by Clark Graham
“My Prince,” he said in way of greeting when Sarchise finally tracked him down. “The watch said that you had returned safe.”
“They did a good job,” Sarchise said.
“We are finding game scarce this close to the city. We should head out soon so that our hunters can find us more food,” Hemlot said.
“We will head out this afternoon, prepare the men for a night march, we won’t stop until we reach High Mountain,” Sarchise said.
“High Mountain?” Hemlot was surprised. “I thought that we had come out to fight the spiders.”
It had not dawned on Sarchise until now that he could not take this army back to High Mountain until it had a battle under its belt. He sat in deep though for a moment and then had an idea.
“Of course, you are right.” He quickly scrawled a message and sealed it. “Please send for Ferdin.”
He used Ferdin as a runner. He sent him up to the watchtower and no further. He then sent Fordin back towards High Mountain with another message, but not before he drew him a map of where the army would be when he returned. He then waited. Late in the evening his fifty men and Ferdin, with a pack train of food and supplies showed up. He then set out towards what is known as the horn of Westwood. Westwood’s eastern side has an area that protrudes towards South Fort. The locals call it the horn. It is the closest that the forest comes to the city-state. There is a camp that is maintained by the Royal Scouts. Sarchise rested his army just south of that camp.
He planned his strategy with Hemlot. “We will enter Westwood at the horn and proceed down through the outskirts of the forest until we reach the lower gate.” It is about a ten day journey but we will have gathered a lot of information and killed a lot of spiders before we get to High Mountain.”
“We cannot take these wagons through the forest.” Hemlot pointed out.
“No we can’t,” Sarchise explained. “We will send them on to High Mountain across the plain. Each dwarf must take enough food on his back for 15 days, just in case. We cannot light cooking fires in Westwood and the water is rank for the most part. The wagons contain dried meat and bread. It will sustain us until we reach the lower gate. I just need the Kings permission to send the pack train with the men to High Mountain. We will wait for Fordin to return.”
In the days that were spent waiting for the King’s response, man and dwarf grew closer together. With the fifty scouts in Sarchise’s group along with the twenty-five that were stationed in the camp at the horn, starting to exchange food and tales around the campfires. The men even learned some of the warrior songs. Barriers of animosity that were between them almost disappeared and ancient allies were starting to be friends again.
A very tired Fordin stumbled into camp on the afternoon of the eighth day.
Summons of the King
“My Prince, there is to be a war council as soon as you arrive back at the High Mountain. You are to make all haste. The King wishes you to take the road and not proceed through the forest. The King will also grant your request that a human outpost be allowed to be established just outside the lower gate.” Fordin reported.
Sarchise wasted no time breaking camp. The dwarves formed ranks and the army proceeded back to High Mountain. The scouts and the baggage train followed them. Sarchise decided not to go to high gate and proceed through the mountain but since he was so far west he marched directly for low gate. The dwarves would have preferred the mountain route but Sarchise was not at home yet inside the mountain. Besides that both ways had their merits.
There was no old trail through the brush and prairie grass like the route between the high gate and South Fort but the brush was not a large problem to get through. Small trees cropped up every so often as the forest tried to expand its borders.
The hunters and cooks were delighted that they did not have to eat the dried meat. They had looked at the stuff with suspicion. It was not cooked, like a true dwarf eats his meat, just dried and spiced. The thought of eating raw meat was repugnant to them. They had avoided this and were far enough from the forest that Sarchise had allowed cooking fires.
The guards at the lower gate were surprised to see the army back. They had been expected at the high gate. The captain of the guard ran to the King to ask instructions and then ushered the army into the great hall. There they broke ranks, ate a quick meal around the bonfire and went back to their homes. Hemlot told Sarchise goodbye and went back to the cave he called home. The army had disappeared in a matter of an hour.
The humans and the pack train started setting up camp near the lower gate outside of the wall. Caspin came up and told showed them a place inside the gate that he would like them to set up. He was pleased indeed; since Sarchise had left he and the King had planned out a war. Even his brother Cazz had been well enough to help in the planning.
The King walked into the Great Hall. “Tell me of your adventure?”
“It went well.” Sarchise said as he put his hat over his heart and bowed low.
“You should get some sleep, on the morrow we meet to plan. I would have let you get revenge over the spiders but I had two other sons that wanted to help. It has been a long time since their warrior blood has been stirred up to this level. Besides, someone has been waiting for your return.” The King motioned to his left. There was Ammlee standing there in the doorway.
Outside the tents were pitched and a small watchtower was erected. It was just high enough to see over the wall. They thought that it looked kind of silly this close to a stone tower. Besides the dwarves were giving the wood tower unfriendly looks, so they took it back down. The dwarves didn’t seem to like the tents either, because soon stone masons came out and started talking about how many buildings, and of what size, they would require.
In the morning the fire in the Great Hall was burning bright. A lone table stood in the midst of the hall. The King and his sons sat down in a war council. Maps were spread all over the table and lines were drawn all over the maps. It was the first time that Sarchise had seen a map of the inside of High Mountain. He was momentarily distracted by all of the tunnels and caves that crisscrossed the mountain. He was surprised that numerous dwarf cities were inside and outside of the mountain. He had no idea that the population was so large. Larger than what was left of the population of the Four Kingdoms.
“Sarchise, are you still paying attention?” asked the King.
Sarchise looked up from his map; everyone was looking at him. The thing he remembered the King saying was something about the lower gate so he said, “Yes, the lower gate you said.”
“Hmm,” said the King. Looking back down at his map said. We can gather all our troops to the gatehouse at the lower gate. From here we shall march forth.”
“What about food?” Sarchise asked.
“My warriors are excellent foragers,” The King said.
“Yes, but you cannot have fires in the Westwood.” They were all looking at him again. “That is how the spiders found Cazz here, he had a bonfire going. It attracts spiders from miles around. Razor Bears and an occasional Saber tooth also. The scouts take in dried meat. I could show you how to make it.”
The King looked at him a moment. “We do not know the type of evil that now possesses the woods. We would have fallen pray to it had it not been for you. What else should we expect out there?”
Sarchise explained in vast detail what they would face out there. He had been a scout for ten years and hoped he had seen it all. There were still rumors of things that he had not seen yet, but had been told about and knew how to combat. The spider was the greatest foe. He was more numerous and has eaten all of the other evil out there. He was first priority. Sarchise told them all he knew of the spider, where he lives, how he eats and hunts and how the young were born. Cazz rubbed his stomach at this point. He then told them how to combat them. Their lairs were the weakest points. Even a shy spider would fight for his lair. If you could capture a lair the spiders would come to you to fight. The strength was capturing the unwary. T
hey attacked in force and from all directions. Surprise was their biggest weapon. That was when they were hardest to beat.
Armed with new knowledge, the King laid out his strategy. He would attack Westwood in phases. A prince would be in charge of one of those phases. He would send out five armies. Cazz, Caspin and Sarchise would take out their armies, along with two other armies of the high dwarves. They each had a week to prepare their battle plans. Each Prince sent for their respective commanders. Sarchise sent for Hemlot.
As they were talking a dwarf came up to Sarchise. “A messenger from South Fort came to the high gate three days ago. He was sent on to the low gate through the mountain. He should have been here by now. When we did not get a return messenger they sent me to see if the message had come through. It has not, and no one knows where this messenger is, or what message he brought.”
The King had overheard and came over to the messenger. “Return and report, we will send a message when he is found.” The dwarf left. To Sarchise the King said, “I will send out a search party, we will find this man.”
A few hours later Ermort walked into the Great Hall. He was following two guides. He bowed to the King and then delivered Sarchise a sealed message. “Sorry it took so long, I thought it was a straight shot from the high gate to the low gate. I didn’t see all those passages to the sides. I did have a grand tour of the caves and caverns of High Mountain. What a beautiful place this is. I stumbled across a city of low dwarves. They are called that because they live in the low part of the mountain. They agreed to bring me to the Great Hall. I think that I was the only human that many of them had ever seen.”
Sarchise smiled at him. “I am so glad to see you.”
“I know. You should let me take you on a grand tour. There is some spectacular scenery down here.”
“We have more pressing business. Are you here to stay or will I have to reply to this message and send you back?” Sarchise asked.
“No reply, it’s just telling you that I have been assigned to your unit.”
“Good, then I will put you to work,” Sarchise smiled.
When Ermort made his way out of the lower gate he noticed that the dwarves were laying a foundation for buildings around the tents the scouts had pitched. He wandered into one of the sleeping tents and sacked out.
Hemlot and Sarchise finished their plans. They would be part of the first phase. The dwarves would rely heavily on the human’s experience in the forest. The dwarves had been long kept out of the forests because that was elve’s domain. Elf and dwarf were never fast friends, but they never went to war against each other. Dwarves had told of elves driving the dwarves underground and elves had their mythology about evil dwarves hunting them in the forest. Neither side would admit that the old legends were part of the animosity between them. They were sometimes allies in battle, but always with the humans included. Never did dwarves and elves ally without man.
Hemlot left the all day planning session to go to bed. Sarchise went out of the lower gate to talk to the scouts. “Plans are laid to take back the southern spur of Westwood. We leave the day after tomorrow. I will divide the scouts into groups of ten. Each group will be assigned to a dwarf army as advisors. The King has come up with a brilliant idea. Each army will take over a section of the forest and patrol it. A week later the next army will leapfrog the first one and take over the area just beyond the first. Each army will leapfrog in turn until it’s the first army’s turn again. The area they will leave has been occupied five weeks and should have the worst of the evils driven out. Thus, section by section the Westwood will be reclaimed.”
Ermort, still a little sleepy from his three-day ordeal, said, “Can I be assigned to the last group? I would like a five week rest.”
Sarchise smiled, “Sorry Ermort, you are in my group. Get all the rest you can tomorrow, because the next day you will be moving out.”
Ermort went back to sleep. Sarchise also went back through the gate and up to his room. Ammlee was waiting for him. She looked him in the eyes and said, “You are going to war.”
Sarchise was surprised, “Who told you that?”
“Wives of warrior can see the faraway look in their lover’s eyes. It is said that if one looks close enough they can see the battle’s fury played out in the pool of the eye. Sometimes even see who the victor will be. I cannot see a victor, but I see anxiety, death and destruction.”
“Do not look too close, if you see my death I don’t want to hear about it. It would be hard going into battle with no hope.”
Into the Westwood
Hemlot lined his soldiers up below the lower gate. They had their banners flying from their spears. Sarchise had chosen a white castle with a red background for his banner. The castle represented South Fort, but he did not tell the dwarves that. As trumpets blew, the warriors started singing and the march started. The army passed between the towers and then south towards Westwood. Sarchise’s job was to cut off the forests lower corner and pacify it. He would then guard it until Cazz’s army arrived and marched through then on the way to the next section. If all went according to plan it would still take a long time to pacify Westwood.
In the back of Sarchise’s mind was the threat to the Kingdom of Ril. It was the last true Kingdom of men. If they called for aide would the dwarves go? He didn’t know the answer for that. As for himself, he lived with the dwarves, ate with the dwarves, and fought with the dwarves, even was married to a dwarf. Was he a dwarf now? He no longer lived in the world of men.
The singing stopped when the dwarves entered the forest. Most of the dwarves had not been in it even though it was only a half a day’s journey from the lower gate. They kept looking around, liked caged animals. Sarchise couldn’t believe how much noise a dwarf army makes. He set the scouts out on both sides of the army so that nothing could sneak up on them. As soon as they entered the forest Sarchise began looking for an old elf outpost. He knew that the elves kept a close eye on the dwarves, and that they had a semi circle of outposts around the High Mountain. As it was getting to be dusk, Sarchise found a good hillside to spend the night.
The Dwarves had lain in a large store of dried meat and cheese and bread. Most of the dwarves skipped the meat and ate bread and cheese while it was still fresh. The dried meat was still looked upon with a lot of suspicion. No fires were allowed and guards were placed around the camp. Sarchise woke at midnight and walked around the camp. ‘No spiders around tonight, even the deafest of the spiders could not fail to hear the loud snoring of the dwarves’ he thought to himself. The guards were changed as he watched. The ones getting off duty were lying down on the soft earth for a restless night. Sarchise, satisfied that the guards were doing their duty, went back to bed.
In the morning, the moaning of the dwarves that were waking was the predominate sound. They looked forward to another day without fire. Soon after their cold breakfast, they were ready to move out again. It was another long trek in the woods. The forest was getting denser the further they moved into it. The tight dwarf formations were starting to be a problem too. When one of the dwarves would trip over a tree root, three or four of the ones following him would trip over the dwarf that had just fallen. Sarchise had the warriors spread out more, so that the dwarf that tripped over a stump or root would have time to pick himself up before the one following him caught up. It made the line of dwarves snaking their way through the Westwood, five times longer, but there were less bruised and battered dwarves.
On the third day Sarchise found what he was looking for. There was a large mound of earth with a large tree in the middle of it. It was a stout tree and it still had the lookout post in the upper branches of the tree. The wood was old and had a lot of rot in it, but they could stand on it without falling through. None of the dwarves wanted to be in the tree, not even Hemlot. So Sarchise went up himself.
He could see a great distance from there. The forest had closed around most of these outposts, but this one was still mostly intact. He could not get all o
f the dwarf army on the mound but had them camp as close to it as possible. He would use the scouts on the outskirts of the camp to serve as guards. It would be another sleepless night for Ermort, but he was used to that. Sarchise would establish this as his base and plan the battle from his tree house, lookout tower.
The army camped without fires that night. The dwarves were tired and had all of their gear on their backs for the march. They were grumbling about the dried meat, but liked the fresh bread and cheese. They then settled down for the night.
The night went uneventful. Some Razor Bears closed in on the camp but retreated when they heard all of the snoring dwarves. They did not like their pray to be in big numbers and would only attack when there was only a few. Sarchise heard the snoring dwarves also and wondered to himself why the spiders were passing them up. He could see a great distance even at night. Somehow the mound seemed to reflect any of the moon and starlight up into the tree. He could see all of the scouts from on top the watchtower, even though some were up to a half-mile away. Every movement of the forest for up to a several miles did not go unnoticed from his vantage point. He saw deer eating in a meadow, and owls flying through the air, then swooping down on field mice. Every tree that moved from the gusts of wind was observed. Realizing that having the scouts out was not needful when the watchtower was there, he brought them all in at midnight. He posted two guards in the watchtower and then climbed down and went to sleep.
Sarchise was up with the sun. The dwarves were milling around, eating dried meat, but complaining bitterly. Sarchise found Hemlot and held a council meeting under the tree.
