by Clark Graham
“I wish you luck in your endeavor, but I will be marching out with those of the Dwarves who wish to return to Elvenshore in the morning. I will arrange for your families to come if the Elves will allow it,” Sarchise promised.
Hemlot gave him a deep bow, “You have been a noble Prince and a brave and resourceful leader. You have saved my people from destruction on several occasions. You have also been a good friend. I thank you for all those times you saved my life.”
Sarchise returned his bow, “I have had you to thank for saving my life and not letting me do some of the crazy things that I wanted to do during the Gremlin war and afterward.”
That night they lit a bonfire in front of the throne of the Trolls, with the stone dead Trolls on either side of the hall.
The last of the ale did not make it through the night, but it did not stop the Dwarves. The songs and the celebration were still going on long into the early morning. The raging bonfire dancing around made it look like the Trolls were moving. As the fire danced back and forth, the shadows of the Trolls against the love hewn walls of the cavern were an eerie sight. It bothered Sarchise, but he did not say anything about it.
It bother Hemlot too, and he vowed that the before the next bonfire, he was going to have his men bust the dead Trolls that had all turned to stone into small bits and remove them from the cavern.
To the Dwarves it was wonderful to be sleeping inside of the mountain that night, although they all opted to be around the corner from the main chamber and the dead Trolls. Goran had shown Sarchise his sleeping area. It was a pleasant spot down by the underground river, away from the main Chamber. He had burrowed into the mountain over the years and had made himself a nice room. It had smooth walls and a stone shelf, where he would eat. He had left the one side open to be able to listen to the waters of the river rushing by. After years of living with the Trolls he had somewhere they could not get to so he could get some time to relax,alone. When Goran and the others were first captured they had been used for the Troll0’s entertainment. They pitted the Humans against each other and forced them to fight. When the monsters finally grew tired of that, they taught the Humans their language and then basically left them alone, but they refused to let them go back home. As the years passed by, the Trolls didn’t seem to age but the Humans died off one by one until Goran was the only one left. His only conversation was with the Trolls and he had managed to talk them out of killing the Humans when the beasts went to battle the second time. why? and why was door closed?
He was a tired old man who was ashamed to go home, but would now have Dwarves for company.
In the morning, Sarchise gave Hemlot one last bow and then headed out. The Dwarf warriors, who only numbered about two hundred at this point, were split about who was staying and who was going back to Elvenshore. The younger ones were staying, as it was a grand adventure, the older ones who had families back in the Elvenshore were going home.
It was a proud, but sparse, army that marched out of Mount Ealdwine that day. Sarchise in particular was anxious to get home and be with his new wife and twin boys. He had done his duty to the Dwarves, it was now time to move on. No longer be a Dwarf leader but to be a husband and a father.
When they marched into the sunlight, Aron and another Human were there to meet them and escort them to the Vil Mawe where they would be catching a ship home. The Humans rode beside the marching Dwarves and Aron leaned down and told Sarchise, “If you need to communicate anything to anyone, we will act as messengers for you.”
Sarchise replied, “There is a group of Dwarves that are going to stay here on the Far Shore. They will send for their families and have them brought over. If you can notify the Elves and your people of that, it would be very much appreciated.”
Aron nodded, and then went to speak to the other rider. The other rider rode off and Aron came back to Sarchise to report. “The Humans will have no problem with that, but the mountain is technically in Elf land, I sent the other rider to get a letter of permission for you to stay here. After all you have done, it should be a mere formality.”
“Thank you, so much,” Sarchise replied.
The Rebuilding Begins
Kolis and the twelve men he had been able to slip out of Vil Mawe, past Verian’s guards, had been working steadily rebuilding the Capital City of Fernar Darus. They had only two homes rebuilt and the work was going slow because they had no cured wood to work with and they were having to scavenge their supplies in a nearly totally destroyed city. Lacking building material for building homes, the group spent much of their time cleaning all of the debris from out of the city. The army stopped to camp in front of the gates. Verian and Istuin came into the city to see what was going on. “Two houses already; you are coming along well Chancellor,” Verian said.
Kolis thought he would be in trouble for slipping men out of Vil Mawe. Even though he was the Chancellor, Verian had taken it upon himself to keep the populace safe, and that did not include letting them go to the Capital until he was sure all was secure. Now that he war was over and the enemy was dead, he had no problem with it.
“We are having a hard time finding building material that is not green, so we are busying ourselves by cleaning out the destroyed and burned out parts of the city and finding anything useable,” Kolis replied.
“The army will head back to Vil Mawe to see what the situation is there, when we arrive there if everything is stable we will demobilize the reserve. Those that want to come help you will be free to do so,” Verian promised.
“Thank you so much,” Kolis said, and then turning to Istuin he asked, “What are your plans?”
“I will see you in a few days. As for my plans, it depends on whether my family is staying in Elvenshore or making its way back here.”
“Very well, see you in a few days.”
In the morning the army marched on. Verian left a contingent of one hundred men, under a Sub Captain to garrison the Capital. During their off duty hours they were allowed to help with cleanup of the city.
When Verian arrived in Vil Mawe, there were three hundred and fifty more Dwarves there to greet him. The Captain he had left in charge of the city came up and reported. “I did not know what to do with the Dwarves. They were most eager to get off the ships and I still had people that wished to leave for Elvenshore, so I sent another group to Elvenshore and kept the Dwarves. I was a bit worried, I admit; with that many Dwarves in the village, they outnumbered the army you left with me by about two to one.”
Verian replied, “Did you send a message to Elvenshore to let them know we don’t need any more Dwarves?”
“Yes, I did, but they will not get it until we get the five ships in one fleet and the two ships of another fleet to make landfall. So we can expect another three hundred and fifty Dwarves to arrive. The good news is that all of the refugees who wanted to go to Elvenshore are now on their way.”
“It is good we have all of the refugees gone, and I do not think all of the Dwarves are going to leave. Once they set their eyes on the inside of that mountain, I knew that they wanted it,” Verian said.
“Not leaving, Sir! They are not going to be allowed to stay, are they?” He was upset at first,
“That will be up to the Chancellor and not me, but I do think we owe them a huge debt of gratitude; if they want a mountain we were not using as payment, so be it,” Verian replied, then turning to Istuin he said, "The situation is stable here, the reserve is released. I will find transportation for all of the men who want to rejoin their families in Elvenshore. I don't think we should start bringing them back until we have a place for them to live. In the morning, take all of the troops who you can find that are willing and then go back to the Capital and help Kolis with his rebuilding."
"Yes, Sir, and thank you Sir," Istuin replied.
Verian then went over to the Dwarves to talk to them. Their commander looked too young to have gotten to that rank. His name was Fordin. He looked strong and proud, with the upper body strength of
the Dwarf. His dark brown hair was coarse and tied behind him in a ponytail that hung down from the back of his green and silver helmet.
"The war is over and we have won, thanks to the Dwarves; we are indebted to you. You have a choice of going back home, or some of your people are going to stay in the mountain, if our Chancellor allows it. I think that you should be able to have that option also," Verian said.
Fordin bowed deep, "Thank you, I will talk to my warriors and tell them of these developments." He didn't know what to think, having never seen the mountain, but wondered who was going to be the King there. Maybe Sarchise? He discounted that idea immediately. The thought of not having a King but an elected form of government had never crossed his mind.
"Meanwhile you can stay here in the port until we are able to arrange transport back to Elvenshore." Verian was still having transportation issues.
Fordin bowed again, "Thank you again."
Verian left the camp of the Dwarves and went over to go to bed. It was his first peaceful night’s sleep since the war began.
Istuin noticed that one of the ships was still tied up at the dock, so he walked down there. It was still loading with the last of the refugees and there was a short line of those still waiting to get on. When he walked up, he noticed that his friend, Captain Hedris, was on the deck organizing the loading. Istuin called out to him and when Hedris turned to see who was calling him, he smiled and then came off the ship to talk to his old friend.
"How goes the war?" Hedris asked.
"It's over, now we have to pick up the pieces."
"I must be on my way soon, but I have brought something very valuable from Elvenshore." Hedris handed Istuin a bottle of wine. "I asked for provisions and they gave me food and water and some boxes of wine. I drank one on the way back. I would have killed someone for a bottle of wine this good a couple of months back. They just gave me four boxes full of the stuff, like it was like it was just regular wine, nothing special. My ship and I are staying in Elvenshore after this trip."
Istuin laughed because he thought Hedris was joking, and then he looked at him seriously, "You can't stay."
"Why not, most of those that I have brought across the Stormy Sea are staying, why can't I?"
A look of shock crossed Istuin face, "I thought a few might, but most you say?"
"There are cities in Elvenshore that the Elves are living in, two badly damaged and one barely damaged. Here the cities here have been completely destroyed except for this small village. I say most, if not all, will stay."
"This wine will be worth its weight in gold over here. You must come back at least one more time to get me, as my family is in Elvenshore, but I have one more mission to complete."
"I suspect that since we have Elves in Elvenshore and the Far Shore, I will have a regular business bringing trade back and forth between the two shores. I will be back."
Istuin bid his friend goodbye and then made his way to his bedroll.
A Toast in the Capital
When morning came, Istuin had gathered together two hundred volunteers and was about to march out of Vil Mawe on his way to the Capital. Verian stopped him. A rider had come during the night bringing with him a proclamation from the Elves in the swamplands. Verian let Istuin read it.
"Mauric has declared himself Chancellor; only his cronies were able to vote on it. The majority of the people and the entire army were not able to vote," Istuin responded. He was not happy, and felt that it was wrong.
"How can someone that stupid be that politically savvy? I don't think this will stand. We can always vote him out."
Istuin shook his head, "You might not have enough Elves left in the land who care. The ones in Elvenshore are staying there and a lot of the warriors will be joining their families there."
"I guess I will be in the minority then. What are your plans?"
"I will join my family in Elvenshore," Istuin responded.
"You have been the best Under Commander I could have hoped for. I admit at first I didn’t like you. I thought you were given a commission that you didn't deserve. But after fighting side by side with you and having seen your bravery and how your men followed you without question, I made the decision that I was wrong about you. It has been an honor to serve with you," Verian said.
Istuin was taken by surprise; he had not expected that. "Thank you. The land is in great hands under your leadership."
Verian just nodded and was on his way.
The next morning Istuin and his men marched out. They went across a bridge that had been built to get across the moat instead of the ramp. Even with that, Istuin could see that Verian had put his men to work filling in the moat.
The march took them all day, but the sun was shining and the temperature was pleasant. When they arrived at the Capital, Istuin had his men join the garrison across from the gate of the city for the night. In the morning, he and his group marched into the city to offer their services to Kolis.
Chancellor Kolis was sitting in the middle of the street looking at some paperwork when I Istuin came up to him. Kolis's men had managed to find an intact table in the rubble and improvised a couple of chairs for it. Kolis motioned for Istuin to sit down.
"I am no longer Chancellor, this proclamation says." Kolis held it up for Istuin to read.
Istuin responded, "I have already read it."
Kolis then handed another piece of paper to Istuin. "You have not read this one. This is a proclamation I just signed giving the Dwarves full control of the mountain and all of the approaches to it. I figured Mauric would have told them no and we might have had another war on our hands. That one I grant you, we would not have won. I predated it two days before Mauric claimed the silver throne, so there will be no question of my authority at that point."
Istuin read it, "Very well done."
Kolis smiled and said, "Thank you. It will be my last act of defiance before I go back to being a teamster again."
"I don't think so. I have been thinking all the way here about your situation." Istuin said and then stood up and yelled, "Everyone gather around."
When the workers had gathered around Istuin announced, "We need a new mayor for the city of Fernar Darus. I have nominated Kolis here to fill that position; all in favor raise your hands."
The entire group raised their hands. Then they cheered they're approval.
Istuin sat back down. "If it is legal for Mauric to do it that you, it is legal for you to do it that way. I think that this calls for a toast." Istuin brought out the Elvenshore wine and two glasses he had rescued from Vil Mawe. After he poured the wind into the glasses he said, "To the new mayor of Fernar Darus."
The both drank deeply. Istuin gave out a blissful sigh, it was better than he remembered. The taste of the wine was a big surprise to Kolis as he had not been expecting it. "This wine is amazing. It is not from the Far Shore. Is it from Elvenshore?"
Istuin still had a smile on his face, "Yes, it is." He then took another sip. Kolis joined him.
"I don't suppose you could change that document to allow the Elves to build at least one winery on the side of the mountain?"
Kolis smiled, "I could add an amendment. I have not sent it out yet."
"Good, you are going to be a great Mayor."
They both laughed at that. Before Kolis stood up he drafted the amendment to the Dwarf document and he also wrote out a proclamation declaring himself mayor of Fernar Darus and sent that out by riders.
It was time to get back to the work of rebuilding the city after that.
A Long Road Home
The Dwarves camped in the woods again, between the town of Morgus Tier and the entrance to the mountain. Even though the Dwarves had been told the forest was safe, they were still apprehensive, expecting to see a bear or a large spider at any moment as this is what being in a forest meant on Elvenshore. It didn’t stop them from building a large cooking fire though and roast a wild boar that they had killed while hunting. Sarchise very much enjoyed the forest i
n this land. It had all of the beauty of the Westwood without any of the dangers. The fire lit up the night sky for miles around.
Aron was enjoying the company of the Dwarves. He had never seen a livelier group, with their songs, their bonfire and their hard drinking. He was impressed with their fighting ability too. When he first found out about some of them staying he was wondering what type of neighbors they would be. Now he was anxious to learn more about them and study their lore.
They marched out early in the morning after breaking camp. A messenger came up to Aron while they were on the road. Sarchise looked in his direction to see if the message had to deal with the Dwarves. Aron looked up and said, “The Elves have elected a new Chancellor.”
Sarchise just nodded. He had met Chancellor Kolis and noted how he looked like a defeated man. ‘Maybe a new one would be better,’ he thought. The messenger joined Aron in escorting the Dwarves through the land. That night they camped at Morgus Tier.
Aron and Sarchise allowed themselves time to look around the ruins this time around. When they got to the hill above the town, Sarchise noticed the graves.
“You have Humans and Elves buried together?”
“There was a previous battle here long ago. One of our clans battled the Elves and lost. That is when my father became an advisor for the Elves.”
“The Dwarves had their wars with Elves too. I think that we can all get along now. I truly hope so as it seems there are a lot of Elves in my home area now.”
When they came down off the hill, another messenger was there with the decree granting the Dwarves Mount Ealdwine and the approaches to it, except for a small area that would be retained by the Elves for a winery. It was signed by Chancellor Kolis.
Aron nodded his approval, “It is good that Kolis did that before he left office. I don’t think Chancellor Mauric would have. He is not going to be good for the Elves.”
