A Crown Of War (Book 4)

by Michael Ploof

  The group of dwarves she was following thinned and began to slow. She soon realized this was not a head-on clash. A Draggard leapt from the southern wall and landed upon the dwarf behind her. Raene reeled as the Draggard latched its maw on the dwarf’s face. Blood flew from his head, yet the injured dwarf found the strength to reach up and snap the beasts head completely backward, raking his own face with sharp teeth in the process. Raene froze, and more beasts leapt from the walls to attack the dwarves. A dwargon came barreling along the southern wall, dragging and scraping a dwarf against the stone. Dwarves had climbed its back and embedded axe and hatchet into the thick skin. The dwargon was trying to shake them loose, but they stubbornly held on for the ride. A Draggard came rushing through the dwarven lines at Raene, its spear held high and its bloody grin mocking. The spear went gliding toward her stomach, and Raene knew then she would die if she did not act. She blocked the blow with her heavy shield and came across with the ball of her large, spiked mace. The mace imploded the Draggard’s head, sending gore flying in her face. The beast dropped like stone and lay twitching upon the ground. The dwarf whose face was mangled by the leaping Draggard patted her on the shoulder as he passed.

  “Good to see ye stop acting like a girl,” he said, and stormed off, howling obscenities into the chaotic fracas.

  Raene smeared the gore upon her face and reminded herself why she was here: she was a warrior, and, right now, Ky’Dren needed warriors.

  *

  Dirk surveyed the battlegrounds as the dwargon began their charge of the pass with legions of Draggard in tow. Dark elves rode atop the lumbering beasts, casting spells of destruction upon the hastily made wall. Beside him, General Mick Reeves shook with the rush of battle and the energy he had been gifted by Krentz.

  The dwargon crashed through the stone wall, and the Draggard poured forth. A dwarven horn bellowed a deep report, and hundreds of wooded spikes shot up at an angle just inside the breached wall. The charging Draggard were impaled and hung bleeding where they had stood. A few dwargon were felled by the trap, but most brought their long legs up to crush their way through the field of spears as though they were crashing through thistles. Dark elf spells of fire and ice blazed forth, burning the wooden spines to ash or freezing them solid to soon shatter among the reverberations of the thumping dwargon feet. The dwarves stood in the path of the dwargon bravely, and Dirk winced as they were mowed down by the hulking monsters. No retreat sounded, no command to fall back. The dwarves held their ground, and they paid dearly for their bravery.

  “I have seen enough, let us help where we can,” said Krentz.

  “You and Chief must stay clear of the lich lords,” Dirk reminded her.

  General Reeves turned to them and gave a small bow. “I shall see you when the battle is won,” he said, shaking with energy as if the weather were frigid.

  Without another word, he turned and began to sprint for the ledge. He ran the length, tracking a flying draquon, and leapt like a madman from the cliff. Dirk and Krentz rushed to the edge as he landed upon the beast’s back and drove his blade through its neck. The draquon went limp and faltered and began to fall. Reeves leapt from the crashing beast to land upon the back of a twenty-foot tall dwargon. With his enchanted sword aflame, he sunk it through the back of the beast’s head to the hilt. The beast lurched and swatted at him drunkenly before falling on its face. Reeves rolled with the landing and charged on.

  Dirk was given an idea by Reeves’s incredible display. Krentz’s enchantments had turned a good warrior into a great one, it reasoned the greatest good she could do in this fight was to lend such power to the mighty dwarves. And he knew it was the best way to keep her away from the lich lords.

  “I have a plan!” he said as he recognized the one dwarf from Ky’Dren he knew: Dar’Kwar.

  “Trust me?” he asked Krentz.

  “Always,” she purred.

  Dirk and Krentz flew under the cover of Fyrfrost’s camouflage. Chief flew after them as a faint mist. When they were over Dar’Kwar’s location, he and Krentz leapt from Fyrfrost and landed just behind the dwarf, who at the moment was conferring with his king. Krentz surrounded her and Dirk in an energy shield as the dwarves inevitably attacked, thinking they were the enemy.

  “Hold! We are not your enemy!” Dirk yelled with raised hands as hatchets and axes sparked and ricocheted off the energy shield.

  “Dar’Kwar, you know me to be your ally!” he pleaded with the dwarf as Krentz held back the attacks.

  “Hold!” Dar’Kwar bellowed, having shouldered the king behind him and his men.

  “Do you know this man, and this…elf?” Ky’Ell asked.

  “Aye,” Dar’Kwar confirmed. “He be an ally.”

  In her spirit form, Krentz was able to mask her swirling, tell-tale tattoos. Otherwise they both knew no amount of talking would gain them audience. Chief solidified at Dirk’s side and stood at attention defensively. The dwarves took a collective step back, and suspicious eyes glared from all sides.

  “Dar’Kwar, we are here to help. The dark elves have the advantage of their magic, we would offer ours to even those odds,” Dirk explained.

  King Ky’Ell stepped forward past his general, and many dwarves took a step as well, ready to pounce at the first sign of trickery.

  “I be the bloody King of Ky’Dren, you will address me about such matters,” said Ky’Ell.

  “Sire,” Dirk replied as he slammed his fist to his chest.

  Ky’Ell gave a nod of approval at Dirk’s gesture. “What do you propose?” he asked, looking not to Dirk, but Krentz.

  She stepped forward bravely with her chin raised high. “I can offer your soldiers strength beyond their wildest dreams, and help them to fight on when they have received mortal wounds.”

  “We ain’t for needin’ no help from elves in protectin’ our own mountain pass,” said Ky’Ell, and his dwarves inched closer to them.

  “Sire, King Roakore finds no wrong in the races fighting together against a common enemy. It is no sign of weakness to accept such an offering, but a great show of wisdom. With such power at his disposal, I have seen Roakore pour molten lava down the throat of a dragon,” Dirk dared to say.

  Far in the distance the mouth of the pass was being overrun. Dwargon laid the dwarven ranks to waste, and destructive spells blasted the pass unchecked. The barbarians had joined in the attack, and the pass was being lost. Ky’Ell took another step forward and the bluster left his demeanor.

  “I would not ask my dwarves to accept such magic, if I have not tested it meself, first.”

  “Me King!” Dar’Kwar protested. But a raised hand by his king silenced his argument.

  “Show me,” he said to Krentz.

  Krentz nodded and reached out a hand. The dwarves visibly tensed, but none acted upon their screaming instincts. Ky’Ell looked to the hand warily and slowly reached out to press his against hers. Krentz closed her eyes in concentration and through their connection, a surge of energy pulsed. Ky’Ell was jolted stiff as he received the influx of power, and Dar’Kwar instinctively reached for him. He too shot rigid as the energy coursed through him as well. Krentz released them both and all eyes watched what might happen next.

  King Ky’Ell shook with coursing power and frantically looked around for an outlet for his energy; a few feet away, a boulder half the size of a man sat upon the ground. With a wave of his shaking hands, he shooed the dwarves to move away. He reached out to the stone and it immediately shot into the air one hundred feet. With wide-eyed excitement, he hurled the boulder through the air hundreds of yards to crash into the advancing horde at the mouth of the Pass. He turned his gaze from the boulder to Krentz with wild eyed excitement.

  “Prepare to charge!” he bellowed to his dwarves. “We accept your offering o’ power, lady elf,” he said, slamming his fist to his chest.

  Krentz closed her eyes and outstretched her hands to the nearby dwarves. Her lips moved frantically in a silent spell. The dwarves gave a coll
ective gasp as she turned to mist and began flying from one to the next and touching them all with her spell. The dwarves became electrified as she passed, and a great roar echoed from the fierce dwarves. The “Battle Song O’ Ky’Dren” rose among the ranks, and they charged the invading hordes with renewed vigor.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Sea of Shields

  Aurora and her barbarians stormed over the rubble of the dwarven wall and into the Ky’Dren Pass. The Draggard and undead soldiers pushed the dwarves back steadily, but began to slow as the pass became narrower and the armies pressed into the bottleneck. Along the southern wall of the pass, catapults fired steadily, sending boulders and large burning projectiles into the fray. The dwarves’ large mounted dragon-bows had been turned downward, and now rained long metal bolts into the ranks.

  A dwarven horn blared in the distance, and dwarven warriors answered the cry as they began to pour forth from the northern wall. Aurora bellowed orders to the Chiefs of the Seven and the barbarians began a charge. Her barbarians hit the front line with great momentum, but the dwarves were a strong lot. Where the two armies clashed, the advances of both halted. The dwarves used their squat frames to an advantage against the hulking barbarians, coming in low and hacking at the legs of their enemies. The dwarves had devised many formations to fight their often bigger opponents. A shield wall met the barbarian charge, with each dwarf holding his shield over the dwarf before him. The heavy war hammers and axes of the barbarians crashed down upon the metal shields, but the dwarves pressed on. Utilizing their size and strength, they came up under the front line. Soon many of the barbarians found themselves lifted up on the sea of shields, like insects riding upon the backs of marching ants. They soon disappeared from sight, smothered by the dwarven ranks, and hacked to death by dozens of hatchets.

  “Up and over!” Aurora ordered the Chiefs, and the command was relayed to the armies. She knew they could not stand toe-to-toe with the avalanche of dwarven shields. But, they could clamber over the shield wall and begin to break up the ranks from within. The command was a death sentence for any barbarians who complied, but they cared not.

  A boulder flew from the northern wall, missing Aurora by only inches. Beside her, Orthan Skyflame of Hawk Tribe was not so fortunate. The boulder crushed him and his mount and rolled away, leaving them both broken and bloody. Aurora stood upon her mount and scanned the dwarven ranks. She found no catapult, and guessed another dwarf with powers akin to Roakore must have hurled the stone. Another boulder came crashing through the barbarian ranks, felling many, and Aurora cursed the dwarf.

  “Find the stone-mover and kill him!” she ordered Zander, as more boulders came flying from the wall.

  “Yes, Chieftain Snowfell,” said Zander.

  *

  Raene blocked the spear of a Draggard with her heavy shield and cracked its right knee with her long mace. The Draggard went down on top of its shattered leg, which had bent backward under the weight. Raene brought her heavy shield down hard, crushing its throat and snapping its neck.

  She looked out upon the sea of shields the dwarves had created. The barbarians were being held at bay. All around the sea of shields, Draggard wreaked havoc. Raene turned her attention on those beasts who were leaping from the northern wall to land among the dwarven ranks. She formed a connection with her metal shield and, with a heave, sent it whirling through the air at the attackers. The shield hit one of the Draggard who had scaled the wall and turned to leap; it fell crumpled to the ground below. Raene mentally pulled the shield back and spun it faster as it made a wide circle. She guided the spinning shield to slam into and snap the lower back of another climbing Draggard. Again she struck, crushing the head of another.

  Sudden movement in her peripheral vision alerted her to danger. She mentally called the shield to herself once more and turned on a charging Draggard. The shield whizzed past her helm on its descent and she guided it to skip off the ground and take the Draggard in the stomach. Together, Draggard and shield flew high into the sky and the screaming beast fell to its death. Raene called back the shield and continued her work to clear the wall.

  “Raene! What in the name o’ Ky’Dren ye doin’ here!” asked her twin brother, Ky’Ro.

  “What it be lookin’ like I be doin’?” said Raene.

  Ky’Ro ducked a spear slash and killed the wielder with a growl. “Pa be shytin’ gold bars when he catches wind o’ this!” he said. His voice contained more mirth than scorn.

  “Just watch me back!” said Raene as she strained to maneuver the shield.

  She slammed yet another Draggard against the stone, and at the same time, a dark elf spell from beyond the sea of shields slammed into the northern wall above her and her brother. The wall exploded, sending chunks of stone both large and small raining down upon the dwarves. Raene instinctively ducked and focused all of her energy above her. Jagged rocks and boulders fell from the hole in the wall and covered all nearby. Raene found herself straining under tons of fallen debris. With her power over stone, she created a kind of shield above and around her, but she could not hold it for long. Redoubling her efforts, she heaved the stone with everything she had. Sunlight blinded her within the hole that remained of the stone tomb, she climbed out coughing and looked around at the carnage. The small avalanche had not taken as many dwarves as she guessed.

  “Gods damn them dark elves!” her brother cursed from behind her.

  “Ky’Ro,” she said with relief as she clambered down from the pile of stone.

  Her brother did not hear her, too busy cursing the dark elves, the Draggard, the undead humans, and the barbarians. Covered in dust and dirt, his dented armor no longer shone in the sunlight. He kicked a rock and lifted a large slab. Beneath the stone, a dwarf lay dead. Most of the dwarves had leapt clear of the falling stone, but many had not made it. The sight of the fallen dwarf only infuriated her brother more. He reached out with his calloused hands and, with a cry of rage, sent the fallen stone hurtling hundreds of yards into the enemy ranks. It had taken Raene a lot of energy to both shield herself and push the fallen stones away from her, but she dug deep and joined her brother in the stone throwing.

  All around them the battle raged. The brigade of dwarves under Ky’Ro’s command circled the two and held the Draggard and undead at bay. The human undead were relentless, and where an ordinary man would not be able to withstand the crushing blows of the dwarves, the undead kept on coming. The only way to put them down was to sever the head; crushing it worked for only a few moments. They came on whether legless or armless; even with no legs, they clawed forward stubbornly and groped at the boots of the dwarves.

  Raene growled with effort, heaving a stone half her size with her mind. She faltered and fell to her knees exhausted. Her brother, however, seemed tireless as he spewed curses and sent stones flying into the enemy ranks beyond the sea of shields.

  Ky’Ro’s last stone flew through the air, but began to slow and glow bright red. Stopping completely in midair, the stone shot back in their direction.

  “Ky’Ro!” Raene yelled and brought her hands up to take control of the flying stone. Her brother did the same and together they forced the projectile to stop. Raene could feel the will of another pushing the stone against their efforts, likely a dark elf.

  The stone exploded and sent thousands of small, red-hot pebbles flying in every direction. The concussion threw Raene and her brother back many feet. A black wisp of smoke parted the dust cloud of the destroyed stone, and solidified into a dark elf before Ky’Ro. A dwarf leapt at the dark elf’s back with his war hammer cocked back in a powerful blow. The dark elf twirled in a quick circle as the dwarf descended, and he unsheathed his blade and struck three times before turning to face Ky’Ro once more. Behind him the dwarf fell to the ground in three pieces, his armor, skin, and bone having been cut through easily. Blood dripped from Zander’s curved blade that he now pointed at the dwarven stone-weaver.

  Ky’Ro shot his hands out forward, and dozens
of stones heeded his will. He sent the stones flying through the air in a blur. Zander moved a hand in a wide circle, taking control of them from the exhausted dwarf easily. The stones twirled a circle away from Zander and sailed like leaves on the wind, slamming into Ky’Ro and dropping him to the ground. Raene gave a cry and charged Zander with her heavy shield leading the way. She slammed into the dark elf with all her might and stopped dead, as if she had hit a stone wall. Pain shot through her body as the dark elf easily sent her flying, end-over-end, to slam into the northern wall.

  Raene slowly opened her heavy eyes and saw her fallen brother lying motionless upon the rubble. The dark elf was circling Ky’Ro. He looked down upon his victim with a pleasant grin on his face, as one might admire their own artwork.

  “Ky’Ro,” Raene tried to scream, but less than a whisper escaped her battered body.

  The dark elf raised his blade and stabbed her brother through. Raene screamed in rage within, but her body could only respond in chaotic spasms, and blood-gurgling grunts. The dark elf retracted his blade and began a low chant. Raene could not hear the words as a translucent, shimmering energy shield enclosed them in silence, a shield upon which many dwarven weapons pounded in rage. Spell-light began to glow in the palms of the dark elf, and soon, large, green balls of pulsing energy swirled in the palms of the dark elf. He clapped his hands together and snaking green energy shot like lightning and hit the chest of her brother. To Raene’s horror, Ky’Ro rose from the ground within the embrace of green, writhing tendrils. His eyes began to glow the same hellish light, and he stood on his feet once more. Ky’Ro’s dead eyes looked to Zander, and waited, unmoving, as if awaiting orders.

  *

  Dirk and Chief protected Krentz from all sides, as she in turn extended her consciousness to connect with the dwarven army. When she sensed a wound, she found the victim and quickly set his body to healing. It was not intricate work, patchwork really, but it would do. If the dwarves won, there would be time for more personal treatment. She excelled as a healer in her youth and learned how to heal large groups. This was her largest by far, for she watched over nearly a hundred dwarves, and they took their share of injuries.