Elvenshore: 01 - The Dwarves of Elvenshore Read online

  The Dwarves of Elvenshore

  By Clark Graham

  © Clark Graham 2012

  All Rights Reserved

  To my beloved wife

  Preface

  I went to the bookstore to find the perfect novel. I wanted to read an epic story about large armies coming together and fighting large battles. It would have an unlikely hero leading the good guys and a very evil enemy leading the bad guys. I also wanted enemies becoming allies and mysteries surrounding ancient races and cities

  I didn’t find one that met what I wanted to read. I then thought to myself, why don’t I write one? With that the idea of my novel was born. I followed familiar lines with elves and dwarves but then threw in some surprises. I built a new world and then filled it with kingdoms and mountains. I hope that you enjoy reading through the journey as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Table of Contents

  The Dwarves Elvenshore

  Map of ElvenshorePreface

  Journey of the Dwarf Prince

  Into the Spiders Lair

  High Mountain

  The Feast in the Great Hall

  The Awakening of the Prince

  South Fort

  Summons of the King

  Into the Westwood

  First Contact

  Old Enemies

  The Gathering of Armies

  A Parting of the Ways

  A Battle Among the Trees

  The Rear Guard

  The Journey of the Wounded.

  Deep into High Mountain

  Return to Westwood

  An Elf’s Tale

  Arrows in the Deep Woods

  The Two Cities

  Tales of Evil

  Battle for the Iron Mountains

  Retreat off the Mountains

  The King Returns

  Into the Lonely Mountains

  Back to the Kingdom of Ril

  Death in the Lonely Mountains

  The Last Battle

  Home and Family

  Journey of the Dwarf Prince

  The fire blazed hot under the stars as four dwarves sat around it calmly sharpening their axes while they hummed old war songs, oblivious to the dangers around them. The fire was large and lit up the night sky for miles. It was not the normal dwarf bonfire, like those in the large elaborate halls that they cut out of their mountain kingdom. Those bonfires would have massive feasts around them. Wild game and goat and pig would be eaten while server girls would pour ale to thirsty boasting and belching dwarves. But these dwarves had been walking all day and were too tired to bother with the normal dwarfish bravado. Besides, there were only four of them. Their meal was just a couple of unlucky rabbits they caught on their way out of the mines.

  Glowin, with his scar above his right eyebrow, was the loudest of the hummers. He had seen many battles with the gremlins of High Mountain. Many times had the gremlins tried to infiltrate the mines under the mountain, and many times they had been battled back. The underground world was home of both the dwarf and the gremlin and neither one shared well.

  Hemlot was their leader. Hemlot was smallest of the four and by far the meanest in battle. He had led many a dwarf to battle and to victory. He had a hard life but was strong, fearless, and cunning. Hemlot was a natural leader and one of the dwarf king’s most able commanders. Although small in stature even for a dwarf, he had the ferocity of three dwarves in battle. But he was troubled this night. He kept looking out into the darkness at the forest feeling as if someone or something was watching him. It was a knack that warriors develop over the years to keep from getting ambushed.

  The twins, Ferdin and Fordin, stood up and starting sparring with each other. Loud clanks would echo through the forest when battle-axe would hit armor. They were Glowin’s sons and had never stepped outside of High Mountain before today. The last of the gremlins had been driven out of the mountain before they were born. It was hard for them to believe all those stories and songs about war when they had seen none of it in their day. When their father pointed out his battle scar to prove that wars did exist, they would say that he cut himself shaving, although by the looks of him, he had never shaved a day in his life.

  The dwarves were finishing up with their supper when they heard a whistling sound coming from the woods.

  “Four dwarves around a fire waiting to get eaten,” said a voice from the woods. The dwarves sprang to their feet and had the axes at the ready in a matter of seconds.

  “Show yourself so I may split your head open with my axe!” Hemlot shouted.

  “Friend Dwarf, if I wanted to fight you, you would have already been dead,” answered the voice. “Which you might end up so anyway, every hungry predator around knows that fire means food. Most likely dwarves, since men around these parts know better than to attract attention to themselves, after dark, in the Westwood.”

  The dwarves looked at each other and then looked back at the direction of the voice. Hemlot was growling. Out of the shadows stepped a green-clad human. He took his hat off, held it to his chest, and took a deep bow. The dwarves, although they were angry, could not ignore the traditional dwarf like gesture and they also took their helmets off, held them to their chests, and then bowed. They had their axes at the ready when they came back up.

  “My name is Sarchise. I am a master of the Royal Scout. It is my duty to guard this part of the Westwood. But come, all of our lives are in danger, the sooner we are away from this fire, the safer we will all be.”

  “I am Hemlot son of Zarin, and these are my men, Glowin, Son of Earl, and Ferdin and Fordin, sons of Glowin. And we take no orders from humans.”

  Sarchise just smiled. “Dwarf friend, you do not know these woods. There are many hungry things out here, the giant blackspot spider, the razor bear and the saber tooth, just to name a few. Any of them in the area will see your flame and come to see what they can find to eat. We need to hurry, so I ask you, and this is not an order but a request, please make haste and leave this flame.”

  The dwarves relaxed their weapons and allowed Sarchise to lead them away from the fire, after gathering up their packs. Sarchise led them to a hill where he had set up camp. The hill overlooked a large portion of the forest. They could plainly see the fire from the hill.

  “Wait and I’ll prove to you that what I said was true,” Sarchise said.

  They watched the flames for over an hour, seeing no sign of danger, then in the dimming light fifteen giant spiders filled the grounds around the flames as if they were looking for something, and then left just as fast as they had come.

  “Amazing!” commented Ferdin.

  Sarchise said nothing as he sat with his back resting against a tree.

  “Human,” Hemlot said, “You have made me your brother today.”

  Sarchise smiled and said, “I know of your traditions, and that you now feel that you have to serve me since you think I saved your life. We do not live by your traditions so I will not hold you to your traditions with me. You are safe here, you can sleep.”

  “How do you know that we are safe?” asked Fordin.

  “This hill was an old elf outpost. It is well protected by things that I cannot explain, even if I understood them myself. No evil treads upon these grounds,” Sarchise explained.

  That did not stop Hemlot’s fears. Dwarf and elf did not always get along. Was there elf magic that would destroy the dwarves as they slept, as well as keep the spiders away? Ferdin and Fordin were soon fast asleep along with their father. The distant fire was almost out but Hemlot could see shapes move past it from time to time. One of the times he sat up to get a closer look.

  “Razor bear,” Sarchise said answerin
g his unasked question. “There have been quite a few of them tonight.”

  Hemlot looked over at him and saw that Sarchise had a bow sitting across his lap with an arrow at the ready. “I thought we had elf magic protecting us?”

  “Never hurts to give them elves a hand,” Sarchise said.

  “Was this really an elf outpost?” Hemlot asked.

  “Yes, it was. Though I imagine that it was more to keep an eye on the dwarves in the High Mountain than to keep the giant spiders and razor bears away. Enough giant spiders died coming close to the hill that the spiders don’t chance it anymore. The Royal Scouts use it as an outpost now. There’s someone here almost all of the time. Bears and spiders usually stay away. They like food that they can sneak up on and that doesn’t put up much of a fight. They have found us scouts hard to eat.”

  Hemlot looked over at the large human. “Why did you save us?”

  Sarchise let out a slight chuckle. “Human nature I guess, or maybe I didn’t want the spiders getting any more food. They have been eating well lately. When they eat well they start laying a lot of egg sacks and soon we find thousands of them around. They get real hungry and start getting bolder and bolder in their search for food. So we have to send hunt- and- destroy parties out to kill them. We lose a lot of men in those battles not to mention settlers on outlying farms. It’s just easier not to feed them in the first place.

  “That’s the reason I have been sent out is to see what they have been feasting on and see if I can put a stop to it before they start laying eggs.”

  Hemlot looked down at the ground. “I guess we dwarves are safer in our mountain than I thought.”

  “What has brought you out of your precious mountain deep?” Sarchise asked curiously.

  “We are on the King’s errand. His fifth born son, knowing that he will never get the throne, but still being of royal blood, left the High Mountain with twenty of his followers to reclaim the Mountains of Iron as his kingdom. He was going to establish an outpost and then send back for more axe men to drive the gremlins out of our old Kingdom. The King just learned about this. He had been gone for two days. He has sent us out to find him and bring him back.”

  “Hmm, even more dwarves in the Westwood. I hope the answer to my quest does not answer yours also,” Sarchise said,

  Somewhere between the midnight and the dawn, Hemlot fell asleep. He had dreams of elves putting spells on him and turning him into a tree. He shuddered himself awake just after sunrise. As he looked around all of his companions were still asleep along with Sarchise. Further up the hill were four more humans, all in the same style of green tunic that Sarchise was wearing. One of them was stringing his bow and the other three were eating bread and dried meat. Hemlot looked across the valley and saw that the morning mist was clinging to the tops of the trees. Green and gray colors spread across the forest like a carpet. To the east he could see High Mountain towering above the forest like a sentinel protecting the home of the dwarves. There were red and blue birds singing sweet songs as they flew from treetop to treetop.

  “Look, the short one is awake,” said a voice behind Hemlot.

  “How can you tell if one is shorter than another? They all look the same height to me,” said another voice. With that the four humans laughed.

  Sarchise got up on one elbow and with a yawn he said, “What’s the matter Ermort, forget your manners?”

  “Humph,” was the only response.

  Hemlot got up and bowed low. “I am Hemlot son of Zarin, commander on the errand of the King.”

  Ermort smiled. “Polite little fellow, ain’t you? I am Ermort of the Royal Scouts. I guess that is the way that I was supposed to say it. Oh yes, my father’s name was Jole, but he’s dead now.”

  The other three humans were not as talkative, just introducing themselves as Harn, Will and Tom.

  Hemlot looked at Sarchise and asked. “Can we build a fire now? I need to cook our breakfast.”

  “No fires till you are out of Westwood. The spiders don’t sleep,” came Sarchise’s answer.

  “How can I cook our food?” Hemlot asked, puzzled.

  Ermort replied to that, “You have to cook it before you come into the woods.”

  “It appears that we have come ill prepared for the journey at hand. I must catch up with the Prince.”

  Sarchise got up and stretched his bones. Looking up at his companions he said, “Thanks for taking the watch so I could get some sleep.”

  “No problem,” said Ermort, “I have faith that you will return the favor tonight.”

  That brought a smile to Sarchise’s face. “Well, well, what have we to eat today? Dried meat and bread or bread and dried meat?” They all smiled. The other dwarves were stirring at the sound of the talking. Soon they were all up, and with the introductions out of the way the dwarves settled down to a meager breakfast of bread and cheese. The meat they brought with them was salted but raw. No dwarf that had ever sat around a bonfire would even think about eating raw meat.

  Ferdin could not help but notice the scowl on Harn’s face every time he looked at a dwarf. When he finally was able to get Sarchise alone he questioned him about it.

  “Why does he look at us so?”

  Sarchise got a tender look into his eyes then sat down in front of the young dwarf. “Harn is old,” he began. “The old have long memories of war, friends and foes. Dwarf, man and elf were once allies when the Four Kingdoms stopped fighting each other and all that was good in the world was at peace. Then arose Tabor. He was a boy that was captured by the minotaur. He was taught evil from his young age and was sent out to raise an army to destroy man.”

  In the midst of the tale, Hemlot came up to ask a question. Then he thought better of it and sat down to listen in.

  Sarchise continued. “It was an army of gremlins, minotaur and other evil creatures. All that was evil flocked to the army of Tabor. He unleashed his hordes against the Kingdom of Zor. They swept across the plains killing and looting along the way. Many fled to the Mountains of Iron or to Westwood. It was still the days of the elves so those that fled to Westwood were protected by the elves, those that were still there anyway. Many of the elves had already left over the stormy sea to the far shore and the rest were preparing to go. Those that fled into the Mountains of Iron were doomed, for that was where Tabor was breeding his army.

  “In those days dwarves lived under all the mountains. Dwarf and gremlin have always fought for the dark halls. But the dwarves of the Mountains of Iron could not kill the gremlins as fast as Tabor was breeding them so they retreated to the Lonely Mountains. The humans that fled the Kingdom of Zor didn’t know that the dwarves had left and were slaughtered when they tried to cross the mountains into the Kingdom of Ril.

  “Tabor was not done. He attacked the Kingdom of Ril with his mighty army and would have won, had not the Elves of Northwood come to the rescue. But the anger of man was stirred up against the dwarf when none of her dwarf allies came down from the Lonely Mountains to fight. Many a gremlin died that day and in the end Tabor fled back into the Mountains of Iron to regain his strength. He then called all of the evil hosts from the Lonely Mountain and the High Mountain. Dwarves in those mountains no longer had to fight the gremlins for the gremlins had left to fight man.

  “The King of Ril called for help so Middle Kingdom and the Kingdom of Myr sent armies and so did the elves of Westwood and Northwood. But not a sound or a dwarf came from the Lonely Mountains or High Mountain.” To the surprise of man Tabor struck east and destroyed the Kingdom of Myr and Middle Kingdom while their armies were in the Kingdom of Ril. The only place that he didn’t attack in the east was the city-state of South Fort. Fearing to get so far away from the Mountains of Iron and too close to Westwood, Tabor stayed his hand.

  “Tabor was not done yet, with his minotaur, gremlins and other evil creatures he again attacked the Kingdom of Ril. It had the only Human King that remained alive. For two days they battled on the plains between the Mountains of Iron a
nd Northwood. Man and elf were starting to fall back and the day would have been lost had it not been for a group of five hundred. Mostly men, but some elves, made a mad dash toward the camp of Tabor. As gremlin and minotaur closed around them, they fought forward. They did not get close, but they got close enough. An arrow from Elon of Northwood, shot from a great distance away, found its mark and pierced Tabor’s evil heart.

  This did not end the battle, because the gremlins that have no love for man or elf, have also no love for minotaur. They answered only to Tabor, for he bred them in pits, deep in the Mountains of Iron. So when Tabor died, the gremlins simply walked away from the battle. This left the minotaur to fight alone. They fought on, but soon realized their hope was gone. They hate man, and they dreamed of ridding the world of men with a man. But their hate turned to fear and their dreams to ashes on the plains of Ril. Seeing they would soon be extinct, they fled in all directions. Many were hunted down and killed but some got away. They hid in the forests waiting for the end of the days of the elves.”

  “Man pleaded with elf and dwarf to rid the world of evil once and for all, but it fell on deaf ears. The dwarves stayed in their mountains and the elves left for the far shore. This left man to stand alone. Many men, like Harn, are still bitter against elf and dwarf. But especially the dwarf who sat around his bonfires while the Four Kingdoms were destroyed.”

  Ferdin looked at Hemlot. “Commander, is this true? We did nothing?”

  Hemlot looked at the ground. “I begged the King to heed the summons and send out his armies but he would not. He just would say, ‘We have lost enough, let man fight this evil man, for he is one of theirs.’ So without commands from the King I gathered my five hundred fighters and with provisions I started to leave the High Mountain. The King found out about it and forbade me to go. When I argued with him, he banished me to the mines for ten years. I have just recently been put back into command. But what command have I, an old battle weary dwarf and two lads.”