by Jason Sander
“What do you mean?” asked Cane confused.
“Take the book to the Valley of Kings and open it to the first page. Speak their names and their souls will be summoned to the book.”
“You mean the statues outside have souls as well?”
“One soul in every statue locked for all time in never ending suffering unless you free them,” explained Magdar.
“What about you?” asked Cane, seeing the pain on Magdar’s face.
“I have another purpose to serve. Go Cane, and when you have delivered the book convince Dagar to find the axe. He must get it back.”
Cane hesitated a moment but the sounds of the goblin god smashing its way back got him moving. He searched the bodies around him for supplies then ran for all he was worth letting the locket guide him to the surface.
Behind him Ravager paused by Magdar’s head and a terrible grin spread across his face. “Someone left me a toy to play with,” he said as he wrapped a clawed hand around Magdar’s head and picked it up with ease.
The ceiling began to crack again and as Ravager left pieces of the geoid’s crystal roof began to rain down followed by streams of magma. With a wave of the goblin gods hand lightning struck the wall collapsing the entrance behind him and blocking the magma in the Fire Gardens.
Magdar screamed as the magma ran over his metal body echoing along the tunnels to Cane.
CHAPTER 107
Dagar
Load after load of dwarves were evacuated using the cable cars without break. At the other end of the cable Hanbar’s wife arranged the dwarves into groups so that they could begin the march north.
Dagar turned his gaze away from the Citadel to the forest where the wolven roamed in packs communicating amongst themselves with howls that reached him even above the thunder of the waterfall.
Dagar made his way back to the wall greeting those he knew by name. His heart fell when he gazed down on the masses of goblins formed up beyond bolt range like a sea of darkness. The shamans were gathered in a circle, unleashing their combined power. Overhead the early morning light was beginning to disappear as black smoke billowed into the air to obscure it.
Dagar cursed, he had hoped to have at least the daylight hours free of fighting to finish the evacuation of Broken Pass Keep. Now they would have to hold the walls without rest.
Hanbar and Galdar were in heated discussion when he found them but they fell silent as he approached.
Galdar assumed the mantle of war master and said, “The men are ready for battle sir. Hanbar will stay to make sure that the evacuation is completed. You should move as soon as possible down to the Citadel and begin moving our people north.”
“Father, call me Dagar. I’m needed here to rally the men.”
“Dagar, if I fall then Hanbar will take my place and his lieutenant will take over the evacuation. You need to be with your people to give them hope after…” his father could not finish the sentence and he turned his eyes to the goblins below.
“The Allfather is dead and the Book of the Dead is lost to us,” said Dagar gripping his fathers shoulder for a moment. “I wish we could have retrieved it.”
“Nobody could have son,” said Magdar turning to face him with tears in his eyes. “We have to focus on the present, not the past. I can hold the wall for you and Hanbar can control the evacuation. You need to lead our people north and neither of us can do that for you!” His father grabbed him and hugged him tight. “Go now before the fighting starts, I will have to rally the men and your leaving during the speech won’t help matters,” said his father pushing him away.
“Goodbye father.”
“Goodbye son.”
Hanbar fell in step with Dagar as they left the war master, the old king, but most important to Dagar, his father.
Hanbar gripped Dagar’s shoulder before he boarded the cable car, “I will make sure the evacuation is completed and then I will go back for your father, Dagar.”
“My father has his own destiny Hanbar. He believes that destiny is to die holding back the goblins so we can escape. Both of us Hanbar.” Dagar paused knowing that his next words would be Hanbar’s death sentence, “If you choose to remain with him I won’t hold it against you.”
“Thank you,” said Hanbar. “Safe journey my king.”
“Goodbye my friend,” said Dagar getting into the cable car.
CHAPTER 108
Gabriel
Gabriel was torn between his desire to return to Central and his need to stay and help the dwarves. He wandered the wall until he stumbled on the elves, Tagier and Carthus.
He greeted Carthus and while he was deciding what to say to Tagier, the elf spotted him and motioned for Gabriel to take a seat beside him.
Gabriel sat down and rested his head against the crenellations that ran at waist height along the wall, dwarf waist height. He blurted out, “Why are you still up here?”
Tagier stared up at the dark morning sky his eyes glowing blue for a moment before answering, “Amelia is still up here, so until the dwarves can move her to safety I will hold the wall and keep her safe.”
“Surely they would make an exception for the wounded and move them down first?” asked Gabriel.
“Only those mortally wounded who cannot be moved if the goblins take the wall. The healthy take precedence,” answered Tagier.
Gabriel could think of nothing else to say so he let the silence linger.
Tagier said hesitantly, “I’m sorry Gabriel. I acted in anger.”
Gabriel turned his head and said, “We all lose control sometimes Tagier.” He paused for a moment then asked hesitantly, “Why do your eyes glow blue sometimes.”
Carthus tensed at Gabriel’s question but Tagier seemed to have laid his demons to rest and answered, “Have you heard of the tainted, Gabriel?”
“Only vaguely, they were humans that sought refuge from the goblins with your people and became monsters themselves,” answered Gabriel.
“Humans, yes but they have been described as dark skinned like goblins and their eyes would light up with blue fire in the darkness when they used their night vision.”
“The tainted were part goblin then?” asked Gabriel fascinated.
“I believe they were a splinter group of goblins before they assumed the final form we know today. Anyway as you said they sought refuge with my people and we intermarried. Even back then the elves had few children but the tainted had no such problem and Emperor Palanthus encouraged marriage between our races.”
Tagier paused for a moment before he continued, “When Palanthus discovered they were worshiping a wraithlord like a god and making elf and tainted sacrifices to it he waged war on the Corruptor hoping to kill the wraithlord and free them from its grasp. He did not succeed, the tainted fought even harder as their numbers dwindled. Eventually the war became a purge and the final battle was a massacre. Only a few tainted managed to flee across the ocean leaving their own children behind.”
“Gaia helped the Palanthus to trap the Corruptor before it could flee its dying host and he bound it with powerful magic to allow us the time to discover a way of destroying it. Palanthus then gathered the tainted children together and ordered his soldiers to kill them.”
Gabriel’s voice rose, “How could he?”
“The Emperor Palanthus was driven by anger from years of brutal war. When his own men refused to follow his orders he tried to kill them himself and realised what he had become. He changed his mind and ordered that they be adopted by elven parents.”
“Are you one of those children?” asked Gabriel.
“No, my father was and he left me with only night vision to betray my tainted past.”
“How did you learn all this Tagier?” asked Carthus.
“My swordmaster told me the story. He believed that it would help me conquer my heritage and master my anger. Why do you ask?”
“I have never come across this version of the tainted history. Is your swordmaster still alive Tagier?” asked Carth
us.
“I have no idea, when I finished my training he retired and left me his swords. He said he would never use them again.”
Gabriel felt a chill run down his spine at the same moment Carthus turned his head towards the goblin army.
Carthus closed his eyes. “I can sense the shamans summoning their power. I need to prepare.” He placed his staff firmly on the stone floor and began to draw power to the crystal.
Gabriel said to Tagier, “I would like you teach me to sword fight.”
Tagier hesitated a moment before replying, “So long as our paths cross I will train you, but my duty is to keep Amelia and Carthus alive until we reach your people. Will you stand beside me on the wall Gabriel?”
“Of course Tagier. I mean master,” replied Gabriel.
“Call me Tagier. You can address me as master when we train.”
The goblin war drums started to beat and the war master rallied the dwarves. Even Gabriel was moved by the speech and cheered when the goblins charged.
The shamans began their attack with lightning strikes along the wall to keep the dwarves pinned down while the goblin warriors closed in to throw grappling hooks over the wall.
Carthus opened his eyes as the goblins reached the base of the wall and shaped the power within the crystal into a spell. All morning he had thrown seeds over the wall along the base giving each a bit of magic as he cast it. Now he sent his magic to find the seeds and activated their natural ability to grow. Unseen by the goblins, hundreds of seedlings dug their roots into the earth searching for nutrients.
Carthus fed them more power and put their cells into overdrive as the first goblins began to scale the walls. Around him the defenders cut the ropes as fast as they could but the warriors kept throwing more over the wall.
The line of goblins directly at the base felt the ground move beneath them as the plants sprang out of the earth. Thick thorny vines wrapped around the goblins’ legs covering them in minutes. The dwarves were hard pressed to hold those goblins already scaling the walls while the next wave was being ripped apart by the plants below.
The shamans seeing the warriors falling back from the growing wall of vines launched a counterattack of acid and fire at the base of the wall to destroy the plants.
The warriors fell back even further as fire burnt the plants faster than they could grow.
The dwarves finally cleared the wall of goblins and began to shoot down at the milling warriors who were unable to get past the heat of the fire.
Carthus collapsed under the magical strain and Gabriel moved to help but Carthus waved him away.
Tagier explained, “Mages require time to recover after using powerful magic. The best thing you can do is defend the wall. The goblins will be back when the flames die down but we’ll keep him safe between us until he recovers his strength.”
Gabriel peered through the dwindling smoke and could see the goblin warriors already running past their fallen comrades towards the smouldering ash.
CHAPTER 109
Bittermouth
Bittermouth awoke on the battlefield beneath a pile of bodies. Warm blood had long since gone cold on his body leaving a sticky mess covering him. Slowly he pushed away the weight of dead flesh as he struggled to his feet.
In the distance he could hear the goblin army still fighting to gain a foothold on the walls of Broken Pass Keep.
Bittermouth studied the defences along the wall as he drew a bolt out of his thigh. The dwarves had built well but he could see the first signs that the walls were disintegrating above the gates.
The fact that the dwarves had overrun him was distasteful but already he was forming new plans to bring about their deaths.
Bittermouth searched the corpses around him for a weapon and found a serviceable club. Armed, he made his way to the shamans where they rested in preparation for the next push. The first one to challenge him he smashed aside, caving its head in.
Having established his strength the, weaker shamans backed away allowing him to approach the head shaman where he bowed and waited to be noticed.
The shaman took his time allowing Bittermouth to wallow in shame before he finally asked, “Are you the one that failed to hold the dwarves.”
Bittermouth held back a growl and answered, “Yes, I arranged the ambush.”
The shaman bared his teeth and raised his voice, “You let them reach the gates and now we’ll spend days breaking through. By that time they will have reached the Citadel. Our other armies won’t be able to reach the walls of the Citadel from below for weeks.”
Bittermouth crossed his arms, letting the club drip fresh blood on his arm. “The Citadel is barely defendable and they don’t have the forces to defend the entire wall. When we breach the keep’s walls they will fall before us, the keep was designed to stop an attack from the Citadel not from this side.”
“They will still have a few days lead on us,” said the shaman accusingly pointing his staff at Bittermouth.
“Not if you concentrate explosive attacks against the gate and the wall above it. Even now it crumbles.”
The head shaman glanced towards the gates and noticed the cracks for the first time. “Very well, you still have some use. Would you care to breach the wall for us?”
The staff barely moved and Bittermouth realized the shaman would kill him if he didn’t agree “Of course.”
The staff lifted away from his chest and the head shaman dismissed him by turning his back on Bittermouth.
As Bittermouth walked past the shaman he had killed he spat on the body, wishing he could do the same to the head shaman.
CHAPTER 110
Hanbar
Once the last of the wounded civilians and elves were on their way down to the Citadel Hanbar ran to where Galdar was organizing the remaining defenders.
“It’s time to evacuate the rest of the men sir,” said Hanbar.
“I agree. The goblins have noticed the cracks above the gate. The next wave will blow them open and bring down the wall around it.” The war master paused for a moment in thought before he asked, “Does the last defence still work Hanbar?”
“Of course, but we haven’t tested it for decades. What possible use could it have? The enemy is on the other side of the walls.”
“It could save our people Hanbar. Start the final evacuation of the keep, then take me to the control room,” ordered the war master cleaning his axe.
Hanbar blew the correct notes on his horn and the dwarven soldiers along the wall began an orderly retreat to the cable cars. Behind him the war master got to his feet and followed Hanbar deep into the keep’s defences.
They finally reached a room with heavy metal doors which was filled with runes on every wall and giant crystal power cells. The war master sat in the only chair in the room and brushed away the dust on the control runes.
“Hanbar, I need to know when the goblins near the bottom of the pass before they make it into the Citadel.”
Stunned by what the war master planned Hanbar shook his head and tried to change Galdar’s mind. “You will never escape alive if you stay behind to activate it.”
“Our people will not live if I don’t. I want you to sound as many horns as possible so that I can hear them here.”
“Let me stay sir,” pleaded Hanbar.
“I am old Hanbar. I won’t make it to the cable cars and down the mountain before the goblins overrun the keep. Why do you think I brought only you here? This is an order I expect you to obey.” The room shook as the goblins’ explosives tore the gate apart. “Hanbar, this is my destiny, not yours.” Hanbar’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
Galdar removed his helm and passed it to Hanbar. “Dagar will need a strong and loyal war master. I believe you are the one for the job. Leave now.”
Hanbar stumbled from the room and heard the metal doors close behind him with a loud boom. Tears rolled down his face as he ran through the tunnels. Doors shut automatically behind him locking the war master inside.
The ride down the cable car was terrifying this time. The goblins had reached the platform just as Hanbar launched himself over the edge. At first he was afraid the goblins would simply cut the cable and send him plunging to his death but they wanted to use the cable cars themselves and were racing after him without using their brakes.
Hanbar was forced to release his own brakes just to stay ahead. Above him the cable raced under the pulley spraying sparks and turning the metal red.