“They won’t miss you at the gate?”

  “Naw, the gate guards aren’t real soldiers, we’re just people who volunteer to get credits here and there. In truth, it about covers the pub tab while I am here. They probably planned it out that way, you know how dwarfs are.”

  “I do remember hearing that,” Drick said as he climbed back into the saddle, he wondered if he would ever see another day when he wasn’t mounting a horse. As a kid he had always said he could live on a horse’s back, now that he does he realized that it isn’t all that his adolescent mind made it out to be.

  “That will be enough chatting, ladies, sally forth and such,” Grodeg said sarcastically and headed toward the north gate.

  * * *

  It took five days of detailed searching before Juin and the dwarf ranger Bobbick returned to Pine Hold to inform Jiar that the woods were clear. There was no definable point of entry or egress, so how they arrived here undetected was still a mystery. Sprints had arrived while they were out informing them that the King and Queen of Lilieack would arrive within two days as well as the King of Noril passing through on his return home. The King and Queen of Pine Hold were now aware of the desecration of their city. They could never understand the depth of it until they physically see it for themselves. There wasn’t a member in Juin’s contingent who hadn’t lost some if not all of their extended family.

  “The city looks good, considering,” Juin said to Jiar who had assumed charge of the survivors.

  “It is grueling work, but thanks to the ranger and his apprentices we did manage to get a lot done. I always seem to forget how industrious dwarfs can be, there was literally no stopping them once the day got under way,” Jiar said.

  “Yeah, you should see us around kegs of beer, we don’t quit until it is hollow as a drum,” Bobbick added in good humor.

  “We don’t have much beer here, but they definitely made a dent in our wine stores, all for the cause though and still leaving us greatly in your debt,” Jiar said sincerely.

  “It is an honor and a duty to assist all fair folk in their endeavors, I wish we would have been here sooner to turn the tide of battle possibly,” Bobbick replied.

  “That would not have happened unless you had all the dwarfs of Riverhouse with you. Over two thousand in the dark of night, we were simply overrun,” Jiar said regretfully.

  “That distresses me to no end, Jiar,” Juin started, then paused as if he was trying to think through an impossible problem. “You had guards posted and have lived here for hundreds of years. We have found no signs of that kind of force traipsing through the forests, in fact nary a branch is out of place. Also a force that size would surely have been seen by the rangers, we even had a group in the neighborhood.” Juin indicated Bobbick.

  “Aye, we saw nothing on our hike up here either or I would have sent for reinforcements,” the ranger added.

  “I can’t give you any answers to that, Karoome, it is truly an enigma,” Jiar replied, to which Bobbick the ranger shifted uncomfortably.

  “Something on your mind, Bobbick?” Juin asked.

  “Nothing that is certain, master elf, but we have searched the surrounding area and found nary a foot print yet they had to come from somewhere.”

  “I agree, they were here, we saw them and our people felt them with their lives, but how did they get here unless they fell out of the sky?” Juin said and the ranger again shifted nervously.

  “What is it, ranger? You are fidgeting like you have some sort of responsibility here.”

  “Oh? I assure you that there was no involvement from my people, at least not directly.” Bobbick paused looking at the eyes of both men before moving on. “Well, I have noticed that your city here is dug into the cliff face. Is that a typical way for elves to build their cities?”

  “No,” Jiar replied as if this information was common knowledge. “Before they built the Riverhouse the dwarfs signed a treaty with the Great King Linchalma who was several kings before your grandfather. Pine Hold was established as a northern outpost that would not only help supply Riverhouse, but it would be the first line of defense for the structural marvel. The dwarfs spent ten years building Pine Hold, a hundred years before they broke ground on Riverhouse. Before that there was nothing but wilderness up here,” Jiar said more than a little intrigued as to why the dwarf was so curious about what should be common knowledge. What he did not realize is that what is common knowledge in Pine Hold is not known by anyone outside of the city. If the truth was to be researched even the dwarfs would have to dig deep into the archives to retrieve that particular contract.

  “Built by dwarfs, huh? I suspected as much every time I have visited,” Bobbick replied.

  “You say that like it is significant, Bobbick,” Juin pressed.

  “Well, it could be but then it might be nothing. dwarfs are notorious for hidden or secret entries you know.”

  “No, I don’t know Ranger, please elaborate.”

  “Well, I think that if the invaders knew of one of these passageways, they might have entered the city from within the city itself.”

  “So…you are saying…what?” Jiar asked not quite picking up on it.

  “We have to search, house to house if need be, there might be more than one entrance if there are any at all,” Bobbick said.

  “How could anybody know about entrances that even the elves themselves didn’t know about?”

  “Why, the archival library in Mikalene. Everything ever built by dwarfs is stored there as well as the contracts that initiated them. Yes, sir, once you get in it would be quite an easy find,” the dwarf stated proudly.

  “What do you mean ‘once you get in’?” Juin pressed.

  “Well, the library is open to the public, but the archival records, well, you have to have a reason to go in there and they are never to leave you unsupervised.”

  “Hmmm, I think that we will have to send some scholars down there to have a look. So, what do we do about the here and now?” Juin asked the two men.

  “We…search, first thing in the morning we start going house to house. For all we know there may be some of them still there.”

  This last statement made them all more than a little nervous, if they were still here, what would they be waiting for. Then it dawned on Juin. Three kings were heading this way and they were only two days out.

  “The kings.”

  “You don’t think…” Jiar gasped and his eyes roved over the city as it suddenly felt like death’s trap.

  “Aye, our situation has suddenly become much more precarious hasn’t it.” The ranger stated.

  “First Spear! Sound the assembly,” Juin shouted.

  “Sir?” the first spear replied, not understanding why they would assemble at night.

  “Do it now!” Juin’s voice was calm, but there was an underlying threat that did not escape his first spears attention.

  “Aye, rally ‘round boys!” Bobbick assembled his apprentices. “Looks like we have some sleepless nights headed our way. Pardon my initiative, but I would like to request that you dispatch several riders to Riverhouse to request some assistance.”

  “So, you think it is that bad?” Juin asked.

  “The more I think about it the more I am sure that we are going to have some issues that’ll be more’n we can handle. The Great King has been murdered and now the three kings from the three elven kingdoms travel together. I think we need some assistance, though they may be too late.”

  “Well, they should be here soon anyway since the horn was sounded for the first attack on Pine Hold,” Juin said, relaxing a bit from this knowledge.

  “No horn was sounded, Karoome,” Jiar said in panic. “We were caught by surprise and then rescued by you and your soldiers so the horn was never blown to call for assistance after the initial attack.”

  “No one has been informed?” Drick said feeling a mantle of dread weight upon his shoulders.

  27

  Three Kings

  Juin stood on the ridge looking at the horn just as his father had just weeks before, though they be different horns in different locations, as well as this one being a lesser horn. He had lost his grandfather and he suspected that he may have lost his sister. The elves as a whole had lost a whole kingdom and it all occurred within the last six weeks. He couldn’t waste this on a simple call for assistance, he needed the world to know that every available hand was required here in Pine Hold immediately. Hopefully there were enough fair folk in the surrounding woods to come to their aid in time, for as sure as he was that they were at war, he was more sure that the first major battle would be right here and possibly even within the day. All that they had was suspicion at best. No chambers or doors had been found, but they were told what to look for and not to open anything until they were all ready.

  With Jiar and Bobbick at his back, he stepped toward the horn remembering the lessons with both his father and his grandfather about the sanctity of the horn and now he was to blow it for no reason other than suspicion. Well, suspicion and that gnawing feeling in his gut telling him that there was simply too much at stake not to sound the horn. Then add in the thousands who have already died here in an ambush.

  Where could a sizable force be hidden for almost two weeks in wait like that? Trolls underground didn’t seem right, but the muridai…they even looked like rats. Could they be hidden somewhere within the hills or stone? What had the dwarfs done here when they built the place?

  It had all seemed very sinister until you understood that dwarfs would be at a city for years at a time building and perfecting their work. A city the size of Pine Hold being built for a specific society all in one shot was daunting and took a thousand workers nearly a century to fully complete. Typically, they would then seal off their own area so that it could be utilized if they ever needed to come back and then they left. To leave it open would compromise the forges and other equipment they would leave there for expedience sake.

  Jiar looked rather embarrassed that this wasn’t known to him, but in truth it wouldn’t be common knowledge. Juin, as the son of the king, knew much more about the city of Lilieack than the average elf. As the Har Karoome he knew even more, so expecting Jiar, who was a community leader and city council member to know more was a little absurd. Thankfully Lilieack wasn’t built by dwarfs or they would have this same issue there. Having been on the coast, Lilieack had grown more organically as opposed to being a city commissioned for a specific purpose.

  “I think that you should blow the horn, Karoome,” Bobbick said seriously. “I have a bad feeling that we will be needing as much help as we can get as soon as possible. Then I will put out a call for all of the rangers in the area, things are going to get mighty ugly here very soon.”

  “Didn’t you say that Riverhouse would be sending out men as soon as the sprint got there?”

  “Yes sir, I did, but they are bound to be the swarthier craftsman type of soldier for clean up and not regular army, and there will only be twenty or thirty of them. If our suspicions are correct, we are going to need a heap more’n that.”

  “I agree, Karoome. As the sole representative of Pine Hold present, you have my blessing,” Jiar said.

  “Oh, I plan on blowing the horn, I am just trying to decide in what pattern,” Juin said.

  “The worst, a ranger and the prince of Lilieack could find no trace of their departure…they are still here. I am staking my life and reputation on it,” the ranger said confidently.

  The Karoome took the last couple of steps to the horn and shaped his lips and tongue right in order to make his own special sound and blew a long low fluttering sound that cascaded through the peaks. He then did several short bursts followed by four long solid wails. He repeated it until he heard the echoes of other horns returning to him. He could detect the distant flashes of a semaphore and signal fires relaying his call. The message was out. He stepped away from the horn and Bobbick took his place and started to belt out his own calls to arms.

  All knew that sprints would soon arrive to carry detailed messages to the outlands so all would know of the urgency of their plight sounded with the hopes that it was a false alarm and the knowledge that it wasn’t.

  They slept in shifts day and night with always a third of them asleep. Almost half their number had been sent out to help the kings get safely to Pine Hold, so that meant that roughly fifty were on duty as twenty-five slept. It was early the next day when one of the apprentice rangers spotted unusual scrapes upon the floor. After some silent investigation it was determined that a section of the wall could be moved to provide a possible area behind. Within hours they had found four more, all with marks of recent use, all inside what could be construed as public spaces. Tensions rose as more and more elves began to believe that they were not out of the woods yet.

  Bobbick and Juin scanned the surfaces noticing the lack of housing and shops beyond a certain point and how massive window stone walls looking as part of the cliff face carried premise through this section. Both knew that they had found their spot and arranged their minimalist force accordingly.

  Juin’s force had liberated around a hundred and twenty-five at final count losing none of their own since they arrived and still numbered around a hundred and fifty. However, the rescued residents of Pine Hold were not warriors. They were more the craftsmen and providers; they could fight…but they were not soldiers and best if hidden away. Juin felt it was important to retain the survivors of Pine Hold in their pristine state and Bobbick agreed.

  It was going to be a nervous two and a half days until the king’s retinue arrived, hopefully it would be enough. Arrows were stock piled and entrances surrounded as those who could fight waited for what was coming. They stood a chance if they could hold out, but without knowledge of their plan or if they even had a strategy at all, Juin could only guess.

  That’s why they left the troops here and why they wanted the bodies cleaned up. A realization came to him. Why hadn’t it seemed suspicious to me when they left a cleanup crew in the city? Why would they care if it was clean unless they intended to come back? They would flow back into the city and use it as a base in which to attack the approaching elven kings…but how would they know? Unless? Suddenly it all made sense. The killing of my grandfather was all designed to bring the kings together, here. However, they probably only planned on the leaders of Noril and Pine Hold and having my parents with them is merely a bonus for the rat people.

  If they were me…but they’re not me and this is far too advanced of an attack for a troll general to be at the lead. No, my recollection never mentioned any sort of strategy in a troll attack, so it must be the muridai leading this. He thought of the few muridai they had caught with their cowardly eyes and skittish nature turning them to jelly as soon as they were questioned. He didn’t believe there was some great intellect behind their eyes, he didn’t know for sure because they gave him nothing to the point of wetting themselves when a blade came out.

  Someone is leading them, but who? It was becoming his obsession until it dawned that it really didn’t matter who. What mattered was how and he thought that he had a pretty good idea as to how and they might be able to stop them.

  He had taken first watch on a night that remained quiet so he took his rest. A sprint had come in that evening to tell them that some allies would be there at first light so with a small sense of relief he laid his head down for a bit of a respite. Another said that goat riders and other rangers were close, but they were few. It was his turn to try and sleep, he needed it badly. It seemed that only minutes had passed before a gentle nudge pulled him from his dreamless state.

  It was happening, he could hear it as the stones inside the public areas shifted and their archways began to fill with bodies, distinctly non-fair folk bodies. They stayed within the shadows and held to a formation as more filed out looking like trolls but the sharp elven eyes picked up on giants as well as the mysterious muridai. Giants? They could fit giants inside?

  They waited, breath held… motionless. The seventy-five or so archers waited with arrows nocked and blades ready for what was now an inevitable battle.

  Sounds from behind caused Juin and many others to turn as a group of fifteen unwary rangers arrived in heed of the call to arms. Human; dwarf and even elven rangers looked about nervously as if they had expected a war to be in progress, but could tell by the tension in the air that it wouldn’t be a long wait, Juin tried to signal them but being mostly human, or dwarf, their eyesight did not pick up the motion in the dark. Fortunately, the whistle of a night lark, which was actually from Bobbick, sent them to the ground as they too notched their bows. They crept forward and acknowledged the Karoome with a nod. They weren’t much and probably would die right alongside the stubborn elves, but it was something, and truly more than he had hoped for in such a short amount of time.

  A human ranger pointed up toward the ridge face and Juin saw the silhouettes of several goat riders and suddenly the night didn’t seem all that bad, well…not as bad… until it was..

  Five groups of thirty elves were scattered throughout the city, positioned before the public areas where they had found the ancient entrances waiting for what could be a thousand attackers. Most stood a chance as they were located in small courtyards or squares, but in the north there were two entrances as well as the bowl-shaped theater seating making it a tactical nightmare. The Karoome’s group would face the two gates alone, leaving thirty men to float between groups and help as needed while they watched for possible openings that they had not found.

  Bobbick was certain that they had found them all by their locations, but they could never be sure. These were areas filled with air vents, aquifers and their accompanying aqueducts, but they hadn’t been utilized for centuries, thus forgotten by all except a few in city maintenance who were now all dead… Hopefully there were a few in the king’s retinue.