by Clark Graham
Hemlot and Sarchise rejoined the group. They had just finished cooking up mutton and rabbit stew. They all ate until they were full and then put out the fires and moved out. The cavern had three large tunnels that entered it. There was also, one very small one that was discovered after the gremlin wars were over. It was here that the army was headed. There was only a small path to the entrance to the cave so the group had to go in single file. They formed back into the groups of ten.
The dwarves had to get down on their knees to get through the opening. Sarchise had to crawl on his stomach and Barazar had to be dragged through. He stuck his head in the opening and two dwarves grabbed his horns and dragged him through. If his horns had been any farther apart he would not have made it. When they all had made it through, they started walking down the narrow cave. Sarchise had to duck a lot because of the low ceiling. Barazar had to duck most of the time. The path was easy to follow because the caves had a sand floor.
They came to a crossroad where one cave led up and the other intersected an underground river. There was an odd smell from the water. Barazar recognized it immediately. “They are breeding gremlins upstream. I can smell it in the water. All the refuse from the breeding pits is washed downstream.” With that the company started into the streambed. It was cold and slippery. Sarchise could feel his feet going numb. Several times, one of the dwarves would slip and fall into the river. Sarchise did too, on two occasions. By the time they had traveled very far the group was wet and trembling. The smell was getting worse and was starting to make them sick.
As they rounded a corner the lead dwarf fell with an arrow in his chest. The lead group retreated back around the corner. “Gremlins don’t shoot arrows.” Commented Hemlot. By now the second group had caught up with them. They brought two archers forward. They turned the corner and let loose with the arrows, the rest of the group turned the corner after them and rushed the archer. Another arrow let loose, hitting Barazar in the shoulder, but did not even slow down the angry Minotaur. He was able to reach and kill the archer. Gremlins started coming into the cave but the dwarf archers let loose another volley and they fell back. Sarchise and ten dwarves headed through an opening and found themselves in the cavern of the lower falls.
Gremlins attacked them from all sides, and they were just about to give way before them when Hemlot, a bleeding Barazar and another ten dwarves reinforced the small group. Soon there was a pile of dead gremlins at their feet. More arrows rang out but missed. The group pressed forward and killed one archer, and captured two others. To Sarchise’s surprise, the archers were human. He gathered the two for questioning, and had them tied up and set in the middle of the cavern. Around the sides of the cavern there were pits dug into the rock, hundreds of pits. Each pit was lined with a black material and was filled with the smelly water. In each of the pits there was a half-grown gremlin.
Hemlot looked around then gave the order, “Kill them, kill them all!” With that axes and swords came down on every fetus. Soon the floor of the cavern ran green with gremlin blood.
Sarchise came back to the two humans in the middle of the floor. “I am surprised to see you here helping the gremlins in the middle of a dwarf mountain. What do you have to say for yourselves?”
“Please Sir, they threatened to kill our families if we did not help them.” Al said. he was a medium built man.
“Where are your families?” Sarchise asked.
“In the Kingdom of Zor. We had come out of Ril to settle in Zor and rebuild that Kingdom. Land was there for the taking so twenty families all settled in this village and started tending the land. A large army of gremlin came to our small village in the dark of night. They surrounded it during the night and when we awoke we were besieged. We put up a fight, but we were soon overwhelmed. The rest of the men were killed during the battle or slain afterwards. They kept the four of us alive. When we were captured, they took four of us to the Mountains of Iron and taught us how to breed gremlins. We followed the army through Westwood. When they had breached the wall at High Mountain, we entered with a small group of gremlins and headed through a side cave to this cavern, where we were told to start breeding. When we had enough gremlins down here, we were to take High Mountain and come out to report to Tabor. Then he said that our families would be returned to us.”
Sarchise thought for a minute then said, “This is the same Tabor that said he would not attack humans. I am sorry to say that your families are probably already dead.” Both of the humans looked down at the ground at that. “Tell me, is this the only breeding pit here at High Mountain?”
Al looked up and said, “Yes, there is just one per mountain. It is hard to find the right conditions for a breeding pit. Tabor is also too frightened that someone else could start breeding an army and fight against him. He is a very evil man.”
“Destroy the pits,” Sarchise ordered. Axes and hammers came down on them so they would no longer hold water.
A healer was working on Barazar’s shoulder. He was able to get clean water out of the falls to clean the wound and apply the herbs and mudpack to it. Three dwarves were dead and four others wounded. The healers had already bandaged the wounded up. Hemlot gathered the army together and headed back to the great hall. While going back through the small opening into the cavern of Barazar cried out in pain when they dragged him through. It surprised all that heard.
Return to Westwood
Barazar had left, saying that he had had enough of caves and tunnels. He joined his friend outside the mountain. This time the King provided them with food, so they would not have to steal it.
That night they had a council with the King. The prisoners were brought forward and questioned again.
The King then spoke. “The enemy still thinks that we will soon be destroyed by his new army bred under our very halls. According to the breeders, it would have taken them two years to breed enough fighters to destroy us. I think that they do not realize how many we are under High Mountain. We have always been able to hide our true strength because of our many hidden cities. Some of the cities we never talk about so the enemy will not hear about them.
I will send an army to the Kingdom of Zor with the prisoners. We will see what has happened there and then report it back to South Fort so that we may gain an ally. Hemlot, your army is tired and you have fought much, but I feel the need that Sarchise report what he sees to the human cities. I will send a fresh army under your command to the Kingdom. It is a far journey and the enemy is regaining his strength. I will send another army to travel with you as far as the elf tree.”
“Cazz will be glad to see us, I am sure,” Sarchise commented.
“His messages are coming in regularly. His men have killed most of the spiders there. He rarely sees any gremlins and the Minotaur he has with him have all healed. So things are well with him. His patrols go further and further out each time.” The King responded. “I have sent for two armies of low dwarves, as soon as they arrive, you will set out.” With that the conversation was over.
Sarchise spent the night with Ammlee. She was still deeply troubled and in pain. He talked of far off cities that he had seen; to keep her mind off her woes. He promised to take her to South Fort one day. With that they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
When morning came, he was summoned to the great hall where the army was ready to march. One thousand dwarves, not including the baggage train, two human prisoners and three Minotaur. They marched out of the mountain in the traditional way with songs of wars long ago. Sarchise could not help but remember the ones that he led out before. Many of who had died and the dwarf songs in them silenced forever.
“Much has happened since we first left the halls of the High Mountain.” Hemlot said, breaking Sarchise from his thoughts. “We have defeated a vast spider horde and destroyed a gremlin army.” Already the poets are writing songs of our deeds that will be sung for ages to come.”
“I only leave a trail of death,” Sarchise responded. “How many have died unde
r my command?”
Hemlot smiled, “You are the prince yes, but I am the commander. More would have died unless we had gone out. Indeed, if we had not met the Minotaur we would have not known that the gremlins were breeding under our noses. We have saved the Kingdom and the King knows that.”
“I had hoped not to see the day when war came again to the lands of the four kingdoms is all.”
“So have all of us that you see here. But now that it has, all there is to do is to win the war.”
Sarchise didn’t allow fires for the cold nights that they spent on the trail. He still didn’t know what the spider situation was. The army was well provided for, and they preferred to eat cold the cooked meats that the dwarf chefs provided them, rather than the dried meat that Sarchise had taught them to make. With the cheese, bread and ale fresh from the mountain, they were well fed warriors.
Three days out from the mountain, they came to the fort at elf tree. The dwarf armies embraced each other and there were cheers all around. The warriors at elf tree were glad to see their fellows, but gladder still to get at the fresh food that the army had brought with them.
Cazz came up and greeted Sarchise. “We are so glad to see you. We had a horrible journey back to here. It was slow because of the amount of wounded and the fact that we did not have enough provisions. We had to deal with the hunger pains. I sent a number of the less wounded ahead to the tree to gather some provisions and bring them back to us. Once this was done it didn’t matter how long we took to reach the fortification.
“Then we have the problem of the healers. They ran out of herbs for the wounded. Most of the grievously wounded got the herbs first. But the slightly wounded did not get them. Some healed just fine, but there are one hundred and twenty three that did not. The infections are spreading and the healers tell me that all they can do is make them comfortable and hope. But there is not much hope.”
Cazz took Sarchise over to show him where they had laid the badly wounded and the infected. They had built a pavilion for them out of poles and thatching. There were some that had lost hands, arms and eyes, but had healed of their other wounds. Those that had become infected did a lot of moaning or sleeping. The dwarves seemed to know that once infection has set in they were beyond the healer’s ability to heal.
“One more thing,” Cazz said, “We saw the gremlins retreat from the mountain. We could see them from the elf tree. Those that were here at the time did, anyway. I was still making my way here with the wounded. They followed them for a while, but did not have enough warriors left to attempt to stop them. On the way back they ran into an elf. We had hoped that they had all left. Indeed we would not have found this one except one of my dwarves walked into the wall. He had thought that is was a bush. When he tried to crawl through he hit his head on the stonework. They started to clear the brush aside to see what was hidden and a very angry elf came out, threatening to turn them into pigs. I don’t think that elf magic is that far advanced, but they stopped clearing away the bushes. We have set a guard round about the elf. There is also a spider’s lair next to his house. They are smaller brown spiders, not the large blackspot and we have agreed not to kill any of them as long as they do not eat any dwarves. He seems to be raising them. I will take you to him as soon as you have eaten and rested from your march.”
They ate cheese and stewed rabbit and sat around the bonfire and talked. Many of the wounded were going back to the mountain with the baggage train and their spirits were up. The infected ones would stay here. They didn’t want them under the mountain because the healers felt they were better off in the open air. Sarchise took his bedroll and climbed the elf tree. He slept out under the stars that night.
When he awoke the next morning, he looked out over the Westwood. He could see the green and gray forest stretch out for miles in all directions. Fog hung near some of the hills. He could also see High Mountain. To his surprise, he could just make out the stone masons rebuilding the towers. He turned to the west to look at the direction he must pass. It was clouded in fog. He then grabbed his bedroll and climbed down the tree.
Cazz was eating breakfast and smiled at Sarchise when he approached. “I shall never again take food for granted; after all of the hunger pains I have suffered on the trip.” He was just downing some of the bacon that Sarchise’s army had brought them. “Here, you must be starving; I saved you some bacon and cheese.”
Sarchise took the food and after a “thank you,” he swiftly downed the food.
“My way is clouded in fog,” Sarchise said at length.
“The way is always shrouded in the Westwood. Every time I send a patrol out it’s because I cannot see that direction from the elf tree. The forest likes to hold its secrets. Come, when you are done, I will take you to the elf.”
The journey was short. The elf had lived practically under their noses. The house was a big bush with one corner exposed where the dwarves had cleared it. “Here it is,” said Cazz. The door is that thing there that looks like a tree trunk.”
Sarchise went up and knocked on the door while Cazz kept his distance. “I don’t even like pigs.” Cazz said. The door opened and Cazz was gone.
An Elf’s Tale
“Ah, so I meet the tall dwarf prince at last,” The elf said as he opened the door fully. “I have heard so much about you. Come in.”
“How do you know that, and who are you?” Sarchise asked.
“I am Amlius, keeper of the dell. Sounds from the watchtower Ornaomac collect down here. I can hear almost every word you say when I sit in the dell. I thought that was a very good strategy that you came up with when that horde of spiders came upon you. Do you want some tea?”
“Yes, please.” Sarchise didn’t like tea all that well, but didn’t want to be rude. As an after thought he asked, “This won’t turn me into a pig, will it?”
Amlius laughed, “I just wanted to scare away the dwarves. I can’t really turn them into pigs, though I would have tried. Here is your tea.”
They sat down together and drank. Sarchise asked at length, “Why are you still here? I thought that the elves had left the Four Kingdoms long ago.”
Amlius shuddered, “I hate to hear the Elvenshore referred to as the Four Kingdoms. We were here first; it goes by what we named it. I am here because I have no where else to go. I am an outcast. I was kept in the Eastern Woods, away from all of the other good elves until all of my guards left across the Stormy Sea. I wandered out of my imprisonment there and built this house. I then made myself watcher of the dale.”
“Why were you imprisoned in the Eastern Woods?”
“The Eastern Woods is a prison. That is where they kept all of us bad elves. I was the only one that was so bad that they could not take me with them. You see, elf does not kill elf. I was the only elf that ever broke that rule.”
Sarchise was taken aback, “You are a murderer?”
“Before you judge me as harshly as the Grand Council of Elves did, let me state my case. This is an elf story so it may live longer than most of your human stories. For to tell this story I must go back a long time. Longer than humans have lived at Elvenshore. Indeed in the telling of this story, I will relate things that the elves have kept secret from the other races. Elves are not as saintly as they would have you believe.
“When we first came to Elvenshore, there was no forest. The land was devoid of the places that elves love. Those that first set foot on the land and explored it wanted to return home. But a wise and strong leader named Lassuren, said ‘Here is a barren wall where we can build a mural. We can create in this world all that we want. There are no others that live here. We can plant forests where we want and build our cities there.’ The others saw wisdom in what Lassuren told them so they planted forests and built cities. Indeed, they planted all of Elvenshore and made it one big city. But the trees did not grow in most places and soon died, leaving only three forests left. Our activity did not go unnoticed. For there were others in the world abroad that found we had tamed th
e barren lands. They too wanted to live here. First to settle here were the humans. When the humans came to Elevenshore, they wanted to live on the plains where the trees did not grow. We allowed that and there they built their Four Kingdoms. It worked well for both of us as we traded our goods for theirs. They built farms and grew cattle. We became accustomed to eating beef instead of the deer and rabbit we grew up with.
“It was not the same with the dwarf. They arrived and tried to settle in the forests that we had planted and tried to live there. We drove them out. Then they moved into what you call the Four Kingdoms. You drove them out. They moved into the mountains, the domain of the gremlin. They fought many wars with the gremlin and won. There the dwarf set up their halls and cities. The elf had no problem with that, as they do not like going into holes. Things changed, the dwarf found silver and gold in abundance in their mountain homes. The elf was jealous. They started trading with the dwarves. There is no trust between the dwarf and the elf. Soon the elf wanted more and more gold for less and less goods. The dwarf wanted more and more goods for less and less gold. The trading stopped.
“Still the elves had a desire to get to the gold. We found what remained of the gremlin in the areas of the mountains the dwarves did not tread. They hate the dwarf, but worshiped the elf. They are not very intelligent but we taught them what gold was and sent them into the mountains to steal it from the dwarf. This started another dwarf war with the gremlin.
“It wasn’t long before we started running out of gremlins. They are not good fighters unless they can overwhelm the enemy in large numbers. They had stolen a lot of gold though. A hero among elves, he whom I call evil, came along. We all knew that gremlin females raise two, sometimes three children in their lifetimes. He found through trial and error that he could breed gremlins in pits. Even though the gremlins do not produce a lot of children, they still have a lot of eggs inside them. He was able to produce a gremlin child in a small pit. He slew a gremlin female and used her uterus to line the pit. He then put the fertilized egg into the pit and keeping the room at her body temperature, raised a gremlin. I call this the first evil that drove the elves from Elvenshore.
