Delver Magic II: Throne of Vengeance, Jeff Inlo [graded readers .TXT] 📗

points of the town. We must remain careful of being outflanked. Still, they watch outside the walls. They do not know of our full presence. We must move now. To the demons with their lamp lights. If we are spotted, we attack.”

With a final grunt, the dwarf motioned for his strike force to move out. They remained in diamond formations, but they spread out to cover the full width of the wider streets which would lead to the town center. They moved slowly, but quietly. As guard posts were placed on the outskirts of the city and not around the town center, the attack party moved without obstacle toward their prearranged objectives.

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Sy reached command HQ before the dwarves. He found Enin waiting outside with a complement of thirty soldiers. They stood with swords in hand, agitated and waiting for news.

Sy spoke directly to the wizard, moving straight to his point. “I don’t think we’re dealing with goblins, serps, or shags for that matter. The tower was brought to the ground by someone cutting the support columns, someone strong, very strong and capable with an axe. A witness said they were short, and they disappeared into the ground. They escaped through a tunnel, a long tunnel, one that was probably built in the time you and I shave. You know what description that fits?”

“Dwarves,” Enin replied quickly.

“Exactly. From what Ryson has told us, it has to be. That tunnel wasn’t there when construction of the tower began. No one else could dig that quickly. But now we get to the difficult questions. Where are they, what do they want, and why did they destroy our tower?”

Enin mulled over the points with confusion. “You said they escaped down a tunnel. Does that mean they’re gone?”

“I have no idea where that tunnel leads. They could still be inside the walls, or far away from here. They could be above ground or still in the tunnel. I’m certainly not going to send any men down there to check on it. That would be a death sentence. What do you sense, anything?”

Enin shook his head. “Nothing, nothing at all.”

“I don’t know if that does us any good. They were inside the wall when they collapsed the tower. Their tracks are proof of that. You were at the south gate. That’s not that far, and you didn’t sense them then.”

“I know. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“I don’t either and that’s why I still have to question whether they still might be within the walls. I also have to wonder what they were doing here. Ryson told us they were going to war with the algors. Nothing was said about possible hostilities against us.”

“Maybe they are searching for allies,” Enin offered. “Maybe they want our help.”

“Allies don’t destroy towers. Now why would they do that? I have only one possible explanation, and it’s not one I relish. That tower had no strategic significance, it wasn’t finished. The only reason I would collapse it would be to create a diversion.”

“A diversion for what?”

“That’s what I need to know.” Sy stopped. His attention shifted to his left. “It looks like we’re going to find out. They’re in the streets!”

Enin looked off down the same lit corridor. He saw the nearly indistinguishable shapes of several short, stout men trying to evade the light. Nothing within him told him that these invaders were anything out of the ordinary. “I sense nothing.”

“I guess your magical alert doesn’t work with dwarves,” Sy responded before quickly whispering orders to a nearby soldier. The soldier disappeared in the opposite direction of the dwarves.

“What did you say to him?” Enin asked quietly.

“I told him to alert the tower and gate guards of what we’ve got here. We may need reinforcements.”

The dwarf commander kept his force in the same diamond formations with himself at the point of the center group. This put him in the middle of the wide street which led toward the human command post. His eyes, well accustomed to the dark, spotted every human soldier ahead, regardless of the shadows of night. He counted thirty, a larger group than he expected. He also had to walk in the open, through lit streets, but he believed he held the advantage. The human guard held swords, the only true mistake of his counterpart, but a grave mistake none the less. If the humans were going to face them in hand-to-hand combat, the battle would be over before it began. His forces moved unimpeded toward the heart of the town. This was indeed too easy.

Sy tensed with questions. Armed dwarves moving towards his position was not something he had ever dealt with before. He knew so little about his enemy. Why are they here? The dwarves showed no sign of stopping, and they moved with axe and mace ready for combat. Yet, to his knowledge, Burbon had done nothing to warrant an attack by his men other than destroy the tower.

“This is ridiculous,” he muttered to Enin. “They’re walking right up to us. I don’t even know what they want. I can’t let them continue without knowing their intentions.”

“What can you do? You’re not thinking of attacking, are you? You don’t want to start a war.”

“Absolutely not. That’s why I haven’t given the order to attack. They may be here just to talk. I guess there’s only one way to find out. You men keep ready. I don’t know what may happen here.”

Sy took a step forward. The dwarves were easily in shouting distance, about forty paces away. Sy called out with authority. “Please hold your position and be identified.”

The dwarves kept moving.

“I am Sy Fenden, captain of the guard. I need to know your intentions.”

Not a dwarf spoke. They advanced at exactly the same pace as before.

“Your approach is threatening to us. We do not wish to fight.”

The dwarf commander gave his reply in the form of a hand signal to his forces. The back half of the diamond formation broke. The dwarves in the rear moved up to the front, forming an angled wedge with the point directed at the human captain. They broke into a battle run, but they were not fast by any stretch of the imagination.

Sy had more than enough time to react. His first command was a surprise to his men. “Everyone fall back, back into HQ.”

Most men moved without hesitation, but a few stared at the wedge of dwarves and wondered why Sy had not ordered them to break the formation.

Sy repeated his order angrily. “Inside, now!”

This time, each soldier acknowledged. Quickly but orderly, the thirty soldiers filed through the door of the brick command post. Sy waited by the door. When all his men were inside, he threw the thick oak door closed and bolted it.

“Cover the windows. If they start to come in, call out. I need ten men at the door.”

Enin spoke his confusion. “What are you doing?”

“I still don’t know what they want. I’m not ready to get into a battle, not just yet. I’m giving them one more chance before they force my hand. They have axes and that’s a wooden door. If they really want to attack us, they’ll chop right through it. At least then, I’ll have no other choice but to order our defense. This will also give our reinforcements a chance to get here.” Sy turned to one of the guards. “Get on the roof. Signal the towers. I want all the tower and gate watches to divide, half stay at their post, the other half I want here. Go!”

Outside, the dwarves were ordered to a full halt before they reached the command building. Sy’s retreat surprised the dwarf commander. He expected the humans to either arrogantly attack the wedge or to stand stupidly about and meet their fate with blank expressions. The command post was made of brick, and though it was not worthy of dwarf construction, it would hold against several mace blows. The door was another matter. It would fall quickly.

He kept his force in close formation rather than spreading out about the building. He ordered one dwarf to quickly circle the command post. There was no other door. Since dwarves lived underground and always considered what was over their head, the commander then looked to the roof. He stepped back and saw the human soldier make his signal.

“Very good,” the commander mused. “He wants us to go to the door. He’ll have his men waiting there on the inside. We break through the door and fight to get through a narrow passage way. Just when we break his force, reinforcements would hit us from behind. He would probably sacrifice his own life in the process, but we would be trapped.”

The dwarf commander pointed to an axe man. He ordered the destruction of the door.

Inside the command post, Sy positioned himself with a contingent of ten men to meet the dwarves right at the archway. The dwarves would only be able to fit two through at a time. The odds would be even better for his men. They all watched the door, waited for the inevitable.

The first blow of the axe split the door, but did not shatter it. The second sent wood flying in every direction. Sy tensed to meet the assault, but no dwarf advanced through the opening. He scanned what he could see through the broken space that used to be the door. There was no sign of the dwarves. He said nothing. He pointed to a guard near a window. He motioned for him to look outside. The guard shook his head revealing he saw nothing. The clang of steel from outside threw Sy into even greater confusion. He stepped carefully up to the doorway.

Outside, the dwarves were back in their wedge formation and carving through a group of reinforcements like woodcutters through soft wood. The human reinforcements were careless, misinterpreting the dwarves’ small stature as a sign of weakness. They attacked before Sy could stop them. They believed their superior numbers and size would lead to easy victory. They were massacred.

Sy cursed, but in that split second he managed to assess the dwarves’ battle strengths. Fighting them with swords was near useless. Moving in close quarters allowed the dwarves to use their short arms to meet the attack. The dwarf axes were breaking the sword blades as if they were made of glass.

Sy adjusted his plans in the snap of a finger and gave his orders with the same quick deliberation. “Grab spears and get outside.”

The men sheathed their swords and quickly pulled spears from the weapon racks. They followed Sy outside as he ordered the reinforcements to fall back. “Break off! Break off! Don’t get close to them. Spread out. Use your speed; force them to come to you.”

As more reinforcements appeared, Sy ordered them to retrieve new weapons as well. As his force now totaled nearly one hundred men, all armed with spears, he ordered them into position. “Spread out! Surround them. Don’t get close. If they move up to you, jab them in the face. Use the length of the spear. Everybody moves!”

The dwarf commander grunted with dissatisfaction. He had killed over twenty humans in the small skirmish, but now the larger body of the force was before him. He knew his objectives, and he would not suffer a defeat to these despicable creatures. He ordered his force to alter their formation. They formed a tight circular cluster. He would press his assault all night if need be. He would wear the humans down, they could not run forever, but he received one more surprise.

Enin stood behind the spread circle of guards. His hands stretched out