Bergmann tensed. He knew the story was true. The description of events was very similar to the plans that he and Verrator had hatched to take Shinestone, and a halfling druid was no common occurrence.
“Then you should help me to avenge the Dragons you lost,” Bergmann said.
The Black Dragon wizard actually laughed. “Those lives are not important to me. They died because of the decisions they made. I attack those that attack the Black Dragons to keep others from trying. Some Black Dragons who died fighting beside orcs in some distant cave will not have any effect on perceptions here.”
Bergmann balled up his fist. “You would associate with orcs?”
Dirigente smiled. “No more than you would associate with humans. Don’t look at me like that, dwarf. I am not the greedy, blind king over here. I know that you hate humans. I see your play and I understand it. The question for me is, does your plan benefit me, and will it benefit me more if I help? Right now I see a dangerous war in confined spaces against dwarves who have a few in their number with the ability to battle wizards. You haven’t yet given me a reason to join in your war. If anything, you have only helped persuade me to stay out of it.”
Bergmann stared at the wizard for a long time. He couldn’t think of anything he had to offer that the Black Dragons couldn’t get on their own. He had only one option. He took off his armor. He undid his leather vest, and then he slid his shirt over his head. In the center of his chest was a tattooed circle with dozens of black tendrils coming out of it. It was the mark of chaos. It was the mark of Delvidge. Even the Black Dragon wizard was shocked.
“The dwarves of Tiefes Loch are the children of Delvidge. This is the task he has given us. For three hundred years we have been preparing. Now we will take control of all of the kingdoms of dwarves. Any dwarf who will not convert to chaos will be sacrificed, as they were in Tiefes Loch.”
He looked around the room to the other dwarves, nodding at each one. Each of the dwarves took off his armor and clothing, revealing heavily tattooed bodies. Each had the circle of chaos in the center of his chest. The symbol was never exactly the same—that was the heart of chaos—but the general idea of the symbol was a small circle with black tendrils of different lengths going in every direction. The other dwarves were covered in the black tendrils from the neck down.
Dirigente lifted his sleeve and looked at his own symbol of chaos tattooed on his forearm. “The last army sent against these dwarves was destroyed. Why should I join you? How will you beat them?”
Bergmann knew he had him now. “They were defeated by a wizard with the power to challenge the gods, but that wizard was taken away by The Father. He will not interfere. If we take one kingdom at a time, the remaining dwarves will have no choice but to convert or die!”
Dirigente looked around at the heavily tattooed dwarves. They had abandoned their old laws. They had created a huge army, and they were committed to Delvidge. How would he be able to justify not assisting in generating chaos? This was specifically what the Black Dragons were created for. He looked up at the dwarf king and nodded.
Bergmann looked at the other dwarves.
“We prepare for war!”
The king of Portwein screamed in fear when the dwarves pulled out their knives and dragged them across their chests, drawing lines of blood that ran down their stomachs. Bergmann walked over to them and stopped before the dwarf whose cut had drawn the least blood. The cut was deep, but he was the only one who did not have blood pooling on his pants yet. The dwarf handed his king his knife.
“Your sacrifice to chaos will guarantee our victory,” Bergmann said, and then he buried the blade in the chest of the dwarf.
Chapter Four
An Unexpected Visitor
Grundel sat in his room sharpening the knife Frau had given him. It had been an hour of slow, smooth strokes of steel against stone, but now he was finished. He wished he wasn’t, but he was done. The knife hadn’t been dull to begin with, but now it was ridiculously sharp. After an hour of slowly sharpening and increasing the angle, the edge of this blade could cut to bone with very little pressure. He looked it over one last time before he slid the blade into its sheath.
Sharpening that blade made him miss working with metal. He had thought of himself as a master smith before his father had returned to Evermount. After watching his father work, however, he had realized that, as good as he was, he was still nowhere near a master. His father had worked with him, though; together they had made his axes, and even created a steel replica of his grandfather’s hand. He had improved greatly just watching his father. Now he was lying in bed wishing that he were in a smith. That would be a sure way to distract him from everything else.
Jerrie and Rundo came in soon after he put the knife away.
“Ah, he’s awake,” Jerrie said.
“I thought you would be sharpening that knife. That is why you wanted it, right? To give you something to do?” Rundo asked.
“I already sharpened it as much as I could. If I made it any sharper the edge wouldn’t hold,” Grundel said, holding out the knife, still in its sheath.
Rundo took the knife and slid it from the sheath. He touched his finger lightly to the blade to gauge its sharpness, and a line of blood appeared across his thumb. “You could do surgery with that thing,” he said as he brought his finger to his mouth.
Jerrie took the knife and examined it. “That really is sharp. How long do you think the edge will hold?”
Grundel shrugged. “It is good steel. Some of the best. It will hold for a while, or at least until I drag it across the bones of some assassin.”
Jerrie just shook his head. “Everyone is getting together to talk about the trip. We thought you would want to be there. Besides, you spend far too much time in this bed.”
Grundel couldn’t help but smile. He really did appreciate his friends, even if they did berate him at every opportunity. He slipped out of the bed. He took the now-sheathed dagger from Jerrie and slid it into his boot, then put his leather vest on. The vest had two sheaths on the back that he slid his axe handles into. It still hurt pretty bad to raise his arms over his head, but he managed. Hellen was sure to remind him every time she talked to him that most people would barely be able to stand at this point, and even then they would need support. Grundel had given up the cane yesterday. Now he followed his friends through Shinestone to meet with everyone else.
When they walked into the great hall, Grundel saw his father, the king of Evermount; his mother, Anna, part of the royal family of Patria; Kraft, the king of Haufen; Frau, the queen of Shinestone; Fuhrung, Frau’s other advisor; Hellen; and Jabaal.
“We don’t need a large force, we just need an escort. It would look better,” his mother was saying.
“Ten is not enough. You and Grundel are both royalty. How would it look if we sent you with such a small force?” Kraft was saying.
Grundel walked into the room and cut them all off. “We are not taking ten dwarves with us. Jerrie will act as my mother’s personal bodyguard. It won’t be suspicious if I don’t have one. Rundo will come as well. It will keep everyone off guard wondering why we brought him. We will take two other dwarves with us as an escort. They need to be dwarves who can ride. We need to move quickly. Every day could make a difference. We should leave tomorrow.”
Everyone stared at him. He hadn’t really made a recommendation. Though he hadn’t intended to, he had basically just told a room full of kings and queens what to do. He thought someone was going to chastise him, but they were all looking at him approvingly. Frau and Kraft were actually smiling.
“Well, you are going to need some armor before you leave, at least some chain mail. We can get someone on it today, but it will take at least two days to finish it,” his father said.
“I think I could take care of that,” came a voice from the corner of the room. Everyone turned toward the sound.
“Anwar!” Grizzle and Jabaal said together.
“I heard you might
need some help,” Anwar said, walking over to the group. Anwar was the mage who had saved them at Evermount. He was the most powerful magic-user in the world except for maybe The Father, a mortal god who was thousands of years old. Anwar was the opposite of everything you thought of when you pictured a wizard. Most wizards spent all their time studying spells and books; they were usually weak and frail and relied on their magic for all their needs. Anwar was nearly eight feet tall and big and muscular, having inherited the size of one of his great-grandparents, a hill giant. He focused on his magic, but he trained hard to be able to fight with his staff as well. His arms and chest were massive and carved with well-used muscle.
Grizzle and Jabaal both wrapped their arms around their old friend. “With you on our side, Tiefes Loch doesn’t have a chance,” Grundel said.
Anwar raised his hands. “Hold on, hold on. I can’t fight with you. I was able to talk The Father into letting me come, but I can’t stay long, and I can’t fight. I am a representative of balance now. I still have a lot of work to do before I will really have this power under control. If I started fighting an army, I could lose control like I did last time. I can help you with weapons and armor and even some preparations before I leave, but I can’t get directly involved.”
Grundel stepped back. “What do you mean, you can’t fight? This is balance, too. Those dwarves are trying to take over all of the other kingdoms. They have abandoned our ways and have been planning this attack for centuries.”
Anwar shook his head. “Trust me, I argued it myself. The Father made it perfectly clear that I am not to interfere in the fighting. The only way we can get involved is if this war threatened to extinguish your race altogether. Right now it doesn’t look like it will. It will cost a great number of lives, but one side will win. I plan on helping set you up to be that side.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Kraft asked.
Anwar smiled. “I have missed dwarven bluntness. Everything with The Father is a riddle. He never says what he means, or not so plainly. Let me first give you some information about your enemy. It is a bit more than I am supposed to tell you, but I will do it anyway. The dwarves of Tiefes Loch aren’t lying. They have been breeding rapidly for centuries. They have also made an alliance with the Black Dragons, and with the city of Portwein. That leads me to how I will help you. First, I am going to help with fortifications here at Shinestone. As the dwarves of Evermount know, I am very capable at that. I will also help outside the mountain, making it more difficult for them to attack. And I will help with weapons and armor. They are going to have wizards, so you will need armor to protect against their spells, and weapons that can get through their magical shields. I can’t give your whole army these—that would upset the balance in the world—but I can make you some. It sounds like we should start with Grundel, Rundo, and their new friend, though.”
“My name is Jerrie. It is an honor to meet you,” Jerrie said, holding out his hand.
“No, the honor is mine. Thank you for taking care of my friends. It is very difficult for me to know they are in danger and not be able to help them. It is good to know they have another capable person around to watch their backs,” Anwar replied, warmly shaking his hand. “You are Kraft, correct?” he asked, turning towards the Haufen king.
“I am. It is an honor. You have done a lot for my race and I am grateful. Thank you for coming to help us once again,” Kraft said.
“It is my pleasure. That means you must be Queen Frau. I am quite interested to see how this whole thing works out,” he said turning toward her.
“Which thing is that?” she asked defensively.
Anwar just smiled at her.
“Oh, that,” was all she said.
“Anwar, how is it that you already know everything that’s going on when you just got here?” Jabaal asked.
“I came from The Father. He keeps an eye on everything that’s happening everywhere. It is all he does—watch over the world making sure that everything is in balance, that no power threatens that balance, and that the fate of each race is protected.”
Everyone in the room stared at him. They all had heard stories about the man who had lived thousands of years and kept the gods in check, but to see their friend talking about him so plainly was a bit upsetting.
Anwar looked around the room at his friends. He smiled at them. He understood how unsettling this must all be.
“Okay, we can get to equipping and protecting Shinestone later. If I heard correctly, Grundel and Anna’s group will be leaving in the morning. I think I should get their weapons and armor finished up tonight. If you can set me up in a room with a table, I can start working with each of them on the items they want while the rest of you finish planning their trip. But first, I think I owe Anna a hug,” he said, walking over to Grizzle’s wife. “How are you, Anna?” he asked as he hugged her.
“I am well, Anwar, thanks for coming,” she answered.
Anwar turned back to the others. “Okay, so who’s first?”
“Take Jerrie first. We will finish up here. There is a room down the hall on the right. There are two dwarves outside. I’ll tell one of them to go with you, and you can send him to get you anything you need,” Grundel said. Everyone looked at him again. He didn’t know why he kept taking charge; he didn’t mean to, but it just seemed easier. He knew what needed to happen so he just said it. No one seemed to have a problem with it, though.
Anwar smiled and nodded to Grundel. Grizzle’s young son was growing up quickly. He was intelligent, confident, and humble. He would be a good leader. He was a lot like his father.
“Well then, Jerrie, if you will come with me? Let’s see what we can do for you.”
When they were gone Grizzle spoke up. “Well, it sounds like Anna and Grundel have it all figured out. If they are all equipped with Anwar’s magically enchanted weapons and armor, that will make me more comfortable. We can decide on the other two dwarves later, I think. Does anyone have any objections?”
“If Grizzle is good with it, I am,” Kraft said.
Everyone looked at Frau. “I don’t like it, but I will accept it. Like I said before, this is Grundel’s decision. I have to accept it just like everyone else.”
“So does this mean we can go watch Anwar make Jerrie’s items?” Rundo said.
“We shouldn’t risk interrupting him while he is working magic,” Grizzle said.
“Yeah, and I think Jerrie would prefer to have his secrets. Let’s let him show us what he wants. If Anwar makes him something he wants to keep to himself, I think we should respect that,” Grundel said.
“Well, I guess we just wait here until Jerrie comes out then,” Frau said.
Chapter Five
Magically Equipped
Jerrie stood next to a big stone table in the room with Anwar.
“All right, there are a couple of things we are going to need before we get started,” Anwar said, walking out into the hall. “He should be back in a few minutes with some materials. While we wait, let’s talk about what we are going to do. First, seeing that you have that ring, I assume you already understand what all of the magical items you carry do,” Anwar asked.
Jerrie looked down at his ring. He was surprised that Anwar had known about it. He had never told anyone about it. Anwar just smiled. “Magical Items are a specialty of mine. I wrote a book about it, actually, and that was before I really knew much about them. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything about your ring. Have you ever used the other ring?”
Jerrie looked at the ring with the red ruby in it. He had taken it from one of the Black Dragon wizards they had fought when they were taking back Shinestone. He knew what it was supposed to do; he just hadn’t discovered how to activate it yet. “No, I don’t know how.”
Anwar nodded. “That is expected. That ring, like many items, requires a command to be spoken. What very few people know about this type of item is that the command word is engraved on the item when the enchantment is created. When you find
items like this, you just have to search the item for the command word. If it requires a verbal command, the word will be etched there somewhere. It will be very small, and usually you won’t be able to see it with just your naked eye, but you can find it. Using a looking glass should work. Lucky for you, I can use magic to look for it,” he said, holding out his hand to take the ring.
Jerrie hesitated. He didn’t like the thought of handing over the item.
“I have no intention of taking the item from you, Jerrie. It wouldn’t be much use to me,” Anwar told him.
Jerrie slid the ring off his finger and handed it over. Anwar took the ring and examined it. “Ah, there it is, on the outside of the band right next to the setting holding the ruby. Do you see it?” he asked, holding up the ring for Jerrie to see.
“That little scratch?” he asked.
“Yes, it actually says ‘Beschuss.’ Be careful though. If you say that word while the ring is on your finger, it will activate it,” Anwar said handing back the ring.
Jerrie took the ring back and slid it on his finger. “Thank you.”
“It’s no problem. Now, I want to talk to you about your bracers. We could do a couple of things with them,” Anwar said.
Jerrie was surprised again. “How do you know about my bracers?”
Anwar just smiled. “I know a lot of things, Jerrie. I spent a lot of time talking with The Father before I came here.”
Jerrie nodded, embarrassed. “What do you want to do to my bracers?”
“The better question would be, what do you want me to do to them? I have a couple of ideas. First, we could simply enhance the ones you use. I could make them nearly weightless and indestructible, or we could get some leather, and I could do the same with them, making them indestructible. Leather around your wrist would be less suspicious if anyone saw it. If you have any ideas, though, please let me know,” Anwar said.
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 21