by Peter Last
“Very good,” Josiah answered and considered the information. “I will be here with my two messengers when the battle begins. I would request that if your lookouts spot any unusual movement of the dwarf army, they report it to me. Other than that, I will not attempt to command your men; they are at your disposal.”
“Very good, sir,” the general answered in a somewhat friendlier tone.
Josiah carefully picked his way to the front edge of the barrier where a lookout was standing. From this new perch, he slowly scanned the river and the field beyond it for any sign of movement, but could detect nothing. He figured that the dwarves would not reach the river until well after dawn, so he settled down to wait.
******
Timothy continued to run throughout the night and into the next day. His lips were parched from the lack of water, and his muscles screamed for relief, but he wouldn’t—he couldn’t—stop. He was beginning to lose his sense of balance so that he staggered as he ran. The exertion was also having effects on his eyesight, causing his vision to come and go, but he still pushed himself onward. His mind began to wander due to his weariness, dredging up events that he had not even considered in years. Finally the whirlwind of thoughts settled on the comrade that he had left behind. He didn’t know what would become of him or if he would survive. He had done what he could for him by leaving the food and water behind, but his conscience still troubled him. He would have to have a search party sent out to look for him when he reached the academy.
He came to a stream and saw a ford that was a hundred yards upstream from where he was. After only a moment of thought, he ran into the knee-deep water, ignoring the shallower water at the ford. In no time he was on the other side of the stream and running again. He tried to remind himself of the message that he was supposed to deliver to the people at the academy when he got there, but his brain could not conjure it up. As he concentrated, his pace slowed, and he was able to think more clearly as more oxygen was directed to his brain. In one massive rush, it all came back to him. He remembered the battle at Saddun and the dwarf army; that was his mission, to bring news to the academy. With that question out of the way, he turned his attention once again to his running. He noticed that his pace had slowed, but when he tried to speed up, his legs tangled and he fell to the ground. He tried to rise to his feet, but utter exhaustion prevented him from completing this simple action. With magic, he reached out to the surrounding area to summon anyone near to his aid. To his surprise, he made contact and was able to send out his plea for help.
The use of magic sapped the last of his energy reserves, and he lost consciousness. He slept for a long time, having the weirdest dreams. He was prodded from his unconsciousness by the same mind he had contacted previously, and he slowly and painfully lifted his head. Through his sleep-blurred eyes, he saw a large blue shape dropping toward him from the sky. Two more shapes, one red and the other yellow, circled in the sky above him. His last thought before he lost consciousness again was that these were dragons, though the significance of that fact was lost on him.
******
Senndra sat atop a pile of rubble that had once been part of the northern wall of Saddun. She ignored her surroundings as she stared out across the plain to where she could just barely make out the top of a mountain that stood alone beside the Pelé River. “So this was Mt. Nebal, the dwarf fortress,” she thought. It didn’t look like it could contain the entirety of the dwarf army that had attacked Saddun, but it didn’t have to. Senndra had dug several old manuscripts on the subject out of the library, a building that had miraculously not been seriously damaged in the battle. Most of the manuscripts did not contain the information she was trying to locate, as they had been written after the dwarves had alienated themselves from Magessa. There was, however, one scroll that had been written before the dwarves’ separation, and though Senndra had trouble reading it due to the old writing style, it was the only source she had. According to this scroll, though Mt. Nebal was a large mountain, it did not have very many natural caverns. And since the dwarves had done little more than connect them together with tunnels, there was not very much room inside the mountain. Though this seemed to indicate that the dwarves could not have come from Mt. Nebal, the manuscript revealed more information that contradicted this theory. The mountain might not have very much room in it, but the ground surrounding it was honeycombed with tunnels. Also, according to rumors, the dwarves had dug a tunnel that stretched all the way from a mountain range to the northeast to Mt. Nebal. Therefore, though the dwarves living in Mt. Nebal had not supplied all of the soldiers for the attacking army, it seemed likely that it was the staging point for the attack.
In reading about the dwarf mountain fortress, Senndra had become engrossed in the topic of dwarves and read several other books about them. Again, the information in the more recent volumes was scant, and she was forced to resort to struggling through the older, harder-to-read scrolls. She was, however, able to extract several interesting facts about dwarves that she had not known before. After she emerged from the library, her brain brimming with the new information, she walked to the northern wall of the city to find a place to sit down and think.
“Hi, Senndra. What are you doing?” a voice behind her asked.
Senndra turned to look at the intruder and was confronted by a beautiful girl with long black hair and green eyes. Her skin was a shade darker than most of the people of Magessa, marking her as the descendant of a foreigner. Senndra knew that she recognized her from somewhere, but was still unsure who she was. Finally it flashed into her mind; her escape from the brooding Rita had crossed her path with the girl that now stood before her. She was, as Senndra recalled, one of the kitchen maids of Saddun, though she could not recall her name.
“Just sitting here looking at the scenery,” Senndra replied. “You want to join me?”
“I guess,” the girl said and climbed onto the rocks next to Senndra. “What were you thinking about?” she asked when she had gotten herself settled.
“Nothing really,” Senndra answered. “I was just contemplating some information that I found in the library—some stuff about dwarves.”
“Really?” the girl said. “I just love that building. I’m glad it wasn’t destroyed in the battle. Did you find anything interesting there?”
“I found a lot that was interesting, but not much that was of any practical help, I’m afraid,” Senndra answered with a short laugh. “For one thing, it seems like no one really knows much of anything about the dwarves.”
“Well, they have been rather reclusive for more than a hundred years now,” the girl responded. “I’m surprised that you found anything that was of use.”
“Well, the only manuscript that I put much stock in was one that was a hundred and fifty years old,” Senndra said. “Besides the fact that the language of that period is extremely hard to read, I figure that the information might be a bit out of date. As for the books that were written more recently, they gave only very vague information, and what specifics they contained, I have severe doubts about trusting.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t find anything more helpful,” the girl said. Then she added, “I go there a lot; I might be able to help you find what you’re looking for. You know, something that is a little bit more helpful.”
“Thank you. That would be very kind,” Senndra said. She wondered what to say next, but the girl took care of that.
“I heard that you came from another academy in Magessa,” she said.
“The dragon rider academy in Belvárd,” Senndra agreed. When she saw the clueless look on the other girl’s face, she expounded, “It’s located in the Apathy Range up at the top of the district.”
“So you live in the mountains?” the girl asked. When Senndra nodded, she continued, “What is it like living up there?”
“The scenery is amazing,” Senndra answered. “When the sun is shining and the sky is clear, you can see for miles. The mountain range is especially beautiful from
that high up. Even if a storm is moving in, the sight is still breathtaking. The storm clouds with lightning flashing between them as they approach the mountains are stunning to watch. There…there just aren’t really any words to explain it.”
“What about actually living up there?” the girl asked. “Is it any different from living down here on the plain?”
“Well, for one thing, the air up there is much thinner than it is down here,” Senndra said. “That makes exercise much more difficult. But it also prepares us for when we are ready to ride our dragons. Actually, our dragons routinely go quite a bit higher than the academy, but that just emphasizes the need for our exercise in a high altitude.
“Other than that slight difference, I would say that life there is pretty much the same as life in this academy. Of course we have classes every day where we learn to fight, make decisions, and think clearly. That is pretty much what I do all day. But enough about me…what is life as a kitchen maid like? I would imagine it isn’t a whole lot like my life.”
“No, not much like your life at all,” the girl said. “I don’t even cook or anything like that; I clean the dishes and floors. My father decided that it would be a good idea for me to learn to be a cook, so he apprenticed me to the head chef here. I don’t think it was ever the intention of the chef to teach me how to cook, though, so I guess I will be stuck cleaning my whole life until I get married. If I ever get married, that is.” The girl muttered the last part so quietly that Senndra barely heard it.
“Why do you say that?” she asked. “I mean, a whole lot of young men come through here, after all, and you can’t be more than sixteen.”
“I’m nineteen,” the girl stated. “Actually, I’m almost twenty, but it’s not the age that makes me say that. It’s just that several girls, all my age, were apprenticed at about the same time as me. All of them met boys that they fell in love with and married, but it just hasn’t happened for me. I guess it is kind of stupid for me to think that way, but I do anyway.”
“Look here,” Senndra said, pulling on the girl’s chin so that her head turned to face her. “Don’t worry about it so much. You haven’t found anyone yet because the right person hasn’t shown up yet. I know that there is someone out there for you, and you have to be willing to wait until you meet that person. If you try to create that person, and end up marrying someone just so that you can marry someone, you’ll never be happy with the situation."
“Granted, I am younger than you," Senndra continued, "but I think the same way you do sometimes. Maybe that’s a stage that everyone goes through. I don’t know. But what I do know is that if we wait for the right person, all of that waiting will be worth it.”
“But what makes you so certain that there is such a person in the world?” the girl asked. “Don’t you think there’s a possibility there just isn’t anyone for me?”
“It’s possible I suppose,” Senndra answered, “but if that’s the case, I don’t think you would ever be happy with anyone anyway. In this case, you just need to let go and trust Elohim to guide you. After all, He knows what is best for you, and He’ll take care of you the whole way.”
“Elohim?” the other girl asked. “I think I’ve heard about Him. He’s supposed to be the god of Magessa, right?”
“Not just the god of Magessa, but the God of the whole world,” Senndra said.
“But my father told me all of that was just for young children to believe,” the girl said.
“I can’t convince you, but I know someone who can,” Senndra said. “One of my instructors who is here has been having meetings for unbelievers to discuss exactly this sort of thing with them. If anyone can answer your questions, he’s the one. You should come to one of his meetings.”
“I’ll think about it,” the girl said and stood to her feet. “It’s time for me to get back to work, so I guess I’ll see you around?”
Senndra nodded and waved good-bye to the girl. Lydia. That was the girl's name. Why could she never remember these things when she needed to remember them?
Eight
Josiah crouched behind a large boulder with a handful of soldiers. His two messengers were with him, prepared to carry his orders to the rest of his command if he chose. But at the moment, they had their swords out and were ready to fight. The rain had ceased an hour ago, just in time for the rising of the sun, which shone over their shoulders and into the dwarf army. At least the enemy archers would find it harder to shoot straight. The dwarf army stretched at least fifty across, and their first line alone was almost impressive enough to frighten Josiah into retreat. But he had chosen this place to make the final stand, so this was to be where they would ultimately be victorious or be defeated. The dwarves had apparently not seen their opponents yet and were marching straight for the ford.
Josiah peeked over the boulder again and saw that the first of the enemy was already entering the river, so he made the sign that would set in motion the first phase of a plan that he and his advisors had come up with only an hour earlier. A few dozen soldiers rose from where they were hiding and formed a very thin line between the two rocks where the dwarves would have to pass. Some of the dwarves hesitated at the audacity of the humans, but they kept coming. Logic dictated that there was no way the humans could hold off the attack; however, they stood resolutely in the gap waiting for the dwarves. The dwarves surged over the last few yards between the armies and hit the defending line with all of their might. Josiah had chosen these soldiers so that they would not run and would be able to hold their ground, and he had chosen well. As he watched, the line of humans bowed, but did not break, staving off the dwarves for a moment; however, they would soon be overcome. Josiah raised his hand again and signaled for the second part of his plan to commence. The archers, who had been hiding along the riverbanks and around the ford, rose from their positions and fired a volley of arrows into the dwarf ranks. That cut their numbers back, but not by much. The archers broke for the boulder field on the east side of the river and took cover in it.
The dwarves had fallen back at the volley of arrows, but they were not to be defeated so easily. They quickly formed a more organized line and charged again, bringing the full might of their army to bear against the humans. Though they outnumbered the humans, the narrowness of the ford prevented them from surrounding the defenders and all they could do was push the humans further up onto the river bank. The humans slowly gave way as the members of their line began to drop one by one until the dwarves had forced their way completely out of the river and onto its bank. As the dwarves began to circle around the edges of their line, they broke ranks and sprinted for the boulder field, where the archers were hiding. The dwarves were surprised by the move and were therefore a dozen feet behind the retreating humans when they started their pursuit. Already, the arrows of the defenders were raining down on them, but they kept sprinting. Within seconds they would overtake the archers’ position and cut them down. But just as they were nearing their goal, a force of ogre and human infantry rose into view from the boulder field and advanced toward them at a slow walk. Two other squads of ogres and humans appeared from the field and hurried to positions on the right and left sides of the attacking dwarves. Quickly they united their lines with the one in front of the dwarves, forming a half-circle of troops around the dwarves and blocking them from moving any direction except back into the river.
All of this happened so quickly that the dwarves did not have time to take stock of the situation before they hit the line of defenders in front of them. The humans and ogres stubbornly held their ground long enough to hit the sides of the dwarf army. The dwarves were not ready for this kind of complex strategy, and many of them sprinted for the river. Only a few dwarves stayed to fight, and these were quickly overcome. The dwarves jostled each other as they fled into the river, and many slid down the steep banks and into the swiftly flowing current. They struggled against the pull of their heavy armor to no avail and many were drowned.
The humans and ogres fo
llowed the dwarves to the edge of the river and shouted taunts after them as they fled. Then they turned back to take their positions for the fight they all knew might very well end in all of their deaths. The archers moved to the edge of the river and rained arrows into the dwarfish ranks, forcing them to fall back out of bow range. The dwarves retaliated with a rain of arrows from their crossbows, but the defenders had excellent cover, and only a few of the archers were injured.
“It’s very uncharacteristic of dwarves to panic like that,” Benjamin said from his position at Josiah’s side. “I wonder what caused them to do it.”
“Elohim,” Josiah responded. “He has been watching over us. But even so, this battle will be tough. Only a few hundred of the dwarves crossed the river this time, and we would have had trouble holding them back if they had not panicked. I hate to think what will happen when they attack all at once. There is no way that we can hold them off; we’ll have to fall back to the high ground where the other archers are if worse comes to worst.”
Josiah walked to where his troops had taken up positions by the river and began to inspect their lines. Everyone seemed to have minor injuries, but miraculously, there were no major ones. In fact, the most serious injury had been caused by a soldier cutting himself as he sharpened his sword the night before. Josiah stopped to talk to this particular soldier, crouching down next to him as he did so.
“What’s your name, soldier?” he asked.
“Marcus, sir,” the soldier replied.
“How is your wound holding up, Marcus?” Josiah asked.
“It’s doing fine, sir,” Marcus replied holding up his left arm to reveal a nasty-looking gash running down it. “It gave me a little bit of grief when we first started fighting, but the pain was dull, and it went away after a while.”
