Elvenshore: 03 - Elf's Bane Read online

  Elf's Bane

  By Clark Graham

  [email protected]

  © Clark Graham 2012

  All Rights Reserved

  Book One

  Dwarves of Elvenshore

  Book Two

  Lost Cities of Elvenshore

  Book Three

  Elf's Bane

  Elf's Bane

  Dire Predictions

  The Long Road Home

  The Inn at Bon Jul

  Warning Horns in the Night

  The Chancellor’s Sleepless Night

  Into the Swampland

  The Battle of Mount Ealdwine

  Bon Lathan and Safety

  The Retreat of the Elves

  A Meeting of Sticks

  Vil Falcress

  The Battle of Morgus Tier

  Return to Elvenshore

  A City of Tents

  A Capital in Chaos

  The Fall of Morgus Tier

  Flight of the Survivors

  A Day without Death

  A Meeting at South Fort

  A Parting of Ways

  The Calm Amidst the Storm

  The Battle of Fernar Derus Begins

  A Journey to an Old Home

  The Battle of Fernar Derus Continues

  Dwarves on the Far Shore

  The Battle for Vil Mawe

  The Ships to the Swampland

  A Short Reprieve

  A Minor Victory

  A Crossing of the Moat

  Death and a Dream

  Taking the Battle to the Enemy

  A Quiet Night

  The Rebuilding of Santera

  The Death of the Queen

  Exploring the Destruction

  Dwarf Feast Around the Bonfire

  A March into the Forest

  Into the Mountain

  A Political Treachery

  A Night Under the Mountain

  The Rebuilding Begins

  A Toast in the Capital

  A Long Road Home

  Mauric’s Visit

  Sarchise’s Return

  Counsel at Fernar Darus

  Vil Loree

  Travail in the Night

  Dire Predictions

  The Far Shore

  Darnic Tewl was troubled as he walked along the Great Hall past the ornately carved wood columns and figurines and climbed up the steps to talk to Grand Chancellor Lanor. The old Human used a walking stick that was taller than he was. Not that he needed it, but because he was an elder in clan Tewl and the walking stick was a symbol of his status. Darnic was thin and had graying hair with a sharp wit and a bright, airy personality. When the Elves first came to the Far Shore, they encountered the Human clans. The Humans here were shorter than the ones in Elvenshore. There was no central form of government like the Elves had been used to, only scattered clans, each one with its own traditions and leaders.

  Darnic was the only Human in a city of Elves, and had so far had worked with them very well. A wise noble of the clan Tewl, he had come to Fernar Darus, the Elf capital, as an advisor. The Elves wanted a Human to advise them on the ways of man to avoid other confrontations with them, as they had had in the past. When Darnic had come to the capital, they were eager to listen to what he had to say, but now it was many years later, and the Elves were not listening to him as they once did.

  Darnic stormed up the stairs to the guards of the doors to the Grand Chancellor’s chamber. He waited there to be let in, impatiently tapping his foot. The massive wood doors had carvings on them, showing the faces of all the Elf rulers from the time before they had settled in Elvenshore, up to the time that they came over to the Far Shore. Chancellor Lanor’s likeness was on the topmost door panel. The guards pushed the doors open to reveal a brightly lit hall with the Chancellor’s throne at the far end. Giant pillars supported the roof and the walls were lightly colored wood panels. The Chancellor was standing and talking to some of his advisors when Darnic walked up to him. The Chancellor preferred not to sit on the throne. Instead he favored talking to and being amidst his people. The tall Elf was a good head and shoulders above Darnic. He had long, thin blonde hair that was tied in a braid in the back. He wore the green robe of the ruler of the Elves with his frame standing perfectly upright.

  Darnic gave a slight bow in respect of the Chancellor, trying not to show his frustration. “I take my leave,” he said. I will go and dwell among my people. My words are no longer welcome here.”

  Lanor was concerned at these words and said, “I do not wish this. Tell me what has you so upset, Darnic, and I will try to remedy it.”

  “Elves now live on the approaches to Mount Ealdwine. My words were not heard, and now the mountain will awake and arise. Man cannot defend you if the monsters of the mountain awake. We have fought the monsters before and we lost. There is no defeating the mountain. Man will flee if the monsters stir."

  The Chancellor smiled. "I am not asking for men to defend us. We have a fine army and all of our males are taught in the way of the warrior. All that has to be done is call them to arms. I do have a nation of warriors, but if there is a concern, I will send the Cavalry up to defend those on the slopes of the mountain."

  Darnic shook his head slowly back and forth. "Your powerful Cavalry will be crushed in a single night. Your multitude of warriors will not stop the monsters of the mountain once they beset you. I go now to live with my people and wait the time to leave. When you feel the ground rumbling and our horns start to blow, it is time to flee."

  The Chancellor put his hand on Darnic's shoulder. "I will miss you, my friend, but I do believe that we will be just fine."

  Darnic knew it was no use explaining a terror that only those who had experienced it could understand. It was imbedded deeply in the lore of the clans. He had been a young lad when the mountain awoke. His father and brother were both killed, and it looked as if there whole world would be destroyed, until they fled to the swamps. It was here they would make their last stand. The monsters would not cross the swampland and man found that he was safe there. When the monsters stopped attacking and left, they moved back to the fertile plains, but no one was allowed near the mountain.

  Elves did not have a great belief in man's fighting ability. One of the clans had attacked them and the clan was easily repulsed. It was rabble of men with clubs, rusty swords, and spears against a trained and disciplined Elf army. The battle was over in less than an hour. The Elves did not understand the clans so they brought Darnic Tewl to the capital as an advisor. They did not want a war with any or all of the tribes.

  Darnic advised the Elves on the traditions of man, and served as a go- between of Elf and the Humans if there were any disputes. The Elves had always listened to him, until they started building a city on the slopes of Mount Ealdwine. Too many Elves had come; indeed all of Elvenshore had emptied when the Elf started over the Stormy Sea. Now they needed room so they went against the advice Darnic had given them.

  Darnic again gave the Chancellor a slight bow and then sadly took his leave. He walked down the stairs the outside of the Palace. The air was fresh outside as he walked down the tree lined lane. He looked at the cobblestone street beneath his feet and noticed how each rock had been precisely cut to interlock with the other rocks around it. All of the homes were built inside of, or between, the trees of the forest that the elves now inhabited. Darnic thought about how sad that it was that all of this beauty was about to be in ruins. He arrived at his home. It was a simple tree house. The trunk had been cut level and a small, peaked-roof house was built on top of it. The branches were still alive and wrapped around the house, providing extra protection from the weather.

  Darnic walked up the five steps, hewn out of the stum
p, and entered. It was a small three room structure. One room for the kitchen, the second for the bedroom, and the front room made up the rest. He rolled up the bedroll and packed his clothes into a backpack. Around the top of the backpack he tied the bedroll and then put his arms through the strap of the pack. He walked back down the steps and onto the street.

  Fannor, the Captain of the Chancellor's Calvary, came up to him on the street. He was a little taller than even the Chancellor. He had dark brown hair that was rare amongst the Elves. His tunic was green and had a white tree embroidered on it, the symbol the Elves had adopted upon reaching the Far Shore.

  "Darnic, I hear you are leaving us."

  "My dear Fannor, I will miss you and our debates."

  "I had never lost a debate to a Human till I met you. I will miss you also."

  Darnic got a serious look on his face and then he said, "Go for the feet. Their weakness is their feet. Lead your warriors, but not too far in the front as you will be an easy target. A leader does no good for his men if he dies first."

  Fannor smiled and said, "You talk in riddles, my friend."

  "Riddles now, but you will remember my words when the time comes. Farewell for now; may the spirit of your forefathers protect you from the evil that will soon transpire."

  With that Fannor gave a slight bow, "May your sword be sharp and your arms strong when facing your enemies."

  "Thank you and goodbye." Darnic started the long journey home.

  The Long Road Home

  When Darnic Tewl finally made his way to the edge of town, the town guard opened the gate. He took one last slow look back, knowing in his heart that all the beautiful things the Elves had built here would soon be destroyed. The walls of the city were made from living trees planted close together. As the trees grew, they became even tighter and thicker. They were black oak, a very dark hardwood tree that was as strong as stone. The Elves kept the branches of the outside of the trees pruned to prevent their use as handholds by possible enemies. The inside of the trees had the branches used for archer platforms, so they could see to shoot over the walls. Ladders were stationed around to get up to the platforms. It had all been built to face an potential foe that was never really a threat. Now a real foe would emerge and they would find the walls inadequate.

  The gates swung open to allow Darnic to leave. There to meet him was his son Aron Tewl, with a cart and pony.

  “Hello , Father,” Aron said as he embraced him.

  He put his father’s pack and bedroll in the back of the wagon. “It is good to see you. I was surprised to get your message. It is too soon for your normal visit home.”

  They both climbed in the cart and Aron grabbed the reins. A quick slap of the reigns got the pony started on the way home.

  “I am coming home to stay. I will not be going back,” Darnic announced.

  Aron was shocked, but delighted by this news. “Is something wrong then?”

  Darnic turned to his son and said, “Yes, something is wrong, very, very wrong. The Elves are building a village on the Mountain.”

  Aron had a look of horror on his face. “You did warn them?”

  Darnic looked down and sighed, “Yes, I did, but they no longer listen to me. Now I fear they will know a terror that they have never seen before.”

  “What will we do, Father?”

  “I have sent messages out to all of the clans. We will wait until the mountain shakes, then we will make our way to the swamps, the swamplands have saved us before. Clan Lathan never moved back from the swamps, and they have told me that there will be a place there for all of us. The clan is already preparing us room by building shelters. They even say that they can place some of the Elves there if they need to, but not all.”

  “I was hoping that I would not see the mountain awake in my lifetime, but I am glad that there is a place where we can be safe,” Aron said.

  The cart rolled on across the dirt roads. The cobblestone of the Elves did not go past the gates. The Elves and Humans both used the old cart trails that the Humans had built many years ago, before the Elves arrived. For the most part the roads were mere cart tracks in the grass- covered rolling hills. Where the soil was sandy or muddy, the Humans had brought in gravel to firm up the tracks. When they encountered rivers and streams, they used fords and went through the water to get across, unless it was too deep, then they built arched stone bridges. The stone work of these Humans did not match that of the Dwarves of Elvenshore, but the bridges were strong and sturdy.

  The two continued on. There was not much talking after that, as each one of them was lost in his thoughts and worries of what the coming weeks would bring. Darnic thought back about when the Elves first came to the Far Shore as the Elves called it. The Humans just referred to it as the mother land. The Elves were small in number and the Humans thought that there was plenty of room for both. They were a beautiful people, willing to work and master craftsmen in metals and wood.

  Then the troubles started. The Elves kept coming. More and more of the land was taken up and they did not respect the customs of the clans. When they started breaking ground for a settlement on Morgus Tier, clan Kaler, who revered Morgus Tier as holy ground, took up arms. It was easy for the Elves to defeat them in battle, but when all the clans started preparing for war against the Elves, the Elves brought in Darnic Tewl to settle their differences.

  War was averted through a lot of negotiation. The clans don’t have a central government, but they have a council of elders that settles the differences between the clans when they arise. It is called the council of sticks. That is because each of the clan elders meet in a large tent between the two clans that are in dispute, and each of the elders leaves his walking stick outside of the tent, while they resolve the issues before them. That way they don’t use the sticks as weapons. The Elders’ walking sticks were passed down from elder to elder of the clans. Some of them predated all written records.

  It was a council of sticks that settled the differences between the Elves and the Humans. Rules were applied to who could settle in what lands, but there was no mention of settling on the mountain. To the Human, it did not need to be said, but the Elf always had it in the back of his mind.

  The final decision for the Elf was when they tested the soil on the mountain for the planting of grapes. The Elves had not had a good grape crop since they left Elvenshore. The excellent wines they had brought with them were almost all gone. The grapes that they planted on the Far Shore were of inferior quality. When the grapes they planted on Mount Ealdwine were harvested from the side of the mountain, they were found to be the best in the land, by far. It was then the Elves decided to settle on the Mountain.

  Darnic came back from his thoughts just as they passed Morgus Tier. It looked like just another hill, like all of the other hills around, green and rolling. It now had an Elf town on it. Clan Kaler had lost its elders and most of the men, so it disbanded and was taken in by the other clans in the area. Those that died defending their holy ground were allowed to be buried on the hill, just behind the town. The Elves now called the town Morgus Tier after the name the Humans had given it. The guard in the town’s watchtower waved as they passed. Both of the men waved back. It was the only Elf city that had a stone wall around it. Besides the Capital, it was the only other one with a wall around it at all.

  Later in the day, Aron grabbed some bread from the back of the wagon. Without stopping both men broke chunks off the loaf and ate it.

  “You mother’s bread,” Darnic said, “Oh, how I miss her cooking.”

  “She misses you, too,” Aron said, “She will be so glad to know you’re coming home to stay.”

  “I hope so,” Darnic said, “Well, at least until she finds out that I failed to keep the Elves from building on Mount Ealdwine.”

  “As long as she has you near, she will be happy, even if she has to live in the swamps.”

  The Inn at Bon Jul

  Darnic and Aron stopped for the night in the little village o
f Bon Jul. Each town had an Inn where travelers were always welcome, even those from rival clans. The Inns, like most of the Human dwellings on the Far Shore, were built out of wood and sod. The Elves called them mud huts, but they were more than that. Outside, they had grass growing on the walls and thatched roofs, but on the inside, they were warm and comfortable and had wood walls and slate floors with rugs on them. A fireplace was always in the center of the building. How big the fireplace was depended on how many rooms it had to heat. This Inn had a large fireplace that had a small fire in it. The fire was just enough to fight the chilly nights of early spring. They sat down at one of the three tables in the main room where a server girl brought them some stew and biscuits. They were given meade to drink.

  At one of the other tables sat a messenger. He was easy to distinguish by their broad leather strap around his shoulder, from the parcel sack that they always wore. For a land that was without a central government, the Human messenger system was superb. Messengers were given standard routes, so the mail was delivered on a regular basis. It worked so well that the Elves used it also. The messenger system was also a good source of news and sometimes gossip as the carriers always had contact with each other in the Inns that they would stay in overnight. The old saying went, ‘If you want to know what is going on in the land, ask a messenger.’

  Darnic always took this saying to heart. It was through a messenger that he had learned that the Elves were building a settlement on the slopes of Mount Ealdwine.

  “Hello, my good man,” Darnic said, “What is the news from the mother land?”

  The messenger stopped in the middle of a spoonful of stew. “I hear that Darnic Tewl has left the Elfish capital because they have built on the Mountain,” the messenger said.

  “That one is true; I am Darnic Tewl. What other news do you have?”

  “So it is true,” the messenger said, and then he went on, “The Elf Calvary is on the move towards the mountains. Clan Regaulis and Clan Kartan are packing to leave for the swampland, and there is a Meeting of Sticks over where to put all the clans if the mountain awakes.”