by Clark Graham
Ermort looked a little shocked. “You don’t think that we are headed into another trap?”
Cazz let out a laugh. “It all makes perfect sense to me now. The breeding pits are destroyed. Man will know what he is up before he can get them repaired. Without the pits, the Mountains of Iron are useless, because they are too large and have too many openings. He will be wasting his time trying to defend a place that is already surrounded. He did not pursue us for fear he would not overtake us in time. He knew we were headed for fortified positions and that his army would be stuck out on the open plains. Tabor is vengeful, but also cold and calculating. He has been sending his army at the Lonely Mountains for a long time. Now that the Mountains of Iron are no longer of any use to him, his only chance is up north. He has to take the lonely mountains and then fortify it against attack until he can build more breeding pits. While he is thus busy elsewhere, it is our chance to take the Mountains of Iron while he is weak and then go after him in the Lonely Mountains.”
Ermort looked down at Cazz a minute. He was convinced. Then turning he said, “Men of the Royal Scouts, prepare to move out.”
The King Returns
They ate a hearty dinner that night from the stores that the people of Zor had sent with Cazz. The fare had been plenty light at the fort before that. They had found some salted pork on the back wall of one of the warehouses. Pork was a favorite of the dwarves, so they were in high spirits that night. Ale flowed freely. Some of the men had wine flasks and let the dwarves sample it. It was not to their liking, as it tasted too sweet to them. They all were given a good nights sleep that night. Cazz no longer thought that they needed stealth, and was going to march the armies all day the next day and into the night. His dream of being King of the Mountains of Iron was so near that he could taste it. Sarchise knew of his ambition, but did not say anything because he thought that the strategy was sound. They could march straight to the Lonely Mountains but that would leave a fortified enemy position in their rear.
In the morning the armies formed into ranks and headed for the Mountains. Again they left twenty dwarves to garrison the fort. Sarchise insisted that Ferdin and Fordin were two of the ones left in the fort. He felt partly responsible for the death of their father and was trying to keep them safe.
The dwarves, who were will still in high spirits from the dinner the night before, sang a customary battle song as they marched along.
Our land long lost in olden days,
Will once more meet our gaze.
And we will win the Mountain tall
And again possess the great hall
Cazz will be our mountain king
The halls within it soon will ring
With warrior voices strong and true
But with these men, what will we do?
They marched all that day and into the night, only stopping to eat. They did not make fires, but ate the dried meat of the Royal Scouts. It did not have to be cooked; it was a matter of just sitting down and eating it.
In three more long marches, they were at the base of the Mountains. They sent a patrol up to see what was going on and camped. The scouts came back to report that they had seen just a few gremlins and that they had scampered off when the patrol approached. This was very encouraging news to Cazz. He got up the army and marched up to the nearest opening. Soon the men and dwarves had secured all of the major openings in that area of the mountains. They raced down the halls, chasing gremlins as they went. The only time the enemy would stop and fight is when they were cornered. When the major halls had been secured they started in on the minor halls. Thanks to the captured maps, they knew where all of the halls and the hidden places were. Resistance was light; most of the gremlins that were not slain were retreating to the north.
Sarchise was with Cazz when they entered the great hall. Cazz looked around using the small torches that they had entered the tunnels with. He ordered the large torches along the walls be lit. When they were it opened up a scene of past battles were displayed before them. Bones of dwarves and gremlins littered the floor. The large bonfire pit in the middle of the floor was filled with bones and the armor of ages past. The king’s throne was set against the wall carved into the wall and had layers of dust and debris on it. Cazz walked over to it and dusted it off. He then sat down on the throne.
Everyone in the room then realized, at that moment, that the King of the Mountains of Iron had returned.
Cazz ordered that the hall be cleaned and the fire lit. The armor of the dead dwarves was saved but the bones of dwarf were taken to the crypt and the gremlins were taken down to the refuse pits in the base of the mountain. The hall was swept and the bonfire lit. The men and dwarves camped in the great hall that night. In the morning the cleaning started in the other halls.
At last Sarchise complained, “Oh, King Cazz. The battle is won but the war is not over. Please give me leave to take my army and an army of high dwarves to the north to keep up the fight against the enemy.”
Cazz looked around and realized that the lust of power had tainted his judgment. “You are right, take them and depart at once. I shall stay here and build up the defenses. If you need to retreat we will be here.”
Ermort added, “Sire, I will go with them and continue the fight with my army. I appreciate the hospitality of your halls over the last two days.”
Cazz smiled. “Very well said. Yes, I give you my leave and you go with my blessing and my hope for your success.”
They bowed, called their armies together and left. The sun was full up when they got to the surface. They had been fighting the fleeing gremlins for three days and resting and cleaning for the last two, so they had not seen the sun for a long time. They squinted until their eyes adjusted to the light.
The army marched out into the light. The going was easy at first but soon they were going up higher and higher into the mountain passes. The trail went back and forth, following a small creek. Soon they reached the head of the creek. They filled their water jugs and then continued on.
They reached the snow level in two days. The dwarves were up to their knees in the snow, so the men led the way and trampled down the snow for the shorter legged dwarves. They reached the summit of the pass at noon. It was cold and both dwarf and man were chilled to the bone. Soon the going was downhill and the marching was easier. The wind blew through the pass being funneled by the mountains around.
They started to see signs that the gremlin army had passed over this same path. There were discarded food wrappings, where the food that was stored in them was eaten and the wrappings discarded. As the pass became narrower and piled higher in snow, they started to see where some of the gremlins had tired out and lay down by the roadside, only to freeze to death. There was at least fifty of enemy dead on that mile of trail. As the trail descended down off of the mountain and out of the snow, there were no more dead enemy to be seen. Tabor always pushed his troops too hard but even he, now that he needed to conserve his strength, must have rested them just after they got out of the snow.
They began to see green grass on the sides of the trail and the valley broadened as they went down. At the base of the mountains they made camp. Hunters went out in all directions and found game plentiful. That night they had a large bonfire and cooked and ate. The hardships that the men and the dwarves had gone through together helped bond the two races.
During the next two days they continued on. When they came near the King’s road, Ermort had them make camp and he took twenty of his Royal Scouts with him into the nearest town. Two days later he came back and had the whole army follow with him.
They marched to just outside the capital city then they made camp again. Ermort had warned the King’s men that an army of dwarves wanted to continue through their lands on the way to the Lonely Mountains. The King had summoned the leader of the Royal Scouts and the leader of the dwarf army to himself for a conference. Sarchise and Ermort left the camp and went into the city to visit with the King.
It was
a great white marble palace with stone statues carved at the top of the stairs. Large pillars supported the roof and the large oak doors were twice as tall as any man. Guards manned the bottom of the stairs and the top. Over the palace doors a banner read, ‘Here sits King Mortimur, supreme ruler of the Four Kingdoms. A trumpeter announced the arrival of the visitors.
As they entered the great hall of the King they looked up to see windows along the edge of the roof, about three stories up, let in light. It was similar to a dwarf hall except above ground. Pillars, as big around as three men were placed every few feet. Each pillar was a statue of one of the old kings. Each king had his name carved at the base of the pillar. The King sat at the end of the hall on a marble throne. Pillows were set on it for the comfort of the King.
“Welcome,” said the King in a husky voice. “But where is the commander of the dwarves?”
“I am he, Sarchise, adopted sixth born of the King of High Mountain and now prince to the King of the Mountains of Iron.”
“He is also a Royal Scout commander,” Ermort added.
“Indeed, this is a surprise; I have never seen such a tall dwarf prince. I was glad to hear the tidings that Ermort has brought me about the recapture of the Mountains of Iron. I feared greatly about an attack from that direction.” The King said, “We had many gremlins pass through the Northwood on their way to the Lonely Mountains. The Northwood has grown wild since the days when the elves dwelt there. We do not patrol inside but follow the King’s highway to keep it free from any enemy. The gremlins moved fast and were gone before we could catch them. But then another group, just a few weeks ago, tried the same trick. This time we were waiting. It was a large force and we could not hold them back but our archers cut them down in droves. We piled them up and burnt them. Do you know the meaning of this movement?”
“Yes,” answered Sarchise, “We have been fighting them in the Westwood and the plains of Zor. We have been trapped by them in the Mountains of Iron and have finally recaptured the mountains from them. Now we know that they are attacking the dwarves of the Lonely Mountains and are racing to go to their rescue. All we ask, oh King, is thy grace in letting us pass through your lands.”
“Back when man and dwarf were allies against all of the evils of the world, the dwarves of the Lonely Mountains build us this hall. They carved the figures of my forefathers into the pillars and set the roof upon it. Now I find that my own father has passed on and we have had no longer dealings with the dwarves. I have no one to honor my father by carving his likeness into a pillar. I will let you pass and send a thousand men with you to help fight, all I ask in return is to have my father’s likeness on a pillar like his father’s before him.”
Sarchise and Ermort were overjoyed at the added strength. Sarchise answered the King. “As prince of the Kings of High Mountain and the Mountains of Iron, I will pledge that to you Sire.”
Into the Lonely Mountains
The commander of the King Mortimer’s army was named Dolgren; he was a gruff and hard man and no lover of dwarves. But on the plus side he loved and honored his King and would do anything for him. It took hours to assemble an army of that size. The people of Ril had lived in peace for years, but had seen preparations for war in the mountains around them. They had kept their men trained and ready to go. Each man had to be summoned from his own house and it was full dark before the entire army was gathered. They waited for daylight before they moved out.
They marched for two days before they came to a trail leading up to the mountains. It was a long and tedious trek. Unlike the Mountains of Iron, the Lonely Mountains were steep and had more cliffs and outcroppings. As they headed up, groups of gremlins started throwing rocks down on them and drove them from the path, causing a few casualties. The archers drove back the gremlins and a party of fifty men rushed up to the first ridgeline. Each ridgeline had to be taken in a like manner. The archers would drive off the gremlins then a group of men or dwarves rushing forward to secure the ground then the rest of the army following up. At that point the trail started up into steep switchbacks. They had no map to the Lonely Mountains as the dwarves there had lived in seclusion since the first Tabor war.
Having only made it half way up the mountains when dark fell upon them, Sarchise and the other leaders had the army set up camp for the night. They camped under an overhang that protected most of the army from the rocks of the gremlins. Sarchise with twenty dwarves set out to find a nearby opening to the tunnels below. They did not find one but were attacked by the enemy for their efforts. They retreated back to the main camp dragging their five wounded and one dead with them.
In the morning the commanders met to discuss the situation. Sarchise who was the default supreme commander of the mission led the discussion.
“I think that we will maintain our camp here and set up a place for the healers to practice their trade. The trail splits into three around that peak over there. We were able to get that far last night before we were attacked. They could be protecting an entrance or it could be just a roving band of gremlins that we happened to meet in the darkness, either way we were driven back.
“What I would like to see is a hundred men or dwarves clear the fork in the road and then send out three patrols, one for each trail, about twenty-five in each to find out where the trails lead. Then have them report back here. I will leave Ermort in camp and will lead one of the patrols myself.”
Ermort protested. “Always trying to leave me behind, you are the leader of this expedition, so says my King and your King too, I will lead one of the patrols, you are too valuable to risk.”
“I agree added Dolgren; we need to bring the information back to you.”
Sarchise gave in but added, “Alright, Dolgren, you will take two hundred of your men to the cross roads and hold your position. Ermort, you will follow with fifty men and one hundred dwarves. When you get to the crossroads your group will split into three, each group will follow a different trail. Start your return journeys when the sun is halfway into the sky, or you find an entrance to the caves. I want all the groups back here by nightfall. Night fighting favors the gremlins.”
With that Dolgren nodded and started down the trail, followed a few minutes later by Ermort. It didn’t take long for the sound of battle to ring out in the morning sun. Soon a runner appeared from around the corner stating that the gremlins had been driven off the crossroads and that Ermort had started his patrols. An hour later, men carrying wounded, came back down the trail. They dropped the wounded off in front of the healers and went back up the trail. To Sarchise’s dismay, one of the wounded was Dolgren.
“Just a bit of bad luck really,” he said when he saw Sarchise had spotted him. The healer cut off his blood soaked tunic, and then started stitching his wound up.
“It was near the heart, but not in it. He should be just fine,” the healer said. He then packed it with mud. The healers had restocked their supply of herbs in the Mountains of Iron, but the herbs grew even more abundantly here.
They laid Dolgren against the cliff wall, under the overhang. Sarchise came up to him. “How bad is it?”
Dolgren smiled, “There were about a hundred of the enemy there. They surprised us by rushing us; I always lead from the front so I was the first one they got to. Usually, they will retreat from a superior force. We slew them all, but they took a few of my men with them. Ermort arrived in time to help us finish them off.”
“There was no opening there?” Sarchise asked.
“No, not that I could see. The dwarves in these hills are very crafty in hiding their openings. All dwarves are good with stonework, but these are the best. We are going too fast to find them any openings. The gremlins must have forced an opening somewhere, or else they are just laying siege to the mountains.”
“Which one do you think it is?” Sarchise asked.
“I think the gremlins have dug themselves a hole into the tunnels. They have certainly been here long enough to do that.” Dolgren answered.
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nbsp; Sarchise waited all day for the reports of the patrols. Each patrol came back carrying wounded. They all reported the same thing, no entrance, and many gremlins. Based on the reports Sarchise had wondered if he had the forces to rid the mountains of gremlins. He slept against the inside edge of the overhang that night. Around midnight he was awakened by a cracking sound. There was a light that came from where the cliff was and two dozen dwarves came out. They held spears against Sarchise’s throat, and they dragged him into the tunnel along with some of the men and dwarf warriors under Sarchise’s command. Before the rest of the army could react, the tunnel entrance closed back up.
Sarchise and the other captives were dragged at spear point down to a small hall. Torches lit the hall and a very tired looking dwarf set on a makeshift throne.
“What type of army camps at the entrance to my Kingdom?” asked the gaunt dwarf King.
Without hesitation Sarchise answered. “Sarchise, adopted sixth born of the King under High Mountain, Prince to the King of the Mountains of Iron.”
The tired dwarf King’s eyes opened wide. “What is the meaning of this, men now possess the mountain kingdoms? Are these dwarves your slaves?”
One of the dwarves answered. “Our prince here saved the life of the King’s son, so he was adopted as a dwarf prince. We are high dwarves from the halls of High Mountain. Cazz the fifth born has retaken the Iron Mountains from the gremlins and now sits as King of that throne. We have come out of there as commanded by the new King. We are to protect this man, who once saved the life of King Cazz.”
“So why do I have an army camped on my doorstep?” The King asked.
“We drove the gremlins before us and have come to finish them off,” a hopeful Sarchise answered.
