by Sam Ferguson
“Get out,” Gauer said.
“What?” Kamal said as tears welled in his eyes.
“I said, get out.” Gauer clapped his hands and a pair of dwarves entered the room. One of them held a pair of crutches in his hands that seemed tall enough to support Kamal. “The Krilo are no longer welcome here.”
Kamal shook his head and held the helmet up. “Reu wanted us here.”
“Reu is dead,” Gauer countered.
“Reu promised to protect all Krilo. The others should be here tonight. Where are we to go?”
“I don’t care where you go,” Gauer shouted. Kamal winced and pulled back from the angry dwarf. “Reu would still be alive if not for you lot! You are banished from the mountain, all of you! We got along fine without your grains and fruits. We’ll get along well enough after you are gone.”
“Those men, the ones who attacked me…”
“I suggest you all either run, or learn how to fly and leave the valley,” Gauer said. “The mountain is going to be sealed after you are outside. We have lost too many dwarves protecting your kind.”
“What is it?” Kamal shouted. “You hate us because we aren’t allowed to fight? Is that it?”
Gauer backhanded Kamal across the face, which took the fighting spirit right out of the young Krilo. “That isn’t it,” he stated dryly. “It’s the fact that your kind rewrites its own history every couple of decades. You cling to Interis Aruhat and the Way of Wisdom only because it suits your new identity, your current vision of your own superior worth compared to other races, that is all.”
“We follow Interis Aruhat because she gave us our gift of telepathy. We were run out of our other homes because people feared our gift. We have given you no offense, nor have we offended others.”
“Then you are blind!” Gauer shouted. “I have lived for long enough to know who the Krilo truly are, even if your kind have blotted the truth of your history from your stupid books, I remember. You were driven out of Jovuhn because you were godless assassins. The people feared your telepathy, but only because your kind used it to better strike at their targets. You killed for money and for power, the same as any other blackheart to walk the face of Terramyr. Then, when you made a new home in Typlle, the Krilo used their telepathy to cheat and steal. It started in gambling halls, but it didn’t take long before the Krilo were robbing everyone they could. So, when that was discovered, you were run out of Typlle.
“As if that wasn’t enough, when your kind finally made a home in Delyk, you turned your backs on the people there when you were faced with an army of orcs. Suddenly the Krilo were not supposed to fight or kill. You were pacifists. Your ancestors say it is the Way of Wisdom, but the truth is your kind is nothing but cowards, cutthroats, and thieves. That is who the Krilo truly are. And now you have come to the Sacred Valley. For forty years you have worked the land and offered us grain and fruit in exchange for our swords.” Gauer leaned in so that they nearly bumped noses. “Fruit doesn’t pay us back for the loss of our kin!” Gauer took the helmet back in his hands and was shaking with fury. He clenched his jaw and looked away.
Kamal processed the dwarf’s accusations and then lashed out with his own. “I know history too, dwarf,” he began. “Your kind refused to fight in the first Great War. That is why Icadion punished all dwarves and changed your language from what it had been. Until you learned Common Tongue, you were cut off from all other peoples on Terramyr. If you have the audacity to charge me with presumed crimes of my ancestors, then I can lay the blame of your ancestors at your feet as well, which makes you a coward, every bit as much as you think I am one. My people have not been punished by the gods, but yours have.”
Gauer punched Kamal in the gut so hard that the young man slid back to the edge of the table. Kamal clutched a hand to his stomach and doubled over in pain. He had momentarily forgotten in his rage one simple fact. He could not fight, and Gauer could. He realized in that instant that he was lucky Gauer hadn’t used a knife. The dwarf was now the chief of the mountain, and his actions would not be stopped by Reu anymore.
“If you actually knew your history as well as you think you do, then you would have solved the riddle a long time ago,” Gauer said in a quieter, but no less angry tone. “In the beginning, Icadion created all of the blessed races. He then gave them a charge to explore the world. Did it ever occur to you that some of the dwarves had left the place of our birth at that point in time to follow his command to explore? That is where our clans came from. We sailed up and around the first continent and then out to the east until we found this continent. When we made landfall, we could see the towering mountains and we knew that we had found the perfect home. Our clans didn’t run from the first Great War. We never knew about it because we were here, but we were punished after the fact along with our cousin clans who were, in fact, cowards who had refused to fight in the Great War. The difference is, they had remained on the first continent, and they knew of the war, we didn’t. As usual, your pride and belief that your knowledge is superior to that of all others only displays your weakness. You do not know the whole truth.”
Kamal was stunned. He had never even thought of this as a possible explanation for the presence of dwarves here in this valley. He had simply assumed their guilt without considering the possible circumstances. Then he realized something. If Gaeur’s clan had settled the continent first, then he would know who the large warriors were. He recalled that Reu looked as if he knew, but he would not say. Perhaps Gauer would at least give him that before running him out of the mountain.
“The warriors, you know who they are, don’t you?” Kamal asked.
Gauer turned Reu’s helmet over in his hands and shook his head. “The temple you now occupy was originally built up by a group of elves. They built it and dedicated it to Icadion. Inside there is an inscription about the creation of Terramyr.”
Kamal nodded.
“That inscription talks about several tribes of humans who would not recognize Icadion as their creator. They were cursed by him, and scattered throughout the world to live hard lives. The two largest races of humans who first denied the All Father were the Tarthuns, whom you already know, and the Varvarr. The Varvarr are the large warriors that attacked you, and they are a scourge to every race and people they come into contact with. It isn’t just that I hate your kind for your self-serving hypocracy and your pride, it is the simple fact that we have seen the destruction the Varvarr can wreak on a people.
“Our history books are filled with the accounts of the Varvarr tribe that swept into the Sacred Valley several hundred years ago. They grew in numbers, expanded, and eventually went to war with the elves. We sent a few legions to help the elves those many centuries ago, but ultimately it was no use. The Varvarr crushed our armies, and the elves. The only way we survived was by sealing our mountain and waiting for the Varvarr to leave. Eventually, Tarthun tribes spread into the valley as well, and the two races fought a great, long war that lasted for generations. Then, one day some forty years back, the Varvarr left the valley, leaving only a few pockets of Tarthuns.
“By that point, the Varvarr had been worn down both by their constant wars with the Tarthuns, but also by a few internal tribal fractures. Before they left, however, they had taken over the temple and repurposed it, building over it much as your people are doing now. They had ruled in this valley for several generations before they finally left. The dwarves had only just started to send out scouts about five years before the Varvarr left. That was when Reu first assumed his position as chief.”
“And then we came along,” Kamal said.
Gaeur nodded. “You might be wondering how I know of your kind if we had the mountains sealed for so long, but the fact is that my family was always one of import in the mountain. We made it our duty to stretch out beyond the mountains in search of allies. For the last hundred and fifty years, I have secretly left the valley to look for allies to fight the Varvarr that infested our valley. I searched the lands to the east of the mountain
s, but there were so many orcs and goblins that it was hard to find any human settlements at all, let alone any elves who might join our cause in reclaiming the land. When I went west, the journeys took months at a time. You see, I have been to Jovuhn. I have been to Typlle. I have even visited Delyk. Everywhere I went, I heard about the rotten Krilo and their wicked ways. Of course, I couldn’t tell the difference between your kind and the other humans that lived there, so I wrote down what I heard, and I moved on. I never did find any allies to fight with us. It seemed the elves had moved off the continent and sailed to the south, and the humans were none too interested in fighting someone else’s war, especially against an enemy like the Varvarr.”
Gauer sighed and reached a thick hand up to rub his face. “But, just as I was about to prepare to figure out how to sail to the south, the Varvarr ceased their war with the Tarthuns and left the valley. Everything seemed perfect. Of course, when your kind moved into the valley some forty years ago, I warned Reu not to make any dealings with you, but he was certain that your kind could restore the temple.”
“You didn’t,” Kamal commented.
“Not only did I know of the Krilo and their sins, I didn’t believe that we needed to worry about the temple anymore. The Varvarr had overrun the building for centuries, and there was no cataclysmic event like Reu or his father had feared. It was quite the opposite. The longer we remained in the mountain, the better our lives got.” Gauer shook his head. “But then, I knew Reu was always a visionary dwarf. He was easily caught up in spiritual ideas. He thought he could bring about a great peace in the valley, but he was wrong.”
“Why did he agree to work with my ancestors?” Kamal asked.
Gauer grumbled and puffed before answering. Then he looked at Kamal with a hard expression that clearly displayed his disgust for Kamal and his people. “Reu was always the kind to look for the good in a person. When he heard that the Krilo had sworn off their evil ways, he decreed that the dwarves should partner with them, and help them in their endeavor to become a more wholesome people.”
“Wait, you mean the Krilo admitted to the things you said we did?” Kamal asked, stunned.
Gauer nodded. “Your grandfather gave Reu a verbal account of all of the sins the Krilo had committed since the time they first gained their ‘gift’ of telepathy. Let’s just say that the account he gave was closer to the history I repeated than the one you are taught. Reu believed that your people had truly changed, but I see no difference.”
“But we don’t fight, or steal, or—”
Gauer silenced Kamal with a glare. “You steal our strength from us. You refuse to fight, but are happy to let others fight for you. You may think your people have changed, but I see the same things I was told about in my travels. No, Kamal, though I know Reu loved you as family, I cannot have you or your people stay with us. Your future is yours to work out, and yours alone. Furthermore, now that the Varvarr are here, there is nothing that will stop them from hunting you or us. We must seal the mountain, and our best chance for survival is to give the Varvarr something to chase so they forget about us.”
“You are sending us to die,” Kamal said quietly.
“Enough dwarf blood has been spilt trying to help you live. It is time you stand on your own two feet.”
Gauer turned and gestured to the pair of dwarves. They helped Kamal to his feet and then escorted him out from the mountain. They took a direct tunnel that led to the main tunnel in the southern part of the mountain that he and his father usually used to visit the dwarves when they came with their tribute of grains and fruit.
As he exited the mountain, he saw his father, mother, and brother waiting for him.
All at once they communicated with his mind, but Kamal shut them out and went to his father.
“You and I need to talk,” he said aloud.
His father replied telepathically. “The dwarves have informed us about your rescue, and that we are no longer welcome here. We can talk later; for now, we must go.”
Kamal shook his head. “No, father. There is nowhere to go. I need you to answer something for me, it’s about our history.” Then, telepathically, Kamal added, “About our true history.” In a matter of seconds, Kamal relayed his entire conversation with Gauer. For the first time in Kamal’s life, his father’s shoulders slumped and he looked down to the ground. With their private mental connection, Kamal’s father confirmed Gaeur’s stories.
“Why hide the truth?” Kamal asked. “Isn’t lying a grave sin?”
His father nodded. “Every people has secrets that it wishes to keep hidden. We are no different in that regard.”
Kamal shook his head. “But why?”
“To keep everyone safe,” his father said aloud.
Kamal was so astonished by his father’s spoken words that he took a step back for a second. Then he reformed the connection and his father explained.
“The gift of telepathy was granted to us by Interis Aruhat, but it was not because we were a magnificent, honorable people. We were a band of families that quarreled and strived against each other to get gain and disadvantage others. Interis Aruhat came to us and gave us the gift in order to show us a better path. She gave our ancestors a set of oaths and covenants that would bind our people to Icadion, and raise us up to become a blessed people. Our ancestors refused to take the oaths, but Interis Aruhat forced telepathy upon them anyway, hoping that it would eventually help us change our minds so that we would accept the covenants. As you felt the pain of those who died when the warriors attacked, our telepathy began as an unbreakable mental and emotional connection. We shared all of our pain, grief, sorrow, and joys. In this way, Interis Aruhat had hoped to raise us up to a level of decency we had not displayed before that moment. Unfortunately, it had only a short effect. Soon, we discovered that we could work together in our darker endeavors. We shared eachother’s pain, but we did not feel the pains of others who didn’t have the gift. So we preyed upon them.”
As his father relayed the words into his mind, Kamal could also see images of people from long ago, memories that had been handed down through the generations, a kind of visual historical record.
“However, in my father’s generation, we had learned from our persecutions that Interis Aruhat was right. We changed our ways. We made covenants as a whole people to cease the kind of lives we had been leading up to that point. So, it isn’t that we are hiding our past only out of shame, though that certainly is part of it. We hide it because we don’t want any future generations to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors. Your grandfather was the leader of this new movement, and that is why it is our line that leads our people now. He was twenty-five years old when he reformed the Krilo. He had found a shrine of Icadion in Delyk, and spent many weeks meditating there along with the priests of Icadion. Soon, he understood that the oaths and covenants Interis Aruhat had tried to have our people make would in fact make us better, and grant us the true joy we sought for. He was the first to enter into the covenants, and then he preached to the other Krilo until all had entered into the same oaths. That is why the Genverbond do not take their oaths until they reach their twenty-fifth year. It is a subtle way of honoring that first generation who made such a difficult choice to transcend above the filth and debauchery we had partaken of for so long.
“Some time after that, he had several visions of Interis Aruhat. We lived in bliss for several years, but then something terrible happened. Hatmul, one of the rulers of Hammenfein, also had a shrine dedicated to him in Delyk. His priests learned that your grandfather was communicating with an Ancient, and they prayed to their god for guidance.”
“Why would anyone worship Hatmul?” Kamal asked.
His father shrugged, but Kamal could feel the sadness of his next words. “Because when the Old Gods left, there was confusion and a lot of panic. That is why the age we live in is called the Dark Ages. We are without the light and guidance of Icadion. Many people turned to Hatmul because he was the only Old God still conn
ected to Terramyr after Icadion closed the rainbow bridge. Those priests saw our connection to Interis Aruhat as a threat. So they prayed to their god, and he sent the orcs.”
A tide of grief and sadness washed over Kamal as images of what happened next came into his mind.
His father continued the story. “Your grandfather and all of the Krilo had already taken the oath. They could not help defend Delyk. So, they hoped that by leaving the city, and making it known that they were fleeing to the east, the orcs would leave Delyk alone. But, the orcs sacked Delyk, and slaughtered almost all of the people. That is the true reason why the governor of Delyk declared an extermination order for our people He sent messengers far and wide, telling bounty hunters and mercenaries how much a Krilo life was worth to him. So we continued to flee until we found the way to this valley.”
“And then the dwarves found us and offered to help protect us as long as we worked on the temple,” Kamal finished.
His father nodded.
Kamal understood now. His father’s words, along with the visual account passed to him, gave him the full picture of where his people came from, and what they were striving for. More importantly, it gave him the knowledge he needed to save his people.
The young Varvarr smiled and opened a connection with his father, showing him precisely what he intended to do.
“No, Kamal, you can’t do that!” His father insisted.
“Yes, I can,” Kamal replied. “I am a Genverbond. That means that I have not taken the oaths and covenants yet. I am not bound by the rules you are bound by. I can fight the Varvarr.”
“No, I forbid it! There is no way you can win!”
Kamal shook his head. “No, father, there is a way. If we have fulfilled Interis Aruhat’s hopes for us, then I can call upon her for help. She will give us strength. I will ask the other Genverbond for volunteers, and then we will go to the temple. Afterward, we will fight the Varvarr. Even if we lose, we will be giving the rest of you a chance to flee. You will not need to break your vows, and no one else will need to sacrifice themselves on our behalf like Reu and his folk have done. The Varvarr have landed to the north east, so you will lead everyone to the western shores of the Inner Sea. Make boats as fast as you can. Position scouts to watch for the outcome of the battle. If we lose, then you should have the time you need to escape, and if we win, then we can stay in the valley, in Toelvug.”
