Deepforge (9 page)

The third day of all this he began to really get worried about his brothers and his bride, whom he had sent off on the metallic dragons to rally the Empire.

“It’s going to take some time, Sire. Even with the dragons’ special abilities, there are a lot of villages to meet with. We should end up with a combined army of around twenty thousand. That’s a lot of warriors to prepare,” Brendon said, his hand on Grognor’s shoulder.

“I know you’re right, I guess I just…miss her punches,” Grognor said as he rubbed his now fully healed nose.

Everyone that heard this nodded in sympathy. Being away from a spouse was never an easy thing.

“The Queen said the games have to start tomorrow. Are you ready to face me in the swordplay challenge?” Brendon asked Grognor.

Grognor smiled. “I will crush your worthless human form!” He held his fist high.

“I will humiliate you in front of your peers, and the whole of the Deepforge Empire! You will have to sneak away to the citadel in shame!” Brendon boasted.

They both laughed and had several more beers.

Morning came way too early to an entire army of hung-over competitors. As they all filed into the massive arena grounds, spectators filled the stands.

The arena itself was nothing more than a large piece of real estate about the size of a twentieth century Earth football stadium, with wooden bleacher stands rising up sixty feet. The competitors went to their assigned places. There were archery grounds, swordplay and battle grounds, shot-put grounds, a long running track around the whole stadium, etc. Imagine the Olympics, and you’ve got a good idea what this was all about. The only real difference was, this event was held each spring and hosted by the people at the Lakeshore villages. Normally this was a human-only event, with occasional halfling and Pixie participation. This year would be a major event, as all races would be represented, including the oppressive dwarves. Everyone’s minds were not just on the games, however. It was well know what was to come, the dragons’ warning.

Grognor and his best warriors trained for the swordplay competition, sparring with fake, wooden swords.

“This is ridiculous,” one of the warriors said as he attacked Grognor.

“I know. We should be using real swords,” Grognor said as he scored a successful hit upon the warrior.

“Then, change it! You’re the Emperor, change it!” Bōddy said as he walked by, his pipe billowing out sweet smelling smoke.

“Yea, I will. Next year we’ll step things up. Maybe even make it required that the competitors forge their own weapons,” Grognor said as he scored a ‘kill’ on his sparring partner. He helped the warrior up. “Bōddy, will you be in the swordplay competition?”

“No, I’ll be in the archery competition, that’s my specialty. Bloom will be in the swordplay, though.” Bōddy motioned to his elven brother-elder nearby. 

“Then, I will be forced to crush his worthless elven form on the field of battle!” Grognor laughed.

Bōddy chuckled. “I’ll tell him you said so.”

The assorted warriors prepared, and Grognor couldn’t help but wonder: what would the pixie be doing? “Brendon, how’s the pixie going to compete? She’s too small to wield a sword…or anything else for that matter?”

“She typically competes in the archery field. Her arrows are small, but she’s pretty accurate. Two years ago she won first place.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” Grognor looked around at the field of warriors preparing when he saw a lovely, well he imagined the humans would think so, human woman preparing for swordplay. “Who’s that?” he asked Brendon.

“That’s Victoria. Watch out for her, she’s the best swordplayer I’ve ever known…aside from myself, of course.”

“She’s…lovely,” Grognor said, guessing this was the case.

“I’m surprised you noticed, Emperor. How can you really tell? She has her helmet on?”

Grognor shrugged.

It was time for the games to begin, so the trumpet sounded for ‘places’. The competitors went to their staging areas, and the spectator crowd settled down. Several workers rolled a tall stage and podium to the middle of the arena, and everyone began to get quiet.

A few minutes passed, and Grognor looked over at the other warriors, excited about the competition. His eyes caught the smiling face of Brendon. “Crush you.” He said, grinning.

“Humiliation, Emperor. Pure humiliation.” Brendon grinned.

Suddenly, the crowd got totally quiet. Workers rolled out a red carpet, and the Queen walked hand-in-hand with Ambassador Taylen to the stage. He helped her up to the podium. She was dressed in the finest Royal garb, and he was wearing a fashionable tuxedo. This was a big deal.

She cleared her throat and spoke, “I have to raise my voice today, as we no longer have a public address amplifier system. So, I’ll keep it short. I don’t want to lose my voice. This year, we do this in a manner not done in many years. We will be using no electricity. The night games will have to be illuminated with torches and oil lamps, but for the most part we’ll be relying on our red sight. Shouldn’t be a problem with the athletes’ warm bodies. Announcements will have to be made using one of these.” She reached down and picked up a large cone, and began speaking through it, “Can you hear me now?”

The crowd laughed and replied with, “Yes, your Majesty!”

She continued, laughing a bit, “Good, good. Aside from our total electrical infrastructure loss, we have another change this year. We have been joined by the dwarves, elves, and gnomes!”

A cheer from the crowd surprised her, but she continued, “As you all must know by now, we are under the threat of war. The dragons have told us of malevolent people intent on bringing war to us, just as we have finally reached peace with all races in the Deepforge Empire. These games will not be just a diversion from the war to come, but as a symbol. To ourselves and our unknown enemies. We are united, and will not put our lives on hold while they plan malevolence!”

The crowd cheered and stood up with a lasting applause. Kathryn waved them down and continued, “This is also a competition of the most important nature. Every year we compete to find the most valiant, skilled of all of us. Although we do this again, this year the prize will not just be a prize, but a showing of who will be defending our Empire from the ones who seek to destroy us, for whatever reasons they have. Stand firm, for our enemies will find not a people easily conquered, but an empire of warriors, and we will be victorious!”

The crowd cheered and applauded again. The Queen let them do so, eventually waving them down again. “I hereby declare the Spring Games open!”

The crowd cheered as the trumpets sounded, playing the Imperial Anthem. All at once they stood, faced the Imperial flag, and sang with, for maybe the first time ever, genuine patriotism:

                           
“All we stand, united and mighty!

                            Deepforge Empire our call to arms!

                            Races united, powerful and mighty!

                            Warriors protect us, all from harm!

                            “Dwarven warriors, leaders of freedom,

                            The Emperor will keep us united and free!

                            Valiant warriors in each kingdom,

                            The Empire will stand in the land of the free!”

The music built to a crescendo as the full orchestra joined in, repeating the last verse, then the last line three times, the last line drawn out in the crescendo of passion.

Grognor was moved to tears. He had known the anthem, and knew that his predecessor, many generations prior, mandated it to be sung. The Imperial flag was always to be waved above the particular kingdom or village’s flag. It was all mandated many generations before Grognor, but he had never heard the anthem sung with such feeling. He sang along too, feeling more patriotic and less like a dictator than ever. They were just words, but today, they seemed to ring true for the first time. He sang the last line again and again with everyone else, at the top of his lungs, “THE EMPIRE WILL STAND IN THE LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND… OF THE FREEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Everyone applauded and looked around for the one particularly loud voice.

Brendon patted Grognor on the shoulder. “Now, for the very first time, it’s true, Emperor.”

Grognor grabbed Brendon’s hand and looked up at him with teary eyes. “This is history, my friend. We are making history. I don’t care what the dragons said. Our peoples will remember this time for many generations.”

The two warriors, ex-enemies, now friends, saw eye to eye.

“Let’s do this,” Brendon said.

Grognor nodded.

The Queen and the Ambassador left the arena and headed up to their prime seats to watch the games. Then, the announcer came out with the large cone and began announcing the competitors. They all filed out in a parade, each with their particular villages’ flag, and waved as the crowd cheered them.

The games began with the first round of swordplay. As the first competitors began, the gnome astronomer Epsilon Opticon ran down to find Grognor. He met with great resistance. Massive human guards blocked the way to the Emperor and the competitors’ staging area.

“Get out of the way! I have to get through!” Opticon insisted.

“Nobody bothers the competitors during the games,” one guard insisted.

“This is important! Get out of the way!” Opticon insisted.

“I’m sorry, that’s just not possible,” the other guard said.

“Fine!” Opticon said, and began to walk away. He looked back as the two walking hills laughed at each other, ignoring him. He took the opportunity and ran under them, through the locked gate, and into the staging area.

The guards saw the insurrection and yelled. They scrambled to find the keys.

Grognor was busy swinging his sword, warming up when Opticon came running up, the guards right behind him.

“Sire! He got past us!” one guard explained.

“Emperor Grognor!” Opticon yelled as he ran up.

Grognor was a bit annoyed at the interruption, but he waved the guards away. “What is it, Opticon?

“They’re coming!” Opticon said, out of breath.

“Huh? Who’s coming?”

“I…I’m not sure! But, there’s a bunch of them, and they’re coming from the south! Come see, quickly!”

Grognor knew better than to question the gnome, and agreed. “Take me.”

Opticon led Grognor to the apex of the stands, where he had set up his telescope. He adjusted it and motioned for the Emperor to look. “Look!”

What Grognor saw confused him. It was a horde of creatures, running quickly across the Savanna, on the other side of the lake.

“Who are they?” Grognor asked.

“I don’t know, Sire, but look closely. They’re armored. They’re warriors!”

Grognor looked again, and through the dust being kicked up, he saw them. “What the hell are they?”

“I don’t know, Sire!”

“They’re coming right at us. We have to stop the games and get everyone to safety. Opticon, start getting your people north into the mountains. I’ll inform the Queen.”

“Yes, Sire!” Opticon left

Grognor quickly descended to where the Queen was and let her know what was happening. The games were immediately stopped, with the elves taking on the task of escorting every non-warrior out of the villages. Grognor took all the warriors and moved across the river over the great bridge to the flat plains just south of the lake. He also sent the pixie, and everyone who could go and help defend the innocents if the interlopers got through. The Deepforge combined army stood ready, with multiple races represented. Humans stood next to dwarves, some gnomes, and halflings. 

Brendon and Grognor stood side by side.

“I guess the true games have started,” Brendon said.

“Somehow I think the dragons knew this was coming, and wanted us here for this reason,” Grognor said.

Brendon nodded agreement, looking at the approaching army through a hand scope. “What the hell?”

“What?”

“Sire…they…they’re not…hum…I mean, they’re monsters!”

Chapter 10

T
hey numbered in the thousands, and ran over the land as a blanket of death toward Lakeshore. Their heads looked more like dragons than men, their bodies even taller than humans. If they had been humans at one time in their distant past, the resemblance was all but gone now. Their roars were enough to cause fear in anyone that could hear them. Their armor looked like dull silver, their weapons were of every type known, mostly swords and axes, and some never seen before. They had no steeds. They all ran on foot, but seemed to have no limit to their stamina. Their massive muscular bodies bulged with urgency to kill. Their sinister looking, dragon-like heads snarled with pure evil. These were not demons or devils, though. They were simply humanoids of some unknown origin, of unknown lineage.

Their armor was painted with all manner of design, depicting sinister scenes, evil symbols, teeth and fang, claw and skull. What little exposed skin was of all colors, red, black, green, blue, etc. Their armor was also colored to match. The more Grognor looked at them, the more he realized what they were; dragon-humanoid hybrids of some kind. They stood easily seven feet tall, some taller. As they quickly ran toward the awaiting Deepforge army, they seemed to grow in number somehow. The ground rumbled as they approached as if from an army of warhorses.

The massive Deepforge warhorses spooked. Instead of standing their ground, their eyes widened and they snorted in fear. They began to back away from the approaching creatures, causing the army to become even more alarmed.

“Sire, the horses!” one soldier said.

“By the gods! The mighty Deepforge horses are spooked!” Brendon said.

“Everyone stand their ground. We stand between these…creatures and the innocents! Remember who we are, regardless of race! We are Deepforge!” Grognor said, beginning to feel unsure about these things coming nearer.

The intruders’ voices roared with evil intent, becoming louder and louder until the horses couldn’t take it anymore. They reared and turned in fear, running north away from the army.

“Oh, my gods!” said one of the human warriors.

“Stand your ground Deepforge warriors!” Grognor ordered. The army stood still but ready, just south of the Great Lake. Grognor looked around at the warriors ready to fight, and realized they weren’t looking at the oncoming storm of death, but at him, their leader. He knew why; they were waiting for him to call retreat, or attack. The fear in their eyes was all too evident. He did a quick count of how many the army stood, and no matter how many times he did so, it didn’t ever add up to more than three thousand. He counted again, hoping his math was wrong. He looked back at the approaching horde and counted them again, this time counting nearly six thousand.

‘Moradin, if you’re up there and haven’t abandoned us, we sure could use some help.’ Grognor thought to himself, not believing in gods himself, but just in case. This was the first time he had ever felt doubt.  He looked back at his army and realized they needed something. A word of encouragement. Anything. As he thought this, several from the back of the group ran for their lives. “Listen, we don’t have a choice here. Normally I would give anyone who wanted, a legitimate way out. That’s not going to happen. If you leave now, you will be sentencing everyone in Lake Valley to death. It’s on your conscience. I order
all
of you to fight with me! We are strong! We are the Empire’s strongest warriors, of all races! Whatever these creatures are, they have not seen the likes of us! We are the Imperial Deepforge army!” He screamed with his hammer held high.

Instead of a cheer, the army just nodded their heads and grabbed onto their weapons. The horde continued to come closer, their roars getting even louder. The army couldn’t believe what they were seeing as the evil creatures approached. All of the horde, no matter what color their armor was colored and designed, it was adorned with bones. Bones of other humanoids; dwarven skulls, leg bones, teeth as necklaces, etc. Their stench was that of rotting corpses.

“Dragon…humanoid hybrids…” Grognor said out loud, the warriors very nervous, “…Dra…c…men.”

“Drakmids,” Hentlehoff said, “They’re Drakmids. There’s an ancient myth in our culture about them…myth…not real.” He swallowed hard, more frightened than ever. “According to the myth, they n
ormally stand around seven feet tall, and are colored differently much like the chromatic dragons. Their inheritances include low power breath weapons and immunities like their dragon ancestors, and are quite strong. Their physical defense, other than their immunities, are tough natural armor. I don’t know what that metal is they wear. Other than the noted differences, they are normal humanoids, more like tall humans, and are quite evil indeed. Sire, we’re in trouble.”

“We must stand our ground, regardless. We can’t let them get through,” Grognor said.

The army stood their ground, each soldier praying to their own personal deity. It was common knowledge now- everyone was scared. They waited and readied.

The sound of the horde’s roars got louder and louder until it rose to a crescendo as they came within a few dozen yards.

Grognor knew it was time. “Missiles!”

All at once, arrows and spears flew through the air toward the horde. The army watched in anticipation as the missiles flew, arching across the battlefield, and then falling to hit their marks. The Drakmids didn’t seem to notice them.

“Powder weapons, fire at will!” Grognor yelled.

From the very front of the army, several loud explosions were heard, followed by the distinct sound of cannon balls flying through the air. The round balls flew just above the battlefield, their fuses burning quickly. They flew and impacted into the horde army, causing massive explosions. They blew apart any Drakmid nearby.

“Muskets! Fire!” Grognor yelled.

Everyone who had one, fired their muskets as another volley of cannon fire screamed across the battlefield. Drakmids fell, but not nearly enough to make a difference.

“Weapons! Hand to hand! Charge!” Grognor yelled.

All the army screamed and ran forward, Grognor in the lead. Before another volley of missiles could be launched, the two armies clashed. The terrible, evil horde plowed through the combined army, cutting through them with almost no resistance. The Drakmids’ weapons easily sliced through the Deepforge’s armor. The sounds of metal clashing, warriors screaming in anger, rage and pain filled the valley mixed with the sounds of the horde roaring like demons. 

Grognor rushed forward with his double bladed battle axe in one hand and his war hammer in the other. His profound fear of the creatures was drowned out by his rage as he ran toward the towering horde. At the first one, he slashed and swung with his weapons. His massive axe crashed down upon the creature’s armor, causing a bright shower of sparks. It hardly made a mark. As his swing completed, he looked up to see the creature plunge his massive sword his direction. Grognor jumped out of the way, a task that in itself was difficult. Warriors battled side by side, their bodies pressed together in the impossibly close quarters. The density of the battle was deadly in itself. One could barely get enough room to swing a weapon or raise a shield.

The creature’s sword swung down and glanced Grognor’s arm. The force of the impact bruised his arm, and the sharpness of the blade sliced a way a portion of his heavy armor.  Grognor retaliated with a swing of his hammer, slamming it down on the creature’s arm. The loud clang of the impact would have been deafening if it hadn’t been for the already impossibly loud sounds of battle in progress.

The creature roared in pain and slammed Grognor with his shield, nearly knocking the Emperor down. Grognor looked at his axe and realized it was useless. The blade was destroyed from the superior armor of the Drakmids. He dropped the axe and grasped his hammer with both hands. The creature didn’t give Grognor a chance to react; it slammed him with its shield again, roaring loudly through a dragon shaped snout. There was no longer fear in Grognor, just the fury of battle. Something quickly ran through his mind: The creature had experienced pain from his hammer attack. As the creature swung sideways with his sword, Grognor blocked it with his hammer and spun around, bringing it down upon the creature’s arm again, but this time with both hands. He hit the creature’s arm with such force; it lifted Grognor off the ground. He screamed with zeal as he did so. The hammer slammed down on the arm, bending the creature’s armor and crashing louder than any other attack. The arm broke.

The creature roared with pain and stumbled back. It grasped the broken arm, dropping both the sword and shield. Grognor exploited the opportunity and leapt up to the creature’s dragon head. He swung the hammer down upon the creature’s head with all his might, knocking the creature down. Grognor then fell onto another creature as it bisected one of the human warriors. The creature roared and swung its sword toward Grognor, but he ducked. The sword continued swinging until it hit another one of the creatures. The sword and armor sparked as it actually penetrated the armor, killing the creature. Grognor immediately realized: They were made of the same metal. He dropped down and grabbed the discarded sword and raised it up just as the creature swung around, furious to get vengeance for the quickly moving dwarf.

Grognor blocked the sword attack with his newly acquired sword, and then swung at the creature with his hammer, slamming it against the creature’s chest. The creature roared in anger and fell back into the line of human warriors somehow holding their own. Grognor jumped onto the creature and shoved the sword down into its chest, through the armor and into its heart. It roared and died.

He jumped off and leapt back into the fray, slashing with his new sword and slamming his hammer against them. As the creatures pushed the Deepforge army backward, Grognor pushed forward, further into them. He stumbled over the body of the first one he had hit with his hammer, and saw something surprising. The creature’s helmet had come off with the attack revealing…a
human
head. The dragon shape was simply the helmet design. He saw where the creature had sweated in the heat of battle, washing off its green scales. It was paint!

Grognor grabbed the helmet and threw it at the Deepforge army, screaming, “It’s a ruse! They’re human!” Several creatures attacked him, slashing their terrible weapons. Grognor was now more furious as ever, enraging them as they came.

One ‘Drakmid’ jumped and brought his battle axe down toward Grognor, who simply jumped out of the way, swinging down his sword upon the attacker’s arm. It came off clean. Grognor then fell down and grabbed the axe, rising up to meet the screaming attacker with his own axe, slicing his head off. He reached down and grabbed the Drakmid’s shield and used it as another one attacked from behind. The attacker lunged at Grognor, connecting with the stolen shield. Grognor then let go a war cry and brought his axe down upon the attacker’s arm, severing it. Then, he grabbed the body of the screaming Drakmid and tossed it at the next attacker, knocking them both down. Grognor then pounced on them and tore them to pieces.

He sheathed the sword in his belt loop and looked around. From his vantage point he could see the army losing the battle badly. Even though it was realized these Drakmids were only well armored humans, there were just too many of them. As he realized this, he heard a scream and felt a sword go deep into his side. One of the Drakmids had scored a solid hit on the Emperor. In rage, Grognor spun around and slammed his hammer upon the attacker’s arm, smashing it. With his other arm now wielding a stolen axe, he swung down and severed the Drakmid’s arm. Then he quickly swung upwards with his hammer, smashing the Drakmid’s helmet clean off, his head with it.

Grognor dropped his hammer and grabbed a hold of the sword still embedded in his side, part of an arm with it. He screamed and yanked it out just as another Drakmid attacked with a pole arm. The blood flowed as Grognor suffered another hit, but instead of screaming, he grabbed the weapon and twisted. The Drakmid leapt upon Grognor and slammed his hammer upon the Emperor’s head. Grognor’s bell was rung, but he was undaunted.  He reached up and grasped the Drakmid’s neck and began squeezing and twisting. The Drakmid roared and attempted to head-butt Grognor, but the dwarf was surprisingly more agile than he expected. He rolled out of the way and grabbed the discarded sword and partial arm. As the Drakmid stumbled out the way, Grognor swung at him, missing. The Drakmid grabbed another sword and stood face to face with Grognor.

The Emperor bled, but stood fast. The two warriors faced off, looking for any weakness to exploit. Grognor’s pain only fueled his rage. He pried the partial arm off and stood his ground. The two of them glanced around, realizing that the majority of the battle had now passed them by, pushing the Deepforge army back toward the River. There was now much more space to maneuver.

“Come on, dwarf!” the Drakmid screamed.

“You speak the common language, so you’re not as stupid as you seem!”

The Drakmid lunged forward, but Grognor just stepped aside. “If it were not for your advanced weapons and armor, we would have already defeated you.”

“Really? You’re way too confident, dwarf!”

“Put it to the test, if you’re tough enough!”

The Drakmid laughed and tore off his armor.