The Fate of the Dwarves

XXVI

Girdlegard,

Former Queendom of Sangpur,

Southwest,

Spring, 6492nd Solar Cycle

“Is it still tailing us?” Ireheart turned left and found himself in a wider lane that seemed unfamiliar. How did that happen? They appeared to have got lost trying to escape. “This confounded maze!”

“No,” Slin called out, bringing up the rear. “I can’t see it anymore.”

“I know why,” barked Balyndar, stopping in his tracks and grabbing Ireheart by the collar. “It’s in front of us!”

The creature made of shields, spears, daggers, knives, swords and countless other weapons rounded the corner. It had taken on a shape vaguely like a scorpion with six sets of pincers snapping open and shut.

“Charming,” said Slin, pointing to the right. “Get in here. The alley will be too narrow for it.”

“Then it’ll just turn itself into a snake,” Ireheart replied in a fury. “It can pursue us wherever we go. Running away is no use at all.”

“Yes it is. It means we stay alive until we’ve thought of a way to outwit it,” wheezed the fourthling.

“Shoot it with your crossbow,” Balyndar snapped. “You’re never able to keep up with us, anyway.”

Ireheart was racking his brains. Only magic would get them out of this spot, but if they could not find their way back to the queen they were wasting their time. All this running was tiring them out and the steel creature would fall on them and scrape the flesh off their bones. He caught sight of his own crow’s beak dangling at the end of the poisonous sting. Balyndar’s morning star was next to it. “What works with iron?” he mused wildly, getting nowhere.

“Rust?” suggested Balyndar sarcastically.

“An enormous magnet,” said Slin.

“What a great idea! And where do you propose we get one of those? Can you find us a pulling-stone big enough to attract and immobilize four hundred sackfuls of iron and steel?” the fifthling mocked.

“And what about the rust idea? Where’d you get that all of a sudden?” Slin snarled back.

The creature was drawing close, so they had to charge on.

Ireheart thought the pulling-stone idea was not to be discounted. Such magnets were fashioned from a mineral that made most metals, including iron, stick to it. Only gold, silver and other precious metals were unaffected. But to stop this enemy we’d need a whole mountain of magnets. It’s a waste of time just hanging around waiting for a miracle. Time is one thing we don’t have.

“We split up,” he commanded.

“Won’t the creature just do the same?” whimpered Slin. “You’re the only one of us with a weapon. All we can do is chuck stones at it.” Balyndar sounded as angry as Ireheart felt.

Then Slin did something unexpected. He stopped, got down on one knee and lifted his crossbow. “Anybody know where a scorpion keeps its heart?” he asked, his voice determined, as he took aim at the creature, which was twirling its various weapons in the air and approaching fast. Its sword-legs scraped and clicked their way over the flagstones.

“Forget it: It’s hopeless. Come with us.” Ireheart was about to grab hold of him, but the fourthling shook his hand off.

“Just tell me where its heart will be.”

Balyndar picked up a rock and threw it at the creature. “It’s made of iron and magic! It can’t be shot down.”

They saw how the stone, shortly before hitting its target, was grabbed by the metal pincers and crushed.

“Ho, that’s my crow’s beak! You’ll ruin it if you use it on stone!” shouted Ireheart.

Slin had made his decision. He pointed the device down slightly, aimed, concentrated and fired.

The bolt whizzed off.

The shot was too fast for their foe’s reflexes. It whirred in between the edges of two shields and buried itself in the body. There was a clatter, and the whole creature fell and disintegrated.

But the various parts-swords, daggers, spears and other blades-had not lost their momentum. A whole arsenal was flying directly at the three dwarves. The weapons’ combined weight alone would have been lethal.

“Move aside!” yelled Ireheart, throwing himself through a closed door, which burst open at the first impact. Surrounded by bits of wood he found himself in a hallway. He could feel something on his foot but no pain.

He quickly rolled onto his back to check on his companions. He sighed with relief when he saw they had dodged the hail of weapons by diving for cover under a courtyard arch. The alley they had all been standing in was littered with steel weapons that had buried themselves in the flagstones.

“I’ll never criticize a crossbow again. Or Slin, for that matter,” Ireheart mumbled. He stood up, dusted himself off and stepped out into the sun. Now he could see the extent of the damage: Flying weapons had sunk into the very walls.

“I don’t believe it,” said Balyndar, looking at Slin, who was grinning as he reloaded his crossbow. “What are those bolts made of? Let’s use them against Lot-Ionan!”

Coira and Mallenia suddenly stood before them. It was obvious who they really had to thank for their deliverance. Slin made a face, and the fifthling laughed.

They retrieved their own weapons from the tumble of iron and steel, not forgetting Keenfire, before hurrying to join the ladies.

“We were just in time,” said Mallenia, staring at the alleyway that bristled with weapons. “We met similar creatures back where we were resting.”

Vraccas-I’ve a bone to pick with her! Ireheart planted himself squarely in front of the maga. “Didn’t you tell us there was no magic here? Perhaps you’re not as good at your job as you profess to be,” he complained, until Rodario interrupted.

“Not now! We have to get back to protect the others from the water-creature. There was a stone creature following us as well, but Coira dealt with that one.” Mallenia supported her friend, who had gone very pale in spite of the sunburn. Ireheart feared she might have next to no magic powers still at her disposal. “Follow us.”

The dwarves checked behind and then the five of them clambered over bricks and broken roof tiles to reach the jewelry market. Mallenia explained to them that the debris represented the remnants of the disintegrated stone monster that had been chasing the girls.

“Will there be enough for one more spell?” the Ido girl whispered to her as they walked.

“There will, but I can only do weak spells now. It’ll be enough to break up a shape formed from magic, but it won’t be powerful enough to eradicate it completely. We must leave town,” she urged breathlessly. “The magic fields are tied to this place. We’ll be safer out in the desert.”

Mallenia cursed Bumina and the trap she had set, which had been intended for Franek and not for them.

They reached the square and found puddles everywhere. Rodario lay on the ground coughing and spluttering, trying to collect up his papers but then discarding them in disgust. Tungdil’s armor was steaming gently and his hair hung down wet, as if he had just taken a bath.

“What happened, Scholar?” Ireheart helped Rodario up.

“The magic cannot withstand my armor. The water-shape left as soon as it tried to swallow me,” he said grimly, turning to Coira. “And your advice is?”

“To leave. We cannot destroy the magic, but it cannot get away from here,” she said, holding her side. Her right forearm felt as if it were made of raw flesh-which was in fact the case when magic was not sustaining it. It would not be long before she lost the limb.

“Right, then we’ll do that before the next…” Tungdil stopped, fascinated by the ax Ireheart bore in his left hand. The ax head was glowing, the inlays and the diamonds shining out dazzling as any star. “What, by all that’s infamous…?”

Ireheart likewise noted the way Keenfire was glowing. “It wasn’t doing that just now,” he said, taken aback. He saw Barskalin come out of a shop doorway. “Ah, that explains it. The ax doesn’t like the Zhadar.” He lifted it up and studied it carefully. “By Vraccas! It must be the real Keenfire!” he exclaimed, when he realized what was happening. “Scholar, your old weapon has made its way back to you!!” He went over to the one-eyed dwarf and held out the ax. “Take it. It is back with its rightful master-a fit weapon for a high king.”

Tungdil looked at it and Boindil thought he saw fear in Tungdil’s eyes. “Give it to Balyndar,” he ordered after a while. “My weapon is Bloodthirster.”

“Scholar!” exclaimed Ireheart, horrified. Three steps backwards!

“Bloodthirster has been with me for hundreds of cycles and we know each other now.” He pointed to the fifthling. “He is the son of the valiant dwarf-woman who was there when Keenfire was forged. The ax will be aware of the connection and will serve him now as well as it ever served me.” He called Barskalin over and gave orders to set off immediately.

Ireheart pressed Keenfire into Balyndar’s hand. The ax head was still shimmering, and would presumably continue to do so as long as the Zhadar were in the vicinity. Or Tungdil, of course, added a little doubting voice. “Take good care of it,” was all he said.

Balyndar was touched and awed to have been given this weapon, as was obvious from the way he received it. “Vraccas, I vow I shall destroy your enemies and those of my own folk, whenever there is need,” he vowed simply. He discarded his own morning star, not dignifying Tungdil with a single glance or bestowing on him a word of thanks for the more-than-generous gesture.

The company proceeded swiftly toward the east, escaping from the town and its magic ambushes. Going east was the shortest way out. Dwarves, humans and Zhadar all kept their eyes peeled, wary for danger.

The ground beneath Coira’s feet seemed to sway and rock. She held on to Rodario’s arm and was about to say something but her strength abandoned her. He carried her and marched on.

The desert loomed up ahead of them. It was less than forty paces to the gate of the settlement.

“We’re almost out of the town now,” Ireheart said happily. “Our maga can rest now. Ho, that…”

An old friend in new garb confronted them. Knives, shields, swords and lances had turned themselves into a form four paces high, on legs and with a squat little body. Stretched out toward them were four arms with rotating blades going so fast that they appeared as a metallic shimmer, whistling and humming as the wind blew up the dust on the road behind them.

“There’s no time to wake the maga,” ordered Tungdil, indicating the next alleyway. “Split up. We’ve got to get past this beast. As soon as we’re in the desert we’ll be safe.”

“Mind your weapons,” warned Ireheart, grasping the crow’s beak with all his might. “You’re not skipping away from me again,” he muttered to the weapon. “And if you do, then take me with you and we’ll have this magic monster in little pieces.”

Their flight began in earnest.

The group sprang apart, each finding their own way past their adversary. Ireheart, Slin and Balyndar had decided to go with Rodario. In spite of all his heroic bravado they did not trust the actor to be able to get past the creature fast enough carrying the maga.

Ireheart looked at the enemy, which had selected itself an easier target. Its whirling blades had sliced two Zhadar to ribbons. Several of the blades broke off during this exercise, and some of the spears fell off as well, but new items from the arsenal replaced them; guts and odd bits of flesh from the victims flew through the air.

“Whatever happens, don’t let it get you,” Ireheart urged his companions.

Somehow they reached the safety of the desert, Rodario not stopping until he was twenty paces into the deep sand. He was exhausted. Sinking to his knees he let Coira slip to the ground. Then he turned and looked back at the town.

He and the three dwarves looked on helplessly as the blade monster continually changed shape to insinuate itself into the narrowest of alleyways, taking out one Zhadar after another. The Invisibles seemed to be its favorite targets.

Eventually, Tungdil, Franek and Mallenia emerged to join them, but they waited in vain for Barskalin and his troops. As if the iron creature had not been danger enough, now a being the size of a house and composed entirely of sand was stomping through the streets.

“Our Troublemaker,” called Ireheart, seeing three Zhadar come running out of a courtyard and race toward them.

More did not survive.

The Outer Lands,

The Black Abyss,

Fortress Evildam,

Late Spring, 6492nd Solar Cycle

Goda sat in her chamber sorting through the latest messages from Girdlegard.

Had she been asked to summarize them, she would have said that everywhere else things were going better than they were in Evildam.

Rebellion against the Lohasbranders had broken out in Weyurn and Tabain, and it was clear that neither a dragon nor any additional orc reinforcements had turned up there to quash it. The freedom-storm let loose by Rodario’s descendants could not now be contained.

There had been deaths and injuries but the humans in the oppressed regions had driven the pig-faces back into the Red Mountains. The Lohasbranders and their vassals had been tried and then, mostly, executed. Goda was amazed that after two hundred cycles of despotic rule, the newly liberated humans were bothering to use the courts to apportion blame and decide punishment.

The Red Mountains were back in the hands of the children of the Smith. That was where the next message was from: Xamtor, king of the firstlings, had written to say that all the orcs who had fled there from the revenge of the humans in Weyurn and Tabain had been killed.

Goda consulted a map of Girdlegard and ran her hand down the western edge. The chains of oppression had been smashed. “Vraccas, don’t take away your protection,” she prayed. There was a knock at the door. “Come in!”

Kiras stepped into the room. She was wearing a headband to cover the burn on her forehead. “You were asking for me?”

“Yes.” She indicated a chair. “How are my poor children? I expect you were with them?”

The undergroundling sat down. “Yes, but the guard told me you visited them this morning.”

“That was this morning.”

Kiras placed her hand on Goda’s. “Your son seems better and Sanda’s mind is clearing after the torture she was put through. She’ll soon be herself again. Apart from the fingers she chopped off when she was so disturbed.”

Both of them knew things would never be the same as before.

“There is news. Good news.” Goda showed her the letters and opened up another message, scanning the content. “Oh, excellent. The fire of freedom has crossed the border into Gauragar. The thirdlings have left their garrison and retreated into the Black Mountains, so as not to have to fight against the humans. According to these reports,” she said, handing the letter over to Kiras, “the southern alfar are already at the Ogre’s Death fortress.”

“We haven’t received any news from Ireheart, though.”

“That’s right. I’m very concerned.” Goda listened to her heart, trying to gauge by instinct whether her partner was alive or dead. She felt no premonition that he might be ill or dead, so supposed his group must be approaching their target: Lot-Ionan. “I know they will prevail.”

“That’s good. We need the help of a magus…” Kiras looked at Goda.

The dwarf-woman tried to smile. “I know what you mean.”

Kiras smiled back. “The guards report that everything is quiet at the barrier. The monsters have not attempted to set up new camps. It seems their attack on the northeastern gate left them with a bloody enough nose to discourage them from attempting a repeat performance.”

Goda was relieved to hear it. There was only one more splinter of diamond-the one she must have dropped on the stairs when she fell-and no matter how many of her servants had searched on their hands and knees, she’d been unable to locate it. Nobody knew about the unfortunate state of affairs with the magic reservoir. “I wonder how seriously I managed to injure the dwarf. Maybe that is the reason they haven’t attacked again?”

“He has seen what power you possess. He presumably thought it would be easy to overcome our defenses. But now he knows better.” The undergroundling adjusted her headband.

Goda looked at the girl’s bald head. “Does it hurt?”

“No. Just a feeling of heat and pressure from the wound.” Kiras made light of her discomfort. “What bothers me is the thought that I’m carrying around some sort of symbol and I don’t know what it means.” She looked at the maga. “So I will go to a healer later on and have it cut out. I’d hate to think the dwarf has branded me in order to take possession of me whenever he wants to. I won’t have that.”

“I don’t think it’s anything magic, but I understand you want to be on the safe side.” She smiled. “I want you to tell the officers about our news at the briefing. That’s why I summoned you.”

“Won’t you be there? What shall I say when they ask where you are?”

“Tell them I’m investigating something.” Goda could see the undergroundling was keen to know what she was hinting at, but did not want to go into details.

When she was alone again, Goda wrapped material around her knees, and padded her hands in the same way, leaving her fingers free. Then she went back to the stairs to search for the splinter again.

She was more than ever reliant on its power. It must be found.

The dwarf-woman was convinced she would be able to find it, even if it took her several orbits of searching. In the next battle that very splinter would be crucial.

But as she strode through her rooms an unpleasant thought occurred to her: Perhaps someone had already found it and was keeping it. Without reporting it to her. And Sanda had been on those stairs.

Girdlegard,

Former Queendom of Sangpur,

Southwest,

Late Spring, 6492nd Solar Cycle

The Blue Range was no longer merely a dark line on the horizon with an almost invisible promise of lofty peaks, but a discernible chain of mountains rising from the desert, like a life-saving island in the middle of an ocean.

“What do you say, Scholar? Eighty miles to the fortress?” Ireheart felt his chain-mail shirt was a little looser now. They had all lost weight; their food had been scant and the journey strenuous.

“About that. But we’re not heading for Ogre’s Death.” He called Franek over. “You were saying we should go a different way?”

The famulus nodded. “Bumina always took a certain path when she wanted to leave the tunnels and escape from Lot-Ionan’s surveillance in order to conduct her experiments in the desert.”

Ireheart made a face. “Oh, that would be the same Bumina that set all those traps for us in the desert trading station because she knew you’d be coming back?”

“She didn’t realize I knew her secret,” Franek replied. “It’s not dangerous.”

“In this land there’s absolutely nothing that’s not dangerous,” said Ireheart crossly, kicking at the sand. “Even the grains of sand are waiting to kill you.”

“But times are coming soon when everything will be peaceful again.” Tungdil set off, letting the famulus lead the way.

Their little group was sadly reduced in strength, meaning their confidence had also dwindled, or so it seemed to Ireheart. The only one who clung steadfastly to his belief in the success of their mission was the one who at first had refused to join them, and who could not be fully trusted: Tungdil Goldhand.

Of the three Zhadar who had survived, now only two remained: Ireheart had named them Troublemaker, Gasper and Growler. Gasper, however, had been found dead at the fireside one morning, an empty Zhadar drinking flask clutched in his hands.

Tungdil had assumed the Invisible had died of thirst, but Ireheart knew better. Unfortunately. He expected the same fate awaited him, but so far the deadly thirst had been staved off. For now.

“What a bunch of heroes,” he muttered. The totally exhausted maga had, by now, to be half carried; they would have to drag her to the magic source. Let’s hope we don’t run into that Bumina. Or friend Vot.

They continued marching, sweeping southwards at nightfall, and hugging the foothills on all subsequent orbits. At last they saw the Ogre’s Death fortress not ten miles away.

And saw it was already under siege!

Aiphaton had led his troops south in a forced march. Ireheart and Tungdil observed the army camp carefully. It had been pitched at a considerable distance from the fortress and they could see that some of the alfar had set up tents on the slopes to the left and right of the fortress walls.

“They’ve got no siege towers with them,” noted Ireheart in surprise. “Do they reckon Lot-Ionan is just going to open the front door?”

“Aiphaton has defeated the magus once before. So Lot-Ionan won’t want open combat. He’ll send the alfar into the tunnels to attack the emperor,” Tungdil guessed. “Lot-Ionan’s famuli will have to play gatekeeper while he waits to see what happens.”

“How many black-eyes do you think there are?” Balyndar was fastening the string on a sack where he was keeping Keenfire. The ax kept glowing all day long and seemed very disconcerted by the presence of the Zhadar. He had concealed it in the sack so that, to the ax in the darkness, they would not be so conspicuous.

“Difficult to say. But I’d reckon at least fifty thousand.” Ireheart handed him the telescope. “They won’t wait long before they attack for, in the desert, they’d soon run out of water and provisions with an army that size.”

“One up to Lot-Ionan, then,” said Mallenia. “He can sit back and wait for them. And for Aiphaton it’s even better. If he really wants to get rid of all the southern alfar all he has to do is poison their food.”

“You’re a dangerous ally, Princess.”

“I fought for the resistance. We weren’t choosy about how we killed our enemies,” she replied.

Franek showed Tungdil roughly where the path was. “We should get there today. After a few hundred paces it opens up into a cavern. We can rest there and won’t be seen.”

They moved on in single file, so as not to leave incriminating tracks. The alfar would be bound to have their spies and scouts roaming around.

Slin was humming his favorite dwarf-tune. He had learned it from Ireheart a long while ago. “It’ll be the luck of Tion if we don’t succeed,” he said suddenly to Balyndar with utter conviction. “We’ve got heroes, we’ve got weapons and we’ve got Vraccas on our side. We can’t fail.”

Ireheart suspected the fourthling was only saying this to drum up the necessary courage for himself and the rest. Lesser warriors would have turned tail after the losses their group had sustained. “Of course,” he chimed in, “but let’s keep quiet now. The pointy-ears have good hearing and they’re downwind from us.”

Without further discussion they ventured out into the stony landscape and found the path by moonlight, with Franek guiding them. After a short march he took them through a passage and indicated where they would be spending the night. The cave was practically round, measuring seven paces in diameter, and the roof was just high enough to allow the famulus to stand upright.

“Charming! It’s as if it has been designed especially for us,” said Slin, as he touched the cave walls. “It’s nice and warm in here.”

They settled down for the night and lit themselves two torches.

Tungdil set up a guard duty rota to be shared out between the Zhadar, himself and Ireheart. The exhausted humans were to get some rest to restore themselves for the journey on the morrow. Franek and Tungdil studied the map and discussed their route: A straight line toward the Blue Mountains.

Ireheart came over and looked at the map. “That road is new,” he said. “It must have been laid out after I left for the Outer Lands to help with the construction of Evildam.” He pointed to the tunnel-system entrance. “Our folk would never have allowed such a vulnerable point in the defenses. You can tell straight off that the long-uns have no instinct for this sort of thing.”

“It wasn’t Bumina who built the road,” said Franek. “Lot-Ionan would have noticed if quarrying had been going on.”

“Then it must have been Aiphaton that time he defeated the magus,” said Ireheart, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the possibility of any dwarf-input in constructing this new road. “I say again: The secondlings would never have built a road that leads, if not directly to the heart, to the very body of the realm! Never!” He folded his arms and his eyebrows seemed to be glued to the bridge of his nose.

“I couldn’t care less,” said Tungdil. “The path is there and we’ll use it. Tomorrow.”

He sent the Zhadar out to stand guard. His next glance was toward the humans in their company. They were huddled up by the cave wall, Rodario in the middle, Coira on his left and Mallenia on his right. “We have Keenfire,” he said softly. “If we had known earlier what luck we would have, there would have been no need to endanger the queen like we have. Balyndar has it. You couldn’t ask for a better weapon with which to confront Lot-Ionan.”

“But the wrong dwarf is wielding it,” Ireheart blurted out.

“I’ve told you why.” The one-eyed dwarf rose to his feet. “And I’m sticking to that. Keenfire is in safe hands.” He went over to the opposite wall, sat on his blanket and closed his eyelid. This was his way of showing he wanted to be alone.

It won’t end well. You should be using Keenfire, not that alfar implement you’ve got now. Ireheart ran his hands over his chain-mail shirt and returned to Slin and Balyndar.

“Now the Zhadar have gone I can have a look at it without us all getting dazzled,” said the fifthling, removing the cover from the ax head.

But the inlaid markings were still shining.

The three of them all looked at the sleeping figure of Tungdil.

Slin spoke what was on his mind. “Is the ax trying to warn us about him?” He frowned. “How could he be an enemy to our folk?”

“I knew it,” growled Balyndar, packing Keenfire away again. “I never trusted that dwarf. Just because he claims to be Tungdil Goldhand…”

“Stop it, the lot of you! Brains like a load of gnomes!” Ireheart interrupted. “The blade might be worried about the famulus.” Or me, he added to himself. He did not want them suspecting anything about himself or his friend. “I wouldn’t trust him as much as I trust my Scholar.”

“Hmm,” said Slin, uncertain now.

The three of them had something to eat and shared out the water rations, while each of them examined his own thoughts.

Ireheart looked over at Tungdil as he slept: The face, the deep lines, the golden eye patch and the long brown hair. I’m not going to lose my trust in you. Keenfire is warning us of a different danger. It can’t mean you.

A slim silhouette appeared at the cave entrance, a spear in his left hand.

“Black-eyes,” yelled Ireheart, leaping to his feet and brandishing his crow’s beak. “The Zhadar sentry must have gone blind! I’ll…”

“Slow down, Boindil Doubleblade,” the alf said, striding forward into the light of the campfire. The armor incorporated into his body was unique: Aiphaton! “I am not here to cause you any harm but to inform you what is about to take place.”

Tungdil was on his feet, but looking relaxed. “I have been expecting you, emperor.”

“Oh, you have, have you?” grumbled Ireheart, thumping his crow’s beak down at his feet. “So how did he find us?”

Aiphaton pointed to the entrance. “My scouts reported a small group approaching the Blue Mountains from the west. I guessed it would be you, so I followed your tracks.” He swept his gaze over the assembled company. “Is this all you are?”

“Yes. We lost many Zhadar in battle and the Black Squadron did not join us,” answered Tungdil. “Have you heard anything from Hargorin Deathbringer?”

“No. He’s not with us.” Aiphaton turned his slender alf face to Tungdil. “The attack starts tomorrow. Word has got round that the rebellions in the west of Girdlegard have spread to Gauragar and to my other possessions. It’s said that the thirdlings have left their positions and have withdrawn to their strongholds in the Black Mountains. The alfar want to open the gates to allow reinforcements in, to get the situation under control before the uprising turns into a prolonged civil war.” He sat down, because the low ceiling was making it uncomfortable to stand. “Is it true that Lohasbrand is dead?”

“Yes. And has been for a long time.” Tungdil gave a concise account of their recent experiences, not hiding the fact that they had killed one of the Dson Aklan.

“But there are still two of the triplets alive.” Aiphaton looked at Mallenia, who was cursing under her breath. “Tirigon survived the shot and has been convalescing back in Dson Bhara. I shall kill him for you, Princess. It will be on my way…” he said amiably. “But I have heard nothing more of Firusha. She is apparently at the bottom of the lake.”

“May Elria ensure she sinks further down than the heavi est of stones, to be eaten up by fishes,” murmured Ireheart. “Oh yes, and may Lakepride crash down on her while we’re at it.”

Aiphaton went into detail about his planned attack. It sounded worryingly simple. “We storm them. From three sides at once.”

“He’s got two famuli left for his defense. We killed one of his other two and another is on our side. They’ll bombard you with spells.” Tungdil took a seat opposite the alf. “You’ve got fifty thousand with you?”

Aiphaton nodded. “And if we get only ten thousand of them into the tunnel system, that’s all right with me, as you know. I shall be leading the attack,” he said, his left hand against his armor. “And the spells they cast on me I shall catch and send back, as I did before when fighting Lot-Ionan.”

“They are more likely to send their magic against your warriors.” Tungdil looked at him. “Won’t they take flight when they see the attack is bound to fail?”

“I have told them we must act swiftly if we want to escape death. And alfar can be extremely fast,” said Aiphaton calmly.

“No wonder, with those long legs.” Ireheart played with his beard. “Anyone could run fast with legs like that. But you’ll bang your heads in those low-ceilinged tunnels!”

The emperor grinned at Ireheart. “Still the old Boindil!”

Tungdil had come up with a new concern. “Your soldiers are sufficiently fired up to get into the tunnels. But then you’ll have no control over them. What if they find Lot-Ionan and kill him? You know we need the magus alive.”

“I’ve told them we need him alive to open the gate for us. That’s incentive enough.”

Ireheart cleared his throat. “What if the incentive is so great that they actually do it? How are we going to get the magus out of the clutches of ten thousand alfar?” He stroked his crow’s beak. “Now, don’t think I’m a coward, emperor of the black-eyes. I like a challenge and I like to have a good few opponents. But does it have to be that many? And ones with those… skills?”

“I’ve just been thinking about that,” Tungdil admitted, tapping his left forefinger against his eye patch with an audible clink.

“I’ve made arrangements to ensure that the majority of them will not survive the fighting. There are substances toxic enough to poison a whole lake with one drop.” The alf looked at Tungdil. “The water supplies for my warriors have been treated with this poison. They will all die after two orbits, either in the desert or in the Blue Mountains. That will be the ideal moment for you to get the magus from me.”

“That’s good news!” Ireheart was relieved. Clearly, Aiphaton had had the same idea as Mallenia. “And then you’ll be off to Dson Bhara on your own to eradicate the northern alfar before disappearing forever?”

Aiphaton was amused by the way the dwarves reacted to his plan. He was not offended by the question. “Yes, Boindil Doubleblade. That is what I shall do. I shall leave, taking an evil away from Girdlegard.”

“That’s going to be quite an orbit.” Ireheart rubbed his hands, looking forward to it. “Then, after all that, off to the north!”

The alf stood up and nodded to them. “I shall go back and tell my soldiers that I have encountered and killed some traveling merchants. That way you won’t be pursued by my forces.” He raised his hand in leave-taking before going out of the cave.

“Mallenia scored a bull’s eye with her idea about poison.” Ireheart was glad that the alf had gone. “We’ll get Lot-Ionan sooner or later, Scholar.”

Tungdil nodded. “Indeed.” He put his hand on his friend’s back, his brown eye warm. “Get some rest, my friend. You need your sleep just as much as Rodario and his two women.”

There’s absolutely no trace of eye-swirl or sparks. Ireheart suppressed a yawn. “Yes. But don’t forget to wake me. Putting the Zhadar on watch together is not a good idea. We’ve just seen how they let the most dangerous long-ears in the whole of Girdlegard walk in,” he said, exaggerating wildly. “The legendary Zhadar! Ha! We’ve got two of them left. And what did for the others? Magic creatures.”

“The only things able to defeat the Invisibles,” guessed Tungdil. He considered his options. “I think we should keep them both safely out of the action.”

“What? I can’t be hearing right, Scholar!”

“Troublemaker and Growler, as you call them, know all the secrets of the Dson Aklan,” he said with emphasis. “If Aiphaton were to fail, their knowledge would be vitally important in helping us to defeat the black-eyes. Only then will Girdlegard find peace.”

Ireheart looked dismayed. “Does that mean it’s my job to look after Troublemaker and Growler, and not the other way around?”

Tungdil made as if to applaud and then slipped back down onto his blanket.

“If we go on like this, I’ll be drinking from an alf flask of my own free will.” Ireheart stuck his finger in his ear crossly and stomped off to tell Balyndar and Slin the outcome of their strategy discussion.