It didn’t take him long to reach the army. They had already broken camp and were marching toward Evermount. He flew over the army, dropping the snakes in the middle of their ranks. He felt bad that the snakes would all be killed, but this would disturb the army more than the rocks had. One day rocks had fallen from the sky, and the next big poisonous snakes fell on them. It would help break their will. He had just dropped the snakes when a ball of fire flew at him. The fireball was moving fast, but he was hundreds of feet in the air. He tilted his body, swerving easily out of the path of the ball of fire. He flew away from the army, up and out of range of the wizards.
By the time the sun was high in the sky he was within sight of Shinestone. He was surprised to find huge walls around the mountain. There was only one way into the fields that surrounded the mountain, and that path had high walls on both sides. They would be able to hold off the army for a long time and weaken the army drastically before they ever got to the mountain. Between the walls and the mountain, Shinestone was nearly as defensible as Evermount. It would be almost impossible to find a better defense than the miles of winding stairs that led up to Evermount’s entrance. He alit on the landing outside the entrance that had once been a large animal pen. He landed and quickly shifted back into his halfling form. Once he was dressed, he reached out through the link to Bumbo, who was running in the open field between the mountain and the wall. He felt Bumbo’s excitement through the link, and he sent his own back to the pony before walking into the mountain. The guards didn’t try to stop him. There weren’t a lot of hawks changing into halflings, so he was pretty easy to identify.
“Rundo, you’re back,” Frau said when he walked into the room. Grizzle and Kraft both turned around.
Rundo approached them. He saluted King Kraft, bringing his hand to his chest. He turned to do the same to Grizzle, but Grizzle cut him off.
“Ah, get over here,” he said as he grabbed Rundo up and hugged him. Rundo went over to Frau next, who also hugged him. “Well how’s our boy?” Grizzle asked.
“He is well,” Rundo answered. He looked at the three of them, and saw that they were all waiting to hear what he had to say. “Well, should I tell you everything that has happened or just skip to the end?” he asked.
Kraft laughed. “What good would the story be if you skipped to the end? Let’s hear it, we got time.” Frau and Grizzle both laughed at that.
Rundo described being attacked by the orcs on the road, how they were attacked by the Black Dragons before and during the parade, how the queen had tried to kill Grundel and Anna, how the king had executed her, how they went after the Black Dragons, and then what the king had told them about the meeting with Bergmann and how Patria planned to join the fight.
“That is all great,” said Jabaal, walking up behind him. “But what about the other thing?”
Rundo looked at him with confusion. “What other thing?”
“Well, you went into a lot of detail about a lot of things, but none of them explain why you are so happy, or why you have been smiling the whole time you told a very dangerous story. So, who is she?” Jabaal asked.
Rundo looked at the others, and they were all smiling at him. “Her name is Evelyn. She is the druid I met in the woods on the way here. I went and warned her about the army when I left. She took me to the druid community in the forest. We warned their Elders. I stopped there on the way back to warn them that the army is on its way and they need to clear out. I actually dropped some big rocks on the army as I flew over, and one of the Black Dragon assassins came into the community and tried to kill me in the night. He failed. I dropped half a dozen large poisonous snakes into the army when I flew over them coming here.”
Grizzle laughed. “See that priest? Even when asked directly about the woman he still finds a way to change the subject, giving out interesting bits of information for us to grab onto instead of asking more about the girl.”
Jabaal laughed. “Yes, Rundo, that is all interesting, but what about Evelyn?”
Rundo dropped his head in defeat. He felt his face get warm and he knew he was blushing. “She is a druid, and she is beautiful. She has dark brown hair that hangs in big curls down her back. She has big brown eyes. She is an honest and caring person, and she likes me.”
“Well, when can we meet this brown-haired beauty of yours?” Grizzle asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t want her around for the fighting. When this is all over, maybe I can convince her to come meet everyone,” Rundo said.
“Sounds good to me,” Jabaal said.
“Well, now that that’s done, let’s move on. The army was supposed to march in two days, so that would be tomorrow. I think I should fly back to Grundel. With those walls out there, if we can attack Bergmann from behind with Patria’s army while you assault them from the walls, Bergmann won’t have a chance,” Rundo said.
“Especially now that your friend Anwar left us with a way to fight the wizards,” Kraft said.
Rundo looked over at Grizzle. Grizzle smiled at him. “You can go back to Grundel tomorrow. We have a lot to talk about, plus we want to hear more about this girl.”
Chapter Twenty
Marching to War
“Are you sure I should not come with you, Your Highness?” Master Brennin asked.
“Master Brennin, the king and the heir to the throne are both marching off to war. If you come with us, who is going take care of this city? You are the most capable person in Patria, and that is why I am leaving you as steward until I return,” King Patria said, loud enough for the dozen soldiers in the room to hear him. He then held out a piece of paper. “Here, this declares you steward of Patria until the king or the heir returns. You have the final say over everything that happens in this city. I sent copies of that to the nobility this morning. They probably won’t like it, but they will honor it.”
“Your Highness—” Brennin began to protest, but the king cut him off.
“Master Brennin, you have been telling me how to rule this kingdom for years, and you told the last king what to do also. You know what needs to be done better than anyone. You are in charge. Now, I really must be going. The army is ready to march,” the king said.
Master Brennin was defeated. He bowed his head. “Of course, Your Highness. I will do my best in your absence.”
The king rested his hand on Master Brennin’s shoulder. “I know you will,” he said, and then turned and walked out of the palace.
“Are you ready, Your Highness?” Grundel asked as the king walked down the palace steps.
“I am as ready as I am going to be,” King Patria answered.
Grundel nodded. “These four soldiers are members of the White Dragons, Your Highness. They have been chosen as the four most capable at fighting wizards. They will be your personal guard until you return to the palace. Captain Douglas is still recovering, and though he wanted to come, Master Brennin forbade it. He asked me to lead the White Dragons at least until the fight is over.”
“I think that was a wise decision. You are, after all, the one with the most experience,” the king said.
“I am actually not. That is why I recommended that Jerrie be placed in charge of the White Dragons. His way of fighting the Black Dragons will be much more like the soldiers’. He has also been fighting Black Dragons much longer than I have. Captain Douglas agreed. But I wanted to make sure you approved before I spoke with him about it. He is the one who has been training the White Dragons the most,” Grundel explained to the king.
“Grundel, this is your area of knowledge. I trust your advice here. If you think that Jerrie is the best choice, then Jerrie is now a Captain in the Patria army,” the king declared.
Grundel smiled. “I will go let him know of his new position, Your Highness,” Grundel said, then turned and walked over to the small formation of soldiers that was obviously the White Dragons. They didn’t have anything to identify them from the other soldiers. They had all agreed that it would be best if the wizards coul
dn’t identify who would be able to fight them during the battle.
“Jerrie,” Grundel said as he walked over to the group of soldiers. “Or should I say, Captain Jerrie?” Grundel said, smiling.
Jerrie looked at him suspiciously. “What?”
“You are the commander of the White Dragons. Captain Douglas will not be coming to Shinestone with us. You have been chosen to lead the White Dragons in his absence, Captain,” Grundel said, still smiling. He knew Jerrie was more of a loner.
“I’m not qualified for something like this,” Jerrie said.
“Who is more qualified? You may not be qualified to lead a traditional unit, even though I am sure you would do a great job, but this is a unit designed specifically to fight Black Dragons. Who has more experience with that than you?” Grundel asked.
Jerrie looked over his shoulder at the group of soldiers. The plan was to have a hundred men for this unit, but right now there were less than forty. They were getting better, and with the help of that wizard they could probably be fairly effective. Jerrie knew the wizard probably wouldn’t be coming back with them. Once the other wizards identified him in the battle, he would become their prime target. He had talked to the man about this, and the wizard had just smiled and said, “Then make sure the others kill as many of those bastards as they can before they take me out.” Jerrie had to admire the man’s commitment, even if it was going to literally get him killed. He looked back at Grundel. “Okay, I will do it, but just until we get back. Then its Douglas’s problem again.”
“Good. Now, Captain, we are about to leave. Get your men in formation,” Grundel said, and then turned and walked back toward the king, smiling.
Jerrie shook his head and gathered his men up. He led them over to fall in behind the king in the formation. The first half of the army was marching through the city, which meant that the front of the army was probably already outside the gate.
Rundo left early the next morning. He was flying southwest toward Patria, but he wanted to see where Bergmann’s army was. After a few hours in the air he saw them in the distance. He landed in the trees ahead of the army. He found a number of rattlesnakes, but left them alone for now. His goal was something else. He couldn’t just go flying over the army again; he had to keep changing things up. There were dozens of wild boar running through this tree line. He flew low through the trees, herding the pigs that weighed hundreds of pounds apiece and had sharp, dangerous tusks protruding from their faces. Close to twenty of them went charging out of the trees and toward the army. Rundo flew back over to the rattlesnakes. These snakes weren’t nearly as big as the others, but he came up with more of them. He watched as the boars blew through the front line of the unsuspecting army. A couple of the huge pigs were killed at the front line, but more than half blew through into the army’s ranks. Rundo flew past the pigs and dropped the rattlesnakes into the army. The wizards were too focused on trying to stop the chaos to even pay him any attention. He flew away from the army towards Patria without a single magical attack coming his way.
Bumbo began neighing, and Grundel smiled. “Rundo is back,” he said.
“What? Where?” the King asked.
Grundel looked at the king. “You see how his pony is acting? He is linked with the pony. Bumbo knows he is close.” The king was looking around the army. Grundel laughed. “You’re looking the wrong direction, Your Highness,” he said pointing to the dark spot in the sky that was growing as it got closer.
Rundo saw that the army was already well outside the city and marching north when he arrived. He didn’t come down near the army, though; he didn’t want one of the soldiers to shoot him.
Grundel watched the huge bird land near a group of trees about a mile ahead of the front line of troops. Bumbo was tethered to his saddle and he untied the pony’s tether. When the pony was free, it took off toward where Grundel had seen Rundo land. A few minutes later he watched his friend ride toward them on his black-and-gray-striped pony.
“Good morning, Your Highness,” Rundo said as he rode up.
“Good morning, Rundo,” the king responded.
“So how did it go?” Grundel asked.
Rundo smiled. He told them how he had dropped the rocks, and then the snakes, on the enemy army. He told them about the huge walls that Anwar had raised up around Shinestone, and the weapons and armor he had made for them to fight the wizards. He then told them how he had sent a stampede of boar into the enemy army and then flew overhead, dropping nearly a dozen rattlesnakes into their ranks before flying back to Patria.
Captain Thompson pulled his horse up beside the kings as Rundo was finishing his story. “After more than a month of marching, things like that will put the enemy’s army on the brink of destruction. Things like that will start being seen as signs. Men will start claiming the gods are against them. They will start to fight amongst themselves, especially with three separate units, and then men will begin to question why they are fighting for the dwarves’ cause. Those things may seem like just antagonistic acts of an individual, but I can almost guarantee that army is falling apart. Even with very solid leadership, they are having issues.”
The king nodded his head. “Well, that is what we are hoping for. The weaker we can make the enemies’ will, the better. Captain, I want you to get with some of your lieutenants, the White Dragon wizard, and Rundo, and start coming up with some more ways to break the enemies’ army before they make it to Shinestone. The more men that desert or kill each other, the fewer men we will have to fight,” the king said.
“Yes, Your Highness,” the captain said, and then turned his horse and rode toward the back of the formation, most likely to talk with the wizard.
It had been two weeks since Bergmann had met with the king of Patria, and the army had been harassed every day since. Rocks had fallen from the sky, then snakes, then the wild pigs had killed or wounded dozens of men while at the same time poisonous snakes had been dropped from the sky killing dozens of others. Snakes had been dropped a few more times, and so had rocks, and even a hornet’s nest. The men were constantly staring up into the sky. It was even worse now, because over the last couple of days, snakes had fallen into the camp every night, and then hours later fires had erupted. Now the men weren’t getting any sleep on top of marching and training.
Dirigente had sent wizards and assassins back to harry the other army three separate times. No one had returned from the first two attacks, and only one of the wizards had returned the last night. He reported that they had killed about a dozen soldiers, but their patrols were ready for them. The wizard had barely escaped with his life. Someone had stabbed him with a magically enchanted dagger, cutting right through his shield and into his leg. It had just barely missed his artery. After talking with the wizard they concluded that Patria had at least one wizard who was traveling the men with the magical weapons to the point of attack. They decided to stop attacking the other army then; it just wasn’t worth losing wizards every time. The Patria army was about a day behind them, and they were about a day away from Shinestone.
Now he had to deal with all the deserters. Men were running away every night. The problem now was that the men thought that, if they got caught, it would be a quick death, whereas if they stayed they might die one of the other crazy ways men had been dying. There were over two dozen men to execute tonight. He oversaw the executions every day. Only about half of the men who tried to escape were captured, so tonight he was going to make a statement. He had the commanders of the men wrap ropes around the necks of the men who had tried to escape, and then the ropes were thrown over tree branches. The men from the unit of the man being executed had to pull on the rope and lift the man off the ground. One of the commanders refused, and Bergmann could see in his eyes he was choosing to die over killing any more of his men. He was hung with the others.
When the executions were done, Bergmann found that the scouts had returned. They reported that Shinestone now had huge walls surrounding the mountain, and
there was only one road to the mountain with high walls on each side of the road. Bergmann knew that they would lose a large part of their force between the walls, but that is what he brought the humans for. The dwarves up on those walls would make easy targets for the wizards. It would slow his army down a little, but with the wizards it wouldn’t be nearly as useful as the dwarves of Shinestone expected it to be. The thing that really bothered him was how they had raised the walls so quickly. It didn’t matter: he had the wizards, he had his army, and he had the humans to push out front in case of any traps. Shinestone would be his in a couple of days.
King Patria was woken up in the middle of the night. A man who had escaped the other army had brought a message to be delivered only to the king.
Chapter Twenty-One
Springing the Trap
Bergmann knew that by the time his forces were inside the new walls of Shinestone, he would be attacked by the Patria army from the rear. He had his army up early, hoping to get a head start on the Patria army, but despite having marched his men toward Shinestone before the sun came up, he already saw the torches of the Patria army approaching behind his army in the distance. He marched his army ahead faster, giving orders to his men.
“Rupert, go to the back and make sure that my dwarves know that they are not to come forward until they get the call. We will make it past this wall with the human army and the wizards. Once we get past the wall, I will call up the troops from Tiefes Loch and send back the human army to hold off the Patria army. Once we are inside the walls, we can use those walls to hold them off while my dwarves take the mountain.”
“As you command, King Bergmann,” Rupert said, and then turned toward the back of the army.
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 37
