Elvenshore: 01 - The Dwarves of Elvenshore (3 page)

For three hours the humans ran down the trail as the dwarves stumbled along as best they could.  The trees were old in this part of the forest and their roots spread out underneath a carpet of dead leaves.  The humans were having no trouble with this but the dwarves were picking themselves up from the ground quite often after
tripping over hidden roots.  Just when
Glowin
, the oldest of the dwarves, thought that he could not go on another foot, the pace slowed down to a crawl. 

“What is it?” asked a panting Hemlot.

“They are just up ahead. Get your axes ready.  Hit them between the eyes, don’t bother with the legs,” explained Ermort.

Sarchise positioned the men and dwarves for the attack.  They too would come in from two directions.

The warriors stood at the
ready
and with a nod from Sarchise rushed into a small clearing behind a grove of trees.  A warrior yell came from the dwarves as they rushed in.  The humans unleashed arrows in all directions felling spiders as they rushed towards the group.  The axes started swinging as the spiders neared. 
Glowin
killed two spiders but the third one bore down on him too fast.  An arrow from Tom’s bow hit
a
spider in the side of the head but it was not a fatal blow.  Fangs sank deep into the side of
Glowin’s
neck before
Ferdin’s
axe
drove home killing the spider.  It fell, but so did
Glowin
. 

Twice spiders knocked down Fordin. Each time Ferdin got there just in time to kill the attacking spider before it could bite Fordin.

“How am I supposed to ignore their legs if they keep knocking me over with them?” he asked as they both sank axes into the head of the same spider. Black tar like blood oozed fr
om the spider’s open wound. The twins started turning
their backs to each other for mutual protection.

Axes and arrows flew in every which way.  Every once in a while a human would use his sword on a spider that had gotten too close.

In the fog of war one spider got behind the group and sank fangs deep into
Harn’s
back before two arrows ended the spider’s life.

The spiders rushed Hemlot, but the fierce little dwarf cut three down before they could get to him.  A fourth one knocked him down and was ready to pounce when an arrow from Sarchise dropped the spider.  It landed on top of Hemlot.  The spiders attacked the remaining two dwarves, the humans had to abandon their bows and rush to the aide of the twins before the spiders could overwhelm them. The group formed a defensive circle.  Swords and axes sliced in all directions to fend off the spider’s ferocious attack.  The group of spiders that had rushed the twins all lay dead at the warrior’s feet.  The rest of the spiders fled.

Ermort and Will pulled the dead spider off of Ermort.  Black ooze was smeared all over him. 

“You all right?” asked Tom.

“I think so,” he said and then rushed over to where
Glowin
lay.  His two sons were already over him trying to revive him.

“Nothing can be done for him yet.  I don’t know how much venom got into his system but it looked like he got bit pretty badly. We’ll do what we can but we can’t do it here,” Sarchise said,

Will was standing over
Harn
. “He’s gone,” was all he said as he placed
Harn’s
hands over his atop his chest. 

Hemlot looked around at the lair of the Giant Spiders.  Bones and armor were strewn about.  He looked down at his feet and realized the pile was about two feet thick and filled the whole lair.  There were white web strands in all directions, some of them holding up bundles that were hanging between the trees.

Tom, Ermort and Sarchise started cutting down bundles wrapped in spider webs from the trees.  There were ten bundles in all.  They cut all the bundles
open.  Each bundle contained a d
warf.  Sarchise called Hemlot over.

“Is any of these your prince?” Sarchise asked.

Hemlot studied each in turn.  They all had pale skin and looked dead. Being wrapped up for a few days didn’t help their looks any either. He looked at the last one and said, “This one.”

“So,
” Sarchise
said as he took out a knife and cut open his tunic. There was a puncture wound in the middle of his stomach with a huge bruise around it the size of a plate.  Sarchise took his knife and cut open the stomach where the puncture wound was.  He reached into the cavity and started pulling out eggs by the handful.  Will, Tom and Ermort started doing the same with the other spider bundled dwarves next to the prince. Hemlot turned his head and started swallowing very hard.  The twins started vomiting in the bushes. When they were all done they tied up the wounds using the torn tunics. 

“There are seven of us and we have to transport twelve out.  I suggest that one of the hu
mans take
Harn
and a d
war
f the other three can take two d
warves each.  The three of you will have to take four others somehow. The spiders will go to another lair and get reinforcements.  They will be back in a few hours and if we are still here we stand no chance,
” Sarchise
said,

“
Harn
is dead,” Ferdin commented. “Can we just leave him here?”

Scowls formed on Tom’s face but Sarchise answered calmly, “We leave no food for the spiders.”

With that the humans threw the wounded over their shoulders and headed out.  The dwarves had to alternately drag and carry their wounded out. When they got back to the outpost they all set the wounded down.

“Where do you intend to take them?” asked a panting Hemlot.

“South Fort is the closest city. We will have to take them there,” Sarchise answered.

“That is at least a five day
journey from here,” Hemlot protested. “Many of them will die.”

“Seven days journey, probably nine with you having to drag
your
wounded. Some of them are as good as dead already, but we cannot leave any behind for the spiders.  If I had more men we could burn them and defend ourselves against the wandering spiders and bears, but I don’t have enough men,” Sarchise said.

“High Mountain is only a day away,” Hemlot responded.

“Are humans welcome there?” Sarchise asked.

“Many of your people came and helped us fight the gremlin wars.  Those that died are buried in a place of honor,” Hemlot answered. “You will
be welcome.”

“High Mountain it is,” said Sarchise.

With that they bundled up the wounded.  They made use of some of the branches to make
stretchers.  They tied
the tunics of the wounded between the poles.  Instead of carrying both sides they let the one side drag. 
That
way two healthy dwarves could drag three wounded ones.

“There must be another lair nearby; where else did the other eleven dwarves go?” Sarchise asked Ermort.

“It looks to me that they were eaten, by the amount of armor and axes at the bottom of the lair. Also, did you notice that there were small daggers there? Those are not dwarf weapons.  That is what the gremlins use in battle.  I hope that we are not facing an even larger problem,
” Ermort
said.

“I think that you are right about the dwarves. I would hate to think about eleven bundles of eggs hatching. I did see the daggers too.  That is a bad sign,” Sarchise replied.

“That would be a terrible thing,” agreed Ermort.

They wished they could have left someone to guard their outpost, but every man and dwarf would be needed to get the wounded back.  It was a journey Sarchise was not looking forward to. After eating some dried meat and drinking wine to wash it down, the group headed off in the direction of High Mountain.

Sarchise took the lead and Ermort brought up the rear.  Every once in a while they would stop to listen. Spiders are very quiet, but did make some noise.  The men
of the Royal Scouts had trained themselves to hear these noises.

The unlikely group of man and dwarf alternately carried and dragged the group of drugged travelers along towards the entrance of High Mountain.  They had to stop twice to fend off attacks by the Giant Spiders. They would stop every once in a while to look
and listen.  When they heard
the approaching spiders behind them, they would leave the wounded on the trail as a decoy and slip into the trees.  The spiders would go after the wound
ed and not see the others until
it was too late. Luckily no more of the
group’s
members were stung.

Finally Hemlot could go no more.  They formed a defensive circle around the comatose group and sent Ferdin and
Fordin
on ahead to the lower entrance of the mountain.  Four hours later, a group of fifty dwarves with handcarts came plodding through the underbrush to the rescue.  Sarchise studied the newcomers.  They were all old battle-hardened dwarves in full armor with no smiles.  One could tell that these dwarves did not relish the idea of being outside, and quickly they packed up the wounded. In a few minutes, the group was once again on their way.  Two hours down the road, they were out of the trees and walking at the edge of the mountain itself.  High walls with battlements greeted them when they got closer. They walked between the walls towards the entrance of the caverns.

As they came around the corner, there were two high towers on each side of the door.  Guards with axes stood at the bottom doorways of the towers.  The upper parts had rows of archers. There was a bridge b
uilt between the towers extending
above the doorway.  This also had a row of archers across it. The party stopped abruptly at the door to the High Mountain. 

Hemlot stepped forward.  “Open the door in the name of Hemlot, commander in the King’s service.”

The guards stood motionless.

A dwarf stepped forward.  He was Prince Caspin, fourth born of the King. “The dwarves may enter but these are not welcome here,” he said with a sneer.

“Open the door,”
came
a voice from the bridge. “All the travelers are welcome.  Send the hurt to the healers and the others t
o the King’s chambers for he desires
to speak with them.”  It was the voice of the Captain of the Guard. 

Caspin glared at him, but he just smiled back.  Caspin had no authority at the gate, even though he always tried to order around the guard.

As
they entered
the mine doors, Sarchise looked around in awe. He had lived in the world of men and elves all of his life and had never seen how the dwarves could carve the stone.  The door led through a long archway. Every few feet, cut into the side of the archway, were statues.  They were a visual history of the dwarves. The statues started at the gate and led through the archway, telling the story of the dwarves of Elvenshore and their battles with the gremlins.  It told of how brave men and elves had come to their aide and how they likewise came to the aide of men and elves.  It told of the creation of the Four Kingdoms of men, how they lived and of their fall.  It even told of the time when
Therin
, son of Kyle, came to be the current King of the mountain.

“Amazing,” came the voice of Ermort.

“I have never seen such beauty carved from solid rock,” Sarchise said, awed.

When they came through the archway, they stepped into the Lower Hall.  It was twenty feet high and fifty feet wide.  It stretched forward a hundred feet with pillars every ten feet.  There were dwarf maidens carved on the bottom of the pillars spreading flowers all around and at the top of the pillars there were carved dwarf warriors, with axes strapped to their belts.  They had their arms above their heads to hold up the roof.  In the middle of the hall was a round fire pit. It had a bonfire blazing in it with off-duty guardsmen sitting around it, feasting and drinking ale, while telling stories.

The group was escorted to the right and up a long stairway, past more statues and then sat down into a parlor.  The benches were carved out of the stone but had many pillows on them.  On the parlor
’
s forward wall was a great oak door with iron hinges.  On ei
ther side of the door were two d
warf guards. Each of the guards had spears in their hands and axes in their belts. Both stood at the ready.

The captain of the guard went up to them.  “Inform the king that they are here.”

One of the guards bowed, then opened the door and went in. A minute later he returned and took up his position at the door, but did not close it as the King was the next one out. All the dwarves in the room including the guard held their hats or helmets to their chest and bowed deeply. The humans followed suit. The King looked directly at the Master of the Royal Scouts held his crown to his chest and said, “I am
Therin
, son of Kyle, King of the High Mountain.  You must be Sarchise.”