The Wealth of Kings

by Sam Ferguson

  Sylus urged his cavedog onward. He held Murskain firmly in hand and prepared to attack the cursed demon. A lurker lunged in from the side, but Sylus knocked its head clean off with his hammer and continued his charge toward the demon. The great, brown-winged beast hovered in the air above the field. The flames had ceased to issue forth from the demon’s mouth, but it continued to send out bolt after bolt of terrible lightning.

  The dwarves cried out in agony, none of them able to get in close enough to kill the demon.

  Sylus charged in from the demon’s left. The king’s cavedog darted in a zig-zag pattern, carefully to keep Sylus in the demon’s blind spot. Then, when they were close enough, Sylus flipped his hammer over and launched it through the air. As he released his weapon, he uttered a prayer, not to the Ancients, but to Icadion, the God of Terramyr.

  The weapon flew true and the spike on the back of the hammer sunk into the demon’s neck. It shrieked in horror and fell to the ground, wings flapping furiously as dwarves swarmed in and finished it off. Sylus continued to urge his mount forward so he could retrieve his hammer, but a heavy slap hit his right side. A moment later, another, heavier force knocked into him. His armor held, but he was thrown from his cavedog. He slid across the stone, his armor screeching along until he stopped. Sylus looked up and saw a lurker looming over him.

  The two claws went up into the air.

  Sylus had no hammer. He had only his daggers, and they were not going to be able to block the large, menacing claws.

  A dark form leapt up and ran along the lurker’s back. The lurker jerked around, snarling and hissing. The dwarf king watched in amazement as his very own cavedog clawed its way up the lurker’s back and sank its teeth into the monster’s neck. The lurker howled and swung its claws at the cavedog, but the lizard was not in a spot it could reach. The cavedog tugged and pulled at the lurker’s neck. Sylus got up to his feet and pulled his daggers. He studied the lurker’s movements, looking for an opening to rush in and stab it in the chest.

  When he thought he saw his opportunity, he sprinted in. The lurker must have seen him though, for a leg lashed out and kicked Sylus in the chest, sending him back to the same spot on the stone where he had landed before.

  The cavedog used the distraction to claw higher onto the lurker. It bit twice, and then ripped the head free from the neck. The lurker’s body began to spasm and flail about. Sylus got to his feet and motioned for his cavedog to return to him. The obedient lizard leapt down from the lurker’s back and ran toward Sylus. As his cavedog ran in from of the thrashing lurker, the monster’s left claw came down and cut the lizard’s back third off. The cavedog grunted and slumped to the ground. A moment later, the right claw dropped down, piercing the cavedog through the spine. Then the lurker’s body went limp and collapsed on the stone.

  Sylus stood frozen, mouth agape and eyes staring at his cavedog. He turned in anger, looking for an enemy to chase down, and that was when he saw his other son.

  Thorin was sprawled upon the ground. His eyes open, but dull. Blood seeped from a gash in his head. His left arm was severed just above the wrist. The hand still fiercely gripped his sword. His armor was dented and a large hole had been ripped into the breastplate.

  Sylus ran to his son’s body and cradled it in his arms as he wept openly. He forgot about the battle around him, surrendering to the pain and agony he felt inside his tearing heart. He bent low and pressed his head to Thorin’s, crying and shaking as he rocked on his knees, holding Thorin’s broken body.

  There he remained for another half an hour. The fight raged on around him. The sounds of swords clanging against lurker scales and hammers splitting bone resounded through the chamber, but he no longer paid them any mind. The dwarf king also ignored the shouting of his warriors, and the snarling cavedogs that continued to fight.

  Only when the din calmed, and the fighting ceased, did Sylus look up from his son. He looked around, surveying the grotesque field of desolation and blood around him. He saw no movement whatsoever. The shouting and yelling was gone as well. Sylus slid Thorin’s body down gently and he rose to his feet. He spun around, looking for any sign of survivors. He saw none. Worse still, there was no groaning of wounded dwarves. There were no snarling cavedogs. Everyone was dead.

  Sylus let his hands fall back to his daggers as he stood, stunned. He didn’t see any enemies either. He looked up, but there were no lurkers upon the ceiling. Everything was dead. He was all that was left. He turned back and let his eyes linger upon Thorin once more, and then he turned to look for his hammer, Murskain.

  As he picked his way through the corpses, he heard a rustling sound a short ways off to his right. He turned to see a demon slowly pushing itself up to its knees from the ground. It appeared to be winged, but its left wing was missing, perhaps torn off in battle. Blood ran down its right arm from a gash in its shoulder. A row of horns crowned its head. Fiery, red eyes blinked twice and then narrowed on Sylus. The demon grinned wickedly, revealing a mouth full of jagged teeth. It pushed up to its feet and stood a full twenty feet tall. It bent down and picked up a long, curved sword with its right hand and started moving toward Sylus.

  The dwarf king took in a breath and pulled his two mithril daggers out. As he watched the demon move, he channeled his anger and pain. His mind conjured both the image of his broken Thorin lying upon the stone, and of Ravik being consumed by fire.

  “It ends now,” Sylus growled. He ran forward, jumping over corpses and limbs as the two closed in on each other. The demon predictably led off with a diagonal swing at Sylus. The dwarf king spun out and around the blade, then continued in toward the demon’s legs. He flipped his left dagger over in his hand and launched it through the air. It spun quickly and then sunk deep into the demon’s thickly-muscled thigh.

  The demon recoiled and came in with another swing of its sword, but Sylus had expected that. He dove down, taking cover next to a dead lurker. The demon’s sword cut through the lurker, but only barely grazed Sylus’ armor. The dwarf king rose to his feet and sprinted in. The demon lifted its left foot and moved to stomp on Sylus.

  Sylus darted for another dead lurker and slid down beside it, grabbing the long, white claw with his left hand and turning it upward. The foot came down. Sylus was knocked flat to the ground, but the claw was nearly three feet long. It pierced through the demon’s foot and the giant creature howled in pain and stumbled backward.

  Sylus regained his breath, jumped up, and ran toward the falling demon. A mere second after the giant monster fell and landed on its back, Sylus clambered up onto its bare stomach, ran up to its chest, and plunged his knife down between the demon’s ribs. The demon cried out and shot out lightning-fast with its left hand. The fingers curled around Sylus and a couple of the talon-like fingernails pierced through the dwarf king’s armor just enough to scratch Sylus’ chest. The demon’s claws stung, but they presented no mortal danger. The dwarf king sliced the webbing between the demon’s thumb and forefinger. The demon cried out and released Sylus.

  The dwarf then sprinted up and lunged for the demon’s throat. He plunged the knife in, and the demon was ended.

  Sylus removed his armor and set it upon the demon’s corpse. He looked down to the holes in his tunic and examined the thin lines of blood starting to flow out from the small puncture wounds. Then he retrieved his knives and jumped down from the demon’s body.

  He stumbled through the battlefield, clumsily looking for Murskain. After falling to the ground a few times, and walking in a large circle around a pair of dead demons, he found it lying upon the stone, next to a dwarf captain’s body.

  Sylus picked up his weapon and began the long trek back to the gate. His body ached, and his very soul was numb, yet his fight was not finished yet.

  Before he could think of rest, he needed to summon Tu’luh.

  *****

  Sylus bolted his door from the inside, much to the chagrin of the physician who was still pounding on it and begging to see to the king�
��s wounds. The dwarf king removed his stained tunic and walked out through the tunnel to the large balcony. The pedestal with the summoning crystal stood in its place. As the king removed the cloth, he could feel the crystal mocking his pain.

  He spoke the incantation and the sphere glowed bright, firing the column of light up into the heavens as it had always done before. Sylus stepped away from the pedestal and waited, leaning upon his hammer for support.

  It was hours before Tu’luh arrived, but Sylus forced himself to stand by the sheer power of will as he waited. Then, when he heard the tell-tale heavy wings beating the air, the king was invigorated by the anger that had been developing within his heart over the years. He looked to the sky and saw the dark form cross in front of the crescent moon. The shadow covered the large platform of stone, and then the dragon dropped down and let out a small, blue flame as it turned to face Sylus.

  “Has there been a new development?” Tu’luh asked.

  Sylus nodded quietly, staring at the dragon and barely able to contain the hatred he felt roiling in his blood. “We are done,” Sylus said.

  Tu’luh cocked his massive head to the side. “You have mined all of the addorite?” he asked.

  Sylus shook his head and stepped closer to the summoning crystal, letting the light reveal the dried blood streaked down his chest and the two, black holes caused by the demon. “I mean, we are done. There will be no more mining for your precious addorite.”

  Tu’luh roared and flames flashed between them. “Remember your place!”

  Sylus did not back down. “I know my place,” he said sternly. “I am King Sylus Magdinium, the protector of Roegudok Hall. I am not a slave to you, or to any winged serpent any longer. Nor shall my people be forced to throw away their lives for your cursed crystals!”

  Tu’luh moved in quickly and knocked Sylus down with an extension of his left wing. The dragon then turned and hoisted its massive tail over Sylus, threatening to crush him. “The servant cannot reject the master!”

  Sylus pushed up to his feet, his aching muscles fueled by his rage. He spoke in the arcane language used by the Ancients. “Ole mennyt, kiusaaja.”

  Tu’luh snarled. ”What did you say?”

  Sylus grinned and repeated his words in the Common Tongue, ”Be gone, tormentor.”

  The tail came down.

  Sylus thrust his hammer up, connecting with Tu’luh’s tail. The force of the blow pushed Sylus down slowly to his knee, but the dwarf was able to stop the tail from crushing him. ”Be gone!” Sylus shouted. He slipped out from under the tail and then came down upon the tail with the spike of his hammer. The spike broke through a scale and pierced Tu’luh’s flesh.

  The dragon roared and thrashed his tail to the side, flinging Sylus into the stone wall.

  Sylus moved as a taloned foreleg came swiping out for him. Tu’luh’s claws sent sparks flying as they dug into the stone wall. Sylus knew he couldn’t defeat the dragon. Even if his body wasn’t fatigued, the Ancient was far more powerful than Sylus could ever hope to be. So, he hit the dragon where it hurt most.

  The dwarf king sprinted for the summoning crystal. He raised his mighty warhammer into the air and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Liberty!” Sylus brought the hammer down in a powerful arc. The light shining into the heavens exploded into a bright orb engulfing the platform as the sphere burst into a thousand shards under the weight of the hammer.

  The mountain trembled and seemed to groan as the light expanded out and then disappeared into the night. Tu’luh was thrown back by the blast and forced to leap into the air when the platform cracked and the majority of the stone slab tilted and slid away from the mountain. The rocks popped and fractured as the slab jerked and shifted out away from the tunnel. A heavy, dull scratching sound filled the air as the slab fell away from the mountain, carrying with it the remainder of the pedestal that had once held the summoning crystal. Sylus smiled as the heavy slab crashed into the cliff on the way down and broke into many smaller pieces.

  Not only was there no more summoning crystal, there was no longer a space for any dragon to land upon Roegudok Hall. What had once been a great, vast platform, was now little more than a stone balcony big enough for a few dwarves. It was a jagged precipice, really. A place from which the dwarf king could survey the valley beyond the mountain and contemplate the circumstances of his people. From now on, any king who sought solace here, would be afforded a private pondering place free from the shackles of the Ancients.

  “You are very foolish,” Tu’luh said as he slowly beat his wings to stay afloat above Sylus. “You do not understand the workings of this world.”

  Sylus looked up defiantly and beat his chest. “I understand the importance and value of my people,” he replied.

  Tu’luh snorted derisively as a plume of flame shot out from his nostrils. “If you truly valued your kin, you would serve your creators.”

  “You have brought us only death, and slavery.”

  Tu’luh let out a throaty growl. “I will leave you with this warning. This is the last year of the Age of Kings. A group of mortals has ascended beyond their appointed station and taken upon themselves the mantle of demi-god. A new era begins shortly, the Age of Demigods. It is only a matter of time before they bring down a destruction upon Terramyr that you could not imagine. Perhaps then you will see the wisdom of the Ancients.”

  “Be gone, serpent, I will heed no more of your lies and fearmongering.”

  Tu’luh swished his tail in the air and rose higher as his wings beat stronger and stronger with each flap. “You leave me no choice,” Tu’luh said. “If you will not see reason, then I will find a way to force you to dig the addorite up. Mark my words, the next time I light upon Roegudok Hall, it will be with a sore vengeance, and none shall be able to oppose me.”

  The great dragon turned and flew away, blasting fire and roaring angrily as he disappeared into the night sky.

  Sylus turned back to his tunnel. Now was the time he would set things right for his people. He decided in that moment to destroy all of the old records containing the origin of the dwarves of Roegudok Hall. No more would they worship, or associate with the cursed Ancients. More than that, he would seal up the mine, and destroy all knowledge of it and the addorite it contained. Never again would a dwarf lose his life needlessly in the depths of the mountain. It would be enough to mine for gold and jewels in the more shallow parts, far above the demons and the vile lurkers.

  CHAPTER 12

  Year 3,711 Age of Demigods, Mid-Autumn.

  2nd year of the reign of Aldehenkaru’hktanah Sit’marihu, 13th King of Roegudok Hall.

  Al sat upon the edge of the king’s balcony, his feet dangling over the side. A cool morning breeze gently rose up and caressed his face. He looked down to the green leather bound book resting on the stone next to him. “To think that this very spot used to be a large landing platform for the Ancients,” Al said as he stared at the book. “What Alferug wouldn’t give to have known something like that.”

  The dwarf king hadn’t slept for days. Aside from overseeing the process of clearing the bodies from his chamber and trying to identify the human, which they were unable to do, he had sent a trio of scouts out to try and identify where Threnton had been hiding. There was a concern that some of the emigrants from the mountain might have linked forces with Threnton, and could be nearby. Benbo had been quick to assure Al that if any rebels existed that intended to do harm to Roegudok Hall, he would handle them swiftly.

  Then, Al had helped carry Alferug to the burial shrine. The morticians worked carefully to prepare Alferug properly for the funeral rites which would require three days’ preparation.

  Afterward, the king had tried to return to his room and sleep, but his thoughts were consumed by the book written by Sylus. He read through it twice before the sun had risen in the east on the third morning after the attack. He hadn’t bothered to come out of his chamber in that entire time, except for the few times to receive food brough
t up by servants, and now to sit upon the balcony and take in some much needed fresh air. Everything Sylus’ book had revealed to him had changed Al’s perspective entirely.

  Still, even with the book’s warnings, he couldn’t help but recall the voice that had come to him in shaft thirty-seven. Al was destined to find the wealth of kings. But why? According to everything in Sylus’ book, the mine should remain closed. Forever. He wished Alferug were still around. Al would very much have liked to discuss the dilemma with him.

  As it was, there were only a few hours before the funeral rights were scheduled to happen.

  Despite having reading the contents of the book, Al had not called for a halt to the mining. He knew that if he stopped it now, he might avoid waking the demons, but he would also be sentencing his people to starve through the winter.

  Al reached over and took a pebble in his right hand. He extended his arm out and dropped the small rock over the edge. It quickly disappeared from view as it sailed downward. Al wondered what it must have been like for King Sylus to face off against Tu’luh by himself. Had he expected to defeat the dragon, or had he assumed he would die? Al was unable to answer that question, but he knew one thing for sure. Tu’luh had remained true to his word. He had come to subjugate Roegudok Hall in the end, not to mention the whole of the Middle Kingdom and the orc nations besides.

  Sitting on that ledge, Al couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened if Sylus had continued to mine the addorite. Then again, he would likely soon find out for himself. Sylus’ book had made mention of other gold and mithril veins down within the last chamber of mine thirty-seven where all of the addorite had formed. Al’s people needed the treasure to buy food.