by Clark Graham
The gaunt King leaned his head back and laughed. “You will need an army ten times the size as the one you brought with you to destroy the gremlins that are here. But none the less, we will welcome any and all the help we can get. It has been a terrible onslaught. We saw them coming from afar and knew that they were up to no good. We barricaded ourselves in our tunnels thinking that we were safe, until they started digging. We heard the digging and sent out warriors to stop them. The digging didn’t stop and none of the warriors returned. They dig and dig and every time they break through into a chamber they rush in and kill everyone there. They broke into the great hall and killed my father as he sat on his throne. I fled with some of my people to the old halls. They do not connect with the new ones and the gremlins have not figured out that we are down here yet. I fear it is only a matter of time.
“Still I cannot have that army of yours spend the night on the surface. There will be so few of them left once the gremlins find the camp. I will open my main gate, you must bring them in.”
With that the guards relaxed their spears and allowed Sarchise to go back up to the gate and usher in the armies of dwarves and men.
The dwarves of the Lonely Mountains were starving after months of siege. Sarchise took his provisions and had his warriors make a bonfire in the small hall before the King. Good food and strength of arms raised the morale of the besieged greatly.
Still that did not end the problem. Sarchise and Ermort met with the King to discuss the situation. They left Dolgren to rest and heal.
“How many of the enemy do you think there are here?” Sarchise asked.
“When they started up the mountain we counted about twenty thousand. But we know that they have received more strength recently. We keep watch as best as we can. Another force came up into the mountains just a week or two ago. They seem to be in a bigger hurry to finish us off since the new group came.”
Sarchise said, “Yes, the leader came with them this time, his name is Tabor, Tabor II to be exact. He is in a hurry to take the mountains and build a breeding pit in them. He lost his breeding pits in the last battle so he has no way of adding to his forces.”
“He will be mightily disappointed in his quest.” The King said, “My forefathers told me that there were breeding pits under the other mountains but there would never be one here, which is because we do not have an underground river through these mountains. He will need an underground river of pure water to breed gremlins. We have always had to go topside for our water.”
Ermort looked at Sarchise and then back at the King. “Do you think that he will have found this out by now?”
“I suppose he has captured some of the dwarves alive and questioned them. He must know by now,” the King responded.
“You don’t suppose that he will try to head back to the Mountains of Iron and build his breeding pits there do you?” Ermort asked.
Sarchise answered, “I don’t know what he is capable of. We will send runners back to King Cazz just in case.”
“Good idea,” the King agreed, “Now back to the matter at hand. How do I get these gremlins out of my Kingdom?”
“An all out assault on the enemy in the open will only lose us men.” Ermort said. “We must attack only when we have superior numbers and retreat when we do not.”
“We can build a fortified enclave in front of your gate.” Sarchise said.
“No, that will only alert the diggers to where we are. You must build your fort at the base of the mountains and only come in here when you are sure that no one is following you. If you have to retreat in a hurry because you are being pursued, then you must retreat to your fort. We cannot allow them to know that we are here. We will not survive an attack.”
It was settled then, in the middle of the night a group of dwarf stone masons and three hundred warriors crept out of the gate and down to the base of the path. Away from the ridgelines that the gremlins had used to pelt them with rocks, they laid the foundations of a fort. They would hide in the rocks during the day and work as quietly as they could during the night. Still, with all of their secrecy, they were discovered after a few days. A group of thirty of the enemy attacked them during the night. They were quickly dispersed. The walls were just going up at the time. They worked feverishly into the daylight hours to finish. The enemy sent an army of about five hundred to drive them back. With a mad rush, the gremlins came forward. Arrows slowed their progress, but did not stop them. They tried to scale the walls, but arrows, stones and battle-axes drove them off after each wave.
The enemy retreated only to come back in greater numbers. The commander got a message off to Sarchise telling him of the predicament during a lull in the fighting. While the enemy was concentrating on the fort that was under construction, Sarchise was able to sneak an army of high dwarves out of the mountain. Coming upon the enemy’s rear they attacked and again set the gremlins into a headlong retreat.
The commander of the fort came up to Sarchise and said, “It is no use. They will just come again, and in greater numbers until the fort is theirs. It needs two more days to be completed. It is not yet ready for the full strength of the army.”
“We will march out into the hills and abandon the fort for now. If they see we are no longer working on it they will let it be. In a few days we will go back and finish it.” Sarchise said, with that, the army marched out of the fort and hid themselves in the rocks.
A large enemy army came off of the mountain and swarmed the fort. Seeing that there was no longer anyone in it they began sending out patrols in all directions to find where the dwarves and men had gone. One of the patrols stumbled onto the army but was wiped out before they could report their position. Soon, however, more patrols found them. They killed as many as they could but they had been spotted. Sarchise formed a defensive line and awaited the attack. It was not long in coming. By now an even larger force of gremlins swarmed down the mountain. They were discouraged somewhat in their quest to destroy Sarchise’s troops by a hail of arrows. The men and dwarves stood firm, although outnumbered by about ten to one. They cut down the waves of enemy attackers as they came on. But they were starting to lose ground and warriors. Just by the mass of gremlins pressing against their front, were they starting to give way. The gremlins started to come around their flank so they had to back up against the cliff.
Sarchise’s group had nowhere to go, so they determined to make the enemy pay dearly for their inevitable victory. Dwarves and men began to drop all around him but Sarchise was resolute. Then the impossible happened. They heard a noise like thunder in the distance, only it was a steady sound and grew louder and louder. The gremlins disengaged from Sarchise’s group and turned to see what was coming. In a cloud of dust a hundred horses and riders appeared and assailed the gremlin host. The riders were taking their steeds right through the middle of the enemy. The gremlins, which had no experience fighting against mounted hosts scattered in every direction. Most of them got away, but a lot did not, run down and killed by the newly arrived cavalry.
The horses regrouped from their pursuit and came and stood in front of Sarchise and the survivors.
“I am Fawn of the Valkyries, you are not safe here, we have scared off the gremlins for now but they will soon see that we are small in number, only about a hundred. They will regroup and attack you again. You must retreat off of the foothills and down to the cities. I have seen a large army of men in the valley down by the Northwood. You should go that direction. We will cover your retreat.”
Sarchise could only stare at Fawn. He had never seen a woman so beautiful. She had long blonde hair and was seated on a white horse. She wore gray leather over her chain mail, which looked like it had seen many battles. One of the dwarves gave him a small push down the hill; apparently they were not as smitten with her beauty as the men were. Soon Sarchise and his troops were in an orderly retreat down to the cities.
Back to the Kingdom of Ril
It took three days for the tired hungry army to come
down off the mountain into the Kingdom of Ril. Almost all of the men and dwarves were carrying wounded with them. There were no healers with them so that their wounds were starting to get infected. When they came into the land, there was a large army of men camped out and blocking any exit off of the mountains.
As they came near, a captain of the men said, “Welcome back to the Kingdom of Ril. Is this all that has survived?”
Sarchise answered, “No, we were cut off from the others. We had to retreat off of the mountains.”
The commander responded, “Come the King will wish to meet with you.”
“Can I have food and water for myself and my men?We have not eaten for three days. I also need medical care for my wounded,” Sarchise pleaded.
The commander did as requested and Sarchise met with the king only after he and his men had eaten.
The King leaned forward anxiously when Sarchise was escorted in the room. “I don’t suppose some of those dwarves that you have with you are stone masons?”
“Yes, King, there are several; we were endeavoring to build a fort when we were driven off of the mountain.” Sarchise answered.
“It would be wonderful if you could have some of them start on the sculpture of my father while your army is resting,” the King stated. It was actually a hidden command. Sarchise knew better than to go against a King that had just lent him one thousand men.
“Yes, Sire, that would be possible.” Sarchise said, although he said in his heart, ‘Are you daft? We’re having a little war here. Do you mind if I stick to the task at hand?’ But none of that ventured out of Sarchise’s lips.
The King then made Sarchise tell of all that had happened to his forces since he left the Kingdom of Ril. The King worried a lot when he got to the part where Dolgren was wounded. He related the words of the healer, “Near the heart, but not in it. He should be just fine.”
The King perched on the edge of his throne listening to the story. He took in every word, asking questions at the appropriate time. He almost fell off of his throne when Sarchise told him about Dawn and the valkyries, and how they came to rescue them.
“I thought they were only a myth.” The King said, “Did their horses have wings?”
“No Sire, not that I could see, but I was having a hard time looking at the horses when the riders were so beautiful.” Sarchise answered. “Anyway, that is how we came to be back here. Thank you for allowing us to stay.”
“Not a problem.” The King said, “I have been gathering my forces here. It took a long time for the governor of South Fort to release any men unto me. But I have finally convinced him. Now that we have no fear of an attack from the Mountains of Iron we can consolidate our forces to prevent the enemy from leaving the Lonely Mountains. I have men from the Middle Kingdom and the Kingdom of Myr here also. Tabor is quite trapped in the mountains.”
“True, Sire, but so is the King of the Lonely Mountains along with two of my armies and one of yours,” Sarchise added.
“Yes, that is true, that is why I’m sending you back up there to see if you can get them out. You took them up there after all.”
With that Sarchise said, “I see,” bowed and left. He didn’t want to wait around for a time frame for the King’s last command. Under his breath Sarchise muttered, ‘Too many Kings in my life.’
Sarchise rested his men for a week and then started preparing for the march back up into the mountains.
The few men that were with Sarchise while he was in the mountains, opted to stay in the Kingdom. Sarchise took with him those dwarves that were well enough to move, about half of his original strength, leaving behind many of the best stone masons to work on the King’s pillar.
On the eve of their departure, an old friend visited Sarchise. Amlius the elf greeted him warmly. “So these maidens did not have horses with wings I hear. So swift was the ride through the Westwood, I could have sworn they did.”
“Amlius, it’s good to see you. What brings you to this part of the world?” Sarchise asked.
“When I was driven out of the Westwood by the valkyries, I wandered to South Fort. There I heard the call to arms, that there was a hornet’s nest stirred up, and armies of men were being sent up to the Kingdom of Ril. I thought that my healing arts would do well here. I was able to use some of my medicine on your troops that came out wounded off the mountains. They are doing better.”
“That is good to hear. I am glad you came.” Sarchise said.
“I have one more task. I have also brought some arrows and my bow and I am going up to the mountains with you.” Amlius said,
Sarchise stared at the old elf, sizing him up. “We have a lot of gremlins to kill up there. You are old; it is not the place for the old. Sorry, my friend.”
Amlius laughed. “I know that I am old, but I am also an elf and will live a lot longer than you would expect. I know there are a lot of gremlins up there, but you do not have to kill all of them. There is only one person that you have to kill and he is not a gremlin. None of your dwarves or men can shoot as far as I can with my long bow and my perfectly straight arrows.”
Sarchise relented. “Pack your things, we will head out soon.”
Marching only at night the army approached the mountains with caution. They had taken only dried meat and bread and cheese, so there was no discussion of cooking the food. As they left the armies of the Four Kingdoms were slowly advancing on the mountains. Tabor had no hope of escape, which he probably knew already. The King of Ril had no pressing need to rush headlong against the enemy. He was using the dwarves to thin them out and that suited him just fine. He would narrow his death grip slowly around the enemy by a few miles a day.
It was the third day before they came to the foot of the mountains where the fort was. To their surprise the fort had been finished. There were men and dwarves on the parapets. Trumpets sounded and cheers were heard from the walls as the dwarf army was spotted approaching. The gates swung open and Sarchise and his warriors rushed in.
Ermort went down to greet him. “I thought you were dead. When we came out to look for you there was a pile of dead at the base of the cliffs. We did not search through it because the gremlins had set it aflame, but we saw some battle-axes and swords in the pile. What happened, and where have you been?”
Sarchise explained again how they were trapped out in the open by his decision to try and hide. Ermort’s eyes got wide when he explained how the mythical valkyries had saved them. He told him how they had retreated down to the Kingdom of Ril and how they came back.
Sarchise continued, “Now that I have told you my story, I want to know what has happened here since I have been gone.”
Ermort obliged. “We waited a day for your army to return, and when they did not, I and my men went out to search. We found the pile of dead and assumed the worse. I sent back to have the dwarves send out some more stone masons. They finished the fort working day and night. The gremlins came upon us but Tabor was with them. He did not approach so we couldn’t get a clear shot off, but he is learning how to conserve his forces. He refused to come against us in our stronghold.
“He had us surrounded for a week, but Dolgren’s men came out and attacked them. They fought back but he pushed their armies close enough to the fort that our archers had the range and started firing down on the gremlins. They fled from before us. He was able to re-supply us with food and water. Seeing it was safe he reentered the tunnels. Both the dwarf King and us are starting to run low on food however.”
“Well then,” Sarchise said, “I have good news as well as some bad news. I do have food but it is all dried.”
“That will do fine,” answered Ermort, “I will see that our dwarf friends inside the mountain get some.”
“I have been sent by the King of Ril to withdraw the armies of his down into the Kingdoms. I suppose that means you also?” Sarchise said.
“Yes, I would suppose so.” Ermort responded. What will you do?”
“I don’t think our dwarf King
will leave his Kingdom, so I guess that I will stay here. If I can get you to promise to try to get more food to us once in a while, I would appreciate that.”
Ermort nodded. “I will do my best. What is the King of Ril going to do?”
“His forces surround the mountains, each day his forces tighten their grip by moving up closer and closer, but in his heart he would have the dwarves solve the problem.” Sarchise answered.
Sarchise sent a message to the dwarf King, and to Dolgren, informing them the King of Ril has summoned his men back. He also sent food to those in the tunnels.
On a dark, moonless night Dolgren and his men exited the tunnels on their way back down to Ril. When they came to the fort Ermort and his men fell in line. The dwarves watched them go. It was suddenly a feeling of terrible loneliness and abandonment that went through the ranks. Sarchise and Amlius went in unto the King of the Lonely Mountains to confer on strategy.
“They are gone?” was the first thing out of the King’s mouth.
“Yes, just, we watched them until they disappeared in the darkness.” Sarchise said.
“You know, that we are all dead without them. It is now hopeless.” The King said.
A smiling Amlius butted in. “It is not hopeless, indeed it is almost over. I have a plan.”
The dwarves had a hard time letting an elf into the halls. They did not have much choice but there were bitter complaints about it. Then when Sarchise announced his intention of taking the elf into the tunnels the King said “NO!”
It took several hours for the King to soften his stance. Finally Sarchise convinced him. “He is the only one left, who is he going to tell?”
The King finally relented. The elf was, however stepping on toes and telling the King what he just said was true. The King glared when he said, “Some elf magic, maybe, is going to save the day?” It was dripping with sarcasm.
“Not at all, Sire. I just need someone to guide me into the Great Hall where, no doubt, Tabor will be sitting on the throne. I will take an arrow and slay him.” The elf said.