Dragonmage of Mystara

CHAPTER EIGHT

The first hint of trouble came from the sentries along the northern border of Rockhome, where from their posts in the mountains they could see out across the steppes of Ethengar. They thought at first that the steppes might be on fire, in spite of the spring rains. They could see a haze of dark smoke just beyond the horizon, and after a time, herds of frightened horses thundered over the plains, fleeing some terror from the north. Not far behind the herds, the clans of the Ethengar were retreating across the steppes as well, setting aside their old rivalries with one another in their desperation to escape a common danger. They were still many long miles out on the steppes, but they were fleeing as quickly as they could. And there was no indication that they would stop until they left the grasslands behind, heading straight into the mountains.

Soon a delegation from the Ethengar appeared out of the steppes, seven young warriors, each from a different clan but riding together in a common cause. Each of the riders led two horses in reserve, so that their mounts would always be rested and able to keep a quick, steady pace. They rode directly up

the trade road to the main dwarvish stronghold of Fort Den-warf and requested permission to ride on to Dengar. They claimed to bear important news for the dwarves as well as a plea for their own people. After speaking hurriedly with the captain of the fort, they were issued special papers of safe conduct and allowed to pass.

The Ethengar rode well into the night, changing their horses frequently until none of the poor beasts could run any farther. Only then did they stop for a time, making a simple camp through the deepest part of the night. They were on their way again well before dawn, so that midmorning found them approaching the gate of Dengar. Crews were still at work on the walls, repairing the damage from the night of the attack. The riders presented themselves to the guards at the gate, showing the papers they had been given at Fort Den-warf the day before. They were led through the city at once to the stables of the main garrison, where their horses would be tended to. Most of the riders chose to stay with their mounts, but their spokesman and two of his companions were immediately escorted down the long, winding passage to the lower city.

The deep passages of Dengar seemed very dark and close to the Ethengar, who were riders and warriors of the open, windswept grass, used to the sun and the stars. The only roofs they had known in the past were no more solid than the canvas and skins of their tents. The nomads were not actually frightened to find themselves in such an alien place, but they did look about the tunnels nervously for a time. But mindful of their pride, they marched behind their escort, trying to appear calm and unconcerned as they were led across the length of the lower city to the palace.

As they were led into the throne room, they found that they had arrived at a busy time. King Daroban was seated at his throne. Both of his sons stood close at hand, while many generals and advisors were gathered as well. They had all been listening to a report from a foreign messenger, a Thyatian captain to judge from his uniform, while the king was glancing at a written report at the same time. They all turned to stare as the escort announced these new visitors to the court.

The Ethengar spokesman approached the throne, bowing upon one knee in the manner of his people. "Great King of Rockhome, I am Kaihatu of the clan of the Red Horse. My companions and I have left our people in their time of greatest need to bring you news of great danger. We are all of many clans, once enemies, now brothers brought together by urgent need, for invaders have come among us, and the steppes have been overrun.

"The first attacks came three nights ago, when dragonlike creatures fell upon our clans like eagles descending upon their prey, scattering our herds and setting fires among our wagons and our yurts. I say that they were like dragons in shape and size, and yet they were unlike dragons in appearance. They did not hide themselves by the light of day but flew swiftly over the steppes, spreading their terror and destruction. Their armor is like the facets of costly jewels, some like rubies or sapphires, or like amber, or white crystal or dark onyx. Never before have we heard of such dragons."

"The gemstone dragons," King Daroban said, nodding slowly. Then he glanced at the Thyatian. "The Dragonking spoke true. Not that I was inclined to doubt the message you brought from the Dragonking, but I'm certain that even he never expected an attack so soon."

"Perhaps not," the Thyatian answered. "The Masters know that they have been unmasked, and their attempt to sow fear and distrust of the dragons has failed. Now that the time for secrecy has passed, they might believe they would be best served by moving quickly, before we can gather our defenses. The Dragonking may have anticipated such a thing, but what more could he have done?"

"True enough," Daroban agreed, then turned back to the Ethengar. "This is Darius Glantri," who left Braejr this very morning on his way to Thyatis, bearing the Dragonking's warning of these gemstone dragons. He has been kind enough to pause for a brief time to share that news with us, unaware just how relevant that news would become. At least now we know many things that might have otherwise remained a mystery to us for days yet to come."

"You call them the Masters," Kaihatu said. "The name suits them well, for they were soon followed by other invaders, men and also many strange creatures who are not like men or elves or dwarves. Hordes of terrible monsters have been released upon the steppes to spread their own terror. The Masters guide and command all the others."

"Those would be slave races subject to the will of the Masters," Darius explained. "Do you have any idea of the number of these Masters and their warriors?"

Kaihatu could only shake his head. "They move too swiftly and they are spread all across the northern steppes from east to west, but they are strong and the clans have no choice but flee before them. Their numbers are like the blades of grass. There are scores of the gemstone dragons but not, I think, more than a hundred altogether. Their warriors are gathered in armies of perhaps five thousand, and we know of at least five such armies. There could be even more farther to the east and the west, beyond sight of our clans."

Daroban sighed. "What can we do? Your enemy is the enemy of all the people of our world, and we stand with you against them. Even so, we do not have the strength to help the clans drive them from the steppes."

"The steppes are lost already," Kaihatu answered. "The clans flee before these invaders. I have come only to bear you this warning, for we cannot say yet whether they will be satisfied to hold the steppes, or if they will drive on south into your land. The best that you can do is to prepare all the strength you have to protect your border. I bring only this one plea, for in truth, the clans cannot remain in the steppes or they will die. Allow our people to flee into your own wild lands, to hide themselves in your northern mountains."

The king considered only for a moment, then nodded. "So be it. Take your people into whatever safety they can find in the mountains. It may be that soon we will be standing together against these enemies."

"The dragons have pledged themselves to fight this same enemy," Darius assured them. "By your leave, I will be returning to Braejr at once to warn the Dragonking. He will need some time to gather the dragons and lead them here, so you must be prepared to hold out on your own for a few days."

The Ethengar thanked the dwarves and left with Darius Glantri, returning quickly to upper Dengar. King Daroban hardly waited until they had left the room before he rose, leaving his crown on his throne as he began to pace nervously while he considered the problem of the defense of Rockhome.

"I see no hope for it," he said after only a moment. "These gemstone dragons can come and go as they please, and I fear that they will be our chief problem from the first. Their wings can take them anywhere swiftly, and their flames can destroy our fortresses. But they cannot easily get at our underground cities. In our tunnels, their size is against them. We must prepare to close all the upper cities at once. All the goods that can be moved, all the children and those too old or too weak to fight, even the foreigners who live among us and choose not to flee, must be brought down into the tunnels at once. We will not surrender our upper cities and fortresses without a fight, but our main defense will be below ground."

Korinn nodded. "That will give us time to hold out until the dragons come."

Daroban turned to him. "You still trust that your old friend can convince the dragons to fight for us? Do not mistake me; I hope that you are correct. But I only hope, and nothing more. I cannot yet bring myself to trust in dragons until I have seen such a thing for myself."

"They will come," Korinn insisted. "But there will be whole armies following these Masters, and they might be able to crack open our defenses and invade our underground strongholds. When these armies come down from the steppes, they will have to enter Rockhome through the Styrdal Pass. Better, it seems, to keep them out of Rockhome as long as possible. I would like to take all the soldiers we can spare to strengthen Fort Denwarf." *

"Yes, that was my own thought," Daroban agreed. "You must go there at once. We will send all the soldiers and supplies we can spare as soon as we can. But we must also give some thought to Fort Evekarr to the northeast, and to the undefended pass on the Hrap River. Your brother Dorinn will prepare the defenses of Dengar."

Dorinn looked surprised to hear that, and quietly grateful.

He hadn't commanded a military force since his injury several years before, having served as an advisor to his father in Dengar while he recovered. Commanding the defenses of Dengar spared him the need to make swift rides or long, hard marches, which his disabilities would not allow.

Needing to reach Fort Denwarf as soon as possible, Korinn sent a messenger to ask the Ethengar to wait a brief time so that he could ride north with them. No one but a dragon or a griffon rider could travel more quickly than the warriors of the clans, even in the mountains of Rockhome. Korinn hurried to put on his armor and collect his weapons, and then he all but ran up the passages to upper Dengar. So it was that he reached the garrison stables only shortly after the Ethengar.

As it happened, the young warriors were pleased to have him in their company. They considered it a remarkably generous gesture on the part of the dwarves to allow the clans to flee into the mountains of Rockhome, and they had come prepared to be refused. And so they were very grateful and would have taken him anywhere, although Korinn knew that they were desperate to return to the defense of their own people and he promised not to slow their ride. He selected two of the best courier horses from the garrison for his own, and he rode away with the Ethengar only minutes later.

Unlike most dwarves, Korinn was not only used to riding but was also quite good at it, skills he had learned during his travels with Solveig White-Gold and Sir George Kirbey. Just the same, he wasn't used to keeping such a swift pace, and riding with the nomads required more concentration on his part. But he still had several hours of riding that day alone with his thoughts and his concerns.

Thelvyn Fox-Eye's finding of the Collar of the Dragons and his ascendancy as the Dragonking had come just in time for the dwarves. Korinn completely trusted Thelvyn to gather the dragons and come to the aid of Rockhome, but he still had to wonder if even that would be enough. The Ethengar had been forced to flee before this new enemy, and they had no idea of the full size and strength of the invading force. Korinn wondered how many dragons there were in all his world to respond to the Dragonking's call. Surely no more than a few

thousand at most.

For that matter, he had to wonder just how soon the Dragonking would be able to gather his army of dragons and bring them to Rockhome. A few days at least, and Korinn was no longer certain they had a few days to wait. The defense of the Styrdal Pass was a hopeless effort, he realized now. He might be able to delay the invading army for a while, but the Masters would inevitably prevail. The gemstone dragons could descend upon Fort Denwarf and leave it in ruins in a matter of minutes if they chose to. He was beginning to agree with the king that the only hope for the dwarves would be to secure themselves in their underground cities and do anything they could to keep the invaders out until the dragons came to their rescue.

Korinn spent the day thinking of anything he could to slow the invasion of Rockhome, but he couldn't come up with anything special. His enemies simply had too many advantages. His only real hope now was that the Masters would be delayed in securing their domination of the steppes before they pushed on into Rockhome. They might not even push on to the south but turn eastward instead, into the Flaemish realm, reclaiming the people who had once been their slaves. But he had no real hope of that.

They didn't reach Fort Denwarf until well after nightfall, although Korinn was pleased to have made the ride in only one day. The sentries at the gate recognized him before he had the chance to identify himself, and the commander of the fortress hurried out to greet him. Korinn requested supplies and accommodations for the Ethengar and fodder for their horses, turning over his own mounts to the garrison stablehands.

Korinn stood in the lamplit yard of the fortress while he explained the situation quickly to the commander of the fortress, a solid older dwarf of the Torkrest Clan, Balar, son of Balic. After riding all day, Korinn needed to walk around for a time before he tried to sit down to dinner.

"We really haven't learned anything new," General Balar told him. "The clans have continued to retreat in our direction, and some have even reached the mountains by now. I was loath to permit them to cross over our border unchallenged, and I'm not completely at ease with the king's decision to grant them safe passage into our lands."

"It suits our purposes," Korinn told him, answering in a manner that the general would appreciate. "Right now no one hates these invaders more than the Ethengar, who have already lost their land and herds. If the invaders try to avoid the Styrdal Pass and slip through the mountains, they'll have to answer to the Ethengar."

The preparations to make Fort Denwarf ready for battle had already begun. The fortress had taken only light damage during the first attack of the gemstone dragons several nights earlier. The highest tower was still missing its top, since the height of the tower made repairs difficult. Korinn wished there were more catapults at Fort Denwarf, remembering that those were the only weapons proven to have any effectiveness against dragons during the assault on the Highlands the previous year. Everything about this fortress had been designed to discourage invasion by more conventional enemies-particularly raiding parties of Ethengar warriors. The gemstone dragons, however, would be nearly impossible to fight.

Early the next morning, Korinn went through the pass to a high rise, where he could look out from the mountains across the rolling hills of the steppes. A shroud of dark smoke lay over the plains for as far as he could see, as if the Masters were trying to burn off all the steppes in a single vast wildfire. The clans themselves had apparently already reached the safety of the foothills, since he could see no movement out in the steppes anywhere along the southern border. There was also no clear sign of the enemy to the north, although Korinn wasn't sure whether he saw glimpses of the distant forms of gemstone dragons through the wall of smoke.

That seemed to suggest that they had a couple of days before the invaders reached the mountains of Rockhome. The first of the additional supplies and warriors being sent to reinforce the border fortress arrived later that same day. Unfortunately, there were few catapults or heavy crossbows that might have the power to penetrate a dragon's hide. Actually, he had no idea whether the gemstone dragons had the same armor as the dragons of his own world. The dwarves had many cleverly designed ballistae and similar devices for hurling stones and heavy weights, but such things were unlikely to hit a dragon in flight.

By that night, the reddish glow of the fires marching southward across the steppes could be seen clearly from the fortress's higher towers, and all through the next day the great wall of dark smoke grew steadily larger. The wind was from slightly west of due north, driving the flames before it and carrying a great curtain of black smoke southward over the mountains of Rockhome. Smoke scuttled like storm clouds overhead, casting a deep shadow over the mountains, broken only occasionally when the sunlight penetrated fitfully through rents opened by the wind. The smell of smoke was thick and heavy.

More troops and supplies arrived during the day. Recognizing that his plans for the defense of Rockhome had changed, Korinn elected to send a part of the new troops and most of the supplies back to the south, where they would be needed more. He sent with them written orders stating his reasons why nothing more should be sent. Once the gemstone dragons attacked in earnest, Fort Denwarf would have to be abandoned, no matter what the strength of the defenders or their weapons.

By that night, the fires that were consuming the steppes seemed to march steadily like an incoming tide toward the foothills of the mountains of Rockhome. The angry light of the flames flickered on the bare stone of the peaks and ridges, and on the walls of the fortress. When dawn came, the black wall of smoke stretched across the horizon from east to west and loomed higher than the mountain peaks of the nearby Altan Tepes. Fires flared in many places as the line of flames began to push into the bracken and stunted trees of the lower foothills. But there was still no sign of the invaders. Apparently their army marched hidden somewhere behind the wall of flame and smoke, fanning the line of fire and driving it before them.

Korinn ordered the defenders of Fort Denwarf to don their armor and make ready their weapons, for the invasion of Rockhome could come at any time now. Their only hope was that the invaders would turn aside at the last minute. The line of fire began to push upward into the foothills, feeding greedily on the lightly wooded lower slopes and almost as quickly breaking into many smaller fires and dying away. The mountainsides were too rocky and barren, the stands of wood too sparse and stunted. There had been a great deal of rain in the mountains that spring, even along the northern slopes, and the trees were reluctant to burn.

The wall of dark smoke grew thicker, like a dark cloud that hung over the mountains. Finally the smoke began to lift grudgingly as the last fires faded. Now the dwarves had their first look at what the flames had done to the steppes. They were shocked to see a dead, barren land, the gently rolling hills black and bare where there had always been a sea of grass. A dull gray haze of smoke hung over the devastated land. Near at hand, several small armies were gathering into a single invasion force of great size and strength along the banks of the Styrdal River, obviously preparing for an assault on the pass.

Korinn went down beyond the pass for a closer look, to try to get some estimate of the size of the force that he would soon face. Four separate companies of soldiers, each some five thousand strong, were approaching from the west with their supply wagons and siege weapons, and at least five more companies were strung out in a line to the east for as far as he could see. He was even more alarmed to discover that their forces were assembled from many different races, some unlike any he had ever seen, not even vaguely human.

At least Korinn now had answers to all his questions. The invasion of Rockhome had become a certainty, and he knew now that an invasion force of perhaps fifty thousand was being directed at this pass alone. He felt reasonably certain they would not be attempting to storm the pass that day, and possibly not the next. The enemy forces were still scattered, and he could imagine with grim satisfaction that they must be in poor condition after marching the breadth of the steppes in all that ash and dust and choking smoke. Korinn also felt reasonably certain he could keep them from taking Fort Denwarf for many days, as long as the Masters themselves did not take a hand in the assault on the fortress. But the gemstone dragons

remained curiously absent.

Korinn was concerned about those missing dragons, fearful that they had already passed secretly over the mountains and were raiding with impunity in the cities and settlements of Rockhome to the south. His question was answered later that night, when gemstone dragons began to fly swiftly, alone or in small groups, through the center of the pass, just beyond the reach of the weapons of Fort Denwarf. Their business was obviously to the south, and for now they seemed content to completely ignore the border fortress.

This was Korinn's first opportunity to actually see the gemstone dragons. He had been wondering how much they were like the dragons of his own world. He thought that they were larger than most dragons he had seen, the shapes of their heads and ridges different from that of any breed he knew. Their jewel-like armor gave them a very remarkable appearance, as if they were not living creatures at all but statues carved of stone or cut from facetted jewels that had been brought to life. He watched them hurtle past in the night, wondering where they were going and what they were planning, and he could only hope that the dwarves of Rockhome were already secure below the ground.

The fearful night passed, but the new day only brought the dwarvish defenders that much closer to the inevitability of invasion. By midmorning, the sentries had left their posts farther down the pass, retreating back to the fortress. They brought the warning that the invading armies were beginning their slow march along the road into the mountains, even though a couple of the companies from the east had yet to join the main body of the army. Fort Denwarf would be under siege by nightfall.

For the dozenth time, Korinn reviewed his plans for the battle to hold the Styrdal Pass. He had one plan of defense if the invading armies attacked first, and a second, very different plan if the gemstone dragons attacked. He had to take for granted that he would have to face the Masters sooner or later, especially if he was successful in holding up their army. The only plan he did not consider was that Thelvyn Fox-Eyes and the dragons would come to his rescue at the last moment. He had no doubt that the dragons would come, but he knew they needed time. Thelvyn was too clever to go to war unprepared; he would wait until he had a force of dragons powerful enough to face the Masters and their army.

Late that afternoon, as the sun was sinking behind the mountains to the west, the front ranks of the invaders came up through the pass and halted a short distance from the gates of Fort Denwarf. They stopped just beyond the range of most longbows or light crossbows, and they moved their siege weapons and many of their supply wagons to the front to provide added protection. Then, to all appearances, they began to make camp for the night, as if they had no wish to begin battle in the darkness. They were at some disadvantage in bringing their forces against the fortress, since there was only a small open area before the gate.

Indeed, the invaders were required to camp on the road itself, since the last three miles of the approach to Fort Denwarf had been cut into the rocky eastern wall of the deep ravine formed by the Styrdal River. There were sheer cliffs or unclimbably steep slopes on the east side of the road. The west side of the road, bordered by a high, massive stone curb, fell away into the darkness of the ravine. While the design of the road appeared to be a simple matter of convenience, dwarves seldom left anything to chance that might prove important to the defense of their cities and treasures.

Korinn waited until well after nightfall, giving the invaders time to make their camp and settle in for the night. He had been standing on the wall of the fortress watching them for some time, and he could easily believe the report that they were slaves whose minds and wills were under the control of the Masters. They seldom spoke, or at least when they did they spoke too softly to be heard, never singing or laughing or taunting the defenders but going about their tasks with a lifeless, almost mindless intensity.

"How are you at ninepins?" Korinn asked General Balar.

"My boys are very good at it," the older dwarf answered. "Shall we have a game tonight?"

"Right now would seem to be a good time, while the Masters aren't here to interfere."

The defenders of Fort Denwarf began their "game" only a few minutes later. A large ballista released its load with a dull, heavy snap and creak of timbers, and a large stone lifted deceptively slowly over the wall of the gateyard. The dwarves knew their business well, and the stone sailed out over the road over a hundred yards before it crashed into the nearest of the siege engines the invaders had brought forward. The impact crushed the base of the small tower, which gradually tilted, then fell forward as if it were in slow motion. The heavy stone itself continued on, gathering speed on the steep incline of the road, brutally battering aside supply wagons.

Dwarves were meticulous in their plans, and they had anticipated circumstances such as this in their designs. Over the years, they had cut stones, ranging from a hundred pounds to several tons, into perfectly round shot for the ballistae. Of course, even the dwarves could not hurl a stone more than a couple of hundred yards or so, and the road disappeared around a turn in the pass not much farther beyond that range. But the dwarves had devised a way that allowed their weapons to have a much greater effective range. The road was wide, bordered by the wall of the cliff on one side and a high stone curb on the other, and it descended steadily to the sentry post on the far side, nearly three miles away. The descent was just steep enough to keep a large stone rolling at a deadly pace for the entire distance.

During the day, the dwarves had moved all their ballistae into the gate yard along with a generous supply of shot, so that they were able to fling stones over the wall as quickly as they could reload. The first three dozen shots reduced the barrier of siege weapons and supply wagons to shattered ruins. Most of the stones continued to roll along the road, scattering the encamped invaders. Indeed, the first stone caught a large portion of the army by surprise; many of the soldiers failed to understand their situation until three or four stones had rolled through in rapid succession. They scrambled desperately to get out of the way, but there was nowhere for them to go. They were trapped on the road, left trying to dodge as best they could while the stones bounced back and forth between the inner wall and the curb.

For the moment, the defenders of Fort Denwarf had every advantage, their enemy trapped in the path of destruction of their weapons, unable even to protect themselves, much less fight back. But Korinn knew how quickly fortune could turn against the dwarves. They kept up their attack for as long as they could, as teams of dwarves cranked back the arms of the ballistae and loaded another stone as quickly as they could. Suddenly, without warning, one of the higher towers of the fortress exploded in flames and crashed down in burning wreckage. The defenders looked up to see dark shapes moving swiftly through the night sky, darting in to strike swiftly with fire and destruction.

But the dwarves were hardly caught by surprise. Korinn had known that if he gave the invading army any trouble, the Masters would return quickly to deal with the problem. Except for the crews working the ballistae, he had already sent all the defenders out of Fort Denwarf by secret ways, beginning the inevitable retreat southward toward Stahl and Evemur. That made the final retreat much quicker and easier now that the fortress had to be abandoned in a hurry. The dwarves released their final shots and hurried into the depths of the main keep, descending into deep tunnels cut into the mountain. In a matter of minutes, the last of the defenders were filing quickly and silently through the underground ways, careful to leave no trace of their passage. In time they came to a secret door in the shadows along one wall, and one by one they disappeared inside.

Korinn Bear Slayer and General Balar were the last to arrive at the hidden door. In honor of the older dwarfs years of service at the fortress, Korinn passed inside first, permitting Balar to close and seal the door behind him.

"A week ago I wouldn't have believed that we would ever be forced to abandon Denwarf to an enemy," Balar said, pausing a moment to listen at the door. "It galls me to leave while the walls are still standing and the gate is still intact. But with those dragons blasting at the towers, it's no use trying to defend the fort. I just hope those beasties don't tear the place apart."

"I doubt they'll spend the time and effort," Korinn assured him. "We'll rebuild whatever is left. I fear we'll have a great deal to rebuild before this is done."

They quickly set the final traps, which would bring down massive blocks of stone to close the passage if anyone tried to come through from the other side. Then the two dwarves hurried along the dark passage. About a hundred yards down the tunnel, they came to a chamber where a small company of soldiers waited for them with their packs. The others were already far ahead. The soldiers bore magic lanterns to light the way, although a dwarfs night vision was sufficient to find his way in almost total darkness. Once Korinn and Balar had pulled on the straps of their packs, the company filed out through the passage on the far side of the chamber.

Korinn wondered what was happening back at the fortress. Had the Masters already discovered that the dwarves had abandoned Fort Denwarf? He hoped they would notice that the fortress was empty soon in order to hold destruction to a minimum. The only thing Korinn really regretted leaving behind was his courier horses. Being young and strong, he had no complaints about marching, but the horses would have gotten him back to Dengar far sooner. But unfortunately the horses were not a safe option. The roads were unsafe for travel with the Masters already within Rockhome, and the cities were probably under siege by now.

He understood that there was little he could do. The dwarves of Fort Denwarf had probably fought the last battle in the protection of Rockhome that very night. From now on, their only for survival was to lock themselves as securely as they could within their underground cities and strongholds and wait for the Dragonking to arrive with reinforcements. But how long would that be? With any luck, the dragons could already be on their way, although it seemed more realistic not to expect them for another three or four days.

Even if there was nothing else he could do, he wanted to return to Dengar immediately. If the lower city was in danger of falling to the enemy, he wanted to be there.

The dwarves marched at a swift and steady pace for nearly two hours before they came to another small chamber, where they paused to rest. They didn't dare wait long, because soon they would have to take to the open. Dwarves were industrious and patient tunnelers, but cutting tunnels took a great deal of time, even small passages such as the one they were in.

After resting a short time, they followed a side tunnel for several hundred yards before it brought them to a hidden door deep within the ravine of the Styrdal River. Korinn paused a moment to look toward the north, fearful of seeing Fort Denwarf in flames. When he saw only a few tiny yellow lights flickering in the distance, he was reassured that the fortress itself was not burning. His companions were already filing across a simple rope bridge that had been erected only days before. It was cut down again once they were all across. When daylight came, there was to be no trace of their passage.

After that, they disappeared into the mountains to the west of the Styrdal Valley, following narrow, hidden paths through the wilderness. Keeping in deep ravines or beneath the cover of trees, they weren't likely to be seen by a passing dragon. The distance from Fort Denwarf to the city of Stahl was nearly forty-five miles, and even the sturdy dwarves couldn't march that far in one night. The sun was peeking above the summit of Denwarf Spur on the east side of the river when they came at last to another hidden door leading down into another tunnel. They paused to rest for some time before they went on. They would march another ten miles through the tunnels before they reached Stahl.

They did not move on again until noon, having reached the end of their endurance. After a final determined march through the tunnels, they entered the remote passages of the lower city of Stahl late that afternoon. Soldiers from Fort Denwarf had been arriving all day. One of the commanders of the city garrison was there to meet them as they emerged through the hidden entrance to the tunnel.

"Korinn Bear Slayer," the soldier said, recognizing him. "Then it's true that Fort Denwarf has fallen?"

"We've been forced to leave Denwarf to the Masters," Korinn said as he moved aside so that the door of the tunnel could be closed. "What about Stahl? Have you sealed the entrance to the upper city yet?"

"Just about. The Masters have been battering at our defenses since the night before last, but we're still trying to move needed supplies down here between their attacks. We hope we won't have to abandon the upper city until the actual siege begins."

Korinn was taken to the residence of the governor of Stahl, where he was able to wash and had his first real meal in some time. What he wanted most was news of the invasion of Rockhome, but there was litde to hear. For the most part, the only things moving between the cities and towns of Rockhome were the Masters. Because the roads were closed, the cities themselves were effectively already under siege.

Having the garrison from Fort Denwarf at hand could make a good deal of difference to the defense of Stahl. The invaders would most likely attack here first, so it appeared that Stahl would have to endure the longest siege of any of the cities of Rockhome. Korinn feared there might be another army of invaders coming through one of the passes to the northeast, which would place the eastern cities, perhaps even Dengar itself, in immediate danger. He suspected that the Masters might pass by some of the lesser cities to attack Dengar first, and so he sent part of the Fort Denwarf garrison on to Dengar at once.

The invaders began to descend from the pass the next morning. The road crossed the Styrdal a few miles beyond Fort Denwarf, and their army could be seen marching down from the mountains on the west side of the river. Standing on the wall of the city near the north gate, Korinn could see them clearly. They appeared to be entirely lacking in siege weapons. That might help slow down the assault of Stahl, unless the gemstone dragons arrived.

"They should be here by tonight," General Balar said. "I wonder if they've learned to keep their distance after the welcome we gave them at Fort Denwarf."

"They'll be more wary of traps," Korinn replied. "The only question I have is whether they'll attack right away, or if they'll wait for the Masters."

"Stahl is a difficult place to defend," Governor Konar said, stroking his long, white beard. Although he was not a soldier, he seemed eager for a fight. "Our problem is having no less than eight gates to defend, seven crossing the rivers on the east and west sides and one facing south."

Korinn was aware of the problem. Stahl sat on a hilly point of land at the fork of two rivers. While the rivers made the final approach to the walls difficult, there were simply too many gates to defend. If the Masters did level the place, he thought grimly, the city would be rebuilt a litde differently.

"Will you be staying here at Stahl?" he asked General Balar.

"That was my plan," the older dwarf said. "I want to stay with my lads through this. And if I stay here, you can head out to Dengar right away. You might as well go now, before the Masters arrive."

Korinn nodded. "I suppose I should be on my way. Even if I leave now, I won't reach Dengar any sooner than the day after tomorrow. With any luck, the dragons will be here to help us about the same time."