Steel, Magick and Faith: Book 1 of The Remus Rothwyn Chronicles

by T.P. Grish

   

  The officer contemplated that for a second and said ‘It was decided yesterday by unanimous approval that we should go to war with the dwarves, in retaliation for the death of Brandon. The attacks on our town were cause enough, but the slaying of a child means war’. Remus mused that Brandon must be the name of the slain child. The officer continued ‘We got about half a dozen other squads like this, and the Sheriff has given his approval for local townspeople to form their own squads to deal with the threat. We’re trying to smoke them out’, he added, pointing over his shoulder, ‘And our dogs are helpin’ us find the dwarves. They’re tricky buggers, but not tricky enough to fool our dogs. We’re hopin’ to find their cave eventually, and deal with this once and for all’.

   

  Remus knew that the ‘unanimous approval’ to launch a full-scale assault on the dwarves would have consisted of the loudest and most influential residents hollering for war against the creatures. The Sheriff had no real way to stop them, and somehow Remus believed that the Sheriff and his men would enjoy an opportunity to test their weapons. As for the Mayor, he was merely a figurehead, representing the status quo of the town. Fighting against Fey was extremely dangerous and a frightening concept, dwarves did not fight as straightforwardly as humans did, and their mindset was alien. Remus saw that reflected in the fear in the eyes of the warriors, hidden beneath their bluster. Remus and Elaina conferred, Elaina’s face pale with anger and disbelief. ‘They have no idea what they’re getting into!’ she fumed, ‘Burning down half the forest will only draw the ire of more powerful enemies!’ Remus nodded, agreeing, but reminded her to focus on what their current plan should be.

   

  There was a gap in the wall of fire and smoke, the archers leaving a path they could use to move forward once they were ready. This war band was trying to scout the dwarves and flush them out, they were playing defensive. Sounds of battle indicated that the fighting had spread to other squads and war bands. Remus and Elaina decided they would skirt around the flame and smoke, moving wide of the war band and continuing deeper into dwarven territory. It seemed a forgone concept that war was afoot, Remus and Elaina decided to find the humans engaged in combat and reinforce them. Diplomacy seemed to be off the table.

   

  Skirting through the forest, the sounds of battle and the smells of smoke and magick filled the air. It was not long before they came upon the scene of a battle. Humans, both guards and townspeople, lay slaughtered, their war dogs meeting the same fate. There was only one dead corpse of a dwarf, a stunted looking thing. There were areas of scorched ground and soot, blood and… there was no mistaking it, massive footprints lay plastered in the ground around the battlefield, with indentations indicating claws. Remus and Elaina looked at each other.

   

  This could mean only one thing: the dwarves had summoned Fey beasts. Remus gingerly approached the dead corpse of the dwarf and turned it over. Even in death, the Fey creatures were frightening. It had been decades since anyone had attempted to war with dwarves, the Fey were known but ignored and rarely seen. If this battle fanned into a larger war, the terrible times described in obscure books could befall the region. When Men and Fey fought, the world shook.

   

  CHAPTER 5

   

   

  King Dorbuuk strode back and forth in front of his Chosen warriors, a frown etching his broad, sullen face. The pursuit of Boruggh was called off, reports had come in the preceding night that humans had launched an invasion of their territory. Every dwarf squad that could be contacted was told to retreat and form a united defense, but many of his people were already engaged in battle and had not returned. It did not matter if the misunderstanding over the child’s death had sparked the war; a fight was a long time coming. The fires of a thousand years of leading his people, a thousand years of watching the humans disturb the balance, burned bright in his heart.

   

  Looking at the faces of his brethren, he knew he didn’t need to make any speeches. They were ready to punish the humans, and take the first steps in taking back the region. Dorbuuk asked his Chosen shaman how the summonings were progressing, continuing his pacing. ‘My King, only two of our allies have been called, but more are on the way to aid in the battle’. The King only nodded, pondering the next step. It was an insult to a Clan’s honour to call for aid from another Clan except in desperate times- it was seen as a weakness, an inability to take care of your Clanhome and its people.

   

  Not yet. He gave orders for the Clan to assemble three scouting groups, and one main force of heavy warriors. All returning squads were to be merged with the four new groups. The main group of warriors would stay here, near the Clanhome, while the three groups of scouts would search for the humans and harass them, killing as many as possible and instilling fear in their bellies. His own elite warriors wore crude, yet extremely strong steel plate under their tattered fur; and wielded larger weapons than the others. The more lightly armed dwarves could serve as scouts. He knew that there were other human settlements nearby, and old stories told of massive human settlements with gargantuan walls, pale imitations of the caves of his people. He also knew that humans on occasion put aside their madness to unite with each other. If that was the case, then other Clanhomes, and darker allies, must be summoned to the cause.

   

  * * *

   

  Their plans had fallen astray. Despite the efforts Remus and Elaina had expended, it seemed that war between High Peaks and the dwarves was unavoidable. Their plan now was to join the battle where they found it, and aid the humans. Remus glanced sidelong at Elaina as they ventured deeper into dwarven territory. Remus was cynical enough to deal with whatever the situation brought, but he knew it was important to Elaina to try and stop the bloodshed.

   

  Despite her perceived failure, she would have to draw blood to survive the battle. It would be something she would not forget soon. Her feelings were a matter that would have to be dealt with later, he realized. They were heading into war, the first war they had seen (for he and Elaina were not warriors); and the first war in this region for decades.

   

   A sharp and vicious pain disturbed his thoughts. Crying out, he looked down at his shoulder where a jagged, dirty shard of purplish metal, perhaps a dart, was embedded. Elaina pointed her staff in the direction of the attack, and Remus hefted his axe. A dwarf shot out of the foliage and charged at Elaina, a blur of bestial features and metal. She deflected his attack with a staff, and the dwarf seemingly disappeared. Rustling indicated more of his allies.

   

  Thinking fast, Remus realized that not only were they ambushed, but this may be their only chance to try and negotiate with the strange creatures. He fumbled with his belt and threw the pouch of refined salt on the ground, followed by the smoked meat. He then uttered, as well as he could, the dwarven word for friend, ‘Uthluck’. He hoped that whatever book had taught Remus the word, was written by someone who knew what they were talking about. He gingerly removed the dart, as the tense situation continued.

   

  Slowly, a trio of dwarves appeared, holding weapons at the ready. His heart beat as he got a good look at the creatures. They had hard features and earthy skin, eyes gleaming from inside protruding brows. The unnatural intelligence and anger in their expressions almost made him turn and run. He knew that would have been a bad idea as he looked over his shoulder to see a dwarf standing behind him, weapon also raised. Elaina was in a similar predicament. The dwarves were no more than 3’5’’ tall, but were wide. Wise folk knew that when it came to Feykind, size could be misleading.

   

  The dwarf in front of Remus darted his eyes towards the offering on the ground, keeping his jagged spear raised. Slowly he went to inspect and pick up the items. He spoke to the other dwarves briefly, in the garbled dwarven tongue. Remus understood none of the words. Stepping in front
of Remus again, the dwarf pointed towards the bare ground at Remus’ feet repeatedly. Then, in a blur, the dwarves all retreated into the underbrush. Remus and Elaina stood still for a few seconds, then walked closer to each other and whispered.

   

  ‘It seems like they want us to stay here’, Elaina mused. ‘We’d better prepare’ Remus stated, and they both began taking a stock of their surroundings. They decided to stand nearby, backs against a wide, ancient tree. ‘I still have some caltrops’ Remus said, mentally preparing to throw them in a cone around them both to protect against charging dwarves. Elaina crafted a trap, using her wind powers to raise a nearby boulder and suspend it from a tree branch using vines she tore down. All she had to do to unleash the trap was to use her powers to nudge the rock off the branch, and the rope system would make it swing in an arc in front of their faces, hopefully hitting any charging dwarves.

   

  ‘I hope they went off to find a leader who could negotiate with us’, Elaina said. Remus looked down, shaking his head. ‘I could have gotten us killed, trying to negotiate with them. If we fought them, we may have won. Now, they could come back with greater numbers. Perhaps… we can still find that war band from High Peaks’.

   

  Elaina shook her head. ‘You did the right thing, Remus. Someone has to try and negotiate, if this war escalates even further, it could be devastating. If we run back to get our ‘allies’, that throws any chance of negotiating out the window. The High Peaks forces and the dwarves will attack each other on sight’. Elaina smiled, ‘Besides, we have adequate defenses here, and it’s not the first time we’ve fought to the death in the last few days’. Remus chuckled. No longer the aloof woodcutter and scholar, over the least few days he had found himself thrust into the thick of inter-species intrigue and war.

   

  They tried to plan how they would try and communicate with the dwarves, Elaina trying to jog Remus’ memory. However, what little lore he had was in his book, the one he had so carelessly dropped.  They were interrupted by the approach of a trio of dwarves. Remus and Elaina had the feeling that there were more of them hiding close by, but beyond sight. One of the trio was obviously a leader, the others giving him a wide berth. He had no uniform or symbol of leadership, wearing the same dirty fur as the other dwarves.

   

  The dwarf approached, carrying a large book. Remus realized with a shock that it was his book! The dwarf began flipping pages, then pointed to a word, showing the page to Remus. The dwarf’s dirty fingernail was over a dwarven rune. Directly below the rune, in small human letters, was the dwarvish pronunciation of the word, and below that in large letters was the meaning of the word in the human tongue. Dwarf. The word he was pointing to was ‘dwarf’. Remus nodded, fascinated. The dwarf flipped some more and pointed to another word, showing the book to Remus. ‘Enemy’. Remus nodded. The last word the dwarf pointed to was ‘Pursue’.

   

  ‘Dwarf, Enemy, Pursue’ Remus mused, glancing at Elaina, who looked perplexed. The dwarf motioned to one of his underlings, and they brought a large pair of shackles which had been broken apart. The lead dwarf pointed to the shackles and said ‘Dwarf. Enemy’ in dwarvish, Remus remembering the pronunciation from the book. The shaman opened the book again and pointed to ‘Dwarf’, ‘Enemy’ and then, ‘Kill’. The shaman then held his hand above the ground, palm down, level with Remus’ knee. ‘What are you trying to say?’ Elaina asked, though she knew the dwarf would not understand their tongue. The dwarf again said ‘Dwarf. Enemy. Kill’ in dwarvish, then held his hand palm down, against Remus’ knee.

   

  ‘Child!’ Elaina exclaimed. ‘They are saying one of their enemies escaped from shackles, and killed the child. They were pursuing him, and that is why there are so many dwarves scouring the forest’.

   

  Remus replied ‘The townspeople are in the forest looking to spill dwarven blood in retribution, they don’t know about this. This war will escalate based on a misunderstanding’.

   

  ‘Well’, Elaina retorted, playing devil’s advocate, ‘The dwarves still did attack the caravan. We also don’t know if we can trust this dwarf, or what the thing that escaped was’.

   

   ‘The attack on the caravan does not warrant the losses our town will experience with full-scale war. And I do not remember any accounts of a dwarf killing a child, despite the other horrific things they are capable of’.

   

  Elaina concluded ‘Taking into account the size of the shackles, it probably was a larger than average dwarf. Perhaps some violent dwarf held prisoner by the others. Maybe if we explain to the Sheriff or Mayor what happened, and try to capture whatever killed the child…’ Remus nodded his approval. It seemed the only way to prevent an all out war.

   

  When they glanced back at where the dwarves had been, they were all gone. Gone with the book. Remus sighed, but he had other concerns on his mind right now. After discussion, they decided to head back to the war band they just left, and ask how to find the main squad, preferably with the Mayor or Sheriff present.

   

  * * *

   

  King Dorbuuk pondered this latest bit of information. A man and woman had tried to negotiate with the dwarves, even using the dwarven word for friend. No doubt a ploy to glean information about their war tactics. But, he had ordered an inquiry regarding whether any dwarves knew anything about the two particular humans in question. And there had been surprising news. During the attack on the human travelers just days before, a surviving dwarf told of a human woman using magick and a human man using strange tricks during the battle.

   

  These were unusual humans, and Dorbuuk was even more interested in the book of lore that was found. One of his people, Jabghar, had tried to sneak the book to keep for himself, but he had been caught, and King Dorbuuk had ordered the book be given to his chief shaman for inspection. Jabghar could be punished later for his insolence. Some human had been amassing knowledge, mere scraps, but still knowledge, of Fey lore- including dwarven language.  He had ordered a trusted dwarf to approach the humans, guarded by some of his warriors. This trusted dwarf was to then try to communicate with the humans, and explain about Boruggh. Perhaps these unusual humans could be negotiated with, as unusual people tended to be less controlled by the tenets of their people.

   

  ‘Habras’, he whispered. One of the highest honours for a dwarf was to convince another to perform actions that were beneficial to one self, by manipulating the notions of loyalty or reward. Perhaps he had been too authoritarian and harsh when dealing with his people the last score years or so. But Dorbuuk was getting old and impatient. Still, a covering of soft fur over an iron fist could make the fist strike all the harder; the victim being unprepared. He pondered this, as he awaited the return of his negotiators.

   

  * * *

   

  Elaina and Remus arrived at the war band, finding it missing a couple of members, and with a few injured. The leader, who was slightly injured, told them which direction the lead war band was heading towards, and provided a scout to guide them half of the way. Apparently, the war bands were positioned at different points, and planned to converge towards the centre of dwarven land. Interspersed in between were loose bands of angry peasants, with scouts communicating between the forces. Word was, that some war bands had not been heard of for some time.

   

  The guide was a rough-shaven man in boiled leather and a green cloak. He sprinted in front, eyes alert and ears open, glancing back at Remus and Elaina now and then.

   

  Elaina commented to the man ‘You are quite proficient in woodcraft, your profession must involve travelling in the wilderness’.

   

  He replied ‘I do some hunting, skinning… some guide-work. I have a cabin outside town, but the guards let me sleep in the barra
cks when I need to stay in High Peaks’.

   

  ‘Oh. So what experience have you had of the Fey? Do you think it is inevitable for humankind to be at war with the natural world?’

   

  ‘I’m just a man who uses the woods to survive, and feed my little ones and missus. There is a beauty to the wilderness, but it is also savage. Nature gives you nothing that you are not willing to take. However, I am not sure if the dwarves can be called natural. There is a distinction between the noble animals I hunt and the strange magick things of the wood’.

   

  ‘How has the fighting been going?’ she prompted.

   

  ‘We feel like our strategy has been effective. We use fire to stop them flanking us. Dogs and scouts find evidence of activity, and we swoop, with archer and artillery support. Fighting these things is dissimilar to fighting a man, many won’t admit it… but we don’t know if we can win. We feel that the number of dwarves in our area is thinning, but we can’t be sure’.

   

  Elaina and Remus, who was a few steps behind, pondered those words. Sounds of fighting echoed in the distance as they sprinted, the forest critters unnaturally quiet. The smaller ones, that was. The two travelers were on edge, but they managed to avoid any more conflicts before they reached the destination. Pushing through a layer of trees into a clearing, they saw the main war band, with the Sheriff and Mayor among their number.

   

  Remus and Elaina walked towards them, as their scout ran towards a guardsman so they could update each other on their war band’s situation. The Mayor looked at them incredulously, obviously surprised to see them. The Sheriff had the same smug, calculating look on his pudgy face, even in the grim situation. They also saw Perfidian sitting on a rock, writing in a leather-bound book. The young bard waved in their direction, but did not approach. ‘You two, what’re you doing here?’ hollered the Sheriff. The Mayor looked down his hawkish nose at them.