The Hammer of Fire (11 page)

“So, your true agenda reveals itself,” said
Councilor Six.

“All seven members of this council are
Firefists, Drawhammers, or Blackirons. There has not been a member
of the council from another family in almost fifty years. You must
see what that is doing to our nation!”

“That is not the purpose of this council
meeting,” said the High Councilor and his hand went to a small,
golden hammer that lay on the table in front of him. “We have
covered that topic to my satisfaction in previous meetings. Now, we
must decide an action to take in the matter of the Hammer of
Fire.”

“It’s about time,” said Cleathelm from the
floor as he stared plaintively up at the men at the table. “Every
second is important. We’ve already wasted three days getting the
council together and following your stupid rules. We have to send
fighters right now if we want to catch Delius and his friends.”

The guards moved forward and lowered their
pikes to his chest, this threat immediately silenced the
outburst.

“I move to adjourn so that calmer heads might
prevail,” Borrombus quickly interjected into the conversation.

“That’s ridiculous!” said the councilor at
the end opposite the fat man.

“High Councilor?” said Borrombus, “I’ve made
a motion.”

The High Councilor looked up and down the
table for a moment and put his hand one of the gem encrusted bands
that held his beard in place.

“Don’t do it, brother,” said the Sixth
Councilor. “He only needs three votes.”

“You don’t respect the laws laid down by Dar
Drawhammer?” said Borrombus. “I call for an adjournment.”

The High Councilor sat in silence for long
minutes while everyone waited for his pronouncement. On the floor
young Cleathelm started to open his mouth but a glance from his
father silenced the words in his throat. “The request was made
within the rules laid down by our forefathers and I therefore grant
it. All those in favor of an adjournment raise your right
hand.”

Three of the seven, Borrombus, an older dwarf
with a bald head and a long gray beard, and another who bore a
striking resemblance to the fat dwarf raised their hands.

“For the love of Davim!” said the Sixth
Councilor. “I propose a special session of the High Council be
called tomorrow.”

“Once the High Council has adjourned no new
session may be formed without emergency cause for at least two
weeks,” said Borrombus.

“It’s an emergency!” said the Sixth Council
standing up from his seat and pointing his finger at the fat dwarf.
“The Hammer of Fire was stolen! Half-breeds and alien girls have
one of the great relics of the realm. It is a catastrophe!”

“The definition of emergency is fully
declared in the articles of Drawhammer,” said Borrombus. “Perhaps
we need to call an Interpretation Assembly. We’ll need to gather
the elders from the original five families ….”

“No, no, I retract my objection,” said the
Sixth Councilor as he waved his hands in surrender. “I accept the
adjournment.”

“The adjournment is granted,” intoned the
High Councilor. “The next session of the High Council will meet in
two weeks on the second cleave of the Holy Hammer.” With this he
banged his golden hammer on the table where it made an almost
inaudible little thud.

Minutes later Cleathelm walked down a wide
corridor with his father who stood almost six inches shorter and
the elder’s beard occasionally dragged along the floor. “By the
devil, to be outmaneuvered by that vile Borrombus enrages me. What
would your grandfather say?” he said to the young warrior.

“I guess … he’d …,” started Cleathelm.

“It was a rhetorical question, you imbecile.
The Council can’t be called again for two weeks and there’s nothing
to be done. I can’t send soldiers without a positive vote. You had
to open your stupid mouth to your uncle, didn’t you? After I told
you to state the complaint and then shut up. I wrote down exactly
what you were to say and specifically told you to stick to the
script.”

“I thought ….”

“Don’t think! You idiot. By the Princes of
the Nine Hells you take after your uncle on your mother’s side. You
do not think. You do as I say. Am I clear?”

“Yes, father.”

“Now, we have to figure out what do about
this. We can’t wait two weeks. Who knows where they’ll take the
hammer.”

Cleathelm shrugged as they made their way
past a massive, twenty-foot tall statue of a dwarf with a set of
chain armor and an axe with a huge notch in the blade, “That was
your great, great, great, great, grand-uncle,” said the Sixth
Councilor pausing for a moment in front of the statue. “Tor
Firefist. He slew the great orc under the mountain. If he knew a
foreigner had one of the relics of Craggen Steep he would come back
from the dead and take my head.”

“So he was Aunt Aama’s father?” said
Cleathelm as he counted on his fingers.

The councilor turned to the young fighter and
shook his head, “You’re too stupid to help me here.”

“Where can I help then?”

“You can dig a tunnel to the center of the
world for all I care …,” he started to say and then suddenly
paused.

“What?”

“When you became apprentice to the First Edos
you had to resign your commission on the High Council Guard, isn’t
that right?”

“Yes, father,” said Cleathelm.

“And you’ve had six months to fill out the
forms to get back into the regular army. You haven’t done it yet,
have you?”

Cleathelm shook his head, “I’ve been meaning
to do that ….”

“Don’t lie to your father. You just forgot.
But that means you can leave Craggen Steep without forgoing your
military obligation.”

“I guess,” said Cleathelm and scratched his
head.

“Those deadbeat friends of yours, the goblin,
the others, they aren’t part of the military either, are they?”

“I’m not sure,” said Cleathelm with another
scratch of his head. “Why?”

The councilor looked at the young dwarf and
simply shook his head. “Get your gear together, collect your
friends; you’re going after Delius yourself. I’ll send
reinforcements as soon as I can get the Council to vote. Bring that
hammer back.”

“Where am I going?” said the lad, his
eyebrows raised and his eyes back darting and forth.

The councilor sighed, “I’ll write it down.
Just pack your things and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Not far away along another hallway Borrombus
was similarly in deep discussion with his nephew Uldex. “We’ve
given them a two week head start,” said the big-bellied dwarf but
he wore a frown on his face and shook his head. “Don’t be a fool,
Borrombus, I’m just trying to convince myself,” he said to himself
after a moment.

“What’s that?” asked Uldex. “We’ve got two
weeks to figure out how to delay them further, right?”

“No, no we don’t. Take a note of this Uldex.
There are times when you want something to be true so badly that
you end up convincing yourself it is true. It’s vitally important
to never think that way. You must always examine the situation
fully without bias and come to an reasoned conclusion. Or at least
as best as possible with the available evidence.”

Uldex nodded his head and looked at his
uncle, “You make it sound easy. How do you put aside your biases,
your passions?”

“Go over the facts of the matter in a clear
headed manner. Just facts. Once you’ve established the facts you
can examine them with a clear head. So in this case; one: the
Firefists want the hammer back. Two: they have almost unlimited
funds but they are limited by political considerations. Three: my
rival in council understands this is about more than the hammer;
that it is about his position of power and his family’s position
with Craggen Steep. Four: the hammer is no longer in Craggen Steep.
Five: I want to think that I’ve won this battle, that we’ve
garnered two weeks bonus time but they will do whatever they can to
circumvent the council’s delay. We can’t let our hopes cloud our
thinking in these matters. What will the Firefists do now that
we’ve thwarted an immediate military solution? What would you do
under if we were the ones who wanted to pursue Delius and his
friends?”

Uldex strode with his uncle along the ornate
hallways that branched off from the council chambers. The great
marble floors were twenty feet wide and golden statues stared at
them from alcoves as they went silently past, the only sound was
their heavy footsteps. “He’ll hire mercenaries,” said Uldex a few
minutes later. “They’ll use some backdoor channel and pay for it
out of their own funds. They’ll send someone out of Craggen Steep
to track down the hammer and bring it back. They’ll deal with the
consequences later after it’s done.”

Borrombus snapped his fingers and nodded his
head, “Yes, of course that’s what they’ll do. But, if they send
mercenaries who are not soldiers of Craggen Steep then we can do
the same, yes?”

Uldex nodded his head. “I have friends who
might like a job like that and I’m not averse to taking it on
myself unless you need me here in Craggen Steep?” he said with a
huge grin on his face. “I assume I’ll be able to execute whatever
means necessary to achieve our goals?”

“Yes, of course, you’re right. It’s best that
you go after the hammer and bring it back. We will want the masses
on our side. We are Blackirons but we can still convince the lesser
families that we have their best interests at heart. Now, where do
you suppose they’ll head? Did that Halfling girl give you any
clues? It’s pointless to have you wandering all over the continent,
you’ll never find them.”

“Milli said something about Dol wanting a
grand purpose before he was willing to steal the hammer. That’s why
it caught me by surprise when they acted as they did. She must have
convinced him to do something but she didn’t give me a hint as to
what it might be. I should have asked when she came to me. But I
was busy planning the escape. Phony messages through the tunnels,
confusing the guard, it occupied my thoughts. Damn.”

“The little Halfling girl,” mused Borrombus
as his hand came to his beard and stroked it gently. He stopped
walking and his eyes narrowed. “Unless ….”

“Unless what?” asked Uldex also coming to a
stop and gazing at his uncle.

“The First Edos. Old Fierfelm doesn’t
completely trust me after our little shell game about trying to
convince the High Council. He’s old and idealistic but he is not a
fool. Is it possible he went to see Milli on his own and gave her
some suggestion?”

“It’s possible,” said Uldex with a shrug of
his shoulders and he raised his eyebrows. “She told me that Dol was
unwilling to steal the hammer when I thought we had it all
arranged. But, then the next day she was ready to go. There might
have been some outside agency that convinced him. But why do you
think it was the First Edos?”

“What else do we have to go on?” said
Borrombus putting his finger to his temple and tapping gently. “I
can go by the Great Library and see what tomes he investigated
recently. The Chief Librarian is your cousin as I recall. But the
details don’t concern you, Uldex. Gather your friends, pack for a
long journey. Have you been long out of Craggen Steep before?”

“Just a few trade missions but nothing more
than a month or so. I’m familiar enough with the outside world.
I’ll get maps from the Cartographer’s Guild.”

“Don’t trust them,” said Borrombus and shook
his head. “They’re run by the Firefists and they haven’t much of a
clue about the outside world more than a thousand miles from the
mountain in any direction. They’ll tell you the maps are accurate
but who knows how many mistakes there are and that is if they don’t
give you forgeries. Warrens, tunnels, goblin holes, they are
masters, but the outside world, they are generally fools. Still,
anything you can find will give you a place to start. Once you’re
in the outside world you can ask for directions. Your gold will get
you any information you need.”

“I’ll need a supply of gold then,” said Uldex
looking up at Borrombus a little grin on his face. “My
understanding is the surface dwellers value it highly.”

“Yes, yes, nephew. I can provide as much as
you need and more. Get your gear together and I’ll find out what I
can. Be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.”

“And when I find Delius and the hammer?”

Borrombus began to slowly move forward again
and stroked his beard as he looked carefully at the young dwarf,
“You’ve guessed my true intentions then?”

Uldex shrugged his shoulders and kept
silent.

“It needs to be brought back to Craggen
Steep, you understand. Most certainly not by the Firefists but not
Delius and his friends either. You know that we are in negotiations
with Corancil to provide economic aid in his plans of conquest,
right?”

“I’d guessed as much,” said Uldex.

“If the Blackirons have their way, and by
that I mean if I have my way, then we’ll provide more than money to
the invasion. Corancil means to subjugate the entire world to his
might and he is capable of doing it. I’ve not met the man as yet
but from what I know he is a grave danger to Craggen Steep. If we
resist helping him, as those foolish, live in the past Firefists
and Drawhammers want, then it will end badly for us. It is time for
Craggen Steep to join the world and with Blackirons leading the
way. We’ll dismantle the council and take sole power for
ourselves.”

“What about elevating the lesser families and
all that high idealism?” asked Uldex.

“That’s not all pixie-dust,” said Borrombus
with a nod of his massive head that caused his chins to wobble back
and forth. “We’ll need the support of the lesser families to
overthrow the Firefists and Drawhammers but then we can manipulate
them as we choose.”

“And when I find Dol and the hammer?”
repeated Uldex.