He squinted, and Brule Vaportongue edged up beside him, his face hidden by the Daergar mask he wore. Brule was half Daergar and shunned the daylight.

  "What do you see?" Brule asked. "Are they coming?"

  "They're coming." Slide nodded. "By evening, the Daewar out there will be up to their eyeballs in humans."

  "The gold-molders have placed themselves to take the first assault," Brule rasped. "So let them take it. We can attack from the flank, after they've slowed them down."

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  To one side, Glome the Assassin turned and spat, "Shut up over there. We have better things to think about than righting humans." He turned back to Twist Cutshank, and all the rest turned to listen.

  "The time is here to deal with the Daewar," Glome told the chieftain, "My spies have been on the slopes of Sky's End, as I told you. The citadel there is poorly guarded. The gold-molders are spending all their time delving into the mountain behind their fortifications. The spies believe they are expanding their city, deeper into the mountain."

  "They can still fight," Twist Cutshank rumbled. "Don't forget the beating we took last time we tried an attack, Glome."

  "That?" Glome growled. "That was no attack. That was a fiasco. Your old chieftain, Crouch Redfire, was an idiot, trying to raid Daebardin when Olim Goldbuckle and all his troops were there."

  "So what makes it different now?" Twist glared. "A Daewar patrol on the defense line?"

  Glome pointed southward, toward the Daewar camp. "Patrol? That is no mere patrol out there. I got close and looked around. That is Goldbuckle himself, with Gem Bluesleeve and most of his army. That isn't a hundred or so Daewar out there. That is a thousand or more — right out in the open, on Theiwar territory."

  "So what are you suggesting?" Twist stared at Glome. "That we withdraw and go loot Daebardin while their prince is away?"

  "More than that," Glome said. "First let them get bloodied by the humans. Let the Daewar take the brunt of today's assault — and tomorrow's, if there is one. Then, when Goldbuckle is weak, we can easily finish him off. After that, nothing stands between us and the treasures of Daebardin."

  "Treasures none of us have ever seen," Twist pointed out. "We're not even sure they have treasures."

  "Of course they have treasures!" Glome snapped. "Look at them! Every Daewar you ever saw wears a fortune in

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  armor alone. And if they didn't have treasure, why would they have been delving all these years over on Sky's End? The rubble heaps below their citadel are enormous! They must be building an entire city under that mountain. Why would they do that, except to fortify, to protect vast treasures?"

  "I'd like to see that undermountain city," Twist Cut-shank admitted. "Treasures, huh? Maybe so."

  "That place must be huge by now," Glome nodded. "A fortress for a king, possibly?"

  "King? There are no kings in Kal-Thax!"

  "But maybe Olim Goldbuckle wants to be one," Glome purred- "Have you thought about that? About the possibility of bowing before a bloody Daewar? Maybe that is why the gold-molders dig. Maybe when they have their fortress completed they intend to conquer all the thanes. Would you enjoy having that rusty gold-molder's foot on your neck, Twist Cutshank?" Glome turned, looking at the others. There were dozens of Theiwar on the ledge now. "Would any Theiwar willingly bow to a Daewar king?" he asked. "I say Olim Goldbuckle intends to be king of Kal-Thax, and if we want to stop him, we must strike first!"

  It was a powerful argument, and none could deny it. Slide Tolec's brows lowered, though, as another thought crossed his mind. Maybe someone in Kal-Thax did want to become king. But was it the prince of the Daewar? Or was it, just possibly, someone else?

  Twist Cutshank was gazing at Glome. "Are you suggesting we betray a defense, Glome?" he asked. 'That would be breaking the pact."

  "We won't let humans in," Glome explained. "We'll just let the Daewar do all the fighting."

  "And if the humans get past them?"

  'Then we will turn them back. But either way, this may be our chance to be rid of Olim Goldbuckle."

  "What of the Daergar?"

  "What of them?" Glome snorted. "Vog Ironface knows the Daewar threat as well as we do. The Daergar will join

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  us when they see what we are doing."

  Slide Tolec had his doubts about that. The treaty of the thanes was a sacred thing, and the Daergar supported it loyally. It was in their best interests. Should outsiders settle within the mountains of Kal-Thax, the first prizes they would seek would be the Daergar mines.

  Still, there was a bond of sorts between the Theiwar and the Daergar. Many times in the past, they had fought each other. But the rise of the powerful, populous Daewar to the north, in their stronghold on Sky's End, had brought a tenuous peace between Theiwar and Daergar. Each recognized a more dangerous enemy, and hostility between the cliff-cave people and the dark-dwellers was set aside for an uneasy alliance, and for trade. The Theiwar mined the steel-hardening black stone of Cloudseeker's lower slopes, and in return acquired the swift, dark-metal Daergar weapons, which most of them preferred over anything the Theiwar crafters could forge.

  Twist Cutshank squinted out across the bright, high lands, toward the climbing foothills to the east. The smoke had diminished in the distance, but now everyone could see the movement of massed humans pouring over the far crests. Even at such a distance, sunlight glinted on the steel and bronze of weapons. After a time, the Theiwar chieftain hissed, 'There are horsemen leading them!"

  Slide Tolec's eyes watered as he tried to make out details in the distance. There were horsemen there — hundreds of them, it seemed, and they were of a type he had seen before. "Cobar!" he said. "The raiders from the northern plains."

  "Very well," Twist Cutshank decided. "It shall be as Glome says. Instead of flanking the Daewar positions, we hold back. Let the gold-molders take the full brunt of the attack. Maybe the humans will deal with the Daewar for us ... but if any get through, then we and the Daergar must turn them back."

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  Defenders

  Olim 6oU>buckl« knew Dcry rocll tbc threat rt>at KAt-G>ix fa«fc in this season of massive migrations. For a month, his Dae-war scouts had surveyed the border slopes as more and more humans—and not a few ogres and goblins—arrived there, some fleeing the dragon war in the east, others taking advantage of the chaos to seek new lands or treasures.

  The Daewar prince had huddled with his advisors as the reports came in, assessing what was happening in the human realms beyond Kal-Thax and what it meant for the dwarves. It seemed that displaced people by the thousands or tens of thousands were spilling across the wide, unguardable eastern borders of the human realm of Ergoth and migrating westward toward the sparsely

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  settled southern hills which bordered on the mountain barrier of Kal-Thax. Many of them, the dwarves assumed, would be caught by the patrols of the overlords of the human city of Xak Tsaroth and sold into slavery — either there, or transported to the distant barbarian lands of Istar by trade caravans.

  But others — especially the wily Cobar, Sandrunners, and Sackmen of the northern plains — would know about Xak Tsaroth and avoid it, swinging southward through the hills. The Daewar spies confirmed this. By far the most dangerous of the human masses streaming across Ergoth — harried and herded by the knights and by companies of armed citizens — were those closing in on the funnel pass east of Cloudseeker Peak.

  Traditionally that was TheJwar territory, and the Thei-war had dealt with outsiders penetrating the borders there. At times they were aided by the Daergar, protecting their mining areas. But now, Olim Goldbuckle knew, the force of the human numbers was far more than the primitive Theiwar — or even the dour, crafty Daergar — could counter.

  "The humans must be stopped before they reach Cloud-seeker," the prince of the Daewar told his captain, Gem Bluesleeve. "We are bound by the pact of Kal-Thax to assist our neighbors in the defense of the realm."

  "Especially of Cloudseeker." Gem nodded, his eyes twinkling.

  "Most especially of Cloudseeker," Olim agreed. "You might say we have a deep interest there." He chuckled. "Those Theiwar! They claim their mountain and cling to their cliffs, never wondering what might lie beneath their feet. What a waste, if such marvels were to go unused. How goes the delving?"

  "Slate Coldsheet estimates another' month before we break through into the caverns Urkhan found," Gem told him. "But you know how the delvemaster is. Always conservative. If he says a month, we might be there in a week."

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  "So near," Olim breathed. "Years of tunneling, Gem. It would be tragic to come so close and then lose everything because the Theiwar failed to hold back a bunch of humans. The Theiwar aren't inclined to explore, Gem, but humans are. They must be stopped. Get the army ready to move, all except the home guard. We are going to the front passes to help our neighbors keep intruders away."

  "That's Theiwar territory," Gem reminded his prince. "They might not appreciate the Daewar army showing up there."

  "We shall try not to be too noticeable," Olim said. "Possibly we can make many seem like few. But either way, I don't intend to ask Twist Cutshank's permission to evoke the Pact of Kal-Thax. It is our right... and our duty."

  So, now, on a bright autumn day, most of the Daewar army was spread along the center rise of the high promontory above the funnel pass, as thousands of human marauders swarmed up the slopes toward them. The promontory was a vast, high meadow flanked by jutting cliffs and broken steeps that narrowed, closing in as the elevation rose toward the level crest that was a jutting shoulder of great Cioudseeker, which stood in the distance behind like a gigantic, three-horned head draped in a sloping cowl.

  From the moment the humans—still tiny with distance—began their drive up the pass, it had been apparent that they were led by swarms of riders, roughly clad, fierce-looking men who pummeled their dark horses as they toiled up the grade toward the promontory. There were hundreds of them, and beyond and around them came footmen—a motley assemblage of men from many lands, all with one thing in mind. Their reasons may have been many and varied, but they came on grimly, all determined to break the blockade of Kal-Thax and enter the mountains beyond the midlands.

  Gem Bluesleeve watched curiously as the throng came nearer, shading his eyes with the upturned visor of his gold-embossed helmet. It was not the first time he had

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  seen humans making for Kal-Thax. Many times, over the years, Daewar patrols had watched as Theiwar ambushers waylaid travelers coming from the eastern lands. At times, when the groups of trespassers were large, Daewar had even joined in the defense to throw them back. And there had been times when Daewar had even intervened before an ambush, when it was obvious that the interlopers were only poor travelers, lost or outcast, whose only real crime was being in the wrong place.

  Some among the Theiwar had fumed and threatened each time a Daewar unit interfered, and there were hard feelings between the thanes because of it. But the Daewar had paid little attention. To the Theiwar, slaughter and looting of trespassers might be a thriving business. But to most Daewar, murder was senseless and embarrassing if there was nothing to be gained by it and if the intruders could be turned away with words.

  The mass of humanity coming up the pass now, though, was nothing like the little groups and bands of travelers of past years. This was a massive raid, with the look of a full-scale assault led by mounted looters. Gem stepped to his prince's side to point out the spreading, tactical maneuvering of the climbing humans.

  "These are not here by accident," he said. "Those horsemen, in the lead, are men of the Cobar plains. The Cobar do not just wander about, as do some tribes. The Cobar are raiders and looters."

  "Mounted intruders," Olim Goldbuckle mused. "Has there ever been a mounted attack before?"

  "Not that I've heard of," Gem admitted. "Many humans have horses, but these mountains are not horse country. Not even the knights of Ergoth would try to enter here on horseback."

  "And yet the Cobar do," Olim noted. "What do you make of that?"

  "They know we're here." Gem shrugged. "Those other people with them may intend to invade Kal-Thax and carve out human kingdoms. But the Cobar do not intend

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  to settle here. They come only to raid, to pillage, and then to return to their plains."

  "It will be difficult, fighting horsemen on this feVel ground," OUm said.

  "Then let's not meet them here," Gem suggested. "Let's go out and meet them on the slopes. If I'm to face horsemen. I'd prefer to have the uphill advantage."

  Olim gazed around, studying the terrain. "The pass is wider over there," he pointed out. "We will be spread thin. But then, we are not alone." He gazed northward, at the craggy cliffs which were the Theiwar border camps. "Flash signals to Twist Cutshank of the Theiwar," he said, "and to Vog Ironface of the Daergar, Signal my greetings and say that we will hold the middle pass. Ask that they position themselves on our forward flanks, the Theiwar to the north and the Daergar to the south. Among us, we should be able to persuade the humans that they are not wanted in Kal-Thax."

  The signals were flashed. Daewar "callers" were positioned on pinnacles of stone using mirrors of polished brass to catch and relay the sunlight in common code. A response and agreement came from the south, from the Daergar placements under the steeps there, but there was no answer from the Theiwar. When his callers reported this to Gem Bluesleeve, he passed it on to Olim Gold-buckle. 'There is no question the signal was seen, Sire," he assured the prince. "With a high sun, and the air clear, the flashes are unmistakable."

  "Twist Cutshank is sulking," Goldbuckle decided. "He is probably miffed that we came onto his territory without his invitation."

  "But can we count on them to do their part?" Gem asked, worried.

  "We'll have to," the prince said. "He has seen what is coming, and, savage or not, he knows what it will take to hold this pass. To fail would be to break the Pact of Kal-Thax, and even Twist Cutshank wouldn't do that."

  With the sun high overhead, the Daewar army broke

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  Cbc Copetunt of tlx

  iron heads, the lances came up, held level, then shot forward as the riders flung them in unison directly at each pair of dwarven guards ahead of them. And as the spears flew, the riders hauled on their reins, wheeled their horses, and raced off at right angles to right and left, veering back to circle around the mobs of charging footmen.

  Thrown spears clanged and thudded against dwarven shields, a ringing tattoo of metal on metal that echoed from the cliffs and the distant peaks. Most were deflected, but here and there a spear got through and a Daewar guardsman reeled backward, impaled.

  "Slings!" Gem Bluesleeve shouted. From the long Daewar line, deadly stones shot out, driven by humming slings, but the targets they found were not the mounted f*iiders. Instead, they crashed into the leading wave of shotmen, mowing them down as a scythe mows standing h£-ain. The riders were away by then, circling around heaind the footmen to drive them forward into the dwar-anirnmes.

  woven wave of sling-stones did its work, then another, and wooderv Daewar found themselves hand to hand with wouldn.lds of howiing, slashing humans, some attacking there yy, some just trying to get through, away from the

  Thtited demons behind them.

  Corhe Daewar line wavered from the sheer force of the fighck. But minute by minute it held, and then the tide of thetle began to turn. The Daewar line surged outward, stuci pair defending and countering, moving carefully over

  Afallen bodies of human attackers — and of dwarves. As line .;ine bowed forward it opened, and Gem Bluesleeve's Daev "Golden Hammer" company charged through, a dwar; moving wall of shields, thudding hammers, and each st^ blades.

  hamme^nd deadly, moving as a single being, the Golden side, shitr drove through the mass of human attackers, with sling* them in panic. Then the dwarven battle force ally a wall.-led, and drove through again, and yet again as extra touch, ion the holding line pressed relentlessly

  nations

  forward in their wake.

  It was too much for even the fiercest of the marauders. They couldn't get past the ranked shields to attack, they couldn't block them because of the weapons snaking out to draw blood or crush bone at each thrust, and they couldn't throw weight of numbers at them in screaming charges. Each time some tried, the dwarves went in under the weapons of the taller humans and bore them down, screaming.

  Olim Goldbuckle and his personal guard were everywhere in the conflict — attacking, repelling, and organizing new tactics. In a swirl of fighting, milling confusion, the dwarven units seemed almost aloof to the panic around them. With methodical, determined dwarven logic they pressed and pounded, slashed and cut until what had been a massed assault was a broken, scattered battle, humans blindly fighting and trying to get away all along a mile-wide field.

  Olim Goldbuckle found himself abruptly unoccupied as the latest gang of humans fled in panic, and signaled to Gem Bluesleeve, who polished off a barbarian, gave quick orders to his company, then hurried to join his prince.

  Olim had climbed to the top of a boulder and was surveying the field. Carnage was everywhere, and some scattered fighting still went on, but Olim was looking for something else. "Where are the horsemen?" he snapped as Gem reached the boulder.

  Gem looked around. He hadn't seen a horseman since the fighting started. He climbed up beside his prince. Far south, near the steeps, companies of Daergar in iron masks were methodically attacking bands of humans who had fled in that direction, turning them away from the rising lands. Gem looked to the north and muttered an oath. There was no one on that side — only a few fleeing bands of humans with his own people in pursuit. "Where are the Theiwar?" he hissed, "They should be over there on our forward flank. That side of the pass is wide open!"