“That is something I think Captain Thompson should tell you,” Jacob answered.
The king looked to the Captain of his guard. “Captain Thompson?”
Captain Thompson stepped forward. “We believe that the dwarves or the Black Dragons have made it into the city, possibly with a sizable force. The Eastern gate was found left open and the soldiers guarding it were sent away. The sergeant who sent the other soldiers away was found dead in front of the open gate. We searched the area, but couldn’t find anyone. It could be nothing, but with everything that has happened, we believe there is a good chance one of those two groups snuck into the city. They would have had a good size group. If it was a small group, they could have found a less suspicious way to get into the city.”
King Patria looked around. “I think you are right. The dwarves do as well. King Stoneheart sent his two best fighters back with us to help supplement the protection of his wife and son. They believe that the dwarves of Tiefes Loch will attempt to take you again,” he said, turning to Anna. “They believe that the dwarves of Tiefes Loch see you as vulnerable here, and will attempt to take you before you can return to the protection of the Dwarven Mountains.” He turned back to Captain Thompson. “Until we decide otherwise, I want the guards in the palace doubled, and I want constant patrols in the city.”
“We did both after the attack, Your Highness,” Captain Thompson replied.
“Of course you did. Ok, how did the parade go?”
“That was the attack I was talking about, Your Highness.”
“I don’t understand,” King Patria said.
“At the end of the parade, we were ambushed by Black Dragons. There were nearly thirty. Grundel, Flucht, and Jerrie fought off the ones who attacked us. Our soldiers got a couple of their crossbowmen, but the citizens got the rest.”
“What do you mean?” King Patria asked, cutting him off.
“There were more assassins in the buildings surrounding us, but the citizens ran in and cleared out every building. Two of them were killed by Black Dragon crossbowmen, but the citizens of Patria overran the rest. They didn’t even have a chance to fight back before they were thrown from rooftops or head first out of windows.”
“The Black Dragons were dwindling in Patria already. That had to be most of the Black Dragons still hiding in the city. This only reinforces what we already believed. It must be the dwarves who came in the city. Here is what we are going to do. Put out the word that tomorrow we will be having the confirmation celebration. Make sure that the word gets out that Anna will be leaving for Shinestone the next morning. I don’t think that the dwarves will attack during the celebration. There will be too many people, but we need to be prepared just in case. Captain Thompson, I want a show of force outside the palace during the celebration.”
“Yes, Your Highness, We will start making the preparations immediately. Will Queen Stoneheart really be leaving the following morning?” Captain Thompson asked in a tone that suggested he believed the king had another plan.
“No, she will not. We will send out teams of soldiers in plain clothes tomorrow night after the celebration. They will set up all along the road to the main gate with crossbows. We will have a carriage leave the palace the following morning,”
“But she won’t be in that carriage,” Grundel cut in.
“No, she won’t. That carriage will have Dobo, Gobo, Rundo and Captain Thompson in it,” the king answered.
“Dobo and Gobo are here,” Grundel asked.
“Dobo is here,” came a voice from the entryway.
“And Gobo,” Gobo said.
Grundel was already running toward them. He wrapped his arms around the two burly dwarves and lifted them off the ground.
“We heard you lost control of Patria once we left, so we came back. Sounds like some more of them traitorous Bordin-forsaking dwarves of Tiefes Loch need to have their heads crushed,” Dobo said.
“What do you mean more?” Grundel asked.
King Patria looked at Dobo and Gobo. “We were attacked two days outside of the city by a large force of dwarves from Tiefes Loch. The Dobo, Gobo and Rundo finished off the first wave, but the second wave would have destroyed us. These gnomes came out of the trees with some crazy crossbow that shot lots of bolts. They finished off the rest of the dwarves.”
“We coulda took um,” Gobo said.
“Well, you’ll get your chance the day after tomorrow. When they open that carriage expecting Mom, they’re gonna find you,” Grundel said.
“They’re gonna find a hammer in their face, that’s what they’re gonna find,” Dobo said.
“We’ll clear up the details in the morning. For now, I need to spend some time with my cousins.”
Chapter Twenty
Springing the Trap
The celebration had gone well. Everyone welcomed Jacob back and he renounced his claim to the throne. He threw his support behind Isaac, putting everyone at ease about any possible political division in Patria. Master Brennin had made sure there were rumors that Queen Patria Stoneheart was leaving the morning following the celebration of Prince Patria’s return. They had left the party early in order to confirm everyone’s suspicions.
Now Anna watched as her son, and Jerrie went out and mounted their horses. Flucht walked out and stood behind the carriage. Captain Thompson, Rundo, Dobo, and Gobo walked out of the palace and climbed in the carriage. The sun was just about to come up, and there was enough light to see people loading the carriage, but not enough to make out whom. She watched that carriage pull out of the palace, praying to Bordin, the god of her son and husband, asking him to keep them safe.
* * *
Captain Leiter stood watching through a window as Stoneheart’s queen, son, and Flucht the Traitor all came down the street toward him. He signaled to the dwarves in the house across the street. They knew the city had soldiers set up all along the route from the palace to the gate. This block had been nearly overlooked. There had only been two soldiers on it and they had been waiting in this very room. They had apparently had a signal plan, because one of the soldiers had leapt in front of the other in an attempt to allow him to retrieve a small horn. They both received crossbow bolts to the chest before they had a chance to blow the horn. Now Leiter stood in the room with one other Chaos Dwarf and ten dwarf soldiers. The rest of the dwarves from Tiefes Loch were in the small house on the other side of the street. They would initiate the attack, charging forward from that side. The two Chaos Dwarves on that side were responsible for killing Flucht.
* * *
Rundo watched through Messah’s eyes as he rode down the street in the back of the carriage. Messah scanned the rooftops and alleyways along the road. After finding nothing, Messah flew lower, trying to see into windows. She flew over the roofs of one side of the street, trying to see into the rooms on the other side. They were less than a block away when Rundo broke the connection. “Eight houses ahead on the left. At least two of the Chaos Dwarves,” he shouted so that the Captain Thompson could hear from the bench in front of the carriage. He passed it up to Grundel and Jerrie. The carriage stopped. Captain Thompson blew his horn, calling out to the soldiers their location.
* * *
Captain Leiter knew they had somehow been spotted when the carriage came to an abrupt halt and the driver of the carriage pulled out a horn and blew it. He wasn’t going to wait for those reinforcements to come, or for the city to come in force like they had with the Black Dragons. He charged into the street and toward the carriage. His first priority was to escape with Queen Stoneheart. The dwarves with him followed, and he didn’t have to look back to know that the dwarves across the street had followed his lead.
Crossbow bolts flew past his head as the dwarves fired their initial volley before pulling out their swords and axes. Grundel Stoneheart jumped off of his horse, and the human next to him jumped off next to him. Leiter charged forward. One of Grundel’s axes came flying at him. He rolled forward at the last second. He came to
his feet, continued charging and then leaping over both of them. The driver of the cart leapt into the air with a perfectly aimed sword thrust that would have dug into his neck. He knocked the sword out wide with the handle of one of his double axe, and sent the man over the top of the cart by slamming his shoulder into his chest.
Rundo, Dobo, and Gobo were supposed to wait inside the carriage. They didn’t want the dwarves from Tiefes Loch to discover that Anna wasn’t in the carriage and abandon the attack. The door to the carriage was ripped open and Dobo and Gobo were face to face with Kusine Leiter.
Leiter had just enough time to realize he was facing Dobo and Gobo Streiter before Dobo’s hammer slammed into his chest, throwing him out of the carriage. He landed on his back and rolled to his feet. If it weren’t for his steel skin being sanctified by Delvidge, the blow would have caved in his chest. Even with the Chaos God’s blessing, the armor dented. Leiter was immune to mortal pain though and he was on his feet when Dobo and Gobo burst from the carriage in a frenzy. He immediately noticed they had their infamous spiked bracers on their arms. He was facing two of the most famous dwarven fighters alive, but he had the blessing of Delvidge. He was stronger, faster, and oblivious to pain. If it were any other dwarves, he would say he easily had the advantage, but with these two he was even at best.
Dobo slammed his hammer into Leiter’s chest, and Gobo followed the strike. He went flying out of the carriage after Leiter. Dobo came out after him. Leiter was a renowned warrior. If a list were made of the five most dangerous dwarf warriors alive, three of them would be in this fight. Gobo rushed forward with his axe coming up from low to high. Leiter got the double-bladed axe in his left hand down in time to block. He was bringing the axe in his right hand across at Gobo’s hip when Dobo’s hammer came around the side of Gobo’s head and smashed into his shoulder. His axe barely touched Gobo as he was knocked away a second time.
He rolled away, bringing both of his axes up. Dobo and Gobo were closing in fast. They moved out to his sides, coming in at opposite angles. He knew even with his increased speed and strength there was no way he would be able to fend off these two at different angles. He leapt out to the side, spinning and bringing the axe in his right hand at Dobo’s knee. Dobo blocked, but he had put both of the brothers back in front of him. He came up spinning as fast as he could. He brought the axe in his other hand across changing its path at the last second. He scored a glancing blow on the front of Dobo’s right shoulder that turned him into Gobo. Gobo stepped around Dobo and leaped forward.
Leiter did his best to get a solid hit on Gobo, but he only scored a hit with the shaft of his axe.
Dobo had made it inside the guard of Leiter’s two double-bladed axes. He dropped his axe and started slamming the four spikes protruding from the bracers on each of his forearms into Leiter’s legs.
Leiter ignored the pain that came with the multiple punctures in his legs. He fell back and tried to roll away, but Dobo held on and continued to drive his spiked arms into his lower body. Leiter somehow was still able to come to his feet just as Dobo’s hammer smashed into his head, knocking him to the ground. Gobo rolled away, but Dobo dove on top of him and began driving his spiked arms into him. Dobo initially attacked his body, but the spikes wouldn’t penetrate the stronger armor there. Dobo abandoned the bombardment and wrapped his arms around Leiter.
Leiter fought to free his arms. He watched the axe that would take his life come for him. Everything went black before the axe made contact. Flucht didn’t even stop as he ran past Dobo and Gobo toward the front of the carriage.
Grundel leapt off of the back of the horse and threw his axe at the charging Chaos Dwarf. The dwarf rolled under the axe and was moving too fast for his axe to get him coming back so he guided his axe at the Chaos Dwarf following him. He swung his axe out in a wide slash ahead of him to hold the dwarf off, and the Tiefes Loch dwarf actually leapt over his head. He focused on the axe flying ahead of him. The Chaos Dwarf sidestepped out of the path of the axe, but Grundel reversed its path and it caught the Chaos Dwarf in the back. His enchanted armor saved his life but he was knocked forward. Jerrie was already running forward. The Chaos Dwarf rolled forward and came back to his feet quickly, but Jerrie’s was already there. His dagger was magically hardened and matched the dwarf skin. He rolled forward just as the dwarf came to his feet and his blade cut into his knee. The dwarf could ignore pain, but the severed tendons wouldn’t support the leg. He stumbled forward and Grundel slammed his axe into his chest. The axe cut into the armor and knocked the dwarf onto his back. The Chaos Dwarf grabbed hold of Grundel’s axe, holding it to his chest. He was stalling Grundel, expecting the other dwarves of Tiefes Loch to come to his aid; Jerrie made it first and dragged his dagger across the dwarf’s neck.
There were two more Chaos dwarves and at least twenty dwarf soldiers. Rundo’s daggers flew between them, but they bounced off the dwarf’s enchanted steel skin. Grundel held his axes. They had surprised the first Chaos Dwarf, but Grundel wasn’t going to expect that again. Jerrie moved out to the side. The dwarf came at Grundel, his two swords spinning out in front of him. Flucht ran past him and swung his long sword at the other Chaos Dwarf’s chest. The other dwarf blocked the strike, but was knocked back a step. Flucht spun around, bringing his sword out again. The other dwarf couldn’t get his sword around in time and Flucht’s sword sent his arm to the ground. The other dwarf kept fighting. He slashed with his other arm. Grundel blocked the sword with his axe. Flucht slashed at the dwarf’s leg. He avoided Flucht but dodged straight into Jerrie, who drove his dagger up under his arm through his ribs and into his heart. The Chaos Dwarf fell to the ground.
Rundo’s daggers were ineffective on the Chaos Dwarves, so he started throwing past them and into the dwarves coming up behind them. They were not as well defended. Rundo began throwing his daggers, aiming for the unprotected faces of the dwarves of Tiefes Loch.
The soldiers from up the street were rushing toward the back of the dwarves now. Flucht charged past at the last two Chaos Dwarves. They both held two swords. Flucht swung his long sword at the first. The dwarf got both of his swords up in front of him. Flucht’s long sword slammed into the swords, knocking the dwarf back into the other. The dwarf swung both of his swords as Flucht moved forward. Flucht dropped down, bringing his sword out in front of him to block if the other dwarf changed the direction of his sword. He did, both of the swords came down slamming into his sword.
Grundel was coming up behind Flucht when he dropped down and blocked. Grundel was half-dozen paces behind Flucht. He threw his axe. The Chaos dwarf was focused on Flucht and didn’t see the axe coming until just before it drove into his skull.
Rundo reached out into the earth and stones of the street. The street rose up in front of him into an eight-foot tall earth and stone golem. Rundo sent the golem forward with an impression of who the enemy was, and the command to fight them. The golem charged forward, smashing into the crowd of dwarves. His arms were made of huge cobblestones and they flung wildly, smashing into the dwarves of Tiefes Loch and throwing them into walls of nearby buildings. Rundo ran forward, following the golem from a distance. Captain Thompson ran along next to him, but quickly became engaged with a dwarf who made it around the golem. Rundo threw a dagger; it went just over Captain Thompson’s shoulder and into the face of the dwarf. He turned back to his golem. He threw his daggers into the faces of dwarves as they tried to stand after being knocked down by his golem. The dwarves circled the golem and were finally able to bring it down, hacking at it with swords and axes.
Flucht had blocked the redirected swords of the first Chaos Dwarf just before Grundel’s axe smashed into his face. The Chaos Dwarf Flucht had initially hit took advantage of his vulnerability. His hands were over his head still, blocking the swords of the first dwarf when the sword of the second dug into his side. He accepted the wound without flinching. The sword was merged with the hand of the Chaos Dwarf wielding it, so when Flucht turned body away from his attac
ker the arm of the dwarf was pulled out wide. Flucht brought his sword up hard, severing the arm and leaving it hanging from his side. Flucht spun a full circle and the other dwarf tried to bring his sword up to block. Flucht lowered his sword at the last moment. His momentum drove the sword through the midsection of the other Dwarf of Chaos. The other dwarf fell to the ground, his upper half falling on top of his lower half.
Grundel came up beside him; Captain Thompson came up on his other side, Jerrie moved up to Grundel’s other side. Rundo stood behind them, throwing his daggers between them into the line of dwarves. Most of the daggers bounced harmlessly off of the dwarf’s shield wall.
The dwarves had formed two shield walls, and they were already fending off the Patria soldiers. The other was facing them and moving forward.
“Wait for us,” one of the brothers shouted as he ran past them and attacked at the far end of the shield wall. They blocked the initial strike of the dwarves with their weapons then dropped them as they slammed into the shield wall. Their spiked forearms found the gaps in the shield wall and slammed into the faces and legs of the dwarves there. They turned down the line.
Flucht and Grundel moved toward the shield wall with Jerrie and Captain Thompson on their flanks. Grundel threw one of his axes into the line. It slammed through a dwarf shield, cutting into his chest before being called back to Grundel’s hand. They were nearly to the line now and Grundel held one axe out in front of him and rose the other, preparing to strike.
Jerrie stayed a step behind Grundel off to his side. He and Grundel had talked on tactics and faced shield walls like this before. Now the dwarves were more spread out and didn’t have the reinforcements behind them to fill the gaps. He had a plan and he knew how Grundel would respond. The second Grundel struck at the dwarf soldier in front of him, Jerrie leapt over the line. The dwarf Grundel had struck had blocked with his shield and only been knocked back. Jerrie called on the magic of his dagger, elongating it into a sword. He cut through the back of the dwarf’s knee. The dagger in his other hand cut through the ankle of the dwarf in front of Flucht.
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 53