by Clark Graham
The King stared at him for the longest time, and then said, “What do I have to lose, an elf. It’s a good plan. There is an old servant’s entrance that leads into the old kitchen just outside the Great Hall. By this route many of us escaped the onslaught of the gremlins. I will send Thador to show you how to get there.
Death in the Lonely Mountains
Tabor sat on the throne and declared himself the King of the Lonely Mountains. It was an empty conquest. He knew that he would die here. He was trapped. He had hoped that the defeat that he handed the dwarves and men in the Mountains of Iron would have kept them away from that place for a long, long time. It would have given him the delay he needed to start building his breeding pits here. It was not to be. He had searched and searched for an underground river. There was none.
He had killed a lot of dwarves. Even the King lay dead. He had tortured others until they told him where a river was. They all said the same. It does not exist. They all died saying the same thing.
His plan had been a good one. It had been going very well. He had destroyed the Minotaur. He had killed a lot of the dwarves. It was this human dwarf prince that was causing him all the grief. He had destroyed the breeding pits under High Mountain. He had defeated the army that Tabor had sent out after him in the Westwood. He had captured the farms from him in the Kingdom of Zor. Finally Tabor had managed to set a trap for him in the Mountains of Iron, but he, with help of his human friends escaped the trap. In the process he had lost his breeding pits in there.
Now Tabor himself was trapped. He had been attacking the Lonely Mountains and thought that it would be a better place to rebuild his army since he had seen that man was now against him also. He did not know that there were no underground rivers in these mountains. His force was still massive, but every gremlin he lost was one he could not replace. He had wanted to destroy the human dwarf prince to finish his revenge, but the valkyries had prevented him. He did not even know that they were still alive.
So he sat on his ill gotten throne and planned his next step. He now knew that some of the dwarves of these mountains were still alive. He had seen the tunics of the dead at the base of the mountain. They were different than the tunics of the dwarves of High Mountain. The dwarves of High Mountain had their mountain embroidered on the sleeve. The dwarves of the Lonely Mountains had the picture of five mountains embroidered on their chest. Otherwise the tunics were the light green or brown cloth that the dwarves seem to prefer. The dead were wearing both styles of tunics.
So he would start digging again and uncover more of these dwarves and kill them in their halls. Then, as a last gesture of defiance, he would throw down the fort at the foot of the hills and kill the human dwarf prince.
That thought made Tabor smile. The human dwarf prince would die while his own people slowly closed their ring around the mountains. Indeed, Tabor would wait to attack until the other humans were close enough to see the battle, but not close enough to help. He was chuckling to himself at this thought.
His servant brought him some meat. He didn’t know what type of meat it was or how the servant kept finding food when his army was almost out. It could be dwarf or human or gremlin, Tabor didn’t care, and as long as he was still eating and not starving like his army. He called for his commander. When he came in Tabor ordered, start digging, “I don’t care where.” The commander left.
A gremlins scout came up to Tabor and reported. “Human army marching out, leaving mountains.”
Tabor was shocked and overjoyed at the news. “How about the dwarves?” He asked.
“No leave,” was the response.
‘So, the humans have had enough for now and want the dwarf friends to go it alone.’ He thought, ‘Maybe, just maybe they will break their stranglehold on me and I can proceed with my plan.’ Then he thought about how he still did not have any breeding pits. He slumped back down in his chair as glum as he was before.
He sent for another commander. “Capture me a dwarf, I feel like torturing something. If you can’t find a dwarf, a gremlin will do. Bring someone who ran away from a battle.”
The commander left. The gremlins hated and feared Tabor, but they had loyalty inbred into them by the elves, so they would follow him to the ends of the earth, which they had. Once in a while there would be a small rebellion, but that was quickly stopped and the guilty killed. Still they hardened when Tabor would kill one of their own in front of them. It would kindle their hatred even more. They were becoming less and less loyal to him all of the time. In his arrogance, Tabor could not see what was happening.
In the old halls of the dwarves, a trio of conspirators was getting ready for a dangerous journey. Sarchise had decided to go with Thador and Amlius on their adventure. They dressed all in black and smeared charcoal all over their faces. Quietly they crept out of the entrance to the old halls and made their way up the backside of the mountain. It was a hard steep climb, and the night was getting old. By the time they reached the old servant door it was nearly four in the morning.
Around them lay an odd assortment of farms and ranches, all of which had been plundered by the gremlins. Still in their haste, they had left a lot of food in the fields. The servant’s door opened to the outside world where the food basket for the halls were stored. The servants would collect food from the farmers and take it directly down to the kitchen.
Thador felt the side of the mountain, back and forth, until he located the doors. The doors were built to resemble the rest of the rocks around them. They were perfectly balanced and swung in with out a sound. The elf was the first down the passageway. He went noiselessly followed by Sarchise who was very quiet. After the dwarf went two steps, the other two stopped him and made him take off his boots. His footsteps were echoing down the corridor.
They didn’t take a torch with them but felt their way in darkness. At last they came to another door. It led into the well lit kitchen. The pots and pans of the dwarves were scattered about the room. The pantry had been raided and things the gremlins didn’t eat, like floor and salt, were scattered on the floor. There was one gremlin asleep in the room. Sarchise moved towards him slowly, sword in hand. When he got there he put his hand over the gremlins slimy mouth and stabbed him. Not a squeak was heard.
Thador watched the far door to the kitchen while Amlius cracked open the door that connected the kitchen to the Great Hall. Slowly and carefully he creaked it open. He did not crack it open far, just enough where he could see the throne. There sat the miserable Tabor, slumped back in his chair. Amlius drew his bow back and let fly. The arrow arched through the hall and hit perfectly into the heart of the evil Tabor. The ruler of the gremlins slid off the throne and onto the floor dead.
Gremlins ran off in all directions. They didn’t know where the attack had come from and were now leaderless. Panic soon spread through the enemy army, with gremlins running in all directions.
Sarchise, Thador and Amlius ran about halfway up the passageway. They figured that a narrow passageway would be their best hope for defending themselves. With sword, bow and axe ready, they stood there ready to defend themselves. After sitting there an hour, they realized that no one was coming after them. They sat there a few more minutes, but still there was no pursuit. They crept back up the passageway and opened it to the outside. There were gremlins storming all over the mountain and no way to escape in that direction.
They closed the door back up and went to the base of the tunnel. They opened the door only slightly into the kitchen and found it empty. They then opened the door to the Great Hall. There, in a pool of blood, abandoned by his soldiers, lay Tabor. They walked over to him and saw the surprised look on his face. He must have seen the arrow coming towards him a split second before it hit him.
“Well, Thador,” said Amlius, “There must be another way out of here.”
“We are probably safer here,” said Sarchise, “the gremlins don’t know where the attack came from. But it had to have been a powerful attack in their minds if thei
r leader was killed because of it.”
“Still, elves don’t take to tunnels well; I would rather take my chances on the surface.” Amlius said.
“Good shot, by the way.” Thador added.
With that the trio made their way slowly up the passageway that Thador thought would be the safest.
The mountain suddenly erupted with gremlins coming out of every hole and crack that would lead them to the surface. The dwarves in the fort couldn’t believe their eyes. The gremlins didn’t seem to be going to anything, just from the underground chambers. There were too many for them to count, and seemed to be everywhere all at once. Soon they were coming in range of the archers. A few arrows their way and the gremlins would go running and screaming in a different direction.
A large group of them started out towards the Northwood. The banners from the men of the Four Kingdoms were now visible from the fort. They could see the red ones form the Middle Kingdom, The blue from the Kingdom of Ril, the Dark blue of the Kings Guard. The Kingdom of Myr had their black banners, and of course the green of the Royal Scouts of South Fort.
A wave of gremlins charged off in that direction only to be turned back by the arrows, swords and shields of the army of men. The gremlins ran back screaming and yelling and then tried to break through in a different spot. They could not figure out why the men would not just let them go. Their leader was dead, and they had no more reason to attack the men. But the armies of the Four Kingdoms didn’t know that, and would not have let a massive enemy army go anyway.
The wave of gremlins swept back past the fort and was met with a hail of arrows. It would then rush off in another direction.
The trio of Sarchise, Thador, and Amlius finally made the surface. It was atop an old watchtower that had not been found out by the gremlins. There they could see around the whole of the mountain kingdom.
They saw green masses of gremlin, running to and fro; They could see the armies of men in a semicircle running east to west, with no gaps and no way around. Off in the distance, to the north, Sarchise could see a small city partially hidden by the mountains. They were near the peak of the tallest mountain. It was very cold and had snow and ice on the ground beneath them.
Thador lit a fire in the tower smokestack and soon the three were warm. Sarchise finally asked, “What city is that to the north of us?”
Thador looked and said, “We are not supposed to tell, and I should not have brought you up here or you would not have seen it. That being said and since you already know of their existence that is the city of the valkyries.”
“I thought they lived by the borders of the Westwood and I had woken them up by my walking in their gate.” Sarchise said.
“Old elves tales.” Thador said, mockingly, and then realized that Amlius was standing there. “Sorry, but that is what we call the old myths here.”
“So they were here all along.” Sarchise said.
“Yes, it was our job to protect their secret. They had two cities, one that was lost, and one that was hidden. Both of which were built for them by the dwarves. They have been good allies to us. It was they, who would sneak food to us at night, as often as they could. It didn’t keep us fat and happy, but it kept us alive.” Thador said.
“That is why they were there when I was attacked. They were trying to get food to you when they saw my predicament and came to help.” Sarchise commented.
The Last Battle
The King’s men with banners unfurled were daily moving forward. The King had fond hopes of the dwarves finishing this one and he and his men being spared. He wanted the trap set just in case however. He should not have done it, but when the messenger had come through with a message for Cazz, he had opened it. It had read that the gremlins might try and go back to the Iron Mountains. This was unacceptable to the King, so he sent the message on and positioned his forces so as to cut off any escape. He was not going to let them retake their stronghold and start up the breeding pits again.
Still he was in no hurry to lose a lot of men. He would move slow and let the dwarves have the lion’s share of casualties. The King was awoken this morning by one of his guards. “Sir, there is activity in the mountains.” The guard had said, The King watched as gremlins started coming out of every entrance and hole that the mountain had. It was just a curiosity at first but then a wave of gremlins started coming in their direction.
The men were called into battle formations and when the gremlins came near, the archers were the first to engage. The gremlins were yelling and shrieking before the arrows let fly, but they got all the louder afterwards. Still they came on and smashed into the shield wall. That was when the battle really started. They nearly broke through in a couple of places but the King rushed up the reserves just in time and was able to drive them back.
The King could not see a strategy behind the attack. They did not come with all of their forces and some of them, in the rush, had forgotten to take weapons with them. Those had just leapt against the shield wall in hopes of knocking it down.
The enemy headed off in a different direction. They attacked again, against the armies of men, but failed to break through. Then they surrounded the fort but were driven back by arrows. They degenerated into a hopeless rabble. That is when the King saw groups of white clad horsemen, on white horses start chasing down and annihilating small groups of gremlins. He also saw the dwarves rush out of their tunnels and the fort and start driving the gremlins off of the mountain.
Gremlins that fled before the dwarves again came against the shield wall of men. Arrows were flying in both directions and the gremlins were trying to flee in every direction. The King motioned his men forward. It was time to end this. The enemy was now trapped between the two armies. Those that were able to escape the trap were ridden down by the valkyries. It was then, only a matter of time before the last of the gremlins fell to sword and axe. Man and dwarf met in the middle of the battlefield, allies at last.
Sarchise and his companions, seeing that they were missing a good fight, left the comfort of the heated watchtower and went back through the halls of the dwarves, and out the main gate. By the time they got through, all of the gremlins had been driven off the mountains. They rushed to the foot of the mountains to the fort. Finding the fort empty, they ran to where the battle still raged. It was there that about twenty gremlins started to charge the trio, but before they could make contact with them, the valkyries ran the gremlins down. All they could do at this point was watch the mop up operations and complain about how they missed out on the last battle.
They did not miss out on the clean up. It lasted three days. The dead gremlins had to be piled up and burned. Wounded men, dwarves and valkyries had to be taken to the healers. The dead were buried at the base of the fort and a list of names was carved into the walls of the fort of all the dead. It took up the whole south wall.
After the cleanup, Sarchise spent a few days with the dwarf King in his halls. He had the body of Tabor burned and cleaned up his Great Hall. The gremlins had destroyed much of the artwork and scattered everything else around. So it would be another clean up under the mountain too. The King did have his gleaners go out to the fields and harvest that little bit that the gremlins had left in their haste. They were also blessed with some meat from the hidden city of the valkyries.
All in all it was going to be a meager winter for the dwarves of the Lonely Mountains. Amlius had said his good-byes before Sarchise headed back down to the tunnels. Sarchise said his good-byes a few days later. He knew the longer he and his army stayed there, the less food that those dwarves would have. So after a hurried underground clean up, he took his army south.
Their first stop was the Kingdom of Ril. When Sarchise entered into the hall of the King he saw that the dwarves had finished the carving of the King’s father. They also did a likeness of King Mortimur while they were at it. He would sit and admire them both from his throne.
“Welcome Sarchise.” The King said, “But where is your army?”
“Nonsense, said the King. I will not hear of you leaving without a proper victory feast.” The King clapped his hands and servants came out of the side doors.
One he sent to fetch the dwarf army and another to fetch certain members of his army. Soon tables appeared, laden with fruit, bread, and cheese, all sorts of meat and wine of all kinds. And yes he even had some ale to serve his guests. The army marched in ranks and let themselves be seated. Dolgren came and was set next to Sarchise.
The King clapped his hands and said, “Let the feast begin.” With that Sarchise and the dwarves ate like they hadn’t eaten in a long, long time.
Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, the King told Sarchise that Ermort sent his regrets that he could not be there when Sarchise came off the mountains, as he had other duties to attend to.
After the feast the King provided Sarchise and his dwarves with rooms for the night. It was the first time that Sarchise had slept in a city in years. His room overlooked the Kings palace and the courtyards below. He could hear music in the distance and for the first time felt truly at peace.
In the morning the dwarf army marched out of the city to cheering crowds that lined the streets throwing flowers at them. Sarchise had to tell the dwarves that this was a friendly gesture; otherwise a fight might have broken out. The dwarves didn’t like the flowers all the same.
Sarchise took his army straight south from the land of Ril. It was getting to be late fall and he didn’t want to risk an early winter storm in the mountain passes. It took him a few extra days, but the dwarves were well provisioned by the King. He had even left them with a promise that he would keep the dwarves of the north alive during the winter and help them with seed and herds for the spring planting.
