She was so proud to be latched around his mighty arm. If there was anything she could say about it, she would never let him go.
Chapter 6: Evil in the Woods
Only the White Falls separated the border of Tunder Bin from the goblin lands to the immediate east. It once was part of the city, but it was lost long ago in the first great goblin and dwarf war. The dwarves plugged all the connecting halls to keep the enemy out. These dead-end halls were still guarded, day and night, even though it had been decades since either side had made a serious attempt to gain the other.
Lately, there had been more raiding parties of goblins outside the mountain, much like the one that took Moro’s patrol. The dwarf farms at the base of the mountain were frequently the victims. The farms, their produce of vegetables and meat, were vital to the prosperity and sustainability of the city. Losing the food and animals was of serious concern. To counter this, Tegan increased the patrols in size and frequency. These patrols reported some foul beasts and it led to further insecurity for the people of Tunder Bin. It was now that Tegan called his first meeting with his advisors.
Jaric was a grumpy old dwarf, with a rickety old body to match every war story he ever told (and they were many). He limped on both legs, if it is even possible to do so. He was the oldest dwarf still in the regular guard and closest friend and advisor of Moro. If ever the need arose, and it did from time to time, he was as vicious a warrior that ever picked up an axe. Tegan, as a young dwarf, crossed him once. Jaric, with Moro watching, without delay thoroughly taught Tegan the meaning of respect. After that, none held Jaric in higher esteem.
Jaric never had a great affection for Deyanira, and the feeling was quite mutual. They often quarreled, up to the point where Moro separated them. Jaric did his best to be respectful of her, for he knew Moro loved her and that she loved him deeply. After Moro’s death, they saw each other little. Out of respect for the other’s relationship with Moro, they each kept the peace by avoiding one another. Jaric sat quietly opposite of the table from Deyanira, and their eyes did not meet. He was content to proceed through the meeting without a quarrel between them, but the tension between them was thick and obvious. It had been several weeks since Moro had passed and it was time for Tegan to take control of the city.
Tegan was the last to enter the room. He solemnly walked to the front of the long table where the others sat. It was his father’s favorite table, which he made himself from granite. Memories flooded his mind of the many hours Moro spent discussing strategy with his generals in the room. Wars were won and lost in that room.
Often as little children, Tegan and Telon would crawl in the meeting room unnoticed, and hide under the table while the meetings went on. After the meetings were over, they would wait until all the attendees left, and the two would emerge and pretend to be the generals ordering other dwarves around.
Tegan stood before his advisors for the first time, the memories still racing through his mind. He had put away his normal clothes of leather, turning to the more regal garb of the king. He chose a long black robe with a deep hood covered with an even darker black vest that hung loose from his shoulders. His usual gold band on his head covering his long and flowing black hair, was set off by his always well-groomed beard and mustache. He rubbed his hands against the smooth glassy polished granite table, as if pushing away his memories.
Tegan looked up to his advisors, convincing himself he was ready, “Thank you all for being here. This is my first meeting as king, even though I am yet to be crowned. I ask for your input to secure our city, and more importantly bring a sense of safety to our people.”
He considered the eyes of those before him, the five generals, Telon, Erol, and Deyanira. All waited to see who would be the first to speak following Tegan. For one of the first times in his life, he felt less confident in his ability to lead. He hoped those before him would be eager to follow. Tegan spent his whole life knowing one day he would be king, but never dreamed it would be under these circumstances.
Jaric, never one to be shy, was the first to speak. “Something is brewing, that much is certain. We have been encountering raiders more often than ever. The strange thing is that when we do, they seem to have no interest in battle. It’s like they are measuring us, testing our strength. I think we need to increase our presence all around the mountain. We are strong, but it wouldn’t hurt for the goblins to think we might be stronger than we are.”
“Folly! We have no strength to increase,” Deyanira erupted, her disdain for Jaric never more obvious. Weeks of contempt erupting to the surface. “Our famed guard is not half of what it used to be. We cannot afford to lose more soldiers in the woods to phantom creatures. They are causing our people to dream of crazy winged animals! Half of our patrols come back with a smaller number than when they left, usually not even knowing what happened to the ones that were lost! Perhaps our training or alertness needs sharpened,” Deyanira chirped sharply, with a dagger-like look toward Jaric. She was on the edge of losing control, with tears building in her eyes and rage in her heart. She was tired of being sad, tired of crying, but mostly tired of being tired.
Deyanira hated the looks of pity she was receiving from all she passed and was looking forward to others just getting out of her way again. Past sad, she was no longer mourning, and well into anger. She was quite sure who was to blame for all of this.
“Sharpened training!” jolted Jaric, exasperated. He was the head of training for the guard, so any jab to the training of the guard was a direct shot in his direction.
“I asked Deyanira to attend,” Tegan jumped in to calm the storm, placing a hand on Jaric to ease him. “Her voice will be heard, just as will everyone’s who is here.”
“My husband, and your king, is dead because he was not ready for battle,” a somber and quiet Deyanira muttered. She sank back into mourning after her short outburst. “He fell to a lesser foe, and we are certainly worse off for it. We are not prepared for what I fear we will soon encounter. Our test comes when it comes, not when we are ready for it.” Deyanira paused for a deep breath, her eyes downcast hiding the tears that were flowing down her weathered cheeks. The love of her husband was as obvious as her anger over how it happened. “We are not ready.”
“Lady Deyanira,” a sympathetic Jaric began, “My sorrow runs deep for both our losses, and this you know. Moro was not only your husband but also my closest friend. None of us here know exactly how his whole patrol lost their lives to the ambush. I believe it was made to look like goblins. I have never known goblins to be hardy enough to take down a whole patrol. Our king and his men were ready, I promise you,” Jaric said respectfully, but sternly. “A goblin party that was ruefully slain by Tegan and Telon alone did not massacre a guard of Tunder Bin!”
“If not goblins, then what? A dragon, a sorcerer? Perhaps gargoyles or some other mythical creature? Please, I beg of you, please give a widow some evidence other than what it most likely seems, which was that our king and his mighty guard were ambushed by a band of hapless goblins and slaughtered!” the angry Deyanira argued as she rose to her feet. “I search for no wild answers of make believe monsters when the obvious one is right before my eyes!” Deyanira then sat, weakened by the confrontation and flooding memories of her loss.
Tegan took control, attempting to rally those before him, saying, “We have all lost a great king, husband, father, or friend. He would will us to go on and not get lost bickering and feuding, for it will not aid us. We must continue to do as he did, which was to put the good of our people ahead of ourselves.”
“You speak wisely brother,” a proud Telon praised proudly, “So what should we do from here?”
Tegan commenced giving his first official address and orders as king, “We need to make sure all of our dwarves, guard or not, are ready for battle. To this extent, we will increase our active duty by half. Our stores need to be gathered, as much of our spring crops as possible. Our weaponry needs to also be increased, so we will shift a third of ou
r labor from the mines to the smithy. Our women will need to take on a larger share of farming labor to free up our men. Jaric, as always, will oversee the training.” Tegan paused, as Deyanira rose in silent protest, taking the time to shoot a glance toward Jaric.
“Please excuse me. I am weary.” Deyanira said dryly, with no attempt to hide her irritation that Jaric would still be training the guard. She then retired to her quarters. All the dwarves and Erol stood as she left with her maidens right behind.
Waiting until his advisors and Erol were again sitting, Tegan continued, “We will need to have a guard assigned to both Deyanira and Milan. We also must keep track of anyone coming and going from the mountain until further notice. Erol, I have a special request for you, for I ask that you be the official guard of Milan. Soon that will also mean my child, a future King, or Queen of Tunder Bin. Do you accept?”
“I do,” answered Erol proudly, knowing the honor it was to be asked.
“You are dismissed then, please go and find her and keep her safe.” Having been delivered his orders Erol quickly rose and left the meeting.
Still in the room was Tegan, Telon, Jaric, and the other four generals who were overseers of each of the five guards. All reported to Jaric.
“Sir,” asked Coric, as he looked cautiously around at the other dwarves in the circle, “We all know what Milan means, not just to you, but to all of our people. We know so little of the ogre, are you sure you wouldn’t rather have one of us guard Milan?” Coric was upset and felt overlooked, and truly feared for Milan’s safety. The idea of someone other than a dwarf watching over Milan was too much for him to take.
“All of us have our jobs to do for our people, some we like, and some we don’t. Each of these duties will help us through these times. Erol is a friend of the dwarves and I have assigned him the duty of keeping Milan safe. I am very comfortable with that as I have seen it in his eyes and witnessed his valor and strength. I need to know nothing else, and as your king, I would suggest neither do you.” Tegan did not like how Coric was handling this, but Coric would not be silenced easily.
“Sir, I trust in your feelings toward Erol and doubt not his strength, but is it at least possible that he was sent here by the enemy? Now you have assigned him to watch the queen, and I fear this may be the wrong decision. I fear the repercussions.”
Telon stepped in, addressing Coric directly, “Do you know who you are talking to? This is not just some friend you grew up with! Tegan is soon to be king and ruler of all Lemuria! You would do well to address him as such!” Telon was seething over Coric’s comments.
Tegan again calmed the tension, “Brother, Coric is only trying to be the voice of reason, he has not offended me.” In truth, Tegan was very offended, but did not want to allow Coric the advantage. He saw his father do the same thing many times, and later make his point. He walked over to Coric, standing over him to address the general.
“You speak wisdom and I appreciate your concern for my wife and family. Erol is the one I choose to watch over her and that is final. However, since you are interested in this important duty, I would like you to guard Deyanira. Do you accept?” Tegan asked, knowing Coric could not decline, even if wanted to.
“Sir, I accept and will not let you down,” Coric answered, but he did not want the job. Deyanira would be difficult to handle on her best days, and it had been many a moon since her best days. He considered trying one more time to stop Erol from watching Milan, but quickly decided he would not win that battle. Coric then sheepishly asked, “May I wait until the meeting is over to locate her? I doubt evil, or anything else, is eager to find her.”
They laughed a little, and then Tegan said, “Sure, take your time.”
Then, changing topics, he continued, “I’m concerned about the worry carried by our people, the stress they bare is obvious as I walk the halls. Everyone is nervous because they only know our lack of decisions and action. In the last six months, we have lost over fifty of our patrol soldiers and our king. In that time, there has been no noticeable changes in how we have operated.”
“Sir,” Coric began, again trying to challenge Tegan, “What are we to tell them when we don’t even know what has happened?”
Tegan set his jaw, growing in confidence as the meeting went on, and said, “We will tell them what we know, which is this: we are being tested. Just who it is and what their reasoning is at this point matters little. Our response to these attacks are my previous orders, and our correct message is the city will be ready for whatever attack is to come. I want you to have meetings with those directly under you, and them to do the same with those under them, until every dwarf in the city knows what we know. The message will provide the amount of urgency that our situation demands. We will do what we must to prepare ourselves, so let’s put on a strong face of confidence for our friends. I want them to gain strength and comfort from our actions,” Tegan preached to his immediate men.
All the dwarves listened to the new king, gaining confidence from his message. Telon sat forward and spoke, making sure to catch Coric’s eyes, “We will be ready. Going on the attack feels a lot better than sitting back and waiting for another dwarf to get picked off.”
All of them agreed, and felt good about this new direction and in the strength of their king.
After everyone had quieted down, Telon changed the subject, “Tegan, what does this mean for coronation? Are we to put it off?”
“It will go on as planned,” answered Tegan, “one week from today. This is even more reason to have things in order. The coronation will be a great opportunity to show our people, and our visitors, that there is still plenty of strength left in Tunder Bin. We will have a great reception and there will again be a king and queen in Tunder Bin. Thanks to all of you for your part in helping me during this transition, and in organizing the city since my father has passed. I speak for Telon also in this, we are very grateful and could not have done this alone. Your insight, strength, and wisdom will be needed as we move forward in the future.”
The meeting was adjourned and haste was made to order the city as Tegan had commanded. Telon grabbed Tegan before leaving to his duty. “I do not trust Coric, what has he got against Erol? He is being difficult, and challenging you in front of everyone is not his place.”
“Remember what father told us, we will be challenged every day by those who don’t think we deserve what we have. We need to respond to this and every other challenge as he would have wanted. Coric is a good man and loyal to our cause.”
“You’re right, this is a new role for me. I will need to get used to it I guess. I suppose I will have to learn to handle these situations better,” Telon assured Tegan, again admiring how ready and strong his brother was. Then he added, “I will be watching Coric though, his actions lately have me worried.”
“We all need to be on guard and weary of everyone, but not to the point where you feel like you can’t trust anyone. If we get to that point, the enemy will have already won.”
The brothers then went to their business, readying the city. The dwarves were meticulous with details, and extremely organized and adept at carrying out orders. Word spread quickly through the city just as Tegan had asked. Like he thought, while the fears did not go away the people knew that indeed tough times and the possibility of war were directly ahead. It had been a few years, but wars were nothing new for the dwarves. They had seen them before, and would again. Their society was built for it and around it, and their ability to function efficiently during these times of stress was unmatched. Many would say they functioned better while at war.
In less than a day, all the dwarves had been shifted to their needed duties, as well as the women shifted to cover for the men. Stores of food and materials were loaded and weapons were stocked for the need that seemed to be looming. The training Jaric put the soldiers through was brutal. Busy soldiers darted everywhere, maneuvering through drills in preparation for whatever lay ahead. Many dwarves needed tending for the wounds they
received from the practice fighting. Jaric would make certain his dwarves would be as prepared as they could be when the fighting began.
Δ
Erol marched through the never-ending halls of the city, ignoring the looks he was still taking from the many dwarves seeing him for the first time. He knew his mission, and was not about to relax until he found Milan and was able to help her keep safe. He held a deep level of gratitude to Tegan and Telon for saving his life and could not let them down. Erol knew Milan enjoyed riding in the morning in the woods below the fields, but knew not how to get there.
Soldiers darted past him, pretending to take no notice of the large ogre. He tried to get one of the soldiers to stop, but he could not as he avoided the ogre. Changing tactics, he grabbed one that was running by, jerking him to a stop.
“How do I get to the lower fields?” he asked the trembling soldier, even as several other soldiers behind him stopped to aid their friend. Erol took no notice of them or their drawn weapons, concentrating fully on the frightened soldier.
After realizing he wasn’t going to die, the relieved soldier answered, “I can show you that!” Since the beginning of their time in the mountain, the dwarves had a need to get from one area of the city to another quickly. They developed a system of tunnels that were like water slides, with hollowed out logs they used to ride in. The soldier took Erol to the transport system and showed him how it worked. The logs were too little for Erol though, so he would just have to slide on his bottom.
Erol was quite nervous about this but knew he had to get there quick, and he knew no other way. “When will I stop?”
“No worries!” the soldier assured the giant. Past worrying about himself, the soldier was just curious if Erol would get stuck in the tunnel. “At the end, you will be at the field level, so just keep your head back and enjoy the ride!”
As Erol began to slide, he could still hear the soldier laughing behind him. It quickly got very dark as he flew down the tunnel at a terrifying pace. At times, the tunnel would level off a bit and he would slow down, only to jolt forward again as the tunnel gave way beneath him. Several times he came to spots where there were connections with other tunnels, he narrowly missed colliding with other log riders several times.
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