not as hard.
The boy wanted to know why he had felt such a feeling of solitude when he entered the dwarf territory, and why the mountains seemed so friendly to him, while he feared those of Fyth. They answered that these mountains had long since been the home of the dwarves, and that they had, in a way, taken on their characteristics. They seemed to have been filled up with the wisdom and strength of past centuries. Glaide, out of fear of offending his comrades, thought better of asking if they had also inherited the pride of the small creatures. As far as the melancholy he had felt was concerned, they supposed that it had been due to the calm that reigned in this part of the Known Lands. No one ever came here, and the dwarves were left alone in their solitary retreat.
The young man also asked what the name was for the silvery material his companions’ armor was made out of; he still could not quite believe that such a blow from a mace could leave no trace. They responded that their armor was made of mithril, a blend of different materials, technology, and magic. Together, these ingredients produced a metal that was the most resistant to damage of any metal, while also being the hardest, the most flexible, and the most valuable metal that existed. Forming and shaping such a material was a secret that the dwarves guarded jealously. “With an army equipped with such armor, it would be child’s play to conduct a war,” thought the adolescent. He absolutely had to convince the dwarves to aid the humans.
“However,” continued one of his companions, “take note, that while the metal itself is extremely solid, that doesn’t mean the one wearing it is.”
“What do you mean?” asked the young man, astonished.
“We dwarves are the most durable creatures on this earth. The force of the attack of the troll earlier would have broken the bones of a normal human, but for me, it will be no more than a big bruise. However, without the mithril, it would have killed me immediately, as I would have been shredded by the points. Also, mithril is somewhat heavier than traditional metal, and it is for that reason that, even before, humans possessed a few pieces of equipment fashioned out of this material, but never complete armor.”
“I see,” murmured Glaide.
Soon, a low murmur could be heard. Bit by bit it grew, until it became an enormous din. Finally, the group had arrived at their destination. Before Glaide, the tunnel opened into a massive cavern. The back wall of the cavern had been built into a fortified village. From his position on a promontory built into one of the walls of the cavern, the adolescent had a magnificent view of the whole area. A wave of vertigo swept over him at the sight of the immensity before him, and he had to sit for a moment.
“To think that we’ve had to build castles and city walls within our own mountains,” grumbled one of the dwarves.
“Actually,” explained the other, “We used to live in the rooms that we just traveled through, with each one connected by a tunnel. But now, we’re no longer safe, even in our own home. What you see before you is the last city of the dwarves. For us, it is a bit like having built a city inside a city.”
They didn’t pause long before continuing to the entrance, and then traveling through the city with a quick step. Glaide drew looks from everyone. He, on the other hand, used the time to contemplate everything around him. The homes seemed to be little huts made of stone. Their austerity, or even complete absence of decoration, seemed to be a drastic contrast with the sculptures and carvings of the glory of the dwarves that covered the rooms they had travelled through moments earlier, which proved that the dwarves didn’t feel at home installed where they were.
The adolescent had always thought that all dwarves were warriors, but here he saw farmers and merchants. “Perhaps it is a role that has been forced on them,” he thought.
The village itself extended upwards on the wall, more so than towards the two sides, and the streets were extremely steep. By the time the group arrived at their destination, and the summit of the city, Glaide was out of breath. His companions were small, but their stamina was admirable.
The place they had reached was no palace. A simple opening had been carved into the wall at the back of the cavern. The light that illuminated the village came from the countless torches that they had spread around, and a few holes that let the light of day filter through the rock wall, but here, metal braziers filled with fire stood on the floor at regular intervals along the hallway, which the young man realized was of considerable length. All the way in the back, he could distinguish a glow coming from an opening in the ceiling. It worked almost as a projector, projecting its light on what appeared to be a throne. Here, a profound silence reigned, that the boy was careful not to break. He followed his companions, who had already advanced before him. The light of the torches projected shadows on the walls, and the sculptures they had been adorned with took on a supernatural aspect, so that the simple image of a dwarf slaying an ork took on the appearance of mortal combat between a creature with glowing eyes against a warrior in armor made of fire.
Having arrived at the end of the path, the two soldiers bowed down to the floor before one of their kind, seated on the throne. Glaide hesitated at how he should conduct himself, and the individual before him must have realized that, as he declared, “There is no need for you to bow before me, human. We are not united by any pact. But, I beg of you, let me introduce myself. I am Gardock, sovereign over the dwarfish people.”
Chapter 6
NOT knowing how to respond, Glaide took a mome
nt to survey the creature before him. His face was creased with deep wrinkles, he wore a long white beard, he had a strong build, and he wore a helmet and armor. The king would be indistinguishable from the rest of his people, if it weren’t for the decorations on his equipment, which were incredibly ornate. Then, the young man’s eyes met those of the king. They glowed with the wisdom of years, but also showed benevolence, along with pain and a profound melancholy. The gaze of the elderly dwarf was sad. The adolescent immediately wanted to know why, sensing that here was a way he could aid this race and, at the same time, win their support.
In a voice that sounded slightly intimidated, he said, “Pleased to meet you, Gardock. I am Glaide.”
“I see that my two soldiers here have brought you before me. I’m sure they have a good reason for that. Who are you?”
Glaide hesitated for just a moment. He hoped with all his heart to enter into the good graces of this king. “I am the Destroyer, and I’ve come to speak to you,” he announced. His declaration seemed to have had its desired effect; he had captured the interest of his listener.
“The Destroyer, you say?” repeated the dwarf slowly. “It has been a long time since that name has reached my ears. The last one to have mentioned it had to have been... hmmm... my father, I believe. It was years ago. But whatever the case, the one and only Destroyer to have walked on the soil of Galadria lived five hundred years ago, now. And you’re telling me that today, this being has returned?”
“Exactly.”
“Then we are living in dark times. Such a man is never the bearer of good news.” Glaide went to speak, but the sovereign exclaimed first, “Show me how much your power is worth; show me what a human can do with such a gift. No one on Galadria has ever seen the Destroyer use his capacities, and I want to see them for myself.”
Chronicles of Galadria II - Encounters Page 4