Grundel and Flucht broke through the line and turned outward, moving down the line to attack the exposed flanks of the dwarves. Jerrie ran the dozen steps to the back of the other dwarf wall. Grundel, Flucht, and Rundo would be able to fight off the dozen or so dwarves they faced. With the dwarves having to fight the superior fighters in Dobo, Gobo, Grundel, Flucht, and having Rundo’s daggers flying in any time the dwarves left themselves exposed, they wouldn’t last long. Jerrie ran across the open space. He came up behind the shield wall and drove his daggers into two of the dwarves in the center just under their helmets at the base of their skull, and just like that he gave the soldiers of Patria an opening.
He rolled down the line, cutting the back of one of the dwarf’s knees. He was about to cut through the Achilles tendon of the next dwarf when the dwarf stumbled back on top of him. The soldiers charged through the gap, swinging wildly. Jerrie and the dwarf tried to wrestle free of each other while trying to defend against the soldiers swords coming down on them. Jerrie used the enchanted bracers on his arms, stopping and deflecting the soldier’s blades.
“Stop, Stop, Stop,” he shouted. The soldiers finally realized they weren’t attacking a dwarf and stopped. The dwarf was already dead. Jerrie had deflected most of the blows but he had deflected one of the swords straight into his own thigh. One of the soldiers helped him up, and Jerrie looked down the line. Dobo and Gobo finished off the dwarves on their side of the dwarf wall and came rushing to fight the dwarves facing the human soldiers. The last of the dwarves of Patria get smashed between Dobo and Gobo, their spiked arms driving into him from each side. When he looked down the line of soldiers he saw that soldiers of Patria had crashed against the dwarves shield wall a couple at a time as they come rushing up the street. The dwarves had fended them off too easily. Nearly two dozen of Patria’s soldiers lay severely wounded or dead on the cobbles. The trap had worked, but there had been more dwarves than they had expected.
Captain Thompson had gone the opposite direction of Jerrie, attacking the dwarves from the back and creating another gap in the shield wall further down the line. Now he took control of the soldiers. “Get all the wounded back to the palace. Search these buildings for the soldiers who are missing. Keep some soldiers with Prince Stoneheart.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Chaos in Tiefes Loch
General Moglin sat in his chair, in his room, staring at the wall in anticipation. He felt his link break with the first of the Dwarves of Chaos. It was Captain Leiter. He sat there with his eyes closed, waiting. A moment later, another of his Chaos Dwarves died. The link with Flucht grew weak for a moment, and then the link with the next of the Chaos Dwarves was broken followed quickly by the last. He sat there waiting for the link with Flucht to break, but it began to grow stronger. The uncanny healing provided by Delvidge’s transformation was healing the traitor.
He sat there for hours waiting, hoping that the other dwarves had gotten away with Queen Stoneheart. He waited to feel Flucht coming closer, but after hours of the link with Flucht strong and not coming closer, he knew that the other dwarves had been beaten. If they had escaped with the queen, Flucht would be in pursuit now that he was healed.
He decided to wait overnight. If there was no evidence that the mission was successful, he would have to go to the king. Hopefully, he could convince the king not to kill off all of the families. With all of the executions that had already taken place, he didn’t know how much more the dwarves of Tiefes Loch would take before they turned on the king.
He didn’t sleep. He sat in that chair all through the night. In the morning, he knew he had no choice but to go to the king; he just wasn’t sure what he would do after that. He made his way through Tiefes Loch, stopped in front of the King’s Hall and pounded on the door.
“Come in,” King Bergmann shouted through the door.
When General Moglin walked into the room, he saw that the king had been waiting for him. The king was sitting on the throne, and he looked like he had been there for a long time. “Are they on their way back?” he asked.
General Moglin prepared for the angry rant that was about to follow. “The Chaos Dwarves are all dead, King Bergmann.”
“The traitor?” the king shouted, coming to his feet.
“He’s alive, King Bergmann,” General Moglin answered.
“The queen?”
“I can’t be sure, but I believe the traitor would be in pursuit if our soldiers had escaped with Queen Stoneheart.”
“Then they have failed and an example must be made,” King Bergmann stated. “I want all of their families brought together. I want the executions done, and I want another team put together.”
“King Bergmann. That execution would be close to 200 dwarves. I don’t know how many more executions Tiefes Loch will take, but I believe it is less than the number you are giving me. Let me bring together just the father of each of the dwarves who failed. I will lead another team to Patria myself after that,” General Moglin asked of his king.
“Go gather them up. I’ll be there in an hour to witness and make the declaration. You have underestimated them enough now. Take whatever you need to bring back Queen Stoneheart and kill that traitor. Use all the soldiers we have around the city now if you have to, but I want it done.”
“Of course, King Bergmann,” General Moglin said and then walked out of the room. He went to the remaining Chaos Dwarves and ordered that the father of every dwarf who had gone out to capture the Queen of Evermount be brought to the grand hall. He ordered them not to spread the word about the executions The fewer witnesses the better.
An hour later, he stood in front of thirty-three male dwarves. Captain Leiter had no family to execute. Despite his command not to spread the word, the hall was filled.
King Bergmann walked out onto the stage. “The sons of these dwarves have failed our kingdom. For that, their fathers will pay.” The king looked over to General Moglin, who looked down the line of dwarves. They were on their knees with their heads bowed. General Moglin nodded to the Dwarves of Chaos, and each brought their weapon down with unimaginable speed and force. The heads of thirty-three dwarves rolled across the stage.
The crowd of dwarves charged the platform. The Dwarves of Chaos stepped forward and began cutting down any dwarf who made it onto the stage. General Moglin stepped forward and drug his sword across the stone, gouging the stone with a loud screeching noise. Everyone in the hall froze. “The debt has been paid. We cannot turn on ourselves. The other three kingdoms will march on Tiefes Loch soon. If we are not united, we will be defeated.” The dwarves in the grand hall all backed up and left. General Moglin turned to his king. “What are my orders, King Bergmann?”
“Forget the queen. Finish the preparing the defenses, and the humans. The dwarves of Bordin are preparing. Make sure we are ready for them,” the king said and then made his way out of the hall.
General Moglin left Tiefes Loch and went outside to check on the fortifications being made by the army from Portwein.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Off to War
Grizzle sat in the room, listening to the gnome explain what he could offer in the fight against the dwarves, whom he claimed were destroying the world. “We can make you quick shots like these. We can help with other tools. If you need to get in something, build something or break something just let us know and we can make it happen, King Stoneheart.”
“I’m sure we’ll find something for you to do,” Grizzle said.
“I know one something that could help. If you are planning on taking the mountain of Tiefes Loch, going through the entrance would be quite difficult. The dwarves there will have a very strong defense. We could build something that would create another entrance in a very short time,” said Lutin, the leader of the gnomes.
“How fast?” King Kraft asked.
“Well, there are a number of factors to consider, but a rough estimate; we could build an instrument that could make a hole big enough for two dwarve
s to walk through side by side in somewhere between an hour to three hours’ time,” Lutin said.
“An entire team of the greatest dwarf masons couldn’t even cut through a mountain in that time,” Kraft argued.
“Not all the way through. That estimate is from the outside wall to what would be roughly one third what would be the width of the mountain. We would likely hit a tunnel before then, but from the information we have gathered, we would almost certainly reach an opening by the time we cut through one third of the mountain, regardless of what level we entered at.”
Grundel looked over at Kraft and Frau. “Frau, what do you think?”
“I can’t imagine it. It would be an unbelievable advantage if they could accomplish it. I have heard of the gnomes’ inventions, but I don’t know that I can believe this without seeing it,” the Shinestone Queen answered.
Grizzle looked to Kraft. “I don’t believe they can do it, but if they can, it will be an advantage. If they can’t, it will give them something to do that will keep them out of the way.”
“I have already explained that we can make the device. Why does everyone keep saying if we can make it?” Lutin asked.
“Excuse us our doubts. To a dwarf, what you are saying is unbelievable. How long would it take you to make the device, and how big would it be?” Grizzle asked the gnome.
“One moment please, King Grizzle,” Lutin said, then turned and formed a circle with the other gnomes behind him. They argued for a minute before finally coming to some sort of agreement. “The exact amount of time would vary depending on many factors, but we can build the device on the move if you granted us a horse and a cart. We could build it in the amount of time it takes to get from here to Tiefes Loch. If we built it here, we could have it complete in four to five days. We would still require a horse and a cart to carry the device. The device would be circular and roughly five feet from any side to the other. It would be approximately twelve feet from the front to rear,” Lutin explained. One of the Gnomes behind him handed him a rough sketch of the device they were planning. He handed it to King Stoneheart. “This is roughly what it would look like, King Stoneheart.”
The drawing was some kind of cone with something like teeth all along it. There was a long section coming off the back of the cone with diagrams and scribbles on it that Grizzle couldn’t begin to understand. He had no idea how it would work. He handed the sketch back to the gnome.
“Get started. The dwarves in our smith will help you with anything you need. There are a number of factors that will affect when we will be leaving, but it will be soon. We will have a cart and a horse for you to load your device on,” Grizzle told the gnome.
All of the gnomes laughed when King Stoneheart made the joke about factors. “Thank you King Stoneheart we will get started right away,” Lutin said before gathering his gnomes and leaving the room.
A dwarf soldier came in just as the gnomes exited. “King Stoneheart, Commander Boris from the Portwein army is here.”
“Bring him in,” Grizzle said.
Commander Boris walked into the room to find not only King Stoneheart, but King Kraft and Queen Gemcutter waiting. “King Stoneheart, I came to you about Tiefes Loch. King Merwein has made a deal with the dwarves of Tiefes Loch. Not a deal so much as he was forced to do what they commanded him. My soldiers and I were sent to Tiefes Loch before we ever made it back to Portwein. We are supposed to be the initial line of defense for the dwarves of Tiefes Loch. The general that went to negotiate with King Merwein threatened to attack Portwein if we didn’t help them. I have already talked with my captains. We will help you take Tiefes Loch. We are prepared to remove King Merwein from the throne when this is over. Merwein is controlled by his greed and fear. King Stoneheart, tell me what you want us to do. The army will follow my orders over the kings. The dwarves of Tiefes Loch are dangerous and we don’t trust them. We believe that if they were to defeat you, they would come for Portwein next. ”
“What do you know about Tiefes Loch’s defenses?” Frau asked.
“Not much. The dwarves have had a lot of issues lately. None of them have been talking about the defenses. All they talk about are the executions,” Commander Boris answered.
“What executions?” Grizzle asked.
“Apparently King Bergmann keeps executing dwarves. From what we have heard, they have been sending dwarves out on missions. If the dwarves fail the missions, their entire families are executed. It sounds like the whole kingdom is on the edge of an uprising. When I left, the dwarves weren’t focusing much on their defenses,” Commander Boris explained.
“Dwarves don’t have uprisings,” Kraft stated.
“We don’t renounce Bordin or attack each other either,” Frau said.
Kraft and Grizzle looked at each other then back to Commander Boris. “We will work on a plan. If tensions are as high in Tiefes Loch as you say, then now is the perfect time to strike. We will leave in the next couple of days. Go back to Tiefes Loch and keep up appearances. If they think that we will have to fight through you to get to them then we can catch them unprepared when we bypass you and come straight at them.”
“I’ll leave at once.”
“You don’t have to leave immediately. You could stay the night and head back to Tiefes Loch in the morning. We will send someone to gather information when we get close. Just make sure that your men are with you before we get there,” Grizzle said.
Commander Boris left and Grizzle, Kraft, and Frau began making plans. Two days later, the army of the three-dwarven kingdoms was formed up to march on Tiefes Loch.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Device
Grizzle, Frau, and Kraft made their way down the steps of Shinestone. In the field at the base of the mountain was a large flat cart. The gnomes had been working in shifts through the night. They walked over to the cart. The dwarves already had a four-foot by four-foot steel box with some sort of pipe coming out of it. In front of that was a long round metal chamber that had obviously been built by a dwarf last night. Lutin stood on the side of the cart with a dozen sketches strewn out in front of him.
“How’s it comin’?” Grizzle asked as they approached.
Lutin turned around. “King Grizzle, it is coming along nicely. We would like to ask for your help in something.”
“How can we help?”
“We went over our calculations again and have discovered that if we can increase the speed of the drill, we could guarantee to be through to a tunnel within an hour. There is one problem however,” Lutin said.
“Which is?” Grizzle asked.
“The bit would need to be made of a very strong alloy. The pieces of the bit that will make contact with the stone will need to have diamond teeth. The heat of friction would be too high for metal. We would like your dwarves to cut the diamond heads and make the drill bit with the strongest alloy you can make. I have the diagram here,” Lutin said, handing one of the sketches to Grizzle.
Grizzle looked at the sketch. The gnomes had flattened the head of the bit. Now instead of a cone there were six heads all with roughly two-dozen diamond teeth along each of them.
“How are you going to make this thing spin?” Kraft asked, staring at the sketch.
The gnome looked at the stack of diagrams. “Well, it is all very complicated, but I will try to make it as simple as I can. Inside of that box will be a very hot fire. There will be other parts that continue to pump air into the fire. The pressure in that box will continue to expand. The pipe will lead down to the back of the device. There will be a very small place for the pressure to escape. The only way it will be able to escape is by spinning the device. The hole where the pressure will be released will have another pipe attached to it. That pressure will then be pushed back, forcing a fluid down a tube. The fluid will be sprayed out, cleaning off the heads of the device. It is quite a bit more complicated than that, but that is as simple as I could make it.”
Kraft stared at the diagram. “If they can get
this thing to spin like they say, it could work. It would take a lot of work afterwards to restore the structure of the mountain, but it could work.”
“There is only one Master Diamond Cutter alive. All of the others were here in Shinestone when the creature of destruction Miskrull destroyed Shinestone. Other than Raute Diamondcutter, I am the only dwarf alive who had the experience with stones to make these teeth.” Frau took the diagram from Kraft. The diagram was of the whole device. “Do you have a diagram of just the teeth?”
Lupin went over to another stack of diagrams piled next to the cart. There had to be at least a hundred pieces of parchment in the pile. Lupin flipped through them until he found the one he was looking for. “Will this do?” he asked, handing the diagram to Frau.
She looked it over. The diagram was very precise. It had the dimension of every angle and cut. The device would cost a king’s ransom just in diamonds, but it could save hundreds, if not thousands, of dwarf lives. They could retrieve the diamonds when it was all finished. “This will work. I hope Raute’s apprentices are good. We will have to work nonstop if we are going to have these ready before we leave.” She took the diagram and headed back up the steps into the Shinestone.
“Do you have a diagram for the heads you want us to build?” Grizzle asked.
“Of course, King Stoneheart,” Lupin said, going back to the pile and retrieving another diagram from the stack.
Grizzle looked it over. It wasn’t extremely complicated, but they would need an extremely strong alloy It would take some time to make enough of the alloy to make all of the heads. “We will have these ready for you before we leave. We are leaving the morning after tomorrow. If we get you the heads and the diamonds, can you build the device during the trip?”
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 54
