An Empire Forged

by Michael Greenfield

  “What do we do now?” Qar’a had not expected to find himself in this position when dawn had broken several hours earlier. Despite naming Kerin to lead the council being set up, he found that everyone was still coming to him for orders.

  Harlin looked thoughtful before replying, “We need to get messages to Boraan.”

  “Boraan? They are part of the problem.” Alson looked outraged at the suggestion.

  “No. Nagril was the problem. The armies of Boraan and Leefs’elm are leading the fight against the foes that inflicted such horror to the north.

  You weren’t the only ones to be attacked by the Mythraan and their allies. King Sielan was killed several months ago, and his daughter taken by the Mythraan.”

  “Then how are they leading the fight if they have no leader?” Kerin leant forward as she spoke.

  “Because Queen Myriana didn’t stay taken.

  She was rescued by some of her most loyal subjects, at great risk to themselves, and is even now attempting to co-ordinate with Galorn to bring the war to Mythra.

  Commander Collet leads the Boraan forces. By now they should have retaken Holdur and if we’ve been at all lucky, they will be pushing north toward Miri as we speak.

  Maargsson is bringing his men south to join Collett’s, and then the plan was to combine with Galorn to strike back.”

  “And what of M’ur?”

  Harlin looked embarrassed, but continued, “No offense intended to you good people, but M’ur has never had much in the way of an army. I think help would have been gratefully received, but I don’t think they were counting on you making a serious contribution.”

  Alson looked ready to come of the chair he sat on, but Qar’a raised a hand to forestall him.

  “Being honest, and that’s a painful thing to do, Harlin is right. We have a fair navy, but our army has never really been that strong. It’s not needed to be for the last hundred years or so.

  We’ve had strong but fair neighbours to all sides.

  Now we have need of those neighbours to help rebuild and yet we find they are struggling to maintain their own survival. We have no choice, we must lend whatever assistance we can, no matter how small.”

  “Then we must get messages to Collett and Myriana.” Harlin stood, “Gentlemen, Lady, let’s get to writing.”

  Unwanted news

  “Is that another camp I see. Not seen one of those in ages, at least a week anyway.” Edir gave Reglan a withering look, whilst his brothers smirked at his comment.

  The Boraan force that their own troops were moving to meet was spread out before them, ranged around a low-lying hill that afforded a view of the surrounding countryside.

  Urging their mounts forward, they approached the nearest sentry,

  “Messages from King Maargsson.”

  The young soldier came to attention and motioned for one of his colleagues. “Take them to Adjutant Westrom.”

  Two others joined the man tasked with taking them through the camp, and in a matter of minutes they were in front of a medium sized tent near the top of the hill. They could see a larger tent a few yards away, with several guards stood outside and Edit surmised that it must be Collett’s command tent.

  They were waved through the entrance and into the well-lit interior. Westrom was in conversation with several officers, but cut it short when he saw the Helmers enter.

  He strode quickly to the newcomers, “Edir, good to see you again. I would ask when did you get in, but,” he motioned to the travel clothes they still wore.

  Edir laughed, whilst the brothers waited to be introduced. Edir took care of that quickly enough.

  “Naga, you recall those tales I told you of three idiot brothers who were always getting into more trouble than they should?”

  “As I recall, you told me that you always got them into trouble.” He couldn’t contain his grin any longer.

  “Told you it wasn’t our fault.” Reglan held out his hand, “Reglan, and these are Tarron and Golt.”

  “It’s good to finally meet you, though I assume that this isn’t a social call?”

  Edir cleared her throat, making it clear to the brothers that she was to do the talking, which only made them grin more.

  “No. We need to speak to Collett, we’ve news from the north.”

  Westrom looked toward the officers he had been speaking with, “Gentlemen, I’ll send someone to fetch you when the Commander’s been briefed. If you would be so kind.”

  The men quickly cleared the tent, whilst Westrom pointed toward a corner, “Leave your things there for the moment, I’ll get them moved once we’ve sorted out somewhere for you to sleep.

  Collett’s this way.” He started toward a second exit that was situated on the side facing the command tent.

  It was only a few steps between the two, and they were quickly ushered into the second. The interior was separated by canvas sheets, affording privacy to the several areas within. The area they were led into was obviously the command room as there was the almost standard map covered table and a few chairs, but little else.

  Edir looked questioningly at the Boraan officer, “You caught us at a resupply stop. We wouldn’t normally construct such a full camp, erecting just the tents required for overnight, but the Commander decided that we needed to pause and re-organise a bit.

  It gives us a chance to move wagons to the back of the train that don’t have much left on them, or even start them back if they’re empty. Move supplies around to ensure we travel as lightly as is possible for an army of several thousand, that kind of thing.”

  Westrom grimaced for a moment, “It also gives me a chance to take account of how many extra mouths we’ve gained. Bloody dwarves keep catching up with us from Bor’a and other ports. Much easier and quicker for them to travel in their small groups until they meet us.”

  He turned his attention to one of the alcoves created by the canvas sheets, “One moment.”

  He disappeared from view briefly and they could hear him speaking low enough that they couldn’t clearly hear what was said. He returned with a smile on his face.

  “The Commander will be here in a moment, he’d just managed to get his head down for a rest and I’m devastated at waking him.”

  From behind the canvas Collett’s voice rang out, “I heard that Westrom!”

  The Helmers all laughed as Collett strode into view. From the rumpled appearance of his uniform it was obvious that he had been resting fully clothed. It was also obvious if you looked closely that it wasn’t his own uniform as it was slightly long in the sleeves and ill-fitting in other areas.

  “Commander, this is Lady Edir Kaal. She brings news.”

  “My Lady,” Collett nodded in greeting.

  “Edir, please. If I may?” She pointed toward the chairs.

  “Of course. Gentlemen, I’ll have someone find you somewhere to sleep and get some food.” Edir indicated that they should go whilst Westrom stuck his head outside to signal one of the guards.

  The brothers left, following the soldier Westrom had fetched, whilst Edir shunned the seats and went to stand by the table. She quickly scanned the maps before placing one above the others that showed northern Boraan and Leefs’elm. Collett made no comment as he came to stand next to her.

  “Here,” she pointed to the location in the mountains where they had made their discoveries. “We found the J’dar at this location. They were working on removing pieces from what looked like a dwarven forge of some description, but I’ve never heard of the Dwarves living that far north.”

  Collett studied the area that had been indicated before looking toward Westrom, “Better fetch Vorston, we’ll need his knowledge for this.”

  The Adjutant left immediately, leaving the two of them alone. Collett continued to study the map, noting that the valley Edir had pointed to only appeared to have a passable route to move anything in the one direction, east toward the desert.

  “What were they removing?”

  “We’re not
entirely sure. It looked possibly as if they were trying to remove some of the forges from the lower level, though how they expected to transport them across the desert is beyond me.”

  Whilst the two of them pondered the obvious question a rustle of canvas signalled the arrival of Vorston, along with the return of Westrom.

  “Friend dwarf,” Collett raised his head to look directly at his companion of the last few months, “what can you tell us of dwarves living in the mountains to the northeast of Leefs’elm?”

  “The northeast? I don’t know of any living up there. Why?”

  Edir spent a few minutes bringing Vorston up to date with their mission into the formidable barrier between her homeland and the J’dar desert, filling in detail that Collett needed to know as well. When she had finished, Vorston took on a thoughtful expression.

  “I think I might have an answer, though I’m not sure how much you’ll like it.”

  “Vorston,” Collett smiled as he spoke, “I’ve not liked most of the things I’ve heard for the last six months, why spoil my fun?”

  “Our legends speak of skills at the forge that we can’t begin to emulate today. This was the time that the first of the weapons of power were created. Things like the Fireblade that our young friend Cal now wields, though not just flashy swords.

  Armour that resisted all kinds of mundane assault, war hammers that could crush rock, many different kinds of weapons. Many of the things that allowed the storied we now know as the Age of Legends to actually occur.

  It was Dwarven smiths that forged these weapons in great forges the likes of which we’ve never seen since.

  I’d heard the stories, and always assumed that if there was any truth to them, the forges would have been contained somewhere in the mountains to the north of M’ur.

  I’ve never heard of our people living north of the Boraan range.”

  An unsettled expression spread across Collett’s face. “I don’t like not knowing something.

  I don’t think the J’dar themselves have the capability to get something the size of a forge across the desert. From Edir’s description those things are vast. They’d be looking at somewhere on the edge of the mountains if they were going to try and use them, and Leefs’elm is too close for them to risk that.

  This has all the hallmarks of the Mythraan, but even then, where are they getting the power to move them. You’d need hundreds of camels to drag them, and I can’t see enough J’dar volunteering to give their lives so that magic could be employed.

  I just don’t get it.”

  “I can only pass on what we’ve seen. What they plan to do next and how they plan to do it I can’t help you with.” Edir looked thoughtfully toward the dwarf, “Is the magic employed something particular to your smiths, or is it something that could be done by anyone with the knowledge?”

  Vorston stared at the map as he thought for a moment, “I don’t rightly know. It’s possible that there might be something in someone’s archives, but I don’t know where that would be.”

  Two days later saw the camp packed and everyone moving on toward their rendezvous with the men of Leefs’elm. Edir rode alongside Collett whilst the brothers travelled beside Westrom and some of the other senior officers.

  Reports from the Rangers filtered in almost daily as they kept track of the J’dar forces and the Rangers’ own efforts to break up their lines of communication. Unrest was now widespread amongst their foe, though as yet there had been no sign of mass retreats or the such, as food and supplies started to become scarcer.

  As the sun started to make its relentless way to the western horizon, Collett saw a figure ahead of them, sat atop their horse. He wrote it off to distance, but something didn’t seem quite right with what he saw.

  As they moved closer together his confusion cleared, “A dwarf. Gods I hope he’s bringing good news because we need some.”

  Edir agreed, although she didn’t think the appearance of what appeared to be a dwarven messenger would be telling them anything good.

  Looking at the sky and the position of the sun Collett held up his hand, the signal for the column to halt. “We might as well stop here for the night.”

  Westrom had been listening to them both and didn’t need the actual order to be given. He quickly started passing the word and the column slowed before coming to a complete stop and the work of erecting tents for the night began.

  The dwarf approached the head of the column, where Collett and Edir had paused on their mounts.

  “I’m looking for Commander Collett, Lord Harlin sends word.”

  “I’m Collett.” He glanced back to where the wagons were unloading, “If you’ll give us a few minutes we can discuss Harlin’s news in a bit more comfort than sat here on the trail.”

  The dwarf laughed, “That sounds like a good idea to me, it’s been an interesting ride to meet you. Surprisingly little trouble from the J’dar, which I didn’t expect.”

  “I’m told that our Rangers have been having fun with them between Holdur and Miri.”

  “Aye, well it’s only what they deserve.”

  They made small talk for several minutes whilst tents were being erected, before Collett motioned toward one of the finished articles. He sent one of the men to fetch food and drink whilst leading the others into the tent.

  Chairs had been set up as well, allowing for them all to stretch out after a day on horseback.

  “So, what word does Harlin send?”

  “Nothing good. We set out early, the plan being to reach Ketla and then await your directions as to where you could best use us.”

  “Makes sense, the route from Ketla either east or west would be much easier to travel than cross country from Dwarfhome.”

  The dwarf grunted, “So we thought, but somethings been going on in M’ur. When I left, we were probably a couple of weeks north of Ketla, and we had only seen one other person.”

  “One?”

  “A lone survivor. He told a tale of attack by J’dar and Shaler, backed by Mythraan and a mysterious cloaked figure.” He shrugged, “I don’t know what to make of it myself, but the survivor mentioned that those that escaped the initial destruction were rounded up and transported somewhere. We don’t know where, or how.

  It appears to have been done using magic.”

  “How reliable is this survivor?” Edir raised the question.

  “He is, or was, a Captain in the M’ur army. His report included the fact that he’d managed to reach Ketla after the attack only to find the gates sealed and refugees left stranded outside the city walls.”

  “He what?” Collett stood before he could stop himself. “The King ordered his own people to be left out to the whims of whoever was conducting the attack.”

  “So it would appear. Harlin was proceeding to Ketla with all haste when I left them.”

  Collett looked toward Westrom, “At a forced march we can probably be at the gates in less than three weeks, but we need to let Maargsson know what’s going on.”

  Collett considered their current situation as he tried to decide what orders to give. Edir considered the Boraan Commander before speaking up herself.

  “Maargsson will expect you to meet at the agreed point so that we can continue to push the J’dar back.”

  “He will, but we now know something that completely changes the situation.”

  “We do?”

  “We were trying to decide the other day how the J’dar were going to transport the forges over the desert.”

  Edir recalled the conversation from the night they had first arrived in the Boraan camp.

  “We questioned where they would find so many volunteers willing to give their lives in order to move them by magic. They’re not using volunteers; they’re taking the people they need from M’ur.

  This entire campaign has been designed to keep us out of M’ur, and it worked. I think Maargsson will find little opposition from the J’dar, it would seem they’ve been used just as much as we’ve been misle
d.”

  Striding to the entrance to the tent he grabbed one of the guards that had taken up position by it.

  “Pass the word, the cavalry are to collect trail rations and at dawn I want them to continue on at best pace to reach the Helmers.” He turned his head back into the tent, “Westrom, you will come with me and the rest of the men. We’ll make for Ketla as fast as we can possibly manage it.”

  Edir’s face had become pale and drawn at the thought of what they had just been told. She looked expectantly at the Commander who returned her questioning gaze with one of sympathy.

  “You couldn’t have stopped them. From what you say the attack on M’ur was launched before they had confirmation that they had the forges.”

  “Head back with the cavalry and let Maargsson know what’s happening. Hold to the west of Miri but set up a relay of riders down to Ketla. We’ll do the same from the south.

  We need to stay in communication as best we can, so we’ll try and sort some pigeons as soon as we’re able.

  I also want riders sent to Bor’a, Dorrin needs to know this.”

  “I understand.”

  No-one felt like sitting and talking after Collett had explained his belief, so they quickly made their excuses and returned to wherever they were billeted.

  Collett sat alone deep into the night, desperately trying to see if he could come up with any other explanation, but no other fitted the facts.

  Reversal

  Faruk Tulafu stared into the distance. To the north, just on the edge of his vision began the great dunes of the J’dar Desert. South the mountains that announced the border between Galorn and the desert tribes. Both stretched off into the distance running east and west, neither interrupted for several days travel at the very least.

  His small camp lay behind him as he sought solace from his men for just a few minutes. They were loyal, that was part of their problem, but they were also angered by the circumstance that had led to them being sent here in the first place.