“Of course, King Stoneheart,” the little gnome said in his high-pitched squeaky voice. Grizzle appreciated that Lupin took control of all their interactions. The other gnomes spoke so fast and with so many shortened versions of words they were impossible to understand.
Kraft stared at the unimpressive metal box on the cart, and then back down to the diagram. He couldn’t imagine how they could transform the box into the very complicated device they had on the diagram. Kraft understood most complex devices. When he looked at these diagrams though, he was at a loss. He understood all the metal components, but he couldn’t begin to understand the rest. As much as he couldn’t believe what the gnomes claimed was possible, he couldn’t resist believing that the little fur-covered gnomes might actually be able to do what they claimed.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Armies Unite
Frau went over to Fuhrung. When she had become queen, she had taken two advisors. The first had been Grundel. The second had been an old dwarf named Fuhrung. He had been invaluable in helping her make decisions. He saw how the decisions would affect everything else. She appreciated the perspective and experience he provided. Now she was leaving Shinestone in his very capable hands. Fuhrung saluted. She saluted back and then she made her way over to Grizzle and Kraft. She told them that the dwarves of Shinestone were ready. The dwarves of Tiefes Loch and Haufen were also ready. They each gave the commands to their respective military leaders and the dwarves of Bordin were marching south.
Anna stood on the army’s parade field as the 300 soldiers formed ranks. Her cousin stood out in front of the formation, waiting for the three lieutenants to report to the captain. The captain took the reports of the lieutenants, turned around and reported to King Patria that all soldiers were present and ready to march.
King Patria gave the order to the captain of the lieutenants. The army began marching toward the city’s main gate. King Patria turned and came back over toward Anna.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? I could help,” Jacob said.
“No. We need someone to stay here and protect Anna. I am leaving Captain Thompson, but we need someone else here we can trust. Protect her. If anyone comes for her, just get her away. Take her to Shinestone or Evermount. The dwarves will protect her,” Isaac said.
Jacob looked at his sister. “I’ll keep her safe. Just make sure you make it back safe.”
King Patria hugged his cousins and then climbed into the saddle of his horse.
Dobo and Gobo both hugged Queen Stoneheart. Rundo and Evelyn came over and hugged her next. Jerrie came over next.
“Keep him safe,” the queen told him, looking over at Grundel.
“Ill protect him with my life,” Jerrie said.
“We’ll protect each other,” Grundel said, coming over and hugging his mother. “Don’t try to fight. If they come for you, just escape.”
She put her hand on her son’s face. “My brother’s back. He’ll keep me safe.”
Grundel shook his uncle’s hand and then. Neither said anything. They just stared into each other’s eyes. They both nodded a mutual understanding and then Grundel turned to his friends. Rundo and Evelyn were both mounted. Dobo, Gobo and Flucht wouldn’t ride. Jerrie and Grundel climbed onto their mounts.
“Flucht,” Anna shouted as they started after the army. Flucht turned around. “Take care of them,” she shouted. He nodded turned and continued walking behind Rundo and Evelyn’s mounts.
* * *
Grizzle stood with Kraft, Frau, and General Douglas. The army had been on the move for twelve days, and they were a day east of Patria. They had sent a small force of the soldiers ahead of them to Patria. They were going to meet Grundel, Flucht, King Patria and the others here tonight and begin the second half of the journey. Following the river made the trip easier. They didn’t have to carry the water for an entire army in the supply train following the army. It would be roughly a two-week trip for a small group to travel to Tiefes Loch from here. They would have to cross the river in three days. After that, there weren’t any large bodies of fresh water. They would have to fill barrels and carry the water along behind them. The army of Patria was bringing the extra barrels and the wagons to carry them.
It was nearly dark when King Patria reached the outskirts of the camp. They came into the camp amongst the dwarves of Haufen. The dwarves recognized Grundel immediately. They saluted the prince and immediately led them all to the center of camp, where the kings and queen of the dwarven kingdoms were camped.
Grizzle got up and went to his son. Grundel wrapped his arms around his father. “She’s safe.”
Grizzle nodded his head as Grundel stepped back. He noticed Jerrie stumble a step when he came out of the saddle. “You all right, boy?”
Jerrie brought his fist to his chest in salute. “I’m fine, King Stoneheart. I deflected a blow to my leg. It’s healing fine.”
“You could have stayed in Patria,” Grizzle said.
“Ha! You got about as good a chance a keeping him outta this fight as you do of keeping us away,” Gobo said, laughing.
“I’m glad you’re with us,” Grizzle said.
“Not as glad as they are,” Frau said, stepping forward.
“You got us there,” Dobo said.
Grundel stepped up to Frau. She wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her in tight. A hug was all that it was appropriate to share in public and even that would be looked down on by some. Their relationship would be criticized by a lot of dwarves, due to the fact that his mother was human. It had nearly cost his father his throne. This conversation had already been had with Grizzle and Kraft, so they continued to see where their relationship would go. He released her and turned back to his father. “Before we go any further, we have something to tell you that may change the plan.”
“What is it?” Kraft asked.
Grundel looked at Flucht, then at Grizzle. “Jacob heard a lot in the streets of Patria. He found out that the general of the Chaos Dwarves is directly linked to all of them. When one of them dies, he knows it. He can also tell where they all are. He will be able to tell where we are as we approach Tiefes Loch, or at least where Flucht is.”
“If we use that, we might be able to distract them long enough for the gnomes to get their device in place and see if it works,” Kraft said.
“I already told you it would work,” a squeaky voice said from the behind them. Lupin walked over to them. “We have the teeth and heads together. We only have to assemble the shaft and finish putting together some of the smaller components. We will have the device complete by the time we reach the river. That is why I came. We have finished our calculations. If we have to go the full distance, the device will require roughly 300 gallons of water. There are a lot of factors that would affect that number. We chose the larger number to ensure that we wouldn’t run out of water.”
“What is he talking about?” Grundel asked.
Grizzle couldn’t help but laugh, thinking about the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “The gnomes have come up with a device that they believe will cut a hole in the mountain, allowing us to enter without fighting through Bergmann’s prepared defenses.”
“We could never get through the mountain before they attacked or set a trap where we were going to break through into the tunnels,” Dobo said.
“They say they can get into the mountain within an hour of starting. I still won’t believe it until I see it, but their device makes me curious,” Kraft said.
Dobo and Gobo looked at Kraft. He was an old dwarf, suspicious and critical of anything he didn’t understand. The statement he had just made was as close to saying he thought the device would work as you could expect him to give of anything he hadn’t actually seen work. It was enough to convince the brothers, even without seeing the device. “You mean we could come up behind the army and avoid all of the collapsing tunnels, rolling boulders, and other traps they will have spent so much time preparing?” Dobo asked.
<
br /> Grizzle nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean. On top of that, the dwarves are using the army from Portwein as their initial defense. They believe that we will weaken our force and be delayed by the soldiers, giving them time to prepare their defenses. Commander Boris came to Shinestone a couple of days before we left. They are going to help us fight the dwarves of Tiefes Loch. Commander Boris has control of the army. Apparently King Merwein is relaying orders that King Bergmann is giving him. He attacked us for greed, and he is defending them because he is afraid. Jerrie, once we have a plan I want you to go ahead and meet with Commander Boris. You should be able sneak in unnoticed.”
“So what’s the plan?” Gobo said excitedly.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Final Preparations
Jerrie waited until it was dark before making his way to the army. Anyone who saw a single man walking into the camp would think he was coming back from the latrine trench. He was wearing a sword belt that King Patria gave him. It was a plain sword belt that all of the soldiers wore. He had activated the magic of his dagger, elongating it into a short sword. A single soldier walking around wouldn’t arouse too much suspicion, but a single soldier walking around without a sword would attract attention.
The camp was a typical army camp, which meant that everything was structured and organized. It also meant that it was easy to find the commander. Behind the barricades were the lines of troops. Behind that was the camp where the soldiers not on duty spent the rest of their time. As soldiers in a defensive positions, they would have a lot of down time to kill. It normally led to games being made, many of which grew continually more dangerous. It also often meant there was a lot of tension and fighting.
Commander Boris seemed to have the army well disciplined, because Jerrie wasn’t seeing anything to indicate that these kinds of activities were taking place. They had actually established training grounds behind the line. There were multiple archery ranges. They were cleared out areas at the base of the mountain with logs planted in the ground in rows. It was night so none of these areas were being used, but from what Jerrie had already seen, he was sure he would see them being used during the day. It seemed that Commander Boris was doing a good job of keeping his men occupied when they weren’t on the line.
He made his way through the camp to the command tent near the base of the stairs leading up to the entrance to Tiefes Loch. The soldiers confronted him as he approached.
“What do you want, soldier?” one of them asked.
“I just arrived back at camp. I was given specific orders that I was not to speak with anyone but Commander Boris when I arrived,” Jerrie said.
“Orders by who?” the soldier asked.
“All I can tell you is my name. I am Jerrie. If you would inform Commander Boris that I am here, he will give you your orders,” Jerrie explained.
“What company are you with?” the soldier asked.
“I am not with a company. The only orders I have are directly from Commander Boris. I will ask you again to go tell him I have arrived with the information. I will not ask a third time,” Jerrie said, changing his tone this time so that he was giving the soldier an order.
The soldier looked back at his two subordinates standing behind him. He turned back to Jerrie. “And if I don’t?”
Jerrie lowered his voice so that only the soldier he was talking to could hear. “You will go tell Commander Boris that I am here or I will take your sword, slap you on your hump with it, knock you unconscious and then go tell him myself. Then you will have to face Commander Boris for punishment, which will be far worse than the embarrassment of me slapping you on your backside with your own sword in front of your men.”
The soldier reached down to rest his hand on the hilt of his sword, only to find it wasn’t in his scabbard. Jerrie was holding it in his hand. Jerrie turned the sword around, handing the soldier the hilt and giving him a smile that promised he could do it. Anger and hatred burned in the soldier’s eyes. “Go inform Commander Boris that a man named Jerrie is here for him.”
Jerrie stood in front of the soldier, waiting for the response. The dwarf behind him had drawn his sword. Jerrie stood there calmly waiting for Commander Boris. He came out of the tent. “Lieutenant, put your sword away. He’s with us. Jerrie, please come with me.”
Jerrie walked past the soldier. He was above rubbing in the victory. He had only done what he did so that he wouldn’t have to fight his way to Commander Boris. He followed the commander into the tent. The inside of the tent was modest. He wasn’t a flashy commander. He was practical. There was a pallet on the ground in the corner. Next to the pallet was an armor stand. In the center of the room was a large table with maps of the defense. It had the location of all of the obstacles and the number of troops in each location. There was also an X marked on the side of the mountain near the edge of his formation. “That’s where I think they should try to make the hole.”
“You know about that?” Jerrie asked.
“I came in right after the little guys talked to the kings and queen. They told me about the idea. I have been in Tiefes Loch a couple of times now. That area is the most open inside the mountain. It will be the closest to the outside of the mountain as far as I can tell,” Commander Boris explained.
“What is in that area?” Jerrie asked.
“It’s the smithy. It’s a huge open cavern.”
“Ok, what else can you tell me?”
“The king is walking on the edge of a sword,” Commander Boris stated.
“What do you mean?” Jerrie asked.
“While I was on my way back from Shinestone, King Bergmann had the fathers of a bunch of soldiers executed. They dwarves rebelled and the Chaos Dwarves killed even more. The Chaos Dwarf commander was able to stop everything somehow.”
“How do you know this? Dwarves aren’t known for letting their dirt out, and Tiefes Loch even less so then the rest.”
Commander Boris nodded. “The dwarf soldiers have been talking about it a lot. We have been here long enough that they have started overlooking us. I have soldiers reporting everything they hear. The soldiers are all worried that the whole kingdom is going to erupt. King Bergmann has summoned me a couple of times to ask me about the progress on our fortifications. When you walk through the mountain, you can feel the tension. The Chaos Dwarves are despised. From what we have heard, the soldiers are divided. Half are dedicated to the religion and fully support the king. The other half are just following orders, but with all of the executions, the ones who aren’t dedicated to Delvidge are starting to question the king and Delvidge.”
“Do you think they are going to turn on the king?” Jerrie asked.
“Eventually they would, but there is no telling how long that would take. General Moglin is the one keeping everything together. He is the only Chaos Dwarf who isn’t despised by the regular soldiers. When the attack starts, the regular soldiers will defend their kingdom.”
Jerrie thought about all of that for a minute. “What about the other dwarves of Tiefes Loch?”
“Our guess is that no more the twenty-five percent of the dwarfs that are not soldiers are believers. Twenty-five percent are just going along, and about fifty percent are on the edge of a rebellion. There is no telling what they will do.”
“Ok, so what about your forces? What is your plan once we attack?”
“All of our defenses were built in positions that made sense for an attack, but they were all also carefully planned to be defendable from any of the three paths down from Tiefes Loch and the dozen landings they could fire down on us with their crossbows. I have a plan, but I’d like to know what King Grizzle thinks.”
Jerrie went over the plan and took the map that Commander Boris had made depicting all of their positions and a rough map of the parts of Tiefes Loch he had been to.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The First Cut
Flucht watched as the gnomes led the carts away. Grundel, Jerrie, Rundo, Dobo, Gobo, and a hundred
human soldiers were heading east. Flucht was going to wait here with the dwarf army all day while they took the gnomes east around Tiefes Loch. They would approach the mountain from the east. From Tiefes Loch, it would look like a company of soldiers was coming from Portwein with supplies. Flucht would wait here a day to the north of Tiefes Loch. The army would leave the next morning and arrive shortly after Grundel and the gnomes. Once the army arrived outside Tiefes Loch, the gnomes were supposed to start working on making the new entrance.
Grundel got up with the others. They still had a couple of hours till sunrise and they were half a day east of Tiefes Loch. He watched as the gnomes scurried around, checking everything on the cart. “Everything is here. We can go when you are ready, Prince Stoneheart,” Jumbles said.
“Ok, we will follow you,” Grundel said, assuming that the gnome had said something about when they would be ready. Jumbles always talked so fast, Grundel could rarely understand more than a couple of words.
The gnomes pulled the canvas over the device and loaded up on the cart. One of the Patria soldiers was driving each of the three carts. The first two were loaded down with barrels of water. The third carried the device and the gnomes, and the last was loaded down with wood and some kind of fuel the gnomes had created to increase the pressure.
By the time the sun came up, they were in sight of Tiefes Loch. It wasn’t as tall as Shinestone or Evermount but it was still a mountain. They moved toward the southern end. An hour later, they were moving past the soldiers of Portwein. Commander Boris had moved the soldiers who had been on the southern flank to the center, bolstering his force and leaving the area open for the gnomes to set up the device. Once they arrived, the soldiers began spreading out along the defenses that had been prepared.
Grundel, Dobo, Gobo, Jerrie and a dozen soldiers helped unload the device. It was just over ten feet long. The device had to weigh close to a thousand pounds. They carried the device up and laid it on top of a ledge. The gnomes scurried all around it, setting in supports to hold it in place.
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 55
