Dwarves 04 - The Fate of the Dwarves by Markus Heitz

Author:Markus Heitz [Heitz, Markus]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Fantasy - Epic
ISBN: 9780316202688
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2012-08-07T05:00:00+00:00

XVII

Girdlegard,

Former Queendom of Weyurn,

Eight Miles from Lakepride,

Late Winter, 6491st/6492nd Solar Cycles

The kordrion’s assault had cost Tungdil twenty-one Black Squadron dwarves and three Zhadár. They burned the bodies of the dead warriors and took their ashes to be buried back in the Red Mountains with all ceremony. Dwarf-remains belonged in the mountains, not in a desert and certainly not in an älfar realm.

But they had also lost the majority of the ponies. There was nothing for it but to cover the initial miles to the northwest border of Phôseon Dwhamant on foot before buying in more stock bit by bit from the farmers of the former kingdom of Tabaîn.

It was inevitable that a marching column such as theirs would attract attention. Tungdil urged them on. Orbit for orbit they marched on through the dried-up lakebed, now covered with ice and frozen fog which crackled underfoot.

They passed islands towering high on stalks, reminding Ireheart of huge stone mushrooms. There were also many small islands that had collapsed without the buoyancy provided by surrounding water. They had toppled over and broken apart.

It looks unreal. As if the gods were planning to make a new country. Particularly fascinating were the places where reefs had been. They soared up like sharpened mountains, sometimes a good hundred paces high. The travelers came upon stranded wrecks of ships and the remains of mighty fish. The dwarves guided their ponies through the arched bones, which they could ride through without banging their heads, such was the size of the skeletons.

I know now why I have always avoided deep water like the plague. Ireheart looked at the fish and at the thick skulls with their incisor-lined jaws. No prey would escape those sharp teeth.

“You’d think our high king was trying to avoid any conflict with the Lohasbranders and the orc contingents,” Slîn remarked as they rode along.

“Yes, indeed,” Ireheart agreed. “But it’s not a question of being frightened of battle,” he stressed. “It’s about making swift progress. Our priority is to reach the Red Mountains and the Dragon’s hoard to relieve him of the most valuable pieces of treasure, so that he’ll attack Lot-Ionan in revenge.”

“So why the diversion to see Queen Wey the Eleventh in Lakepride?” Slîn asked.

“Could it be that you weren’t paying attention? Because the Scholar wants to suggest we wage a joint campaign against Lot-Ionan as soon as the Dragon and his orcs have left for the south,” replied Ireheart. “On the way back, when we’re nicely loaded up with the Dragon’s valuables, we can come and collect her answer.” He looked around at the landscape. “This is the kind of lake I like,” he said with satisfaction. “Back home they’ll be astonished when I tell them I’ve been walking around on the bottom of a lake and Elria can’t get me!”

“Unless it rains,” Slîn pointed out.

Ireheart gave him a suspicious glance. “What do you mean?”

“If it rains hard the water won’t soak in. It will collect on this hardened surface like in a dish. If we happened to be at the deepest part of the dish at the time we’d end up having to swim.

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