The Phantom Dwarf Read online

  “Is everything all right in Tiefes Loch? Is everyone all right?”

  “Queen Frau, King Stoneheart, and King Kraft are all fine. You have been summoned to a Council of Kings in Tiefes Loch. We have orders to escort you back to Tiefes Loch as soon as you can be ready,” the dwarf answered.

  Fuhrung went to the area were he had been staying. They didn’t have much. They had been under attack when they escaped Shinestone, and the dwarves hadn’t had a chance to grab anything. Now they were camped out in the valley that surrounded the mountain. He grabbed his things and stared up at Shinestone. He had lost the kingdom to a bunch of scrawny, long-armed, gray-skinned kobolds. Now he had to go to Tiefes Loch and face the three current dwarf leaders and explain how he had lost the kingdom they had just retaken. He had shamed himself and the name of his fathers.

  He checked the buckles on his armor, made sure his swords were seated in their scabbards, and made his way over to the dwarves waiting to escort him to Tiefes Loch.

  Chapter Five

  The Problem in Portwein

  King Merwein stood on the balcony again, looking out at the army to the west. He had six of his palace guards with him at all times now. He was worried that Commander Boris would try to have him assassinated. He could outlast the army, but he didn’t want to take any chances with anyone inside the city who might take Boris’ side.

  He had been waiting on that balcony for nearly an hour when his orders were finally carried out. He watched as the first huge ball of fire went flying over the wall, souring through the air as if it had wings. He watched as it floated over the thousand paces of open field over the front lines of the army and went crashing into the army’s camp.

  ***

  Grizzle Stoneheart watched a huge ball of fire come flying toward the camp. Before the first of the balls reached the army a second was in the air following it. When the first ball of fire came crashing down inside the camp Grizzle’s suspicions were immediately confirmed. They were catapulting barrels of oil. To the benefit of the army, it took nearly half a minute for the barrels to travel such a far distance. The soldiers in the area of the barrel were able to avoid them for the most part, but they would have to move the whole army.

  When the third of the fiery barrels came crashing down, he heard soldiers screaming. After a few minutes, he received word that a couple of soldiers had still been asleep in their tent when the barrel came down. They were very badly burned trying to escape the burning tent, but they would both live.

  In this moment, any misgiving he had about what they were planning for the king of Portwein disappeared. A king who was willing to do this to his own people was no king at all. Commander Boris had proven to be an honorable man, so Grizzle had agreed to the plan. King Merwein had just confirmed all of the terrible things that the Portweinians said about him.

  Grizzle grabbed the captain Commander Boris had sent with him. “Get these soldiers back. Tell them to grab what they carry and move back another thousand paces.”

  The captain didn’t even respond, he just turned and started barking orders as he ran through the army. Grizzle turned back toward the wall and watched the arc of the next of the barrels. As the light of the flaming barrel lit up the sky over Portwein, Grizzle just barely saw the shape of a huge bird. Everyone in the city would be so focused on the fiery barrels they wouldn’t even see the two huge hawks fly in from the south.

  ***

  Grundel, Jerrie, and Commander Boris watched as Rundo and Evelyn stripped down and tied all of their things into bundles. Grundel and Jerrie had finally gotten used to the two stripping naked, and they hardly even noticed any more. Commander Boris was not accustom to the two druids or the nudity of a female, and he immediately turned around. He kept his back turned until Jerrie tapped him on the shoulder.

  When he turned back toward the two druids, they were now in the form of huge hawks, their bodies equal in size to what they had been before they transformed. Their wings were massive. He stared on in amazement. He was just getting his wits about him and about to speak, when the hawk who had been Rundo flapped its wings, knocking up a huge cloud of dirt around them. Boris brought his arm in front of his face to block the debris.

  The force of him being jerked up into the air quickly pulled down his arm. The falcon’s claws were wrapped around his torso. He looked to his right and saw that Jerrie was being carried in Rundo’s other talons. The falcon form of Evelyn had lifted Grundel, who easily weighed as much as Boris and Jerrie combined, and that wasn’t including the two huge axes that Grundel carried. They were magically enchanted to feel light to Grundel, but they were still quite heavy to anyone who didn’t have Stoneheart blood in their veins. Boris had held one of the axes when he had two hands and would have barely been able to wield the one. He couldn’t imagine how Grundel was able to wield both of them at once, much less throw either affectively. He had seen the massive dwarf do all of those things though. Now he watched in amazement as the huge birds carried them all. The ground sped by below them.

  As they approached the city, flaming barrels filled the air. Boris was instantly enraged. King Merwein was launching burning oil at his own army. Merwein had been busy. The catapults were huge, throwing the heavy oil barrels more than a thousand paces. They hadn’t any weapons of that capability when he had left Portwein. The new wall had gone up with unimaginable speed. The whole city must have been hired to raise that huge wall. He would have to make sure that it was finished once they had dealt with Merwein. He would also have to make sure that whoever took Merwein’s place honored whatever promises the king had made to the men who built the wall.

  Rundo flew toward the city. With his hawk-enhanced vision, he could see that the soldiers were avoiding most of the barrels and starting to move the army back out of the range of the catapults. As he flew higher, he also saw over the top of the palace. The king stood on the palace balcony, and Rundo immediately came up with a plan. He knew Jerrie and Grundel well enough that he could change the plan and they would still execute it perfectly. They had all adapted to enough situations that they were able to predict what each other would do in almost any situation. He also knew that Evelyn would follow his movements. He flew over the top of the palace and dropped Jerrie and Boris on the slanted roof just above the balcony. They were sliding down the roof and would fall onto the balcony in a matter of seconds. He flew down in front of the king and his guards. They immediately shouted in fear. Some fell back into the palace, others drew their weapons, but all of them were now focused on the huge hawk in front of them.

  ***

  Jerrie dropped to the cold copper roof of the palace and began sliding toward the edge. He wasn’t sure what he was about to land on, but he knew Rundo pretty well. He expected to fall into a fight. He drew both of his daggers and readied himself. He brought his knees up so that he would come down off the roof on soft knees. Boris was next to him, struggling to get his sword free with his one hand.

  Jerrie slid over the edge of the roof and down onto a balcony. As he predicted, Rundo had dropped him right into the center of a fight. However, the guards were all focused on the huge hawk and were caught completely off guard by Jerrie dropping down in their midst. He was about to drive his dagger into the back of the first of them when Boris shouted, “NOOOO!”

  Jerrie remembered what they had said about the guards being sworn to an oath. He turned his hand and slammed the pommel of the dagger into the back of the guard’s head. The guard slumped to the ground. One of the guards fired a crossbow he had been preparing for the hawk at Jerrie. Jerrie wore gloves that made his already fast hands unbelievably fast. He deflected the bolt with the dagger in his left hand. He flipped the dagger in his right hand so that he was holding it by the blade. The guard was attempting to reload his crossbow when the pommel of Jerrie’s dagger slammed into his forehead.

  Grundel landed next to Boris just as he shouted at Jerrie. Boris turned away from Jerrie and toward the guards inside the palace. King Merwein co
wered behind the two guards inside the room. Grundel turned toward the other guards. As Boris made his way through the doorway, one of the guards fell. King Merwein stepped behind the last guard. He was actually holding on to the soldier’s shoulders. He kept peeking his head up over the guard’s shoulders. Watching this just infuriated Boris even more.

  Before he lost his arm, none of the King’s Guard could come close to contending with him. Even with only one sword, he was a more capable fighter than all of the members of the King’s Guard, except for maybe Captain Foringi. Captain Foringi would be leading the defense of the city, which meant that the guard now standing between him and the king wouldn’t have a chance.

  He began moving forward. He heard the crashing of steel on steel behind him, and he could only hope that Grundel wasn’t killing the guard. He had to keep his focus on his own fight. No matter his advantage, if he allowed himself to become distracted he would give his opponent an opportunity. When you were fighting for your life, one opportunity could easily become the last mistake of your life. Boris focused on the guard in front of him. He was younger, barely twenty years old. Looking into his eyes, Boris could see that he was scared. At least he had some sense.

  As Boris made his way toward the king, the guard stepped forward, bringing his sword across in a wide slash. This was the first time the man was using his sword for real. He was using the techniques he knew, but he was forcing them. Boris brought his sword our in front of him, canting the tip and deflecting the slash easily. He then brought his blade down at the guard’s exposed lead leg. He could have easily buried his blade to the bone, and the guard would have bled to death before he could figure out what had happened. At the last second, he turned his blade, slamming the flat of it against the guard’s thigh.

  The guard leapt back, thinking he had been cut. He reacted just as Boris had hoped, leaping straight back into King Merwein. When the king put his hands up to stop him, the guard startled and spun around. Boris couldn’t have hoped for it to work out any better. He swung his blade forward, clapping the guard on the back of the head. The guard was knocked forward into the king.

  King Merwein stepped back and let the unconscious soldier drop to the ground. He turned to run for the door, but the man with the daggers had someone how finished off both of the guards he had faced and made it around to block the door. He looked to the balcony where the big dwarf stood surrounded by the unconscious members of his guard. That thought gave him hope. They hadn’t killed any of them. Maybe they really didn’t come to kill him. When he looked into Boris’ eyes, all hope of negotiation was violently thrown from his mind as fear rushed in. Without even realizing what he was doing, he picked up the guard’s sword. Commander Boris’ mouth curved into a smile. Merwein realized this was just what the commander was hoping for. He had to fight if he was going to live, but he couldn’t beat Boris. Boris had a weakness though. There was only one possible way he could win this.

  Boris walked slowly toward King Merwein. He couldn’t help but smile when the king picked up a sword. At least he was going to try to fight. At least now he wouldn’t have to murder him. Boris had killed hundreds of men in battle and ordered many more to do things that eventually caused their deaths, but he had never murdered an unarmed man. He brought his sword up and moved in to engage the king. He stopped when the king dropped his sword to the chest of the unconscious guard on the ground.

  “If you come any closer, I’ll kill him,” King Merwein said.

  Commander Boris stared down at the unconscious guard. If he moved the king would kill him. The king was a calculating man. He knew that if he died killing that man would thrust the blame on him. He saw the king’s eyes brighten a little as he thought he had achieved a victory. Boris knew that if he waited too long, more guards would eventually show up, and they would have to kill them. They could only fight men for so long before they had to choose between killing the guards or keep knocking them unconscious and getting themselves killed. He had to take the king now.

  Luckily, Jerrie had figured out away around this dilemma. A dagger came flying in from the doorway, connecting with the king’s sword. It knocked the sword out to the side only a couple of inches, but it was enough. Boris attacked, and the king had no choice but to raise his sword in defense. Even with only one hand, Boris could manipulate his sword better than the king could with both hands. Every king was supposed to learn to fight. Merwein’s father had been well trained in the sword, and his grandfather had been remarkable. His grandfather had actually led armies in battle. This king had none of the characteristics of his ancestors. He had abandoned all training and anything that caused him to exert himself the moment his father died. Now he was paying for it. He had blocked two strikes, and he was already breathing hard. He could barely hold the sword up in front of him.

  Boris didn’t want to prolong this. He swung his sword hard to the side. He wasn’t even aiming for the king. A trained fighter would have avoided the strike altogether, leaving him off balance and exposed, but Merwein brought his sword out to block. The king’s sword was knocked from his hands. Boris dropped his sword, drawing the dagger from his hip. He stared into the king’s eyes and watched them open wide as the dagger slid between his ribs and into his lungs.

  “I am your king,” Merwein said between gasps.

  Boris spit in his face. “A real king would not put a sword to the throat of his own man. A king is the servant of his people. You have served only yourself since you first sat on that throne. Tonight you will pay for your crimes.”

  King Merwein tried to respond, but when he opened his mouth to speak, he just gurgled. He began to panic, and in the last moments of his life he laid on his back, grasping desperately at the arm of the man who was killing him. His vision became blurry, and he looked up into the eyes of Commander Boris until fear and darkness consumed him.

  Chapter Six

  The Chaos Dwarf

  Fuhrung walked along with the dwarves of Tiefes Loch. It had been eight days since they left Shinestone. The small group was moving fast. They had seen Patria off to their west two days ago. They had already crossed the Wichtig River and were heading southwest toward Tiefes Loch. The trip would be much easier if they didn’t have to travel around the Einode Desert. The Einode was a huge desert that sat in the center of Gegend. There was little to no water to be found, and it was very easy to be disoriented.

  There were many superstitions about the desert. What was known by all was that very few members of any race ever traveled into the desert and that even less came back out. Groups of humans lived in the Einode. They would come out to trade on occasion, but they mostly lived off of what they could find out in the desert. They were widely feared by many of the human societies. Fuhrung thought he had seen some people as they skirted the desert after they crossed the river, but when he stopped to look, he could no longer find them. Now they were finally moving away from the desert and back toward the mountain of Tiefes Loch, which was the only current dwarven kingdom he had never been to.

  They stopped in the open and made a fire. There was a grove of trees not far away, but the dwarves from Tiefes Loch had been uncomfortable with the trees so they were sleeping in the open. They had barely finished building the fire when they heard the sound of metal. Fuhrung saw the Chaos Dwarf enter the light of the fire across from him.

  The closest dwarf drew his axe and charged the lurking mass of evil. The Chaos Dwarves were dwarves of Tiefes Loch who had been changed by the divine power of Delvidge, the God of Chaos. Their armor and weapons were enchanted and merged with their bodies. They didn’t need food or sleep, and they were stronger and faster than should have been possible. Fuhrung thought they had all been killed when Tiefes Loch had been taken. The only time he had seen them was when two had chased the Chaos Dwarf Flucht to Shinestone. Now he watched as this one brought his sword across and cut the dwarf in half. The Chaos Dwarf’s sword didn’t even seem to be hindered as it cut through the other dwarf’s chain mail.

/>   Fuhrung leapt over the fire as he drew his sword. The Chaos Dwarf charged him. He brought his sword up to block as the Chaos Dwarf’s sword came down. At the last second, his mind registered the resistance the steel of the other dwarf’s armor had presented, and he began to move. The enchanted steel of the Chaos Dwarf’s sword cut right through his sword, leaving him holding just the hilt with a foot of steel protruding from the end of it. He wrapped one arm around the evil dwarf’s forearm. His other hand held onto the wrist and his legs were wrapped around the Chaos Dwarf’s neck.

  “Get his feet!” he shouted to the other dwarves who were coming in from the side. The two dwarves did as they were told and grabbed the Chaos Dwarf’s ankles. Fuhrung was preventing him from striking successfully with his weapon, and the next dwarf who entered the fight had a brilliant idea. He slammed into the back of the Chaos Dwarf. With his legs entangled and one arm trapped, the dwarf fell forward. His head landed in the fire. The Chaos Dwarf began to force himself up, but the other dwarves leapt onto him. He was overpowering the four of them when two more jumped on his back, all of them ignoring the minor burns they were receiving. Dwarves were all familiar with working in a smith, so burns were not uncommon to any of them. They held the evil dwarf of Delvidge down until they heard the sickening popping sounds as the dwarf’s head began to cook inside his helmet.

  Fuhrung stood over the dwarf, gagging on the smell of dwarf flesh burning. He grabbed the dwarf by the feet and pulled him away from the fire. He looked around the camp. The other dwarves were all sitting around him. The two who had been hanging onto the Chaos Dwarf’s legs were as banged up as he was. The dwarf had thrashed wildly with unnatural strength as it tried to escape the fire. He stared at them for a minute before speaking. “I thought all these things were dead.”