by Clark Graham
“A truly sad tale,” said Sarchise, “You no longer need to worry about Timor for I deliver him into your hands to do with as you see fit. I also give back to you your land; I must continue my journey to the north. I would ask if you can provision my men for the upcoming campaign. I know that you have little but I must have food.”
“We do have little for ourselves, but in the storehouses of Timor they have enough of our food to feed his armies for a long time.” Hoeron smiled. “With your help we will batter down the doors and have enough food for the upcoming winter and you shall have enough and to spare for your army.”
Sarchise’s men chopped through the doors in a matter of minutes when they arrived at the storage buildings. That night the people of Zor, for that is what they called themselves, made a feast that neither they nor the dwarves had seen in a very long time. There was roast mutton, stew and bread with honey and ale to drink. The feast lasted long into the night. Sarchise rested his troops till the next night. Vowing to only travel in the darkness they left the village just after sunset.
Still when they looked back at the town, they saw two bodies hanging from trees. Justice had finally come at last in the Kingdom of Zor.
The army had traveled several nights when two runners caught up with them. It was Ferdin and Fordin, the two twins. He greeted them warmly and then went into his tent to read the message.
“From Cazz fifth born of the King of the High Mountain.
To Sarchise. Now sixth born of the King of High Mountain.
Greetings. We are only five days behind you. We have toiled hard to catch your army but now ask that you rest a few days so we can meet. The people of Zor have provisioned us and fed us well, indeed some of our warriors had a little too much hospitality but we will feel better in a day or two. I have with me two armies of low dwarves. These will be the last of the armies sent out of High Mountain. The King feels he can spare no more and in light of the recent attack on the Mountain, it took a long time to talk him into sending these out. We come, hopefully, to the last battle and we have need of warriors.
We traveled by the city that you found in the trees. There is a great feeling of hatred that arises out of there. The wall that was cast up across the gate has been cut down from the inside. Whatever was trapped in the city, it no longer trapped. I had my axe men cut a different trail to bypass the city. I do not know, but fear that some new evil now resides in the Westwood. We cannot address that now, for we must finish the task at hand.
I will march hard to meet you. Perhaps you can cast up dirt walls around your present position, so we will have a fort to fall back to if the battle goes sour. I have the people of Zor working on rebuilding the walls so we will not lose the land behind us to sudden attack.
Wait for me, I will come soon.
(signed) Cazz
When Sarchise finished the letter, he showed it to his commanders. They sketched out a design for the new fort and after a good meal of mutton and bread, they put dwarves to work constructing the walls. They used the lay of the land to their benefit, The mounded walls were built between the rolling hills and then the hillside on the outside of the wall was cut, to that it was now steep and blended in with the walls. The only opening in the walls was to the south and they had boulders brought up to the closest hillside so that if they were attacked they could roll the boulders into the opening. They made footpaths on the inside of the wall just below the top, so the archers could stand and shoot arrows over the wall and still be protected from the chest up. They also dug a well in the middle so the fort would have a source of fresh water.
A day after their makeshift fort was complete; they saw the army of Cazz approaching from the south. Sarchise was not happy seeing his march was in broad daylight and he was creating a cloud of dust around his army as he went. He hoped that the enemy had no spies this far south. When Cazz’s army came through the wall the two princes greeted each other warmly.
They had a feast that night, Cazz allowed small cooking fires. They had mutton, venison and rabbit. The hunters had been busy while waiting for the army of Cazz. Fresh bread and cheese from Zor, and had even brought along a little ale. Sarchise asked about Hemlot and heard that he was feeling well enough to be sent back to High Mountain to finish his recuperation. He was itching from the new skin healing on his chest but itching more to be back in the action.
After the feast when Sarchise and Cazz were finally alone, they held a council of war along with their commanders.
Cazz started the proceedings by saying. “We have some information given to us by the people of Zor. They found some old maps of the Mountains of Iron in the palace where Timor and his henchmen lived. It was not destroyed for some reason. It is old dwarf maps of the Mountains with some additions to them. The most notable additions are the chambers of Tabor and the most important is the breeding pits. The pits are way down in the Mountains and are protected by several forts. The maps also show the underground river that feeds the breeding pits.
“This information will save countless lives. We will not have to crawl around in the underground chambers while fighting gremlins while we look for the pits. If our information is correct, we will easily destroy the remaining forces that are left and then go down to the breeding pits and destroy them.”
Sarchise interrupted, “We cannot assume that their forces are weak and waste our strength against them. We should go straight to the breeding pits. This way they will never get reinforced and we can eliminate their army afterwards.”
Cazz pondered for a moment. “I agree, that is a good idea. Does anyone else have any input?”
Oswin stood up. “I agree also, we have to destroy the pits in an all or nothing effort. How many forts are there that will be blocking our way?”
Cazz looked at the map, “We have three forts to deal with once we enter the tunnels. This map shows the outside walls of the old fortress, but rumor has it that was cast down in one of the battles with the gremlins. If that is true we have to believe that it is still down since gremlins do not work with stone or wood. They destroy but never build. The other three forts may or may not be there. They are old dwarf forts and could have been destroyed in the fighting. There are many ways into the tunnels but when we start heading towards the pits there is only the one path down.” Cazz spread out the map and pointing. “This entrance is the closest to the pits but this one and this could also offer an easy way. We will find the one that has the least guards and go that direction.” The rest agreed.
As the meeting was breaking up Cazz handed Sarchise a letter. “This is from your elf friend; He asked me to give it to you and sealed it. He was on his way to South Fort to dwell there. He seemed to think that the forest was no longer safe for him.”
Sarchise took the letter and since it was now dark, he sat against the fort’s wall and read the letter by candlelight.
“Sarchise,
“I have been a fool for an old elf. So much so that now I must flee the forest. There are tales that I should have told you long ago, but I didn’t believe them myself until now that they have come true. The forest is now an even more evil place for elves. You will find that it is a safer place for dwarves however. You have a new ally that you did not previously know about.
“But alas, I get ahead of my story.
When the elves first came to Elvenshore there was another race in the land. That was the valkyries. Over hundreds of years we lived in peace with them. Then when the man settled in the valleys and the grassland we lived in peace with both. Then the dwarves came. The dwarves were not welcome in the grassland with the men and not welcome in the forests of the Elf. They were banished to their mountain homes. And all would have been well, but the valkyries and dwarves formed a bond. The dwarves built them a large city in the woods for the valkyries. This was a threat to the elves for they felt it was their woodland. This was the first dwarf-elf war. It lasted many years and claimed many lives on both sides. This war is no longer talked about but lies deep within
mythology and tradition.
I have read the old text but did not believe all of it. The valkyries had horses. Not only horses, which have not been seen in this land for a hundred years, but winged horses. The elves were sore pressed by their enemies so they called upon man for help. With the extra armies of man the dwarves were driven back to the Mountains and the valkyries were driven back to their city. We surrounded the city of the valkyries but were unable to penetrate it so well did the dwarves build the fortress.
Magic was still part of the lore of the day. There are secrets that have been lost through the ages. Since we could not break through the walls we sealed up the gate with a spell. The walls were the tomb that enclosed the city and its people frozen in time until a dwarf prince, that was born a man, should walk through the gate.
Seems that elf magic always allows the cursed a way to free themselves of its effects. The vines grew over the walls and the trees grew through the roofs. Soon the city was lost, eaten up by the forest. After the fifth dwarf – elf war, they held a peace conference. All of the old records of the wars must be destroyed so that the hatred between the two races would disappear though the forgetfulness of time. The dwarf’s obeyed and destroyed all of their records and so did the elves. But the elves had rjar, or a storyteller to memorize the history before it was destroyed. It entered the realm of mythology and was taught to young elves by the old. It passed from generation to generation. With each generation the stories were believed less and less but still the traditions continued. We thought that they were just stories to tell young gullible children but had no other meaning.
When I heard that you had found a lost city I followed your trail. I have talked and listened a lot to the warriors that are at the fort near my home. When I tried to get near the city a flying horse swooped down upon me. It had a maiden riding it. It was more of a warning than a threat but I realized that you had sat foot inside the city and it had been freed of the magical spell that kept the inhabitants frozen in time. I have since fled to South Fort where I now dwell. I hope someday that an elf transport will stop there and that I will be allowed to live with my people on the other side of the stormy sea.
I do not blame you. I thought myself that it was just a myth. The reason that I tell you this long story is that you will need another ally or two before you finish. You should make contact with the valkyries. They were once your ally and should be again.
(signed) Amlius, last of the elves of Elvenshore.
Sarchise read and reread the letter, then gave it to Cazz to read. After he had reread it twic, he still stared at it in disbelief.
“This elf friend of yours has lost his mind, must have been all those years of living alone,” Cazz said.
“It is a strange tale indeed. Still, there was something in the city and by what you said, that something has broken its way out,” Sarchise commented.
“Yes, my men, when they slept near the city would have dreams of maidens stealing their thoughts. It was an uneasy feeling. We felt like we were being watched when we were awake too. I cut another trail around the city so we need no longer go near the gate.”
“There may be something to this tale,” Sarchise said.
“That’s it, we’re going to turn around and make allies with these valkyries. I will tell the men that we are going to be fighting alongside women on flying horses.”
At that they both laughed.
Battle for the Iron Mountains
During the night Sarchise dreamt of maidens riding flying horses and swooping down near him. In the morning he quizzed the guards if they had seen anything in the night, they had not. He did notice that the stiffness in his wounded arm was gone. It was the first time he had felt well since the battle.
Cazz left twenty dwarves to garrison the fort, waited for darkness and then gathered the forces and marched out. Moving only at night and lighting no fires, the large dwarf army approached the Mountains of Iron. Cazz hid the army in a small valley in the mountains and then sent out patrols. He wanted to find the strength of the army if any of the openings to the breeding pits were well guarded. The patrols came back and all reported that the gremlins were searching the mountains like a bee’s nest that had been disturbed. They could not find out the strength of the enemy but knew that there were many more than first supposed. Forces of gremlins that numbered up to fifty or more guarded all the entrances. Cazz decided that they would attack the one nearest to the pits and make a quick strike, then get out and deal with the rest of the gremlins after.
Before they could make their move, a gremlin patrol came upon the camp and started running back to report their find. Arrows dispatched most of them but one or two got away. Feeling he now needed to hide the intent of his army, Cazz set a zigzag course towards the opening he planned to attack. He never heading straight for it. Several times the gremlins tried to form up to block the way, but arrows or a turn in course kept them from their goal. The gremlins were able to form up behind the column in large numbers so Cazz had Sarchise form a rear guard. Sarchise would fight off the attacks and then retreat up the hill. Cazz finally got to the opening and destroyed the guard there. By now a massive gremlin army had surrounded his whole force. Cazz met up with Sarchise to decide what to do next.
“We can sneak down the entrance in hopes of not alerting them to our intent or go down in mass.” Cazz said “Which do you think is better?”
Sarchise, never one to do anything half way, said, “In mass and before they can react. We will leave some of their army topside. I can go with the first wave. You can man the rear guard. It would be easier to fight a rear guard action where we don’t have to worry about the flanks.”
Just then, in the distance they heard the voice of Tabor. “Welcome dwarves of the High Mountain, I see that you fell into my trap. There are more gremlins here than even my most trusted commanders knew about. I hid them in the halls of the old King of the Iron Mountains. They are all dead now you know. Soon your kings will also be dead. I will gather an army that no man has seen since the elves first stepped up on the shores of Elvenshore. I will destroy your king, after I destroy you.”
At this some of the dwarves wanted to rush towards the voice, they were angry and ready to battle, but the commanders calmed them down.
Seeing that his words were having an effect, Tabor continued. “Your cousins in Lonely Mountains have fought long and hard. But they too will succumb to my constant onslaught. It’s only a matter of time before there will no longer be dwarves wandering the land.”
As the dwarves started to get riled up again, Sarchise and Cazz started pushing them through the entrance to the tunnels. “Here,” they said, “no sense in killing the ones on top, kill the ones you find below.”
Cazz sent Sarchise down with the first group because he knew the way to the breeding pits. He would bring up the rear guard. If they were all going to die then at least they could destroy the pits on the way insuring as eventual victory for the dwarves. Cazz left his parameter spread out as long as possible so that Tabor would not figure out what the dwarves were up to. Tabor was going on and on about how great and wonderful he was and that he would rule the whole earth, not just Elvenshore, with his mighty gremlin army. All the while more and more dwarves went underground.
Sarchise met resistance right away, when he entered the tunnel. A group of about fifty gremlins had been sent to attack the middle of the dwarves and cause chaos while Tabor attacked the edges. By going down into the tunnel and stopping this attack, Sarchise had delayed the attack on Cazz’s perimeter. The fifty gremlins were taken by surprise and a lot of them had gone down before they started offering resistance. Five dwarves were wounded in the fight, but Sarchise had to leave them where they lay, as he had no where safe to retreat them too.
Sarchise advanced so rapidly down the tunnel that he left the main body of dwarves behind. Gremlins attacking from the side tunnels quickly cut him off from any possible retreat, but not caring, he continued on. He had about thirty warr
iors with him when he ran into the first of three forts. It was unmanned and just as quickly as he came upon it, he was leaving it behind him.
Cazz was not making as good of progress. The gremlins finally attacked when they saw that most of the dwarves had gone down into the tunnel. Cazz was fighting a rear guard action and also cutting his way through the gremlins that had gotten between himself and Sarchise. Resistance was getting heavier as the gremlins started to react to the change of events. Behind him he placed most of his archers to slow the progress of the main enemy force. The front group of warriors managed to cut their way through a group of about one hundred and fifty gremlins. He rushed his army down the tunnel to find two more side tunnels were allowing even more gremlins to get in front of them. Again the fighting was bitter and more gremlins and dwarves fell. Again Cazz managed to bring his forces through.
Cazz finally gained the first fort. Gremlins have no concept of fortified war so they had left it empty. It was four walls set at a four way crossroads in the tunnel. Nothing could get by the fort except by being exposed to arrow from the slits in the walls. The back wall still had a iron fortified timber door. The timbers were old and nearly rotting through, but still useable. Cazz rushed his forces past the fort until he came to the rear guard. He used those archers to man the fort.
Sarchise had now passed the second fort. He had proceeded down the tunnels so fast and was so far ahead of Cazz that the gremlins didn’t realize that his group was there. He was so deep now into the mountain that the tunnel he was in was only used to service the breeding pits. He passed the third and last fort. It also was empty, so he just kept to his course. His warrior entered the underground river without hesitation. It was only a few feet of this chest deep water and they were in the breeding pits. There were only two men down there and no gremlins. All of the gremlins had been sent up to fight the dwarves. Two arrows killed the men before they could react. Axes and swords were soon destroying the embryos in the pits. After that they broke the pits open and destroyed the linings. The breeding pits were now destroyed.