Deepforge (8 page)

Everyone ran for cover as Grognor fell off. Orogo stepped up and bit at Grognor. Grognor reacted and reached up and down, grasping the dragon’s mouth open. Orogo then began growling again...

“Darling! Get out of there!” Teelena screamed and threw her hammer at the beast.

It flew true and nailed the dragon in the eye. Orogo roared again, as his acid began to race up his throat. Grognor jumped out of the way just in time to miss the globule which flew out, hit the ground and began sizzling. Grognor didn’t miss a beat, and grabbed one of the dragon’s legs, twisting and punching.  He totally missed the tail as it knocked him into the air. Grognor slammed to the ground, and Orogo jumped on him. The dragon slammed his talons around the dwarf, into the ground. Grognor was pinned. Orogo roared and snarled at the prone dwarf, when all hell broke loose behind him.

The villagers attacked. All manner of weapons were brought to bear against the beast, from hammers, to spears, to rocks thrown from the rubble piles. They screamed and cursed the dragon, with an energy that seemed long too pent up. Orogo released Grognor and spun around to deal with the mass of villagers, and began to growl...              

Suddenly, he stopped and backed up. The villagers pursued him, continuing to throw weapons and scream in anger. The dragon shielded himself with his arms, and continued to back up, trying to find enough room in the cramped street to stretch his wings again.

“STOP!” an ominous voice was heard from behind the villagers. They all looked to see a man, dressed like nothing they had ever seen before. He was a metallic dragon, that was for sure, but his kind of metal couldn’t readily be distinguished.  It looked silver, but…

“A silver dragon as a human male?” one of the villages asked as they all parted.

Grognor recovered and prepared for another attack when he saw something strange. Orogo knelt down before the new dragon.

“STOP THIS AT ONCE!” the unknown dragon roared again, nearly shattering everyone’s eardrums.              

The fighting stopped as everyone watched. Several more dragons, the known ones, appeared in their normal humanoid forms.

Orogo, still in dragon form, remained kneeled as the unknown dragon walked up to him.

“You’re bleeding,” the unknown dragon said. “Fall back into your humanoid form at once.”

“Yes, your Majesty!” Orogo said, and quickly became a dwarf again, still kneeling.

The unknown dragon then walked over to Grognor as the other dragons converged. “Emperor Grognor. We accept your terms. We will do exactly as you have demanded, with our apologies.” He then looked over at the others, and glared at Orogo.

Grognor wiped the blood from his split lip and looked into the multicolored eyes of the unknown dragon. “Who the hell are
you
?”

The unknown dragon put out his hand to greet. “Forgive my manners. I am Bahamlo, King of the metallic dragons.”

Chapter 8

“B
a… who?” Grognor asked.

Bahamlo chuckled, then turned around to face everyone. As he did so, several more dragons appeared, both familiar and not, all in humanoid form. He had a captive audience. “So many things have changed. When you all were deposited upon the Great Savanna all those years ago, we had the foresight even then. You see, this world, and all those upon it are part of a great plan, one that reaches into a future unfathomable by mortals. Especially the people of River Valley and the Deepforge Empire. Yes, I speak of the ancient prophesy. To mortals, it is simply a story passed down. To those of us who reside in the outer planes, the time of the prophesy has already happened, is happening now, and will always happen. You are part of something greater, something you can’t even imagine. For that, we have always been not your superiors, rather, your humble servants. Over the eons this fact has become forgotten. Some of us considered us superiors, and instead of helping you along, demanded things of you. For that, we all.” He motioned to Orogo. “Apologize. Personally, I’ve been waiting for someone, a strong leader who did not fear us, to…remind us of our place in your world.” He motioned to Grognor.

Grognor looked over at Orogo. “I’d have killed you if he hadn’t intervened.”

Orogo chuckled, head still down with respect to his King. “Yea, sure! Hardly!”

Bahamlo smiled at Grognor. “One more moment and he would have reduced you to a smoldering puddle. If I hadn’t have intervened, you would have died.”

Grognor scoffed, “I was just about to break his talon and deliver a fatal blow. You saved
his
life, not mine!”

Bahamlo laughed. “That’s exactly what I mean. This is the first time any of you have challenged us to a fight, with no weapons by the way. Orogo, you’re still bleeding.”

Orogo wiped away the blood on his split open nose.

Bahamlo continued, “Thank you, Grognor. You have restored our faith in you.” He bowed with respect. “We are your humble servants, and will follow your lead.”

All the other dragons bowed to Grognor as well.

Grognor acknowledged the bow, and wiped away more blood from his split lip. “Finally, somebody who makes sense. Then, let’s get on with the Spring Games, and prepare for war!”

Everyone cheered.

Grognor continued, “All of us! A unified Empire!” He looked right at Bōddy as he said this.

Bōddy nodded and smiled with great respect.

Bahamlo looked back at Grognor. “Sire, Chieftain, Emperor. We are at your disposal.”

Grognor looked at him with suspicion. “So you, their King…you’ll stick around and fight with us?”

“Yes, of course. The chromatics are numerous, and they probably have their Queen Lotanna with them,” he hung his head down in sadness, “she and I must battle before she has any inclination to try and claim this world. Your fight will be mostly with the other humanoids. For you see, you have it wrong. The chromatics were summoned by the humanoids. Not the other way around.”

Grognor was a bit confused by this. “Summoned, so they didn’t have metallic dragon companions like we do here?”

“They did, a long time ago. Most of them were either driven off or killed. The humanoids then wallowed in their own evil filth for many generations, until now they look nothing like you would expect. Their evil nature has changed them. Their entire continent is now over run with them. Once they discovered the southern land bridge, they moved in, crossing over to this continent. In fact, they’ve already established a presence down there, in the great mountains. We let them be, as they were no threat to us or you. But then an expedition was launched to explore, thus the fate of the legendary Markog Drgoodondt. As you know, all that was found of him was his notes and map. The creatures down south knew something lay up here, but had no reason to explore. They remained happy in the south, with no desires to cross the vast distances. Then, something changed, we’re not sure what. After so many years of them not caring, suddenly they decided to launch a campaign against us. There’s something up here they want, and I don’t think it’ just real estate. That’s when they summoned the chromatics. It was well known that we, the metallics, were here. Their only hope for success was to enlist the evil dragons’ help. So, now they prepare. So must we. We must find the strongest, fiercest warriors to fight. We the metallics will war with them in the air as you war with them on land. It looks grim, Grognor, I’ll not lie. But, we have to try.”

“So, the Spring Games are not just games, after all.”

“That’s correct. They must continue, for you. You and your people must unite with all the other races and find the strongest. It’s the only way you’ll win this fight.”

“What about the dragons?”

“Like I said, we have a fight of our own. We will help you as much as we can, but our primary concern is to occupy the chromatics as you war against the humanoids.”

“Finally, I get the truth. Thank you, Bahamlo. Then, your orders are to rally your dragons and join us in battle. But first, take my representatives on your dragon shaped backs to all the villages and prepare them. I will give you my official seal so they know it’s genuine, although I can’t imagine anyone refusing you. In the meantime, we will commence with games.”

Bahamlo nodded and then turned to the dragons. “We shall meet on the shores of the lake and assume our natural forms at once. Grognor, we await your representatives.”

All the dragons walked together south toward the lake.

“Teelena, you are the Empress,” Grognor said to his new bride as she came to him, cleaning his wounds. “You will ride on Bahamlo and take this.” He pulled off his ring and handed it to her. “I’m counting on you. Once it’s done, come back to me. We’ll finish the games together and prepare for this war.”

She took the ring and looked up at him. “I take your honor, Husband.”

They hugged and she walked off toward the dragons.

Grognor assembled the rest of his Royal Guard, and sent them to go with her. A few moments later a flock of massive dragons filled the sky, glimmering their metallic scales down upon the villages. The largest by far was Bahamlo.

Chapter 9

A
s the villagers began to assemble to observe the initial contestant’s training, Grognor and several other contestants assembled on the large arena floor.

Fully expecting to be the only one competing, Grognor was surprised to see many of his highly trained warriors joining him as well as the elves, a few gnomes, halflings, and even a pixie. He laughed at the thought of a pixie competing in something like this. ‘Might as well bring along a fly swatter!’ he thought to himself.

The pixie cheerfully introduced herself to Grognor, “Hello! I’m Pearl! What’s
your
name?” She smiled a way-too-cute smile, her voice almost too cute and high-pitched to fathom.

“Grognor,” he said, impatiently.

Pearl flipped in the air a couple of times, seemingly shedding tiny, sparkling bits of herself as she did so. “Grognor! Helloooooo Grognor!” she giggled and said his name over and over again, flying around in random patterns.

“Seriously?” Grognor said.

Bōddy laughed. “Fairy dust.”

“What?”

“That’s Fairy dust she’s shedding. See how it lingers a bit, reflecting in all colors, then fades away before touching the ground? Fairy dust.”

“Oh, come on, now!”

“Seriously! Pixies are a type of fairy, and that’s fairy dust!” Bōddy chuckled.

Grognor just shook his head in disbelief and began sharpening his axe.

“And what’s your name?” Pearl asked Bōddy, expectantly.

Bōddy bowed. “Honorable Pearl, pixie of the north woods, I am Bōddy Bloodstone of The Glade.”

She reacted the same way, flipping in the air and acting way too excited to meet him. The scene continued over and over again as the unreal creature greeted each warrior.

“She’s not actually going to compete, is she?” Grognor asked.

A nearby halfling began laughing at the scene, and it was infectious. All the warriors joined in. The hafling gained his composure and introduced himself, “Emperor Grognor, it is the highest honor to make your acquaintance. I am Hentlehoff from Underhill Village.” He put out his hand to greet.

“Now, that’s more like it. Hentlehoff of Underhill, the honor is all mine.” Grognor took the halfling’s hand in greeting.

At that point, a horrible roar was heard. A massive beast flew overhead, causing panic to the citizens below. It had roughly an eighty feet wingspan, and was covered in dark red scales. Its head was very large and full of sharp pointy teeth.  Its talons were very sharp, and its tail was long and barbed.

“By the gods!” Queen Kathryn exclaimed from the stands.

Taylen led her under the bleachers. “Red dragon!”

As people scrambled for cover, the dragon circled around again, roaring at the people below.

Grognor watched it, waiting for it to come close enough so he could throw his axe. “Damn, this thing is bigger than the metallics, nearly as big as Bahamlo himself!”

Screams and cries of terror spread like a wave through the villages as the dragon surveyed the ground. Suddenly, it dived toward the arena and inhaled. Grognor and all the other warriors stood their ground, weapons ready.

“You can’t stand there!” Pearl screamed as she yanked on Grognor’s arm. Her pixie strength was no match for his, but she tried anyway.

“Pearl! We can’t stand by and let this happen, we’ll draw the creature away from the fleeing populous. Fly away if you must,” Brendon said.

“No!” she cried, and began flying in circles around them, faster and faster. Her multicolored wings began to make a bright display of color around them like a shell.

At that point, the dragon released the fury of hell upon the warriors. Most of the force of the flames seemed to be deflected by the pixie’s wings, but enough got through to cause severe burns on the warriors. All but the dwarves cringed at the extreme heat.

“Is that all you’ve got, you pathetic dragon? Come and face us like a warrior, not as the coward you are!” Grognor yelled.

Pearl fell to the ground, badly burnt.

Bōddy reached down and picked her up, inspecting the extend of the damage. “You shouldn’t have done that. We can handle anything this creature dishes out, Pearl. Heal yourself and redirect your skills.” Bōddy motioned up at the dragon.

Pearl smiled, and then flew off toward the dragon using her natural healing ability on herself.

“Did you just send her to her death?” Grognor asked.

“No, not at all. She’s way tougher than she appears.”

Hentlehoff nodded in agreement. “Yea, pixies are badass, for sure. Just watch. Here comes the beast for another attack.”

Grognor didn’t believe it. How could a little thing like that possibly be ‘badass’? Oh, well. It wasn’t his problem. “Ok, we need to get that damn thing on the ground and stomp its head in. Any ideas?”

They started giving suggestions, anything from throwing a massive volley of hammers and axes to barbed spears and ballista bolts.

“No, you guys don’t understand, we got this,” Bōddy pointed up.

Everyone looked up and saw nothing except for the little pixie flying around randomly, the red dragon circling a bit higher. The dwarves were very much confused.

“What?” Grognor asked. “What are you pointing at?”

“Just watch and learn.” Bōddy chuckled and looked at Hentlehoff, who knew what was about to happen. He nodded and pulled out his short sword. He dropped his helmet visor and stood ready.

The dwarves looked at each other in confusion, but prepared for battle anyway. The dragon swirled around and began descending again toward the warriors in the arena.

“Come on, just a little more,” Bōddy said.

Grognor glanced at him, wondering what was about to happen. “This is ridiculous. Doesn’t anyone have a better idea than just standing around? Maybe a harpoon or something?”

“Here it comes, watch,” Hentlehoff said, readjusting his defensive stance.

The dragon swooped up again to aphelion. At that point the pixie began flying in rapid circles around the dragon’s head, creating a dense sphere of multi-colored light. This confused the dragon and it began flapping its wings again, roaring in frustration. It attempted to swat the annoying insect of a creature until it became so disoriented it couldn’t discern up from down. In extreme frustration it let go with a fiery breath, scorching the pixie.

“That little gnat’s going to get herself killed,” Grognor said, grimly.

All the dwarves agreed.

“Oh that?” Hentlehoff chuckled. “She’s just a little scorched like before. You forget, Emperor. We are all warriors here, including her. What would turn the average citizen to ashes would just piss us off. Look, see how her flights are becoming even more intense? Just wait until you see her really get angry!”

Bōddy chuckled and unsheathed his dainty looking sword that Grognor shook his head at. Pearl could be heard screaming in anger as her flight exponentially increased in intensity. The dragon began flying in random directions, expelling fire and swatting at the pixie in frustration. Finally, it managed to score a solid hit on Pearl, knocking her out of the sky. She crashed down onto the area floor with a pathetic little ‘poof’.

Grognor began to go to her, when Bōddy stopped him.

“She’s not done yet,” Bōddy said, smiling with anticipation. “
Now
she’s pissed.”

Grognor looked at his dwarven warriors. They all shared his same frustration. Pearl stood straight up and quickly healed herself. She was a bright, multi-colored light as she shook off the dust. Her anger was evident.

“Oh, that’s it Mister Dragon, no more playtime! It’s time to teach you some manners!” Pearl said in the cutest, highest childlike tone.

Grongor held back his laughter at this.

The dragon roared again and began descending toward the group, inhaling for another attack. Pearl flew rapidly toward the dragon and impacted square on his nose, getting his attention. Then as the dragon began to turn around to expel a fire attack, she dived back toward the arena. The dragon tried its best to keep up with the pixie, and let go its fire harmlessly into the sky. It dived to attack the pixie who then suddenly stopped and began flying around its head again, but this time it was different. The light she emitted was too bright to look at directly. The dragon roared and tried desperately to get away from the annoying creature, unaware it was still diving.

“This is it!” Bōddy yelled and stood ready.

In a massive crash, the dragon impacted with the ground, causing it to heave and send shockwaves outward. The warriors nearly lost their footing.

“Now! Attack!” Bōddy said, and ran forward.

The dwarves suddenly surged forward with the rest of them. Pearl flew up high and dive bombed the dragon, hitting it again and again in the head, making it more and more angry. It only partially noticed the army of warriors rushing it as it became ever more obsessed with killing the annoying pixie. It inhaled again just as the warriors reached it. Bōddy hit it first with his dainty looking sword, the impact reported with a loud ‘clang’. Grognor was surprised to see that the anemic sword had cut a deep gash in the dragon! He quickly shook off his surprise and jumped onto the dragon’s back, slashing with his axe and smashing with his hammer. The dragon roared in pain and anger and managed to get back onto its feet. It let go a massive blast of fire directly at the storming warriors.

The flames seemed to be from the very pit of Hell itself, turning the sand of the arena floor to glass and radiating out like the heat of the yellow sun. The fire obscured the charging warriors only for a moment. As the flames quickly faded away, the unharmed warriors stood just beyond the breath weapon’s reach, smiling.

The dragon was confused. It had…missed? In his mind it was impossible! Somehow these raging warriors had sidestepped the attack. As it inhaled for another attack, it felt terrible pain coming from its head. It scrambled to become airborne and swat away the pesky creatures as the warriors all descended upon him at nearly the same time.

They attacked with swords, axes, hammers, spears, bare hands, rocks, and just about any weapon they could get a hold of. The dragon roared in pain as the combined forces literally tore it apart. It never got off the ground before its evil heart stopped beating from lack of blood, blood that soaked the arena floor and all the warriors. They cheered a combined cry of victory. The villagers slowly returned to the arena to see a never before witnessed sight: Warriors of all races congratulating each other on the felling of a massive red dragon. Pearl, no longer angry, flew in intricate patterns in the afternoon sunlight. Pixie-flowers, starbursts, and other beautiful multi-colored displays were seen. Queen Kathryn and Taylen returned hand in hand to the surreal scene before them.

“Wow! This is amazing!” Taylen said as he looked on.

“This is a unique beginning to the Spring Games, for sure!” Kathryn said, amazed at the sight.

The body of the dragon sat near center of the area, which was soaked in its blood. The warriors all celebrated the event, retelling and reliving the short battle. The hero…heroine of the day was the tiny little creature known as Pearl, the deceptively tough pixie.

“Yes! That was awesome!” Brendon said, catching the eye of a grinning Grognor. The Emperor came over and put his open hand up high.

Brendon raised his hand and slapped Grognor’s, a ‘high five’.  The warriors hugged, high fived and slapped each other on the backs, still high from the battle.

“Well, I’m dwarf enough to admit when I’m wrong,” Grognor said. “Size and appearance can be deceptive!” He looked up at the twirling pixie, down at the mass of tough human warriors, and the elves who seemed more warrior-like than he ever imagined.

“I’ve seen Pearl in action before. This isn’t our first encounter with a wyrm,” Brendon said. She knows how to bring them down to our level.

“Wait, so you’ve felled dragons before?” Grognor asked, unbelieving.

“Oh, yes. None right in the middle of a village, usually out in the wilderness, and none this big before. But, yes, I’ve personally been involved in three…well, four now. She’s a great asset in such endeavors.”

Grognor seemed confused. “But, the metallics said the humanoids on the other continent summoned them?”

“Yea, I guess so…over there. But, haven’t you all had dragon attacks at Deepforge?”

“Well, yes but they’ve been few and very far between.”

“There you have it. Chromatics have always been here, as have the metallics. I don’t know the details, but it’s true.”

Grognor shook his head in disbelief. “Today…this past month, has been one of firsts. I never suspected the humans were dragon slayers, and pixies? You realize you’ve just shattered my entire concept of reality,” Grognor said, trying not to burst out laughing.

Brendon chuckled and patted the tall dwarf on the back. “Welcome aboard, Emperor.”

The next few days were filled with cleaning up, heavy beer drinking, and preparing for the games. According to the Queen, they were already behind schedule. Grognor was having too much fun. He saw this time as essential to peace. They bonded not just as warriors, but as friends. He and Brendon competed several times in the sport of arm wrestling, but never could do more than end with a declared tie.