Shadow Cursed Page 22

  Fearing goblins might detect him with their superior sense of smell he had hidden within the rotting remains of the dragon’s chest. He had heaved several times and was thankful he hadn’t eaten much of the dragon meat. If his brother was here he would be laughing at the sight of Dagar knee deep in blood and guts. He realised he would never see his brother again and he clenched his fists.

  Movement caught his eye near the entrance to the valley. Dagar strained his nearsighted eyes but could not make out what was approaching in the first light of dawn.

  All the goblins had gone to ground and he could barely make out where they had hidden themselves.

  As the mysterious party approached a voice whispered on the wind, “Prepare for battle Dagar.”

  Dagar felt the axe in his hands before he knew he had drawn it. Fearfully he glanced around to locate the voice. Nothing stirred except the flies and maggots at his feet. When the axe began to glow he hastily covered the blade with his cloak. He watched the runes run before his eyes like a stream of molten gold, until they fixed on a pattern he was familiar with. The blades would flare brightly whenever they hit something. The light was blinding to the dwellers and was inscribed on every wardgate as a warning to them. But to a goblin the light was dangerous, often igniting its skin.

  Keeping the glowing blades well covered he watched them for a moment longer but they gradually grew dull again leaving only the new rune pattern visible.

  The mysterious party was well past the first hidden goblins when the shaman stepped out and blocked Dagar’s view. He could just make out the musical voices of elves as they drew closer together to form a circle for defence. The shaman’s harsh voice ordered the elves to drop their weapons and surrender. An arrow ricocheted off the shaman’s shadow shield in reply and passed over Dagar’s hiding place.

  The mysterious voice spoke again in his ear as the axe began to glow again, “Defend them Dagar, they are here to help.” Dagar watched as the axe began to alter its rune patterns creating a new rune pattern next to the other.

  Dagar thought, a chance to die with honour. Something his brother would be proud of, maybe even his father.

  He ran towards the shaman as it completed a summoning spell sending a lance of green light at the group of elves.

  The shaman heard him approaching and turned just in time to meet Dagar’s axe blade. The runes flashed brilliantly as the shaman’s head flew away in a fiery ball. The body collapsed to the earth before him, smoking at the neck.

  Ten goblins turned on him leaving the stunned elves on the ground for their brethren to take care of.

  Near blind Dagar was forced to rely on instinct as the goblins closed in on him. Instead of fleeing or standing his ground he waded into them swinging in practiced sweeps to cover his sides with the deadly blades. Fire erupted all around him as goblins lost hands, weapons and legs. The heat became so intense that Dagar could smell his own beard singeing.

  Battle madness seemed to take hold of him and the goblins disappeared from his mind. Only the movement of the blades could be seen within the goblin mass flowing in perfect curves and trailing fire behind it as the goblins fell one by one.

  Only one goblin managed to grab hold of his leg but died as the blades came crashing down on its head ending the short fight.

  When Dagar came back to himself he was surrounded by burning ash and his leather armour was dry and brittle from the heat. As the runes on the axe blades dulled they dissolved into smaller and smaller patterns until he could no longer make them out.

  A battle horn sounded from beyond the thirty odd remaining goblins and they drew their weapons to face the new threat.

  To keep the goblins off balance Dagar charged them from behind. The axe began to glow again but Dagar focused on the goblins turning to fight him.

  His arms began to ache and the axe’s runes changed during the battle lightening the weight. The goblins no longer closed in on him but stayed just out of reach, wearing his stamina down. Two fell but not before Dagar began to receive cuts from the goblins circling behind him.

  When he finally believed that he would fall another battle horn sounded amongst the goblins and the sounds of others fighting gave Dagar hope. Within minutes dwarves swarmed past Dagar and he collapsed exhausted on the ground. He watched as the dwarves surrounded the last goblins and finished them off.

  Dagar noticed a pale skinned, white haired creature swinging two swords without finesse at the goblins. Several times the blades clanged loudly together, only the support of the dwarves at his sides kept him alive.

  Hanbar strode over to Dagar, his axe blades dripping blood. Without looking at Dagar he said, “We have come to aid our brethren, Dagar. What news do you have?”

  Dagar sensed the age old bitterness between them but decided that now not the time to bring it up. “I helped deliver wardgates to the Fire Gardens where our people are holding out. They were fully charged and should still hold but the power conduits have been burnt out throughout the city and the wardgates cannot be recharged.”

  “We have power crystals with us and we bring good news,” said Hanbar looking him in the eyes. “The Citadel has been liberated.”

  “Then there is hope?” whispered Dagar.

  “There is always hope when even one dwarf stands with an axe in his hands. Introduce me to your friends,” said Hanbar. His eyes were drawn to the unusual axe Dagar held.

  As Dagar spoke Hanbar’s eyes widened in recognition. “Them, I only saw them arrive a short while ago, they needed help so I came to their aid.”

  Something like confusion crossed Hanbar’s features then after a moment he held out his hand to help Dagar to his feet. “Then let’s introduce ourselves.”

  CHAPTER 73

  Gabriel

  Gabriel’s arms ached from defending with two swords and he reconsidered the wisdom of trying to fight with both swords without training. He could see Habar talking with a dwarf he didn’t recognise. At first they seemed antagonistic but Hanbar helped the other dwarf rise and they moved towards him.

  Gabriel introduced himself and held out his hand to shake Dagar’s. Hanbar laughed and brought Dagar’s hand to grasp his. The hand crushed his in a vice like grip and Hanbar supplied Dagar’s name for him, “Gabriel, this is Dagar, second son of our King. Dagar, this is a human, recently arrived through a gateway on the eastern shoreline. His people have been fighting the goblins since they arrived. He believes that the elven emperor has sent this group of elves to form an alliance with his people against the goblins.”

  “An alliance such as the one we have with them,” responded Dagar sarcastically.

  Gabriel frowned but said nothing as they walked towards the elves. They resembled Gaia’s features but seemed more real, not as perfect and regal.

  One of the male elves tensed when he saw the hilts of Gabriel’s swords. Faster than Gabriel could believe possible the elf moved forward and grabbed him by his armour lifting him easily off the ground. “Why do you have weapons bearing the royal insignia, human?”

  Laisarus rushed to grab Tagier’s arm while Amelia tried to pull Tagier back.

  “The weapons were a gift from me,” said Hanbar. “Let him go, I will have the crest replaced immediately if it offends you but this is not the time or place to fight amongst allies.”

  Tagier’s muscles tensed for a moment then he dropped Gabriel and stalked off.

  Hanbar apologized, “Gabriel, forgive me for not thinking of it but only elven royalty may bear the symbols on the hilts of your swords. We will need to remove them as soon as possible.”

  “No problem Hanbar.” Gabriel watched Tagier disappear amongst the dwarves guarding the valley entrance and spotted a human amongst them. “Where did he come from?” he asked pointing at Cane who appeared to have gone pale at the sight of the broken statues.

  Amelia spoke up piercing him with her emerald green eyes, “We found him enslaved by a wraithlord south of here. He’s still in shock from the experience and I’ve onl
y managed to get his first name out of him. He calls himself Cane.”

  “I know this is not the best time for introductions or explanations but I have been sent by Gaia to help you reach my people safely.”

  The elves stared at him in disbelief. “Does nobody speak with Gaia where you come from?” he asked.

  Carthus stepped forward and said, “Only our High Priestess claims to have seen her and spoken to her. To have a human say that she spoke to him is disturbing.” Gabriel caught Laisarus looking guiltily away at the statues.

  Hanbar unhitched a horn from his belt. “As Gabriel said this is not the place for idle talk, we must get to the Fire Gardens before another raiding party arrives.” He lifted the horn to his lips and blew a series of notes.

  The tones were clearly a military signal as the dwarves began to group into neat formations. The elves covered their ears, their faces clearly showing pain. Even Gabriel felt deafened by the horn blast. Hanbar said something else but Gabriel’s ears were ringing too much to hear. When the dwarves began to march he joined the elves in the centre of the formation.

  Gabriel studied the broken statues in fascination as they passed them by and noticed that they increased in height and decreased in workmanship the closer they were to the entrance. By the time he reached the entrance he could clearly see more human features in the dwarven faces.

  Ahead of him Hanbar also seemed to notice as his eyes remained fixed on one statue head almost blocking the entrance. The dwarf shook his head to clear it and drew his weapon.

  Raising his axe above his head he swung it several times towards different units signalling them to take the lead. Dagar joined Hanbar and they began to discuss which passages were held by goblins or dwellers and which had collapsed or were too dangerous to use.

  Gabriel thought he noticed the uneasiness Hanbar had shown earlier in Dagar’s presence but it soon eased as the two moved into the tunnel.

  The darkness was complete and Gabriel’s heart began to beat faster as his panic mounted. He was jostled from side to side by unknown people moving around him. Finally he made the end of his staff glow with a gentle light. The light drew Cane and the other elves closer and Gabriel saw him holding tightly to Amelia’s arm.

  Gabriel got his first good look at Cane’s face but did not recognize the man from Earth. Gabriel saw the look of terror that filled the man’s eyes, as if he was just about to break and run back out of the tunnel. But Amelia laid her hand on his forehead and said some words to him. The man relaxed into her arms and Gabriel had to grab him to help her support his weight.

  “Thank you Gabriel, his terror is greater than he can stand I had to release his mind. I apologize for Tagier’s behaviour earlier, he has not been himself since Cane arrived. I fear something terrible is eating away at him.” A smile broke out across her face as she realized something, “Forgive me, I haven’t even introduced myself, I am Amelia. I am a nov… sorry a priestess of Gaia.”

  “Pleased to meet you Amelia,” said Gabriel adjusting Cane’s weight. “What did you almost say, nov…”

  “I was a novice training to be a priestess but I’ve finally managed to use my powers. I can now call myself a priestess although there is still more I need to learn before I can serve as a temple priestess.”

  “What does a temple priestess do?” asked Gabriel intrigued.

  “A temple priestess cares for the sick and weak, they heal livestock and other animals. They can even heal plants and accelerate or alter a plant’s growth.”

  “Alter?” prompted Gabriel.

  “Yes, the Barrier that protects the Riverlands from goblin attacks is made of trees whose growth has been carefully cultivated to rise several storeys high and interlinked so tightly that no goblin can move between the lower branches.”

  Carthus watched as Gabriel distracted Amelia from worrying about Cane. He wondered if it was intentional or not but kept silent, not wanting to interrupt. There would be time enough to talk to Gabriel later and find out about his people.

  Beyond the staff light Tagier clenched his hands around his sword hilts and alternatively glared at Cane and Gabriel with eyes that seemed to glow blue.

  CHAPTER 74

  Bittermouth

  Bittermouth watched from cover as the dwarves killed the rest of his troop, and smiled. With the shaman dead he was now undisputed leader of the raiding party. The others had wanted to charge right in when the elves had been stunned but Bittermouth had scented hundreds of dwarves on the wind and had held them back.

  When the dwarves and elves entered Stronghold he allowed the others to scavenge what fresh meat they could. No sense letting good food go to waste, he thought.

  Bittermouth wasn’t the strongest or fastest goblin but he was one of the more intelligent ones, he had received training to become a shaman but unfortunate circumstances had forced him to run for his life and join a new tribe as a warrior. He remembered that day and was thankful he hadn’t been killed or for that matter trained further to become a shaman. Shaman trainees had relatively short life spans as they were often killed by accident or sacrificed by head shamans to gain a power boost before battles.

  Bittermouth returned to the matter at hand. With that many dwarves going into the mines they could only be planning an escape from Stronghold. He dismissed the possibility that they would try to retake the city. They no longer had the advantage now that the wardgates were destroyed and within days the last of the dwellers would be destroyed. Then the goblin gods would descend on the wraithlords and kill them.

  No, the dwarves would scurry out of their tunnels and head straight for the protection of Broken Pass Keep. This was Bittermouth’s opportunity to gain favour with another shaman. If the dwarves could be cut off from the keep then they could be broken and destroyed for all time.

  Bittermouth decided to join his warriors in their feasting, the wind was blowing his way and the prey hadn’t caught his scent yet.

  CHAPTER 75

  Dagar

  Using the glow of their rune weapons they followed Dagar’s directions towards the Fire Gardens encountering only minor resistance.

  Dagar heard several fights as dwarven soldiers found goblins or dwellers blocking their path. He cringed as his blood began to warm with battle lust, the thought of another fight with this enchanted weapon unnerved him. After he had killed the shaman he could barely remember what had happened. Most dwarves honoured those who had the battle madness as they could cut a path through enemies like no other. But this had been something else.

  Dagar felt the blades hungering for goblin blood. He had not so much used the weapon as been used by it. If the axe weren’t so valuable a tool he would have thrown it away and he had the sinking feeling that it he threw it away it would find a way back to him.

  A cursed dwarf with a cursed weapon, perhaps his brother was right and it was made for him.

  Hanbar continued to give him strange looks every now and then as if he did not know what to make of him. However the master of arms listened to his advice and acted on it without argument. There was a time when Hanbar had served as war master for Dagar’s father, the second highest position that a dwarf could obtain. But following an argument with the King he had been sent to exile at Broken Pass Keep where he was to continue preparations for an attack on the Citadel below. A slap in the face when everyone knew the dwarves would not be strong enough to attack for generations to come.

  The Keep itself was too strong to attack from the Citadel below and if it was attacked from the valley above it could call for aid from Stronghold, trapping an enemy army between two forces in the narrow valley that ran between them. Shamans would be almost useless and numbers wouldn’t matter.

  But with Stronghold overrun the Keep faced attack soon from the valley and would not receive the aid it needed from Stronghold.

  During a halt in the march Hanbar broke his silence and spoke to him, “I was once asked to make a terrible choice Dagar. To slay a child I believed was begotten by
ill means, or to dishonour my king by disobeying his orders.”

  Dagar’s blood ran cold as he realized what Hanbar was saying but he remained silent to allow him to continue. “I believe I was saved from that terrible choice by the Allfather's command. When I went to the child’s room I found the axe you now carry. Its obvious craftsmanship caught my eye and I picked it up. The Allfather spoke to me as I held it and said that my knife would destroy the Dwarven nation if I used it. I believed him and I marched to the king full of fire carrying the axe as proof of your innocence. He did not believe me and would not place his hands on the axe to hear the Allfather’s words himself.”

  Hanbar looked at the axe for a moment then tore his gaze away. “He banished me to Broken Pass Keep and reduced my rank to master of arms for not obeying him. He even ordered me to destroy the axe.”