“Who did we lose?” Jerrie asked.
“Flucht died fighting Tiefes Loch’s version of Dobo and Gobo.”
“What about Bergmann?”
“We haven’t heard anything, but I’m sure we will soon enough.”
Jerrie’s body started to tingle. His eyes started to get heavy. “How long was I out?”
“Four days,” Grundel answered.
Jerrie nodded his head. There was something else he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t think what it was. He tried to keep his eyes open, but it was too hard, so he let them close.
Chapter Thirty-Two
A Kingdom Lost
Fuhrung brought his sword across, cutting one of the Kobolds in half. He turned, bringing his sword down into the top of one of the huge cave lizard’s heads just before it closed its mouth around his leg. The dwarves behind the shield wall fired another volley of bolts into the attacking Kobolds. They had fended off the initial attack easy enough. This was something different. They had killed hundreds of Kobolds, losing dozens of dwarves. The Kobolds were deadly with their javelins, but it was the cave lizards that were the real threat. Now that they had organized a defense, their shield wall was able to defend against the thrown javelins, but the lizards could knock the dwarves on the shield wall out of the way with their heavy tails. Two lizards went around the shield wall, climbing along the walls.
One of the lizards was shot with a crossbow, but he fell down on the dwarves below him. The other leapt off of the wall, landing in the midst of the dwarves. The lizard flailed wildly, throwing dwarves into each other while others were slammed into the walls. One dwarf was able to bring his axe down and sever the lizard’s head. A volley of javelins went over Fuhrung’s head just before another lizard slammed into the shield wall. Fuhrung leapt into the air and came down on the back of the lizard. He threw the Kobold off of the lizard’s back and drove his sword into the back of the lizard’s head.
From his perch on the back of the dying lizard, he could see down the tunnel a hundred paces down the tunnel and he couldn’t see an end to the Kobold masses. The army was gone and Fuhrung came to the realization that he wouldn’t be able to hold Shinestone. The decision he had to make was whether or not he was going to fight to the last dwarf.
The entire kingdom of Shinestone had been lost barely a year ago to the demon monster Miskrull. Fuhrung decided he wasn’t going to let all of these dwarves be lost. He was going to make sure they lived to fight another day. They could help retake Shinestone when the army returned.
“Fall back!” The dwarves on the shield wall began to take steps back. They lost three dwarves moving the thirty paces back to the end of the tunnel. They had killed a dozen Kobolds. Fuhrung pushed the lever up that would collapse the tunnel. The shield wall held as a hundred feet of tunnel collapsed. By Fuhrung’s estimation, five to six hundred Kobolds and twenty to thirty lizards had just been killed.
There was another tunnel that led deeper into the mountain. Fuhrung made his way through the tunnel to the dwarves who were holding there. The shield wall here was holding as well, but there were Kobolds all the way down the tunnel. Fuhrung knew that he would have to collapse this tunnel as well. There were just too many of them. He couldn’t imagine how so many Kobolds had organized like this. How had they known when to attack?
He would have time to figure that out later. For now he needed to give the dwarves a chance to get out of the mountain. “Fall Back!”
The shield wall began to slowly move backward. Fuhrung lifted his crossbow and fired at the lizard going up the wall out in front of the shield wall. The lizard fell, crushing the Kobolds beneath it. The dwarves took a few more steps backward before Fuhrung raised the lever that would drop the supports in this tunnel. He realized that this tunnel was wider and there was another lever on the other side of the tunnel that had to be raised in order to collapse the tunnel. One of the dwarves tried to lift the lever, but it put extra pressure on the other lever and the dwarves there were struggling to raise it.
He leapt forward, replacing the dwarf in the center of the shield wall who was thrown back by a lizard’s tail. The tail came back across. Fuhrung dropped down and raised his sword over his head. The Lizard screeched in pain as its tail went flying away from its body. The dwarves on the other lever were able to raise it. Fuhrung drove his sword into the face of one of the Kobolds as he heard the creak as the support beam closest to him slid across stone, falling down on the Kobolds. The dwarves on the shield wall all leapt back, attempting to avoid the falling rocks.
Fuhrung turned to the dwarves as the dust filled the tunnel. “Pass the word that all dwarves are to escape Shinestone. They have too many and they will get through the tunnels. We will let them have the mountain for now. We can retake it when we have an army. Leave a platoon of crossbowmen at each tunnel. As they start digging their way through the rubble, I want them having bolts hit them in the face every time they stick their little gray heads up.” He turned to one of the only actual soldiers with them. “Bauman, once everyone is out of the mountain, send word and we will come up.”
The dwarf saluted and all of the others began making their way up the tunnels. They didn’t like it. It wasn’t in a dwarf’s nature to retreat, but Fuhrung had made the decision he knew to be the right one. Now he made his way back down to the other tunnel. He would fend off any Kobolds that made it through the collapsed tunnel until Shinestone had been evacuated. He had been put in charge and he was going to lose it after they had taken it back.
Epilogue
The phantom that was Bergmann had watched as the great sword was raised above Tiefes Loch. He no longer had a physical or spiritual presence. He was now just a manifestation of his mind. He made his way through Tiefes Loch, looking for his first target. The dwarves of Bordin would pay, but not before those who had betrayed him. The smiths of Tiefes Loch had been the ones to lead the uprising and he had made them a promise before his death.
Putsch woke up with a weird feeling. He looked around the room for someone, but no one was there. He was about to lay down when something happened to him. He heard the voice of King Bergmann in his head, and then the Phantom of Bergmann fought for control of his body. Putsch wrestled to keep control of his body but the essence of the king was stronger than his mind. He was forced into the back of his mind where he was aware of his actions, but no longer able to control them.
Bergmann searched the mind of the smith Putsch. The dwarf was four-hundred years old and had no family left. They had all been executed over the last two centuries. The dwarves he cared most about were the smiths he had trained from apprentices. Bergmann knew where to find those smiths by searching the dwarf’s mind.
Bergmann made his way through Tiefes Loch in the body of the smith. Dwarves greeted him as their leader. He ignored them, making his way to the home of the first smith. The dwarf inside was the youngest. He was barely out of his apprenticeship. He had come to Putsch when he was twenty years old, asking to be taken on as an apprentice. That had been thirty-two years ago. He had been made a full smith two years ago and married his wife last year.
Bergmann opened the door of the apartment and walked inside. The dwarf and his wife were asleep in their bed. He walked to the bed and drove his sword into the stomach of the young smith. The dwarf’s eye’s shot open as he screamed in pain. The wound was fatal but wouldn’t kill him immediately. The smith’s wife leapt out of the bed, turning toward her husband. Bergmann walked toward her. Her eyes darted from him to her husband and back with confusion and fear. He drove Putsch’s sword into her chest.
Bergmann felt Putsch fighting to take back control, but once he had taken control it was much easier to maintain. He turned Putsch’s body back around and walked back toward the dwarf on the bed.
“Why?” the dwarf asked helplessly.
“Because I promised I would.”
The dwarf’s eyes shot open even wider. The voice that came out of Putsch’s body was Bergmann’s. He turned and
left the dwarf on the bed to die a slow painful death.
Bergmann made his way from one smith to the next, killing each dwarf and their families. He wasn’t sure if he enjoyed what he was doing to the dwarves, or to Putsch more. He could actually feel the despair and hate Putsch was feeling and he relished in it.
Once he had killed all of the smiths who had led the Stoneheart Prince to the King’s Hall, he decided it was time to make good on his promise to Putsch. He was going to make the dwarf that Putsch idolized so much kill him.
* * *
Grizzle stood in the room of the young smith. One of the soldiers had come to him when they couldn’t find Putsch. Someone had murdered one of the smiths and his wife. As he stood over the dead body, he realized that whoever had done this had wanted the dwarf to suffer. A stomach wound was one of the most painful and it took a while before it took you. Whoever did this had made him watch his wife die. There had to be a dwarf in Tiefes Loch who had been a true follower of Delvidge and was taking his revenge.
He heard the soldier talking outside the room and he went to see what was going on. Putsch was talking with the soldier. When he walked out, Putsch turned on him and drew his sword. The sword was soaked in blood.
“Putsch, what are you doing?” he asked as he lifted his hammer of his back and held it out in a defensive posture.
The soldier between them was torn between his allegiance to Tiefes Loch and the king who had saved them. Putsch made the decision for him by stabbing him. The dwarf was able to jump to the side but Putsch’s blade still slid along his ribs.
“I can’t be stopped,” Putsch said, but it wasn’t Putsch’s voice.
Grizzle didn’t have a choice. Bergmann had somehow taken over Putsch’s body and was striking at him wildly. He did the only thing he could. He brought his hammer down, caving in Putsch’s head.
He stood over the body of the old dwarf when something happened to him. He felt Bergmann inside his head. He was trying to take control of his body. Grizzle fought back, denying him, and after a few seconds he forced the Phantom of Bergmann out of his body.
The dwarf on the ground was unable to do the same and in a couple of seconds the dwarf stood and attacked Grizzle. Grizzle tried to deal not fatal blows, but the dwarf was coming at him so wildly that he was forced to fight back. He slammed his hammer into the dwarf’s chest and the dwarf fell to the ground dead. Some soldiers down the hall had heard the commotion. They came running down the hall and found King Stoneheart standing over the bodies of the two dwarves with his bloody hammer in his hands.
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Table of Contents
The Half-Dwarf Prince
Dedication:
Acknowledgments:
Books by J.M. Fosberg
Prelude
Chapter One Grundel
Chapter Two Orcs and Dragons
Chapter Three Frau Kleinod
Chapter Four Dungin Mountain
Chapter Five Setting Out
Chapter Six Jerrie
Chapter Seven Kobolds
Chapter Eight Dragons and Supplies
Chapter Nine Another Path
Chapter Ten The Path of a Druid
Chapter Eleven Under Dungin Mountain
Chapter Twelve End of the Road
Chapter Thirteen Preparations and Assassins
Chapter Fourteen Dungin Mountain or Shinestone?
Chapter Fifteen Betrayal
Chapter Sixteen He Needs a Healer
Chapter Seventeen Wait and See
Epilogue
The Dwarf War
Dedication:
Acknowledgments:
Books by J.M. Fosberg
Chapter One The Arrival of Kings
Chapter Two Going to Patria
Chapter Three Dwarves of Chaos
Chapter Four An Unexpected Visitor
Chapter Five Magically Equipped
Chapter Six An Alliance of Greed and Chaos
Chapter Seven Defenses Prepared
Chapter Eight New Recruits
Chapter Nine Rundo and the Druids
Chapter Ten The Road to Patria
Chapter Eleven Last Days in Portwein
Chapter Twelve Patria
Chapter Thirteen Parades and Parties
Chapter Fourteen Marching to War
Chapter Fifteen No More Waiting
Chapter Sixteen Recoveries and Preparations
Chapter Seventeen A Meeting of Kings
Chapter Eighteen Choosing Sides
Chapter Nineteen Rundo’s Warnings
Chapter Twenty Marching to War
Chapter Twenty-One Springing the Trap
Chapter Twenty-Two Aftermath and Introductions
Chapter Twenty-Three Dressing the Wounds
Chapter Twenty-Four Delvidge Dwarves
Epilogue
Dwarves of Chaos
Dedication:
Acknowledgments:
Books by J.M. Fosberg
Prologue
Chapter One Abandoning Chaos
Chapter Two Dwarves of Chaos
Chapter Three Finding a Weakness
Chapter Four Dwarves of Chaos, Men of Greed
Chapter Five Deep Dark Tunnels
Chapter Six Trouble in Patria
Chapter Seven From Bad to Worse
Chapter Eight Making the Trip to Patria
Chapter Nine Black Dragons and Royal Ruffians
Chapter Ten Everyone Wants the Queen
Chapter Eleven Fighting for the Queen
Chapter Twelve Fight or Die
Chapter Thirteen Trouble in Shinestone
Chapter Fourteen An Impossible Family Reunion
Chapter Fifteen More Chaos
Chapter Sixteen News Comes to Shinestone
Chapter Seventeen Party in Patria
Chapter Eighteen The Road to Patria
Chapter Nineteen Arrivals in Patria
Chapter Twenty Springing the Trap
Chapter Twenty-One Chaos in Tiefes Loch
Chapter Twenty-Two Off to War
Chapter Twenty-Three The Device
Chapter Twenty-Four Armies Unite
Chapter Twenty-Five Final Preparations
Chapter Twenty-Six The First Cut
Chapter Twenty-Seven The War of Tiefes Loch Begins
Chapter Twenty-Eight Another Way to Win
Chapter Twenty-Nine An Army without a General
Chapter Thirty An Unexpected Ending
Chapter Thirty-One A Kingdom Saved
Chapter Thirty-Two A Kingdom Lost
Epilogue
The Half Dwarf Prince Trilogy Page 59
