by Clark Graham
They did a full frontal attack, coming forward en mass. Sarchise held the center but the left and the right were starting to give way. The gremlins were starting to flank Caspin’s warriors.
A runner came up, “Caspin is grievously wounded and his commander is dead, you are now in charge of the left also.”
Minutes later another runner came up. “Cazz is wounded and being brought over here. You have the right. “
Sarchise saw that he was about to be surrounded so he acted. He ran back to the reserve. “Turn to face the rear.”
Upon coming to the left he had the warriors fall back so that they had the reserve on one side and the center on the other forming an arc. He ran over to the right and had them fall back, completing the circle.
As the gremlins surrounded them, they could not find the rear of the army. All they found was battle-axes at the ready in all directions. This confused them, and gave Sarchise precious time to organize his defenses better. The gremlins finally attacked, this time they attacked on all sides at once. The defenses held and they were driven back with heavy losses. But there were also many dwarves wounded and dead. Gaps started to appear in the circle. Tabor sent a large force to exploit a gap. A small number of the gremlins came through into the center and even knocked down Hemlot and wounded Sarchise. Barazar came to their rescue. Using his axe like a scythe, he wiped out the group of gremlins. He then ran off to plug anther hole.
Looking down at his arm and seeing that his wound was minor, Sarchise took off his cap and tied it around his arm. “Step back! He yelled, step back until you are tight up against the warriors next to you!” They did this and the gaps were plugged.
They were bringing the wounded to the center, but the dwarves were backing up more and more to plug the gaps that they were almost tripping on the wounded. The healers were doing their best to patch up the slightly wounded and sending them back to the line. The dwarves were tiring. It was getting harder and harder for them to swing their axes at the next gremlin that came up to challenge them. Many had several wounds and the line began to falter in places. Sarchise could see the Minotaur strengthening points that were giving out and then move on to another when the crisis was over. The bodies of gremlins and dwarves formed a mound around the defenders. It added a degree of protection for them.
The gremlins were faltering too. They were not fighting in the large numbers that they started out. Sarchise had a good field of view over the heads of both the dwarves and the gremlins. He could see that the main body was marching past them. The gremlins were only offering a token fight now to keep the dwarves busy. Then when they had passed most of the army to the south, the fighting stopped.
Many of the dwarves collapsed where they stood. They had lost a lot of blood and expended a massive amount of energy on empty stomachs. Sarchise had the fallen dragged back into the circle and those able to still stand, reform the line. They waited in this position for an hour, when the enemy did not come back he sent out small patrols in all directions. Meanwhile those warriors who were still fit pulled bodies off the pile looking for the wounded. If they found a dwarf still alive they would drag him to the center of the circle where the healers were applying their trade. If it was a gremlin who was wounded, there would be a quick swing of an axe and that ended the problem. They worked until they were satisfied that all the wounded were cared for.
Sarchise went looking for princes and commanders. Hemlot and two high dwarves were the only commanders that were left standing. Cazz’s commander was badly wounded and Caspin’s was dead. He found Cazz in the middle of the circle where he had been dragged previously by his warriors. Caspin’s body was found among the trees, where he fell. His position had been overrun before the circle was formed. A few of his dwarves along with a healer had tried to drag him to safety, but they were all cut down where they stood.
The reports from the patrols that he got back were the enemy was headed south in great haste. He had the soldiers stand down. Sarchise walked over to Cazz to see how he was. The healers had applied a mud pack to his injured arm and bound the arm to his torso, so he would not move it. They then put his arm in a sling.
“Just a little cut,” Cazz responded.
Sarchise had seen the wound before it was bound and knew that he had a slice from the shoulder to the elbow, deep enough to hit the bone. He had lost a lot of blood. “Small cut eh?”
“Well, maybe just a little deeper than a cut. I guess I have you to thank for saving my life again. Forming the men into a circle was a great idea. The gremlins could not break through it. We dwarves are used to fighting in the caves and tunnels of the mountains. We would have never figured that trick out.”
“They would have eventually. I don’t understand why they left. They had us,” Sarchise said.
“Tabor was losing too many of his fighters. He has to arrive at High Mountain with enough strength to blast his way through the gates. We were just a sideshow, one that he could not afford,” Cazz replied.
The healer came up to Cazz. “You cannot travel. You will not make it a mile in your condition.” He then turned to Sarchise, “Let me have a look at your arm.” He took off the blood soaked hat and put a proper bandage on it.
Sarchise looked disgusted. “Hemlot ratted me out.”
Cazz got a serious look. “High Mountain will not know that they are coming. You must take all those that can travel fast and light and go after them. You may not make it in time, but if they still are resisting the gremlins, an army smashing into their rear will turn the tide. I will make my way slowly to the fort at elf tree. There are supposed to be provisions there for us.”
“Yes, you are right, I will go now.” Sarchise said.
As Sarchise turned he saw Barazar standing in front of him with is very bloody axe in his hand. With one hand he held it out for Sarchise to take it back. “Oh no,” Sarchise said, “You are not getting out of this that easy. You can walk that means your coming with me.”
Sarchise and Hemlot gathered eight hundred of the fittest dwarves and headed out after the gremlins in a trot. Two of the Minotaur also went with them. Of the other five, two were badly wounded and the others were dead.
The trail was easy to follow as many of the gremlins were still bleeding. Every once in a while they would come upon a gremlin that had died of his wounds or collapsed due to loss of blood. Those that still lived were soon dead. There is no love lost between gremlin and dwarf. The large enemy army had crushed most of the vegetation.
After a day of hard travel on little food, Sarchise stopped for the night. He had no idea how far the enemy was ahead, but he knew he would never keep pace with them. He sent out hunters with a vain hope of something to eat. To his surprise they brought back plenty of small game, rabbits and squirrels, some large bird that he had never seen before. He allowed cooking fires, but set out a large watch. There were no problems during the night. Even the bears kept their distance. When his men had food in the stomachs and a few hours of sleep, they headed out again.
After traveling for two hours, they found a dead dwarf in the path of the enemy’s march. “He was your messenger,” Barazar said.
“Dwarf messengers always take different paths. There were two, maybe the other has survived.” Sarchise said. They rolled the body in blankets and took it with them. Sarchise wanted to burn it but thought he might have a mutiny on his hands.
Several miles later, they found the other messenger. His throat was cut. High Mountain would be without warning.
After traveling for two and a half days without stopping, Sarchise knew his army could go no further. Their feet were bloody and blistered. They were stumbling through the forest from exhaustion. He again camped for a few hours of precious rest. The hunters brought back two deer and even managed to kill a nice fat razor bear.
After the dinner, the healers did their best to bind the blistered feet. Sarchise knew that he could not push them as hard from now on. They had given more than he thought was in them to give. O
nly Barazar seemed unaffected by the long grueling march. Sarchise sent him on ahead to scout the road while he let the army sleep.
An hour later Barazar came back to report. “They are laying a trap for us. Part of their army is hidden in the trees, when we come around a corner we will come face to face with the rear guard, when we start fighting them the ones that are hidden will spring the trap. We will be surrounded.”
“We don’t have time for this. We must be gaining on them or they wouldn’t bother to try and slow us down.” Sarchise said, “Let the men rest, then we will trap them in their trap.”
The Rear Guard
In the morning, still tired and now stiff, the dwarves gathered into ranks. Hemlot took his part of the army slowly down the road. When they came to the spot that Barazar had described, they halted and prepared their bows. Meanwhile Sarchise and Barazar took the rest of the army quietly into the trees. The dwarves in their bandaged feet were a lot quieter than when they wore boots. When they got close enough to the hidden gremlins they let the arrows fly. Sarchise predicted the result well. The gremlins had had their backs to the dwarves, waiting for the army to pass by. When the arrows started hitting, those that were not killed instantly started screeching. There was a lot of commotion and they tried to turn and rush the dwarves. Another round of arrows brought an end to that attempt and they went running into the woods. Gremlins are not very clever. They obey orders well, but when the plan goes bad they do not react well. The gremlins on the other side of the path, upon hearing the screeches of the first group came across the path to their aid. That was when Hemlot’s archers opened up on them. Again screeches of surprise and pain followed. They turned for a head first attack on Hemlot’s position, but two more volleys of arrows took the heart out of them and they scattered into the forest.
The gremlin rear guard, upon hearing the commotion of the previous two fights came rushing up the trail. They spotted Hemlot’s army and ran to the attack. There were many more of them than the two previous groups. Three volleys of arrows did not stop them, but it did thin the ranks. Axes and swords clashed as the two groups met head on. The line of dwarves held firm and were beating down the rear guard when Sarchise’s force hit the gremlin flank with fury. Smashed from two sides the rear guard broke and ran. Dwarves ran after them killing as many as they could catch. The rest dispersed into the forest.
Sarchise assessed the damage. Six dwarves were dead, another thirteen wounded. He could not afford to bring them with him, as they would slow him down. Those that could not walk fast because of their sore feet were to take the wounded and dead to the camp at Elf’s Tree, and there meet up with Cazz. The rest had a hard journey ahead of them. They piled up the dead gremlins and burned them.
“They did not have enough force here to do us serious harm even if they had surprised us,” Sarchise said.
“Tabor is saving his strength for the gate and High Mountain. It says a lot for our pursuit that he had to divert his resources to slow us down. We are having an effect,” Hemlot said.
With that they were off again. This time Sarchise always had one of his tireless Minotaur scouting the road ahead. They had lost a lot of time, resting and fighting. Although the worst of his foot sore solders were off to the elf tree, the others were not doing all that great.
At the end of the day Sarchise again let his battle weary warriors rest. He called for Barazar. “His army does not eat, that is why there is plenty of forage for us. They do not rest as the trail is getting old. How can they keep going?”
Barazar replied. “They brought food and water with them, but they are running low. I caught up with one of them and after I killed him, I checked his pack. It was nearly empty. They are growing thinner also. Tabor is driving them too hard for he fears that you will be upon him before he can cut his way through the gate. It will cost him, they will not have the strength to fight when they reach the end of their journey. He will have to rest them before he attacks.”
“How far ahead do you think he is?”
“We were keeping almost up to his pace, but lately we are resting more and going slower. He will be almost up to the gate now, but we are a day and a half maybe two days away.”
“Thank you,” Sarchise said.
Hemlot came in “I don’t know if I can push them much harder. They can barely walk now, and they would not be any use in a battle right now. They must rest and eat.”
“They shall rest and eat,” answered Sarchise. “We have done more than we thought possible. We will stay here tonight, rest them and heal their hurts. In the morning we will make one last long walk. The warriors have done us proud, there will be many a song sung of them around the bonfire.”
“If there are bonfires left to sing around,” sighed Hemlot.
That night the dwarves slept the whole of it, except for those unlucky few who had to pull guard duty. In the morning they ate rabbit stew while feet were re-wrapped. It no longer looked like the proud army that had left High Mountain. Their clothing was torn and tattered. They all had feet wrapped instead of boots. They were dirty and smelly and most of them had dried blood on their clothing, spider or gremlin or their own. They were in better spirits and willing to get on with the last leg of their march.
To the surprise of Sarchise and Hemlot, the warriors even broke into a fighting song as they started the march.
Our axes sharp and our warriors strong
Our feet are sore, as our march is long
We met the enemy the other day
We killed a lot the rest ran away
And now we chase them through the wood
Fight them again, we wish we could
About a half a day in to the march, long after the songs had ended, they started coming across dead gremlins. At first it was one every once in a while. Then it got to be two or three at a time. Sarchise quizzed Barazar about them after one of his patrols. He told Sarchise that Tabor had pushed them too hard. About a day into the march, they came across the remnants of a camp. There were holes dug in the ground all around, because gremlins can’t sleep under the stars. They had lit a small cooking fire where they had broiled whatever meat they could find. There were bloody bandages left all around and a pile of dead gremlins in one of the corners. They had not died of exhaustion, like the others, but had been killed. There were signs of a small fight near the fire.
Barazar came up. “He pushed them too hard. Those refused to go on so he brought them to the middle and killed them as an example to the others.”
Sarchise asked, “How do you know all this?”
He shrugged and said, “I know gremlins, I also know Tabor. He cares not for the lives of others. He rested here, but not long enough or they would not have rebelled. They may not have enough strength to carry the gate. We have done well.”
Sarchise sent out Barazar to scout ahead and set out with the dwarves on the last leg of the chase. They walked all night, stumbling and tripping on unseen tree roots and rocks. But still they pressed on. It started to rain, and obscure the trail, but they were close enough now that they could almost smell High Mountain. They did not even have to be urged on anymore because they could feel the end of the journey. Dawn was breaking when Barazar came back with a report.
“The gate has been broken down and the towers also. There are two breaches in the wall, but there are still dwarves that walk the ramparts. They shot an arrow at me but missed.”
Sarchise was delighted by the news that the dwarves still had possession of what was left of the gates. They rushed the warriors the last mile or so to the destroyed gates. As they neared the dwarves on the walls prepared to shoot off a volley, but cheered when they saw who it was.
The battle scars were all over. Dead dwarves were stacked like cordwood until they could be buried in their crypts. Piles and piles of dead gremlin littered the ground. Both towers had been burned and collapsed in on themselves. The Tower Bridge fell when the towers did and took the gate with it. The house that was built for the scout
s was torn down.
As they neared the broken gates the surviving dwarves issued forth out the mountain and hugged the newly arrived army. They kept up their march into High Mountain, hoping to find out news of friend and family. Sarchise ran up to his room to find if Ammlee was alright. He passed many workers carrying off the carcasses of gremlins. When he reached his door he saw that it had been broken off the hinges. He rushed inside to find that there were two dead gremlins in his room. Ammlee as holding her stomach and Sarchise could see that she had blood between her fingers. There was a sword by her side stained with green blood.
She was crying, sobbing that they had stabbed the baby. Sarchise lifted her hands gently to see how bad she was. The bleeding had stopped but it was a deep wound so he took her down to the healers. It was a madhouse down there. Every table was full, along with every available floor space. The wounded stretched out into the hall. A healer came up and checked all the new arrivals. He looked at her and told them that she could wait, as she was not bleeding and then found her a spot on the floor to sit. Sarchise stayed with her until she fell asleep and then put his tunic over her.
A little while later the King spotted Sarchise and came up to him. He had a large bandage on his shoulder. “I should blame you for this, but it would have happened anyway, and without you we never would have known it was coming. When we got your first letter saying that you had found gremlins in the woods, we doubled the gate guard and had an army of low dwarves here just in case. They would have cut us to shreds otherwise. Have all the armies returned?”
Sarchise looked up with sad eyes. “We tried to warn you that they were coming but our messengers were caught and killed. We met this same army in the forest and they nearly destroyed us. I have only managed to bring back seven hundred. The rest are making their way to the Elf Tree.
“We were surrounded in the woods. Caspin is dead and Cazz is badly wounded. They fought well and thinned out the ranks of the enemy.”