Anna rode on a white stallion behind Grundel. She wore tan leather pants with a white shirt. The white shirt had a high V-cut in the front with ruffles along the V and around the collar. She wore a white fur cape hanging over her shoulders and down over the back of the horse.
Next to Anna rode Jacob. His bald head shone in the sun. He had allowed his facial hair to grow out over the last couple of days. Without the dirt and grime that he had constantly rubbed in it when he was trying not to be discovered, his facial hair was obviously the metallic blonde of the Patria line. He was adorned in similar clothing as Grundel.
In front of Grundel, Captain Thompson rode with two other palace guards. They were adorned in full armor. The polished steel gleamed in the sun. Behind Anna, Jerrie rode a large black stallion. He wore his normal pants, but he did let them put a new cream-colored shirt on him. Ruffles were where he drew the line, so his shirt was simple with three buttons below the neck. Under his shirt, around his wrist, he wore his magically enchanted leather bracers. He wore his regular pants and under his clothing he wore magically enchanted undergarments that would protect him better than steel plate.
Flucht stood behind Jerrie’s horse. He had refused to let Anna out of his sight. “I promised King Stoneheart I would bring his queen back and I will not let her be taken or hurt. I must remain near her to obey the orders of King Stoneheart.” When Master Brennin had tried to insist that he rode a horse like the others, he had simply stated, “I trust my legs more than the legs of that beast.”
Others had tried to persuade him, but he offered no further explanation. He walked out behind Jerrie’s horse and took his own position. He had allowed Master Brennin to put a shirt over his upper body. They had convinced him that the marks of chaos would be disturbing to the people of the city.
Master Brennin was running around inspecting everyone and making corrections. Finally he announced it was time and told Captain Thompson to lead the way out of the palace grounds. Captain Thompson kicked his horse into motion and they all began to walk slowly out of the palace gate. As they came out of the gate, there was a line of a dozen soldiers on each side of the street. They fell into step along the side of the street with the first guards just behind the rear flank of Captain Thompson’s horse. The last soldier on each side walked along the side of the rode in line with Flucht.
People had crammed into the street and down the alleys branching off of it. Grundel had been amazed at how many people had come out when he and his mother had been paraded through the street. This was unbelievable. People couldn’t move if they wanted to. People were shoulder to shoulder on rooftops; others hung out windows of houses and shops. The guards had roped off the street, but they could barely keep the people form pushing forward.
“This is unbelievable,” Grundel said, turning back toward his mother. He had to shout to be heard over the cheering crowd.
“It’s the return of the man who was supposed to be their king,” she shouted back. She looked over at her brother. He smiled back at her.
“They got the king they needed,” he told her.
“And I got the brother I needed,” she said, reaching out her hand. He took it and she raised it. The crowd cheered even louder. It took hours for them to ride through the city. Crowds cheered and they could all barely hear by the time they were coming back down the street toward the palace gate. They were a block from the gate when everything changed.
Flucht was the one to give the warning. “Watch the windows!”
Jerrie looked up just in time. A crossbowman appeared in the second story window of one of the buildings on the left. Jerrie leapt forward off of his horse. He was incredibly fast, but with the aid of his magic glove his blade knife was out faster than the eye could see. He called out to his blade, mentally changing the dagger into a sword. His sword deflected the bolt aimed at Jacob. The bolt dug into the shoulder of Jacob’s horse.
Jacob showed incredible dexterity, reaching out and grabbing the saddle horn of Anna’s horse and pulling himself onto her horse. He wrapped his arms around his sister and threw up a magical shied. Another crossbow bolt came from the other side of the street. The magical barrier stopped it. Magical barriers weren’t something he was very good at. He was very good at creating ice magic, but he was weak in most other types of magic. His barrier would only stop a couple more bolts. Luckily for him, he didn’t need to.
Grundel brought horse back, and Flucht came up on the opposite side of Jerrie and knocked away the next bolt with his huge sword. The soldiers raised their crossbows and fired multiple arrows into each of the windows that bolts had come from. Soldiers who had originally been blocking the crowd now tried to push through it into the buildings.
Screams came from up ahead of them. A dozen Black Dragon assassins with three wizards walking behind them. This was an all-out attack. This wasn’t the way the Black Dragons normally fought. They were obviously desperate to kill or capture the queen and possibly Jacob as well. Luckily for Grundel, this was exactly how dwarves liked to fight. Flucht was at his side before he was on the ground. Jerrie came up on the other side. The guards closed in and surrounded the queen and Prince Patria as they dismounted.
“Stay behind us,” Captain Thompson shouted as he fell in next to Jerrie. The two guards with him fell in on their flanks.
A ball of fire shot forward but Grundel leapt forward, and the belt buckle absorbed the magical blast. Three of the Black Dragon assassins fired crossbows. Jerrie’s sword shot out and knocked down the bolt that would have caught Captain Thompson in the face. Grundel turned his axe and the bolt that would have caught him in the neck bounced harmlessly off his axe.
Flucht didn’t even try to dodge or deflect as the second of the Black Dragons raised their crossbows he charged. The bolt was able to penetrate Flucht’s steel skin, just barely. The bolt fell out of his shoulder as he raised his sword. The assassin was attempting to reload his crossbow as Flucht came charging in. The assassin next to him stepped between them, drawing a pair of daggers. Flucht’s long sword came out wide and cut cleanly through the assassin. When he fell away, the assassin behind him also fell backwards with a huge gash across his abdomen. He had killed two assassins with a single stroke. The second was just dying a little slower than the first.
Grundel charged after Flucht. He wasn’t as fast as Flucht. His axe came down easily, driving through the sword of the Black Dragon who leapt out in front. His axe cut clean through his shoulder, nearly to the opposite hip. He pulled his axe free as he spun around to bring his axe down on the next Black Dragon, but the delay of the first assassin had given him enough time to reload his crossbow. He fired the crossbow as he was raising it up. Grundel caught a crossbow bolt in his right thigh just before his axe cut through the right arm and into the chest of the Black Dragon. His momentum had him spinning, but his leg wouldn’t hold his weight. He fell and rolled forward to his knee.
Jerrie ran forward. The assassin next to the crossbowman tried to step in front of him to give him time to reload, but Jerrie had already released his first dagger. Before he reached the assassin, he had a dagger in each hand. The assassin held two daggers. Jerrie charged in hard like he was going to try to get in close. The Black Dragon did what he expected and tried a quick forward thrust. Jerrie leapt into the air, flipping over the head of the assassin. His dagger came across the shoulder of the assassin just inches from the neck, severing muscle and tendon. The second his feet hit the ground he was already spinning. His blade ran across the back of both knees. Both legs and one arm were useless. Jerrie kept moving. He slid one dagger into his belt and retrieved the dagger from the crossbowman’s face as he ran toward the three wizards. He heard Captain Thompson finish off the assassin behind him.
Grundel and Flucht were moving forward together when a ball of ice flew between them and smashed into the magical barrier in front of the three wizards. A wall of flame erupted out of the ground in front of them. Grundel realized too late that his belt wasn’t going to a
bsorb the flames directed at him. He stumbled back away from the wall. Flucht ran through flames as if they weren’t even there. Grundel lifted his second axe off of his back and threw the first at the wizard in the center. His axe blew through the magical barrier, but the wizard was able to dodge it. Grundel guided the axe back mentally, but the wizard must have known about his weapons. He rolled forward before the axe slammed into his back and the axe came back to Grundel without hitting anyone.
Jerrie slid to a halt in front of the wall flame. He saw Flucht closing in on the wizard on the right. Jerrie was about to call on the magic of the ring he had found when something unexpected happened. The crowd that had initially fallen back in fear surged forward. The wizards were buried by dozens of angry people. The one in the middle was able to travel away. The one on the left was trampled and the people stomped on him long after he stopped moving. The wizard on the right fired a string of black tendrils at Flucht, but the God of Chaos had created him. The magical attack of chaos had no effect on him and his sword cut through the wizard before he could even register his surprise that his most powerful attack had been completely ignored.
The crowd cheered as the last of the Black Dragons was killed. They had also rushed into buildings and killed other assassins. Black Dragon crossbowman were thrown off of windows or off of the roofs of at least a dozen different buildings around them. The Black Dragons were defeated. They had been banned from the city, and after this the people of Patria weren’t going to allow them refuge any further. The people of Patria created a wall on each side of the street straight to the palace gate. They cheered the Patrias all the way into the gate. The gate closed behind them as they came through.
Grundel leaned heavily on Flucht as they walked up to the palace. Master Brennin came rushing out. He assessed the situation and went straight to Grundel. “Prince Grundel, you really must make a better effort not to be wounded. One of these days I won’t be around to save you.”
Grundel laughed. “Master Brennin, did you just make a joke?”
“I do not joke, Your Highness, it is not proper.” Master Brennin looked at Flucht. “Take him up to his room. Leave the bolt in. I will meet you there with the supplies to remove and mend the wound.” Flucht led Grundel into the palace, and Brennin turned to Anna and Jacob. “Are either of you wounded?”
Anna shook her head. “We are all fine, Master Brennin. Grundel is the only one who will need your attention for the moment.”
“Of course, Your Highness. I will get someone to take the horses and draw baths in each of your rooms. I am sure you could all use a soak,” he said and then took off into the palace. A group of servants came rushing out to take the horses to the stables. They all made their way into the palace and up to Grundel’s room.
Grundel sat on the edge of the bed. The crossbow bolt stuck out of the front of his thigh. Everyone was in the room waiting for Master Brennin. He came in with a bag of bandages and a jar of something. He knelt down in front of Grundel and examined the wound. “The bolt is lodged in the bone. We will have to pull it out. I can give you some poppy to numb the pain. We will have to wait a few minutes for it to start working.”
Grundel cut him off. “Master Brennin, I don’t need Poppy. Flucht, will you pull it out?”
Flucht bent down and looked at Grundel. He nodded. Flucht put one hand on the leg and grabbed the bolt with his other. He yanked on the shaft and the bolt came free. Blood that had been slowly oozing out of the wound began to pour more freely.
Master Brennin rubbed the ointment from the jar on one of the bandages. He wrapped it around the wound and tied the knot on top. He wrapped another bandage around the first in order to absorb any additional blood.
Grundel looked up and saw that Captain Thompson was staring at him. “What?”
“You didn’t even flinch,” he replied.
“I’m a dwarf,” Grundel said plainly.
Captain Thompson just shook his head, and for the first time they all heard Flucht laugh.
“Well, we made it through the parade. Now we just have to get through the feast,” Anna said.
“Hopefully no one tries to poison us this time,” Grundel said jokingly. No one laughed.
Chapter Eighteen
The Road to Patria
When King Patria returned, the infamous brothers Dobo and Gobo were waiting in the king’s hall. “Think we’re gonna see any trouble?” Dobo asked the king when he walked in. They looked so similar Patria was only able to recognize them by what weapon they carried. Dobo was the one with the war hammer. Others said they identified them by specific noticeable scars on their faces, but he wasn’t able to remember either by a specific scar. They were both very particular about their weapons. They always had them with them.
“My brother is a little anxious. He hasn’t killed anything since the last time we went to Patria; we’ve been cooped up ever since. We aren’t like other dwarves, ya know. We gotta get out every once in a while. Dobo’s gone so crazy he’s been huntin’ lizards,” Gobo said.
King Patria couldn’t help but smile. He had seen these two in action and knew how capable they were. He had to admit he was glad they were coming with him. “Would you two be coming if King Stoneheart didn’t expect that you would be needed?”
Dobo and Gobo looked at each other. “He’s got a point,” Gobo said with a smile.
“Well, then let’s get going. Where’s the little one?” Dobo said.
“Just because you’re wider doesn’t mean you’re not little,” came a voice from the doorway.
Both dwarves turned and ran to the door. The two dwarves wrapped the halfling up in a hug squeezing him between them. “Little one, where ya been?” Dobo asked.
“He’s been getting all the action,” Gobo said.
“I can’t breathe,” Rundo whispered from between the two dwarves.
They both stepped back, dropping Rundo to the ground. “Well, now you’ll get to spend some time with your pony. He been lonely out there. We all been goin’ out there, but he was always lookin’ south. He was waitin’ for you.”
“Yeah, it’ll be nice to be back with Bumbo and Messah. When are we leaving anyway?”
“We can leave now if you all are ready. My soldiers are waiting at the base of the mountain,” King Patria said.
Rundo looked back at Evelyn, who smiled and nodded. Rundo looked to the dwarf brothers and smiled.
“Let’s get movin’,” Dobo said.
King Patria led them out of the mountain. Grizzle, Jabaal, Kraft, and Frau were waiting just outside the entrance of Shinestone. Frau went over and stood in front of the two dwarves as they walked out onto the landing. “Bring them both back,” she told them.
The two dwarves knew about the queen’s relationship with King Stoneheart’s son. They both brought their fists to their chest in salute. “We’ll bring um back, Queen Gemcutter, even if we got to fight all the way here,” Dobo said.
“I’m sure you’d love that, Dobo,” she said and stepped out of the way. Dobo and Gobo saluted the queen and the two dwarf kings. Kraft and Grizzle saluted back and they all made their way down the steps of the mountain.
Rundo’s striped pony Bumbo was waiting anxiously at the bottom of the steps. Rundo ran down the last couple of steps to Bumbo. He threw his arms around the pony’s neck. Bumbo had been with him since he was a boy and now, with the druid link between them, their bond was even stronger. He reached through the link, opening up his emotions to Bumbo. Bumbo’s excitement came pouring through. Rundo ran his hand down the back of the pony’s neck. Evelyn came over and began rubbing Bumbo’s neck as well. Rundo’s hawk, Messah, came flying down and landed on his shoulder. He scratched the bird’s head before she buried it in his neck. “I’ve missed you too,” he said to the hawk.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re back together, now let’s get movin’,” Dobo said.
King Patria went over and spoke with General Douglas and the lieutenant who would be in charge of the platoon of twenty sold
iers that were going to escort them. He had originally planned to take a company, but had decided that that really wouldn’t be necessary. It would be better to leave those men here with the rest of the army. Once he had met the lieutenant and was informed that the men were ready to move, he turned to the others. “We are ready whenever you are. Dobo and Gobo, you can take the lead.”
“Oh, we’ll take the lead, King Patria. Best place to be is in the front. That way you don’t miss out on any fightin’,” Dobo said.
Gobo just shook his head at his brother, but he had a big smile on his face. He wasn’t as outspoken as his brother but the others all knew he was just as anxious and was hoping for anything but safe travels.
Dobo and Gobo started walking south. Rundo climbed on Bumbo’s back. Messah rested on his shoulder. Evelyn rode one of the horses that Shinestone had collected from the wizards and druids arriving on horses and then departing quickly by other means. The soldiers walked. They all carried their weapons, but most of them had their armor spread out and packed on the backs of the three horses. King Patria rode behind Rundo and Evelyn, with Lieutenant Ellis riding alongside of him. When they stopped the first night, Dobo and Gobo sat at the fire with King Patria, Lt. Ellis, Rundo, and Evelyn.
“It’s roughly a nine-day trip to Patria. If we can keep this pace, we should be able to make it a seven-day trip,” Dobo said.
King Patria looked at Lieutenant Ellis, who nodded. “You all set the pace and we will do our best to keep up. Right now, it doesn’t seem like the men are struggling too much so we should be able to make it.”
The next four days were uneventful. They were up and moving every morning shortly after sun up and they walked until just before sundown. They stopped to rest and water the horses two or three times a day. It was the fifth night since they had left Shinestone. The soldiers were taking watch in two man shifts. They all slept in the center of the camp near the fire with the soldiers around the perimeter. Just before dawn, they all woke to the sound of someone screaming.
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 51
