Gespann had gotten back to his feet. Flucht turned his back to the mountain and put the brothers in front of him. This was the end, and he welcomed it. He said a silent prayer to Bordin and prepared for his final fight.
Gespann had apparently accepted this as his final battle as well. The dwarf charged forward wildly. Flucht’s leg wouldn’t allow him to maneuver. He knew what Gespann was doing. Gespann was sacrificing himself, giving his brother the chance to finish him off. Knowing what he was doing didn’t change anything. He couldn’t avoid him with his leg as badly damaged as it was. He had a long sword and Gespann had a short sword. He thrust forward, driving his sword through Gespann’s chest. Gespann attempted to thrust his own sword out, but Flucht blocked that attack with the outside of his arm, accepting the wound he took from that.
Flucht fell back with Gespann falling on top of him. Gusten came rushing over. His sword came down. Flucht lifted Gespann up. Gusten’s sword was aimed at Flucht’s exposed head; it went through his brother’s back and out of his chest just inches from Flucht’s face. Flucht pushed Gespann away, driving Gusten’s sword away. Gusten stared down his sword at his brother. He had just dealt the killing blow to his own brother. He slid his sword out of his brother’s body.
Flucht looked into Gusten’s eyes. Hatred and insanity looked back. Flucht stumbled back a couple steps. Gusten charged forward. Flucht didn’t try to block Gusten’s thrust as Gusten was surely expecting. He let the sword slide into his chest, accepting the pain. He wrapped his arms around Gusten. He was barely able to keep from going to the ground. He hopped backward, letting Gusten’s momentum drive them back, and then just before he was slammed into the low wall, Flucht leapt upward as hard as he could with his one good leg. He tumbled over the top of the wall, taking Gusten with him. Together the two Dwarves of Chaos fell to their deaths, where they would finally be released from the constant pain.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Another Way to Win
Grundel followed the dwarf smiths through Shinestone, the only dwarf kingdom that he had never been to. It was nothing like the others, which were all well maintained. Some were built to be alluring. Most were built to be practical, but they all were built to a certain standard. The tunnels in Tiefes Loch hadn’t even been smoothed. There were sharp corners and rough edges. As Grundel walked through the mountain, he noticed that high ceilings became low ceilings without any kind of transition. He nearly bashed his head when the ceiling of one tunnel was all of a sudden much lower.
They passed other dwarves as they made their way through the kingdom. Cheers rang out through Tiefes Loch. Putsch, the dwarf who was leading them, yelled out to the other dwarves as they passed. “Bordin has sent the other dwarves to save us. The time to fight has come!”
Some dwarves followed them. Others took up weapons and ran in other directions. The entire kingdom was erupting, and they were at the center of it. They came across a platoon of soldiers rushing toward the entrance. The smiths immediately formed a shield wall in the front.
The soldiers were caught off guard. They got over their surprise quickly, and started making a shield wall of their own. Grundel’s axe was already flying over the heads of the smith’s shield wall. Jerrie went over the wall right behind it. Grundel’s axe crashed through the dwarves, cutting down two of them. Jerrie leapt over the dwarves. The dagger in his right hand extended into a short sword as he was upside down over the dwarves. He found the crease in one of the dwarf’s armor where the shoulder plate met the neck. The dwarf fell to the ground, his hands going to his neck, trying to stop the flow of blood there. Jerrie hit the ground and immediately rolled to the side, knowing the dwarves were going to be attacking at him there. He heard the sound of steel rapping off of stone behind him.
The dwarves had to decide whether to turn and face the threat behind them or maintain their shield wall. There weren’t enough of them to have multiple ranks. It wasn’t a decision they would normally have to make. Some chose to turn and face Jerrie as he brought another dwarf down, dragging his dagger along the back of his knees. Others attempted to maintain their shield wall as the dwarf smiths’ shield wall slammed into them. By trying to do both, they were unable to do either. The smiths’ shield wall collapsed. The soldiers and the dwarves were quickly defeated as the weapons of the smiths found the multitude of gaps in the soldiers’ shield wall.
“This is why we need to be in the front,” Gobo shouted. They were stuck behind the smiths of Tiefes Loch and were unable to join in the fight.
“Take them back down to the smith,” Putsch told some of the new arrivals, motioning to the two dwarf smiths who had been killed in the skirmish and the one who had a severe wound to one leg.
‘Wait,” Grundel said, moving over to the dwarf who was lying on the ground. Another dwarf was trying to apply pressure to the wound. Grundel bent down and drew his dagger. The dwarf’s eyes went wide.
“Prince Stoneheart, we can still save him,” Putsch said.
Grundel looked into the eyes of the wounded dwarf. “I’m not going to kill you. You can trust me.” The dwarf looked back at him for a moment and then nodded. Grundel moved the other dwarf’s hand away and pressed his dagger he called Fire Bringer against the wound. He only let it make contact for a fraction of a second. When he pulled the dagger away, the wound had been cauterized. The dagger was enchanted to create fire upon contact, burning whatever it touched. Grundel had figured out how that quick contact to flesh would just burn without creating fire when he had done the same thing on himself.
The dwarf looked down at his leg that was no longer bleeding. He was obviously in a great deal of pain, but he looked up with a smile on his face. “Thank you, Prince Stoneheart. Thank you for saving us.”
Grundel put a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder. He then stood and faced Putsch. “Let’s finish this.
“We’re in front now,” Gobo said, moving up to stand beside the smith. Gobo had moved forward and stood on the other side. Putsch looked at the two brothers. He knew who they were. Everyone knew who they were, and he wasn’t about to argue with them. He started moving down the tunnel. They left the dead soldiers lying in the tunnel. When they reached the end of this tunnel and turned the corner they found another squad of soldiers dead. The other dwarves of Tiefes Loch had attacked them. Further down, they found another group of dead soldiers. They made two more turns as they made their way up and then Putsch turned around. “This is it.”
The dwarves of Tiefes Loch were fighting the soldiers of Tiefes Loch from the inside out. The dwarves of the other three kingdoms were fighting their way in, and Grundel was now standing in front of the King’s Hall.
* * *
General Moglin stood in front of King Bergmann. “They have some kind of special crossbows. They were able to fire up onto the lower landing, while they were still out of range of our crossbows. The soldiers of Portwein betrayed us again. They turned on one of my Chaos Dwarves and signaled the attack for Bordin’s dwarves.”
Bergmann leapt out of his chair. “I will burn Portwein to the ground. Go back out there and lead the Chaos Dwarves out. The other soldiers can defend the mountain. I want you and the rest of your Chaos Dwarves to go out there and create Chaos amongst their ranks. Outside the tunnels of the mountain, you will have the advantage.”
General Moglin saluted and turned around, heading toward the door. He felt the link with three of the Chaos Dwarves break one right after the other. One of those three was Flucht Longblade. He froze and turned back to the king.
“I don’t care how many of your Chaos Dwarves have died, just go do what I said,” King Bergmann said, expecting another upsetting report.
“Flucht Longblade just died, King Bergmann.”
“Finally. The first piece of good news I have heard since Delvidge saw fit to make all of you. Now go do what you were made for.”
This time when General Moglin turned, he froze for a different reason. The door to the King’s Hall opened, Grundel Stonehea
rt walked through with the brothers Dobo and Gobo. A human walked along next to them, and a group of dwarves from Tiefes Loch were behind them. General Moglin drew his sword and brought it to the ready.
“Traitors,” King Bergmann yelled from behind him. “You led them here. All of your family lines will end today.”
General Moglin knew that the threat was in vain. They were outmatched. General Moglin smiled. This was how a dwarf warrior was meant to die. He was about to face some of the greatest dwarf warriors alive. He charged forward.
Dobo and Gobo leaped out in front of General Moglin. “He’s ours,” they shouted together.
King Bergmann drew his sword and stepped out in front of his throne. Grizzle Stoneheart’s half-dwarf atrocity and his human companion came charging at him around General Moglin. He ran forward. Stoneheart easily deflected his slash with one of his axes. He hadn’t even noticed the human go by him, but all of a sudden he was falling to the ground with a searing pain coming from the back of his knee. The two of them stood over him. He called out to Delvidge. “Delvidge, I sacrifice my soul, just give me the power to take my revenge.”
Grundel was disgusted, watching a dwarf call out to Delvidge the God of Chaos. He brought one of his axes down, but just before the killing blow fell on the King of Tiefes Loch, his body disappeared. Grundel’s axe came down on the pattern of black lines stringing out from a circle in the center that had appeared on the ground in the place of the king’s body.
Dobo ran forward. Gobo ran forward and just to Moglin’s right. Moglin’s sword came across. Dobo rolled forward under the sword. Gobo brought his battle axe up to block. There was no way he could have predicted that the enchanted sword and unnatural strength with which General Moglin swung his sword would cut right through the steel handle of his axe. The axe did slow the momentum of the strike, but he likely would have lost his left arm if he hadn’t been wearing the spiked bracers on his forearm. The sword caught in one of the steel spikes. Gobo leapt forward into Moglin as the general brought his sword back. Gobo wrapped Moglin’s sword arm, preventing him from bringing his sword back across and down into his brother.
Dobo heard the steel on steel as he rolled under Moglin’s sword. As he came up to his knee, he saw Moglin pulling his sword free of Gobo’s arm spikes. Gobo leapt into Moglin’s right side, grabbing his arm, and Gobo took advantage of it. From his knees, he slammed his hammer into Moglin’s right knee.
Moglin’s knee folded and he fell to the ground, taking Gobo with him. Gobo slammed his arm spikes into General Moglin’s chest, but they couldn’t puncture the unnatural armor of the Chaos Dwarf.
General Moglin reached up. Dobo’s war hammer was coming down at his head. Gobo still had his left arm pinned so he couldn’t bring his sword up to block. He caught the hammer just under the head. Even with his Delvidge-granted strength he couldn’t stop the blow, but he was able to divert it to his side. It was all he could do to fend off the famous brothers. When he saw the axe coming down over his head, he didn’t even try to avoid it. The downfall of Tiefes Loch flashed in his mind. He had allowed the Bergmanns to continue to create dissension in Tiefes Loch. He had even helped them do so. I’m sorry. That was his last thought before the axe connected. He didn’t expect Bordin to grant him forgiveness.
“You all right?” Jerrie asked Gobo as he helped him to his feet.
“No, I ain’t all right. Look what he did to my axe,” Gobo shouted, walking over and picking up the two pieces of his weapon. He had carried that same axe for over a century.
Grundel picked up General Moglin’s sword. “Here, take this. If you want a new axe after this, you can have one made, but this sword can stand up to the armor and weapons of the Chaos Dwarves. We might be able to finish this without fighting the entire army of Tiefes Loch, but after everything Flucht told me I don’t think the Chaos Dwarves are going to stop fighting.”
“You’re going to need his head,” Putsch said.
“What?” Dobo said.
“The soldiers aren’t going to stop fighting until they know they won’t have to answer to General Moglin. They would probably kill Bergmann for you, but they will need proof Moglin is dead,” Putsch explained.
“Where is Bergmann?” Gobo asked, looking around the room.
“He disappeared. It was something Delvidge did.” Grundel said.
“Bergmann sacrificed his soul,” Jerrie said.
They all turned to face him. Jerrie nodded. “Before he died, he said, “Delvidge, I sacrifice my soul, just give me the power to take my revenge.””
“Even Bergmann wouldn’t do that,” Dobo said.
“I don’t believe there is anything King Bergmann wouldn’t do,” Putsch said.
They all stood over the mark on the ground. “We will deal with that, whatever that is, when this is over. Right now, let’s go see if we can save some dwarves’ lives,” Grundel said, picking up Moglin’s head and tossing it to Putsch. “Take us to the army.”
Putsch looked down at the blood-covered steel-skinned head of General Moglin in his hands. He looked up at Prince Stoneheart and nodded before leading them out of the King’s hall.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
An Army without a General
Grundel, Jerrie, Dobo, and Gobo followed Putsch up through Tiefes Loch until they reach the tunnels leading to the main entrance. There they found five Dwarves of Chaos at the back of the army. They weren’t there to fight; they were there to prevent any of the dwarves from leaving. Putsch ran up the tunnel. “General Moglin and King Bergmann are dead. We are free!” He continued running up the tunnel toward the dwarves, holding General Moglin’s head up.
Grundel charged after him with the others at his side. The army in front of the Chaos Dwarves began erupting. Some of the dwarves began fighting each other, but most of the dwarves closest to the Dwarves of Chaos turned on them. Their weapons weren’t very effective, but they had numbers. The Chaos Dwarves formed a line. They had to keep moving back as the mass of dwarves came at them. Dwarves were being cut down one after the other, and then Gobo reached the first Chaos Dwarf. He brought Moglin’s sword down at the crease in the top of the Chaos Dwarf’s shoulder. The sword tore through the dwarf’s shoulder and came out of his lower back. Gobo came in right next to him and his hammer slammed into the head of the next Chaos Dwarf in line. The Chaos Dwarf was knocked to the ground and Gobo brought the sword down and cut into his chest.
Jerrie leapt onto the back of the Chaos Dwarf on the left and he drove his dagger into the neck of the dwarf as he pulled back on his head. He rode the dwarf to the ground. The Chaos Dwarf brought his double-bladed axe up when his knees hit the ground in a final attempt to take one more life. Jerrie jumped backward, forcing the Chaos Dwarf down.
Grundel came rushing in. The Chaos Dwarf in front of him spun around to face him. Grundel threw one of his axes as he charged. The Chaos Dwarf was able to get his war hammer up in time to deflect the axe. Grundel came barreling in, bringing his other axe up with both hands. The dwarf tried to get his hammer back down, but his hands had been knocked up over his head, and even with his unnatural speed he couldn’t get them down fast enough. Grundel’s axe slammed into his gut, the magically enchanted blade cutting through the Delvidge-enchanted armor. Grundel was already calling his other axe back. He let go of the axe with one hand, catching his other axe. Once he had it in his hand, he let go of the axe that was caught in the body of the Chaos Dwarf. He brought the axe in his hand down into the head of the dwarf, opening his skull and dropping him to the ground.
The dwarf soldiers of Tiefes Loch rushed the Chaos Dwarf in the middle when he turned to face the enemy that had attacked the dwarves around him. The regular soldiers found the weak spots in the steel skin with their sword as others held the Chaos Dwarf down.
The soldiers of Tiefes Loch cleared a path for Grundel. He passed another dozen Chaos Dwarves who had been attacked by the other dwarf soldiers. Along the way, they found groups of three and four dwarves who
had been true followers of Delvidge. They reached the main entrance of Tiefes Loch only to find out that it had collapsed. The soldiers led them to the other entrance. Soldiers ran ahead, passing the word that General Moglin and King Bergmann were dead.
At the back of the other dwarf formation were another dozen Chaos Dwarves. These dwarves were already in an uproar. Word had already spread and the dwarves here were fighting it out. The dwarves closest to the Chaos Dwarves were true believers of Chaos and were fighting alongside the Dwarves of Chaos. The Chaos Dwarves turned to face them and the other soldiers created a shield wall behind them, holding off the other soldiers of Tiefes Loch.
They charged forward with the dwarves of Tiefes Loch charging behind them. Dobo and Gobo made it to the Chaos Dwarves first, as usual. One of them stepped forward, bringing his hammer down. Gobo brought Moglin’s sword up faster than he ever could have brought his axe up. Before Dobo even got his own hammer up to deflect the hammer that was coming down at him, Gobo cut through the wrist of the Chaos Dwarf, the Delvidge-enchanted sword cutting easily through the Delvidge-enchanted skin. The hammer fell to the ground still attached. The next Chaos Dwarf came in with a huge hammer of his own. Dobo attempted to deflect the blow with his hammer, but the blow was unnaturally fast and strong and his hammer was thrown from his hands as he was thrown to the ground. Gobo spun around, bringing the sword at the new opponent, but he was unbelievably fast with the huge hammer and Gobo’s attack was blocked.
Dobo had fallen next to the hammer of the first dwarf. He grabbed it. He tried to pull the severed hand off of it, but the steel skin of the hand was merged with the steel of the handle. He grabbed the handle above the hand and slammed the head of the axe into the ankle of the Chaos Dwarf that Gobo was now battling to keep him from crushing him.
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 57
