The Half Dwarf Prince: 02 - The Dwarf War (23 page)

Gruedor Bergmann woke up in his bed in Tiefes Loch. He felt fear like he had never felt. He knew in that instant that he was in the presence of his god. Only Delvidge could impose such an emotion on him. He had never felt this before, but his father had tried to explain it to him once. Being in the presence of the god now, he knew that his father had utterly failed to explain this emotion. There was no way to explain the intensity of it. He rolled out of his bed, hitting the floor. He went to his knees and kept his eyes on the ground.

“Gruedor Bergmann,
your father and his army failed. They were defeated at Shinestone. You are now the king of Tiefes Loch. The other dwarf kingdoms are uniting against you. I will give you the weapon you need to defend against them. Gather your one hundred best fighters in the King’s Hall. Have them in full armor with their weapons in hand. When there are one hundred of them in the room, leave the room and close the door behind you,” the ominous voice told him.

“I will do what you command,” Gruedor said without looking up. The voice did not respond
, so Gruedor got to his feet and ran out of his room. He ran as fast as he could down the halls of Tiefes Loch to General Moglin’s room and banged on his door. He didn’t wait for an answer. He burst into the room.

The
general was still rolling out of bed. “Prince Gruedor, what is it?” he asked sleepily.

“It is King Bergmann now. My father fell at Shinestone. The army was defeated. Delvidge has promised us a way to defeat Bordin’s dwarves. Gather the hundred best warriors in Tiefes Loch and have them in full armor with weapons in hand in the King’s Hall. Remember those were Delvidge’s exact words
: in full armor with weapons in hand. I will be waiting in the King’s Hall,” Gruedor said, turning and walking out of the room before the general could even respond. The mention of his father’s death and the command of Delvidge had woken him up, though. The general ran out of the room and headed down the hall in the other direction just a few seconds after him.

Gruedor stood outside of the King’s Hall, counting the dwarves as they arrived. The first dwarf arrived not even ten minutes after him. It had been twenty minutes since that first dwarf arrived and there were eighty-three dwarves in the hall. Each of the dwarves had come in full armor with their swords, axes, or hammers in their hands. Ten minutes later Gruedor counted ninety-nine dwarves. Finally General Moglin came down the hall in his armor with a sword in each hand.

“General Moglin
, what are you doing?” he asked.

“You said our hundred best
, King Gruedor, and I am definitely among that number. We cannot deny Delvidge one of the best because he is the commander of the army,” the general said.

“I agree
, General. Go into the King’s Hall and prepare to receive Delvidge’s blessing,” Gruedor said. The general saluted him, bringing his gauntleted fist to his chest, and then walked into the King’s Hall. Gruedor closed the door behind the general.

The door had barely closed when the screaming started. Not just screaming, but ear
-piercing screams of pain unlike anything Gruedor had ever heard in his life.

General Moglin stepped into the King’s Hall and the door closed behind him. He saw the other ninety-nine dwarves he had chosen in their armor with their weapons in hand. Whatever was about to happen, he had chosen the ninety-nine best. The one hundred best when he included himself. Within seconds of that door closing behind him, he felt it. A presence of pure fear unlike anything he had ever felt. He was frozen in place. Nothing could move him. His body wouldn’t respond to him and all his mind could process was fear.

Then it came. A pain unlike anything he had ever felt. His armor melted and melded with his skin. He wanted to run, to rip the armor from his body before it killed him. He wanted it to kill him, anything to stop the pain. His swords melded with his hands
, and soon his entire arm was metal, straight into the sword that was a part of it. His helmet melted around his head melding with his skin and attaching to his skull. It felt like an eternity, but then it was over. The fear was gone. The pain remained, but not in the unbearable way it had come. Now it was just a constant burning pain. Somehow he knew that that pain would be with him until he died. Then he heard it. The voice of his god filled the room.

“You are my creation
s. Bordin may have birthed the dwarves, but I created you. You are the dwarves of chaos. You do not need to eat or drink. You are made to fight. You will not grow tired, and you will no longer need sleep. You will be able to outlast your enemies, and your bodies are now your armor. The pain you feel now will be with you always, but when you are injured you will be able to ignore it, because you will no longer fear pain. No pain can ever be greater then what you just felt, and you will become one with your pain. You are my children. Many of Bordin’s children will come to claim what is yours. You will destroy them, and then you will convert or kill all of Bordin’s children.” After that the voice was gone.

The dwarves in the room looked around at each other. They had just become the most dangerous warriors in the world. Looking around
, General Moglin realized that the tattoos that had covered their bodies now showed in black against their steel skin. He turned around and opened the door.

King Gruedor stared at him in disbelief. “What happened in there
?” he asked.

“King Gruedor
, Delvidge has just granted you the most fearsome warriors in Gegend. We do not need food, we will not tire, and we do not need sleep. The Dwarves of Chaos do not fear pain or death; our pain is a part of us and our death is our freedom. Bordin’s children will fall before us.”

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