It is an age of legend.

Sixty years have passed since the War of Vengeance came to an end and the elves left the Old World to return to their distant island home. Victorious, but at great cost, the dwarfs set about the long task of rebuilding their empire, shattered by half a millennium of bitter conflict. But the elves are not the only enemies of the mountain folk.

Long ago, when dwarf and elf stood together as friends, the orcs and goblins – green-skinned savages who live only for battle – were driven into the dark lands to the north and east. Now, sensing the precarious state of the dwarf empire and driven by great earthquakes that split the Worlds Edge Mountains asunder, they have returned with vengeance in mind.

Armies of greenskins march through the mountain passes and the Underway, the great subterranean tunnel system linking the dwarf cities. Hold after hold fall to the invaders, thousands of years of culture and achievements swept away in a tide of savage hatred.

In the distant Dragonback Mountains, the dwarfs of Ekrund work their mines and tend their herds, thinking themselves safe, insulated from the woes of their eastern cousins.

They are wrong.

‘There are many famous dwarf ales, and many renowned brewers, but the name of Josef Bugman stands as a paragon of quality. His family originally came from the Dragonback Mountains. The tale of Josef and his ancestors is one of hardship and loss, and from their story comes the ancient dwarf phrase “There’s no beer as bitter as its history”.’

‘Dwarfs of the Empire, a Brief History’, by Rikard
the Holy and Njel of the Stills

PROLOGUE

The rasp of a small flint on metal broke the still, followed a moment later by the glow of a pale yellow flame as the old dwarf lifted a small firebox, the deep lines of her face starkly etched by its light. Her pipe was a simple clay affair, glazed a dark blue, long in the stem, with a piece of plain bronze banding just behind the bowl where in the past it had been repaired.

Deep brown eyes looked out from under greying eyebrows, not unkindly, but carrying the weight of much life and toil. The hand that lifted the pipe from her mouth, releasing a swirl of bluish smoke between cracked lips, was gnarled, the fingernails cropped square and short, with many small scars across rough knuckles. There was a deep-rooted darkness in the skin – not dirt as such but the accumulated grime of centuries.

She wore a heavy smock of deep red linen and over that crumpled a leather apron marked by many burns and stains and made soft by long use. She crossed her feet on the low stool as she rocked back her chair, revealing the hobnails in the soles of her boots, each piece of metal worn almost to nothing. Bright iron toecaps glinted in the light of the fire beside her.

Around the old madam dwarf sat a semicircle of youngsters – five boys and one girl, all staring at her with rapt attention. Another, a little younger still, stood at the arched doorway, trying to hide. He didn’t succeed. She saw him and smiled, beckoning the dwarf boy to enter.

‘Come, Gabbik, be in or out, but not both.’

The young dwarf entered and squeezed his way between two of the others, right in front of the old dwarf lady. He leaned forward, chin in his hands, elbows on his knees.

‘Settled?’ There were nods from the assembled children. The dwarf took a puff on her pipe and then laid it to one side on a small table by her right hand. She folded her fingers together in her lap and nodded to herself. ‘I have lived a long life, and a good one for the most part. It has not been easy and there has been much woe, but that is the lot for all of us in these later years. It was not always so. There was a time, though we choose to forget it, when elf and dwarf were friends. Can you imagine such a thing?’

There were scowls and shaking of heads.

‘No, I don’t suppose you can. It is hard to think that there was a glorious time, before the wars and the disasters. It was in those ancient days that our story begins. Our story really starts in Karak Eight Peaks, where our earliest forefathers were born. In the great times our ancestors desired to improve their standing and with others of like mind they moved westwards, to find a place where they could mine ore for themselves and brew their own beer and delve homes the like of which they could only dream of. Amongst them were the Angbok clan.’

CHAPTER ONE

‘The Angboks were miners by inclination for the most part, neither the largest nor the most powerful to live in Karak Eight Peaks, but also not the weakest or smallest. Our people since the ancestors walked among us have held to tradition and custom as the bedrock of existence, and so it must be today, for if we forget where we have come from we will wander without end. But even so, the Angboks and others of similar mind were perhaps given to a more outward-looking temperament. They were not discontent, but there was set in their thoughts a notion that the halls of Karak Eight Peaks did not contain all that they desired. So it was that a great number of them gathered and with permission from their king ventured forth, heading towards the sunset to find a new land they could add to the great empire of our people.’

Biting her lip to stop it trembling, Haldora barely listened to her father’s words as he recited the life-wreaths of her grandmother, Awdhelga. Instead, Haldora’s thoughts were filled with more personal memories than those bold achievements listed by rote on the tomb-slab of the family crypt. She thought of ‘Gramma Awdie’ working the valves on the small brewery she built; sharpening her axe on the whetstone at the top of the western delves; telling the story of how she killed five goblins in as many heartbeats while she polished their gilded skulls.

‘Five years, to this day,’ Haldora’s father intoned as he stepped away from the tombstone, letting his hand drop to his side from where his fingers had been following the lines of runes cut into the granite. With due ceremony concluded, Gabbik allowed himself a sniff of grief; a personal moment as a tear glistened in his eye. ‘A fine mam.’

He was dressed in his best clothes, like all of them, his shirt tucked into his woollen breeches, boots polished to glisten like fresh coal, hair neatly combed into a single knot, beard and moustache plaited into long braids.

Beside him was a more unkempt, older figure, one shirt tail half-out of his leather work trousers, beard hastily combed, the scent of ale about him. ‘A fine dwarf,’ added Skraffi, widower to the renowned, some would say infamous, Awdhelga Angbok. ‘The best.’

‘Blackbeer and skrob kuri tonight,’ announced Friedra, Haldora’s mother. She wore a long black dress embroidered with complex knotwork in thick silver thread. Her hair was tied in two bunches held by gold-studded leather thongs. Her eyes were cast down to the bare stone floor of the mausoleum, hands fidgeting with the square of a handkerchief. ‘Awdhelga’s recipe, like always.’

‘My favourite,’ said Gabbik, wiping the back of his hand across his nose. ‘Aww, mam, keep safe in yonder halls.’

In silence they filed out of the crypt, back up a short passage to the family shrine adjoining Skraffi’s meadery. The room was egg-like in shape, the fatter end of the oval carved into tiers like steps, six in all. Arranged on the highest shelf were three figurines almost as tall as the dwarfs – Grungni, Valaya and Grimnir. Ancestors to the whole dwarf race, they took pride of place: Grungni with hammer and anvil, Valaya with cloak and herbs, and Grimnir with axe and orc skull.

On the step below were the five oldest fathers of the Angbok clan, rendered as metal discs with stylised faces, helms and beards. Beneath them the family ancestors, a mix of clay and metal badges, figurines, busts and other ornaments each made to the fashion and preference of the family at the time. A likeness of Awdhelga took pride of place in the middle of the tier, rendered out of a single piece of coal hewn by her own hand the day before she had finally died of old age.

Next to it was a simple clay pipe, fixed just behind the bowl with a strip of bronze. This triggered the strongest memories of all – Gramma Awdie with all the clan beardlings gathered around to hear tales of the old days before the War of Vengeance and elf-brought grief.

‘She made herself mistress of many things,’ Haldora said with a sigh, ‘but her stories I’ll miss the most. She spun tales better than her yarn.’

‘And was never shy to share them, neither,’ said Skraffi. He patted his son on the shoulder. ‘Very generous was your mam.’ Skraffi turned his attention to Haldora and winked. ‘And right proud of you too, she was. ‘Tis a shame she ain’t here to teach you more.’

‘Everything important, she told me ‘fore she went,’ said Haldora.

‘That’s as you like, but there’s still plenty a trick round fireplace and kitchen you need to learn,’ said Friedra. ‘You’ll be helping me with the kuri, won’t you now?’

‘Oh mam, we’re breaking into a new seam today. The gang’ll need every pick and shovel to help.’

‘It’s all well and good you doing your part down the mines, but you’ll not catch the eye of a future husband covered in coal dust and without a pot of something filling on your arm.’

‘I’m just two years past my thirtieth birthday, plenty of time for that sort of thing once I know I can earn my keep.’

‘You earn your keep by having floors swept, bellies full and bringing on the patter of little boots,’ said Gabbik. ‘It was a blessing the day I had a daughter, but for all the way you act we might have had a son.’

‘Gramma Awdie killed goblins and brewed beer and stitched the standard of Ekrund, all ‘fore she was one hundred – there’s no good reason I have to be chained to the ovens.’

‘Nobody’s saying that, but you’re not a stripling now, my girl.’ Friedra started towards the archway leading out into the passage towards the Angbok halls. ‘You think Awdhelga was too good to fill a trencher for her family on feast days? Show her more respect than that.’

‘Grammi, tell them!’ Haldora said when her mother had left, turning her attention to Skraffi, who had started to absent-mindedly polish the metal ancestor badges with the tail of his shirt.

‘Your mam is right, and so are you,’ he said. He fumbled in the pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out a set of thick-rimmed nose-pinch spectacles. He ceremoniously put them on and looked at the inscription of the golden badge in his other hand. ‘Grafgar Angbok. My great-uncle. Lost his left thumb in the war.’

‘Grammi, that’s no answer!’

‘Only one you’ll be getting today, Haldi.’

‘My name is Haldora. I am a grown-up now.’

‘Whatever you say, Haldi.’

‘We should be off to break that new seam,’ said Gabbik, heading towards the door. He looked back at Haldora and Skraffi. ‘If you two have finished with your mooning about, of course.’

Skraffi put down the ancestor badge and followed Gabbik out.

Alone with her ancestors, Haldora took a moment for herself. She stood in front of all the badges, deathmasks, busts and statuettes, curling a tress of hair around her left thumb. She looked at Awdhelga’s symbol on the ledge and took a deep breath.

‘Gramma Awdie? Thank you. Look over us today.’ On a whim she lifted the old pipe and took it with her as she turned away. ‘I hope I will be half the dwarf you were.’

Like all dwarfs, the Angboks were right at home when underground, though even they could not see in absolute darkness. The light of lanterns swinging from rods and candles fixed to helmets glimmered along the rough-hewn tunnel as Gabbik accompanied the next shift down to the mines. This part of Ekrund was a working mine, the living seams still yielding ore for the craftsdwarfs and furnaces above. The floor was uneven but sloped gradually downwards and curved to the right following the course of an excavated seam; the walls and ceiling were marked by pick and lever bar, pitted and broken in places. Every dozen paces a strong timber joist held up the roof, which in places was barely higher than the heads of the dwarfs and in others three or four times their height.

The illumination from candles and lamps did not stretch far and the winding nature of the tunnels, with many cross-junctions and forks, meant that the dwarfs advanced in a bubble of light that barely stretched a few dozen paces. At the fore of the group Gabbik’s cousin, Grothrund, whistled, low and constant, the tight walls reverberating the sound to the back of the group some three dozen paces behind. There were fifty-two dwarfs in the work party, all part of the Angbok clan through birth or marriage, each decked in heavy clothes, hands protected by thick gauntlets, picks and shovels and crowbars carried over their shoulders.

They pulled several small carts with them, laden at the moment with more tools and small blackpowder breaching charges. In one was carried the food supplies – piles of hard bread and linen-wrapped cheese, along with a small hogshead of beer and leather skins of fresh water from the springs that fed Ekrund’s many waterways. The beardlings – those dwarf lads not yet come of age – rode on the carts, each with a whetstone, working on the blades of the picks of those around them, riding the bumpy wagon train with stout poise.

Now and then Grothrund would stop and raise his voice in a high-note, low-note call that echoed far down the tunnels. By the sound of the reverberations that disappeared into the gloom the older dwarfs could check their location.

Often these calls were repeated by similar high-low replies in the distance as other mining teams called back, coordinating with each other so that they did not end up working the same seams. By such means Grothrund effortlessly led the miners into the depths towards the new seam without once making a wrong turn or leading them into a dead end.

Towards the back of the group Gabbik conducted a whispered debate with Skraffi. Usually the older dwarf spent his time working in the meadery or tinkering in his workshop, but the breaking of a new seam required every able-bodied dwarf and Skraffi’s experience in the mines was second-to-none despite his eccentricities. The dwarfs around them possessed keen hearing – it was said Lorgi Troggklad could hear a coin drop at a thousand paces – but the rumble of the wagons and the tramp of booted feet masked their low conversation.

‘You indulge Haldora too much,’ Gabbik complained. His daughter was a few paces ahead, chatting with her cousins. ‘You make me look like a stubborn wazzock.’

‘You are a stubborn wazzock. Ancestors bless you, Gabbik, but you have to give Haldi some space.’

‘We don’t have the luxury of that. It’s not like back in your day when the Angboks controlled half the mines. We’ve lost our best to other clans. We mostly dig coal now. You find me some nice quartz or sapphire or ruby again and maybe I’ll let up. And her name’s Haldora. If she can marry into the Brikboks, or, ancestors smile upon us, the king’s clan itself, it would bring much-needed investment. That’s coin we can use for more prospecting. Don’t you want your grand-daughter to have a good home?’

‘Always counting gold and never blessings, you are. I can’t believe you’re my son sometimes.’

‘It’s all good for you, sitting on your little hoard eking it out til the grey days end. Some of us have families to support, futures to plan for. Haldora’s come of marriage years and there’s many as would pay a healthy dowry for a fine Angbok wife. You think that meadery of yours makes us money? We still haven’t paid back the loans from the king we got last year.’

‘Still perfecting me recipes.’ Skraffi sniffed disdainfully. ‘Been trying the honey from hives in the orange groves. That’ll be a winner, mark my words.’

‘Ekrundfolk drink beer. They’ve always drunk beer. They’ll always drink beer. Mam knew that, brewed the best blackbeer in the hold. Then you sell up the brewery and waste it all on bees!’ Gabbik became aware that his voice had risen, attracting the attention of the dwarfs nearby. They’d had this conversation two dozen times if they’d had it once and still Skraffi wouldn’t admit that the meadery had almost sunk the clan’s finances. The vaults were only half full! ‘Anyway, she’s my daughter, I’ll judge what’s best.’

Skraffi nodded and stroked a gloved hand through the thick curls of his beard. ‘I’m sure you will, lad.’ He laid a hand on his son’s shoulder and suddenly Gabbik could see the hurt in Skraffi’s eyes. ‘You’re a good pa to Haldi, I don’t say otherwise. But you push her one way and she’ll run t’other, mark my words. More than a streak of Awdhelga about her.’

‘More than a streak, you’re right,’ said Gabbik, patting his father’s hand. ‘Sorry, I know it’s mam’s deathday and all, and I didn’t mean to stir up troubles. We all miss her.’

Skraffi shrugged and gave Gabbik an encouraging half-smile. They carried on down to the end of the tunnel, about another seven hundred paces down the newest mine, the tunnel switching back on itself several times as it descended. At the bottom the lanterns caught the gleam of the new seam. Gabbik’s heart beat a little faster still when he noticed an even brighter glitter amongst the water-polished black.

‘Is that…?’ He pushed his way to the front and crouched beside Grothrund, who was running a hand over the narrow seam exposed by the prospectors the previous day. There was a tiny vein of bright metal in the coal. Gabbik’s hands shook as he laid his pick to one side and took off his gloves. He reached with a hesitant finger. ‘Gold?’

Grothrund grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

‘Why didn’t you say?’ Gabbik demanded, turning on Fleinn, the leader of the prospecting team. He grabbed the other dwarf’s jerkin, a tear of happiness in his eye. ‘Angbok gold?’

‘Wait now a moment,’ said Fleinn, waving a finger at Gabbik. ‘We don’t know how much there is, if anything’s worth taking. Don’t go counting coins we haven’t got yet.’

‘But…’ Gabbik couldn’t help himself. A gold seam in a coal bed wasn’t unknown, but it wasn’t common, and certainly not in the Dragonbacks. Even a small gold haul could see the clan right for many years to come, on top of what they’d get for the coal. ‘It’s a sign,’ he muttered, taking his hand from Fleinn and clenching his fist. ‘Gold on mam’s deathday. It’s got to be her, looking after us still.’

‘Come now, pa, let’s give Fleinn some room to make a bit more of an investigation,’ said Haldora, taking hold of Gabbik’s arm. He didn’t resist as she pulled him away, though his eyes strayed back to the gold-laced seam of black.

Gabbik fixed his attention on Fleinn as the prospector took a small pick from his belt and began tapping away at the exposed seam. The other dwarfs stood around and watched in tense silence, excited and vexed in equal measure.

‘Wait on,’ said Fleinn, standing up. ‘Quiet all.’

He held up his hand and the silence deepened as several dozen dwarfs stopped their nervous shuffling and held their breath. Nothing broke the still for several moments.

And then it came. A tinny knocking coming from the wall of the cavern itself. Fleinn bent his ear to the stone, face screwed up with concentration. The taps came more clearly, a series of single, double and triple knocks.

‘It’s the Fundunstulls!’ declared Fleinn. ‘They’ve found the other end of the seam.’

‘Give me that here,’ said Gabbik, pushing to the front. He took Fleinn’s pick and turned it about so that he could gently strike the coal seam with the tap hammer at the back of the head. ‘We’ll not be having any claim-taking today!’

This-is-Angbok-rock-get-your-own.

Gabbik waited for the reply to echo back through the rock face, mood darkening as he translated the code.

Fundunstulls-came-here-first-we-have-right-to-dig.

‘Not today, not ever,’ growled Gabbik. He put the hammer to one side and cracked his knuckles purposefully. ‘I’m not standing for this.’

Agitated whispers spread through the Angbok dwarfs. It was rare for clans to come to blows with each other, but not impossible. The Fundunstulls were working a mine quite a distance away and if the seam reached that far it would be rich indeed. Neither clan would be happy to back down on such a find.

By tradition they would each stake their claim with the king of Ekrund and he would decide who had the priority or, if it was a close call, propose a division of the wealth between the disputing clans. There was, however, a much more recent custom that had taken precedence. Gabbik took a steadying breath as he picked up the hammer, and then beat out a quick burst of taps and gaps. The trick to a good insult was to keep to the truth, if possible, whilst impugning the honour of the rival clan as much as possible.

Fundunstulls-have-goat-diseases.

There were approving nods from the dwarfs around him, who gathered closer to listen to the reply.

Angboks-drink-bee-water.

This drew a couple of gasps from the attendant clansdwarfs but Gabbik had heard much worse. Skraffi’s brow knotted with anger.

Fundunstulls-are-so-tight-fisted-they-put-out-the-fire-while-they-turn-the-bacon.

This drew some knowing laughs from the other Angboks. Skraffi and Haldora joined Gabbik, nodding encouragement.

‘You tell them, lad,’ said his father. Everything fell still as the next code tapped through from the other end of the seam.

Angboks-were-busy-washing-their-beards-during-the-war.

This caused a ripple of consternation to spread out through the mining party, filling the tunnel with gasps and curses. The noise grew louder as some at the back had to be told what the message was, adding to the commotion. To Gabbik it felt like a fist in the gut; his ancestors had fought hard against the elves and it had been nothing more than poor timing that none of them had been present at the major sieges and battles.

‘Raggedy-beard no-hopers!’ snapped Fleinn.

‘Claim-stealing goat -ondlers!’ added Skraffi.

Gabbik shushed them all while he tried to think of something to tap out. If he took too long he would concede the battle of wit by default.

‘Quickly, quickly,’ said the dwarf behind him, Nurftun. He made a grab for the hammer but Gabbik snatched it away and started rapping his answer.

Your-ancestors-were-so-dirty-they-lost-weight-in-the-bath.

This was greeted with groans from the Angbok contingent – a generic insult and an oft-used one at that.

‘I know, I know,’ snarled Gabbik. ‘It’s a kruk, but I can’t think with you all jabbering and nattering like that.’

The Fundunstull missive came through loud and quickly, showing that they had not been put off in the slightest by Gabbik’s poor attempt to shame them.

Going-to-war-without-the-Angboks-is-like-going-on-a-troll-hunt-without-your-bellows-organ.

This caused much gnashing of teeth and Skraffi started pulling at his beard. Gabbik was on the verge of incoherent rage that his ancestors and the current Angboks be called cowards in such easy fashion. The fist holding the hammer shook so much he couldn’t even strike the rocks.

‘No, no, no!’ Fleinn banged his hand against his helmet. ‘Quickly! We’re going to lose! Rap something!’

Gabbik felt the hammer pulled from his grasp and through the red haze of rage looked up at Haldora. Her lips were thin, eyes narrowed as she started to tap away at the coal face.

Your-ancestors’-beards-were-so-short-they-were-mistaken-for-elves-at-Tor-Alessi.

It was as though all the air was suddenly sucked from the tunnel as the dwarfs heaved in a simultaneous breath. It almost made Gabbik’s ears pop. The silence and tension were like a weak prop, threatening to split and bury them all at any moment.

‘You’ve gone too far, lass,’ whispered Gabbik’s uncle Norri. ‘It’ll be a real battle next, not a war of words, mark what I say.’

‘Hush now,’ said Gabbik, his voice suddenly exceptionally loud in the quiet confines. The scrape of a boot and rattle of a pebble caused everyone to quiver with shock.

No reply.

After a few more heartbeats still there came no tapping. Gabbik let out his breath slowly and long, and then broke into a fit of chuckles. Like a tinder catching light, the dwarfs burst into noise, patting and thumping each other’s backs, cheering and laughing. He pictured the reddened faces and apoplectic beard-tugging that was probably rendering the Fundunstulls incapable of response.

‘You did it, lass,’ said Norri, slapping Haldora on the arm.

Gabbik stepped between the two of them and looked Haldora right in the eye. She smiled back at him. He felt fit to burst with pride, every sinew straining not to throw a big hug around his daughter. Decorum prevailed and Gabbik stood there wobbling gently, rocking on his heels rather than be seen making an unseemly emotional display in front of his clansdwarfs.

‘Good work,’ he said, voice strained with the effort of speaking. He patted her hand.

Haldora looked back at him, her grin fading. She looked hurt and shook her head. Before Gabbik could say anything, his daughter had pushed away through the throng, leaving him surrounded by cousins, uncles and nephews each roaring with delight and insisting they shake his hand.

She would understand, he told himself, when she had a moment. He caught Skraffi looking at him, his expression sorrowful. Gabbik managed a quick shrug of confusion before he was being pounded on the back again. Swallowing hard, he brushed aside the dwarfs congratulating him, and glimpsed past them to see Haldora taking a pick from the closest wagon.

‘My seam, my first swing, right?’ she said. The dwarfs nodded, parting to allow her to approach the coal and gold.

Haldora took up a good stance, almost at right angles to the rock face, knees slightly bent. Gabbik admired her balance. She was strong, but not as a strong as the male dwarfs, and so she had perfected technique when others sometimes relied on brute force. Swinging the pick, she transferred the effort almost perfectly from hips and shoulders along the length of the pick handle and into the head.

With a resounding clang the pick bit home, sending up a shower of grit. Haldora dragged the pick free and looked back over her shoulder at her father. He gave her a thumbs up and retrieved his own tools.

Before long the tunnel thundered to the noise of industrious digging, far louder than Gabbik’s happy whistle as he worked.

CHAPTER TWO

‘Just leaving Karak Eight Peaks was no simple matter. Then, as now, the flanks of Kvinn-Wyr and the other mountains were covered with old caves and mines, and though the king ordered regular patrols, night goblins would often creep into these places to make their lairs. Though in those days the goblins were no threat to Karak Eight Peaks, they would at times pester those on the road travelling to and from the hold.

The Angboks and their allies were to fall foul of a goblin tribe just two days after setting forth. They were set on the western road when, that night, their camp was attacked by vicious little greenskins. This was the goblins’ folly of course, because they had thought the camp held a few merchants perhaps, or maybe some rangers setting off on their hunts.

Much to the surprise of the goblins they found several hundred dwarfs all buoyed up with excitement and looking for adventure. Suffice to say that not a goblin in that raiding party saw the dawn.’

Skraffi puffed out his cheeks, a sign of intense concentration, and ladled another measure of water into the musting vat. He gave it a stir, eyeing the golden liquid within keenly, and then closed the lid tight. Five years he had spent trying to perfect the mix of honey, water and yeast for the most delicious mead and he figured it might take another five at least before he came close.

They always talked about Awdhelga’s blackbeer, which rightly had made a tidy fortune back in the day, but she hadn’t stumbled on the recipe overnight. They all chose to forget she had been making bad batches for a dozen years before that fateful day when finally she was granted approval from the Brewers’ Guild to serve a keg at the clan hall.

And a kruk to the Brewers’ Guild too, he thought. Bunch of self-important nobodies who wouldn’t know a good mead if they were dunked head-to-foot. All they cared about was maintaining control of the breweries and stillhouses of Ekrund – thirty-four at last count – and talking about how it was impossible to get the right water anymore. Skraffi appreciated old traditions and the lessons of the ancestors as much as any dwarf but he was pretty sure there had been some major developments in beer-making in the thousand years since the first families had left Karak Eight Peaks. In all that time the Brewers’ Guild had approved just five – five! – new beer recipes.

It was with some pride that he realised just what an achievement it had been for Awdhelga to get such recognition. He’d sold the recipe to pay for the new vats and the apiary outside the south towers, but Awdhelga’s blackbeer was still selling by the barrelful the last he had heard.

To listen to Gabbik anyone would think Skraffi had thrown away the family gold. He loved his son as any dwarf loves another – with a deep but usually unspoken passion – and was proud that Gabbik had risen to Vice-Treasurer of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society, but ambition was not the same as vision. Ambition was to fill a chamber already built; vision was to dig the tunnel out of the room.

As he moved along the shelves polishing jars, waiting for the next batch of mead, Skraffi wondered, as he often did, how the son of two such outgoing dwarfs could have ended as such a conservative busybody. It was a strange sort of rebellion, Awdhelga had once claimed. They had been too accommodating, too radical in their child rearing, all but forcing Gabbik into the clutches of the most die-hard traditionalists so that he could come out of their shadow.

The clump of boots broke his reverie. A dwarf appeared at the doorway, breathless, his beard and hair an unruly tangle. It was Graznak Troggklad, one of Skraffi’s nephews, something-something removed; he could never quite remember the further branches of the Angboks and where they blended with the Troggklads. He was a few years Haldora’s senior, with broad shoulders, a lustrous browny-red beard and startling blue eyes that the lady dwarfs admired greatly. Known as ‘Nakka’ to nearly everybody, he had been friends with Haldora since an early age, and despite Gabbik’s obvious designs for Haldora to marry up the hierarchy, she had a soft spot for Nakka and he for her.

‘Thank the ancestors, I thought you’d be here!’ he gasped, wringing his cap in his hands.

‘What’s up, Nakka?’ asked Skraffi. ‘You look shakier than a spindly prop, lad.’

‘Goblins! Second deeps, fell on a work party, killed two of them and hurt another five before they scarpered. Nobody’s seen Thorek Burlithrom since. They must have taken him. Stofrik Grimsson says he’s found the hole they came from and he’s looking for a few axe-swingers to hunt the little beggars down. Where’s Gabbik and the others?’

Skraffi glanced at the complex water clock beside the fermenting vat.

‘Just off-shift on the new seam. Come with me.’

He headed back out through the family shrine and into the passage leading to the communal family chambers. Friedra and Haldora were at the big cooking pot at the fireplace, sitting on chairs with chopping boards on their laps and an assortment of tubers and mushrooms. At the long table down the length of the room Gabbik and his cousins were sharing round a jug of small beer and picking at the remains of a cheese platter.

‘Hello, Nakka!’ Haldora called out, waving a broad knife in welcome.

‘What’s up?’ Gabbik asked, noticing his father’s grim expression. Skraffi recapped what Nakka had said.

‘We’ll be there, right enough,’ said Gabbik, receiving a nod of agreement from the others. He glanced down at his work clothes. ‘Give us a moment to shuck on something more agreeable to axeplay.’

‘I’ll get my hauberk,’ said Haldora, setting aside her chopping board.

‘No,’ replied Gabbik. He started towards the passageway.

‘What’s the point of you teaching me if you don’t think I’m good for it?’ Haldora demanded, following just behind. She grabbed his arm and Gabbik stopped, tugging himself free from her grip.

‘To keep you safe, not to go chasing trouble. You want to go to the mines, I’m good with that. You need to know one end of the axe from another, just like them poor beggars that got attacked. But you’re the first daughter born to the Angboks in five generations and I’ll not be sending you into no goblin lair. Final words.’

He turned and strode past Nakka, who had watched the exchange with the tight-lipped expression of one who has stumbled into a private family matter with no way of extricating themselves.

‘What are you looking at?’ Haldora demanded.

‘Hey now, leave poor Nakka alone there,’ said Skraffi. ‘Don’t kill the pony just because his pack is empty.’

Haldora glared at her cousin, tapping her fingers meaningfully on her thigh.

‘Sorry,’ said Nakka, stepping back. ‘It’s not my place to argue with your father. Perhaps, when we get back, I can buy you an ale to make up for it?’

Nakka grinned, showing off a row of white teeth and a single gold replacement. It gave him a slightly dangerous air that appealed to Haldora, and despite her best attempts it was hard to maintain a bad temper in the face of such charm.

‘Maybe an ale,’ she conceded. She strutted up to Nakka and prodded a finger into his chest. ‘And you have to tell me everything about the goblin hunt. And next time you better take me along with you.’

Nakka held up his hands in surrender.

‘Whatever you say,’ he said, glancing at Skraffi. ‘Angbok women, born or married, are they all this stroppy?’

‘You better believe it,’ said Haldora. She placed her hand on his arm for a moment. ‘And stay safe.’ She glanced back at Skraffi. ‘Make sure dad comes back, right?’

‘Your Gramma’s shade will come back and haunt me forever if I let anything happen to her only baby boy,’ Skraffi replied. He kissed the knuckle of his right forefinger, a gesture of dedication to Valaya, and then headed after Gabbik.

He stopped just outside, looking back when Nakka didn’t join him. The younger dwarf waited, until the silence became a little awkward.

‘Better go and put on your war-shirt,’ Haldora told him.

He looked as though he was going to say something else, but instead just nodded and caught up with Skraffi.

‘Careful there. She’ll be a handful, mark my words,’ Skraffi told Nakka.

‘Too right, and that’s the fun. But Gabbik, he’s got a beady eye on me more than half the time. Thinks the Troggklads aren’t good enough for an Angbok girl.’

‘Are you?’ Skraffi asked as they made their way along the passage to the next set of chambers.

‘Am I what?’

‘Good enough?’

Nakka considered the question. ‘I reckon I’ll show you a thing or two.’

Skraffi patted the other dwarf on the shoulder and then swept aside the curtain that served as the door to his bedchambers. After passing through a vestibule crammed with gears and odds and ends accrued over centuries, he walked into the dressing chamber. His mail shirt was on a stand, and he threw it on over his day clothes, quickly looping the broad belt under his gut twice before tying the leather. His shield was propped up against a chest and he put it to one side and opened the box. Within were three throwing axes, short but broad-bladed, and a belt that went across the shoulder to hold them. He quickly shrugged on the baldric and lifted the axes into place across his chest.

He brought out a bundle wrapped in deep red velvet, revealing a single-headed axe almost as tall as Skraffi. The head gleamed, and a golden rune shone from the blade.

‘Elfslicer. Hello, old friend.’ He lifted the rune axe and closed the chest with his foot before taking up his shield.

It had been a while – ten years perhaps – since he had last worn armour. He didn’t remember it being this heavy, or so tight around the midriff. Elfslicer felt as good as always, the rune of cutting keeping the blade as sharp as the day Ketlin Dourforge had made it. The leather thongs around the handle were supple, moulded to Skraffi’s fingers by much use.

‘Goblins today,’ he told the blade. For a moment Skraffi thought he saw the rune dim in disappointment, but it might have just been a flicker of the candle in the lamp hanging from the ceiling.

He stepped back out as the others were assembling. Gabbik had hammer and shield, as did several others. There were also plenty of axes: bearded, double-handed, single-handed, long-handled and others. Fleinn, always a show-off, wielded two short swords. They were actually elven knives, taken by Fleinn’s father, Skraffi’s brother, as trophies during the fifth siege of Tor Alessi. Unfortunately Fleinn the Elder had died at the seventh siege of Tor Alessi when the younger had been just three years old.

‘No time to waste,’ announced Nakka, lifting up his axe to wave the group to follow. ‘Let’s go find Thorek and teach these grobi what we do with uninvited guests.’

There were fifteen dwarfs guarding the crack found by Stofrik Grimsson, and twice as many had squeezed through to keep watch from the goblin side of the hole. The Troggklads and Angboks added another twenty warriors to the party, which Gabbik considered more than enough for a goblin hunt.

‘Where’s Stofrik at?’ he asked, stepping up beside Nakka.

One of the Grimssons nodded towards the crack. ‘Having a look-see at those goblin tunnels, isn’t he.’

Gabbik detected a note of antipathy from the other dwarf and was not surprised; the Grimssons had been rival brewers to Awdhelga and there was always friction where business was concerned. That was by-the-by though. A missing dwarf was more important than past disagreements.

The triangular gap through which the goblins had entered was just about wide enough for a dwarf to pass through and about twice as high. There were rough tool marks on the outer edges – a rock slip that the grobi had widened themselves.

‘Weren’t nobody keeping guard?’ asked Fleinn. ‘Didn’t you hear owt?’

‘Reckon the cunning beggars waited ‘til we was working to start their chipping and digging,’ said the Grimsson dwarf.

Hammer held in front of him, shield sideways, Gabbik could just about get through the opening, his beard brushing against the scraped wall. The gap was only about three paces deep and opened into the remains of an old lava chamber, almost spherical, with more crudely hewn steps leading up to a tunnel on the far side.

The chamber showed signs of brief occupation by the goblins while they had conducted their excavations – piles of dung, discarded animal bones, a broken stone hammer. There was also a pile of mud and small stones scattered close to the opening – a poor attempt to block or mask the goblins’ escape route. Looking around, Gabbik spied Stofrik at the top of the steps, a lantern in hand as he peered into the goblin delvings. His beard was long and blond, tucked into a broad belt and hung with ancestor badges. He was wearing bronzed mail and carried a short-hafted axe that shone a dull green in the lamplight. The Grimsson thane turned as Gabbik softly called his name.

‘How-do, Gabbik?,’ said Stofrik. As Gabbik ascended, the other dwarf met him halfway, his place at the top taken by another of the Grimsson family. ‘Good of you to come. How many did you bring?’

‘Twenty of us. I reckon that’s as many as we’ll need without kicking up too much of a fuss.’

Stofrik looked past as more dwarfs squeezed through the hole, one after the other, until the lava chamber was almost filled with bristling beards, mail and round shields.

‘Reckon as you’d be right, Gabbik. Can’t have been too many of them – forty or fifty, them that was attacked told me. Left about a dozen of dead behind too.’

‘Lead on,’ said Gabbik.

The top of the narrow steps broke out into another lava chamber, about three times as big as the first, and there were several holes in the walls where the goblins had tunnelled in and out. The dwarfs were not renowned for their stealth, but they were patient, and with slow, quiet treads Stofrik and Gabbik led the dwarfs into the next cave, axe and hammer at the ready. Another lamp was brought in, shielded with smoked glass to stop too much light escaping, and the expedition spread out across the chamber, ten or so dwarfs to each hole.

Stofrik moved from hole to hole, listening and sniffing, bending down to inspect the floor at each opening. He went back three or four times each to two of the holes before making his decision.

‘Grobi spoor is strongest on this one.’ He crouched and pointed at scrape marks on the rock. ‘And these were made by a dwarf toecap if ever I’ve seen such a mark.’

‘They’re dragging him,’ said Gabbik. ‘Not carrying. Suggests he’s still alive.’

‘You know gobbos,’ said one of the Burlithroms, from whose ranks Thorek had been taken. Most were still in their mining gear, armed with picks, spades and heavy spikes rather than battleaxes and warhammers. The one who had spoken had a gold badge on his helm, marking him out as the shift overseer. His expression was grim, even for a dwarf. ‘They likes to torture their captives for a bit, like. Poor, poor Thorek.’

‘That’ll be bad for them then,’ said Stofrik. He jabbed a thumb to his chest. ‘They didn’t reckon on one of Ekrund’s best goblin hunters being on hand, did they? Thorek might get his toes burned and maybe lose a finger or two, but least he’ll live. Let’s get a shifty on, no point hanging around.’

The goblin hole, like the crack in the wall, was barely wide enough for the dwarfs to pass, so that they had to unburden themselves of their shields and weapons and pass them through before they could fit. Fortunately the goblins had been in something of a hurry, it seemed, and had not bothered posting guards.

The cavern beyond was almost as big as a dwarf hall, filled with stalactites; the stalagmites had mostly been broken and lay in pieces across the shallow bowl of the floor.

‘Look here,’ said Stofrik, crouching next to the stump of a rocky upthrust. In the light of the goblin hunter’s lamp Gabbik saw something splashed on the stone. ‘Blood. Goblin blood. I think our Thorek gave someone a bit of a kicking.’

‘Good on ‘im,’ muttered someone behind Gabbik.

Following Stofrik, the dwarfs advanced between the broken stalagmites, heading left along the length of the cavern. The goblin hunter shielded his lantern, revealing dim light coming from half a dozen tunnels at the far end of the cave. By far the brightest was also the largest, off to the right a little. As the dwarfs stopped to look and quiet descended, Gabbik heard the echo of distant noise: shouting, cackling and singing.

‘’Avin’ themselves a right ol’ party, the spiteful beggars,’ snarled one of the Burlithroms. There were growls and snorts of agreement and Gabbik felt a general movement around him as the family of the missing dwarf surged towards the openings by unspoken consent.

‘Here now, don’t be getting too anxious for a fight, lads,’ warned Gabbik. He could tell that their blood was up, but a hothead in battle was often the first to fall. He wanted to know he could depend on the dwarf whose shield was at his back. ‘We done this before, don’t all go rushing in willy-nilly.’

‘Gabbik’s right,’ said Stofrik. Gabbik knew he was right, and felt a bit offended that Stofrik thought fit to defend his judgement. He let it pass – the Grimssons were closer to the Burlithroms after all.

‘If they got wind of us, they may kill Thorek,’ the other thane continued. ‘And even if they don’t, they’d scatter like elves in a strong wind if they got the chance. No, we do this proper and then everybody’s safer.’

Cooler heads were prevailing and Gabbik took the chorus of grumbles and whispers as acquiescence. He caught the eye of Fleinn and took the other dwarf to Stofrik.

‘Fleinn here has got a good eye and ear for the tunnels,’ said Gabbik. ‘What say him and a few lads head up one of them side passages and see if they can cut off the goblins’ exit?’

‘Solid plan,’ said Stofrik. He looked Fleinn up and down. ‘You up to it, lad?’

‘I’m up for it.’ Fleinn flourished his elven blades and grinned.

‘You look it,’ said Stofrik.

He said the names of a handful of Burlithroms and Grimssons, and a party assembled around Fleinn. After a few more words not to do anything rash they were sent on their way, advancing quietly down two of the smaller tunnels.

‘We’ll give them a little bit of time to get in position,’ said Stofrik.

‘What say you to a quick look at what’s ahead?’ said Gabbik. ‘Just a brief scout, maybe?’

‘Aye, but keep it quiet.’

The thought that he might be anything but quiet irritated Gabbik but again he thought it better not to raise the issue. Stofrik had obviously appointed himself expedition leader and there was nothing to be gained by starting an argument just a pebble’s throw from a goblin lair. Instead Gabbik chose his two quietest lads – Horgir and Vifi – and took them up to the widest of the openings.

The tunnel looked like an old underground riverbed, perhaps dammed upstream by one of the Ekrund weirs or other waterworks. It dropped down steeply, following a course of limestone – the same that formed the impressive floor and ceiling spires of the cavern behind.

The light was exceptionally faint and inconstant, distant flames Gabbik thought, but it was enough for the trio of dwarfs to navigate the irregular twists and turns of the natural passage. The ancient river had worn everything smooth, though in a few of the steeper stretches steps had been carved or foot- and hand-holds fashioned from thick wooden nails. The dwarfs were sure enough on their feet to negotiate these parts without too much effort and it was not long before the light had brightened considerably and the smell of smoke from a bonfire of dried dung started clogging Gabbik’s nostrils.

The noise from the goblins was louder and had become a more unified high-pitched chanting, interspersed with whoops and shrill laughter. Now and then Gabbik caught a dwarf voice, swiftly drowned by hideous shrieks and hooting cries.

A flicker of shadow at a bend ahead caused the dwarfs to stop. It was indistinct but Gabbik could see the outline of a fur-lined helmet and a jagged sword. He couldn’t see the goblin itself and the tunnel curved in such a way that there would be no way of looking until they were right on top of the sentry.

They waited a while longer, during which the vague shadow appeared to lift a long-necked bottle to its lips and they heard the glug of emptying liquid. Gabbik signalled to Vifi, who brought out a bronze catapult from inside his hauberk. He fetched forth a sphere of lead shot from a pouch at his belt, about the size of a thumbnail, and placed it in the leather cup of the slingshot. Giving a thumbs up to Gabbik, Vifi took a few steps further up the tunnel before crouching down against the wall. He pulled back the shot and then looked back to nod.

Gabbik scraped his heel across the floor of the tunnel. The sound reverberated for a moment and was answered by a murmur of confusion from ahead. He heard the noise of the bottle being dropped, followed by the flap of bare feet on stone. A moment later a thin green face with sharp, prominent teeth and a pointed nose poked around the sharp bend. Its helmet was askew, tufts of mangy fur falling from the brim.

Vifi let fly his shot. The lead ball smacked into the goblin’s left eye, snapping back the creature’s head in a spray of blood. The goblin toppled, slumping against the side of the tunnel. Gabbik winced as the helmet fell off with a clatter, rolling in circles on the floor for several heartbeats before coming to rest against the dead goblin’s foot.

Horgir was already dashing ahead, axe in hand. He reached the bend and slowed, sliding his shield in front. Gabbik moved alongside Vifi as Horgir disappeared.

The other dwarf reappeared a few moments later and gave a thumbs up. He hunkered down in the curve of the tunnel, dragging the corpse around the bend, while Gabbik and Vifi advanced to join him.

Coming around the bend, Gabbik was afforded a view down the tunnel through an opening that quickly widened into another cavern. As far as he could judge this was even larger than the last one, lit by flames and filled with smoke from more than one fire. He couldn’t see much of the goblins themselves, but their jerky shadows played across the wall of the tunnel. There were a handful more of the small greenskins right at the tunnel mouth. Gabbik assumed they were meant to be keeping watch, but their attention had been drawn to the fun being had inside the cave.

Vifi raised his catapult but Gabbik laid his hand on the younger dwarf’s arm and shook his head. He gestured back down the tunnel. Horgir set off with Vifi close behind. Gabbik stayed for a little while longer trying to guess the number of goblins, but it was impossible to tell; they were moving around so much and dancing that it could have been a dozen or a gross.

Irritated that he did not have more to take back to Stofrik, Gabbik was tempted to try to get a little closer. Then his own words about rashness came back to him and he changed his mind, turning back down the tunnel towards the others.

He knew that he was regarded by some of the other Angboks as the simple, sensible one of the clan, but he didn’t mind at all. Those that mattered – the king and the thanes of other clans – respected the Angboks because of Gabbik’s calm temperament and predictability. Being dependable was a virtue to be coveted. It was a cool manner and steady hand that had guided the Angboks through the tough times since Awdhelga’s death and it would be the same – and a seam of gold! – that would continue to steer the clan to new heights of security and prosperity.

Gabbik thought about his father as he returned to the main group, wishing that Skraffi had been more responsible since Awdhelga had passed into the Halls of the Ancestors. Instead Gabbik had been left to shoulder the burden of heading the family alone. Friedra was a great support – diligent in her attention to domestic matters but rarely concerned with wider clan goings-on – but Haldora was becoming more and more like her grandmother, and that meant trouble ahead.

He thought of the way the Burlithroms and Grimssons had listened to Stofrik without question and wished he commanded such respect. There was no reason he should not. He was thane, and Vice-Treasurer of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society – soon to be Treasurer Elect after the next quarterly general assembly, he hoped – and not short of years. There was just something in the Angbok bloodline that made them a bit mouthy and defiant, even amongst themselves and even when others were looking.

With such despondent thoughts, Gabbik reached the other cave to find that Vifi and Horgir had brought the rest of the dwarfs to the tunnel entrance. He exchanged a glance with Stofrik, sharing a moment in which they both acknowledged the fight about to come and the possible consequences. Gabbik was no war leader, but he had been on his fair share of goblin hunts.

‘Let’s do this,’ he said. A few of the Angboks and Troggklads started forward and then faltered as the rest of the dwarfs stayed where they were.

‘For Thorek,’ said Stofrik, eliciting grunts and nods of acknowledgement from his clansdwarfs. They surged up towards the tunnel, almost pushing aside Gabbik.

‘Don’t fret, lad.’ Skraffi gave Gabbik an encouraging nudge with his elbow as he came down the sloped tunnel entrance. ‘It’s their dwarf in there; they’re looking to each other is all. We’re not here to make names for ourselves, just to get Thorek out.’

Gabbik nodded and led his contingent after the Grimssons and Burlithroms with a lighter heart than a moment earlier. Sometimes, despite all of his vices and shortcomings, Skraffi knew just the right thing to say.

Now that their ire had been roused and the call to battle had been made – albeit softly spoken at the time – the dwarfs boiled along the tunnel accompanied by a grumbling and swearing akin to the growing noise of a rockfall that starts with a few pebbles rattling and ends with thunderous destruction.

The din of the dwarfs’ progress made no difference – the goblins guarding the approach heard nothing over the clamour of their own kind until the first of the Grimssons and Burlithroms were round the bend and heading right at them. Slingstones and catapult bullets whirred along the tunnel, felling half the sentries before they had turned their heads. The warning squawks and shrieks of the survivors were lost amidst the strident celebrations going on in the chamber beyond them.

Bursting into the main chamber with the others, Gabbik found himself in a huge cavern almost as large as the Grand Hall of Ekrund, though the ceiling was far lower. Limestone columns linked rocky floor and ceiling, and the walls were lined with mineral deposits that glittered in the light of two immense fires.

The chamber seethed with goblins – a mass of greenskins hooded and cloaked in black, all squirming and pushing in a crowd around a bloodied figure tied to a frame between the fires – Thorek. Gabbik had no time for further exploration as the goblins reacted to the death cries of the sentries and turned towards the dwarfs.

Red eyes gleamed and dozens of wickedly serrated and curved blades glittered as the grobi pulled out their knives and swords; fangs were bared, and snarls and screeches of hatred issued from the crowd. There were probably a hundred goblins, perhaps more. The dwarfs halted their charge as the last of them surged into the cavern. Stofrik was calling his clansdwarfs to order and Gabbik followed, shouting for the Angboks and Troggklads to form a line. The oldest dwarfs fell into place quickly, the younger ones forming ranks behind them as the green-skinned horde poured out from the light of the fires towards them.

Arrows cut through the fire gleam, loosed by goblins with short bows sneaking between the rock columns. Here and there a crossbow twanged in reply. Skraffi readied a throwing axe to Gabbik’s right while Vifi and others unleashed lead from their catapults and the air buzzed with slingshot. Snarling and yapping, the goblins came on, a sea of green and black in the orange glow.

When the goblins were no more than twenty paces away Skraffi hurled the first of his throwing axes. Its blade caught the light as it spun end-over-end and disappeared beneath the hood of an oncoming greenskin. The goblin was thrown into the creature behind by the force of the impact and several more tripped over the corpses in their mad dash to attack. The old dwarf’s second axe buried in the chest of another goblin, causing similar chaos amongst the green-skinned mob.

Small black-swathed bodies littered the rocky floor but the goblins were incensed by the intrusion into their lair and for the moment their loathing of the dwarfs and spitefulness overcame their natural timidity.

‘For Thorek!’

The call rippled along the line from the Burlithroms. Gabbik joined the chorus of shouts and raised his hammer in challenge to the oncoming goblins.

Shrieking and spitting, the first greenskins reached the dwarf line, stabbing and lashing with their blades. Gabbik caught a short sword with the rim of his shield and then slammed his hammer into the skull of the creature wielding it. A spiked maul careened from Gabbik’s shield boss a moment later as another goblin leapt over the falling body, only for the greenskin to be smashed sideways by a hammer blow from Gordrik, standing to the thane’s left.

Everything quickly descended into a whirl of snapping fangs, glaring red eyes and splashing blood. Gabbik took not one step forward, but shuffled to left and right as needed to block attacks with his shield or swing his hammer in reply. Claws skittered from armour, and now and then he heard the gruff shout of a wounded dwarf near at hand – painful injuries indeed to make a dwarf give voice.

As he crushed the chest of a goblin it slashed out in its death throes, the tip of its barbed dagger cutting a slice across Gabbik’s beard. He bit back a shout of alarm as a frond of black hair fell away, harder to bear than any cut upon skin.

The first onslaught of the goblins quickly petered out. Dwarfs from behind quickly stepped up to fill the gaps left by those few Ekrundfolk who succumbed to the enemy’s weight of numbers. With the ends of the dwarf line up against the walls of the cavern, there was little room for the greenskins to press their numerical advantage, and head-to-head every dwarf on the shieldwall was more than a match for a dozen goblins. Arrows continued to flit down as the goblins pulled back, bouncing from the dwarf line like a wave receding after crashing against a cliff.

‘After them!’ bellowed Stofrik, pursuing the retreating goblins at the head of a wedge of Grimssons. The goblins fell back further as the vengeful dwarfs speared towards the fires and Thorek.

‘Hold the flank!’ Gabbik told his warriors, seeing that twenty or thirty goblins had peeled away to the left and in the shadows were regrouping for another attack. ‘Stand your ground, Angboks!’

The retreat of the goblins turned to a rout, most of them turning their backs on the dwarfs to run headlong from their foes. Fortunately they were met by Fleinn and his small company arriving on the other side of the cavern.

The greenskins on the left surged back at the dwarfs, heading directly for Stofrik’s band of warriors. Gabbik shouted a warning and led the Angboks forward to counter the attack. Broken by the pillars, the formation of the dwarfs disappeared and they went after the grobi in small groups of three and four. The greenskins were running in circles almost, trying to escape Fleinn’s flanking group and then turned away from Stofrik’s advance by the charge of Gabbik and his clan-fellows.

Noticing a gap at his shoulder where Skraffi should have been, Gabbik stopped and looked around for his father. Skraffi was leaning against one of the rock columns a dozen paces behind, almost double over, one hand gripping his thigh.

‘Are you hurt?’ Gabbik demanded, taking a few steps back towards his father.

‘Blumming cramp!’ Skraffi snarled back. ‘I’m getting too old to be chasing goblins. Get on with you, lad, and I’ll be as solid as silver soon enough.’

Gabbik lifted his hammer in acknowledgement and turned back to the chase. The nimblest goblins were slipping away, able to avoid the stouter dwarfs by clambering over rock piles and slipping between gaps in the columns too narrow for their foes. Gabbik could see the odd shadowy shape disappearing through the narrowest side tunnels.

For most the cavern became a tomb as the dwarfs gradually encircled the remaining goblins, who huddled together in the shadows while the grim-faced Ekrundfolk closed in. Gabbik found himself next to Stofrik.

‘Thorek? Is he all right?’

‘What?’ Stofrik was intent upon the goblins. His beard was matted and filthy with grobi blood and there were fresh dents and scratches on his helm. ‘I think so. Physically, anyway. A few cuts and bruises.’ Stofrik’s expression darkened. ‘They cut his beard though. Nearly all of it gone.’

Gabbik’s stomach lurched at the thought and his hand instinctively strayed to the lopped portion of his own chin hair. The idea of losing all of it… Again, Gabbik fought down the urge to throw up.

‘We’ll make these beggars pay for that,’ he managed to say, flexing his grip on his weapon as the ring of dwarf axes and hammers closed on the terrified goblins.

And they did.

CHAPTER THREE

‘One thing that the Angboks had in their favour when they set out to find their new land was their experience as brewers. Though they had been miners in recent generations, the clan name had been founded on a reputation for knowing a good malt and for growing the best beer barley in the southern mountains. According to my old granddad, the Angboks learnt brewing and mining from Grungni himself, and in those days there was few folk that’d argue with such.

Amongst their wagons, the Angboks had a great many barrels and copper vats and pipes and other such workings as is needed for the making of good beer. They hoped to find gromril or gold in the mountains to the west but knew that as long as they could sow some seed for a season their beer would keep them going, both to drink and for sale.’

Fulnir’s brew hall, while always home to no fewer than twenty dwarfs at any given time, was thronged with patrons. News of the goblin hunt had spread to some of the other clans, so as well as Angboks, Troggklads, Grimssons and Burlithroms there were attendants from the Narjaks, Losthons, Skurllissons and even some visitors from further afield.

The mood was a strange mix of sombre remembrance for the dwarfs that had been slain by the goblin ambush and the three more that had succumbed to wounds suffered during the dwarf raid on the invaders’ lair, and an overall air of celebration for an expedition that had been very successful, those losses notwithstanding.

Thorek was ‘indisposed’, however, and had been taken to the temple of Valaya in the main halls of Ekrund, where his physical hurt might be healed and he could also receive assistance in coming to terms with his stubbling at the hands of the goblins. There was unspoken agreement amongst the brew hall’s attendees not to mention this personal disaster, and glasses were raised to toast Thorek’s safe return in his absence.

Haldora found herself with some of her family, including Nakka, Fleinn and a handful of dwarfs from the Narjaks, Thornsons and Skeldrams. Skraffi had fetched Friedra from the Angbok kitchens – Awdhelga’s kuri would not see a bowl until much later this night – but the company were already three pints into their celebrations and mourning before Gabbik arrived.

‘What sorely pressing business kept so fierce a lord from taking his beer?’ asked Fleinn, pushing a flagon of ale in front of Gabbik as he sat down next to Haldora.

‘Tallying grobi ears,’ Gabbik replied with a sigh. ‘One hundred and seventeen greenskins killed.’

‘And long may they rot!’ declared Fleinn, raising his tankard.

The others echoed the toast and drank deep, but Skraffi was half-hearted in his response.

‘One hundred and seventeen less goblins in the world is a good thing, isn’t it?’ asked Haldora. ‘It is a shame that we lost some of our own, but we are safe again.’

‘How did nobody notice so many goblins?’ asked Skraffi. ‘How did so many get so close to the tunnels?’

‘These things happen,’ said Gabbik. ‘For as long as we’ve been in Dragonback we’ve had to put up with goblin raids.’

‘We can’t keep watch everywhere,’ said Nakka. ‘Seems they were quiet as mice, real sneaky beggars this time.’

‘In the old days we had patrols,’ said Skraffi, unconvinced. He filled his stein with mead from a jug and presented the ewer to the table. Nobody took up his offer.

‘In the old days we didn’t have the Miners’ Society pushing us for every fistful of ore,’ Fleinn said, looking sideways at Gabbik. ‘Was a time when a dwarf could spend a while checking for cracks and goblin spoor.’

‘And there was a time when we had the hands to spare,’ Gabbik replied with a surly look. ‘Before the war.’

He didn’t need to spell it out further. Though Ekrund itself and the mines of Dragonback had emerged relatively unscathed from five hundred years of conflict with the elves, the same could not be said for the clans. Thousands had died and sixty years was far too short a time for such losses to be replaced. Never a prolific race, the dwarfs would need generations more before their numbers were restored.

Haldora felt eyes on her as the others at the table followed this line of thought.

‘What?’ she demanded. ‘You want me to start popping out youngsters right this moment?’

There were a few nods, some grumbles and a strange look came into Nakka’s eye.

‘We could,’ he said. He glanced at Skraffi and then Gabbik. ‘You know, after due ceremony and such.’

‘I’ve told you before, I’ll not be making bonds with no one until I’ve made something of myself.’ She turned on Gabbik. ‘I should have been with you, killing grobi. Like you say, there’s not so many of us now that we can spare a well-handled axe in a fight.’

‘And I say that killing a few goblins is the last of your concerns,’ said Gabbik. He frowned and downed a great draught of beer. ‘You think we’ll return to our glory days without youngsters? Now more than ever we need the womenfolk to be raising strong sons and daughters.’

‘I’m just meant to make little babes, is that it?’ Haldora was infuriated by the suggestion. ‘Never mind what else I might be able to do.’

‘Listen to your father,’ said Fleinn. ‘Nobody’s saying that that’s all that you can do, but sure as gold glitters and the treachery of elves, there’s one thing you can do that none of the rest of us can.’

‘But it’s not fair!’ Haldora knew it was a shallow argument and felt a flush of shame immediately the childish outburst left her lips. She hid her embarrassment by downing the contents of her tankard, glad to look elsewhere as she fetched the pitcher of beer from in front of Gabbik.

‘To Grimnir and his blessing falling upon the necks of many more grobi!’ declared one of the outsiders in the uncomfortable silence that followed. The dwarfs echoed the toast.

‘I still say it’s a bad sign,’ said Skraffi when the customary chorus of roars and cheers were done. ‘It shows the goblins are getting bolder. Never mind patrols or keeping watch, we need to have a proper effort to clear out those caves. Three years ago we found them and still there hasn’t been a full mapping expedition.’

‘Who has the time?’ said Gabbik. ‘The prospectors haven’t, and the rangers are too busy keeping up with goings-on in the old mountain holds. Only a few days ago I heard that there’d been another earthquake, and volcanoes have been erupting all around Karaz-a-Karak and Eight Peaks.’

‘Trolls have been on the move again, so I heard,’ said Njellon, one of the Skeldrams. Haldora hadn’t paid him much attention when he had sat down, but now she saw that he wore a much-darned, patched and travel-stained dark green cloak and hood, and had the look of a ranger about him.

‘You’ve been up to the Varag Kadrin?’ she asked. She had never been out of the Dragonbacks herself, and tales from the Old Holds and the Worlds Edge Mountains always seemed exotic and romantic.

‘Not myself, not these last few years, but my old uncle Tobrin came back just yesterday after being up the watchtowers there. There’s folks on the move, coming south.’

‘Probably the last few survivors of Karak Ungor,’ said Nakka. There was a moment’s silence in contemplation of the loss of the ancient hold, which had been overrun by greenskins a little over a year before. Haldora, like so many others, had hardly been able to believe the news when it had come. The ancient defences broken by earthquakes, Karak Ungor had been ill-prepared for a sudden onslaught of orcs and goblins. It made her shudder just to think of the barbaric greenskins plundering and slaughtering through a dwarf city.

‘It’ll never happen here,’ said Nakka, reaching across to lay a reassuring hand on her arm. ‘No earthquakes in the Dragonbacks, and our towers and walls are as strong as the day they were raised.’

‘Not Karak Ungor,’ said the Skeldram ranger. A couple of the surrounding tables had overheard him and fell silent to listen to his news. Elsewhere was the constant mumble and laughter of dwarfs making good acquaintance with the offspring of barley and hops. ‘These were folk of Karak Varn.’

‘Karak Varn?’ Skraffi shook his head. ‘No, it can’t be.’

‘We all knew they’d suffered bad,’ said Fleinn. ‘Whole deeps flooded when the mountains cracked and let in the floods from the Black Water.’

‘As you say,’ said Njellon. ‘Ratmen from below and goblins from above. Almost wiped out the Varnfolk. Tobrin spoke to one of the thanes himself, to find out what happened. Some are hoping to find shelter in Barak Varr, but I think there’s a clan or two wanting to get further away who will be heading here soon enough.’

‘They’ll be safe,’ said Gabbik. ‘The more hands to the workings, the better. Just as long as no Old Hold thanes think they can come here and start putting on with talk of bloodlines and princedoms. That’s elf-nonsense if you ask me.’ There were grunts and grumbles of assent. ‘They can get their hands dirty and earn their grit like any other.’

‘Two holds fallen in as many years, goblin numbers on the rise,’ said Skraffi. ‘Mark me, we haven’t heard the last of this.’

‘It’s a long trek for a goblin, from the old mountains to Dragonback,’ said Gabbik. ‘You see a goblin and cry troll!’

‘Maybe you think that mead of yours will prove too much of a lure, eh?’ said Nakka. ‘They’ll be coming in droves across the wasteland to get it?’

Skraffi said something unintelligible and upended his jug to pour out the last of the mead.

‘Since Ekrund was first founded the orcs have tried to attack,’ said Fleinn. ‘Even when we was busy bloodying elf noses we managed to keep them out.’ He looked to Njellon. ‘You’ve been up there. Old High King Snorri Whitebeard cleared out the orcs long ago and we’ve been stamping on them ever since, right? A tribe here and there, the odd ambush of a trade wagon. It’s a long toss from that to Ekrund being attacked.’

‘Yeah, right enough,’ said the ranger. ‘I could walk from here to Blood River and never see a patch of green skin. If anything there’s even less orcs around since last winter than ever before.’

‘And those gobbos might have snuck in this time but we showed them good and proper,’ said Nakka. ‘There’s a hundred-odd grobi won’t be coming back, right?’

‘And the Thramptons cleared out another lair not so long ago, almost twice that number.’ Gabbik took a drink and wiped beer from his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘There’s more chance of King Erstukar shaving his chin and calling himself Caledor the Third than there is of the goblins doing any real damage, with all respect to them that was bidden to the Halls of the Ancestors today.’

‘May their shades drink deep and eat hearty,’ said Haldora, lifting her tankard, eliciting a chorus from the others. ‘And if the orcs do come, there’s a wall of axes waiting for them.’

‘And hammers,’ said Gabbik.

‘And catapults,’ added Vifi.

‘Not to mention stone chuckers, bolt throwers, fire bombs and no small number of rune-traps,’ said Nakka.

‘And my swords!’ declared Fleinn with a grin.

‘The ancients protect us,’ muttered Skraffi.

‘You’re in a sour mood,’ said Fleinn. ‘And it’s not just because nobody’s interested in your bee-piddle.’

A growl rumbled deep in Skraffi’s chest as he glowered at the other dwarfs around the table. He reached down and lifted another ewer of mead from the floor to pour himself a fresh fill.

‘I’m old,’ Skraffi said. ‘Nearly five hundred years have been and gone since my first breath. But even I don’t remember the time before the war with the elves. My pa did, though. He died before the fighting was over, but he told me enough to know what’s what and when’s when. He was there to see me right with axeplay, and when he died I renamed his axe Elfslicer and had Ketlin Dourforge strike a rune upon its head to avenge my murdered father.’ He looked right at Haldora. ‘I’m tired of fighting. Seems we’ve barely had time to take a breath since the elves ran away, and now there’s you young folk all stirred up and ready to battle with the orcs and goblins and other dark things that hide out there.’

‘Nobody’s talking about starting another war, Skraffi,’ said Nakka. ‘That’s the last thing anybody wants. But if goblins come and orcs want to have a go, we’re more than ready.’

‘But we ain’t, is we?’ Haldora was struck by the vehemence in Skraffi’s demeanour. His yellowing teeth were gritted, beard bristling, creased brow furrowed deeply. ‘Goblins breaking in and killing folks while they’re mining? It shouldn’t happen. And those orcs, the ones that took Karak Ungor? Are they gonna stay put in their new home, living it up with all that treasure? Or are they gonna want more? Them goblins in Karak Varn, and the rat-things too, are they just going to have a big celebration for the next hundred years?’

He stood up, taking his jug of mead in one hand, cup in the other. His shout for attention was like a stone cast into a pool as a ripple of silence spread out across the brew hall. Haldora caught a few muttered jibes and some laughter as the outsiders speculated what ‘mad old Skraffi Angbok’ was going to do next.

‘I know you think me an old stupid wazzock,’ Skraffi began, slowly turning in a circle to survey all within the drinking chamber.

Fulnir, one of Skraffi’s few surviving contemporaries, leaned over the bar between two large kegs of ale and nodded vigorously. ‘You was a young stupid wazzock too!’ he called out, bringing forth a brief grin from Skraffi.

‘Who is the wiser wazzock, my friend? The wazzock or the wazzock that follows a wazzock?’ Skraffi closed his eyes for a moment and wavered, gently swaying. It was only then that Haldora realised just how into his cups he was.

‘Do something,’ she whispered, leaning in close to her father. ‘That mead’s stronger than any ale and he’s had a pail-full.’

‘Let him be, he’s old enough to know his mind,’ Gabbik replied.

‘That’s what I’m worried about,’ said Haldora as a chorus of shushing surrounded her from the rest of the table.

‘Get on with it!’ someone called out from the crowd.

‘That’s jus’ the problem, ain’t it now?’ said Skraffi. ‘We’s all getting on with it, ain’t we? Busy as bee-bees just buzzing away beating about our buzziness… um, business. Not looking up, not seeing what’s happening. Did you hear?’ Mead sloshed from the ewer as Skraffi threw a hand towards Njellon. ‘Karak Varn is no more!’

The whispers and chuckles stopped; in their place grumbles and growls and a few moans of denial. The ranger reluctantly nodded and there were more groans.

‘And we lost good dwarfs today. Diligent hard-working lads you’d be happy to share a seam and an ale with.’

‘May Valaya guide them to the halls,’ someone called out, and this was repeated earnestly around the brew hall. Skraffi took another swig of mead, direct from the jug.

‘And Grimnir sharpen their axes,’ Skraffi added darkly, peering at the groups around each table. His eyes met Haldora’s and she smiled weakly, but her grandfather’s expression stayed grim. ‘You want to be like Gramma Awdie, my lovely Haldi?’

‘Haldora,’ she replied, infuriated that she had been brought into this display.

‘She was great because she looked further than the rest of us. She saw what’s what and when’s when, and if she were here now she’d be telling us the same. I’m not half as wise as she was…’

‘Nor half as handsome!’ shouted Fleinn.

‘…but I can smell tunnel-fume and know when not to be striking matches. There’s fume aplenty these days. A big cloud of it, rolling down the old mountains.’

‘That’s a long way away, you old drunkard!’ called out one of the Losthons.

The locals turned as one and glared their disapproval. Skraffi was certainly a batty old drunk, but the Angboks, Burlithroms, Grimssons and Troggklads were not going to let some stranger from the other side of the Third Deeps come to their halls and start throwing around insults. The interloper shrank behind his ale tankard, almost disappearing beneath the table to avoid the sudden scrutiny.

‘You’re barred.’

The two words were softly spoken by Fulnir but they carried across the hall as though bellowed. A tide of sharp intakes of breath and tutting followed, until the shame-faced dwarf rose from the bench and slunk away.

When the disgraced dwarf disappeared from view Skraffi looked around at his audience, one eye screwed up in concentration.

‘Wha’ was I sayin’?’

‘Mead!’ cried out Fleinn.

‘Tha’s right! Mead!’ A big grin split the old dwarf’s beard. ‘Stuff of the ancestors, believe me. You should all be drinking mead. It puts hairs on your chin and in your ears and up your nose and…’

He mumbled something else and started to teeter. Gabbik got up and offered up a shoulder for support but Skraffi waved his son away.

‘I miss your mam,’ Skraffi said loudly, in what he probably thought was a whisper. ‘Finest ladydwarf I ever knew.’

‘Let’s get back to the halls and we’ll raise another cup to her,’ said Haldora, slipping her arm around Skraffi.

Between them, Gabbik and Haldora led Skraffi to the door, with a few uncertain diversions around tables and sleeping dwarfs on the way. When they reached the doorway Skraffi forced them to turn around so that he could see his audience once more.

The other dwarfs were keen to show appreciation of the things they liked, and one of the things they really liked was another dwarf being entertaining whilst far drunker than them. Somebody started clapping and soon the whole throng had taken up the applause, and then they started stamping their feet and banging the tables with their tankards.

Skraffi bowed to acknowledge his admirers, waving his mead jug. As he straightened he lost his balance and continued backwards, until he had toppled to the floor. Haldora bent over her grandfather in concern, but already the sound of gentle snoring rose to her ears.

She exchanged a wordless look with her father and they hauled Skraffi up between them. Haldora remembered just in time to wave goodbye to Nakka, who gave her a wink and a thumbs up in reply.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘Although the Angboks were the instigators of this endeavour, there were other clans who had listened to their plans and joined them in their westward move. The Troggklads, for one, were always staunch friends, and many were cousins to the Angboks. The Grimssons were also one of the first clans to leave Karak Eight Peaks, though they were less fondly considered from time to time.

Each clan had its thanes, and the thanes looked to their own for leadership, but it soon became clear that the whole expedition needed someone in charge. We like to know who to blame when things go wrong, for a start.

The Angboks thought that they were the obvious choice, having started everything. But the Grimssons conspired against them with some of the other clans, and despite the wishes of the Angboks and the Troggklads, a thane was chosen from the Brikboks. That family were put in charge and renamed themselves the Rinkeldraz, taking to themselves an air of royalty.

The Angboks, not wishing to upset the expedition on which they had set their hearts, agreed to abide by the commands of Thane Rinkeldraz for the time being, and all was well again.’

Over the days that followed Njellon Skeldram’s story was bolstered by news from other rangers: Karak Varn was no more. It was the topic of much conversation in the family chambers, in the mines and in the brew halls. When Skraffi asked Haldora for help bringing in the next batch of honey from the hives, it was an inevitable subject and reared its head just as they left by one of the minor gates.

The sun in the mountains was glorious, bathing the slopes in summer warmth, lighting the great ancestor faces carved into the cliff face over the gatehouse and striking fire in the seven immense rubies set into the archway above the open gates. In the past they had blazed with runelight in the night to guide travellers to the hold but since the war with the elves they had been dormant.

Though a subterranean people, quite capable of spending day after day underground without issue, the Ekrundfolk still had a fondness for light. Great shafts were dug into the mountainside to let starlight and sunlight into the lower deeps, while crystal-windowed galleries broke the slopes of the highest peaks around Ekrund, where dwarfs could walk and sit and gaze out at the world. Lamplight was much desired, and rune lamps that glowed with the captured dusk or dawn were highly sought after – most had been sent in trade to the elves on Ulthuan before the war had severed such ties and twilit lanterns were now a much-prized rarity. Firelight was perhaps most value, for it reminded the dwarfs of furnaces and forges, and the fires consumed their labours in the mines and in the forests and smelted good metal from rock and turned waste into warmth.

The heat of the sun on Haldora’s face was something she had always liked and she only half-listened to her grandfather’s laments about Karak Varn as they made their way up the flagged road heading towards the upper meadows where Skraffi’s apiary was located. Instead of paying attention she was wondering what it would be like to be a ranger, spending as much time above ground as under it, seeing distant shores and hillsides and visiting the Old Holds.

The road they followed cut as straight as an engineer’s rule to the south, with several smaller cobbled tracks leading off to outer towers, scenic spots and the goat pastures. The sides of the road were lined with walls thrice the height of a dwarf, holding back turfed embankments filled with beds of strong-smelling herbs. Young beardlings moved along the rows picking and plucking, filling the baskets on their backs. Haldora had done the same when she was young – though she had tended the cabbage patches by the south-western galleries – and it brought to mind not just the long summer days picking out weeds but also the colder autumn days when the winds turned eastwards and brought flurries of rain and sleet. She had not enjoyed that so much, and decided that perhaps being a ranger, slogging over mountain passes in the depths of winter and crossing the wildlands to the south and east during storms and floods, was not the life for her.

Skraffi was chuntering away happily, not the least bit perturbed by Haldora’s absence of interest. She suspected that he would have been saying much the same had she not been there and that she had been brought along simply for her presence rather than to provide any labour or physical assistance. He had moved on to discussing his bees, which he often did at great length, and complaining that in the last year their numbers had dwindled. A third of the hives had died out over the winter and Skraffi was laying the blame for this on the goblins, though he was somewhat uncertain on the exact process by which encroaching greenskins could affect such catastrophes on the bee colonies.

They turned off the main road and ascended a long, shallow set of stairs winding left and right up the mountainside. In places it was almost flat, where terraces had been dug. Some of the levels housed peat burners – the peat brought up from the boglands far to the south – others kilns and a few were set aside for cultivating berries and root vegetables.

The two dwarfs reached the top of the mountain shoulder shortly before midday. They took a short break to rest here, looking down the valley road all the way to the wildlands. Here and there the grey stone of the outer keeps and ranger stations broke the rolling hills, and the road continued, only changing course near the foot of Mount Bloodhorn, to swing east before, out of sight, it curved along the Blind River heading towards Karak Izril.

Haldora took off her pack and sat down on a stone, moulded by generations of dwarfs doing the same over preceding centuries. Skraffi stood for a little while longer, gazing out to the east. It was there that Karak Eight Peaks was found, and Karak Azul also. It heartened Haldora to think that she shared the same ancestors as the dwarfs of those great holds. Sometimes it seemed as though Ekrund was on its own, stuck far away in a forgotten corner. Haldora had always thought of the earlier settlers in the Dragonback Mountains as explorers and adventurers, but now that she thought about it perhaps they had been isolationists, seeking somewhere away from the old lands where they would not be disturbed. That certainly explained why, to Haldora’s eye at least, the older folk of Ekrund seemed far more resistant to change and new ideas than she ever imagined the dwarfs of the old mountains could be.

There was a trace of a grey smudge on the horizon, barely visible. Haldora thought it was a storm cloud but Skraffi noticed it too and set her straight.

‘Karag Haraz is blowing again,’ he said, referring to the immense volcano that reared up in the heart of the old mountains, only a few days’ march from Karak Eight Peaks. ‘He’s been rumbling and belching ever since the great quakes came but that looks like a big one. I hope it bodes nothing bad for those folks.’

‘They’ve been living in the shadow of Karag Haraz forever, Grammi, I don’t think it’s going to cause them trouble now.’

‘And what about Karak Varn then? Since the hold was founded they’ve had a lake on their doorstep. And then, crack-bang-wallop! Suddenly the city’s flooded and the goblins are getting in.’

‘It’ll take more than that to open up Karak Eight Peaks,’ said Haldora. ‘Just as it’ll take more than some scrawny goblins to get the better of Ekrund. I tell you, we’ve never been safer since the end of the war.’

‘And you would know, would you?’ said Skraffi. He pulled out a pipe from his pack and lit it. After a few puffs he turned back to Haldora. ‘There’s no need to be frightened of anything, I know. I’m not saying we should be running about like our beards are on fire. But folks are getting complacent again. Soft. Like your father, so busy worrying about the treasury door he’s leaving the gates open.’

‘I don’t agree with him on everything, Grammi, but I know he’s looking after all our interests. Though I’m not ready yet I do want to have children one day and I’d like to know that there’ll be a few coins left in the vaults for them.’

‘It’s no good filling the vault for the goblins, is all I’m saying.’ Skraffi emptied out his pipe and stowed it away. He nodded down the path leading across the mountain ridge into the high meadows. ‘Let’s get honey to make some lovely mead, eh?’

Haldora followed him a short distance behind, pondering Skraffi’s warning. In an ideal world there would be patrols and guards, but her father had made it clear since her earliest years that the world was far from ideal. She felt caught between two worlds. Maybe three.

In her father’s world there was work and gold and duty. That was enough for him, and for her mother. Gabbik had told her countless times that when she had children of her own she would understand just how rewarding it could be to simply provide for their upkeep.

Then there was Skraffi, indulging her flights of fancy, encouraging ambition and independence. Awdhelga had not only trodden her own path, she had battered through a few walls and scaled a couple of mountaintops to get where she wanted to go. Had she also been fighting her father all that time?

And in the middle somewhere was the life that Haldora wanted. Could she be free and dutiful at the same time? Was it possible to raise a family and still be oneself?

Most of all, Haldora wondered just how much of her future would be left up to her to define. Events could make a mockery of all plans and ambitions. It was tempting to ignore her grandfather’s misgivings about orcs and goblins on the rise, but she had too much respect for him to dismiss them entirely. Skraffi’s vague but dire predictions seemed out of character for a dwarf who was so optimistic about everything else. A pessimist would have given up on the meadery for a start.

They reached the meadow a short way down the path, bordered on two sides by the wooded slopes, the south and west dropping away through a tumble of rocky ridges all the way into the next valley. Skraffi had thirty hives here, right in the middle of the pastureland and wild trees where there were flowers aplenty for his bees.

There was also a little stone shed, with one window and a slanted roof of timber over which had been stretched tarred leather for a waterproof coating. Haldora accompanied Skraffi into the outhouse, dumping the pack on a table just inside the door.

Everything inside was haphazard – shelves filled with all manner of bits of string, chain, small broken knives, ceramic pots, blobs of grey putty and numerous blankets, scarves and floppy-brimmed hats stuffed in various corners and wedged under things. But amongst the anarchy was a small square of organised space, in which Skraffi sat down on a small stool. There was a wooden crate under one of the teetering shelves, which he pulled out and started to rummage through.

He said something, waggling a finger in the direction of the other end of the shed, but his voice was so muffled by box and beard that Haldora couldn’t understand him.

‘What was that?’

‘Fetch me that firebox, Haldi,’ said Skraffi, pulling himself out. ‘And there’s some dried leaves in a sack over by the window.’

‘It’s Haldora,’ she replied, seeking out the objects as directed. The firebox was small enough to fit into her palm, about as deep as her thumb, made of tin, heavily dented and scratched. She checked the flint and it sparked nicely. Fetching out the sack of leaves, she handed the firebox to Skraffi and stepped towards the window.

‘It’s a good spot,’ she said, looking out. The glass was thick and filled with air bubbles – discards from the bottle plant, she realised, but it was clean, and beyond she could see down one of the vales and had a good view of the majesty of the mountains to the north. Out of sight was the coast, and in her mind’s eye, recalling the maps Gramma Awdie had shown her as a youngster, she moved up the seashore to the gulf at the top of the Dragonback Peaks. Further still Blood River emptied into the gulf where the Barak Varr stood, its massive sea gates guarding the largest ships of the dwarf empire.

Dwarfs were not much for travelling on water, using the rivers only as needed and the sea even more rarely. It was hard to believe that huge galleys and triremes from Barak Varr had patrolled the coast, clashing with elven hawkships and merwyrms. That was about the closest Ekrund had come to actual battle – most of its warriors marched to the defence of Barak Varr but had seen no fighting in the Dragonbacks themselves.

‘If the elves never reached Ekrund, what makes you worry the orcs will?’ she asked, turning to Skraffi. ‘I mean, the elves had ships and dragons. What’ve orcs got?’

‘Wyverns,’ grunted Skraffi. He was stuffing leaves into a funnel-shaped contraption, about the size of a helmet. When Haldora looked more closely she saw it actually was a helmet, with a length of pipe inserted into the top and a leather bag riveted on the bottom.

Skraffi stood up and placed the helmet-device to one side. He threw a long scarf to Haldora and started to wrap another around his face. He pulled it down for a moment to speak.

‘And the elves came from all across the world. Orcs are just a few days march away, even if the rangers don’t see them.’

‘Hiding, are they?’ said Haldora.

‘They can be clever, you know. And if there’s anything more dangerous than an orc, it’s an orc that can think a little.’

Haldora snorted at the thought and wrapped her face with the scarf, leaving only her eyes uncovered. She rammed on the wide-brimmed hat that Skraffi threw to her next and pulled on a set of heavy gauntlets she found drooped over the edge of a shelf. At a gesture from Skraffi she picked up a pile of blankets and pushed her way towards the door, her face already starting to prickle with sweat.

Outside she let the blankets drop to the ground and rolled them out with her foot while Skraffi busied himself with his helmet-machine and firebox. Soon a thin dribble of smoke was leaking from the pipe in the helmet.

They picked up a blanket between them and walked over to the closest hives. The two of them lifted the blanket overhead like a roof, and then Skraffi started to let smoke pour from the helmet, dousing the bee colonies with grey fumes.

Haldora fought the urge to close her eyes as bees by the score swarmed from the hives, convinced that their colonies were on fire. Skraffi motioned with his head and they set aside the blanket. Haldora hurried back to the shed to fetch the specially lined crates Skraffi stored there for taking the honeycomb. By the time she had returned he had opened up the first hive and was removing the delicate produce of the bees’ labour.

Careful not to break a corner or spill a drop of honey, Skraffi moved the honeycomb into one of the crates while Haldora went to fetch more. She had just stepped out of the shed with another crate in her hands when she saw Skraffi hurrying towards her, waving her back.

‘What is it?’ she called out, but the scarf muffled everything she said.

Skraffi knocked the crates out of her hands and grabbed her sleeve to drag her into the shed. He carefully closed the door behind them and stood with his back to it. He dragged down his scarf and took a long breath.

‘Troll,’ he whispered.

Haldora’s heart leapt at the word, and she quickly freed her face from the wrapping of smoke-smelling wool.

‘Where?’ She moved to the window and peered out, but could see nothing.

‘In the woods. I don’t know if it saw me.’ It was getting murky inside the shed and Skraffi realised he had the smoke-can in hand. He shut it off and placed it on a shelf beside a collection of broken firebox flints.

‘We’ll have to wait it out.’ Haldora leaned as far forward as she could, until she could just see the end of the row of hives to the right, and beyond that the smear of green and brown that was the trees distorted in the glass. There was nothing else there. ‘How can we tell when it’s gone?’

‘The beardlings…’ Skraffi’s eyes widened with alarm. ‘Down the path on the goat pastures and fields. We have to raise the alarm.’

‘How?’ Haldora looked around the shed. The only weapons were a short-handled shovel and the all-purpose knife that hung at her belt, and a small hand axe at Skraffi’s hip. ‘Neither of us is strong enough to fight a troll.’

Skraffi said nothing, deep in thought. A spluttering cough, deep and close, sounded outside, followed by the crack of splintering wood.

‘It’s breaking into the hives,’ said Skraffi. There was desperation in his eyes. ‘We can’t… We need that honey. The meadery… Your father will make me sell up if I can’t at least keep up the brewing.’

‘Is it worth getting killed over? I’ll talk to pa, make sure he doesn’t close the meadery.’

‘He’s just looking for an excuse, mark my words.’

‘You’re still the oldest in this family, he can’t push you around.’ Haldora dropped her voice as she heard snuffling and snorting growing louder. The sound of grotesque chewing could also be heard, slavering jaws mashing raw honeycomb and wood at the same time.

‘Truth is, Awdhelga was always the one in charge. I’m not much for standing up to folks, never have been. I think that’s why she liked me. “Meek, not weak,” she used to say.’

‘Then I’ll stand up for you too,’ said Haldora.

‘It’s no good,’ said Skraffi, turning around, his hand moving to the door latch.

‘What are you going to do?’ snapped Haldora. ‘Shout at it? It’s a troll. We can’t hurt it. We can’t outrun it. We have to hide until it goes away and then try to raise the alarm.’

Something heavy brushed against the door. Haldora froze, heart hammering, as the pad of heavy feet moved around the shed. Skraffi motioned towards the door with an inquiring glance but Haldora shook her head. If the troll came on them in the open they wouldn’t stand a chance and the trees were too far away.

Both of them flinched as something thudded against the stonework. A long rasping filled the shed as claws were dragged down the roof, in places splitting the wood. Haldora moved to the other side of Skraffi and started looking over the shelves and under the tables, desperate to find something, anything that could help.

‘Oh dear.’

She looked up at Skraffi’s subdued exclamation to see a flat grey face and gigantic eye peering in at the window.

‘Stay still,’ she told him. It was not that bright inside the outhouse and from what she could remember trolls had poor eyesight. The glass was buckled and bubbled enough that perhaps it wouldn’t see them.

The troll turned its head to switch eyes. It was massive, bending almost double to look inside the dwarf shed. She saw shoulders flexing and a hand crashed onto the roof. The troll pushed its head closer, smearing the windows with saliva, snot and honey. The wooden frame creaked and Haldora darted a look of alarm at Skraffi.

‘Fixed the jamb meself,’ he said with a confident nod. ‘It’ll take more than…’

His voice drifted away and Haldora looked back at the window. The frame was buckling, the individual pieces of glass rattling as the monster let out heavy breaths.

‘You go,’ said Skraffi. He stepped away from the door. ‘I’ll keep it occupied here. You make a run to warn the youngsters and get to the tower at Funnock’s Elbow.’

‘No!’ Haldora thrust a hand out to push Skraffi back from the window but it was too late.

The troll gave an intrigued grunt and slapped a hand to the glass. Wood fractured and part of the frame gave way on the right. Thick fingers with broken claws pushed through the gap, scraping at the stone sill.

Haldora couldn’t stand it anymore. She dragged out her knife and lunged forward, burying it to the hilt in the back of the troll’s hand. It greeted the attack with a bemused grunt and pulled its hand free. Haldora clung onto the knife, dragging it out of the troll as the hand withdrew. Brownish blood dripped onto the shelf below the window and seeped down the pages of a tattered book on bee-keeping.

With a roar that almost threw Haldora from her feet in shock and fear, the troll slammed two fists against the window. The frame gave way, showering glass and wood fragments over the two dwarfs within. A hand reached for Haldora – the back of it sporting a freshly healed scar, she noticed as it swept the room, seeking anything to grab.

She ducked under the swiping paw and rolled to the base of the shelf. Skraffi backed as far into the corner as he could, his small axe in hand, teeth bared in a snarl. More glass crashed to the floor as the troll forced in the rest of its arm to the shoulder, broad head wedged in the gap beside it. Haldora couldn’t stop a shriek as a clawed hand waved just in front of her face, yellowed talons scraping at the wood of the shelf, dislodging knick-knacks and cracking pottery dishes and bowls.

She turned onto all fours and scampered rat-like along the floor, heading for a wider gap under the shelves where she had pulled out the honeycomb crates earlier. The troll tried to push even more of itself through the hole left by the broken window. Stone scraped on stone and the lintel above the window shifted.

‘The whole blummin’ lot will come down,’ growled Skraffi. Haldora recognised the wild look in his eye and knew she had to act now before her grandfather did something she would regret for what little remained of her life.

She knew from the tales of Grimnir that trolls didn’t like fire because they couldn’t regenerate wounds inflicted by flame. Spying the smoke-maker on the floor between her and Skraffi she dived for the old helmet. She stood up and for a moment came face to face with the troll. Its eyes were yellow and bloodshot, each as big as her fist. Its nose was almost squashed into its face, the mouth a gash with finger-long fangs and broken stubs. There were dozens of cuts from the glass and streaks of honey across its lips. Bits of tarred leather and wood from the roof were stuck to its shoulder and upper arm.

She smashed the smoke-maker into the troll’s chin with a dull clang and opened the valve to full, letting a plume of thick smoke billow into the troll’s face.

With a hooting bellow, the troll reared back, dragging itself out of the shed, taking the remnants of the window frame with it. Haldora saw it thrashing at the smoke, coughing and retching as it backed away from the cloud emanating from the outhouse.

‘Now run for it, lass!’ said Skraffi. ‘I’ll keep its attention while you head for the path.’

‘No.’ Haldora didn’t shout, or snap, or snarl the word. She simply said it with such conviction that it made Skraffi blink in surprise. ‘Nobody is dying today. Not me, and certainly not you.’

She threw the smoke-maker out onto the pasture, still puffing out fitful clouds. Knowing that although trolls were notoriously stupid it would not be long before the creature realised there was no actual fire, she delved under the junk-laden tables and dragged out a bucket of tar she had seen as she had rolled on the floor earlier.

Fixing her eyes on the troll she searched with her spare hand until her fingers fell upon the firebox. The monster was approaching again, a darker shadow in the smoke, pulled up to its full height. Placing the firebox on the sill in front of her, still working by touch alone, Haldora shovelled handfuls of dried leaves into the tar.

‘Get its attention, Grammi,’ she said, gripping the pail with both hands.

‘Aye, Haldi,’ he replied, moving up beside her. He cupped hands to his mouth and shouted. ‘You hairless excuse for a monster! I’ve seen elves with bigger muscles! You are so ugly you–‘

With a slobbering yowl, the troll lurched into the shed, a fist battering through the roof, head and shoulders ramming through the window, lifting the lintel.

Haldora threw the pitch and leaves and the bucket into the troll’s face as a clawed hand closed on Skraffi’s shoulder. Snatching up the firebox, she struck the flint and thrust the tiny flame into the creature’s left eye.

The tar lit up like a feast-day lantern. Haldora snatched her hand away, as did the troll. Skraffi stumbled back while the troll tried to straighten, unleashing a deafening howl. As it pulled itself upright the troll smashed its head into the remains of the roof, its nobbled back and shoulders finally bringing down the lintel. A few stones fell inside but the bulk of the wall collapsed onto the troll as it retreated. Head burning like a Karag Dron candle, the monster stumbled left and right, slapping at its face and pawing dirt from the ground in an attempt to quench the flame.

‘Haldora. It’s Haldora.’

‘Right you are, my lass,’ said Skraffi. Tiny wisps of smoke lifted from his singed beard. ‘I think we should run now.’

She looked at the troll, which was still wandering in circles, yelping and moaning, and knew that though hurt it would not die so easily. A party would have to be sent out to hunt it down and they still needed to make sure the youngsters in the fields and pastures were safe.

‘Yes, now we run.’

They set off towards the path at a brisk trot, glancing over their shoulders. The troll rammed its head repeatedly into the remains of the shed, as if this would somehow alleviate the burning. Haldora was grateful to feel the crunch of gravel under her boots as they reached the track, though there was still a long way to go until she would consider them safe.

‘A troll… in the high pastures… in summer,’ said Skraffi between puffing breaths. ‘Goblin ambushes and… now this. That’s not a good… omen at all. Not one bit.’

CHAPTER FIVE

‘At first the Angboks and their allies set up farms in the wildlands to the south, and dug a few open pits where they found small quantities of ore. It was nowhere near as grand a life as in Karak Eight Peaks, but they were folk easily pleased with their own space and time, and the Rinkeldraz thanes didn’t boss anybody around or get ideas above themselves.

Barley was sown and harvested, among other crops, and beer was brewed and a few watermills were built along Blind River to make flour. The wildlands back then were called that because of all the flowers and grasses, not because of orcs and goblins. That would come later. For the time the colony fared well if not exceptionally, and news went back to Karak Eight Peaks of this with the wagons of beer.

It was perhaps at this time that the Angboks and the others started getting a reputation, living on the plains and farming rather than mining, but they didn’t care. And there were other clans that thought this seemed a good idea. This was back before the war with the elves, of course, and the plains dwarfs had much dealing with the folk of Ulthuan, before the Great Betrayal.

More folk grew the colony over the years, and they all bided the rules of the Rinkeldraz and other clans that had come before and it was a nice time for all. But things can’t stay like that forever, not with more folk trying to grow the same thing and build their own mills and brew their own beer, and soon the Angboks realised that they hadn’t gotten away from anything. They spoke to the Rinkeldraz thanes and a few others and it was decided to keep heading west again, all the way to the mountains this time, leaving the newcomers to enjoy the fruits of the plains.’

Skraffi’s warnings, that the appearance of a troll signified far worse events to come, fell on deaf ears. Such occurrences were rare, especially at such a bountiful time of year when most trolls could find plenty to eat without daring dwarf lands, but they were not without precedent. Gabbik, at the urging of Haldora, persuaded the council of thanes to send a few patrols into the woods, though nobody found the troll. There were even a few whispers that Skraffi had made up the story to generate interest in his mead, though nobody ever said this to his face, nor mentioned why Haldora would support such an outlandish tale. After that, everybody hoped their lives could return to normal.

Gabbik, like any sensible dwarf, was never really ready to believe anything until he had seen it with his own eyes or heard it with his own ears, or at least spoken with another dwarf who had first-hand experience. News of turmoil in the old mountains to the north seemed a distant concern, especially with new seams opening every day and the trading season with Karak Eight Peaks, Barak Varr, Karak Izril and Karak Azul about to reach its peak period. He was a voice of reason, warning everybody against over-reaction, urging them to keep to their work at the gold seam.

Concerns for other parts of the dwarf realm were brought back into sharp focus when proof of the disaster at Karak Varn arrived with the first survivors. They were guided to Ekrund by goat herders, traders, troll hunters and rangers, a few at first but growing in number as spring became summer. The Ekrundfolk had a reputation for being insular, but the king ordered that the chambers and halls of the Dragonbacks were opened to any that needed respite and refuge.

Friedra, in her role as matron of Valaya for the Angboks, volunteered to be amongst those standing ready to provide comfort and assistance to the arriving refugees, and Haldora pledged herself to help her mother. They received word one evening, not long before sunset, that a group of Karak Varn exiles would be arriving at the East Gate shortly, and that some were in a particularly bad way. Mother and daughter hurried to the gate hall attended by a coterie of younger nieces and nephews with blankets filled with more blankets, ale, bread and small comforts like beard combs and jellied mushrooms.

Haldora left her mother to supervise the unloading of these wares and made her way up the winding staircase to the watchtower overlooking the eastern approach. The sky was clear, sprayed with stars, the white moon low on the horizon and now the rising of the red moon. In the starlight the road glittered like a river, winding back and forth down the eastern flank of Mount Bloodhorn. In the last dying purple light of the day Haldora could see a broken column of figures moving up the road, several dozen dwarfs led by a pair of rangers carrying gleaming blue lanterns.

Much further out, beyond the light of the lamps, she could see the dim glow of flames in the far distance – campfires out in the wildlands of those still on their way. In places they looked like ruddy reflections of the constellations above.

‘How many is that?’ Haldora asked, turning her attention to the gatekeeper standing guard in the niche beside her. His beard reached his waist with broad streaks of grey – a veteran of several centuries.

‘Two hundred, maybe a few more,’ the dwarf replied. He set his axe on the rampart in front of them and stroked his hand down his beard. ‘Word is there are at least as many again still out in the wildlands.’

‘Four hundred folk. Little ones too,’ Haldora added, seeing children amongst the refugees, a few of them so young they were being carried by mothers or fathers. They were less than a stone’s throw from the gate now, and Haldora could see some of the new arrivals were hurt, limping or with arms in slings, heads bandaged. A few dwarfs were coming out of the gate, bearing cups and kettles of mulled ale. Steam curled from the pots and a babble of grateful voices rose to meet them. ‘I best go back down. See what we can do.’

‘Patch them up and send them on, I reckon,’ said the guard. Haldora subjected him to a scowl but he was unrepentant. ‘Troublemakers, mark my words. I have cousins still in Karak Eight Peaks. Said that when them that was escaping Karak Ungor came there was anarchy – not enough beds, beer, fuel.‘

‘There are enough beds here, and as much fuel and beer as is needed,’ said Haldora, heading back down the steps.

The first refugees had crossed the threshold by the time Haldora had descended to the gate hall. A few gatekeepers looked on, hammers at the ready, watching for any trouble, but most of the dwarfs were there to welcome the exiles with hot drinks and food. Such gifts were gratefully accepted.

Haldora broke stonebread into manageable chunks and handed them out while one of her cousins ladled soup into wooden bowls. An aging female dwarf wrapped in a thick red shawl approached holding the hands of two youngsters who could not have been more than nine or ten years old apiece. There was a look in the grandmother’s eyes that Haldora had never seen before, a blankness as though completely devoid of emotion. The children’s expressions were easier to read: fear.

‘Come, sit down awhile,’ said Haldora, putting the bread aside to lay a few blankets on the floor. The children flopped down with sighs but their guardian remained alert, eyes roaming around the gate hall. ‘You’re safe now.’

The old dwarf’s eyes snapped to Haldora’s, bright and cold blue, so piercing, so different from the warm gaze of Gramma Awdie.

‘Safe?’ The word came in a harsh whisper. ‘Safe? Safe for now, you mean.’

‘Safe, for as long as you want to stay,’ said Friedra, who brought over two bowls of broth and spoons and gave them to the children. The infants started to wolf down their food until a sharp word from the elderly dwarf slowed them.

‘Your grandchildren look tired, but well enough,’ Haldora said.

‘Not my grandchildren,’ said the old dwarf. She nodded thanks as Friedra fetched another bowl of soup and then she sat down with the children.

‘Whose are they? Are their parents here?’ Haldora asked, looking around to see if any other dwarfs were looking for the children.

‘Don’t know. Found ‘em on the south shore of the lake, in the camp. Nobody else was paying ‘em any mind so I figured to watch out for ‘em.’

‘That was very good of you,’ said Friedra. ‘It must have been frightening, and confusing. There’s others that would have just looked to themselves.’

‘Aye, there were some, but not many.’

She fell silent for a little while and ate. Haldora turned her attention to other new arrivals, some of them injured, some drawn and fatigued.

‘More?’ Haldora asked when she saw that the old dwarf had finished her soup.

‘There’ll be plenty more that need it,’ the other dwarf replied with a shake of her head. ‘There couldn’t have been more than a thousand reached Barak Varr before us but the gates was closed. We had nothing. They gave us pots and fish and some faggots of wood but there was no more room we was told. I don’t know if those that came after were able to get even that. When the waters came in it was like the sluice gate of a mill opening. The lower deeps was drowned in just a few days. Terrible it was. Terrible.’

‘How many?’ asked Haldora. The old dwarf looked at her sharply, misunderstanding. ‘How many more are following?’

‘Most went south, right down the mountains towards Karak Eight Peaks and Karak Drazh and around them parts.’ She motioned towards a particularly burly-looking dwarf standing talking to one of the gatekeepers under the shadow of the gatehouse itself. ‘That’s Thane Broddi, said we’d do better crossing the wildlands and coming to the Dragonbacks. Plenty of room to settle in at Ekrund he said. Welcoming folk, he reckoned. Seemed a sensible plan at the time.’

‘He’s not wrong,’ said Friedra.

‘He didn’t reckon on the greenskins though, did he?’ The dwarf’s expression turned sour. She looked at the youngsters, who were dozing on the blanket on either side of her, and dropped her voice. ‘Goblins found us about ten days ago. Been trying to pick off small groups. Thane Borrick took a party out hunting one night, never came back. And orcs, big ones, attacked the camp just the day before yesterday. That’s why we got so many hurt.’

‘Day before yesterday?’ Haldora couldn’t believe the news. ‘You must have been on the road by then, in the eastern hills. There’s no orcs there this time of year.’

‘Tell that to Farrin, and Drokki, and Goldhaf, and them others what are dead on the road.’

‘How many more?’ Friedra asked, taking up the question that the old dwarf had ignored. ‘How many more are coming to Ekrund?’

‘Three, maybe four thousand. Pretty much all that is left.’

Haldora clamped a hand over her mouth. It seemed like a lot of people to come at once, and suddenly she realised how difficult it would be to accommodate such a number. The thanes at Barak Varr had probably been right to move on the refugees. Her shock increased as she considered how few dwarfs had escaped Karak Varn. She didn’t know for sure how big the lakeside hold had grown, but it had to be at least a hundred thousand dwarfs or more. Some would have gone to Karak Kadrin or Karaz-a-Karak, and some to Barak Varr, but at most perhaps twenty thousand had escaped – less than a fifth of the Varnfolk.

In comparison Ekrund was relatively small, with only fifty thousand dwarfs living and toiling in its tunnels. Increasing the number of mouths to feed by a tenth in a short time would push resources to breaking limit. Haldora met Friedra’s gaze and saw that her mother had been thinking the same thing.

‘Best not to worry about that yet, eh?’ Friedra said quietly. ‘There’s folks enough here that needs our help. We’ll have to wait to see what King Erstukar and the thanes decide.’

‘They better decide quickly,’ said Haldora, but she knew such councils were rarely swift to conclude.

Haldora’s misgivings were proven wrong in one regard – it took less than three days for the king to announce he would convene the council of thanes to discuss the issue of the Karak Varn refugees. Gabbik was invited as representative of Clan Angbok, and with him went Nakka’s father Vadlir, head of the Troggklads, and a few other longbeards including Skraffi.

It was no quick matter to attend the king’s summons. The Angboks’ mines had pushed far to the south-west of the central halls, leaving at least a two-day hike under the mountains until they reached the chambers of the mighty Rinkeldraz clan in the northern reaches of Ekrund. They set out after the morning digging shift following the king’s missive, each with a pack of supplies to keep them fed and watered. Gabbik was slightly suspicious of the bottles clinking in Skraffi’s bag but made no inquiries – the best would be that it was bottles of mead for the old-timer; the worst would be that he was carrying bottles of mead to offer to the king…

They made good progress, talking little, but there were some pre-council discussions to formulate the opinion of the Angboks and Troggklads. The consensus was that space could be made in the southern deeps, but the refugees would have to turn disused workings into habitable chambers – dig window-shafts and fire chimneys, install lanterns and apply some masonry skills to rough-hewn mine tunnels. Gabbik had also consulted with the Miners’ Society and along with his fellow thanes had agreed to loan tools and equipment to the refugees on a preferential interest-free system for the next ten years, until they had established themselves. After that they would be charged only depreciation fees and build costs, backdated for the decade. This generosity, he hoped, would be matched by the king and leaders of other clans and mining organisations, not to mention the Brewers’ Guild, the Engineers’ Guild, the temples and the royal vaults. Skraffi had remained pointedly silent when Gabbik had announced this proposal, but the other thanes were more than happy to adopt a similar position for the sake of unity.

They stayed the first night in the halls of the Gorblanz clan, related to the Angboks through marriage on Friedra’s great-grandmother’s side. As was customary on such visits, Gabbik and the others were feasted and toasted with no expense spared, while Gabbik gifted their hosts with a stunning ruby-inlaid tankard set and a rune-spoon that had once belonged to King Fardar of Karak Eight Peaks. The exact properties of the spoon’s runic inscription had been lost since its creation but Gabbik swore that whenever he used it, his soup was always just the right temperature, not too hot to start and never getting too cold no matter how long since it had been served.

Old stories frequently swapped were swapped again. Vadlir, something of a bard in his youth and still possessing a passable singing voice, regaled the Gorblanz elders with a poem telling of the recent goblin raid by Gabbik and the others. Gabbik was a little disheartened to hear his part in the expedition covered in barely a verse while Stofrik’s escapades filled five. An almost blow-by-blow account of Nakka’s involvement comprised the remaining forty-eight verses.

Final drinks were had, breakfast plans made and finally a little after the lamps were doused at midnight, Gabbik lay his head on his grit-filled pillow and got some sleep. They woke early the next morning, stirred by a lifetime of shifts down the mines. The window-shafts were still dark in the pre-dawn gloom but the folk of the Gorblanz clan were up and about too, stoking the fires and laying out the long banquet table for a breakfast send off that would ensure nobody doubted their hospitality. Their thanes, Snodruk and Gotan, joined the expedition as it set out with bellies full of porridge, eggs and bacon, beards still spattered with goat’s milk.

A similar turn of events repeated itself at lunchtime with the Skallarssons, and the following night in the chambers of the Nordekkers. By the time Gabbik and his companions found themselves at the Central Hall their group numbered twenty-three.

Only two or three times a year did Gabbik come to central Ekrund, usually on Miners’ Society business. It changed very little, having been delved beneath the Dragonbacks some fifteen hundred years earlier. The Central Hall was square, nearly a thousand paces to a side, the ceiling ten times the height of a dwarf and held up by marble pillars of deep red and blue. Unusually for a dwarf hall, the ceiling was four domes that blistered out onto the surface, each split by twenty long, narrow windows that allowed sun and moon to light proceedings below.

The floor was an immense mosaic of tiles each no bigger than a thumbnail. The design shifted from pictorial representations of the ancestors to geometric patterns, runic instructions and more illustrations of forge scenes and miners at work. Gangs of beardlings were at work replacing damaged tiles; the tip-a-tip-tap of their small hammers provided the background rhythm to the hubbub of several hundred dwarfs passing through.

Benches made of ancient wutruth tree – brought from the old mountains because it would not grow in the Dragonbacks – stretched along the centre of the hall in a cross, and many dwarfs were sat on the buttock-polished wood smoking, talking, eating sandwiches or boiled eggs and generally relaxing. Pedlars with bootblack, hot sausages, metal polish, ale, souvenir cups, gold and silver torqs and rings, different ales, spiced kuri, small beers, troll-bone beard comb, goblin-bone toothpicks and orc-skull chamber pots – anything and everything that could be easily carried on a tray around a dwarf’s neck or trundled on a handbarrow.

‘Seems busier than I remember,’ said Skraffi. He looked up and Gabbik followed his gaze. There were red and black and green and purple streamers hung between the pillars. ‘And they weren’t there neither.’

‘King Erstukar’s birthday soon,’ said Gotan Gorblanz. ‘Getting everything ready for the big five-oh-oh.’

‘Kruk!’ said Gabbik. ‘Damn my beard, I’d almost forgotten. Skraffi, remind me about a gift for the king when we get back. Not that we can afford much, mind you.’ Skraffi opened his mouth but Gabbik recognised the look in his eye and cut him off. ‘And we’re not giving him mead. Something small but well-crafted. There’s a ladle went with that rune-spoon if I remember right.’

‘You can’t pass off an old heirloom ladle to the king on his five hundredth birthday,’ grumbled Skraffi. ‘And I tell you what, you can’t think of nothing he hasn’t got already. Mark me words, lad, there ain’t another thane in Ekrund would present the king with mead.’

‘There’s a reason for that,’ said Gabbik. The thought of having to pay for something else, or give away one of the treasures locked in the clan vault, sent a tremor of unease through Gabbik. He had been prudent for all these years, careful never to invite too many thanes to visit, always bearing down on the mining costs and the domestic expenses. He hadn’t done that for fun, and he certainly hadn’t done it to blow a small fortune trying to impress other thanes with the expense of his gift to the king. ‘What does the king want with gold and diamonds, anyway? He’s got more than enough of them. Bronze is coming back, I hear say. Very undervalued at the moment, is bronze. And tin. Versatile it is, good for plenty of jobs. I bet the king would like nothing better than to not have to worry about losing all them silver and gold and electrum tobacco boxes he has. A nice tin tobacco box, that he can squash and scratch, put down where he wants, not need guarding every moment, that’s a fine gift. A small one, fits in a waistcoat pocket, like.’

Skraffi shook his head and stomped off into the crowds.

‘It’s busy, what with the council,’ said Vadlir as they shouldered their way through the throng, trying not to bump packs with other new arrivals.

They made their way across the concourse of the Central Hall to where three tall arches led north. One passage went down, another up, and the third stayed on the same level.

‘Going up,’ Skraffi said, heading to the leftmost archway. ‘Want to get a seat.’

‘No, we go down to the king’s hall, on the floor,’ said Gabbik. ‘I want to be there with the chancellors and the royal thanes and the other important folk, not shouting down like some common shift overseer.’

‘Nothing wrong with being a shift overseer,’ muttered one of the dwarfs behind Gabbik. He ignored the comment.

‘This is a chance for the name of the Angboks to be remembered. The king will want to see a greybeard like you amongst his closest counsellors.’

For a while it looked as though Skraffi was going to be stubborn. He glared at Gabbik from under a beetling brow, arms crossed. Eventually he sighed and headed towards the central arch, which led down to the main halls of Ekrund.

As the Angbok chambers were different from mine delving, so Ekrund proper was different from the halls of the Angboks. Not a passage was less than thrice the height of a dwarf and broad enough for five to walk abreast. Arches, stairs and ramps led to hallways, galleries and grand chambers. The stone was polished smooth, in some places etched with designs, in others left to allow the natural beauty of the rock to show. Embroidered banners hung on the walls, while golden ancestors’ faces and brightly painted ceramic helm-masks decorated columns and archways.

It took the better part of the remaining day to reach the halls of the king, having passed through the increasingly flamboyant realms of the thanes. Their surroundings became even more ornate and extravagant the further towards the royal chambers they progressed.

‘Show-offs,’ snorted Gabbik as they were stopped at an inner gate, four times their height, gilded and embossed to show the first settlers of Ekrund digging into the mountain. There was a smaller door inside the left-hand gate and beside it a door warden with a heavy hammer held in both hands, covered almost tip-to-toe in mail and plate armour so that only his oiled beard and dark eyes could be seen amongst the polished iron and gold. A red cloak trimmed with bear fur completed the uniform.

‘Name,’ said the door warden.

‘Gabbik Angbok.’

‘You need to be upstairs, on the western promenade gallery,’ the dwarf replied without hesitation. ‘Only royal thanes allowed on the floor today.’

‘That’s preposterous,’ said Gabbik. ‘I’m Vice-Treasurer of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society. That merits a presence on the floor. Angbok. You need to check.’

‘Treasurer of the Ekrund Miners’ Social Welfare Society?’ the guard asked, rummaging underneath his cloak until he produced a rolled-up piece of parchment.

‘Vice-Treasurer of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society.’

The guard hummed a slow refrain while he rolled through the scroll. He reached the end and cocked an eye to Gabbik.

‘Name’s not on the list.’

‘Must be some mistake.’

‘Possible. Happened before.’ The door warden rubbed his bearded chin with a heavily gauntleted hand. ‘Show me your summons.’

Gabbik heaved off his pack and opened one of the side pockets to pull out the waxed paper envelope containing the summons from the king. He handed it to the guard and stood up, chest puffed out. ‘I’ll think you find that clears up this misunderstanding.’

‘Certainly does,’ said the guard. He waved the opened letter in front of Gabbik, almost tickling his nose with the trail of blue ribbon that had been affixed with the king’s stamp. ‘Red is for the floor. Blue is for the galleries. Sorry.’

‘Like this one?’ Gabbik turned in horror as Skraffi strode up, brandishing his red-sealed letter like a battleaxe. ‘Red ribbon, right?’

The door warden looked at the summons and nodded. ‘That’ll do fine.’

‘What about my… retainers?’ Skraffi asked, looking back at Gabbik and his companions.

‘Retainers?’ Gabbik almost choked. There were other protests from his fellow thanes.

‘No retainers, servants, menials, factotums, lorebearers, advocates, maids, nurses, agents, representatives, hangers-on or personal chefs,’ said the door warden.

Skraffi leaned close to the guard, looking askance at him. ‘Is your captain still Thundred Norbrocker? Thundred of the Four Dozen Blades?’

‘Aye, he is,’ said the guard. ‘How do you know Thundred?’

‘I was one of the Four Dozen Blades too,’ Skraffi said. He smoothed back his unruly mop of hair to show a scar that ran from just beside his right eye and past the ear – the top of which had been lopped off. ‘A bolt from an elven engine at the Second Battle of Griffa Ridge. You couldn’t let Thundred know an old pal is here, could you?’

The guard turned away and opened a small slot in the lesser door. There was an exchange of whispers and then the slot was slammed shut.

‘He’ll see what he can do,’ explained the guard. ‘The captain’s been run off his feet this last couple of days, what with the refugees and the council and all that.’

‘He’ll remember me,’ said Skraffi.

‘I’m sure he will,’ said Gabbik.

There were benches along the walls for waiting petitioners so the dwarfs took off their packs and sat down. One of the Skallarssons produced a portable oil-burning stove and very soon there was a pot of tea on the brew. Gabbik was torn; the longer they had to wait, the bigger the disappointment would be when they were eventually turned away, but a good cup of tea needed plenty of time to get strong enough – often half a day or more.

He noticed Vadlir reading a well-thumbed book. It was almost a pamphlet really, a few dozen pages. The cover was plain except for a coloured etching of a painted candle. He couldn’t make out the title from the angle he was sitting.

‘That from those new printworks?’ Gabbik asked.

‘What?’ Vadlir seemed to surface from his reading like a dwarf emerging from his bath waters. ‘Aye, that it is. Very neat type it is too.’

‘What is it?’ asked Gabbik, craning his head to see the front cover.

‘Some story or other my Nakka got from your Haldora. It’s about a dwarf from Karaz-a-Karak who goes to fight in the last siege of Tor Alessi, and there he meets a maiden from Karak Eight Peaks, but they lose each other in the battle.’

‘A saga? Printed?’ Gabbik found the whole notion very strange. ‘But what will the bards and soothsayers do if we start writing down sagas and histories?’

‘It’s not a real saga,’ Vadlir said with a chuckle. ‘It’s a story, a tale.’

‘Made up? What’s the point of wasting good ink and paper on a story what’s been made up?’

‘You should read it. Very moving.’

Gabbik plucked it from the grasp of the other dwarf, ignoring his protests, and read out the title. ‘On a Far Field. What by the King of Zhufbar does that mean? What name is that for a saga? What’s the name of this dwarf that goes to Tor Alessi?’

‘Dofbar Gunbardin. Why?’

‘Should be called The Saga of Dofbar Gunbardin and his Potential Romantic Encounters at Tor Alessi. That’s a proper name for a saga.’

‘Give it here,’ said Vadlir, snatching back the book. ‘It’s more about the lass, Ardent Lokstrik.’

‘Ardent Lokstrik?’ Gabbik’s voice rose with his incredulity. He puffed out a breath and deepened his tone. ‘What kind of name is Ardent? Sounds elfy to me.’

‘Oh forget it, you grumpy sod.’ Vadlir turned his back and carried on reading, book held protectively close to his chest.

Gabbik sat in silence until he heard the scrape of a bar being lifted behind the great gates. The smaller door opened to reveal an elderly dwarf whose beard was so long it reached down to his waist and once about it, so that the two braids were tied like a belt beneath the bulge of his mail coat. He carried a hammer as tall as himself, inlaid with silver and gold and precious stones. Runes glittered on his helm and gauntlets.

‘Thundred!’ roared Skraffi, surging to his feet. The venerable captain of the door wardens turned at the cry, eyes opening in shock. Skraffi grabbed his old war-companion in a hug, slapping a hand repeatedly on his back. ‘Too long, my friend. Too long.’

The captain extricated himself from Skraffi’s grip while the other dwarfs gathered around. Gabbik noticed the door warden at the gate was taking a close interest, and a few helmeted heads bobbed at the open door as those inside darted looks at what was going on.

‘Skraffi Angbok.’ The way Thundred spoke the words it sounded like a curse. ‘I thought you were dead.’

‘Not as such,’ said Skraffi. ‘As you can see.’

‘And you’re here for the king’s council?’

‘Aye, red ribbon and all as befits an esteemed veteran.’

‘So what’s the problem?’ Thundred looked at the crowd of dwarfs behind Skraffi. ‘Who are this lot?’

Skraffi turned and waved Gabbik forward. ‘This is my son, Gabbik. He’s Vice-Treasurer of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society, you know.’

‘Sounds like a sensible lad.’

Gabbik hated being called ‘lad’ by his father and it sounded doubly worse coming from a stranger.

‘Yes, he is. I’ve no idea where he got that from. Wasn’t me or his mother.’

‘Ah, the lovely Awdhelga,’ said Thundred. ‘If ever there was a lass worth cutting your way through a cohort of elves for, she was one.’

‘Gone to the halls now,’ Skraffi said quietly, slipping off his helmet and bowing his head. ‘These past five years.’

‘Sad tidings,’ said Thundred, likewise showing his respects to the shade of the deceased. ‘You know, now and then one of the lads brings up a barrel of that blackbeer for the guard room. A splendid quaff, no mistaking.’

‘I brew mead now,’ Skraffi said, putting his helmet back on. Thundred also returned helm to head. ‘I can send you some of that, free of charge. Once you taste it…’

‘Mead?’ Thundred stepped back, lips curling in distaste. ‘Isn’t that bees’ toilet water?’

‘Nonono! It’s a fine drink, made with honey.’ Skraffi started to fumble at his pack. ‘Here, I’ve got some bottles.’

‘You’re all right, Skraffi.’ Thundred glared at the crowd of dwarfs. ‘Ten of you, no more. You pick. Any sign of trouble and you’ll be out on your beards. Is that clear?’

A chorus of affirmatives greeted this offer. While Skraffi continued his attempt to off-load some of his mead on the door captain, Gabbik and the others formed a huddle for a quick conference. It was decided that the head of each clan could go in, except for the Angboks who already had Skraffi and Gabbik. The younger dwarfs were sent away and told to meet their elders back in the Central Hall once the council was concluded.

When the delegation stepped up, Thundred nodded his approval and with his hammer he struck three times upon a brass plate, much dented, affixed to the left-hand door. With a ponderous groan the doors swung inwards, guided by wheels that fitted to rails in the floor and ceiling.

Feeling a thrill course through him, Gabbik led the group over the threshold and into the king’s halls.

CHAPTER SIX

‘It was about this time that the lord of the Rinkeldraz decided that in order for the plainsfolk to be taken seriously by the mountain dwarfs, they needed to treat on equal terms with them. The thane announced that he should be recognised as king, and, having some royal blood from Karak Eight Peaks by dint of being a second cousin of a prince, thrice removed, there was no greater claim to a crown amongst the plains clans. Even the Grimssons weren’t sure about this, but since everybody had already agreed to listen to the thane anyway, it was decided he might as well call himself king if he liked.

So King Ordorin was the first of our kings, though it made little difference. The royalty in the old mountains would call him the Wild King when he wasn’t around, and the elves didn’t care one bit because they thought us strange folk for having more than one king already – another made no difference to them one way or the other.

But it made the plains dwarfs feel better about what they were doing and who they were, because they were good folk at heart and knew that a king was the right thing to have. Having a king made the clans feel as if they were all part of the same people and they soon had a name: Urbarvornfolk. They started to build towers in the plains, and a road back to Karak Eight Peaks, to help with the trading and to bring materials from the old hold out to their homes more easily.

King Ordorin was not the smartest dwarf in the wildlands, but he was smart enough to know as much and so founded the council of the king to help him make the hard decisions.

The first hard decision he made was for everyone to stop mucking about with windmills and boats and farms, and to get on with moving to the mountains where some good honest mining could start.’

The last time Gabbik had been inside the lower chambers of the king’s halls had been as part of a delegation from the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society. He had been a lowly deputy subscriptions collector, fortunate enough to win the annual lottery to take part in the excursion. When he became treasurer he would be a permanent member of the representative group and gaining admission with Skraffi was a timely opportunity to get his bearings and make a few contacts to take back to the Society.

Directly within the outer gates the king’s halls were not so different from the rest of central Ekrund. The corridors were broad and high, decorated with hangings between broad-timbered doorways and arches. Door wardens stood at most of these exits to stop visitors straying into parts of the king’s domain in which they would not be welcome and to provide directions to dwarfs visiting for the first time.

Skraffi seemed to know where he was going, leading the group along tunnels and round turnings as though they were in their own halls.

‘You know, we could look around a bit,’ suggested Gabbik. ‘No hurry to get to the audience hall.’

‘You were the one keen to get a good seat,’ replied Skraffi. ‘Don’t want you to start moaning that we’re stuck at the back, do I?’

Gabbik could hardly argue with such reasoning and so followed in his father’s wake along with the others. He was aware of more groups in front and behind them, some of them clustered around icons or banners on poles declaring their clan or organisation. He saw runes for the Royal Engineers’ Guild, the Council Fathers of the Runeworkings, the Western Tower Observation League, the Masonry and Timber Stores Functionary, even the Matchmakers’ Apprenticed Commission, and many others from across the hold. As well as a few variations on the Rinkeldraz emblem – the king’s own clan – Gabbik also took note of ancestor masks and woven pennants belonging to the Skalfsars, the Akunburks, a golden icon of the almost mythically wealthy Forbesons and the dragon pelt banner of the Harkenthraks.

‘Perhaps we should have brought the Angbok colours,’ he suggested, feeling somewhat insecure amongst the pageantry on display.

‘Not to worry, lad,’ said Skraffi. ‘If we get into bother I’ve got a hankie with the clan arms sewn on that your mother made for me years ago.’

‘You don’t seem to be taking this council too seriously, father,’ said Gabbik. He flinched as Skraffi directed a stern look at him.

‘Oh, I’m taking this council seriously,’ the older dwarf growled. ‘I’m just not convinced everybody else is. Look at them all, waving their colours and ancestors about like this was a queen’s day parade. Preening like fools rather than worrying about why the king’s brought us here.’

‘Standards have to be maintained,’ said Gabbik.

Skraffi grumbled something and took a sharp left, almost walking into Gabbik. Coming around the junction they were confronted by an antechamber filled with milling dwarfs. Door wardens were relieving the banner bearers of their burdens – some with more difficulty than others – while beardlings in the livery of the king, purple and black, moved through the crowd with chisel-ended pens and pieces of parchment taking name-runes. These were passed to the captain of the gates, who was standing in front of another huge portal, almost twice the size of the outer gates.

On each door was embossed a triumvirate of ancestor faces. At the top was Grungni, below him Valaya and below that Grimnir. The names of the kings of Ekrund were carved in runic form in a list beneath the great ancestors, the last being the current king Erstukar Rinkeldraz. Deep knotwork was etched around the borders and thick bands of gilded metal riveted with diamond-headed studs gave the doors an even more solid feel.

The doors were slightly ajar, wide enough for one dwarf to pass through at a time, and as each did so his name was bellowed to the waiting crowd by a door warden in the cavernous hall beyond. Gabbik could hear the echoing names of those before him still reverberating as they finally came to the front of the queue.

Giving his beard a few strokes to ensure it fell nice and straight and taking a deep breath, Gabbik stepped in to the audience hall as his name was shouted out. He stopped for a moment to take in the experience of entering the main floor of the greatest hall in Ekrund – an experience somewhat disrupted by Snorri Lorkstal pushing into his back from behind and a muttered word to step away from a polite but firm door warden.

It looked different from this angle. Gabbik’s first act was to look up, seeing steeply tiered balconies overlooking the great hall. When he had been up there the near-vertiginous slope had made him feel a little dizzy. Now that he stood at the bottom looking back it was a wonder anybody up there could see at all – they seemed so small and far away. It was said the galleries could comfortably hold five thousand dwarfs, and often six or seven thousand if they were prepared for a little discomfort, which the Ekrundfolk often were if there was a chance of seeing something particularly significant or interesting.

The ceiling of the hall, and this Gabbik liked the most, was almost untouched rock, complete with all the shimmering strata, bulges, crystals and outcrops that nature had formed over countless millennia. It was both the most beautiful thing Gabbik had ever seen and a humble admission by the king and his predecessors that there is only so much that can be achieved by the works of mortals. Ever the dwarfs were people of ore and mineral, coal and gem, and they had created wonderful machines and glorious artifices, but in doing so were always thankful for the bounties the world had set in store for them in the dark places beneath the world. As Grungni had taught in the earliest days, not even he, the greatest of craftsmen, could fix the flaw in a ruby nor create gold from rock.

Thumbs tucked into his belt as he looked up higher and higher, Gabbik gazed at the huge lanterns hanging on silver and bronze chains between jutting promontories above the viewing galleries. Each was thrice the height of a dwarf, like a birdcage exquisitely wrought from iron and silver, imbued with runes that glowed a warm orange – a sunset captured from the summit of Kvinn-Wyr, the Silver Lady, companion to Karag Nar, Karag Zilfin, Karag Yar, Karag Rhyn, Karag Mhonar, Karagril and Karag Lhune – the famed Eight Peaks for which the ancient hold was named. They had been a gift from King Nordrek of Karak Eight Peaks, once Ekrund had been established, to show that the ancestral hold of the Dragonback folk would ever shine in the light of the old mountains.

As the light from that day long past fell upon his face, Gabbik had a lump in his throat. Such light had spilled across the world in the times when the dwarfs had first started their delving beneath the old mountains. It had been a time of prosperity, when the daemons and half-creatures of the Dark Gods had been pushed back to the north and the dwarfs and elves had yet been allies.

It was said that that same prosperity would come to those upon whom the light of Kvinn-Wyr fell, but Gabbik recalled Skraffi’s words and why they were here – prosperity had been hard to come by for the dwarfs for many centuries since that sun had set upon the Silver Lady. War with the elves, greenskins resurgent. Perhaps even the dark powers were stirring, seeking to lay their claim upon the lands west of the mountains again.

He shuddered, the contentment he had felt in coming here suddenly overshadowed by graver concerns.

Skraffi was already forging a path through the crowds ahead. It was not so difficult yet. The floor of the grand hall measured five hundred paces long by three hundred wide, and after a space of a few dozen paces in which the dwarfs were gathering, more stewards were showing the visitors to the long benches that created a gentle arc around the throne mounted on a raised platform at the far end of the hall. Five broad aisles split the rows of benches and Skraffi headed towards the nearest.

Gabbik looked down at the floor as they trudged up to the benches, seeing it properly for the first time. From the galleries it had appeared as an indistinct amalgam of dark grey, red and white, but now he could see that it was made out of irregularly-shaped tiles of granite, quartz and alabaster. Each retained its original features, carefully polished and shaped to fit beside its neighbours without the slightest gap. It was work of incredible precision and Gabbik almost went down onto all fours to inspect it more closely. A pointed cough from one of his companions prompted him to continue after Skraffi.

The stewards ushered them to a long bench five rows from the front, a hundred paces from the throne as near as Gabbik could reckon. The row in front was packed with dwarfs but the front three benches were still empty – a line of stern-looking wardens with hammers in hand deterred anybody from violating the royal seats.

Looking around, Gabbik had fresh appreciation for the sheer scale and spectacle of a king’s council, as unlike a clan gathering as the hall was to the tunnels of the Angbok mine. The fact that he was on the floor at all was an immense privilege as he remembered the days he had spent in the upper galleries, straining to hear the arguments and debates being put forth before the king. Now he would be in the centre of the cut and thrust, truly the position a thane deserved.

‘Stop your gaping and sit down, lad,’ said Skraffi, who was already ensconced on the bench with half the contents of his pack around him. There was a piece of cheese and an opened pot of chutney balanced on his knee. They were about a third of the way along the bench and more dwarfs were already filing in behind waiting to take up the remaining space. Their chatter washed over Gabbik as he settled on the bench, his buttocks neatly sliding into an indentation made by hundreds of previous visitors.

‘Shift up.’

‘Make room there.’

‘I’m seven hundred and four, you know.’

‘I’m sure there weren’t this many thanes last time.’

‘Grungni’s hairy… I’ve dropped me pipe. Anyone seen me spare?’

The chuntering and banter was reassuring, like the ever-present backdrop of hammered anvils and picks on stone. Gabbik knew it would take most of the rest of the day to fill up the hall. He folded his arms, let his chin drop to his chest and closed his eyes for a little while.

Gabbik was woken not by a sound but by its absence. A hush had fallen over the grand hall, and it was this quiet that had stirred him from his slumber. Although most of the voices had been stilled, the hall was far from silent – the rub of backsides on wood, taps of metal toe-capped boots on the polished floor, rustles of cheese papers and the puffing of pipes all seemed to intensify with the lack of conversation.

The great lantern over the throne dais had been dimmed, swathing the stage in darkness. Fire pits had been lit, bathing the platform in a ruddy glow, swirling the upper air with smoke – not that several thousand pipes had not contributed quite a smog already. In the gloom Gabbik glanced back to see that the main doors had been closed. In the shadows above small red lamps lit the upper galleries like angry stars.

The front benches were almost full now too – there were a few spaces right at the head of the audience where the most favoured thanes, runelords and retainers would be called to sit.

A thunderous knock resounded across the hall and as the echo faded so did all other noise. Not a dwarf moved. A second gigantic thud followed, and a third, and then utter silence fell.

A trapdoor opened at the foot of the steps leading up to the throne and from this entrance emerged a column of dwarfs. They were dressed in robes and armour, some with fur-lined cloaks, others with shining gold mail and plate, all with helms sporting crests in the shapes of boars, anvils, hammers, wings, lightning bolts and various other insignia. Their beards were long and fulsome, some trailing on the polished tiles, others neatly bound and wrapped with gold thread and silver bands.

The procession parted, forming two lines up the stairs to the throne and when they were in position, fifty dwarfs to the left and fifty dwarfs to the right, the king finally made his entrance.

He wore the ancient battle armour of Ekrund, rune-etched and chased with precious metals, studded with gems and filigreed with knotwork and geometric designs. Little could be seen of the king himself save for a long, grey-streaked beard of dark red, eyebrows of the same jutting from his helm and the glint of old, wise eyes. From his back hung a cloak of deepest red, edged with the fur of a black bear, its claws still attached. In his right hand he carried a sceptre whose head was made of a diamond the size of Gabbik’s fist, the haft gold and onyx and amber carefully entwined. His other hand held a small tinker’s hammer of plain iron.

Gabbik felt himself twitching with excitement. To be so close to the king. To not only be in his presence, but so near he could hear the footfalls of his armoured boots as he ascended the fifty steps to the throne.

Erstukar Rinkeldraz stopped before the throne and two attendants came out of the shadows to remove his cloak. Others took the hammer and sceptre. The king turned and sat. At that moment, somewhere distant in the deeps a horn sounded, heard even in the great hall, picked up and passed on from chamber to chamber so that, in a short while, the horns of the Angboks and the Troggklads and many others would announce the commencement in the furthest reaches.

The council was in session.

Thord Ironfriend, head of the Norbad clan and acclaimed veteran took his position to the king’s right. He held up a torq-clad arm and beringed fist scarred by war and smithying.

‘Hail the king!’

Gabbik’s fist shot up as he repeated the phrase, his voice just one amongst many thousands shouting that one line of greeting.

‘A grave business it is that brings us together on this day,’ Erstukar began. His one hundred companions turned and made their way down the steps to their benches while the king stood up from his throne and started to pace. The lantern above the platform glowed into life and the king’s presence seemed to diminish, rendering him mortal once more. More clearly able to see now, Gabbik remembered the king was barely a hundred years older than he was, and was still full of vitality. With the ceremony and pomp concluded, Erstukar moved and spoke with animation.

‘You have no doubt heard many dire rumours and stories from the old mountains, from the mouths of traders and rangers and, in latter days, from the mouths of those who until recently called Karak Varn their home. I share with you the shock and deepest grief of what has befallen our distant cousins of late, and it is with such sour tidings that I set in motion the great debate that must be held.’ The king bowed his head, brow glowing in the fires. ‘Though for many such news has been wrought fresh in the mind, it has troubled of late the counsels of your king and his closest advisors. Certainty we sought, but in such times certainty is rarer than elf honesty. From the clamour of devastation we might filter words of sense and through the fog of disaster we shall see more clearly with time.’

The king moved from one side of the dais to the other, looking up at the galleries and then down to the floor, hands clasped behind his back, becoming sombre.

‘I fear that the world has not yet finished changing. The threat of the elves may have passed, the ground may not have split beneath our feet, but Ekrund cannot be immune to what happens in the old mountains any more than the estuary is free from pollution upstream. The first and greatest consideration we must therefore face is what is to be done for those unfortunate survivors of this recent cataclysm that arrive upon our step and seek shelter? I do not for a moment consider Ekrundfolk inhospitable or deaf to the pleas of the needy, but nor can I fondly imagine that our hearths can burn forever and our mines are bottomless. We will give succour and sanctuary. That is not the question we must ask. In this I am already decided. The vaults of the king’s treasury shall be opened to ensure that those seeking food, ale and blankets shall not be wanting.

‘It is the longer term that vexes discussion, from the Third Eastern Deeps to the pinnacle of Spireridge. Shelter we can give, but can we give the refugees homes?’ The king strode back to his throne and sat down. With a hand glinting with gold rings he gestured for the wardens to go about their work.

In a gathering of such size it was impossible for every dwarf to be given an open floor for debate and counter-debate. Instead, to ensure even representation, the wardens passed along the rows of benches with sacks filled with numbered tokens – one for each dwarf on the floor. The dwarfs each took their lot and by this number would know when they would be allowed to speak. Each was allowed the turning of a glass, as adjudicated by the Royal Debate Timer Senior, Randar Rinkeldraz, in which to make whatever point he or she desired, whether in answer to previous comments or on a new topic.

It took some time for all three thousand and forty-six tokens to be allocated, and Gabbik was left in something of a quandary by drawing number one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four. His only intent was to offer the deal raised by the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society and he had little desire to spend the best part of the next day sitting in the hall waiting his turn. Already dwarfs with later numbers were starting to leave – only the king was required to listen to all petitions, after all. Some of them were probably fortunate enough to live close enough to return home for the night. Others, now that space was clearing on the benches, were getting out sleeping rolls and pillows, while quite a few started talking amongst themselves. Gabbik had plenty of time to retire to a local hostelry and then return, but no doubt the local ale halls and bunk rooms would have raised their prices for such an occasion.

‘Stay and listen, you might learn something,’ said Skraffi, noticing his indecision. ‘I’m up at four hundred and thirty-eight, so at least stay awake that long, eh?’

Gabbik considered this. It did seem a shameful waste of the time, money and energy to come to the king’s halls simply to spend more time, money and energy at someone else’s ale hall. If he stayed in the hall he would be able to mingle with members of the more powerful clans, as well as other miners’ organisations, the engineers’ guilds, and if he dared to be so bold, he might even make a few inquiries regarding suitors for Haldora.

‘A good point,’ he told Skraffi, tucking the wooden plaque with his number into his pack. The first speakers were already assembling close to the foot of the steps, with the stewards directing dwarfs moving down and up the hall along opposite sides of the aisle to ensure there was not too much time-wasting and milling around.

With the benches in front now opened up to a general audience – with more wardens preventing the scrum for seats becoming a general melee – Gabbik headed forward to get closer to the action. Skraffi went with him, as did Vadlir (numbered one thousand four hundred and eleven) and a couple of the others from their group. The rest quietly slinked off to whatever bars and hostelries would take them.

The thanes were renowned across Ekrund as accomplished speakers, and could hold forth on a pet subject for great lengths of time. They were also, without question, quite capable of paying attention to each other for equally long periods when they desired to do so, or if they felt that a certain level of scrutiny or appreciation was required. It was also true that though they had tremendous patience, when it ran out they were not slow in protesting the fact. The rigid enforcement of the time allotment was therefore the best defence against not only long-winded sermonising but also potentially energetic and defamatory heckling from the less patient attendees.

Gabbik listened to the opening salvoes of the debate. A thane from the Second Western Deep was willing to put aside his wutruth import storage chambers for only two-thirds the lost revenue, to be settled by the king; a guildmaster from the Brewers’ Conservatory suggested they could happily employ seven or eight new brewing apprentices if the royal treasury would fund the placements. Contrary to the expectation of the diligence of the hold’s thanes, Gabbik quickly lost interest. Nobody was asking any big questions yet.

He was surprised when he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Thundred Norbrocker standing behind the bench.

‘Thought I recognised you,’ said the captain of the gate. ‘What number did you get?’ Gabbik showed him. ‘Not bad. Tell you what, rather than listen to this lot why don’t we, um, adjourn to my little guard hall just past the dais and you’ll not be too far away when the time comes. If anything exciting happens, we’ll get to know about it, don’t worry.’

‘That’d be very kind, Thundred,’ said Skraffi, who had suddenly appeared again out of the throng.

‘The beer’s on me,’ Thundred added quickly. ‘Got a keg just opened. North Star’s Troll-mangler.’

‘Good stuff,’ said Gabbik, standing up. He grabbed Vadlir’s arm and tugged him after as Thundred led them back to the aisle. ‘I hear that stuff would put a beard on a gobbo.’

With the hammer-bearing captain to lead the way, the crowd swiftly parted for the group. Thundred’s duty quarters were to the left of the great steps, through a small archway. There was a small fire burning, though it was summer and the king’s halls were heated all year round by a clever arrangement of pipes and steam from the furnaces. A steward sloshed out cups of ale for each of them and then at a look from Thundred made himself scarce. They settled on stools around the table, making pleasantries for a little while, picking at a nice ham and some cheese that was brought in and generally passing the time. Gabbik listened to the regular clanging of the timekeeper’s bell ordering the debate outside, until the noise faded into the background.

Gabbik dozed a little, smoked his pipe, made a sandwich, dozed a little more. Evening was approaching and the dwarfs were getting their second wind after their naps and between-meal snacks. They talked a little, on beers in the king’s hall, the queen and the princes, Thundred’s family, and then Skraffi’s tone became more serious.

‘So, what’s the king really thinking about these refugees?’

‘We’ll do what we can. Encourage as many as possible to head to Karak Eight Peaks.’ Thundred shrugged, making his mail armour jingle. ‘What else can we do?’

Gabbik remembered the conversations with Haldora, and her insistence that the refugees had to be helped. She was flighty sometimes, but her heart was in the right place.

‘What about before they get here?’ Gabbik asked. ‘Some have said the orcs have been at them in the wildlands.’

‘What can we do?’ said Thundred. ‘That’s the wildlands, isn’t it?’

‘We could go out and help them,’ said Skraffi. ‘Sounds like they’ve had more than their fill of orcs recently, I reckon. What if things were the other way around?’

‘Never would be,’ said Thundred. ‘There ain’t no giant cracks in the walls here, are there? And I figure that the Varnfolk have had plenty of practise killing greenskins just recently, a few more shouldna be a job.’

‘Harsh,’ said Skraffi, ‘even for the dwarf that saw half his command killed while holding the gap at Darkwater Vale.’

‘You’ve never forgotten about that, have you?’

‘‘That’s not really relevant, now, is it?’ Gabbik said quickly, sensing the conversation was about to descend into an argument well-worn, even centuries after it was first raised. ‘Thundred has a point, doesn’t he? How can we provide for the folks that are arriving and go traipsing into the wildlands looking for others? We can’t do everything. And we’ll lose folks doing it. Honest Ekrundfolk killed.’

Skraffi looked unhappy, chewing his moustache, eyebrows rising and falling in waves. He grunted and took a swig of beer.

‘And what if they lead the orcs right to our gates, eh? Goblins in the deeps and trolls wandering the pastures. The last thing we need is orcs on the doorstep.’

‘Bring ‘em on, I say,’ said Vadlir. He had his book out and was sat to one side, not looking up from the text. ‘Save us having to look for them, won’t it?’

‘This ain’t the old mountains, Skraffi,’ said Gabbik. ‘We might have a few greenies running around in the wildlands, but it’s nothing like the Dark Lands out east. The wastes have been swarming with all kinds of beggars I hear, since we had to pull back from the eastern watchtowers to defend against the elves.’

‘I was talking to a ranger what did some work up at the passes north of Karak Eight Peaks.’ Vadlir seemed to be capable of taking part in the conversation whilst simultaneously reading his book. ‘He says there’s never going to be an orc army that could cross the mountains.’

‘And I knew some damn fool who once said a dwarf city would never fall!’ snapped Skraffi. ‘Now two have, and what’s to be done about it? Sit on our backsides and wait for it to happen?’

‘That’s my point,’ said Vadlir. ‘It can’t happen here. There just ain’t enough of them bad sorts around.’

‘A few dozen goblins, the odd troll and some greedy orcs chasing terrified refugees is not an invasion force, old friend,’ said Thundred. He leaned across the table, placing his hammer on the boards, and patted Skraffi on the shoulder. ‘And there’s me and my door wardens to welcome them if they want to come knocking.’

‘And a few dozen bolt throwers,’ added Gabbik.

‘And catapults, and crossbows, and sixteen thousand paces of ramparts, walls and eighty towers,’ muttered Vadlir. ‘It’d be a really stupid orc that tried.’

‘But Karak Varn…’ Skraffi looked mollified but couldn’t quite concede that there was very little to threaten Ekrund.

‘Was broken, by the quakes, and half-sunk,’ said Gabbik. ‘Haldora heard it herself from one of the refugees. Lower deeps flooded, a good number of them were dead already by the time the orcs and goblins arrived. Plus ratmen from the depths.’

‘You were never this worried about the elves,’ said Thundred. ‘I don’t know what’s turned you into such a worry-brow.’

Skraffi shook his head, took a drink and shrugged. ‘I don’t know neither. Just a feeling in my bones, I guess.’ He puffed out a sigh and cocked an ear towards the open door. ‘Anyways, I should be getting back in there, they’ll be calling my number soon.’

Gabbik was reluctant to go, but it was clear that Thundred’s invitation to the three of them was courtesy of Skraffi’s presence. As his father and Vadlir went back into the main hall, Gabbik stopped at the doorway and turned to give his thanks. Thundred was looking at him curiously, stroking his beard.

‘What is it?’ asked Gabbik. He patted his beard and wiped his top lip. ‘Have I got crumbs? Beer froth?’

‘’Cept to look at you, Gabbik, I’d never have figured you for Skraffi and Awdhelga Angbok’s son.’

‘I know,’ Gabbik said, suppressing a sigh.

‘It’s a good thing, lad,’ Thundred said. He pulled his hammer towards him, the head scraping over wood. ‘Stand with your feet braced and your shoulders squared and be strong. You know your mind. Skraffi, he could talk the back legs off a pit pony, but he doesn’t know half of what he says. Used to be a sensible lad, but Awdhelga turned him inside-out and upside-down she did. You’ve got to keep it straight, be the beardier dwarf.’

Gabbik was about to say his thanks again and leave but Thundred continued.

‘Nobody ever got nowhere by being a hothead, lad. There’s your Skraffis that will run about and have mad ideas and such, but it’s the rest of us, the solid folk, what has to knuckle down and mine the ore and feed the forges and keep the ovens full and sow the fields and farm the mushrooms. He was a wild fighter, sure enough, but in a scrape what you want is a fella beside you that will keep his shield and hammer up and watch your back. You know what’s best for your clan and that’s what you’ve got to keep focused on, Gabbik.’

‘That’s good to hear,’ Gabbik replied, reassured by the old dwarf’s words. ‘I know Skraffi means well, but…’

‘Exactly. He’s proud of you, sure enough, and if you were my son so would I be. But he’ll never be fond of you, right? His heart was all taken up with Awdhelga and you’ve got little enough in common.’

Gabbik sighed and nodded. ‘I know what you mean.’

‘And don’t change, that’s the worst thing you could do. I seen a lot in my years and it takes all sorts of folks to make the world work. ‘Cept elves. They can all go rot. And orcs too. Anyways, mark my words, this thing with the orcs will blow past in a year or two, if not sooner, and then we’ll all be feeling silly if we didn’t keep our heads.’

‘He means well.’

‘Meaning well and doing well ain’t the same thing, just remember that.’

They looked at each other for another moment, with Gabbik feeling that he would have been happier had his father been Thundred rather than Skraffi. Then the look became uncomfortable and the two of them broke the stare.

Gabbik moved back into the hall without saying anything further, and saw his father was already pressing into the crowd at the bottom of the royal steps. Vadlir loitered nearby, surreptitiously glancing down at the book in his hands whilst pretending to listen to the petitioners.

‘Just a couple more to go before your old pa is up,’ said Vadlir. ‘Almost missed his spot, the daft beggar.’

Gabbik hoped he would not regret his father’s timely return and waited with arms folded. The next two speakers had clearly spent the time waiting to concoct a joint plea to ask the king to extend a low-interest line of credit to the clans with spare chambers willing to house refugees at a barely-above-cost rate. It was not uncommon for those of like mind to come together and those of disagreement to begin their own negotiations in the ale halls and on the benches. Factions could form, re-form and disband, merge, split and completely change policy, opinion and members before one of the dwarfs had a chance to speak. A dwarf could also pass his token to another, in essence adding his vote or opinion to that of the dwarf who would speak. The speaker was granted no additional time, but by the end of the council it would be likely that each dwarf that got up before the king would be voicing the carefully considered and meticulously drafted opinions of several dozen dwarfs, sometimes even hundreds, representing many clans and societies and guilds – thousands of dwarfs in the wider community.

This was all part and parcel of the council bustle and banter. The king’s advisors, and those opposed to his current policies as they understood them, would be drumming up support in the lobby, brew halls and banquet chambers, either adding their support with a nod and a wink or canvassing for the speaking allotments of others to add a literal weight to their argument. If a dwarf said he was a token representative, it meant another was speaking on his behalf.

Skraffi’s appointed moment came around in two turns of the timekeeper’s glass, and the veteran warrior and novice mead brewer took his place at the bottom of the steps, thumbs tucked into his belt, glaring up at the king.

‘By Grungni,’ whispered Vadlir, ‘he looks like he’s going to give the king a right rollicking.’

It was true. Skraffi had an expression of fierce defiance and his shoulders were set as though he was trying to stare down a mountain lion. Gabbik swallowed hard and shifted uncomfortably, fearful of what was about to come. Others had noticed too and were starting to take more of an interest, adding to Gabbik’s unease.

‘Skraffi Angbok!’ the announcer announced. The syllables of the clan name seemed to echo around just long enough to make sure everybody could hear. Angbok. Anybody listening would associate whatever came next with the name of Angbok, and so it would be recorded in the Annals of the Ekrundfolk.

Or so Gabbik hoped. There was always a chance it would be taken down in the king’s Book of Grudges.

‘There was a time,’ Skraffi began, as the royal timekeeper turned his ironwork glass, ‘when a dwarf could walk from Karak Izril to Karak Ungor without nary seeing a greenskin. Times were good but back then our ancestors were nothing more than beardlings, fresh-faced in their mothers’ arms. When I grew up there was war. War with the elves. In that time if a dwarf asked for aid there was a hundred who would answer and then some. When the High King sounded the horn of war there was not a hold nor mine nor outpost that didn’t have its folk pick up their axes and hammers and don their mail.’

As he spoke, Skraffi kept turning his head, addressing his words as much to the other dwarfs around him as to the king. There were nods from many at this stage.

‘And we won. Them elves have slunk back over the sea without so much of a whimper to hear from them these days.’ This was greeted with rumbles of happiness and growled epithets. ‘We conquered the land together. We defend the land together. That’s how it is. The rockfall don’t come when the first pebble comes loose and it don’t happen all of a sudden. The first pebble is the start though, and then another piece of stone, and another gets loose. What do we do then?’

‘Shore it up, you daft beggar!’ someone called out. It was a quite inappropriate interjection for an obviously rhetorical question and the young dwarf who had answered was swiftly silenced by the glares of his elders and betters.

‘S’right, you shore that roof up as quick as you can ‘fore the whole lot comes down,’ Skraffi continued with a nod. ‘If you’re too late though, you might stop the ceiling falling in that day, and maybe the next, but the day after you need a new prop, and then another, and even then it’s all a bit shaky and you’re never certain of digging that seam or using that hall again.’

His hands moved to his hips and his belly thrust out further, the sure sign of any ageing dwarf assuming his ‘proclaiming’ pose. For a moment Gabbik was terrified that his father was going to sing. By nature the Ekrundfolk had good, if deep, singing voices, much suited to sombre choruses and earthy folk songs, and Skraffi was no exception on this count. He was, however, incapable of keeping still whilst singing, having to bob his head, bend his knees and tap his feet along to the rhythm even when the song did not call for it. However, Gabbik was spared such embarrassment as Skraffi launched into a well-turned dwarf saying.

‘For want of a prop the roof was lost. For want of a roof the tunnel was lost.’ As he carried on Skraffi started to bob and his head moved back and forth in admonishment. There was a slightly glazed expression on his face as he recited the words, repeating them by rote the same way he had learnt them – the same way Gabbik had learnt them. ‘For want of a tunnel the seam was lost. For want of a seam the mine was lost.’ Skraffi’s eyes snapped wide open and he stared with manic triumph at his audience, which by that time had become quite numerous, for word was spreading to the rear benches and crowds were coming forwards on the galleries above. ‘For want of a mine the gold was lost. For want of some gold the clan was lost. And all for the want of a timber prop.’

Skraffi turned dramatically and thrust a finger at dwarfs in the crowd, at random it seemed to Gabbik for he could not imagine Skraffi knew any of them.

‘Would you pinch the prop that was needed? Or you? What about you? And you there, with the wart and the… What is that? A ferret? Never mind.’ Skraffi appeared to deflate, his wild hair settling, beard slowing in its undulations as he turned to face the king once more. ‘I have a few lines to add, perhaps. For want of the clan, the army was lost. For want of an army, the hold was lost. For want of a hold… Let’s not dwell on that. I am told that such a disaster will never come to Ekrund. This is very likely true and I offer thanks to Grungni, Valaya and Grimnir that it might ever be the case, for if others in Karak Eight Peaks or perhaps Karak Drazh or even Karaz-a-Karak might be having the same conversation as us in the decades to come, might we hope that it is not too late to act.’

‘What do you suggest?’ The king’s question echoed down from above, causing a ripple of gasps to sound across the hall. It was almost unprecedented for the king to intervene in a petition in such a way, especially on such a large subject. A few of his closest advisors hurried up the steps towards Erstukar, who had stood up to look down at Skraffi. ‘What prop do you bring, Skraffi Angbok?’

Gabbik was horrified and elated in equal measure and alternating between the two quite quickly. On the one hand the scene was entirely cringe-inducing in its lack of propriety and adherence to customary council intercourse; on the other the king had just said ‘Angbok’! The name was amongst the king’s utterances now.

‘Summon the throng and retake Karak Varn.’ A bubble of silence expanded out from Skraffi as he spoke. ‘Call upon our cousins in Karak Eight Peaks and Zhufbar to aid us. Petition the High King to send the army of Karaz-a-Karak to Karak Ungor.’

It was such a reckless, thoughtless proposal, Gabbik could hardly bring himself to believe it had come from a right-thinking dwarf. Unfortunately it had come from his father, and that pretty much summed up Gabbik’s feeling on both the suggestion and his father’s ideas.

Skraffi’s reply brought laughter from some of the dwarfs around him, scowls from others. The king was not laughing. Nor was he scowling.

‘You would have me take Ekrund to war, Skraffi Angbok?’ There was the clan’s name again, but this time Gabbik was very much certain he would rather it had not been mentioned in the same breath as ‘war’. ‘To retake a hold lost by others?’

‘A flooded hold!’ someone called out.

‘Very far away!’ added another voice.

‘Not our problem, it’s too late now,’ said a third.

Skraffi looked at the royal timekeeper, who shrugged and held aloft his glass to show that there was still time remaining.

‘I’ve said my piece,’ Skraffi grumbled, and turned away. ‘Think on it what you will.’

The old dwarf shouldered his way through the crowd that had gathered. Soon the dwarfs were parting in front of him, some quizzical, others incredulous, a few shaking their heads. Gabbik heard insults being muttered. More were called down from the galleries above. Skraffi squared his shoulders and trudged out with his head straight.

‘Warmonger.’

‘Wazzock.’

‘Doomsayer.’

‘Troublemaker.’

‘Wagglebeard.’

Soon Skraffi was out of earshot and the grumbling and whispering died away. The next petitioner was called out. He stood at the bottom of the steps and looked around at his fellows, discombobulated by the events that had preceded his arrival.

With a shrug the dwarf announced himself as a representative of the South Towers Masons’ and Fortifiers’ Assembly and launched into a speech about how if the king were to fund such a venture, they were willing to put aside current projects and commissions to divert their time and energy to the construction of semi-permanent residential towers on the east and south-east sides of the mountain. He had a wooden model and scale drawings.

The other dwarfs drifted away, leaving Gabbik with Vadlir. Neither of them was going to be called up any time soon and they allowed the flow of dwarfs around them to gently propel them from the foot of the steps towards the rear benches. When the crowd had thinned they deposited themselves in a suitable place and waited for their turns.

Many of the dwarfs to speak after Skraffi came with the prepared speeches and promises, but a few took up the subject raised by Gabbik’s father. A few, young firebrands by the look of them, echoed the call to arms voiced by Skraffi but most who spoke were dead set against the idea. The cost, they reminded the king, would be considerable, in gold and lives. Such a venture would bring uncertain reward. To reconquer Karak Varn would leave Ekrund vulnerable – although the dwarfs who argued thus were also quite keen to point out that there was no possible threat to Ekrund itself from these events.

As these perfectly sensible arguments were put forth, Gabbik started to consider his own position on the matter. He was, he decided, utterly unconvinced that the loss of the two holds in the old mountains set any kind of precedent. Both greenskin attacks had been calamitous but freakish occurrences, brought about by the quakes and volcanoes – and the flood in the case of Karak Varn – that were unlikely to be duplicated elsewhere.

There were also a handful of dwarfs who passionately spoke about events in the old mountains. They did not outright support Skraffi’s proposal but they did not object. These were the thanes of Karak Varn, and when they were called a fair number of Ekrundfolk came back into the hall and crammed into the upper galleries to hear what they had to say.

‘The Ungdrin Ankor is shattered,’ one white-bearded petitioner told the assembly, referring to the subterranean network that linked the holds of the old mountains to each other. ‘Grobi infest it, and the ratmen build their nests in the cracks between tunnels. There was a time a runner could go from Karak Vlag to Kazak Izril, but no more shall it be so. The underway is gone and from its depths the evil things come forth in great numbers.’

‘I’m no longbeard,’ claimed another of the Varnfolk when his time to speak came, ‘but to me it seemed as though a sea of goblinfolk and orcs came into the mountains in a great tide, from the north and from the east. It was as though the Dark Lands had vomited forth every foul goblin, orc, troll and other savage it had, and each was intent upon a dwarf hall for its lair and dwarf gold for its hoard.’

‘Dragons have come, bringing fire and terror,’ said a third a little while later, drawing a hush across the great hall, broken by derisive shouts and scoffs. ‘The elves brought them back, and when the elves retreated the scaled beasts would not go with them, it is said. They found caves and wild places to slumber, but now the volcanoes belch forth their fire and the ground trembles and the dragons have been woken from the sleep they desired. Gems and gold they seek for their beds, and roasted dwarf for their suppers. And they remember, being the kin of those that we slew defending our homes, and they want their revenge upon our people though we only protected ourselves in good faith.’

Proceedings were brought to a close on the evening of the first day before Gabbik had to speak. He was loathe to pay for lodgings overnight, for his number was close and he would be heard early the next day. However, wardens came into the great hall and cajoled, and sometimes carried, the dwarfs out into the lobby, and the great gates were barred behind them. Gabbik sought Thundred, thinking perhaps that previous hospitality might be repeated, but the old captain was suddenly and mysteriously indisposed to the Angboks.

There were no few dwarfs putting down bedrolls and setting camp in the tunnels and chambers around the king’s halls. The local clansdwarfs took exception to this and made their displeasure known through hard glares and much tutting. Gabbik counted himself amongst those able to withstand such criticism and spent the night on the floor not far from the lobby.

Of Skraffi there was no sign, and Gabbik presumed his father had decided to head homewards on his own.

Gabbik woke early, breakfasted on cold ham and soft cheese washed down with a light ale, and then made his way back to the audience hall. The door wardens were reluctant to let in anybody at that time, but when Gabbik showed them the number on his token they conceded that he would soon be called up and it was best if he was close to the front of the benches to expedite the matter.

Stewards and maids in the king’s colours were sweeping the hall, clearing out the firepit and making ready for the day’s petitioning. Gabbik was surprised to see the king in attendance – Erstukar sat on his throne at the height of the dais with a score of his retainers around him. There was much head-shaking and beard-stroking but on what topic Gabbik had no idea.

He found himself a place near the central aisle at the front, relieved himself of his pack and sat down. It had been some time since he had relieved himself in another fashion but he was not too uncomfortable as he waited for the king to despatch his confidants back to the benches and officially recommence the council.

There were less than a dozen dwarfs to speak before Gabbik and he practised what he would say in his head over and over, barely paying attention to the other statements being made before him. He considered it a source of pride that he could make such an address without reference to a written speech or even notes and hoped that there would be a few sharp-eyed officials of the royal clans taking note of such dedication and adherence to tradition.

‘What are you going to do? About your old man?’ Vadlir asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘That was a speech and a half. Are you going to back up Skraffi or not?’

Gabbik pulled his numbered token from his pocket and turned it over a few times, considering his options.

When there were only two more speakers before him, Gabbik levered himself off the bench and approached the front of the hall. From there he was able to overhear some of the conversation amongst the most high-ranking council members on the benches. He did not dare look left or right, but heard the name Angbok a few times, and not once in a complimentary tone.

Just as he was about to speak there was a commotion at the back of the hall. Gabbik ignored the raised voices and looked at the timekeeper, who gave him a nod and upended his glass.

‘I am Gabbik Angbok,’ he introduced himself, somewhat mumbling his surname in case it would be held against him. ‘I am Vice-Treasurer of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society and I come with a proposal…’

The noise was getting quite loud. There were shouts and a wave of astonished gasps and grunts spread across the assembled dwarfs. Gabbik looked up and the king was not looking back at him, but at something a short distance behind. The Angbok thane cleared his throat and raised his voice.

‘As I was saying, I am here on behalf of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society to propose one possible proposal to a solution that might solve the refugees issue, or somewhat mitigate the impact…’

He gave up again as the angry bellows and growls of annoyance increased further. Fists on hips, Gabbik turned around to see what was causing so much fuss.

The crowd was splitting, making way for a lone dwarf.

The new arrival was half-naked, his torso and arms heavily tanned, tattooed with blue designs of coiling dragons and angular runes. His hair was cropped almost to the scalp except for a tall crest that, like his beard, had been stiffened and held in place with numerous rune- and face-etched badges of gold, silver and bronze. Both hair and beard were dyed a dark orange and there was a ring of black stone through the dwarf’s nostrils, which in turn was connected by a golden chain to a piercing in his left ear.

A Slayer.

The oathsworn of Grimnir, the Slayers had forsaken all life and honour to account for some great shame, and in doing so had given their word to seek a noble and honourable death in battle. They sought out creatures of great ferocity and danger to kill, and as it was physically impossible for a dwarf to attempt something without trying his utter best, those that survived their early encounters swiftly became proficient monster hunters. This one had scars across his shoulders, belly and chest to attest to several decades of failing to meet a bloody doom.

Much of the commotion was due to the immense rune axe the Slayer carried in his right fist. It was almost as large as him and its edge glinted with a blue sheen. The runes wrought into the metal of the blade had a dark air to them – fell symbols of death and ruination. Hammer-bearing door wardens were in pursuit, but none of them looked too keen to actually tackle the determined Slayer and had resolved to follow at a close but safe distance instead.

The other cause for some discussion amongst the assembled dwarfs was the troll’s head he carried, lank hair bundled in his other fist, severed neck slurping and scraping across the floor.

Gabbik found himself square in the Slayer’s path and unable to get out of his way due to the press of other petitioners around him. The Slayer fixed his flint-grey gaze on Gabbik, urging him aside, but all Gabbik could do was smile weakly and shrug. The Slayer stopped in his advance half a pace from Gabbik and dropped the troll head with a loud thud that resounded around the hall.

‘Found a stone troll,’ the Slayer announced, somewhat unnecessarily, Gabbik thought. ‘You’ve got three more from up in the woods to the north, and you’ve got a couple of river trolls out west. I’ll be after them next.’

There were a few shouted challenges to this claim – from dwarfs conveniently hidden in the crowd Gabbik noted. It was a bold statement, that there were half a dozen or more trolls within walking distance of the hold. Gabbik was just glad that Skraffi wasn’t there to hear this claim – he had been endless about his own troll encounter and how it foretold far worse to come.

‘I can go back north instead, if you like,’ the Slayer said, putting his axe over his shoulder. Gabbik could smell the troll now, and realised that some of the colour he had taken for tattoos on the Slayer’s chest was actually dried blood. The Slayer had come straight from the killing!

‘I… Er, that is, where exactly did you find this troll?’ Gabbik asked, peering down at the head that had rolled against his foot.

‘Near some bee hives, up the top of your pastures. Caught his scent on the wind as I was coming up the south road.’

‘And what brought you to our hold in the first place?’ The question echoed down from the king before Gabbik could remark on the fact that it was probably the same troll that had attacked his father and daughter. The thane was shouldered to one side as the Slayer walked to the bottom step of the dais. ‘Are there not enough monsters for your kind in the old mountains?’

‘Plenty, King Erstukar, but I was on the trail of a particular beast.’ The Slayer’s nose chain jingled as he rolled his neck, releasing a series of eye-watering cracks. ‘Tracked it all the way down from Karak Varn and then lost it in the mountains. A two-headed troll, no less. I wasn’t expecting to find many more, for sure.’

‘You’ve come from the east?’ Erstukar straightened and scratched his cheek. ‘Perhaps you could tell us what you saw there. It is a treacherous place and our rangers can only cover so much ground. There are others, survivors of Karak Varn, that are coming here and I would know if you have seen them.’

‘I saw nothing save for the two-headed troll, your kingship,’ said the Slayer. ‘I parted with the Varnfolk at the pass above Karag Dron and have seen nothing of them since. Nor any orc, wyvern, giant or other creature deserving my axe.’

‘But there’s meant to be hundreds more coming,’ said Gabbik, quite forgetting himself and where he was. The moment he spoke up he regretted it, as he became the centre of attention. ‘That is, my daughter, she spoke to one of the Varnfolk who said there were lots of others coming. She said we should send out patrols to help them. But if there are no orcs, what are we protecting them against?’

‘I saw no orcs,’ said the Slayer, ‘but I am only one dwarf. The orcs will be in the wildlands, if not now then soon. I saw tens of thousands of them at Karak Varn, making that place their stronghold.’

‘Tens of…’ Gabbik laughed. ‘I believe perhaps shame and grief have addled your counting, friend.’

The Slayer turned his cold eyes on Gabbik and for the second time in recent moments he regretted opening his mouth.

‘Believe what you like, friend, and I will too.’ The Slayer returned his attention to the king. ‘I will kill your trolls for you and then I will return to Karak Varn. Others of Grimnir’s brotherhood are gathering for the battle. We will go to Karak Varn and there we shall die.’

The Slayer turned and stomped away up the hall, leaving Gabbik staring after him in disbelief.

The chime of a bell drew his attention to the timekeeper.

‘You’re done,’ said Randar Rinkeldraz, waving his glass at Gabbik.

‘But… The Slayer… My time… The Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society proposal?’

‘Next!’ bellowed the timekeeper. Gabbik saw that a few of the door wardens who had followed the Slayer were now eying him suspiciously. The Slayer had shown them up and he knew they would be looking to make an example of someone.

‘All right, I’m off,’ he said quickly, as hammer-bearing dwarfs formed a loose ring around him.

‘And don’t forget to take that,’ Randar growled, nodding at the troll head.

Gabbik opened his mouth to protest but shut it again as the timekeeper’s eyebrow shot up. With a sigh he grabbed the troll head by the hair and dragged it after him.

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘When the Angboks and the rest of the Urbarvornfolk got to the foothills of the Dragonback Mountains they were very pleased with themselves. However, the first thing they discovered in the Dragonback Mountains was not gold or gromril or even silver or tin. It was goblins. Lots of goblins.

The elves had cleared most of the wildlands, driving the greenskins into the marshes and jungles to the south, but they had never entered the mountains. So it was that the Urbarvornfolk suddenly found themselves in the middle of goblin territory.’

On the third day the foothills and tumbledown rocks gave way to the flats of the wildlands. For the first time in her life Haldora looked out over a sea of undulating grass that spread out to the south and east as far as the eye could see, broken by the occasional tor and ridge, gently sloping away from the mountains.

As the expedition continued, here and there they came across signs of the exodus from Karak Varn: swathes of grass flattened by groups of dwarfs trudging from the north; snapped belts; tufts of ragged cloth; discarded odds and ends like bent cloak pins and split water skins; burn marks from fires; and apple cores and well-gnawed bones.

These last discoveries gave Gunnarumm food for thought and he called a halt several times to examine the ground further. When the veteran ranger stopped the expedition to examine a camp site beside a thin babbling brook, Haldora took the opportunity to quiz Gunnarumm on what he was looking for.

‘Every piece of bone or peel we find makes you frown,’ she said. ‘Why?’

‘We shouldn’t be finding anything like that,’ replied Gunnarumm. ‘There’s all sorts of creatures and birds out here that would be away with a nice bit of food like that as soon as you turn your back.’

‘Come to think of it,’ said Haldora, ‘I don’t remember seeing anything since we came out of the mountains. No hares, no foxes, no birds, nothing.’

‘That’s right, we seen nothing on the march except…’ The ranger turned to look back north and west, where eagles and other birds soared over the mountains. ‘They seem happy enough.’

‘So what’s happened to all the animals?’ asked Nakka, joining the pair. ‘Orcs chased them off?’

‘May have been that,’ said Gunnarumm. ‘But they’d have had to have a grand fright to desert the area completely. This time of year they’ll have young to feed and all.’

A call from one of the other dwarfs attracted their attention to the thin dribble of the stream. Three of the party were hauling something out of the water.

It was an orc. A crossbow bolt transfixed its head from cheek to nape of neck. The creature was nearly twice the height of a dwarf, though when alive it would hunch over, long arms dangling, almost dragging its knuckles on the ground. Its green skin was marked by warts and scars, turned pale by the time in the water. It was dressed in thick leather armour, reinforced in places with pieces of bronze mail and rivets. It wore a black smock beneath the armour and heavy boots.

‘Any more?’ Gunnarumm called out. There was a reply from further upstream – another two orc bodies, both showing cuts from axes and bruising from hammer blows. ‘A few days ago, no more, I reckon.’

‘Not long enough to reach Ekrund,’ said one of the other rangers, Glorri, crouching down to look at the flattened grass and reeds by the stream. ‘Quite a fight.’

Gunnarumm joined him and they grunted and pointed out various things to each other for some time. Eventually they stood up, hands shielding their eyes as they looked west, back towards the mountains.

‘They must have moved off the road,’ Gunnarumm concluded.

‘Don’t make no sense, not when they were so close to the Dragonbacks,’ said Glorri. He shook his head, long black beard swaying in the breeze. ‘Even if they pushed on in the night they could follow a brick road without problem.’

‘Unless the road was too dangerous to stay there,’ suggested Nakka. He waved a hand at the dead orc. ‘They’d already been attacked once. At least. Some of the refugees said the orcs followed them for days on end, waiting for a straggler.’

‘All the more reason to keep together and keep on the road,’ argued Glorri.

‘Unless they hadn’t a choice,’ said Haldora. ‘What if they were taken from the road?’

Gunnarumm and Glorri looked at each other and then around at the campsite.

‘Upwards of twenty, twenty-five dwarfs camped here,’ said Glorri, pacing around the tracks and fire marks. ‘And if there was a bigger fight here we’d see more disturbance.’

‘And more blood,’ added Gunnarumm. ‘My reckoning is that these three jokers here,’ he jabbed his axe at the trio of dead orcs that had been piled together on the stream bank, ‘tried to sneak in one night and got short shrift for their troubles.’

‘Still doesn’t explain what happened to twenty-five-or-some dwarfs,’ said Nakka. ‘We’d have definitely met ‘em on the road if they’d been coming the other way.’

‘It’d take a brave orc to fight a dwarf one-on-one, even in the open,’ said Haldora. ‘There must have been more than fifty.’

Glorri laughed. ‘Fifty orcs? You think we’ve been walking around with our helmets over our eyes since winter? There’s no fifty orcs in these parts, not without us knowing.’

‘Even if they followed the refugees from the north?’

‘Especially,’ said Gunnarumm. ‘That’s the overland route to Barak Varr. They send out patrols just as much as we do. Nope, I’ve got to say I’m with Glorri on this one. There ain’t no warband of fifty orcs. Them from Karak Varn must have got turned around or somesuch.’

The rest of the group seemed happy with this explanation and Gunnarumm signalled for the patrol to move on along the road. ‘Leave the orcs for the vermin.’

‘Shouldn’t we be heading further south?’ Haldora asked, while the other dwarfs assembled from across the old campsite. ‘If the refugees got lost, they could wander into the marshes.’

‘And that’s why there’s no point looking for them that way,’ said Glorri. ‘They’d turn back as soon as the ground got boggy.’

‘They were desperate, in the dark maybe, tired and worried about orcs. They might not have realised they were heading into the marshes.’

‘And how do you expect us to help them if they did?’ asked Gunnarumm. ‘Get stuck in there with them?’

‘You don’t even want to look?’ Haldora’s impassioned question raised a few inquiring grumbles from amongst the others. ‘What about the orcs? What if they were to the south?’

‘We’re here to help folks coming from the north get to Ekrund,’ said Glorri. ‘Not to be hunting orcs. And there’s no orcs worth hunting, just a few cunning greenies that spotted the refugees coming. While we go traipsing about on the edges of the marshes there could be folks following the road getting eaten by who knows what.’

Haldora could see that she would not win the argument and kept her tongue. When the group set off once more she found herself beside Nakka.

‘Don’t fret none,’ he said. ‘Gunnarumm’s been working the wildlands for sixty years now, and before that he was in the patrols during the war. And Glorri is no newcomer, neither. If they say that there’s no problem with the orcs, who are we going to believe? Them as almost lives out here or some frightened folk all the way from Karak Varn?’

‘I know,’ said Haldora. ‘It just don’t sit too easy with me, that’s all. Them folk from Karak Varn, they probably learnt about orcs a lot more than we have, in real quick time too when they was breaking in the gates and smashing open the stores. Frightened they might be, but stupid they ain’t.’

‘Never said they was stupid, and neither are you for asking, but there’s a time when you have to stand up for something and a time when it’s best to just go with what the elders say.’

Haldora did not like this conclusion one bit, but despite that decided not to cause any more fuss. Evidently her expression and bearing betrayed her, despite keeping her lips firmly shut.

‘Remember that I had to vouch for you to get Glorri and Gunnarumm to let you on this expedition. And your father won’t be best pleased when he finds out. If you cause a fuss, what’s going to get back to your pa? That you’ve been a troublemaker. He’ll make sure you never set foot outside the hold until his dying day if he thinks you’re bringing the name of the Angboks into disrepute.’

‘I know,’ Haldora said with a long sigh. ‘I’m grateful you persuaded Gunnarumm to bring me along.’

‘So enjoy it, if you can. I’m not keen on wide open space myself, but I can see the attraction. Seeing the stars, feeling the sun, good earth underfoot. There’s worse things to be miserable about.’

His words cheered Haldora and she turned her mind to appreciating the new experience of being out in the wildlands. She paid attention to the wild flowers growing alongside the road, and the different bushes and scrub that broke the grasslands. It was a shame there was no birdsong.

As the afternoon wore on the stone road became a camber of packed dirt, and before they were ready to make camp that following evening even that had dwindled to nothing more than a track through the swaying grass. Gunnarumm called for them to halt in the cover of a massive boulder that jutted from the sea of grass like an island. Haldora had no idea how such a stone could have got there. Glorri found her staring up at the large rock while the rest of the expedition were unpacking bedrolls and cutting fire pits.

‘Impressive, ain’t it?’ said the ranger.

The boulder had runes carved into it around the base, up to where a dwarf might reach if on tiptoe. Most of it was graffiti – names and dates and boasts about lengths of beard and physical toughness – but there were some runes that she did not recognise.

‘What are those symbols for?’

‘Ranger marks. Have a look at this.’ Glorri led her around the boulder. The other side was ruddy in the setting sun and she could see shadows where small hand and foot holds had been diligently carved, rising up like a ladder. Glorri started to climb and, with a glance back at Nakka to see that he was busy working a pick in the middle of a fire pit, Haldora followed.

It was not an easy climb, even with the cut ladder, for dwarfs have short arms and legs and barrel bodies. Her fingers were numb and her arms trembling with the effort of hauling herself up the rock, which was seven or eight times her height. On reaching the top she was rewarded with an impressive view across the flat plains. The added elevation was not great, but it was enough for her to be able to see the encroaching shadow of twilight moving from the east, and to the west where the golden grasslands became the purple of the Dragonbacks. To the south-east she saw the sun catching the waters of a broad river, which wound away southwards.

‘The Blind River,’ said Glorri.

‘I know,’ she replied. ‘I know my maps.’

The top of the boulder had been levelled into two tiers, with a few steps leading from the bottom to the top. On the upper level, which was about chest high, were several recesses cut into the boulder itself.

‘We can keep watch here sometimes, sleeping in them dig-ins, packs as a fence against the wind. The marks you saw, they’re a record of who’s been here and what they saw. Animal migrations, orcs and goblins, wolves and even bigger creatures. I once saw a lizard-thing crossing the river one night, as long as a galley it was.’

‘A wyrm?’

‘Or something like one. About ten years ago it were. Don’t know where it went after that, lost it in the starlight. I was on me own. Nobody believed me, but I made the cuts in the rock all the same.’

‘And the orcs, you’re sure about them?’

Glorri sat down halfway up the stairs to the higher level. He patted the step next to him but Haldora declined with a shake of her head.

‘Suit yourself. If there was orcs, they’d be all over us by now. This time of the year, between Blind River and Blood River, that’s where you’ll find them. They’ll all be up north I expect, waiting for more refugees or maybe heading into the old mountains if they’ve heard of what’s been happening. Looking to join the fun.’

‘They won’t be coming for Ekrund?’

‘Gunnarumm has it right. Even at their worst, orcs live in tribes no more than a hundred, maybe two hundred, and they make a mighty stench and racket, you can’t miss them. If there was a big group of orcs marauding on the road we’d see signs of it.’

‘But there are lots of tribes. There’s still quite a lot of orcs in the wildlands, isn’t there? And goblins from the mountains and the marshes?’

‘But they fight each other all the time,’ Glorri explained, showing no impatience with Haldora’s insistence. He spat and wiped a hand across his mouth. ‘If a great bunch of orcs was to come south from Karak Varn first thing they’d start fighting would be all the other orcs and things that live along Blood River. They’d be as likely to kill each other off as they are to come after us – and they don’t even figure on us being here. They might follow the river, but that’s Barak Varr’s problem.’

‘I’m sure they said the same at Karak Ungor and Karak Varn.’

‘That was just bad luck. The earthquakes. Orcs are scavengers, not proper hunters. They snuffed easier pickings and as long as there was enough for everybody they got along together just enough to drive out them poor folks. Mark my words, maybe next year the High King will decide to lead an army back to Karak Varn or Karak Ungor and we’ll retake them holds from the few greenies that are left.’

Hearing her name being called, Haldora walked to the edge of the boulder and looked down. Nakka looked up with hands on hips and shouted.

‘When you’re done with your sightseeing, we’ve got some mutton needs butchering!’

‘You think just because I don’t have a beard I should be doing the kitchenwork?’ she called back.

‘Not at all,’ Nakka told her. He held up a piece of parchment. ‘It’s just that your name is on the rota.’

‘Kruk,’ she muttered. ‘All right, I’ll be right down.’

‘I could get your name taken off the rota, if you like,’ Glorri said with a suggestive wink.

‘No thanks,’ said Haldora, moving back to the rock ladder. ‘I think I’d rather be pulling the guts out of some dead sheep than getting better acquainted with you.’

‘Suit yourself,’ the ranger said with good humour. He clawed his fingers through his tangled beard in the absence of a comb. ‘I can wait.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

‘Before they could start clearing out the lairs and goblin tunnels, they needed somewhere safe to stay, so the king ordered that the first mingols be built in the foothills, to keep watch over the camps. It was too dangerous to quarry in the Dragonbacks so stone had to be brought all the way from the old mountains, at great expense and effort. To assist this, the road came westwards, bringing with it more clans looking for a fresh start. These were the third wave of dwarfs to come from Karak Eight Peaks, which continued to be the jewel in the crown of the southern holds, but was getting awfully full of folk.

With quarried stone coming west and the best beer in the south going east, and engineers and masons following both, there were soon half a dozen stone mingols manned by armed garrisons all along the frontier with the goblin-ground. The other folk stayed further east and north, while the king, now Ordorin’s son Grimbalki, led the Urbarvornfolk throng in a purge of the goblins.’

They pushed eastwards for another two days, the rangers setting a brisk pace along the remnants of the old road. There had been a time when the route from Ekrund to Karak Eight Peaks had been paved all the way, stretching across the wildlands further than a twenty-day march could cover. The war with the elves had seen the end to that – almost five centuries of conflict had left Ekrund without the people or the will to maintain their link to the old mountain realms.

Here and there still stood one of the old waymarkers. These monoliths towered four or five times the height of Haldora, the gold inlay of the runes long since stripped away, the ruins of the way stations and trading posts that sometimes grew up alongside the road now reduced to rocky mounds overgrown with grass and bushes. These were the road keeps closest to Ekrund, the last to be abandoned. Those further into the wildlands were almost completely impossible to find unless one knew where to look.

As evening fell on the fifth day since leaving Ekrund, Gunnarumm declared after supper that come morning they would head back to the hold.

‘We’ll find nothing out here,’ he told the expedition. ‘We could wander for days in the great wildlands and not see another dwarf. If they come this far and stick to the road they’ll find their way to us.’

‘And if they don’t get this far?’ asked Zoffik, a cousin to Haldora on her mother’s side. He looked to Haldora and received a reassuring nod. ‘Who’s to see them on the right path? We’ve seen nothing of nobody these last two days.’

‘I thought there was at least another thousand, maybe two thousand folk fleeing Karak Varn?’ said Haldora. ‘You reckon you can’t miss fifty orcs. I reckon a few hundred Varnfolk is pretty hard to miss too.’

‘There’s others that went along the north road,’ said Gunnarumm. ‘They probably had more luck. Seems to me most of the Varnfolk would have followed the river to Barak Varr and then come down the coast and stayed to the west. The only ones from this way would have come straight from the mountains. As long as they keep dawn to their backs and dusk to their faces they can find the Dragonbacks.’

‘Ain’t nobody coming through here,’ said Glorri. He gave Haldora a sour look. His good humour at his rebuffed advances had declined in the last two days, due to the increasing vehemence of her rejections. ‘Perhaps you can afford to go wandering all moon-faced across the wildlands looking for strangers, I got other commissions what will be paying me better than the king.’

There were mumbles of agreement from some of the others.

‘It’s another five days back home,’ said one. ‘Ten days is more than enough time away from my mill.’

‘I left my youngest running the forges,’ said another. ‘Grungni alone knows how much trouble he’s got his self into already.’

‘Have it your way,’ declared Haldora. She headed off away from the fires to where her bedroll was waiting. Nakka followed.

‘Hey now,’ he said softly, joining her out of the glare of the flames. The campfire lit him from behind, catching his fine hair and beard in silhouette. The flickering shadows and the starry night made everything seem more alive – not just to Haldora, but the ground beneath her, the dancing flames.

‘Hey you,’ she said, sitting down on her blanket. He sat next to her, hands on his knees.

‘I seen the way Glorri’s been trying his luck,’ said Nakka. ‘You want I should have a word with him?’

‘I want that you should bash his head in to see if there’s coal in there,’ snapped Haldora. Nakka’s laugh did not ease her temper. ‘I’m serious. And the rest of them. I’ve never known such a thick-headed bunch of nod-beards. They only came out to get a shiny gold piece from the king. Not a word of them poor, desperate folk from Karak Varn. You should give him a thrashing and set him straight on my affections too!’

‘He’s not worth it,’ said Nakka. ‘I’d happily put blood in his beard if he gets too much but it’s five days back and grim company won’t make the journey quicker.’

‘You lads is all the same,’ huffed Haldora. ‘When another of you makes a remark about me, when do you defend my honour?’

‘Oh no, you can’t get me there,’ said Nakka, shaking his head. ‘You’ve made it clear you’re strong enough to defend your honour yourself. Besides, we all got to work close together down the mine and such. Bad blood and black eyes is no good down there when you’re looking for a fellow to shore the props keeping the roof up, or checking for tunnel-fumes coming off-shift before you.’

‘You’re all as bad as each other, taking me for granted,’ said Haldora, turning so that she presented her broad back to him.

Nakka stood up and patted her on the shoulder. She pulled away from his touch, too upset by the thought of the homeless Varnfolk to be comforted so easily.

‘When we’re back in Ekrund you’ll feel different,’ Nakka assured her.

She sat for some time, glaring out into the darkness. Behind her the fires dimmed and the other dwarfs turned to their bedrolls, quiet falling over the camp. Now and then she heard the clink of armour as one of the sentries shifted position or was relieved by the next dwarf on watch. Upwind from the smoke in the fires, Haldora took a deep breath of night air, trying to ease her thoughts.

Clouds had gathered during the day, the wind turning easterly, coming down from the old mountains. There was a hint of rain on the air – not the crisp fall of a welcome spring shower but the deluge of a proper summer storm. Haldora wondered if that was the real reason Gunnarumm and Glorri were so keen to head back to Ekrund.

She sniffed again, realising there was something else on the wind. Something dirty.

Feeling threatened, she stood up and almost at the same moment saw something in the muted moonlight. It was one of the sentries, moving away from his post, heading across Haldora’s line of vision. He had his axe in one hand, shield slung across his back, spare hand fiddling with the warning horn at his belt.

Haldora was convinced she could smell something rank now. The same wind also carried a padding noise, of footfalls on hard dirt. She bent down and tugged her axe from her pack. When she straightened again she had lost sight of the sentry.

She glanced over her shoulder to the camp, thinking she should go back and rouse somebody. Another thought told her they would only mock her for raising a false alarm. She could imagine the taunts now, although perhaps worse would be nothing spoken at all, just the occasional glance of pity or condemnation. The thought of being the object of such patronising concern turned her away from her slumbering companions and forced her out into the night to investigate.

The sentry had been smoking a pipe; she remembered the glow of it in the dark. The tobacco was still rich on the wind and she headed towards it, thinking perhaps the other dwarf had gone over a lip or sat down behind a rock for a crafty ale and a nap.

There were large stones and some boulders bigger than her dotted around this area. Twice she stumbled, having stubbed her toe on some half-buried hindrance. There were thickets of bushes and trees a little taller than her to provide further obstruction.

Catching her foot on something hidden by a particularly thick patch of grass, she fell forward, throwing out her left arm to break her fall. She landed heavily, jarring her wrist. She sat up, nursing her arm for a moment, wriggling fingers that now throbbed with pain.

‘Stupid, stupid Haldi,’ she muttered to herself. Pushing herself up with her axe-hand, her other arm cradled to her belly, she turned towards the fire.

Stood in front of her was an immense wolf, eyes yellow in the starlight. Its shoulders were as tall as hers, grey fur silvery in the darkness, a rope of drool dripping from bared fangs.

On its back hunched a goblin, shorter than Haldora, and far skinnier. It was swathed in furs despite the warmth of the summer night, a shapeless blob of a hat crammed onto its head, causing its pointed ears to poke out horizontally. It held a spear tipped with a jagged piece of cut metal and a long oval shield of wood, reeds and hide. The goblin was looking towards the fire but the wolf was staring right at Haldora.

She backstepped quickly, raising her axe, but stumbled over whatever had tripped her before. As she bounced back up, biting back a cry as pain shot up from her damaged left wrist, she noticed it was a booted foot that had upended her both times.

The wolf’s chesty growl broke the still.

The goblin turned and saw Haldora for the first time. Its beady eyes widened in surprise, two little pinpricks of red in the firelight. Thin lips curled back in an amused sneer and the point of the spear swung over the wolf’s head in her direction.

‘Shove off!’ she shouted, jumping forward with axe raised.

The wolf started back in shock, almost throwing the goblin from its shoulders. Haldora kept her calm despite the surge of panic threatening to engulf her. She took another step forward, remembering the lessons taught to her by her father. Though she had no shield in her left hand she held it up all the same and swung her right straight at the wolf’s head.

The wolf dodged the attack, slinking to the left, while the goblin haphazardly thrust its spear towards Haldora’s midriff. It was a clumsy attack, easily batted away by her axe.

The wolf lunged, snapping teeth. Haldora reacted slowly, bringing up her axe. Its mouth closed on her shoulder. Fangs cracked against the mail beneath her overshirt, the weight of the wolf barrelling her back. Taking quick steps to stay on her feet, Haldora smashed the butt of the axe handle into the wolf’s eye.

Between the pain of biting her coat of iron rings and receiving a sharp blow to the eye, the wolf let go with a yelp. Haldora swung her axe again, powered by rising fear. The axe missed the wolf but it lodged into the leg of the goblin as it struggled to maintain its mounted position, one hand knotted into the fur of the wolf’s back. Black blood sprayed and the goblin’s cry joined the wolf’s yapping protest.

Haldora backed away, wetted axe in hand. She heard panting, snarls and harsh tittering in the night around her and looked left and right to see more shadows closing in, almost silent in the darkness. Something parted the air close by, whispering as it passed. She found herself next to the body of the sentry again. This time she saw the black-shafted arrow sticking out of the side of his throat and another in his gut, his tunic soaked with blood. The whistle of more arrows seemed disturbingly close.

He looked dead but Haldora had to check. She could feel no pulse so she fumbled at the strap of the sentry’s horn, trying to pull it out from under him. With a last effort, sprained wrist sending sharp pulses of pain up her arm, Haldora wrenched the horn clear and fell backwards.

There were wolf riders everywhere, heading towards the camp. One of them was coming straight for her.

Taking in a big lungful of air she brought the horn to her lips and blew.

Nothing happened. She was not a trained hornblower and hadn’t realised there was a particular technique. The wolf and its rider were trotting towards her. The goblin’s spear was levelled and the wolf was gaining speed, ready for the charge.

She tried the horn again but only managed something approximating one of Skraffi’s more genteel farts. The wolf broke into a run. Haldora watched, mesmerised at its muscles bunching and releasing under furred skin, while the goblin leaned forwards, face split with an evil grin.

‘Goblins! Attack!’ she shrieked. The wolf was only half a dozen strides from leaping on top of her. In desperation Haldora hurled the horn at the wolf, striking it squarely on the nose.

The wolf flinched, giving Haldora just enough time to throw herself to one side. The goblin spear passed over her, slashing through grass, and she lashed out with her axe, cutting a hind foot from the wolf as it dashed past.

Suddenly finding itself three-legged, the wolf became a tumbling heap of fur and goblin, its yowls of distress splitting the air. The goblin threw itself free from the beast as it dragged itself away through the grass. The greenskin took its spear in both hands and advanced on Haldora, malicious intent clear.

Yelling again for all that she was worth, Haldora stumbled to her feet, axe in both hands. The goblin lunged and she swung, driving her axe at the goblin’s chest as though she was swinging a pick at a seam.

The spear bit through leather and mail and dug into her shoulder, but not enough to stop the axe head burying up to the haft in the goblin’s ribs. Haldora was amazed by how light the scrawny creature was as the blow lifted the goblin from its feet. She almost lost her grip on the axe as the dead greenskin flopped to the ground in a broken heap.

All around her the other wolf riders attacked. Snarls and howls split the air while horns were sounded from the camp. She could feel the ground trembling through her boots as a tide of mounted grobi charged through the long grass. Her wrist was throbbing frightfully and she could feel the blood from the wound in her shoulder trickling down into her armpit.

Keeping low, hidden by the fronds of a bush, she rolled over to see the dwarfs confronting the onrushing greenskins, hammers, axes and crossbows providing an iron welcome to the raiders. Nakka was there at the front, hewing down goblin after goblin, two of his cousins to either side.

He looked so brave and strong it made Haldora’s heart soar to watch it. She knew she was dizzy from the excitement, perhaps light-headed from blood loss, and part of her was ashamed at the lustful feelings, but most of her enjoyed the spectacle of Nakka lit by the campfires cutting down wolves and goblins as though hewing wood for a furnace.

‘Get up, you daft goat,’ she told herself. ‘Don’t just lie here being all love-eyed. Get up and help!’

Despite such encouragement her body refused to pay attention. It was a little while longer before she responded, finally staggering to her feet, the effort sending fresh pain down through her injured shoulder and into her chest. Her left wrist was feeling a little better and she swapped her axe to that hand.

The fighting had moved, the first thrust of the goblins turned aside thanks to her. They regrouped away to the west and attacked again, but their fresh assault met a determined circle of dwarfs gathered around the pair of campfires, their weapons ready, armour glinting.

Haldora realised that she was very vulnerable, away from the press of the others, the raised shields that fended off snapping jaws and lashing spears, the crossbows that kept marauding wolf riders from encircling the group of dwarfs. If one of the goblins saw her, it would surely lead others.

Feeling cowardly but ignoring her pride, she found a hummock of grass in which to hide, from which she could watch the proceedings and move if needed but which was otherwise very difficult to see. The raiders were intent upon the camp, attacking again and again until the first rays of light broke over the distant mountains.

By silent consensus the wolf riders agreed that their opportunity had been missed and in the rising light decided to quit while they had some shadows to cling to. In the dawn light, shuddering from the shock of what had happened, Haldora stumbled back to the other dwarfs.

There were several dozen dead wolves and riders around the camp, many slain by crossbow or slingshot, some by axe blow and hammer. The other dwarfs were tending to a few of their wounded while some of their number were picking up the limp bodies of the slain. Haldora counted six before she was amongst them.

‘Haldi!’ cried Nakka, elbowing his way out of the throng. He made to throw his arms around her but she stepped away, conscious of the pain in her shoulder and arm. He stepped back, concerned. ‘What happened? Where have you been?’

Haldora gestured away from the camp with her head.

‘Out there? All night?’ Nakka shook his head in disbelief and took her by the left arm, leading her to the others. ‘Hangir will take a look at that shoulder in a moment. Draffik has a bad cut on his thigh that needs stitching first.’

‘My wrist,’ Haldora said, losing almost all sense of what was happening as the weight of what had passed during the night crowded into her thoughts. She held up her left hand, limply holding her axe. ‘I hurt my wrist too.’

‘Hangir will see to that too, no doubt.’ Nakka sat her down on a pack. ‘Rest and I’ll fetch you a brew. Glorri had a pot on before they attacked, must be just about ready by now.’

‘You’re cut,’ Haldora said, noticing a gash across Nakka’s left cheek as he turned towards the fire. He glanced back at her, raising a finger to the wound.

‘This? Wolf claw.’ He looked around at the dead animals and goblins and nodded towards one that had a yellowish tinge to its fur. ‘That fellow there. Going to make a nice cloak.’

‘Oh, I hadn’t thought…’ Haldora stood up. Nakka was immediately beside her, holding her arm.

‘Where are you going?’

‘The sentry. I think it was Jollson.’ She pictured his dead face in the moonlight, splashed with blood.

‘We’ll fetch him back,’ said Nakka.

‘I’ll help. I don’t want anybody doing me favours, not on account of me being beardless.’

‘This ain’t about you being of the maidenly persuasion.’ He rubbed his forehead, a sign of exasperation, and looked meaningfully at her shoulder. ‘You’re injured!’

‘Right.’ She felt a bit foolish.

‘I best get on,’ said Nakka. She nodded and he started to walk away.

‘Nakka?’

He stopped and looked back. ‘Aye?’

‘You were magnificent. In the fight, I mean.’

‘I was?’ He sounded and looked far too pleased with such a compliment, and then realised it. His grin faded and he tried to look dignified. ‘Nice of you to say so.’

‘There’s something I need from you.’ Haldora winced as she tried to reach out to him. ‘Something only you can do for me.’

Nakka walked back, a bit of a swagger in his step. He glanced around and saw that there was nobody paying them any attention.

‘Is there now?’ he said, leaning close, voice low. ‘And what might that be?’

‘I need you to teach me how to fight. Properly, I mean.’

‘Oh.’ Nakka couldn’t hide his disappointment. It was as though every part of him sagged, including his beard. Then he realised what she was asking and his brow furrowed. ‘Oh.’

‘Pa showed me the basics, but he’s no warrior. He manned a catapult during the war. Skraffi’s experienced but I don’t think he has the energy for it anymore.’

‘Your father’s brave. Just because he was with the war machines doesn’t take away from that. Many’s the dwarf who gave his life besieging every one of them Grimnir-cursed elf cities.’

‘It’s not about his bravery, Nakka. But axeplay and hammercraft aren’t really in his repertoire of talents. If I wanted to know how much an axe cost I’d ask my father. If I want to know how to kill goblins and orcs with it, that’s your job. You seem very… deft with your hands.’

‘Aye, it’s a natural talent.’ Nakka spun his axe a couple of times and made a few pretend swings. ‘The Troggklad blood comes from Grimnir himself, didn’t you know?’

‘I’m sure it did. Will you? Will you help one of less blessed heritage?’

‘I don’t see why not, as long as your pa has no objections.’

‘What’s it got to do with him?’ Haldora’s outburst drew stares from some of the other dwarfs and she dropped her voice. ‘It’s not his business.’

‘It was hard enough convincing him to let you come on this expedition, and only then because he didn’t think there was going to be any trouble at all. If he thinks you’re going to start wanting to become a warrior through-and-through, more than just a bit of self-defence, he might not be too happy.’

‘All right. I’ll talk to him. If he says yes, will you do it? Will you teach me how to fight?’

‘I’ll do better than that, my fine maiden,’ Nakka said, pulling Haldora onto her feet. It hurt her shoulder but the pain was dulled by the happiness flowing from Haldora’s heart as Nakka drew her closer. ‘I’ll teach you how to win!’

And that was when they shared their first kiss.

CHAPTER NINE

‘Our ancestors drove the goblins north and west, taking the lower slopes for themselves. With timber from the low groves of trees they built the first stockades, but Grimbalki was a cannier thinker than his father and had two of the mingols taken down and the stones used to build a more secure fortress, where later the defences of Undak Grimgazan would be. Some of the mingols were later extended into Undak Khruthok and Undak Khazdok, but that was many years away yet.

With stone towers and stockade in place, more of the king’s people came up from the foothills and they started exploring the southern mountains. The fortress grew and the area that was later called the Lower Gate was established.

This small realm was called Ankor-Drakk.’

Wood thudded against wood and the clash was lost on the wind. Haldora swung the training axe back and let fly once more, smashing the heavy weapon into Nakka’s upraised shield. Sweat dripped from the end of her nose and moistened her blue woollen dress. The sun had been relentless since they had come out to the secluded glade to continue their practice.

‘I can’t believe your father said yes,’ said Nakka, stepping back and holding up a hand to indicate they should take a break. ‘I really didn’t think he’d agree.’

‘I suppose he figured I would go ahead without him,’ lied Haldora. In fact she had not even raised the issue with Gabbik. Nakka was right, it was a foregone conclusion that her father would not permit her to take part in any further weapons training, in case it encouraged her to have even more outlandish fancies.

‘And that’s why we have to train out here, away from everyone, right?’ Nakka sounded dubious and Haldora was reminded that despite his bluff demeanour he was not a dull blade.

‘Folk will pry,’ she said, trying to sound offhand. ‘You know they love to poke about in my business. Better for pa and the clan name if nobody gets wind of it. And the fresh air is good.’

‘Blumming hot though,’ said Nakka. He put down the shield and wiped sweat from his brow with the hem of his tunic. He was bare-armed, showing off the muscles earned at the seam-face, and his beard was neatly plaited into a single braid to keep it out of the way. ‘And we’ll have to do some tunnel work sooner or later. That’s where goblins will be fighting.’

‘And the orcs? What about them?’

‘There aren’t any orcs. We saw that ourselves. Not a greenskin within days of Ekrund. No, it’ll not be orcs that we have to worry about.’

‘You’re worried?’ Haldora took up her fighting stance once more, wooden axe in both hands, elbows up and shoulders back. ‘About goblins?’

‘That’s not what I meant,’ said Nakka, raising the shield again.

He advanced slowly until he was within range. Haldora swung the axe, remembering to move at the waist, using the leverage of her arms to smash the head into the presented target. The shield rocked in Nakka’s grasp but he remained as solid as a granite pillar. She caught the shield again with the backswing, almost hooking it from his grasp.

‘Use your feet,’ he said. ‘You’re fighting goblins, not hewing coal. Get on the balls of your feet.’

Haldora tried, but almost fell over as she leaned all of her weight into the next swing. She recovered and stepped back for another attempt. Suddenly the axe felt top-heavy and she was unbalanced, nearly toppling over as the head whistled past the shield.

‘On the balls of your feet, not on tiptoe!’ laughed Nakka. He dropped the shield and stepped forward, strong, calloused fingers closing around her hands where they gripped the axe haft.

Nakka stepped back, dragging her with him. As she stepped to follow he moved the axe to the left and she felt the weight transferring from one leg to the other. He swayed and she swayed with him, pivoting slightly as he brought the axe low and then high. He pushed and she retreated, stepping back, guided by his hands to bring the axe across, head level with the ground.

There was a beat and a rhythm to the movements that reminded Haldora of the dances in the ale halls. She grinned and moved with it, letting Nakka steer her hands, feeling the axe light in her grasp, almost a living thing.

‘Beautiful,’ she whispered as Nakka quickly stepped away, leaving her to continue on her own, circling around him as though courting at a dance, the axe cutting the air in front of her. Her tread felt as light as a feather on the soft grass.

‘You’re beautiful,’ he replied with a smile of his own.

Nakka picked up the shield and interposed himself in front of her. Now when Haldora swung the axe she felt her whole body moving with it, following through with a step, using the weight of the swing and backstep to turn the blow into another attack, thudding the false axe head against the bottom of the shield with an upward cut.

‘Good,’ said Nakka. ‘A few more years’ practice and you might make a fine warrior.’

‘Years?’ Haldora almost tripped over her own feet, feeling a stab of disappointment in her chest. Suddenly the axe felt heavy again, her feet as though they were encased in blocks of iron. Her next swing was a wild slash that glanced against the boss of the shield, almost jarring the weapon from her fingers, sending a tremor of pain up into her elbow.

‘You didn’t think you’d master everything in just a few sessions, did you?’

‘No,’ Haldora said with a pout. Maybe a dozen, she had thought. How difficult could axework be? ‘But you heard the decree of the king. He wants the outer defences manned for the time being. The Angboks are on the next rotation out to the south watchtowers.’

‘I know,’ said Nakka. ‘The Troggklads are with you too. What of it?’

‘What if I’m not ready by then?’

‘Ready for what?’

‘To fight, of course! What if the orcs attack when we’re on the watchtowers?’

‘There’ll be no attack, my precious diamond,’ said Nakka. ‘And certainly not against the towers. There aren’t any orcs out there, we would have seen them.’

‘So what happened to the rest of the refugees? They just got lost and disappeared? Barely a few dozen have arrived since the first wave. Thousands, they reckoned. Thousands. All gone.’

‘Confused and frightened folk, fleeing for their lives. They couldn’t be certain how many got out of Karak Varn. Maybe Barak Varr relented and took more in. Maybe they turned east towards Karak Eight Peaks. Who can say? Them wolf riders weren’t even strong enough to take on a scouting party. You reckon they could hunt down thousands of dwarfs?’

‘If they were tired and scattered, maybe,’ said Haldora. She sat down on a tree stump, letting the practice axe fall from her grasp. ‘I don’t want to think the worst. Poor Grammi Skraffi is near enough pulling his beard out, convinced the orcs are going to eat us all tomorrow. That’s just daft, but we should take precautions.’

‘And that’s what the king’s doing. Increased patrols. Manning the outer towers. What else should we do, Haldora? March to Karak Varn like Skraffi said?’ He laughed. ‘A fine pickle we would be in then. Skraffi is a fine dwarf, you know I know that, but he gets strange notions. Like this business with the mead. But he’s got all the stubbornness of his age and won’t back down. We could cross the wildlands and back and never see an orc and still he’d claim they was hiding somewhere, biding their time.’

‘You’re right,’ said Haldora. ‘I should stop paying too much heed to what he says.’

Nakka came over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. ‘If you really want to do something, tell your father you’re coming out to the towers with us. And ask him to speak with the other clan heads, maybe send a letter to the king.’

‘Thanks,’ said Haldora, smiling up at Nakka.

‘What for?’

‘Believing in me.’

‘Believing in you?’ Nakka laughed again, his beard thumping against his chest. ‘That’s like believing in tables or gold or the sky. Ain’t no believing, it’s just fact. There’s you, and you’re strong and I know whatever you put your mind to will get done.’

‘All the same…’ Haldora picked up the wooden axe and stood up. She gave it a few test swings. Her shoulders ached but it was like the time she had learnt to use a pick. She’d keep going until the muscles were strong enough. ‘Like a dance, right?’

They continued to practise until the sun was almost lost behind the mountains. Stealing a quick goodbye kiss, Haldora then parted ways with Nakka, heading back to her family’s halls while he returned to the chambers of the Troggklads, having gained his promise not to reveal their clandestine meetings. She hoped he would not be interrogated too closely.

Nobody seemed too bothered about her when she got back and she sat down to supper with the rest of the family without fielding any awkward questions. She didn’t want to lie to her family, but if they knew what was going on they would certainly put a stop to it. Fortunately, Skraffi was there – his appearances had become rare since the king’s council – and he was keen to expand on his new favourite topic of conversation.

‘I’ve been speaking with more of the Varnfolk thanes,’ he told them, brandishing a roasted goat leg like a royal sceptre. ‘They reckon they could probably stir up a few thousand axes and hammers from the other holds, with cousins, nephews and what not.’ He glowered at Gabbik. ‘Family ties still mean something in the old mountains, I’m told.’

‘Family means something here too, father,’ Gabbik said. He was always formal in his address, never speaking out of place in Skraffi’s presence, but Haldora could tell when Gabbik was exercising his best self-control. She had seen it when meetings of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society got out of hand – someone forgetting to ask for a second during a motion, for example – and she could see it now every time Skraffi opened his mouth.

‘The orcs have probably moved on by now,’ Skraffi continued, ignoring his son. ‘We would just have a look, see what was what and the like. And then when the High King’s ready, we come from the south and the army from Karaz-a-Karak comes from the north, catching them green dung eaters between us.’

‘There will be no army from the north, father,’ Gabbik said patiently. ‘King Erstukar is not going to petition the High King for a joint attack on Karak Varn. Please, stop going on about it. If you really want to help the Varnfolk, don’t keep feeding them this madness and false hope.’

Skraffi opened his mouth and then closed it again. He huffed and crossed his arms but said nothing more.

‘I’m still worried about the Varnfolk that haven’t made it to the Dragonbacks,’ Haldora said. ‘They have to be out there somewhere.’

‘What could we do about it?’ Gabbik said, his exasperation growing. ‘Grow wings and soar over the wildlands looking for them?’

Haldora fell silent, stung by her father’s words. She fidgeted with the edge of the table, picking at a splinter with her thumbnail. He looked at her for some time and then pushed away his plate, expression softening.

‘All right,’ Gabbik said. ‘What would you really have me do?’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ mumbled Haldora. ‘I’m sure there’s nothing we can do.’

‘What would you have me do?’ he asked again, slowly and quietly. ‘Really.’

‘I just want you to talk to the other clan heads,’ Haldora said. ‘I don’t know what we can do, but maybe they can think of something.’

‘We’ve already put up as many as we can,’ said Friedra. She moved around the table collecting platters and cups. ‘Any more and we’ll have Varnfolk in the pantry and coming out of the scullery. That won’t do at all.’

‘But there should be more. You heard it too. I just don’t know where all the other survivors have ended up.’

‘Maybe they went back to retake their hold?’ suggested Skraffi. ‘They should do. It’s a sorry state of affairs when an entire hold just ups and leaves without so much as a fight or two to get back what’s theirs.’

‘They stayed and defended their homes, as they should have done,’ said Gabbik. ‘That’s where you’d see me, standing at the door, hammer in hand and no stepping back.’

Skraffi darted his son a dubious look. ‘When did you become such a hardened fighter?’

‘I saw my share of war,’ said Gabbik. ‘And I’ve killed my share of goblins too.’

‘Will you say something? To the other thanes?’ Haldora asked. ‘Please?’

Gabbik considered it, slowly rubbing a knuckle across the side of his nose several times.

‘I’ll see what the others think of it,’ he said. ‘No promises they’ll listen to me.’ There was a snort from Skraffi, indicating what he thought were the chances of Gabbik being given full attention.

‘They’ll have to listen to you, pa,’ said Haldora. ‘Respectable, wise, considered. You’ve got a reputation. They’ll definitely listen to you.’

They weren’t listening.

Gabbik suppressed a sigh and raised his voice above the background clamour of the alehouse – taken over that night for the thanes’ council. He had told Haldora he would voice her concerns and that was what he was going to do, even if nobody else was interested. There were times he was sure he had let down his daughter but this would not be one of them.

Skraffi was scrutinising everything he said from across the other side of the hall, ensconced at a table with two bottles of mead and a tin cup, surrounded by other greybeards who glared suspiciously as Gabbik rose to his feet and banged his tankard on the table.

‘Could I have your attention for a moment, please, gentledwarfs?’ Gabbik announced.

The assemblage quietened down a little bit. They were from all over the surrounding area, co-members of the clan council, some with lineages hailing back to Karak Eight Peaks, others with less rarefied heritage. All of them seemed to be united in their desire to continue drinking without interruption.

The bulk of business had been arranged by Stofrik Grimsson, who was acting council foreman until the annual conclave that was to be held next midwinter. Stofrik was one of the front runners in the contest and had been working hard for Gabbik’s support too. Not so hard that he had allowed Gabbik to make a last minute insertion to the agenda though, which had left the head of the Angboks clamouring for attention when the official business had been concluded. By the letter of the council rules Stofrik had not yet called a halt to debate and they were still in the Any Other Business period – a concession Gabbik had bought with three cups of blackbeer – but the rest of the attendees had certainly moved on in their minds and were reluctant to countenance further delay to the serious issue of beer tasting and pie eating, followed by the cheese-judging contest.

‘We need to discuss the refugee issue,’ Gabbik insisted, almost shouting. A sudden quiet descended and it seemed as though he was talking loudly for no good reason. He lowered his voice. ‘It has been brought to my attention that initial estimates of the number of survivors from Karak Varn have proven woefully inaccurate.’

‘Good,’ came a reply, from a dwarf near the counter surrounded by a fog of pipe smoke. He had a battered helmet on and an ancient mail surplice hung with gilded ancestor badges. Gabbik recognised him as Farbrok Grimsson, Stofrik’s uncle. ‘Less mouths to feed.’

‘And less beds to find,’ added someone else.

‘And more drink for us!’ declared a third dwarf, which was greeted by a cheer from those around him.

‘And the question of where they’ve all gone,’ said Gabbik. He glanced over at Skraffi and received a subtle nod of encouragement. That worried him, because if Skraffi thought it was a good idea, the chances were the opposite would prove to be true. He swallowed back his apprehension and continued, remembering that he was doing this for Haldora. ‘The patrols haven’t seen hide nor hair of orcs within days of the mountains. Don’t that strike you as unnatural?’

‘Maybe they all went up to Karak Varn to join the fun,’ suggested Stofrik. This garnered some vigorous nodding from the other Grimsson thanes and their comrades. ‘Ever thought of that?’

Gabbik hadn’t and he wished he had.

‘Maybe,’ he said, suddenly uncertain. ‘But what about if they come back?’

‘And what if more orcs decide to follow the Varnfolk to Ekrund?’ asked Skraffi. Gabbik cringed. He might have been able to get the thanes to think properly about the subject, but now they would be distracted by his father’s outlandish ideas. ‘Wanting to finish the job?’

‘Ain’t been no sign of that,’ said Farbrok. The assembled dwarfs erupted into conversation, as though the matter was settled already.

‘Fair stroke to Gabbik, my boys,’ said Stofrik, holding up his hands for quiet. The crowd settled down again and Stofrik nodded for Gabbik to continue. ‘Let’s hear him out. Make your point, Gabbik.’

He felt their eyes on him and tried to remember what the point was. As far as he could remember the point was that he had told Haldora he would say something, but beyond that he hadn’t paid too much attention to what was worrying her specifically.

‘We never sent anyone south,’ he said, dredging up something from the bottom of his memory. He vaguely recalled Haldora coming back from the patrol, complaining that nobody was interested in searching the swamps, either for Varnfolk or greenskins.

‘There ain’t nothin’ south, Gabbik,’ he was told by one of the Fundunstulls, who still were considering an official grudge for the business over the gold seam. ‘Unless you’re worried about marsh ducks and roundbills!’

‘Or maybe it’s an army of otters!’ cried another, followed by more good-humoured pokes.

‘I know, I know,’ Gabbik conceded, grinning through the shame. It was too much. At the moment they thought of him as being a bit foolish. If he carried on he would get thrown into the same barrel as Skraffi – a troublemaker. Worse than that, he would look afraid. Scared of nothing, they would say. A worry-for-nothing, he would be called. Or worse: elf-beard. ‘I was just being thorough. Ducks! Good one there, Sammison. Otters! Ha! You’re right, of course. Nothing to worry about. I wanted the record to show that. You know me.’

He sat down, smiling like an idiot, while inside a fire of embarrassment consumed his guts. He stared into his ale, not daring to look across to where he knew Skraffi would be scowling at him. He felt a tap on his elbow and turned his head to look at Vadlir.

‘What was that about?’ asked the other thane. ‘Are you done?’

‘Something Haldora wanted,’ Gabbik confessed. He took a long swig of beer. ‘It’s done now.’

‘Aye, that daughter of yours,’ Vadlir said with a knowing nod. ‘Not nearly as much trouble as your father, but you best keep an eye on that one. You don’t want word getting out that she’ll be a handful. You’d be lucky for her to marry a goatherd’s son if she gets the wrong sort of reputation.’

Gabbik said nothing. He knew Haldora meant well, and certainly she was nobody’s fool. But it was as though she was a beardling. Naive. She didn’t understand that it didn’t matter that doing the right thing was a matter of consensus not absolute truth. What others thought was important.

And what Haldora thought, Gabbik knew deep down, was that he had betrayed her, if not in actual deed then in heart. She would not understand how important it was that a dwarf of good standing represented the Angboks. But it would be to her benefit one day. When a thane from one of the other, richer clans was looking for a wife, he would hear the name of Haldora Angbok and take interest, because the clan would have a reputation of solidity and being dependable. That was currency as much as gold and coal.

There was nothing to be done about it now. Skraffi was already halfway to ruining the Angbok name, and Gabbik had to do everything he could to save whatever repute remained. Haldora would have to learn that, preferably sooner rather than later. The more she acted out and made a noise, and the more Skraffi kept embarrassing them all, the harder Gabbik would have to fight to retain some sense of dignity.

Still ragged from the potential humiliation he had just endured, Gabbik resolved that he would not allow himself to get backed into the same situation again. He would not take any more nonsense, from Haldora or from Skraffi. If they wanted to be part of the Angbok clan they would have to protect the Angbok name, and that was the end of it.

CHAPTER TEN

‘The orcs came seven years after Ankor-Drakk was founded. It was the late winter and, driven by starvation I suppose, the orcs forged a way across the frozen marshes and fell on the outlying settlements, which by this time numbered four villages and several dozen farms.

The smoke alerted the king to the danger and he summoned the throng, but the Drakkanfolk, as they were now called, were spread all over the place. Before the army finally was able to destroy the orcs in battle the greenskins had killed hundreds and sent as many again into slavery in the south.

The people would not have this and the king vowed to reclaim the Drakkanfolk that had been taken. There were some that were left behind, to guard Ankor-Drakk and the new mine. Most of the slaves were rescued over the following spring and summer, but when the king returned, he found the gates of Ankor-Drakk barred against him. His younger brother, Garudak, had seized control and refused to acknowledge the king as the ruler.

This was a great embarrassment and the king wanted to avoid any confrontation after losing so many Drakkanfolk to the orcs. He was a clever soul and let Garudak keep Ankor-Drakk, and told him that he would start a new mine elsewhere to show Garudak who was the best.

So the king went further up the mountains and there he started a new settlement.’

The clan watches had not been mustered since the end of the war against the elves, but after the patrols had failed to find any evidence of the orcs the king had decreed that each clan would take its time-honoured place in the role of guards. To show there would be no favouritism, the king’s own clan had taken the first watch on the northern towers and his closest allies in the other outer defences. Now the time had come for the Angboks and their kin to travel to the eastern reaches to stand their shift at the towers and ramparts overlooking the wildlands.

Haldora was excited by the idea as she packed up clothes and food for the journey – she was already wearing her mail shirt and a pair of vambraces secretly gifted to her by Nakka. Her father sensed her mood as she carried her pack from her chamber into the family hall, and looked to dampen her enthusiasm.

‘There’ll be no orcs, nor goblins,’ said Gabbik. ‘Waste of time, if you ask me.’

Nobody had asked, Haldora thought, but she decided not to mention this to her father. He had been in a sour mood for the last few days and it was obvious that uprooting the clan to the eastern outer towers for thirty days was playing on his mind. She could imagine the calculations – lost revenue from the seam would outweigh the small stipend the king was offering to cover the clans’ expenses. In Gabbik’s mind this could not have come at a worse time. There was a little uncertainty following the fall of Karak Varn and the value of gold was rising. Dwarfs liked to put their stock in gold when things became uncertain, in the same way that they would comb their beards to comfort themselves.

Haldora didn’t much care about the lost revenue. This was a chance to do something different, to get away from the clan halls and the high pastures and see more of the mountains and wildlands. Even if there were no orcs, and that seemed a very distinct possibility, it was nice to get a change of scenery.

The clan assembled by the East Gate – Angboks, Troggklads and others, about three hundred dwarfs in all. Each of them carried a sturdy pack of gear, clothes and food, and the children were with them from beardlings just short of coming of age to babes in arms. More supplies were piled neatly on handbarrows pushed by pairs of dwarfs.

The atmosphere was mixed, with the younger dwarfs excited by the prospect of the expedition and the older dwarfs grumbling at being uprooted on a ‘pointless jaunt into the country’. A few of the youngest Troggklads had formed an impromptu marching band and were banging drums and tooting horns in celebration. One had a bellows organ and another a grind lyre, and they seemed to be trying to outdo each other in volume if not skill. Unable to stomach this racket Norbrindor Troggklad, master of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society Instrument Band and Choir, led them on a rousing play of Brave Dwarfs Stand Shoulder to Shoulder.

With this unsubtle but enthusiastic rendition of the Society’s anthem to mark time, the clan set off down the road, the babble of voices and tramp of feet echoing from the valley with the sound of the band.

Haldora spied Nakka amongst the Troggklads ahead and increased her pace to catch up. She was red-faced and puffing by the time she reached him. He was wearing a newly made wolfskin cloak, the blondish pelt trimmed with iron rings and a deep red lining.

‘How do, Haldora,’ said Vadlir. He gave her a grin and a wink and glanced at Nakka. ‘Nice of you to join us. Haven’t seen you for a while.’

‘Pa’s had me down the mines and in the kitchens non-stop since he got back from the king’s council, it seems,’ she said. Nakka gave her a nod, silently acknowledging her reason why she had not seen him the last few days. ‘I must have scrubbed every stone and tile in the halls at least twice over. Ma’s worse still, cleaning out the grates and chimneys. Anyone would think the king was expecting to move into the Angbok halls while we was away.’

‘Always hall proud, your ma,’ said Nakka. ‘Nothing wrong with wanting to come back to a nice, clean chamber after being away for a bit.’

‘Those that make it mucky can clean it, as far as I’m concerned,’ said Haldora. ‘If you don’t have the time, don’t bring the grime. Gramma Awdie used to say that.’

Nakka looked taken aback and said nothing. Vadlir chuckled quietly and wouldn’t meet his son’s gaze or Haldora’s.

‘Fine,’ said Haldora, slowing down. ‘I’ll talk to folks that appreciate my company.’

They walked for the rest of the day, until they came to the defences of the Lower Gate. The gatehouse itself was set into the eastern side of the valley, an impressive fortification of towers and turrets and ramparts over two immense gates each half a dozen paces thick, bound with gilded iron and studded with bolts as large as a dwarf’s fist. They were open at the moment, a sign to any travellers – and refugees – that they were welcome in Ekrund. Beneath the gatehouse the precincts of the Lower Gate stretched into the mountain, a suburb of Ekrund proper linked only by one great hall. It was to many a distinct city, and was ruled over by the descendant of one of its founders, who always took the inherited title Lord Garudak.

The gate towers were imposing, but not as much as the bastion. This wall stretched the whole width of the valley, with a single smaller gate in its centre. Secondary towers and ramparts jutted out and ran along the road, so that any potential attacker had to run a gauntlet of fire for a thousand paces and more. The bastion was reinforced with great buttresses set a third of the way in from each side of the valley, composed of octagonal towers with outlying turrets that could house dozens of war engines and hundreds of warriors behind reinforced battlements.

It was not yet dusk and the bastion gate was still open, but Haldora noticed there were more guards on the towers and ramparts than when she had gone out on patrol with the rangers. However, they turned away from the bastion and headed to the Lower Gate itself.

Inside were store houses, guard chambers and, of course, several ale halls and hostelries to water and feed travellers. There were a few tired-looking dwarfs clutching rescued belongings and Haldora recognised the look of Varnfolk immediately. With them were others travelling to Ekrund – traders from other holds, rangers and couriers.

The group were met by a silver-haired gatekeeper who, on learning their business, showed them to quarters set aside for the clans coming from and going to the watchtowers. They were staying just the one night and Haldora found herself in a small side chamber with her mother and several other females, while the male dwarfs were billeted in larger dormitories one level below. This seclusion seemed odd but it was only for one night, and it seemed that the king’s declaration to reinstate the outer watches had taken everybody by surprise. More substantial provisions for relocating clans were being made, the hostelry owners assured them.

In the morning they set out eastwards once more, travelling as a large group just after sunrise. By mid-morning there was little sign of the hold, except if they looked back they could see the walls and towers around the peak of Mount Bloodhorn, beneath which most of Ekrund lay. The ramparts and towers that had protected the road before gave way to unspoilt mountains and valleys, though here and there a mine entrance could be seen, or the squat shape of a goat herder’s cottage. By midday they had left the main road and were heading southwards along a track through the foothills, all existence of Ekrund left behind them.

The outer watchtowers were at the very edge of the mountains, beyond the furthest tunnels of the hold. Haldora caught her first glimpse of Undak Grimgazan as the track crested a particularly high hill. The citadel and surrounding towers stood on a shoulder of rock that jutted into the high grass of the wildlands. It looked very much like etchings she had seen depicting the lighthouses that stood on promontories outside the approaches to Barak Varr’s harbour, with the wildlands heaping up against the hard stone like waves crashing on a shore.

They were too far away to make the tower before nightfall and made camp along the track, building fires for cooking. The weather was dry and warm and Haldora did not even need a blanket as she lay down that night and looked up at the stars. In the distance light gleamed from the narrow windows of the watchtower and she could see the tiny flicker of lamps along a buttress of fortification that extended out several hundred paces into the wildlands. She fell asleep with fresh air in her nostrils, and dreamed of the old days during the war with the elves when whole companies of dwarfs patrolled the march towers.

Their fires had been spotted in the night and shortly after dawn the camp was approached by a patrol sent out from the tower. They were from the Gnollanar clan and were happy to find their replacements arriving in timely fashion. After reporting that very little had happened during their enforced sojourn they returned to their families with word that relief was on its way, while the Angboks and the rest of the clan broke camp. By the time Haldora and the others were approaching the gate of the tower the Gnollanars and their extended family were already leaving, wheeling their barrows with them.

‘Who’s in charge?’ asked one of the departing garrison, brandishing a large bunch of brass keys.

‘I’ll take those,’ said Stofrik, emerging from the throng of Grimssons. Gabbik hurried forward to stake his claim but it was too late, the keys were already in Stofrik’s fingers by the time the head of the Angboks arrived.

‘Hope you brought some knitting, dear, or maybe some darning,’ said a grey-haired Gnollanar as she tramped past Haldora. ‘You’ll get ever so bored otherwise.’

‘Not me,’ said Haldora. ‘I can always find something to do.’

‘I’m sure you can, dear,’ the ageing dwarf replied, looking Haldora up and down, evidently irritated that her advice had been dismissed. ‘I’ve heard about the Angboks.’

Fingers closed on Haldora’s arm and dragged her away as she opened her mouth to retort. She turned to confront her assailant and found herself in the grip of Nakka.

‘Best not to say nowt,’ he said. ‘Not with all these folks listening. Your pa would not be best pleased if you start cursing and whatnot.’

‘I wasn’t going to curse.’ Nakka’s eyebrow raised a fraction in disbelief. ‘Well, nothing bad. She should mind her own, that’s all. No business of hers to be telling me what to do with my time.’

Nakka released her and shrugged.

‘I’m looking forward to thirty days of peace and quiet. Let’s start now, eh?’

Haldora couldn’t stay angry, not with Nakka looking at her with a glint in his eye. No matter what, even when he didn’t say the right things, Nakka eased her mind simply by being around. She heard her father calling for attention and the family gathered around the gate.

Gabbik stood beside Stofrik and a few of the other thanes. The last of the previous tower occupants filed out, sparing nothing more than glances for their replacements. Most of them looked happy to be leaving, even the youngsters.

‘We’ll divvy up rooms and kitchens and such when we’ve had a look around,’ announced Gabbik. ‘First order of business is to draw up a plan of action in various circumstances. We need lists of who’s to be on the guard rotas and who’s fit enough to go out on patrols. Stofrik?’

‘Aye,’ said the Grimsson thane. ‘We’ll not be going far out, just a couple of days to the south and back again, but it’s some rough terrain down that way. The greybeards can watch the walls while we’re gone. There’s plenty that can walk the ramparts, so six shifts for guard duty and four shifts for patrols.’

‘And we need to post up to the beacon too,’ said Gabbik. He pointed with hammer along the shoulder of rock, to a tall, thin tower about thirty paces from the main building. ‘Anyone who can strike a flint can do that, so we’ll all take turns in threes. So, who’s putting their names forward for patrols?’

Haldora went with Nakka and waited in line while the Angboks, Troggklads, Grimssons and the rest made their wishes and abilities known. When her father looked up from his list he sighed.

‘You really think you can go on patrol? This isn’t a jaunt with rangers, it’s going to be constant marching, and if anyone gets in trouble it’s likely to be a patrol.’

‘Put her on with me,’ said Nakka.

‘No room for dead weight,’ said Stofrik, looking over from where he was making his own list of willing family members. ‘Sorry, Haldora.’

‘She ain’t no dead weight,’ said Nakka, stepping up. ‘She’s got an eye for axework, she has.’

‘Really?’ said Stofrik. ‘A pickaxe, maybe. Or cutting firewood.’

‘Proper axework, of the neck-cutting kind,’ said Nakka. Before Haldora could say anything, he slapped a hand to her shoulder with a broad grin. ‘Been teaching her meself.’

‘Have you now?’ growled Gabbik. His hands went to his hips, paper in one, charcoal in the other. ‘Nice of you to take that on yourself there, Nakka.’

‘Let’s not cause a fuss, eh?’ said Haldora. She tugged at Nakka’s arm but would have had more chance of shifting a tree than getting him to step away now.

‘She asked,’ said Nakka. He glanced at Haldora and then back at Gabbik. ‘You know that.’

‘I knew no such thing,’ said Gabbik. ‘What do you think I am, soft-headed? No daughter of the Angboks is going to be wasting her time swinging a battleaxe when she could be earning her keep or tending the halls.’

‘You said…’ Nakka’s expression was one of confusion as he looked at Haldora. It became a look of disappointment rather than anger as realisation dawned. ‘That’s not on, Haldora. Not on at all.’

‘What’s this?’ said Gabbik. He glared at Haldora. ‘What have you been up to?’

‘She told me that you knew about the axe lessons, Gabbik,’ said Nakka. He sighed and shook his head. ‘You know I wouldn’t have done nothing without you knowing. She told me.’

‘You better go and see your mother,’ Gabbik said quietly, bobbing his head towards the open tower gates. ‘She needs help getting the cooking fires going.’

‘But Nakka just told you,’ she said. ‘I’m good to fight with. Aren’t I, Nakka?’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Nakka. He turned away. ‘You have to trust those that raise their shield next to yours.’

‘Pa?’

Her father was resolute, lips tight, brow furrowed. His words were forced out through gritted teeth.

‘Get. Inside. Now.’

He was visibly shaking, face turning red with the effort of not losing his temper. She had never seen her father so angry before. It seemed like such a small thing to get so worked up about. What did it matter that she had learnt how to fight? She could see that there was no favour to be gained making her case there and then. The other dwarfs were whispering amongst themselves and she heard scattered words of their exchanges: ‘liar’, ‘betrayed her father’, ‘humiliated’ and ‘typical’.

There was no point in making more of a scene. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she trudged through the gates.

‘Stop your sulking, girl,’ said Friedra. Her hands were a blur as she chopped carrots and turnips on the counter. ‘That corn won’t grind itself.’

Haldora sighed as she pulled away from the window of the tower looking out over the wildlands. It had been some time since Nakka’s patrol had moved out of sight, but Haldora could just about make out the faint cloud of dust left by their passage south. She turned back to the large stone bowl of grains and picked up the grinding stone.

‘Have the mills stopped working in Ekrund?’ she asked petulantly.

‘Mind your lip, girl. This is my great-gramma’s recipe and they didn’t have no fancy water mills and windmills back then because all the men was off digging the hold, so just be thankful and don’t start your grumbling. Honestly, you’ve been nothing but a misery since we got here.’

‘It’s so unfair,’ said Haldora. ‘If I had asked pa to let me have lessons from Nakka he would have said no.’

‘And that’s why you should have known better. You lied, Haldora. You lied to Nakka outright, and you went behind our backs. What else haven’t you been telling us? What else have you been getting up to?’

‘Nothing! I haven’t got time to do anything else, between washing and cleaning and mining and then practising with my axe.’

‘So you’ve been shirking too, have you? What jobs haven’t got done because you’ve been playing at warriors?’

‘I’m not playing,’ snarled Haldora. She thumped the bowl down on the wooden butcher’s block at the centre of the kitchen. ‘This is serious. What if Grammi Skraffi is right? What if there are more goblins and trolls about these days?’

‘Then there’s plenty of axes and hammers already waiting for them,’ said Friedra. She scooped up handfuls of the vegetables and dumped them in a pan on the floor, big enough that it came up to her waist. ‘Why are you so bothered about doing something lots of other dwarfs can do? I thought you wanted to be special.’

‘I want to be an axe maiden.’ Haldora said it quietly. It had been on her mind for some time, and now was the time to share it. ‘Like Valaya. And Gramma Awdie.’

‘An axe maiden, is it?’ Friedra made no attempt to hide her disappointment. ‘Awdhelga was great for many things, but she filled your head with stories that have done you no good. You think she wanted to fight goblins? No, they just found her and like always she did what she had to do. That’s what made Awdhelga special. She made do. She made do better than anybody else. When she overcooked the malt she invented blackbeer. Stories, girl, they won’t get you a husband or put food on the table.’

‘There’s got to be more to life than just cooking, cleaning and making babies,’ said Haldora. She picked up the rounded stone and started grinding the corn grains in the bottom of the bowl.

‘There is, but you can’t go telling lies. You know better than that.’ Friedra wiped her hands on her apron and heaved up the pot of water and vegetables to a hook over the firepit. ‘You should have asked your father first.’

‘He would have said no.’

‘He might not. How often has he really told you not to do something? I mean, out and out said that he forbids it? Never. He might scowl and grumble, but he’s never denied you anything. Nothing you’ve really wanted.’

Haldora thought about this and the truth of it just added to her miserable mood. She had been knocking around the watchtower for eight days and Nakka had avoided her for most of that time, saying only what was required when she took the food round at the evening meals they shared with the Troggklads. Now he was gone for two more days and so was her father. The two people she wanted more than anything to say sorry to had flat out refused to see her and now they had left altogether.

Haldora pounded the grains into flour, turning her frustration into something productive. In two days Nakka would be back and so would Gabbik and the time away would give them time to think and maybe forgive her.

‘Do you think I should say I’m sorry again?’ she asked her mother. ‘Maybe bake Gramma Awdie’s treacle cake as a gift?’

‘Yes, dear, that would help. It’s your father’s favourite and I’m sure Nakka’s got a sweet tooth.’ Friedra smiled. ‘Now you’re starting to think like Angbok womenfolk.’

CHAPTER ELEVEN

‘Upon the flanks of Mount Bloodhorn the king set his mind to digging a new mine. Much toil had been spent on Ankor-Drakk, but he was determined that he would rule over a hold worthy of a king.

The Angboks were supportive of the king and they abandoned their breweries and farms to help prospect for the site of the future kingdom. They had to fight back more goblins to claim the higher passes and valleys, but they found earth that was rich, in ore and in wood.’

After two more days, Haldora started to understand why her mother spent so much time sweeping, polishing, cooking, pickling, knitting, sewing, gilding and sampling Skraffi’s mead. It helped pass the intolerable hours of nothing between waking up and going to sleep. She was amazed by the menfolk plodding along the walls, doing their rounds to the secondary towers further west, sometimes sitting with a pipe and puffing quietly, or quaffing a pint noisily. The simplest thing seemed to provide them with endless distraction, if not outright amusement, for days at a time.

They talked a lot, she realised, when there was nothing much to talk about. They talked about clouds, and sometimes the more adventurous spirits would even try to see shapes and runes in cloud formations. Not that there were many clouds around. It was late summer and the heat was like a furnace at the height of the day, reflected from the bare rocks and the stone blocks of the tower itself. And this in itself was a matter for much remark.

‘Never been a hotter summer since I was born,’ one Troggklad greybeard declared.

‘Hottest summer since the Great Heatwave of oh-four,’ countered Farbrok Grimsson.

‘Could cook an egg on them tiles,’ claimed another, though the day before Haldora had actually tried and it hadn’t worked, despite it being a south-facing turret roof and noon.

She had tried to point out the results of her experiments but nobody paid her any heed. Word had spread concerning her indiscretion with Nakka – as it was being related, though she was sure ‘indiscretions’ were meant to be far more exciting – and dwarfs who would happily have crossed a beer hall to avoid buying Gabbik a drink before were now mysteriously united in his cause and tight-lipped in her presence.

‘They stick together,’ her mother had told her when she asked what could be done. Friedra had relented slightly in her condemnation, through Haldora’s diligent application of hard work and subtle flattery. Going to Friedra for advice made her mother feel important and was the surest way to get on her good side. ‘There’s so few womenfolk they know we’re more important than them, but it’d be a dwarf short in the beard who says such a thing, so they just try to pretend that they could take us or leave us.’

‘When really they’re all desperate for a maiden of their own, right?’

‘If only,’ said Friedra with a sorrowful shake of the head. ‘There’s a good few of them perfectly content to spend all their days with no more company than a pipe and a pint. Just as well really. They’d be scrapping each other with tooth and nail if they was all so desperate to get a wife. You think we’re treated poorly? Just think what they would do if we was made of gold.’

‘I don’t understand. They would value us.’

‘No, dear, that would be a disaster. What do they do with gold, dear?’ Haldora shook her head and shrugged, not understanding the point of the question. ‘They hoard it. They put it in vaults and try to make sure it never comes out. If they thought the same way about womenfolk they’d have us locked up and there would be wars waged for possession of us. It’d be terrible. Better that they don’t think about it too much, and them that gets the urge for a family can make the effort.’

Haldora had never thought about things that way, and though she was not entirely sure she agreed, there was some sense in what her mother said. Fundamentally, it just didn’t feel right, that though she was as capable as any of the menfolk at anything she wanted to turn her hand to, she was only allowed to do certain things.

‘Allowed’ was perhaps not the right word. As Friedra had said, Gabbik had never banned Haldora from doing anything. But there was expectation, and that was harder than anything to fight. She was expected to cook and clean and know how to raise little dwarfs. It was expected that she would leave the mining and brewing and fighting and everything else to the menfolk so that she had more time to cook and clean and raise little dwarfs. And to defy expectation was to receive the worst kind of patronising condemnation possible – pity.

‘I know why you lied to Nakka and didn’t tell your father, but that isn’t the way to get what you want,’ Friedra had continued. ‘You don’t win the game by cheating. You have to play by the rules. Most of them the menfolk write, but we write a few ourselves. And the thing is, to keep them on their toes, we’re allowed to rewrite our rules whenever we like and we don’t have to tell them. They’ve got to stick by theirs, because that’s the way their minds work. Predictable and dependable, most of them.’

Haldora wasn’t sure what rules her mother had been talking about and had not had the opportunity to ask. The patrol was due back that morning and her treacle cake needed presenting. It was only a day out of the oven and a few more would have helped, but overall Haldora was pleased with the effort.

The cake was almost as large as a cart wheel, nearly as wide as her outstretched arms and as thick as the stones that made up the rampart. It was almost completely black from spending a whole day in the oven, the sugary cement-like mixture she had created dried like pottery in a kiln. She rapped her knuckles on the edge and it made a dull thudding, just like Gramma Awdie had shown her. She had artfully arranged sugared nuts to form the rune for tromm, a dwarfish word that meant beard, but also respect, and was the closest rune there was for an apology, as it was impossible for a dwarf to ever admit he had been wrong, but could quite equally acknowledge and respect that another dwarf was also right whilst holding to a differing opinion.

With the help of two young maidens from the Troggklads and Burlithroms Haldora had manoeuvred the cake into the main eating hall of the citadel, where it would be shared amongst the returning patrol members first and then the remainder would be left for the rest of the garrison to plunder as they desired.

Haldora waited expectantly, embroidering the Troggklad family runes onto a handkerchief she would give to Nakka. As she worked she considered her mother’s words and realised the wisdom of them. She couldn’t outfight her father, and certainly couldn’t out-stubborn him. But her father needed her as much as she needed him, and that gave her… She wasn’t sure what that gave her. It was like something helping her get what she wanted, but she couldn’t think of a suitable analogy.

Leverage. It came to her of a sudden as she thought about how she was able to move the bigger rocks in the mines with the help of a pole rather than asking one of the menfolk for assistance. The cooking and cleaning gave her leverage, and so if she provided that then her father and Nakka and the others owed her.

She didn’t like thinking this way. It felt devious. Much more devious than lying about a few stupid axeplay lessons. Haldora could barely believe her mother condoned this sort of manipulation, but the more she thought about it the more Haldora was sure that was what Friedra had intended.

The day was already dragging past. Haldora had thought the patrol would have been back by now. Looking at the shadows in the window arches it was nearly midday, or so she reckoned. She glanced at the mantel clock above the fireplace. It was a grand old thing, almost as big as her, kept running by a cunning arrangement of weights, cams, pulleys, springs and sand pourers, and needed resetting only once every eight days. It confirmed that it was actually past noon.

They really should have been back by now.

Haldora put her sewing aside and left the great hall by one of the side doors, heading to a spiral staircase that ran up to the upper floors of the citadel. On the floor above the great hall were the chambers of the commandant – currently Stofrik, despite Gabbik’s intentions – and several dozen dwarfs from the Grimssons, Burlithroms and Fundunstulls were sitting on the benches and stools of the main guard room playing cards and dice. A haze of pipe smoke highlighted in the glare of the sun drifted in the breeze coming through the slit windows.

‘Has anybody seen the patrol?’ Haldora asked.

The question was answered with disinterested head shakes and shrugs so Haldora moved to the curtained archway leading to Stofrik’s rooms. She pushed past the thick hanging and found herself in a study-like chamber, with a set of shelves to one side and a small desk on the opposite wall. There was a wooden door beyond and she knocked loudly and opened it.

Stofrik was behind a large desk, chair tipped back against the wall beneath a window, hands behind his head, eyes closed. Haldora’s entrance didn’t rouse him so she banged on the desktop, rattling an inkwell. Stofrik’s eyes opened instantly and he flopped forward, the chair banging on the stone floor. He looked at Haldora for a moment, brow wrinkled, and then recognition set in.

‘How might I help you, my young maiden?’

‘The patrol hasn’t returned. The one with my father and grandfather.’

‘Has it not?’ Stofrik stood up and looked out of the window, as though to see them right outside. ‘I would have thought they would be back by now. The last camp is only around the other side of Nassuk Tor. Still, I wouldn’t worry just yet. There’s a lake not that far away, they probably went fishing, or maybe they’re just enjoying themselves in the sun.’

‘That doesn’t sound like my father,’ said Haldora.

‘No,’ said Stofrik. He pulled a pipe from the pocket of his jacket and tapped it out on the window sill. He popped it into his mouth unfilled and frowned. ‘The punctual sort, isn’t he?’

‘Very. Takes changes of shift very seriously, does my pa.’

‘Still, it’s only a morning. There could be any number of reasons why they’re not back yet.’

‘We could go and look,’ said Haldora.

‘The next patrol goes out in the morning. If your father isn’t back by nightfall, he’ll be camping out another night. We’ll go look for them tomorrow if they’re that late.’

‘That’s a whole day! That’s not good enough!’

Stofrik’s eyebrows furrowed even more and his lip curled.

‘Perhaps your father allows you to speak in that fashion to him, but I’ll not have it!’ The old dwarf sat down and knotted his fingers together. ‘I am commander of this garrison and a thane, and you will show me the respect I have earned. It is customary to wait for a day before declaring a patrol overdue. That is what I intend to do, young lady.’

Haldora was going to argue some more but she could see Stofrik’s temper was already at its limit as he glared at her.

‘Very well,’ she said stiffly, and left.

She went up the steps from the guard room and out onto the parapet that ran to the outer towers on the flat ground either side of the ridge of rock on which sat the citadel. She turned to the west tower, where she knew Fleinn and his family were currently billeted. The stretch of wall was nearly a thousand paces long, and halfway there was an open tower – really nothing more than a wider stretch of wall with a roof but no walls. A gaggle of sentries waited there, manning four brass looking-tubes mounted to each side of the rampart.

‘Excuse me,’ Haldora said, approaching the guards. She didn’t know any of them by name – distant relatives in the Troggklads. ‘Have you seen anything of the patrol, please?’

‘Sorry, lass, nowt but crows and hares out there this morning,’ replied one of the sentries. He stepped away from the wall and waved a hand towards the viewing glass. ‘Take a look for yourself if you like.’

Haldora accepted the invitation by stepping up to the looking-lens. It was made of two brass tubes, one within the other, mounted on a pinion set into the top of the rampart. Inside were carefully crafted slices of quartz, fashioned to magnify the view.

Closing one eye, she leaned into the viewing tube and laid her hand to it, turning it on its gimbals to look left and right, from south-west to south-east. There was nothing. No smoke, no dust and certainly no dwarfs.

‘Thank you,’ she said, stepping back.

‘Everything all right, lass?’ asked the guard.

‘Not sure,’ she replied quietly. ‘The patrol should have been back.’

‘I’m sure it’s nothing serious,’ said one of the other sentries. ‘We’d have seen the flare.’

‘Flare?’ Haldora wasn’t sure what the word meant in this context.

‘One of them new-fangled rocket-things, filled with bang powder,’ said the guard. ‘Burns red, bright as a star, and gives off red smoke so you can see it in the day too. Just light the cord, stick it in the ground and, whoosh! It goes up and warns everybody there’s trouble.’

‘Oh, I didn’t know that. I suppose you’re right,’ said Haldora, glancing back over the wall as though she might see a flare being loosed right then.

She continued on to the outer tower, where Fleinn and several others were sat in the guard room cooling themselves with broad fans made of woven reed, painted with river scenes from the mountains.

‘Ey up, Haldi, what brings you out here?’ asked Fleinn, standing up. ‘I hear you been baking some treacle cake, right?’ He examined Haldora, perhaps looking for a bag. ‘Got some spare have you?’

‘I’ll make sure there’s some left for you,’ she said, getting a grin of appreciation. ‘I baked it for when the patrol returned, but they’re not back yet.’

‘Nope, not yet,’ said Fleinn. He didn’t seem too vexed by their absence. ‘Let’s hope they didn’t leave it to old Skraffi to do the map reading, eh? They could be up to their necks in a mire, right?’

The thought that they might have got lost in the swamp had not occurred to Haldora – she had convinced herself that any trouble would have been of the green-skinned variety. Now she looked at Fleinn with fresh horror.

‘Really? That can happen?’

‘Calm down, Haldi, it was just a joke,’ said Fleinn. He stood up and she allowed herself to be guided to the vacated stool. One of the other dwarfs pushed a tankard in her direction and she took a swig: a fruity small beer. ‘Your father has his head bolted on right, he’d never get lost.’

‘So why are they late? They might have taken a wrong turn. I heard tales that there can be summer fogs by the marshes. What if they got all turned around or maybe one of them got separated? It could be Grammi or Nakka! We have to go and help them.’

‘Let up, just a moment,’ said Fleinn, resting a hand on her shoulder as Haldora made to stand up. She saw him exchange a look with some of the others. ‘I know what you’re like, Haldi, and I don’t want you doing anything daft now.’

‘What do you mean? What am I like?’

‘You’re not to go running off on your own to look for them,’ said Durk, Fleinn’s younger brother. The notion hadn’t occurred to Haldora until then, but despite the warning it seemed like the only course of action left.

Fleinn must have seen something in her eye, because his grip on her shoulder grew firmer and he turned to the others.

‘I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if a few of us just went for a quick look-see, would it?’

‘We’re doing naff all here, Fleinn, as sure as gold glints,’ said Durk. He smiled at Haldora. ‘I reckon it’d be nice to stretch me legs, maybe go for a bit of a walk, eh?’

There were similar assertions from the others, and with a scraping of stools and thumps of emptied tankards being put on the table, the company assembled.

‘All of us?’ asked Fleinn, looking at the two dozen dwarfs. He received shrugs and nods in reply. ‘Fair enough. Lead on, Haldi.’

She didn’t feel like correcting him, considering how accommodating he was being. They headed back along the wall towards the citadel. The sentries in the halfway tower gave them odd looks but promised to keep an eye out west when Fleinn asked.

Their progress back along the wall hadn’t gone unobserved and by the time they approached the main citadel there was a contingent of Fundunstulls and a few Grimssons waiting for them.

‘Aye aye, here’s trouble,’ said Nurftun, the eldest of them. As the dwarfs from the other clan gathered across the rampart, he pushed his way to the front. ‘Hey, what’s happening here?’

‘You can’t just up and leave when you fancy it,’ said one of the Fundunstulls. ‘Where’s your sense of duty?’

‘We’re off to look for our patrol,’ said Haldora, stepping up beside Nurftun.

‘It isn’t lost yet.’ All eyes moved to the window above the rampart, where Stofrik now leaned out, pipe jutting from the corner of his mouth. ‘I told you, young lady, not to give me no back chat. Now you’re leading a rebellion.’

‘Ain’t no rebellion here, Stofrik,’ declared Nurftun. ‘We’re just going for a walk, is all. Might be something happened to our folks, and might be it’s nothing. No harm in going and having a look.’

‘You’re supposed to be guarding the west tower,’ Stofrik said. ‘What’s to happen if we get attacked by orcs whilst you’re all out there wandering about willy-nilly?’

‘There ain’t going to be no orcs attacking,’ said Nurftun, hands on hips. ‘You’re just being obstinate.’

‘Obstinate is it? If there are no orcs, who’s attacked the patrol?’ The Grimssons’ thane seemed sincere. ‘Look here, if there’s orcs about and they have had a set to with the patrol, they could be heading here. I’m not just tugging your beard here. We wait until tomorrow and then look for them properly.’

A few of the Troggklads and Angboks could see the wisdom of this. They nodded and stroked their beards and looked expectantly at Nurftun. He seemed to be relenting in his determination so Haldora raised her voice, the words for her kin rather than Stofrik.

‘It’s our blood kin out there,’ she said. ‘My grandfather and father and many of your cousins, nephews and uncles. If we was out there and in trouble, we would expect them to do everything they could to help.’

‘We’d have seen a flare,’ someone pointed out.

‘Who was carrying it? What if it got dropped in the water? What if it was faulty?’ Haldora rattled off the questions quickly and didn’t wait for a reply. ‘I know the people that went out and there would be no reason but bad that they’re not back yet. You’re right, Nurftun, I am a bit of a wayward spirit sometimes. Blame that on old Awdhelga’s influence. And I do mean to go and look for Skraffi and Gabbik and Nakka even if you don’t.’ She turned and looked up at Stofrik. ‘I’m not on any of your stupid rosters, so I can come and go as I please.’

‘We can’t let you go alone,’ said Nurftun. He looked between Haldora and Stofrik, and his expression hardened as he looked up at the thane. ‘We made oaths to kin, but I never swore nothing to you, Grimsson. We’ll be getting our stuff and be on our way, and I’ll thank you to remind your kinfolk not to be bad mannered.’

‘As you want it,’ said Stofrik. ‘I’ll be sending a letter to the king about this. I don’t see why he should be paying you for something you ain’t doing.’

This made a few of the Angboks pause. Giving up their stipend when they had already given up earnings from the mines, breweries and forges was quite a lot to ask. Haldora had to think quickly.

‘There’s a standing bounty on goblin and orc ears,’ she declared. ‘I bet if there are greenskins out there we can make more than sitting on our thumbs here.’

A few looked unconvinced but as the Fundunstulls and Grimssons parted to let them back into the citadel they all followed Haldora and Nurftun. It took a little while for everyone to get their travelling packs together and by the time Haldora had rounded them up once more it was almost mid-afternoon.

A few of those that were staying behind came to wish them well, including some of the womenfolk. Just as Haldora and the others were leaving, Friedra came out to the gate.

‘Where do you think you’re off to, my girl?’ said Haldora’s mother, fists balled at her sides.

‘We’re going to look for pa and Grammi,’ she explained.

‘I know that, but why are you going? Nurftun and the others can look just as well without you as with.’

‘But they’re my family too! I want to help.’

‘And what about me, eh?’ Friedra stepped closer and dropped her voice. ‘You’ve got me worried now, that maybe something’s happened to Skraffi and Gabbik. What if something has? What if they’ve been eaten by a wyvern or attacked by orcs?’

‘I’ll go and rescue them.’

‘And leave me here wondering if I got any close kin left at all?’ Haldora had never seen her mother upset, and there was a glistening in her eyes that wasn’t the sunlight. ‘Is that what you want? Me all left on me own?’

‘Course not, ma,’ said Haldora. She hugged Friedra, and when she tried to pull away her mother’s embrace tightened. ‘I’ve got to go. You know I have to do this. What sort of daughter would I be?’

‘One that minds her mother,’ said Friedra, finally releasing her grip. ‘But I see that don’t mean anything to you. Well, go on then, with your shield and axe, you go and play at warriors and leave your poor old mother here by herself.’

‘I’ll be back,’ Haldora assured her. ‘With pa and Skraffi too. I promise.’

She turned away and walked out of the gate beside Nurftun, who raised a hand in farewell.

‘I thought your pa would have taught you an important lesson by now,’ Nurftun said quietly as they passed through the shadow of the gatehouse.

‘What’s that?’ asked Haldora. She glanced at him and saw that his face was grim-set beneath his fur-lined helm.

‘Never make a promise unless you’re certain you can keep it.’

CHAPTER TWELVE

‘Garudak and the folk of Ankor-Drakk controlled the approaches to the east road. With this privileged position he charged a premium on all goods heading up to the king, and filled his coffers with gold and goods intended for the higher passes.

The king stayed true to his cause and didn’t complain, but simply built another road that headed from the southern slope before turning eastwards to the old mountains. As before he lined the road with mingols to protect the traders and settlers, and sent out a call to the Urbarvornfolk that hadn’t yet moved to the mountains. A great many of them were lured by promises of gold, and they joined the Angboks and other clans in claiming Mount Bloodhorn to the west and south, building small stations and cutting terraces into the mountain’s flanks for crops and pastures.

And all the while they dug the rock and hoped to find something worth a mine.’

‘If we don’t make camp now, we’ll be the ones what need rescuing,’ declared Nurftun.

The moons had set and though the sky was almost cloudless and the stars were bright, his point was well made. The grass of the wildlands was still rising and falling in gentle hillocks but the dells between the patches of high ground were becoming boggier as they neared the marshlands.

‘We could pass by five hundred paces from them and never know,’ added Fleinn.

‘Or walk past a hundred dead orcs,’ said Durk.

Haldora thought it curious that these venerable dwarfs were not telling her this outright but were trying to persuade her, as though she was in charge. She considered this a little more and realised that although Nurftun was the eldest and had sent ahead the scouts and given out the orders for who was to keep watch, it was to her that Nurftun looked for guidance, as though she knew any better.

For a moment this pleased her greatly, knowing that these well-respected dwarfs were showing her the same respect they had for each other. And then cold realisation reminded her that she had no idea what she was doing. She was no ranger, and she certainly had no experience trying to find someone in the dark wildlands. On this occasion the old dwarf saying held true: look to the longest beard for wisdom.

‘Yes, you’re right,’ she told Nurftun. ‘There’s no point getting ourselves hopelessly lost too.’

The other dwarfs waited a moment until Nurftun gave the final nod, and then with surprising speed they were unpacking their bags and pitching up tents, all by the light of the stars and a couple of lanterns. It seemed like no time at all had passed before there was a blaze going, and almost immediately after there was a ring of dwarfs sitting on stones and logs, sausages spitted on the ends of twigs above the flames, which spat and hissed with the dripping fat.

‘Ale?’ Haldora turned to find Durk handing her a leather cup filled frothing to the brim.

‘How? Who?’ She didn’t remember seeing a cask or even a keg amongst the belongings.

‘Bazza,’ explained Durk, nodding to one of the Troggklads. The red-haired dwarf was quite young and he had his pack on the ground, a tap sticking out of one side. ‘His whole pack’s basically a portable barrel. Clever, eh?’

‘Yes,’ Haldora had to admit. She took the beer and drank deep, fortified by the brew. ‘Very clever.’

Somebody else offered her a piece of bread with a sausage balanced on it, which Haldora accepted without thought. She wasn’t hungry but it seemed the polite thing to do, and it was nice that someone else was cooking for a change. Out here the male dwarfs had barely made mention of her gender and they were treating her just like one of the lads. Perhaps that’s why they were happy to listen to her opinion too – for the moment she was just one of them.

‘You should get some shuteye,’ suggested Fleinn. ‘We’ll start out again at daybreak.’

‘Not tired,’ replied Haldora, wrapping her sausage in the slice of bread before taking a bite. It was boar and herb, and hot juices ran down her chin. ‘Got any mustard?’

A jar of a thick yellow substance with a flat knife protruding was procured from someone, which Haldora slathered gratefully onto her sausage. She took another bite and the heat of the mustard almost burned the roof of her mouth.

‘Good mustard!’ she called out, panting for breath. She received a grateful thumbs up from one of the dwarfs around the fire. ‘I’ll get that recipe for my ma.’

The group sat in silence for the most part, drinking beer, chewing sausages and staring into the flames. The only thing more hypnotic than firelight was gold, and there was precious little of that in the camp – the dwarfs always had a few coins about their person but any real amount of wealth was left behind when they travelled any distance.

Haldora thought of all the treasure, the gemstones and crowns and sceptres and weapons and armour and torqs and cutlery and all the rest that had been lost in Karak Varn. The value alone was depressing enough, but the history tied up in those artefacts was irreplaceable. The refugees that had made it as far as Ekrund had not lost only their wealth but also their connection to their ancestors.

‘Must be terrible,’ she said, only realising afterwards that she had spoken aloud.

‘What’s terrible?’

‘The Varnfolk. Well, their doom. They lost everything. Got to start from first scratch again.’

‘Their ancestors managed it,’ said Fleinn. His expression was thoughtful, not unkind. ‘All our ancestors managed it. They’ll cope all right, the Varnfolk. We’d do best not to step in their path, and that’s all they need. Give them a few picks and a tunnel to dig and let them get on with it, I reckon.’

What anybody else reckoned was lost as they were all snapped out of their thoughts by a shout to the south. As one the dwarfs turned to look and the reason for the call of alarm was clear. A red star was ascending into the sky some distance away, burning bright and trailing ruddy smoke.

‘The flare!’ Haldora was on her feet in a moment. ‘We have to get going!’

‘Wait on a moment,’ said Nurftun, grabbing Haldora’s arm as she headed towards the canvas awning beneath which her axe and shield were stowed. ‘We can’t go charging about like toadstool-addled werits. We have to have a plan.’

‘A plan?’ Haldora looked at the flare, which was still rising, though more slowly now. ‘We head towards the shiny red thing. If we see any orcs or goblins we kill them.’

‘It’s not that simple,’ said Nurftun. ‘If they’ve sent up a flare that’s serious trouble. What if it’s more than we can handle? We’d just be throwing ourselves in the spoil as well.’

‘What else do you expect us to do?’ Haldora asked. ‘Just wait?’

‘Mebbe,’ replied Nurftun. He pointed northwards. ‘They’ll see that flare at Undak Grimgazan and come looking. We might be better waiting for them.’

‘And my pa and the others? I’m not going to just leave them.’

‘It’s a warning flare, Haldi,’ said Fleinn. ‘This isn’t just a few goblins scrounging about in the marshes. They sent up a flare ‘cos they don’t think they’re going to be able to warn anyone themselves.’

‘It’ll take the rest of the night for anyone to get here from Undak Grimgazan.’ Haldora felt panic starting to rise, tightening her chest, making her bosom heave as her breath came shorter and shorter. ‘Anything could happen to my pa before then. We need to go now.’

‘There’s a way of doing things, Haldi,’ said Nurftun, almost pleading with her.

‘It’s Haldora!’ she snapped back. She raised her voice to be sure all of the dwarfs could hear. ‘Some of you can stay, or maybe go back if you want to. I’m going to help Nakka and Gabbik and the rest of the lads. That’s what we came out here to do. I’d rather die with my axe in my hand beside them fellows than with a goblin arrow in my back, heading to the towers.’

This struck a nerve in many of the dwarfs. Many of them were shaking their heads, beards trembling at the subtle accusation in her words. Nurftun looked fit to explode, his eyes bulged so much.

‘Is that it?’ he growled. ‘Is that what you think of me, when I’m only looking not to add more Angbok blood to what’s spilt already?’

‘Are you so sure we can do nothing?’ Haldora demanded. ‘It’s just over that ridge. Let’s go and take a look. You came this far, why not just a bit farther? If there’s too much for us to handle, then you can go back and wait for the garrison. At least we can try!’

Nurftun looked at her sourly for several heartbeats, saying nothing. Finally he nodded once and turned to the others. In another moment he was barking out orders for the group to ready their weapons and the fire to be doused.

‘What about the camp?’ asked Fleinn. Haldora realised that her time as trusted leader was over, and all attention was on Nurftun.

‘Leave it. We can pick up the stuff later, and if not… Lives is more important than canvas.’

Bronze and iron and runes glittered in the campfire as axe blades were bared and hammers unslung, before the fire was doused and the dell plunged into darkness. The flare’s descent was retarded by a linen canopy above the burning canister of blended powders, showering ruddy sparks and dousing quite a stretch of land in its glare.

‘After me,’ announced Nurftun, and within three dozen heartbeats of the flare being launched the whole group were moving out at a trot, heading southwards.

The ridge that Haldora had pointed out angled south-east, a last rocky outcrop of a spur of the Dragonbacks covered with ferns and thorny bushes. It was hard to tell exactly, but as they neared the rise it seemed to Haldora that the flare was falling not far away. The wind would have carried it some distance in the time it had taken them to cover the nine hundred paces and more from the camp, but she was hopeful that her father and the rest of the patrol were just on the other side of the rise.

The ground steepened quickly and Haldora was forced to pull herself up with her hands as much as to walk, with thorns scratching at her face and fingers, snaring her cloak and tunic while burrs latched onto her braided locks. She ignored it all, filled with a burning determination to make it to the top of the ridge. The panic she had felt at the thought of losing her loved ones had subsided, to be replaced by a gnawing dread in the pit of her gut; a dread she could not allow to manifest fully.

She had not quite crested the rise but some of the others had and their excited shouts spurred her on to cover the last few dozen paces, panting hard as she rose up amongst the bushes and was able to look south.

She heard the fighting before she saw it – the clash of metal and hoarse cries of anger and pain. The yelp and howl of wolves told her all she needed to know before she finally saw a cluster of dwarfs in the ruddy gloom, a few hundred paces from the bottom of the ridge, encircled by goblins on wolf back.

At that distance she could not count how many were there in the poor light, but there were fewer than the twenty that had set out, she was sure. Haldora had no means of recognising who was still alive. She whispered a plea to Grimnir to lend strength to their axe-arms and hoped that Nakka, Gabbik and Skraffi were amongst the living. She could not yet bring herself to entreat Valaya to guide their spirits to the Halls Beyond if they were not.

‘Bows and crossbows!’ Nurftun announced. ‘Get your arrows and bolts ready.’

The southern slope was not as steep as the northern, and the entangling bushes were sparser, making progress back down to the plains that bit swifter. As she descended, Haldora could see that the ring of dwarfs keeping back the attacks of the wolf riders was not staying in place but moving slowly towards the ridge. Step by step the dwarfs were heading for the higher ground.

‘They’re coming this way,’ she said. ‘We’ll be with them soon!’

Her hope rose and then suddenly guttered as she saw one of the dwarfs go down, pounced upon by two giant wolves and their green-skinned riders. The other dwarfs surged around their fallen comrade, hurling back the raiders with a brief counter-charge.

‘Let’s announce ourselves, lads!’ shouted Fleinn. ‘Maybe scare these beggars off, eh?’

Haldora slammed the butt of her axe against her shield and shouted along with the others, raising a clamour that could be heard all the way down in the wildlands. The wolf riders fell back briefly, giving the patrol time to break into a steady run towards the ridge. Soon enough the wolves were closing in again though, convinced that they could take down one group before they united with the other.

‘Get your legs moving!’ shrieked Haldora, breaking into a headlong run, heedless of the danger of falling head over heels down the slope. ‘Hurry!’

She heard the other dwarfs surging after her – the rattle of stones, the flap of feet and the jingling of mail as twenty-five sturdy warriors hurtled down the ridge towards the goblin attackers. The wolf riders broke away from harassing the patrol and formed up together. It might have been the darkness but they looked bigger than the creatures she had fought with the rangers. And there seemed even more than when she had first laid eyes on them, maybe forty or fifty with more still appearing out of the darkness.

Screeching horns split the night and the goblins charged. Nurftun called his group to a halt and they formed up, shields to the front, bows and crossbows sending a shower of missiles down the slope to greet the onrushing greenskins. Arrowheads glinted red in the last light of the flare, which had landed somewhere to the east and had now almost guttered out. A few wolves yelped in pain and riders screamed as the projectiles found their mark, but there were too few to break the goblins’ momentum.

Haldora felt more afraid now than when she had been alone amongst the wolf riders during the ambush. Not for herself, but because she realised that Nurftun to her left and Fleinn to her right would be depending upon her axe and shield to guard them as much as they were guarding her. She pictured herself with Nakka, dancing light-footed back and forth across the high pasture.

The thought that he might be dead brought tears to her eyes and a lump to her throat, her arms started to tremble and the fear grew. Her mother had been right, she had no place here. This was warrior-work, not chopping parsnips and coalroots.

She could step back, she realised. The goblins were still some distance away, even though they were closing fast. More arrows sprang out to meet them while the few dwarfs with crossbows were still reloading their weapons. There was time for her to withdraw, to let the shieldwall reset in front of her.

Nobody would blame her in the slightest.

And that sent a surge of resentment through her. Like rods of iron reinforcing a pillar, indignation strengthened her limbs. The thought that it was expected she would step back, that she would retreat and leave the fighting to the menfolk, was like a tumbler of Fulnir’s mushroom spirit – ‘dragon’s breath’ it was called around the clan. Heat washed up through her, driving away the tiredness and the numbness, filling her with vigour and anger.

‘Come on, you sour-faced, beady-eyed goat turds!’ she shrieked. She lifted up her axe. ‘Come and taste dwarf iron!’

‘Easy there, lass,’ said Fleinn with a surprised smirk. He had his elven blades ready, held loosely by his sides. ‘Save your energy for the fight, eh?’

‘Sod ‘em,’ said Haldora, grinning back, feeling slightly foolish at her outburst. ‘They’re not worth the breath.’

The wolf riders tried to circle around to the north, but Nurftun held the line right and the dwarfs turned with them. The goblins then split and looked to attack from two directions at once, but again Nurftun held them ready, two lines back to back in an oval. Between the snarls and snaps of the wolves and the high-pitched shrieks and yells of the goblins, the night was alive with noise, though the dwarfs faced them in stoic silence broken occasionally by a puff on a pipe, the striking of a flint to light the same, or a hawk and spit to clear a bit of phlegm.

‘Easy, lads.’ Nurftun spoke softly but without any hesitation. ‘Watch the flanks and turn on the left foot.’

The cacophony of yowls and screeches reached a crescendo and with another clamour of whining horns and shrill war cries the goblins charged, coming at the dwarfs roughly from the east and the west, along the line of the ridge.

The thorn bushes and unsteady footing slowed the momentum of the attack and forced the goblins to spread out lest they trip each other as their mounts dodged past bracken thickets and jumped over gulleys. Nurftun had picked the spot after some consideration, amongst some of the tallest bushes and with a large boulder stopping the wolves from charging directly at the eastern end of the line.

The first wolf to reach the line had its throat slashed by Durk. Another, its shoulder already pierced by an arrow, stumbled as Fleinn slashed at its muzzle with his swords, falling in front of Haldora. She acted without a second thought, moving with her shield forward to ward away the rider’s spear, her axe cleaving into the wolf’s head between the eyes. She wrenched the blade free and swung again, chopping the arm from the goblin on its back.

It felt natural, without effort.

There was cursing and crashing around her, but Haldora trusted the dwarfs to either side and behind and focused on the patch of ground in front that was her responsibility. Goblins and wolves were dying, the snap of fangs on shields and armour, the wet smack of hammers crushing bones through green flesh sounding as though it was right next to Haldora, but she allowed nothing to distract her.

Dodging a swing from Nurftun, a white-furred wolf bounded into her field of view, its rider at least a head taller than the goblin she had killed earlier. The wolf pounced, jaws wide. She countered with her shield, moving her left foot across, catching the beast’s charge with her weight on her back foot. It crashed against the shield with more force than she had been expecting, but she held her ground, right foot ploughing through the dirt. Over the brim of her shield she could see the goblin leering at her, a curved sword in one hand, a small oval shield made of woven hide strips in the other.

The wolf lunged again and Haldora defended herself again, waiting for the moment. The goblin’s sword arced down but she was able to catch it on the rim of the shield, turning it away from her face. The wolf pulled back, muscles bunching, while the goblin steadied itself, raising its sword for another strike.

This was her opening and she attacked without hesitation. Slamming her shield into the wolf’s face she stepped forwards, under the swing of the goblin’s crooked blade. She swung her axe up and down with all her strength, throwing her whole weight behind the blow. Its gleaming head chopped through the goblin’s thigh and into the ribs of the wolf.

The goblin fell backwards as the wolf yapped and jumped away, blood spilling from both wounds.

Haldora stepped back into place, remembering the lessons of Nakka. In the line she was safe. Outside the line nobody was watching her back. The white wolf rolled and thrashed for a few heartbeats and then fell still. Beyond its corpse Haldora could see that the goblin was still alive, dragging itself away through the bushes, trailing its good leg behind it. It was tempting to chase after the greenskin to finish it off, but she kept her cool and told herself that even a goblin could not survive such a wound.

Another wolf and rider came and she killed them too. And another. And another. The fifth she shared with Fleinn; his swords decapitated the wolf as Haldora’s axe ripped out the guts of the rider.

More horns blared, but these were not the brassy, thin notes of goblin instruments but the bass tone of dwarf horns. The patrol had reached the ridge and were piling up towards the goblins, catching them between the two forces. Realising that they had missed their chance, the goblins’ courage faded quickly and they scattered, disappearing into the night just as they had the last time Haldora had been in a battle.

There were shouts of greeting as the two groups converged. Haldora scanned the faces looming out of the starlight. She recognised them all, but not the faces she wanted to see.

‘Gabbik! Where’s Gabbik? Skraffi? Nakka?’ She grabbed one of the dwarfs by the shoulders – Cousin Grothrund – and demanded to know where her family were.

‘Back there,’ said Grothrund, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder back to the plains.

‘Oh no,’ sobbed Haldora, sinking to her knees. It felt as though the ground had opened up beneath her, the stars above swirling below as well, a vast emptiness threatening to suck her in. ‘Not all of them, no!’

‘Sorry, lass,’ said Grothrund, crouching beside her. He patted her arm. ‘Poor choice of words.’

Through her tears she saw there was another group of dwarfs coming up the slope, each of them dragging a bier behind them on which lay more dwarfs – wounded or dead Haldora could not tell. As her tears cleared she recognised Skraffi and surged to her feet.

She sprinted down the hill, dropping her axe and shield on the way to run all the faster. He carefully lowered the sled-like stretcher as she hurled herself at him, braids flapping.

‘Easy, Haldi, easy,’ he said, hugging her tight. Skraffi pulled away and turned, letting her see the bier. Her father lay on the lattice of wood and reeds, very pale, a ragged cut across the side of his head, mail stained with dried blood. Her hand went to her mouth and she sobbed again.

‘He’ll be right enough, no worries,’ Skraffi said. He nodded to the left and Haldora saw Nakka pulling another stretcher, a bandage around his left arm. He smiled at her and nodded.

Gabbik opened his eyes, frowning. When he spoke his voice was little more than a dry croak. He coughed, took in a breath that made him wince and tried again.

‘Haldora? What by Grimnir’s hairy chin are you doing here?’

They waited until dawn, patching up the wounded, of which there were eight dwarfs, and using cloaks to shroud the five that were dead. Haldora stayed close to her father, but as Skraffi had promised his injury was not as severe as it looked.

‘Scalp cuts always bleed bad,’ said Gabbik, as though he was an expert on that sort of thing.

He was on his feet by daybreak, complaining of a sore head but nothing worse. The night had passed without further event but the sounds of prowling bands of wolf riders had kept everybody awake and alert.

With the earliest daylight streaming across the horizon they made their way north, back towards the fortifications at Undak Grimgazan. In the growing light they found tracks of more wolf riders, who had evidently overtaken the dwarfs the night before, and not few in number. Wary of an ambush the dwarfs marched with weapons and shields at the ready, which made for slower progress but was far safer.

‘We should meet the garrison before midday,’ declared Nurftun. ‘If they set out soon after the flare was sent up, they’ll be halfway to us by now.’

‘If they did,’ said Haldora.

‘I know Stofrik was being a bit of a stickler when we left but he’s not so petty he’d ignore a signal flare,’ said Fleinn. He looked at Nurftun. ‘Is he?’

‘No, lad, he’ll have roused the garrison sure enough,’ replied the older dwarf.

With wolf riders on the prowl it was a hard choice not to send out scouts, but the risk of a lone dwarf being attacked outweighed having eyes and ears further abroad. By the time it was almost noon there was still no sign of Stofrik and the rest of the clans from Undak Grimgazan. Haldora had a few sour words about the Grimssons, Fundunstulls and the rest, as did others, but Gabbik and Nurftun claimed that the garrison would be looking for them.

Not long after the sun was passing the zenith they came across evidence of a fight. There were dead wolves and goblins scattered over the hilly ground, some with arrows in them and others with axe wounds and injuries from hammer blows. The grass was trampled over a wide swath and they discovered broken mail rings, two splintered shields bearing markings of the Burlithroms and a snapped axe.

‘Looks like Stofrik and his company found the other wolf riders first,’ said Nakka, kicking over the remnants of a shield. ‘But did they win?’

‘I figure they did,’ said Durk, kneeling beside one of the dead wolves. ‘The goblins left their dead, but there’s no Ekrundfolk lying here.’

‘What do goblins care for their dead?’ asked Haldora. ‘They’re savages.’

‘They eat them,’ Skraffi said quietly. ‘Goblins is scrawny enough as is without letting food go to waste, nor good wolf hides, fangs and bones.’

‘We better move on,’ said Gabbik. ‘Sooner we’re back behind the walls the sooner we can put our heads to thinking this out.’

There was no argument on that account and the group made a brisk pace for the rest of the afternoon. Now and then one or other of the dwarfs would stop, looking south, east or west, keeping an eye out for more raiders. On more than one occasion they came back saying that they’d seen something – perhaps riders shadowing the group, or movement in the distance of goblins trying to outpace the dwarfs.

With this news Haldora was more aware of how exposed they were. The fresh air and sun of the great outdoors lost its appeal.

‘I wish I was in a nice hall somewhere, with a gate,’ she told Nakka.

‘Soon enough,’ he reassured her. ‘There’ll be no more goblin attacks today, mark my words.’

And his words proved true as they came within sight of the outer towers of Undak Grimgazan. Haldora had never been so happy and keen to see stone laid upon stone by dwarf hands, and they all quickened their pace again once the fortress was in sight.

‘Gates are closed,’ observed Fleinn as they came closer to the walls. ‘Movement on the ramparts.’

Indeed the sun glinted from helms and axeheads and as they approached a figure appeared at the main gate tower and shouted down at them.

‘Praise to Grimnir, Grungni and Valaya!’ It was Stofrik, clad in full mail and plate, the runes of his armour and short axe glowing with a greenish hue. ‘We thought the wolf riders had got you.’

‘Not for want of trying,’ Nurftun shouted back.

‘Hurry yourselves, you’ve got company,’ the Grimsson thane called down before he ordered the gates opened.

The exertion of the march and the battle were taking a toll on Haldora as she gratefully hurried through the gate arch with Nakka and Gabbik. They made their way up the citadel to the rampart and spread out across the wall, looking back to the south. The sun had almost set but in the gloom she could see darker shapes not too far from the walls.

‘They’ll not attack a fort,’ said Gabbik. ‘Cowardly raiders looking for easy pickings.’

‘Pretty close to Ekrund,’ said Fleinn.

‘I told you they was getting braver,’ said Skraffi. ‘And this lot were bigger too, I reckon.’

Nobody gainsaid the older dwarf and quiet fell as they all peered south. Haldora was taken by surprise as the door to the rampart slammed open and Friedra ran out on to the wall. First she wrapped her arms around Haldora, and then Gabbik and then Skraffi, before returning her attention to Haldora once more. She looked about to scold her daughter, but her face softened and instead she ran a finger down Haldora’s cheek.

‘You’re safe.’ Friedra seemed to be telling herself rather than them. ‘You’re back and safe now. Let’s get you into something clean and get some pie in your bellies.’

‘Best to keep this on,’ said Skraffi, rapping his knuckles on his mail. ‘Just in case. But pie sounds grand!’

Inside the citadel other families were reuniting with the returning patrol and those that had gone with Haldora. There were stiff silences for those that had been brought back dead, and Haldora had a knot in her stomach as she watched their cloak-wrapped bodies being carried down into one of the cellars.

Her appetite soon returned when they gathered in the main hall. Her treacle cake was still there, as were platters of steaming root vegetables. The other dwarf womenfolk weren’t given to nerves and needless fretting, but when they were worried they tended to bake to keep themselves occupied. There were several pies with lids as hard and crusty as could ever be wished for, and puddings, and dumplings, and several loaves of dark bread.

Haldora was just spooning some carrots into her bowl when she heard a howl from outside. It was almost dark through the window and the wolf’s call was followed by more. Many more.

As one they all left the table and hurried out onto the wall, grabbing shields and pulling free their hammers and axes. However, when they reached the rampart they found they were not under attack. Skraffi was there, with Stofrik, Gabbik, Farbrok and the other thanes. None of them looked round, they were all staring intently to the south. Pushing her way through the others, Haldora reached the battlements and saw for herself what had drawn their eye.

There were wolf riders almost within bowshot, riding back and forth down the slope of the ridge. Their eyes glinted cruelly and wicked blades gleamed in the light from lanterns and torches on the walls. It was hard to count in the darkness but Haldora guessed there were at least a hundred goblins out there.

‘They won’t attack, will they?’ she asked Gabbik.

He seemed to ignore her for a moment and then looked at her, as though tearing his eyes away from something else.

‘It’s not the wolves that’ll be the problem. They’re just the vanguard.’ He pointed south-west. ‘Look.’

At first Haldora couldn’t see what he was pointing at, but as she moved her gaze further from the fortress, out across the wildlands, she suddenly saw a tiny glimmer of orange, like a spark. Then another. There were dozens out there, like yellow and red reflections of the stars above. She couldn’t work out what they were.

‘Camp ires,’ said Skraffi. ‘A good distance away. Greenskin campfires.’

Haldora looked again. Now that she knew what to look for she could see many more of the pinprick lights, spread from east to south.

‘But there are hundreds of them,’ she said, turning back to Gabbik and the others. ‘Maybe thousands.’

‘Yup,’ said Gabbik, his expression bleak. ‘I reckon there are.’

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

‘As well as the mingols, the Urbarvornfolk and the Drakkanfolk gave great stock to the profession of the rangers. They had become a surface people for the most part, and rangers that could spy the lay of the land and hunt well in the wildlands were in plentiful supply. But it was their keen eye with bow and crossbow that made the rangers so valuable. They could travel far to keep a watch on the orc tribes and if there was trouble they would send word to each other and form a garrison at the nearest mingol, to hold off any attack until more warriors could be sent.’

It took some time for the weight of the situation to sink in. Haldora could not grasp the concept of so many orcs in one place. She tried to work out how many there were, doing mental quantity surveying in an attempt to comprehend what she was looking at: perhaps twenty or thirty orcs for each fire, with maybe three hundred fires that she could see meaning a rough guess of nine thousand orcs. Although that was a ridiculous number of greenskins it didn’t seem quite as threatening, compared to the tens of thousands of dwarfs in Ekrund.

And then she made the mistake of going with the others to the viewing tubes out on the western wall. As the other dwarfs took turns at the looking glasses they would stoop to the lenses, look for some time, step back and shake their heads without saying anything. A few swapped nervous glances.

When Haldora looked, she swept the glass to the west, and in the darkness she saw more fires, further away than those to the south and east, and then when she looked south she saw how far the fires stretched, all the way into the marshes and beyond, thousands of them.

She revised her estimates up, and then up some more, and still she wasn’t sure if she was deliberately underplaying how many orcs there were to make herself feel safer. She shuddered and stepped away from the lens tube, shaking her head in disbelief. Tens of thousands of greenskins, probably more than a hundred thousand.

She followed in numbed silence as Gabbik and the rest of the group headed back to the citadel. Guards were posted to the outer towers to keep an eye on the wolf-back goblins but it was likely there would be no attack that night – the goblins could wait until the rest of the horde arrived. Everybody else crowded around the tables in the main hall, menfolk and maidens alike.

‘We got lucky,’ said Gabbik. ‘We saw the wolf riders just before nightfall the day before we were meant to head back. We meant to move further into the swamps but when we realised how many there were we decided it was better to come back to Ungak Grimgazan and raise the alarm.’

‘We were sure there were more of them, but we couldn’t get past the wolf rider patrols to have a look.’ Skraffi gazed at the table, looking through the wood rather than at it. ‘We never thought there would be this many.’

‘We have to leave now,’ said Gabbik.

‘Abandon the fortress?’ Stofrik was horrified by the notion. ‘We need to light the signal fire and hold until reinforcements come from Ekrund.’

‘So they can die with us?’ growled Skraffi. ‘You think they’d send enough axes to hold this place against that?’ He waved a hand towards the south. ‘We have to get back to the hold and tell them the real danger. No signal fire can warn them of what’s coming out of the wildlands.’

‘How can there be so many of them?’ asked Haldora.

‘Must have crossed from the Dark Lands, come over one of the passes south of Karak Eight Peaks,’ said Fleinn.

‘Why come here?’ asked Durk.

‘Why not?’ replied Fleinn. ‘They’re orcs. They go where they want, don’t need no plan or purpose.’

‘They’ve followed the Blind River down into the marshes,’ said Skraffi. He looked around the gathered dwarfs, meeting their gazes one by one. ‘I reckon they was laired up near Karag Haraz. It’s blown its top more than once these last few years. The orc holes is probably all full of fire and smoke and collapsed now. So they’ve been pushed down the river and into the wildlands, picking up more tribes as they go.’

‘And from further south as well, up the Blight Water,’ added Farbrok. The venerable Grimsson was clad head to foot in plates of armour that glistened with runes and a broad-headed hammer lay on the table before him. ‘Now there’s too many to live in the marshes and they’re coming north and looking to make a home in the mountains. No doubt there’s a few Varnfolk wandered too far south too, maybe lured the orcs out into the wildlands.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Gabbik. ‘They could have all popped out of the sea or fallen from the sky for all it means. We have to leave and we have to leave now.’

‘What about the wolf riders?’ asked Durk. ‘I can’t be sure, but I figure there’s more of them than us out there.’

‘Not enough,’ said someone behind Haldora. Others voiced similarly fierce sentiment.

‘Better in the day though,’ said Skraffi. ‘We’ll be able to see what’s what.’

‘What if we don’t have time?’ Haldora thought her father looked concerned more than scared – a subtle difference but she could not believe her father was a coward. ‘Those campfires were less than half a day away.’

‘We’ll leave at first light,’ announced Stofrik. ‘We’ll get everything ready and then when the sun peeks up we’ll light the beacon fire and head north. If we keep going we’ll be at the closest gate by midnight.’

Nobody said anything for a few moments and it seemed consensus was reached. Stofrik stood up and smoothed his beard with a gauntleted hand.

‘We leave at first light, and take nothing that we don’t need,’ he said sternly. ‘No barrows, just packs. If you can’t take it, spoil it. I’m not having greenskins eating our grain and drinking our beer.’

‘You mean we’re leaving the beer?’ Fleinn looked more appalled by this idea than the notion of a hundred thousand orcs falling upon them in the night. ‘All of it?’

Stofrik answered with a wordless glare. Fleinn’s shoulders slumped and he shook his head, muttering curses upon the heads of orcs and goblins. With nothing more to say the company broke up, the clans and families heading back to their chambers to gather up what they could. Word was passed to the dwarfs still manning the walls and replacements were sent out later to allow them to make their own preparations.

Haldora found herself on the roof of the citadel with Nakka and Durk, watching the wolf riders.

‘Looks like they’re giving up,’ said Durk. ‘Haven’t seen anything of them for a while.’

‘Maybe they moved up the valley,’ said Haldora. ‘Ahead of us.’

‘Let’s hope not.’ Nakka leaned on the parapet, axe in his hands. ‘With orcs behind, we can do without goblins ahead. They’ll slow us down.’

‘They’ll stick close to the fortress,’ said Durk. ‘Goblins ain’t too bright, are they? They can’t know where we’ll be heading next, can they?’

Haldora was not so sure, but her goblin knowledge was by no means extensive, and mainly relied upon stories Awdhelga had used to tell her. She moved closer to Nakka, feeling emboldened by his presence. He noticed and responded, nudging an arm against hers, grateful for the moment of contact.

They waited in silence, standing the last watch until dawn.

Flames licked up the side of the beacon tower before igniting the tarry alchemical mix filling the bowl on top. The beacon ignited with a blaze of blue fire that lit the mountainside and sent a ball of screaming flames high into the dawn sky.

With two simple words, Stofrik ordered the garrison to leave.

‘Let’s go.’

The gates were closed and locked and the group of dwarfs headed up the valley back towards Ekrund. The womenfolk and youngsters were kept safe in the middle of the column, surrounded by a ring of axe- and hammer-wielding warriors. Skraffi took his place beside Gabbik and despite her mother’s protests Haldora joined them near the front of the group.

It did not take long for the goblin raiders to notice that the dwarfs had quit their fortifications. Their war horns screeched from one side of the valley to the other, summoning numbers for the chase. There was no chance of outpacing the riders, so the dwarfs stuck close together, away from the track, picking their way over broken ground that would be harder for the mounted goblins to traverse.

As the grey dawn stretched up the slopes of Mount Bloodhorn the goblins could be seen more clearly, slinking through the stunted trees and past tumbled boulders. Now and then a group of them would come closer, loosing darts from their short bows into the midst of the dwarf column until crossbow bolts and dwarf iron-tipped arrows drove them out of range again. These salvoes did not do much damage but they were distracting, and they were a constant threat to the young and female dwarfs who had no armour.

This harassment continued for much of the morning. Those wolf riders not armed with bows rode ahead of the dwarf advance. They could be seen on the mountainside ahead, keeping just out of range. A few dwarfs tried to give chase with their bows but Stofrik ordered them back and told them to save their ammunition.

It was impossible to stop and make a fire so they ate on the march, gnawing at cold meat, pickled eggs and stonebread. Mid-morning, Stofrik called for a brief stop while water was passed around. Skraffi looked back down the trail and stopped, dumbfounded, waterskin half-raised to his lips.

A column of red and black smoke billowed from the beacon fire, as plain as the sun, streaming across the wildlands on the prevailing winds. He had expected that, but not what lay beyond.

It was as if the wildlands had turned black. Smoke from the fires of the night before smeared the horizon as far as he could see and the grasslands were swarming with dark figures. Like a carpet of filth the orc horde was spreading towards the mountains. Though it was hard to make out any details this far away, Skraffi could see larger figures lumbering amongst the horde: trolls by the dozen, and even bigger still came a handful of giants easily seven or eight times taller than an orc. Winged shapes, three of them, circled above the army, at this distance looking like flitting bats but Skraffi knew in reality they were massive beasts.

‘Wyverns,’ he muttered. The orcs had encountered the half-drakes when they had settled the mountains, driving them from their cave nests in the peaks. Wyverns were smarter than beasts, though not nearly as intelligent as real dragons, and they had become natural allies of the greenskins that had also been so diligently driven from their rocky dwellings.

‘We best keep moving,’ said Gabbik. ‘If one of those comes after us we’ll be done for.’

Gabbik stepped away, shouting for Stofrik and others. Skraffi heard Haldora taking in a sharp breath.

‘What’s up, Haldi?’

‘More riders,’ she said, pointing east. ‘In that gorge there.’

Skraffi looked, shielding his eyes against the morning sun. Sure enough there were wolf riders almost parallel to their advance, trying to sneak along a gulley that followed almost exactly the same course as the trail; in the winter that gulley was a stream that had once supplied Undak Grimgazan. Skraffi put his fingers to his lips and let out a long whistle and then jabbed a finger towards the flanking riders when he had the attention of Gabbik and the other thanes. There was much beard wagging at this news.

‘Good eyes,’ he told Haldora.

It was not long before word came to keep moving. There would be no more stops until they came to the outer reaches of Ekrund. Knowing it would be a long day the dwarfs set their shoulders and marched on, not wasting breath with idle talk.

Dwarfs are creatures of the earth and prefer their feet to be on solid ground, or preferably under it. They breed small ponies and hardy donkeys to pull pit carts and to carry other burdens too much even for dwarfs to bear, but they refuse to ride another beast. Skraffi had therefore spent nearly half a millennium walking everywhere and as midday came and went and the trail steepened he barely felt the effort, though he was past his prime. He had marched all the way to the Grey Mountains and back during the war, and many other places beside.

He could see that Haldora was not faring quite so well. Her young legs still needed toughening up and there was a set to her face, not quite a grimace, that spoke of growing determination to ignore something, most likely an ache in her calf muscles.

She would never say anything, of course. First and foremost she was a dwarf and dwarfs did not complain about physical hardship. They rarely complained about anything, except the weather, prices, thin ale, beardlings, greenskins, elves and cold stews. And each other. Skraffi was not going to ask either. He had too much respect for Haldora to intimate that he might think she needed help. Skraffi was a rogue at times, but even he knew where the line was drawn regarding proper decorum around womenfolk.

As if common dwarf reserve was not enough, Haldora was even more stubborn than most on such matters. Skraffi had never known a maiden who was so determined not to act like one, and he had been married to Awdhelga. What Haldora didn’t understand, and Awdhelga had known very well, was that quite often an over-abundance of obvious strength would easily be confused with a hidden weakness. Awdhelga had never been ashamed of being female, but that seemed to be the lesson Haldora had learnt.

Looking at his grand-daughter now, red-cheeked, eyes fixed ahead, Skraffi knew she was trying not only her best but more than that. She was trying too hard, and there was a word for dwarfs like that: ufdi. A vain and preening individual.

He knew she was nothing like that at all, but there was a danger that if she kept pushing so hard to be someone she wasn’t then she would get the wrong sort of reputation. He had watched her in the fighting with the wolf riders and Nakka had taught her well, but he had also seen the way she had become pushy when they were discussing when to leave the fortress. That sort of behaviour did not win friends.

Now was not the time to mention it, though, and Skraffi was left to stew in his thoughts as they reached level ground. He stepped aside for a moment, stretching his back, and turned to look back at the wildlands. If he squinted he could just about see the bastions at Undak Grimgazan. The leading edge of the orc horde – greenskins riding boars and chariots moving ahead of the rest of the army – were already there.

He felt someone come up beside him and glanced to his left to see Nurftun.

‘They’re not hanging about, are they?’ said the other dwarf.

‘It’s worrying,’ admitted Skraffi. ‘They’re covering ground like they want to get somewhere.’

‘Something’s got into them. This is more than just looking for somewhere new to live. ‘Tis an attack, sure as the sky is blue.’

Although never in doubt, Skraffi couldn’t help but to glance up. Grey clouds were gathering above the mountains but over the plains the sky was indeed still blue. He also noticed that one of the wyverns had broken away from the main body of the horde and was climbing higher, heading directly towards the valley.

‘I smell trouble,’ he said, indicating the wyvern to Nurftun.

‘Not good, not good at all, my friend. We better up the pace, I don’t fancy that big beggar catching up with us before nightfall.’

Word of the wyvern quickly spread through the column, greeted by rumbles of consternation and dirty looks. Children were lifted onto shoulders and packs were lightened even further, leaving a trail of tankards, bread, small pots and pans, hams and other weightier items in the wake of the group. Soon everybody was puffing and panting as the late summer sun beat down relentlessly on the mountainside.

As the pace increased so did the separation of the group. Gabbik and the thanes set a hard speed from the front and there were some hard-pressed to keep up. Skraffi and some others fell back to bring up the rear, urging on the dawdlers with scowls and sharp words. Despite their best efforts the column was drawing out, and Skraffi could almost feel the wolf riders coming closer, sniffing with interest as the group became more tired and ragged.

Many of the goblins had disappeared after midday, no doubt seeking water and shade. They knew where the dwarfs were going and could easily catch up. Others had disappeared ahead on whatever mischief they had planned. Skraffi tried his best to keep watch but now the effort of simply forging over the uneven ground took most of his concentration, as it did the others. He did, however, keep finding time to glance over his shoulder to see if the wyvern was still coming after them.

It was.

Sweat slicking his face and soaking his beard, Skraffi gritted his teeth and forged on. Now and then he caught up with a mother or beardling who had stopped for a breather. He’d give them a slap on the behind or an encouraging hand on the shoulder as he saw fit, and urge them on again. It was a relief when they finally crossed over the shoulder of the valley and back onto the track, catching a wind coming down from the peaks that brought much-needed relent from the dry air.

Late in the afternoon the back of the group caught up with the front. Stofrik, Gabbik and the others had stopped. A few hundred paces ahead the valley became more of a gorge, the sides steepening sharply, tumbled boulders littering the floor to either side. Skraffi joined them to find out what was causing the delay.

‘And I say there’s no way around,’ said Gabbik. ‘We’ll be scattered all over the place if we try to climb, and the nearest other trail is back a ways. Too far to double back.’

‘What’s the problem?’ asked Skraffi.

‘Goblins, what else?’ Stofrik pointed his axe up to the heights of the chasm and Skraffi could see small shapes moving along the top. They seemed to be rolling stones and rocks to the edge.

‘Ambush?’ he said.

‘They’ll drop rocks on us and finish us off,’ said Vadlir.

‘Or block the pass entirely,’ said Gabbik. ‘The longer we stand here grumbling, the more time they have to prepare their trap. We need to push on through as quick as we can.’

‘And just take our chances? What about the womenfolk and the little ones?’ asked Farbrok.

‘I’m sure the wolves won’t be picky,’ snapped Gabbik. ‘Goblins with rocks is better than goblins on wolves.’

‘And a wyvern,’ added Skraffi. ‘I think my lad’s right, we have to push through as quick as we can. There’s woods up on the north-western slope, we’ll fare better in there than on the open mountainside.’

Together the other dwarfs looked south, judging how far away the wyvern was. Too close, by their expressions.

‘I don’t like it, but it seems we haven’t got no choice,’ said Stofrik, grimacing. ‘Now is it better to put the weaker folks through first, before them goblins have got their aim in, or do we lead the way and hope they run out of rocks lobbing them at us?’

‘Maybe we can over-think this one,’ said Gabbik. ‘I say we all just put our heads down and run. Those with shields do their best to protect those without.’

‘Fair enough,’ said Stofrik. ‘We’ll break into threes and fours, best we can, not to give them too large a target to aim at.’

The dwarfs were gathered together and then broken into smaller groups for the dash through the gorge. Skraffi wasn’t too sure on his geography round these parts but his dim recollections told him the chasm wasn’t any more than two or three hundred paces long before it flattened and widened out again. He was joined by Gabbik, Friedra and Haldora.

‘We’ll make a roof with our shields,’ he said, nodding to Gabbik.

‘I’ve got a shield too,’ said Haldora. ‘Why don’t you ask me?’

‘This isn’t the time, Haldi,’ said Gabbik.

‘Why not? My shield’s just as good as your shield, isn’t it?’

‘No,’ snapped Skraffi, his patience worn thin by the events of the last couple of days, ’it isn’t. You’re tired, nearly falling over. You need all your energy for your legs.’

Haldora looked as though he had slapped her across the face. She stood in open-mouthed disbelief, staring at him.

‘Look after your mother,’ said Gabbik. ‘We’ll look after you.’

Haldora was stunned and made no more protest as they joined the line of dwarfs getting ready to push on into the gorge. There were nine or ten families in front of them, all of them eyeing the tops of the crags to either side with suspicion. Skraffi looked back once more. The wyvern was past the fortress at the base of the mountain now, he was sure of it. The wind was in their favour, but it would be on them by the early evening.

‘Let’s just get going,’ he shouted, waving his axe at Stofrik. ‘We need to get to the woods!’

The first dwarfs broke into a run, raising their shields as the valley narrowed. The next group set off before the first had reached where the goblins were lying in wait. As the first group came level with the narrowest part of the gorge pebbles and fist-sized rocks started to shower down. Skraffi hadn’t appreciated just how many goblins had been waiting. There had to be three or four score of the horrid little creatures.

They followed up the valley as family after family set off and soon enough it was their turn. Skraffi shared a look with Gabbik and they broke into a run, herding Friedra and Haldora between them, keeping their pace steady but sure.

‘Watch your footing,’ Skraffi managed between puffed breaths. ‘If anyone trips here we’ll be buried in rocks quicker than Fleinn downs his ale.’

Larger boulders were rumbling down the slopes now, levered into position by teams of goblins. Arrows poured down too, splintering from the rocks and thudding into the ground just a few paces away.

Skraffi and Gabbik raised their shields as they reached the worst part. Stones rattled from above like hail and larger rocks bounced and spun past, ricocheting from each other as they rolled to a stop. Skraffi tried to have his eyes everywhere – on the ground, on the goblins, on the rocks and on the wyvern. Smaller stones were clattering from his armour and thudded into his upraised arm as the goblins pelted the running dwarfs with everything they could find.

‘Keep going,’ Gabbik snarled through gritted teeth.

‘Left! Left!’ shrieked Friedra. They veered without question, moving together, just in time to avoid a spinning chunk of rock bigger than any of them.

There was a shout from behind, the sound of splintering wood and a cry of pain. Skraffi dared not look back.

Soon the deluge of stones slowed and died away but they pressed on up the valley as fast as they could. The first dwarfs through had formed a tight circle near to a stand of trees, and had their weapons ready as a band of wolf riders closed in from the other side of the vale. The Angboks joined them, moving Friedra to the middle of the ring while the others bared their weapons at the incoming raiders.

The wolf riders came charging in, mounts snarling and drooling, the riders shrieking and laughing. Skraffi pulled one of his throwing axes free – it was still bloodied from the fighting the day before. When the wolves were just a couple of dozen paces away he let fly, aiming at the largest. The axe sparkled in the sun as it spun, a few moments later burying deep in the wolf’s skull. It pitched over, tossing its rider to the ground as sling bullets and catapulted stones flew from the cluster of dwarfs at the other attackers.

Skraffi pulled Elfslicer and waited for the charge. His whole body was tense and he loosened his grip on his axe, trying to relax, picking out which of the greenskins would come for him. At the last moment the riders veered away with hoarse screams of panic, yanking the reins, manes and ears of their wolves to steer them away. Skraffi risked a glance and saw a group of twenty or so dwarfs charging up the valley – enough to spook the wolf riders into retreating.

The goblins did not fall back far, but clustered together amongst the tumbled boulders and scree of the valley’s northern side while the dwarfs continued to run the gauntlet of stones and rocks from above.

Not all passed through the gorge unharmed – several of the young dwarfs were crying from injuries, cradling fractured hands and fingers, sporting cuts and bruises on heads and faces, while older members of the group bore the pain of similar wounds with stoic silence and gritted teeth.

They did not tarry long and Stofrik set a strong pace once more, aware of the wyvern that could now be clearly seen closing quickly across the darkening sky. The delay in negotiating the pass made it touch and go whether they would reach the sanctuary of the lower groves in time.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘These were hard times for the king and his people. Although they had the south road, they were overshadowed by the trade of the Drakkanfolk and they were forced to rely more and more on what they had to hand. They tended their herds, grew their cereal and made their beer, and they searched for the lode that would secure their future.

They were safe – the goblins feared the axes and bows of the Drakkanfolk – but they were poor. ‘Krekrik’ they called Grimbalki, the king of the goats, and his people became known as the Zakiskrat. It was a bad time and many of them lost faith with the king, but were too angry with the Drakkanfolk to join them, so they returned back to Karak Eight Peaks.

This was called the Great Eastening and nearly a third of the clans of the mountains abandoned the Dragonbacks, and those that were left behind began to sorely wonder if they could survive.’

It was a punishing climb away from the road, forging through thickets of spiny bushes, and in places Skraffi and the others were forced to use their hands as much as their feet, pulling themselves up blunt escarpments and squeezing through gaps where aeons of geological movement had split shoulders of rock and thrown shelves of stone. No stranger to physical activity, even Skraffi could feel the strain of their hasty passage, his back aching between his shoulders, calves threatening cramp every few paces. For some of the others it was too much and he spent just as much time hauling and cajoling the beardlings as he did moving himself.

Those that had thought themselves capable of the journey when they had been back at Undak Grimgazan were now suffering badly. Some were hobbling, almost carried by their peers or leaning heavily on staves or quickly-fashioned crutches. A few could not manage even that and were hoisted onto the shoulders of their comrades or dragged between them over the smoother ground.

Skraffi took heart as he saw his grand-daughter helping one of the older womenfolk. Haldora slung her shield on her back and took a child out of its mother’s arms so that she could use both hands to clamber over the rocks and push aside the branches of snaring shrubs. He caught her glance at one point and gave her a nod of approval. She ignored him, evidently still annoyed by his earlier remonstration with her.

That was fine. He could bear her youthful resentment as long as she stayed alive.

A cry from ahead had him hurrying forward, but as he turned around a bend in the goat track they had been trying to follow he saw that the shouts were of joy not fear. The first trees of the lower groves could be seen a few hundred paces ahead. Looking back he saw the wyvern was still some distance behind, perhaps slowed by a shift in the wind as the valley turned further westwards. They would make the safety of the trees after all.

With sanctuary in sight, of a kind, the dwarfs found fresh strength yet again and there were even a few spare breaths for some light-hearted banter. Skraffi did not feel like joking though, knowing that any respite was only temporary. The lower groves covered swathes of the mountainside around these parts but there was still a large stretch of open ground between the trees and the nearest of Ekrund’s gates where they had over-nighted on their way down the road.

He raised this as he caught up with Gabbik, Stofrik and a few others at the edge of the thickening woods.

‘Settle down there, Skraffi,’ said Farbrok. ‘Let’s worry about one thing at a time.’

‘What else is there to worry about?’ said Skraffi, jerking a thumb towards the skyward blot that was the wyvern. ‘If that beast catches us we’re done for.’

‘Not if we hide in the woods until the sun sets,’ said Gabbik. ‘We’ll get as far as we can under the cover of the trees and then wait until night. Wyverns are not renowned for their night vision.’

‘What about goblins and wolves?’ said Skraffi. The riders were still shadowing the group, glimpsed now and then following a parallel course just beyond a ridge on the left and through the scrub on their right. ‘They’ll pick us off one by one in the woods if we let them.’

‘Best not let them,’ growled Stofrik. He patted his axe. ‘We don’t have to move so quick under the trees, so we can watch each other, right?’

Skraffi looked at the thanes and saw that they appeared to be of like mind. Now was not the time to raise objections.

‘All right,’ he said. ‘Let’s get the lasses and beardlings together and stick close.’

In the shadows of the thick canopy of leaves the dwarfs gathered about their leaders and took stock. Three of them had fallen in the gorge, stoned to death by goblins, and two more had disappeared since – nobody had seen them go and both had already been wounded on the patrol so it was assumed they had fallen behind and succumbed to the prowling wolf riders.

‘We lose nobody else,’ said Gabbik, expression fierce. ‘Nobody.’

Skraffi was not convinced but he gave his son a reassuring pat on the shoulder and hefted Elfslicer. ‘Not if we can do anything about it.’

The desperation that had gripped them in the latter part of their flight now waned in the shelter of the trees. No longer under the bludgeoning glare of the sun, with the ground clear of much undergrowth and carpeted with soft mulch, the going was much easier. There was still little enough energy for idle chatter, but it was a relief to be away from the relentless exposure of the rocky mountainside and the clinging thorns of bramble and gorse.

It was much dimmer beneath the trees and Skraffi quickly lost a sense of time. Now and then he glimpsed a reddening sky through breaks in the canopy above and he trudged on without conscious thought, putting one foot in front of the other almost out of habit. Most of his concentration was directed at keeping watch, Elfslicer at the ready. With some of the others he walked in a cordon just a dozen or so paces from the rest of the company, keeping an eye out for the goblins.

Now and then something darker slipped through the shadows in the distance. It was impossible to hear anything moving over the noise of the dwarfs themselves, and this time there were no hunting horns or giveaway growls.

The wolf riders were stalking them quietly. Patiently.

Even so he knew where they were from the odd patch of sunlight coming through the trees glinting on a bared blade, while grey-furred bodies showed up against the boles of ancient trees.

The ground slowly levelled and Stofrik turned the party to the right, heading in what he thought was a straight line towards the Lower Gate. Skraffi took the other dwarf’s word for this, having no sense of where they were himself. It was only with some effort that he could see bluer sky to the east and so could tell they were now heading north-east. Stofrik was no ranger, but it was better to follow the lead of one than try to run everything by council at the moment. If they kept moving in this direction they would eventually come back to the road, it was just a question of whether they would be below or above the gate and how far.

The sun finally set, plunging the woods into a gloom almost as thick as the depths of a mine. Roots and fallen logs and low branches became a recurring hazard and the feeling of nervousness returned. Some of the dwarfs brought out small lanterns as the twilight deepened, spreading pale yellow light. This improved their footing but attracted all manner of bugs and moths, and lent the woods an eerie atmosphere of long, flickering shadows, serving to emphasise the encroaching darkness beyond the short reach of the pale light.

In the distance wolf eyes glittered, coming closer.

The moons were not yet up and the sky was clear as the trees started to thin, bringing them to the edge of the first grove. A few of the dwarfs more familiar with the overground announced that they had actually come too far north and that they needed to turn slightly southwards if they were going to come upon the Lower Gate.

This discussion was cut short by something darker than the night blotting out the stars, sweeping from the east to the south.

‘The wyvern,’ growled Gabbik. ‘It’s here. Watching the road.’

Before anyone could answer, a deafening roar split the quiet. Suddenly the woods erupted as roosting birds and bats billowed out from the branches, shrieking and squeaking and screaming together. Skraffi saw the profile of the soaring monster change as it tipped a wing and turned towards them.

‘So much for the poor night vision of wyverns,’ he muttered.

Consternation grew amongst the group, though not yet panic and terror. The trees were still too close together to allow the creature to land, and unlike their cousins the dragons, wyverns could not breathe fire or fumes or freezing vapours. Just to be sure, Gabbik told everybody to retreat further into the woods. Once more under the full cover of the trees, they found themselves surrounded by the silvered discs of wolf eyes reflecting lantern lights.

‘A grim pickle,’ said Stofrik. ‘Wolves or wyverns, which would you prefer?’

‘Wolves,’ said Nurftun. He swung his hammer a couple of times. ‘I can handle wolves and goblins.’

‘There seems to be quite a lot of them,’ said Gabbik. Indeed there did. Skraffi could not count them, but everywhere he looked he saw dark shadows slinking through the night.

‘It makes no difference,’ said Fleinn, who came up to them out of the gloom like a wraith emerging from its barrow, his pale beard and face almost white in the glare of a lantern. ‘Sooner or later we have to get onto the road. I’d rather do that now than after a night full of fighting.’

‘Is there anywhere else we can hole up?’ asked Skraffi. ‘There must be a copper mine or something nearby, surely.’

‘Not in these parts,’ said Stofrik. ‘We’re standing right over the southern deeps, but there’s no entrance closer than the Lower Gate.’

‘Kruk.’ Skraffi felt trapped, in a way that he had never felt underground. They could go north, south, east or west and it didn’t matter. They had every which way to march and yet no options left. ‘I say we head for the road sharpish and then take our chances. There’s bound to be patrols on the road, what with the beacon fire lit and all.’

‘Them wolf riders will attack as soon as the wyvern does,’ said Stofrik. ‘Ain’t no way we can handle both of them. We need an army, not a patrol.’

‘Then we need to get the wolfies away somehow,’ said Fleinn. ‘Attack them first?’

‘They’re too quick,’ said Skraffi. ‘They’d just circle round and come at the others while we’re dashing about after them.’

‘A decoy,’ said Gabbik. ’A few of us take the lanterns, head further north. The rest go south in the dark.’

‘And then?’ said Skraffi. ‘When they realise it’s just you and not everybody, they’ll attack.’

‘And we kill as many of them as we can,’ said Gabbik. It was clear what he meant but nobody wanted to say it.

Skraffi glanced over his shoulder at Friedra and Haldora. ‘I should go.’ Gabbik looked as though he was going to argue, but Skraffi fixed him with his sternest stare.

‘Son, I know you mean well but I will go. I passed my time good enough. There’s others that need you more than me.’

‘I’ll go too,’ said Nurftun. The sentiment was echoed by Farbrok and a few of the other greybeards.

‘That’s settled then,’ said Stofrik, giving them each in turn a nod of respect. ‘We’ll get everybody else to hunker down and stay as quiet as possible. You head north and make as much racket as you can.’

‘Aye, that we can do,’ said Farbrok.

And as they had agreed, so it was.

The oldest dwarfs took possession of the lanterns, hanging them on branches stuck into their packs so that their hands were free for weapons and shields. They spread out as though surrounding a larger group and set off between the trees, kicking over stones, grumbling to themselves and snapping whatever twigs they could find underfoot. Pipes glowed in the gloom, leaving an obvious trail of scented smoke, obscuring the odour of the dwarfs left behind.

Gabbik and the remaining thanes hushed everyone, getting them to lay down in the dirt, up against the trunks and behind toppled trees, faces and hands smeared with mud, leaves sticking in their beards and hair. Gabbik spared one passing glance at his father as he disappeared into the distance. His gut tightened into a knot and his throat felt as though it would burst, but he hunkered down beneath an arching root, right next to Haldora and Friedra.

The wolves came soon after, moving quickly, whining and panting, the goblins on their backs chittering to each other in their shrill voices. Most of them moved past the hiding dwarfs without hesitation, intent upon the bobbing lights moving further and further away.

A wolf nearly twice as big as Gabbik leapt over a log to his left and skidded to a halt in the leaves and dirt, its breath coming heavy, saliva dripping from its tongue. On its back hunched a goblin with leathery skin, a floppy hat propped between ragged, pointed ears. Its gaze was fixed ahead, clawed fingers curled around tufts of the wolf’s scruffy fur.

Gabbik knew that if the goblin turned just a fraction more, he would see Friedra. He could feel his wife trembling next to him and reached out with glacial slowness to pat her reassuringly on the back of the leg while the fingers of his other hand tightened on the haft of his hammer.

With a cruel laugh the goblin kicked its heels into the ribs of the wolf and the beast sprang away.

Gabbik did not dare move for some time after. He only roused himself and the other two with him when he heard Stofrik issuing whispered commands.

‘Where’s Grammi gone?’ Haldora asked.

Gabbik did not want to lie, but he knew the truth would be upsetting for his daughter; it was all he could do to focus on the task at hand himself.

‘We need to get moving,’ he replied, turning away and pulling Friedra to her feet. His wife darted him a look of understanding and moved past and laid a hand on Haldora’s arm.

‘Let’s go and help with the little ones, dear,’ said Friedra. ‘Skraffi can look after himself. Those poor wee babes can’t.’

Picking twigs and leaves out of his beard, Gabbik gave his wife a grateful look. She smiled in return before disappearing into the darkness with their daughter. Gabbik called quietly for Stofrik and headed towards the hissed reply, to find a knot of the most senior dwarfs left gathered around the Grimsson thane.

‘We head that way,’ said Stofrik, indicating with a chopping gesture. ‘Straight as we can, fast as we can.’

‘When we reach the Lower Gate we’ll get them to come out with as many axes and hammers as they can muster?’ asked one of the other elders.

‘Be sure of it,’ said Stofrik. ‘My dad is out here too.’

Stumbling occasionally, sometimes almost walking into trees, the dwarfs set off towards the road. As the woods thinned and more starlight drifted down their progress speeded up, until they left the trees entirely and found themselves walking across the grass of goat-cropped pasture.

‘Can’t be too far,’ said Gabbik.

‘Far enough,’ replied Fleinn. ‘Let’s keep the pace up, eh?’

Contrary to Fleinn’s prediction they came upon the road just as the white moon was rising. To Gabbik the moonlit flags were like a silvery path leading them to safety. Climbing over the wall, after helping those that didn’t have the strength or were too small to climb themselves, Gabbik breathed a sigh of relief as his boots thudded onto dwarf-hewn stone.

Now in familiar surroundings, he saw that they were maybe a thousand paces too far north. He looked up the slope of Mount Bloodhorn and saw nothing that betrayed the presence of any goblins, or any other dwarfs for that matter. Turning his gaze southwards he could just about make out a spark in the distance that might have been the beacon pyre, while another blaze was much clearer about halfway between Undak Grimgazan and their current position.

‘Why’s nobody on the walls?’ he asked, looking around at the empty ramparts further up the mountain. ‘They must have seen the beacons.’

‘Nobody here can answer that question,’ said Haldora. She looked almost dead on her feet, eyes sunken, a bruise blacking her right cheek. ‘We need to get to Lower Gate.’

She was right, the most important thing was to warn everybody of the horde moving up from the wildlands. The Lower Gate had to be prepared for an assault in the next day or two – precious little time already.

They headed south, moving as swiftly as fatigue allowed, the well-crafted stones of the road easing their passage after so much scrambling and hardship in the wilds. Gabbik felt a second wind – or more accurately probably a fifth or sixth wind – and strode to the head of the group to walk alongside Stofrik.

‘I’m glad you were here,’ he told the other thane. ‘You’re a solid ally in a tight spot, Stofrik.’

‘You’re a calm customer yourself,’ said the Grimsson’s leader. He glanced back. ‘And that lass of yours is something else, for sure.’

‘Aye,’ Gabbik replied with a thin smile.

‘No, really, think about it. If she hadn’t gone after your patrol like that, and we’d been waiting for you at the fortress, that whole horde of greenskins would have been on us. She got us the head start we needed.’

‘Don’t tell me, tell her,’ said Gabbik. ‘It’d mean a lot, coming from you.’

‘Don’t want her getting big-headed, do we?’ said Stofrik. He caught Gabbik’s critical look and shrugged. ‘Maybe when everyone’s back and safe as tunnels, right?’

‘Right.’

If the sight of the road had been uplifting, the appearance of the towers of the Lower Gate looming in the starlight was like a draught of the finest beer. Not long after, a voice hailed them from one of the turrets built into the mountain on the western side of the road.

‘Stand fast!’ came the challenge. ‘Who goes on the road?’

‘A band of tired folk coming from Undak Grimgazan,’ Stofrik shouted in reply.

‘The watch fortress down yonder?’

‘Aye, the one with the blumming great beacon fire burning, you numbskull,’ Gabbik called out. ‘Send for the lord of the Lower Gate, we have dire news.’

‘Lord Garudak is already abroad with the gate guard. Wait there a moment.’

They waited and for the first time Gabbik felt the chill of the night. His clothes were soaked with sweat and his hair plastered across his head, but the summer was turning and a breeze from the mountaintops warned of cold weather to come. The seasons shifted quickly in the Dragonbacks and there was some muttering amongst the other dwarfs as they noticed the drop in temperature.

‘An early winter will be good news,’ said Nakka, sensing the same.

‘How so?’ asked Gabbik.

‘Those orcs won’t like to camp on our doorstep with snow settling on their thick skulls.’

Before Gabbik could comment further a crack appeared in the cliff face beneath the guard turret, revealing a door cunningly wrought from the rock itself. A dim light shone from within while a handful of mail-clad dwarfs sortied forth, weapons in hand.

‘Come in, come in,’ said their leader, whose horned helm was edged with gold and sapphires. ‘Quickly now.’

‘Can you get to the Lower Gate from here?’ asked Stofrik.

‘No, we have to travel overground,’ replied the guard captain, beckoning to them. ‘Come in, quickly now.’

‘We have to get to the Lower Gate,’ said Stofrik. ‘We need to gather more axes and go looking for the longbeards.’

‘Let’s get the womenfolk and children in, at least,’ said Gabbik. ‘They can be escorted down later.’

This was soon agreed, although true to expectation Haldora refused to take shelter with her mother and insisted that she would help find Skraffi and the others. Gabbik relented for the sake of saving time, and the armed dwarfs bid farewell to their families and continued down the road. They came upon more manned towers and battlements further south, and as they told their story a few dwarfs from each fortification joined them, swearing to help in the search for the greybeards that had led the wolf riders away.

When they reached the Lower Gate themselves, they found the immense portal shut, but the walls were manned and soon horns pealed to announce the returning warriors. Swung by counterweights and gears, the gates opened to admit the ragged-looking group and their new recruits, and soon the hall within was bustling with dwarfs coming and going with food, water and ale, as well as the news of the missing longbeards and the orcish horde.

‘My father has taken five hundred south to the watch fort at Gundak Karazin,’ Lord Garudak’s son, Menghir, told them.

‘Send runners after them, tell them to come back,’ said Gabbik. ‘Or there’ll be five hundred less axe-wielders to protect the Lower Gate. They can do no good down there.’

Menghir promised to do so, and also summoned rangers and other thanes of the Lower Gate deeps to bolster their party further, so that when Stofrik announced it was time to head back to the woods their group was several hundred strong. Last preparations were made. Whetstones sharpened axe blades and knives, shattered shields were replaced, dints knocked out of helmets and belts hung with pouches of bread, flasks of beer and waterskins. The Lower Gate clans were keen hunters and a good number of them brought crossbows and bows, and packs filled with ammunition.

Gabbik found Haldora asleep on a bench, Nakka’s wolf pelt cloak drawn over her, its owner a short distance away talking with the gate guards.

‘We should leave her,’ Gabbik said, glancing at his daughter. ‘She’s all done in.’

‘Rather you than me,’ said Nakka. ‘You’ll have a storm to weather when she wakes up.’

‘I’ll take that, if it means she stays safe and sound for the rest of the night.’

Nakka didn’t argue as they rejoined the group getting ready to set out.

When the gates opened once more the sky was lit by both moons, a strange pinkish quality to the air. The road outside thudded with booted feet as the throng marched forth, the sound of their tread resounding from the mountainside.

Gabbik was bone-weary in the shoulders and knees, but there was not a power under or on the earth that would make him stay behind that night.

‘This looks like a good spot,’ said Nurftun.

He hooked his lantern onto a low-hanging branch as the other dwarfs converged on his position. The woods were thinner here, but the ground rose up in a knoll studded with rocks, almost a sheer cliff on one side, a stream a few paces wide running along the bottom.

‘Reckon it might be,’ said Skraffi. He looked over his shoulder and could see the wolf riders still, now nothing more than a stone’s throw away. It appeared that they had realised what was going on and were plucking up the courage to attack. Farbrok had suggested they find a defensive position just in time.

‘Up to the top, by that broken stump there,’ said the Grimsson elder. ‘There’s a few holes and bushes that’ll slow them down.’

The eleven dwarfs plodded up the narrowing slope, leaving lanterns in their wake to light the lower reaches of the hill. By the time they had reached the summit, their backs to the cliff, the goblins were closing in fast, sensing the final confrontation was approaching. Enthusiastic yaps and screeches resounded through the woods as the ring of beasts and greenskins constricted on the dwarfs.

Skraffi rubbed a hand along the flat of Elfslicer’s blade, his fingers touching the rune, skin highlighted by its inner glow. Beside him, Farbrok had his hammer in both hands, making test swings to gauge the steepness of the slope and the sureness of his footing. He kicked away some broken branches to clear a space. Around them the other longbeards did likewise, staying close to each other but each picking the spot where he would make a stand – possibly their last.

‘Never figured it’d be goblins,’ said Nurftun.

‘What’s that?’ replied Skraffi.

‘After the elves didn’t get me in the war, I always figured I’d live to seven hundred and die in me bed or at the seam. Never thought no goblin would be the one to shuffle me off to the ancestors’ halls.’

‘We ain’t there yet,’ said Farbrok. He squinted down the slope. ‘How many do you reckon there are?’

‘Seventy, maybe eighty,’ someone said off to Skraffi’s left. It sounded like Erzakaz Skullingrim. ‘Enough to go around.’

‘Kill the wolves first,’ said Skraffi. ‘They’re more dangerous than the bloody goblins.’

Snarling and snapping, the wolves came surging up the hill, moving quickly between the trees. The slap of Grodin Fundunstull’s crossbow broke the still at the summit, followed by the whistle of the bolt and a pained scream from below. Grodin grunted and groaned, winching the string back, and managed to loose another shot before the riders were on them.

Skraffi ignored everything around him, focusing on a wolf and rider coming straight at him. There was a fallen log a few paces in front of the dwarf veteran and he stepped forward as the wolf bounded over it, swinging up his axe to catch the creature in mid-jump. Elfslicer carved into the creature’s chest, slicing out through the shoulder.

His movement carried him sideways, the dead wolf thudding to the ground where he had been a moment before. The goblin falling from its back lashed out wildly with a stone-tipped spear. Skraffi answered with his axe, taking the goblin’s head off with one swing.

A shout warned him to turn, giving him just enough time to step back as Farbrok slammed his hammer into the head of a charging wolf, the blow carrying through its shattered skull to crush the chest of the greenskin riding it.

Skraffi returned to his spot, kicking the wolf corpse down the hill to give himself more space. Another beast and rider came at him and he did the same as before, catching wolf and rider unawares as they vaulted the fallen tree.

A third had seen this trick and circled to Skraffi’s left, hoping to come at him from the side. The longbeard had been waiting for that too and he stepped nimbly into the beast’s charge, heedless of snapping fangs and swinging scimitar. The former shattered on the plate protecting his left shoulder, the latter bounced harmless from the mail coif guarding the back of his neck. Skraffi smashed the haft of Elfslicer into the goblin’s face even as his shoulder barged solidly into the side of the wolf, ribs and organs giving way under the impact.

The wolf uttered a strange cry, almost like the shout of a goblin, and limped away into the gloom. The goblin had been deposited onto the ground, jaw and cheek shattered. It spat teeth and cackled spitefully, driving the point of its blade towards Skraffi’s groin. The blow went wide, shrieking from mail. Skraffi ended the greenskin with his boot, splitting its head into the dirt with one heavy stomp.

‘Keep going, lads, we might just win this one,’ Farbrok shouted.

Skraffi turned to see the old Grimsson surrounded by a pile of mangled wolf and goblin bodies – at least half a dozen of each. Another joined the dead a moment later, Farbrok’s hammer shattering the mount’s legs before snapping the rider’s back almost in half.

Then Norbrin Troggklad fell with a cry. Two wolves had come at him at once, the first cut from throat to belly by his axe but the second leapt into the ageing dwarf, jaws snapping around his upper arm. The goblin on its back jabbed its spear into the eyeslit of Norbrin’s full helm and blood spurted.

Erzakaz was there a moment later, his axe taking off the head of the wolf and the leg of the goblin in a spray of dark blood, but it was too late for Norbrin.

The remaining ten longbeards retreated a step, closing the hole left by Norbrin’s death. The raiders came on again and again, slamming cudgels and spears into shields, claws raking, fangs flashing in the moonlight. Skraffi swung his axe without pause, ignoring the stray scratches and bruises inflicted by his attackers.

Farbrok was the next to die, caught in the side of the throat by an arrow. He pitched forward like a felled tree, hammer tumbling from his grasp. Skraffi couldn’t believe it, staring in dumbfounded shock for a moment. He and Farbrok had never been friends, but they had grown up in the deeps at the same time, always there in the tough times against elf and goblin alike.

The wolf riders were pulling back, realising the dwarfs were not the easy victory they had hoped, leaving the dirty work to the bows of their companions. The night air was filled with more short, black shafts hissing and sighing past, thudding into tree and shields, pinging from mail and plate.

‘We can’t stay here,’ growled Grodin. ‘They’ll pick us all off.’

‘They don’t have enough arrows,’ argued Erzakaz. ‘Keep close to the trees and your shields up.’

This strategy worked for a while, affording some protection against the arrows of the goblins, but it was not long before one of the greenskins devised a smarter plan. Soon the arrows were dipped in the tar from the lanterns the dwarfs had left behind and set alight. Flaming projectiles set leaves and branches blazing.

As if that was not enough, the same bright goblin, possibly, realised that they could use smoke to drive the dwarfs off the hilltop. Skraffi could see it snapping orders at the other greenskins, getting them to hack down green branches and leaves to pile them near the base of the slope, downwind. The trees around the dwarfs were starting to burn more fiercely as a lamp was dashed against a rock, its flaming oil spraying across the piled wood.

The wind was quite strong and soon the flames were fanned into vigorous life, thick smoke pouring up the knoll. Skraffi’s eyes were watering and he could feel his throat closing up.

‘S’no good,’ he coughed, ‘we have to break out of here.’

‘They’ll cut us down,’ said Erzakaz. ‘I’d rather die as smoked fish than skewered boar.’

‘I’m going to take some of the beggars with me,’ said Skraffi, taking a few steps down the hill. ‘Who’s with me?’

‘Damn right we are,’ said Grodin. ‘When they let me in to the Hall of Ancestors I’ll be throttling a goblin in each hand.’

‘All right, let’s make this short and sharp,’ said Erzakaz.

He raised a horn to his lips and let out three pealing notes. The dwarfs gathered into a tight knot and started advancing down the hill.

Ahead, Skraffi could see shapes in the darkness, moving to and fro through the smoke, silhouetted by the flames and lamps. The shadows of the wolves looked gigantic, the goblins on their backs hunched figures with exaggerated noses and spindly fingers.

Erzakaz sounded his horn again, causing much perturbation amongst the goblins. There was sudden activity, goblins on foot dashing around looking for their mounts while others rode back and forth in the gloom. This close, the smoke was so thick Skraffi could barely see ten paces in front of him. He could hardly breathe and the air was hot enough that he feared his beard would burst into flames from a stray spark.

Something loomed out of the smoke and Skraffi swung his axe without thought, slicing the muzzle from a wolf. The creature bucked, throwing the goblin from its back, and leapt away with an odd yapping noise. Grodin’s hammer finished off the goblin.

There was more movement, swirling the smoke more than the wind, but the dimness made it almost impossible to locate a target. Thick trunks and swaying branches fooled Skraffi, looking like squatting wolves or goblins holding swords and shields.

The crackle of the fires was close, burning Skraffi’s lungs, causing his eyes to stream with tears. He could only breathe in short gasps, Elfslicer in one hand, his other held across his mouth and nose, holding his beard as a filter. Orange spread through the trees like dawn breaking, but even this light was too little to show anything ahead.

The goblins fired blind into the smoke, arrows clattering from trees and armour, slicing the fumes with swirls in their wake. Wolves howled and goblins snapped at each other, seemingly all around, but still Skraffi and the other dwarfs could find nothing to fight.

A horn blast close at hand drew their attention.

‘That was no goblin horn,’ said Skraffi, sure of the fact. ‘That’s a dwarf horn!’

Lifting his instrument to his lips, Erzakaz replied, letting loose a long peal of a note. Sure enough, there was a returning blast, copying the old dwarf’s call.

Skraffi broke into a jog and the others followed step, hurrying through the trees.

‘Durazut Angbok karak!’ Skraffi bellowed, uttering the war cry of the Angboks as more arrows sliced up the hill from the darkness.

Now they heard the ringing of metal on metal and gruff dwarf voices raised in challenge. The goblins were shrieking fearfully and their mounts yammered and yelped, but Skraffi could see nothing of their rescuers. He pressed on, almost falling over a dead goblin slumped against a root, its throat cut open.

‘Durazut Angbok karak!’ he called again, hoping for a reply, but all he could hear were sounds of battle and frightened greenskins.

Glancing to his left and right, he saw that he had become separated from the others somehow.

‘Erzakaz? Grodin? Troffik?’ His calls went unanswered. ‘Anybody hear me?’

Then he heard it, faint but unmistakeable.

‘Durazut Angbok karak!’

He headed towards the shout, calling out every few steps. The woods were not like the tunnels where he know every echo and reverberation, but he was able to orientate himself to the sound bouncing from tree to tree.

The ground was levelling and he had passed the fires when finally he caught a glimpse of another dwarf. For a moment he thought he had reached safety, but as he neared the figure, he found that it was Asdrek Firebeard, propped up by his own axe buried in a wolf, his back and chest pierced with more than a score of goblin arrows. Clearly the fighting wasn’t yet done and Skraffi raised his axe once more, thinking the worst. It would be typical of his luck to get killed by a stray arrow or panicked goblin when salvation was so close at hand.

Eyes streaming, hair and beard stinking of fire fumes he staggered onwards, thinking that the smoke was thinning. He could feel a breeze on his left cheek and turned towards it, remembering that the wind had been coming roughly from the south, from which direction their assistance likely came.

He almost tripped over another dead goblin and then came across four more, all of them decapitated. They had run into someone very handy with an axe.

‘Anybody there?’ he called out.

‘Skraffi?’ He didn’t recognise the voice in the distance but headed straight towards it, shouting wordlessly.

The smoke seemed to vanish, leaving him in a clearing, the night sky above, a cluster of dwarfs ahead. Through tear-filled eyes he saw Nakka, wiping a cloth along the blade of his axe.

‘Grungni’s shiny runes, you’re alive, you old beggar!’ exclaimed Nakka, grinning widely. He held his axe to one side and slapped Skraffi on the shoulder with his free hand. ‘I am so pleased to see you, old fella. I don’t know what Haldi would have been like if we’d lost you.’

Slowly others congregated in the clearing, both the longbeards and the expedition that had found them. Sat on the ground, Skraffi was coughing hard still, drinking his own weight in water from the canteens given to him, when Gabbik appeared.

‘Hello, lad,’ Skraffi croaked.

‘Hello, pa,’ Gabbik replied. ‘Good to see you.’

‘And you.’

They looked at each other in awkward silence for a moment and then Skraffi held out a hand, asking to be pulled up. Gabbik obliged, hauling the old dwarf to his feet. Skraffi patted his son’s hand a couple of times before letting go, and with a look they both assured each other that everything was as should be.

‘Thanks for coming to look for us,’ said Skraffi.

‘Don’t thank us just yet,’ said Gabbik. ‘These woods are still swarming with wolf riders, and Grimnir knows where that wyvern has got to. When we’re back at the Lower Gate, I’ll rest easier.’

‘Sure enough,’ said Skraffi. He hacked up a great gobbet of phlegm and spat. ‘Let’s go and taste that sweet beer already. Lead on!’

Although he had uttered words of caution to his father, Gabbik was confident of their safe return to the Lower Gate. Over three hundred armed and prepared dwarfs were a more fearsome prospect than a few score, tired and hounded up the mountain.

The wolf riders seemed to think the same and those that survived the attack on the hill slunk into the darkness, not even remaining close at hand to watch the dwarfs turn south. The woods were filled with lantern light and once they were away from the fires set by the goblins Gabbik started to relax.

He glanced at his father, who was walking in silence a little way ahead, keeping company with the other longbeards who had been rescued. He was pleased Skraffi had survived, but deep down could not fight a sense of shame. The cause of this consternation was the simple fact that it had been reputation more than duty that had spurred him to help with the rescue mission. Had nobody known Skraffi was out in the wilds, had Stofrik not announced his intent to go back out for the longbeards, Gabbik wondered if he might not have just stayed in safety at the Lower Gate.

The fear that others would witness such dishonourable behaviour had been the poker that stoked the fire within Gabbik. It would have been unseemly to not attend the expedition, and it was this fact more than love or sense of responsibility that had propelled him out of the gates and back onto the road.

Now that they were returning, guilt gnawed at Gabbik. He was unworthy of the thanks his father had given him, and that was the real reason he had been unable to accept Skraffi’s gratitude. There had been genuine relief, of course, but Gabbik felt a twinge of remorse when he remembered that his first thought on seeing his father alive had been pleasure that the effort and risk had not been wasted. He would be credited amongst the brave dwarfs that had ventured forth to bring their living ancestors home.

‘What’s up, Gabbik?’ It was Fleinn, as cheerful as ever. ‘You look like you’ve lost a gold piece and found… Well, just lost a gold piece. Aren’t you happy to see the old fella?’

‘It’s good,’ said Gabbik. ‘I’m just tired. Tired to the bones.’

‘I hear you, right enough.’

They walked on in silence, following the lead set by the rangers ahead. Even in darkness the lower groves seemed less hostile now than they had the day before. Gabbik was bemused that it had only been yesterday they had been fleeing for their lives between these same trees; it felt as though it had been days and days ago.

‘It’s all changed, hasn’t it?’ he asked Fleinn. ‘This is going to be our great battle, isn’t it?’

‘I don’t know what you’re on about. Great battle?’

‘The orcs. Even if we beat them, we’re not done, are we? Karak Ungor, Karak Varn… Now us. None of us is safe any more.’

‘Stop being such a miserable beggar,’ said Fleinn. He playfully punched Gabbik on the arm. ‘The orcs are going to die throwing themselves at our gates and that’s that. Nothing’s changing. It’s like them what went around saying the world was going to end when the elves tried to besiege Karaz-a-Karak. Where did that end, eh? With them scarpering back where they came from, leaving their shiny crown behind.’

‘Maybe you’re right,’ said Gabbik, but in his heart he knew Fleinn’s optimism was misplaced. Maybe not in a year or a hundred years, but at some time the orcs would be back, and again, and again. Even in his years, short compared to some, he had seen the Ekrundfolk dwindling, in numbers and in craft.

‘There’s a sight to cheer you up, anyhow,’ said Fleinn, snapping Gabbik from his contemplation.

The woods gave way to pasture and the ribbon of the road wound down the valley ahead. Though he could not see the Lower Gate yet, looking north Gabbik could just about make out the lamps and torches on the walls of Kundazad-a-Zorn, the great watch fortress overlooking the upper valley halfway to the main gates of Ekrund.

Dawn was still some time away when they reached the road, and there was a brief debate between Menghir Garudak and Stofrik Grimsson. Stofrik wanted to head to Kundazad-a-Zorn, as it was closer, but Menghir’s intent was to return to the Lower Gate and from there to go forth to reinforce his father if he had not returned from Gundak Karazin.

Gabbik spoke in favour of Menghir’s plan. He did so not only because sometimes Stofrik needed reminding that he was not always in charge, though this was the main reason, but also, Gabbik told himself, because he would be sooner reunited with this family and they would sooner know that he and Skraffi were safe.

In the end the two could not agree and against the wishes of many, who thought dividing their numbers was a foolish notion, Stofrik headed north with those that wished to follow him while Menghir and the rest of the thanes and their clans went south, Gabbik and the Angboks amongst them.

Though their numbers had been diminished, the dwarfs put faith in speed more than stealth and set a brisk pace along the flags that had paved the valley for so many centuries. Gabbik found himself near the front of the column with Skraffi, Menghir and a few of the other thanes, and they spoke at length regarding the orc horde and what could be done about it.

So at ease had they become, and so engrossing was their conversation, that to a dwarf none of them was quite prepared when there was a shout of alarm from behind. As they stopped to see what the problem was, the answer came from overhead. A great roar echoed along the valley and a massive shape dived down from the scattered clouds.

The dwarfs scattered at the wyvern’s descent, seeking shelter behind the wall that lined the road and in the rocky outcrops and defiles beyond. Gabbik found himself being dragged to one side by Skraffi with Menghir, Vadlir and a few of the Lower Gate thanes near at hand.

Claws scraping across stone, the wyvern landed on the road just a few dozen paces away, lashing its tail, wyrm-neck undulating as it swung a bucket-jawed head towards Gabbik. Jade green scales glistened in the light of the setting moons. It had two legs only, no forelimbs, but its wings were tipped with claws and it used these to balance itself as it lunged over the wall, snatching up a handful of dwarfs in its maw.

As the closest wing dipped, Gabbik saw with shock that the wyvern had a rider. Perched on a high-backed throne atop its back was an orc larger than any he had seen – not that he had seen many. Although perhaps the night and the monstrous steed made it seem even more hulking, the orc rider was easily twice as big as a dwarf. It was clad in plated armour hung with ragged pieces of mail, spikes of bone and tusk jutting out from the shoulders, its helm a simple skull cap topped with a crest of what looked like dagger-long teeth.

The crunching of bone, splash of blood spatters and screams of dwarfs being eaten made Gabbik cringe, pushing himself tight against the stones of the wall as he peered over. His fingers felt cold and with some effort he maintained a grip on his axe haft.

Other dwarfs were dashing away from the terrifying beast, moving along the wall or running into the rocky ground of the valley sides. To the gigantic wyvern the wall was no obstacle; it bounded over with a single flap of its wings, jaw snapping once more to scoop up an unfortunate who had been frozen with dread as he had cowered behind a rock.

A few hardier warriors charged the wyvern, hurling throwing axes that bounced from its scaled hide, their hammers and battleaxes inflicting little injury. The orc rider pulled a wicked-looking blade from a sheath across its back, the curved sword as long as a dwarf is tall. Irritated more than afraid, the wyvern turned, smashing two of the dwarfs from their feet with a swipe of its tail. The orc’s sword decapitated another and the survivors fell back, seeking sanctuary amongst the boulders.

‘We can’t stay here,’ Gabbik heard someone say. Then he realised the words had come from his lips. Skraffi and the others looked at him, brows furrowed.

‘You’re going to attack that thing?’ said Menghir, clearly impressed.

Gabbik was about to tell the thane not to be so ridiculous but the words wouldn’t come. The weight of expectation suddenly heaped upon his shoulders and he had no choice but to bear it; to do or say otherwise would bring near-crippling levels of embarrassment.

‘Head to the Lower Gate, quick as you can,’ said Skraffi, moving up alongside his son. He gave Gabbik an encouraging thumbs up. ‘Don’t worry, lad, I’ll not let you fight alone.’

‘It’s true what they say about you Angboks,’ said Menghir. He stood and waved to some of the others and held his axe aloft, a signal for his warriors to rally to him.

‘You’ve heard of us?’ said Gabbik, surprised and delighted in equal measure.

‘Oh, aye,’ laughed Menghir. He nodded towards Skraffi. ‘After his performance at the king’s council? Everybody in Ekrund’s heard of the Angboks.’

‘They think we’re… brave?’ Gabbik asked hesitantly, knowing the answer.

‘They think you’re all as mad as a vault of weasels,’ said Menghir. ‘But Grimnir’s doom to you, I’ll be sure to mention the bravery part when we get back.’

Gabbik turned his attention back to the wyvern, which was back on the road now, chasing after a group of rangers who had tried shooting it with their crossbows. He felt movement around him and looked about to find himself joined by many of the lads that had been at Undak Grimgazan.

‘So, I hear we’re doing some stupid fool thing, eh?’ said Vifi. He waved his catapult under the Angbok thane’s nose. ‘Think I’m going to kill a wyvern with this, do you, Gabbik?’

‘I never asked…’ Gabbik’s voice trailed away as he realised that they were all there – Angboks, Troggklads, even the Narjaks and Skurllissons. He was their thane and they followed him. His chest swelled with pride for a moment, and then a hideous fear gripped him.

He was going to lead them all to their deaths!

‘No heroics,’ said Skraffi, perhaps sensing his son’s sudden hesitation. ‘We keep the wyvern busy enough to give the others a good head start and then we make a run for it ourselves. Right?’

‘Aye, and how do we do that?’ asked Fleinn.

Skraffi shrugged and looked at Gabbik.

‘This was your idea, lad, what did you have in mind?’

Gabbik looked around for inspiration, his mouth opened and closed without anything occurring. He watched the rest of the dwarfs heading south, some on the road, others not, running as fast as their short legs would carry them, wishing more than anything that he could have been with them. The wyvern had some poor unfortunate under its claw and was chewing off bits, while the orc was beating his mount about the shoulders with a massive fist, trying to get the monster to chase after the fleeing dwarfs.

‘Come with me,’ Gabbik said, playing for time. He had no idea how he was going to do this, but felt that action was more important than a plan at that moment. He hoped something would come up, or perhaps if he could delay long enough someone else would speak up with a brilliant strategy.

Having finished its meal, the wyvern looked around. Chains like reins hung from an iron mask riveted into its long face, bolted to the forearm of the orc atop its back. By the way the wyvern smarted and fought against every tug on the chains, Gabbik figured that this was not so much a partnership of steed and rider so much as a master and monstrous slave. Perhaps there was something that could be done with that.

The wyvern saw them as they edged closer along the wall, following Gabbik’s lead. Its nostrils flared and moonlight glinted in its eyes. It opened its jaw wide, exposing bloodstained teeth. Pieces of dwarf flesh and tattered mail trailed from between its fangs.

With an exultant shout, the orc prodded the wyvern into motion.

‘Grungni’s flaming forge, it’s coming right for us,’ muttered Vifi.

‘We should’ve sent up the flare and got Stofrik’s boys to come back,’ said Nakka. He huffed on the blade of his axe and polished off a fleck of dirt with his cuff. ‘Would have made this a lot easier if there had been more of us.’

‘Flare?’ Gabbik turned on Nakka and grabbed his collar, pulling him close. ‘What flare?’

‘Durk took one of them rocket-things from Undak Grimgazan, just in case.’ Nakka thumbed over his shoulder to a worried-looking Durk. ‘He’s still got it in his pack.’

‘That so?’ Gabbik spared a glance at the wyvern. It was about fifty paces away and picking up speed, but at least it wasn’t airborne. It was hissing as it ran, tongue lolling across bloodied fangs.

Spurred by speed he never thought he possessed, Gabbik pushed Nakka aside, turned Durk around and unfastened the buckles on the other dwarf’s pack. Sure enough, nestled between a few bags of sandwiches and a bedroll was the tube and rod of a signal rocket.

Gabbik pulled the flare free and looked at Skraffi.

‘Flint. Now. Quick.’

His father complied, pulling free his lighting box, snapping at the sprung striking head. On the second attempt the tinder caught.

Gabbik slid the flare onto its pole and then leaned forward, bracing himself over the wall, rocket on his shoulder angled at the incoming wyvern.

‘Light it!’ he yelped. ‘Light the damned fuse and get back!’

He heard a sputtering behind him, which quickly became a growing crackle next to his ear, and then the thud of boots rapidly retreating.

The wyvern was twenty paces away, the orc on its back leaning forward, blade held low. Gabbik fancied he could smell the foul breath of both, but then realised it was the burning bang powder impregnated into the flare’s fuse.

‘This is really stupid,’ he told himself. He raised his voice. ‘Tell Friedra and Haldora I love them!’

The main charge of the flare caught with a deafening bang right next to Gabbik’s head. He smelt burning hair amongst the fume of the bang powder a moment before the rocket leapt from its rod, spewing red smoke and flame.

Gabbik saw nothing for a moment as his face was bathed in fire and smog, head ringing from the detonation. Through blinking eyes he just about saw the flare flying along the road, fluted cuts in its side making a piercing screech as it picked up speed.

The flare, now a small comet of red and yellow, smacked into the side of the wyvern’s head, spraying burning bang powder, smoke and sparks. The wyvern let out a panicked wail, utterly unlike anything Gabbik had ever heard, and veered to the right, its eye blistering from the impact and heat. Bellowing, the orc stood up and wrenched at the chains but to no avail – the wyvern took three steps and flung itself into the air, wings snapping out, almost tossing the rider from its back as it climbed swiftly. Its plaintive cry trailed away as it ascended.

Gabbik could smell burning still. The flare was fizzing along the road, a few hundred paces away by now and still going. He looked down and saw tiny blue flames burning at the ends of his beard-braids.

With a yelp of fear, he patted out the flames, and then repeated the process on top of his head. Pulling off a gauntlet he felt his face. The skin was raw and tender and his eyebrows were missing. His hand quested up to his scalp and he felt more burned flesh and little else. Turning slowly, he faced the others.

‘How bad is it?’ he asked, dropping the flare pole. They looked at him, saying nothing, which was all he needed to know. It was bad. His skin was starting to sting, as though a thousand angry wasps had set upon him, and he could feel his eyes closing up.

Skraffi was next to him, Fleinn on the other side. Both of them looked up as a bestial snarling resounded down the valley.

‘It won’t be gone for long,’ said Skraffi.

‘Can you run?’ asked Vifi, as the rest of the band clambered over the wall, helping Gabbik onto the road.

‘I can damn well run away from here!’

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

‘Lord Garudak, such as he styled himself then, the Drakkanfolk not quite ready to call him king, offered to take in Grimbalki and his followers, Angboks and all.

Grimbalki sent his younger brother a package. Within was a lump of dried goblin dung and a note to the effect that Lord Garudak would be begging for Grimbalki’s forgiveness one day, and his pleas would be worth the contents of the parcel.

These seemed like brave words to the Drakkanfolk, I guess, who were all snug behind their stockades, digging their mine. But what they didn’t know was that Grimbalki’s prospectors had finally found something. Not gold, not diamonds, but something worth almost as much, and it would be the thing that Ekrund would be famed for in later generations.

They found black gold. Coal.‘

Haldora woke up. It felt as though her whole body had been meticulously pummelled by an army of goblins with small hammers. From the inside of her skull down to her toes, everything ached. It hurt even to open her eyes but she forced herself to do so, blinking hard in the light of an immense lamp hanging from the roof of the hall.

She was lying on a stone bench against a wall, with a large tapestry hanging above her, and to the right she saw a pair of iron-bound gates.

The Lower Gate.

She winced as memory flooded back. Sitting up, she looked around for a familiar face and spied her mother with a group of other womenfolk, but there was no sign of her father or Nakka, or Skraffi. There were lots of other dwarfs around though, all clad in armour and carrying weapons.

Sliding to her feet she unsteadily walked across the hall, catching her mother’s eye as she did so. She had expected a smile in greeting, but Friedra’s expression was one of concern.

‘Where’s pa?’ Haldora asked, fearing the worst.

‘He went with the others to look for Skraffi and the greybeards,’ Friedra explained.

‘Without me?’

‘Sorry, my dear, but they thought it was for the best.’

‘And you let them?’

One of the greyhairs intervened, laying her hand on Haldora’s arm and another on Friedra’s as though to physically bridge between the two of them. Haldora recognised her from Undak Grimgazan. It was Lazara Fundunstull.

‘It wasn’t so much a matter of letting them do anything, dearie,’ said the old dwarf lady. ‘They was in and out quicker than a viper in a burrow, and you was in no fit state to go marching off again.’

‘I should have gone,’ said Haldora, but her heart really wasn’t in it. She wanted to be as strong as everyone else but the thought of spending even more time trekking back up the mountain made her weak at the knees. ‘I could have gone.’

‘Of course you could, Haldora,’ said her mother, ‘but it was best that you stayed here.’

Haldora noticed that there was pinkish light coming down one of the window-shafts above the gate.

‘It’s nearly dawn? And they’re not back yet?’

‘Sorry, dear, but no,’ said Friedra. ‘I’m sure they’ll be back soon though.’

‘They better be,’ said Haldora, ‘or they’ll not get here before the orc horde.’

Concerned by this, Haldora fetched up her axe and shield where she had left them by the bench. She trotted to the steps leading out to the tower on the left flank of the gate, tagging on to the end of a line of armoured dwarfs heading up the stairs.

Nobody said anything as she reached the rampart, but there were a few curious and confused glances when others saw her braided hair and lack of beard. Moving to the parapet, Haldora ignored the other dwarfs and leaned over the wall to look south down the valley.

‘Nothing yet,’ she muttered to herself. Turning, she called out to the dwarfs manning the viewing tubes on a circular platform set behind and above the wall, reached by a spiral ironwork staircase. ‘Any sign of the expedition that went out looking for the Angboks and Grimssons?’

‘Nothing so far,’ the reply drifted back.

Haldora sighed heavily and leaned on the rampart, her shield dangling over the edge, axe on the stones. The night gloom was rapidly dissipating, and now and then she looked south, fearing to see the dark blotch of the greenskin army spreading up the valley. When not doing that, she cast her gaze north, towards the muted green of the lower groves on the opposite slope, fear turning to hope.

Though the sun was encroaching upon the Dragonbacks, it was hard to keep her eyes open. The night’s turmoil, and that of the day before, was dragging at her thoughts and body. Several times she was forced to rouse herself, stamping her feet and letting cold water trickle from her flask down the back of her neck.

When the orange glow of daybreak finally fell upon the stones of the Lower Gate towers, Haldora heard raised voices below, in the hall behind the gates. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but soon word was passed up the steps.

‘Anyone hear from the watchtowers?’ asked a dwarf standing by the archway. ‘The king’s messengers are seeking account of what’s been happening.’

‘I came from Undak Grimgazan,’ said Haldora. The dwarf looked at her with a furrowed brow. ‘Really, I came in with the others last night.’

‘Right you are, lass,’ said the dwarf, who could not have been more than a year or two older than her.

‘My name is Haldora,’ she said primly, picking up her axe. ‘Take me to one of these messengers.’

She followed the dwarf as he headed down the steps, and saw that her mother and the other womenfolk had been gathered together around three dwarfs huddled about a woven standard bearing the runes of the Rinkeldraz clan – cousins somewhat removed from the king, no doubt.

‘Come with us,’ one of them said when Haldora introduced herself. ‘And the rest of you that thinks they can tell the king what’s going on.’

Haldora wasn’t sure what to make of the messengers. They seemed gruff, almost accusing.

‘We’re not going anywhere,’ she said. ‘Our families are still out there, searching for missing clanfolk.’

‘There’s wild talk from the Lower Gate to the east depths, and we need to find out what’s happening,’ said another of the heralds. ‘Anybody else here that can tell us?’

Haldora shot a near-panicked look at her mother.

‘We’ll wait here, dear,’ said Friedra. Her fingers were absent-mindedly plucking at the hem of her tunic, leaving it frayed, and Haldora realised just how nervous her mother was. Someone had to go to the king to answer his questions, and it looked as though Haldora would have to be the one to do it.

‘All right,’ she said. ‘I’ll go with them, but you send word the moment – the moment! – pa or Skraffi or Nakka come back, do you hear?’

‘We’ll send a runner as soon as we know anything, sweet pie,’ said Friedra, using the nickname Haldora had not heard since she had been ten years old. It brought an immediate smile despite everything.

‘Thank you.’ Haldora turned to the messengers. ‘We best get going.’

The heralds shared dubious looks but silently consented and led Haldora out of the hall. She had never been to this part of Ekrund before but in her fatigued state was in no condition to pay too much attention to their surroundings. She plodded after the three other dwarfs, until eventually they came to a group of broad-shouldered youths carrying sedan chairs in one of the minor hallways. These too were decked in the colours and emblems of the king and Haldora was quickly but diligently escorted to one of the chairs and helped to climb aboard. A foursome of well-muscled retainers hefted her up onto their shoulders and, with the messengers similarly ensconced in their own transports, they moved away.

It took some getting used to the swaying and up-and-down, rocking from side to side, juddering with the thudding of the dwarfs’ boots on the stones of the tunnel. Haldora had heard that the High King himself was carried aloft on his throne in similar fashion, and she felt privileged to be conveyed in such a manner. Just to hire the labour would have cost more than Haldora could conceive, never mind the workmanship that had gone into the ornately carved chairs and the thick wutruth poles that bore them aloft.

It would take the best part of the day to reach the king’s halls – it was amazing that the messengers had arrived so swiftly. The answer to this became evident as they crossed from the Lower Gate to the second deeps, passing along a bridge that soared over a chasm down which rumbled an underground river nearly a hundred paces wide. At the far end were more liveried dwarfs waiting on benches.

The sedan chairs were smoothly and efficiently transferred from one team to the next. As the new bearers started off at a jog, she leant over in her seat to look back, seeing the previous teams flopping gratefully onto the chairs, while maidens with pitchers of frothing beer emerged from a side chamber.

Sleep tugged at her eyelids again and this time she did not try to fight it. Not only would it be an impossible task, she knew she would need all her strength to give the king the attention he deserved. After a while she became accustomed to the motion of the sedan chair and she tried to relax, telling herself over and over that her father and grandfather would return safe and well. Eventually her tiredness conquered once more and she slipped into a fitful sleep, woken only twice more when the bearer teams changed.

When they reached their final destination and she was roused by polite coughs from her bearers Haldora found herself being lowered to a wooden stage built on the floor of a small but beautifully tiled chamber. The walls and floor were covered by a single mosaic depicting in miniature the grand hall of Karaz-a-Karak. Haldora only knew this because she had seen other versions in carvings and etchings as wall decorations in the halls of other clans.

Without further explanation, clearly still hastening to their lord’s command, the messengers flanked Haldora and led her through a curtained portal into a tunnel that sloped gently upwards. She could see an archway ahead through which crept sunlight, and her guardians took her out onto a balcony cut into the mountainside.

Everything was carved from the naked rock, from the awning-like protrusion above held up by six stout pillars lining the exterior wall to the oblong balcony itself, easily thirty paces wide and twice as long, surrounded by a crenulated battlement as tall as Haldora.

The view took her breath away, as they had come out near the parapet at one end of the loggia and she could see to her left a huge waterfall spilling down from above. The spray touched her cheek, and the roar, which she had been able to hear but not identify coming up the corridor, was thunderous. All around were the peaks of the Dragonbacks and from the position of the sun she realised that they were somewhere on the west side of Mount Bloodhorn, in mid-afternoon. She tried to look up to the source of the immense waterfall but a nudge from one of the messengers reminded her that time was pressing.

As she turned away her breath was caught again, this time by the robed figure sitting on a throne on a shallow plinth at the far end of the balcony.

The king.

Fear gripped her, greater than anything she had experienced since facing the wolves with the rangers. This was King Erstukar Rinkeldraz, overseer of Ekrund, the richest and most powerful dwarf west of the old mountains. She had expected to see an advisor, perhaps, or one of the princes if she had been lucky. They were here also, two handsome dwarfs, one standing to the side of the throne – Rodri, many years her senior, and his brother, Horthrad, a few years her younger. Rodri eyed her impassively, almost dismissively, but Horthrad gave her a surprised look and a smile that sent a shiver of a different kind down her back. His beard and hair were thick and black, and as Horthrad stroked a hand down his chin in contemplation she saw rings with gems the size of peach stones on each finger. A coterie of grey-bearded runesmiths and loremaster-types huddled around the opposite side of the king. They appeared far less welcoming.

‘Approach,’ said a hammer-bearing captain in full war regalia.

She did so, bowing and curtseying every other step, unsure what the correct decorum was when in the presence of so much royalty. She tried to keep her gaze on Erstukar, though not meeting his eyes, but she kept looking around, trying to work out where she was and who was who.

The messengers overtook her and presented themselves with florid bows before the king, sweeping their beards aside with graceful gestures as they did so.

‘Name yourself,’ said the king’s guard. ‘State your purpose.’

‘Haldora Angbok, your majesty,’ she said, addressing her answer to Erstukar. She flapped a hand at the heralds. ‘I was brought here by your messengers.’

‘Angbok?’ A greybeard with eyebrows that protruded past the brim of his felt hat said the word slowly, his blue eyes intent upon her, their colour a rarity amongst the Ekrundfolk and thought to be a gift of Valaya. Certainly by his garb – a heavy apron stitched with metal thread over sturdy trousers and shirt – he appeared a crafter of some kind and Haldora assumed he was a runesmith. She heard her name being muttered by some of the others, and there were exchanges of looks that she could not decipher.

‘Yes, Angbok,’ Haldora said. She curtsied again, just to be sure, flustered that her name caused so much consternation.

‘She was in the outer towers?’ Horthrad asked the messengers. They all bobbed their heads in answer.

‘So was claimed,’ one of them replied.

‘We need a warrior’s account,’ said Rodri. ‘Not the ramblings of some miner’s wife.’

‘I believe that is what we are going to have,’ said the king, eying Haldora closely. The mutterings silenced as the king waved for her to approach, the messengers stepping away to one side to allow this to happen. ‘The Angboks are a strange breed, it seems. Can you not see from her garb that she is a warrior?’

Haldora thought he might be poking fun at her, but Erstukar seemed sincere.

‘She wears armour and bears a shield, that does not make her a warrior,’ said Rodri.

‘I’ve killed near a score of goblins these last two days, how many have you?’ Haldora snapped, tired of this treatment.

‘And you have landed another fell blow,’ laughed Horthrad, punching his older brother on the arm. ‘One well-deserved.’

‘Enough prattling,’ said Erstukar. His piercing stare fell on Haldora. ‘Tell me, Haldora Angbok, what has been happening to the south?’

She recounted, as briefly and accurately as she could recall, the events of the last few days, from being posted to Undak Grimgazan and the missing patrol right the way up to the flight to the Lower Gate. During this time servants came up and relieved Haldora of her axe and shield, replacing them with buttered bread, a round of soft cheese and a stein of water, for which she was most grateful.

‘Wyverns?’ said one ageing advisor. He looked up into the cloudless sky past the columns as if to see such a beast right there.

‘How many, did you say?’ Erstukar said quietly. ‘How many orcs?’

‘A hundred thousand, your majesty,’ Haldora replied. ‘Or so the greybeards reckoned it.’

‘Preposterous,’ was the verdict from Rodri. ‘They must have been drinking.’

‘A little,’ Haldora admitted, ‘but I saw with my own eyes enough orcs to cover the wildlands from sight’s end on the left to the right.’

‘Fifty thousand or a hundred thousand, it matters not,’ said the runesmith. ‘It’s a horde, and one that needs dealing with.’

The council set to debating the matter and Haldora felt herself overlooked, her testimony finished. She tried to follow the conversation of her elders and betters but they kept talking all at once, and often at crosswise purpose, arguing over not only the veracity of her account, and her usefulness as a witness, but also the best course of action given a variety of likely and unlikely scenarios.

She was shocked when she felt a hand on her arm.

‘Refreshments?’ asked Prince Horthrad.

Up close he was just as handsome, his eyes flint grey, the hand by her elbow strong but gentle, the fragranced oil in his hair so different from the fire smoke, lard and coal dust she was used to. Nakka never had oil in his hair. Well, not the fragranced kind. Thinking of him made her suddenly feel guilty and, as politely as she could, she tugged her arm from Horthrad’s grip.

‘Pardon?’ she said.

‘Refreshments,’ the prince said again, indicating a trestle that had been brought out and laid with fine ceramic plates and dishes, and crystal tankards on silver trays.

‘Beer please,’ she said. ‘Just something light, like an Owd Lorkki’s or Badger’s Delight.’

‘I’m not sure we have either of those,’ Horthrad said with a grin. ‘Perhaps some Star Amber?’

‘I’ll give it a try,’ said Haldora. She took the proffered cup and looked back at the king and his advisors. ‘What’s going to happen?’

‘Haven’t got a clue,’ confessed the prince. He took a drink from his tankard. Foam bubbled on his beard as he listened attentively for a moment. ‘Seems as though Rodri is keen to lead the army out and meet the orcs head-on, while Nordok is advocating that we pull back everybody behind the great gates and leave the Lower Gate defences. The others are siding with one or the other.’

The debate was certainly spirited and the council’s voices were getting louder and louder, while their gestures became more forceful. Beards were wagged, stroked and tugged, all part of the complex negotiations that were progressing – just as dwarfs are likely to look to the companion with the longest beard for advice and leadership, so the dwarfs arguing with each other were prone to trying to make their beards look as long, big and important as possible to lend weight to their arguments.

Rodri in particular was agitated, sometimes pounding a fist into his other palm and on several occasions flat out jabbing his finger at his father, who seemed unimpressed by this behaviour.

‘He came of age right at the end of the war with the elves. They retreated back across the sea before he had a chance to see battle and he’s been trying to prove himself ever since,’ explained Horthrad, finishing his beer. A steward appeared as if by magic and whisked away his empty tankard. Haldora was left to put her empty cup back on the trestle.

‘You don’t feel you have something to make up for, to prove you’re equal to the longbeards?’ she asked.

‘I’ll prove myself in other ways,’ said the young prince, tapping the side of his head. ‘Been studying my runes and my engineering, see? Rodri can go chasing orcs as much as he likes. My legacy will be something even grander – a revolutionary type of catapult or a grand hall or maybe even a new type of rune. Sorry, I think they’re waiting for me. I suppose I better show willing.’

Haldora watched Horthrad join the rest of the council. He seemed quite different to the other dwarfs she knew. There was something in him that she recognised about herself – the desire to make her own destiny.

‘We have a duty,’ one of the longbeards said. ‘Is it not an oath of the king to protect Ekrund? The Lower Gate is part of Ekrund, your majesty.’

‘I do not need to be reminded of my oaths,’ Erstukar replied, thumping the arm of his throne.

‘Orcs are cowardly creatures at heart,’ said Rodri. ‘One good charge and we’ll send them straight back into the wildlands. Give them some cold iron and they’ll not trouble us again.’

‘I fear it is too late for that,’ said Haldora. The council members turned in unison, eyes widening with surprise.

‘You have something to add, young maiden?’ asked the apron-clad dwarf, whom she now realised was none other than the runelord Nordok Stormhammer. He was famed beyond Ekrund, and had once even served a commission for the High King at Karaz-a-Karak. His startling eyes bore straight into her thoughts, quicker than an Angbok digging gold. ‘You come to the king’s assembly bearing not just news but counsel?’

‘I…’ Haldora took a deep breath and saw Horthrad give her a wink, lending her much-needed strength. ‘I don’t want to talk out of turn– ‘

‘Too late,’ muttered Rodri.

‘ –but I really think you need to take what I said seriously.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked the king. ‘How are we not taking you seriously?’

‘Not you, your majesty,’ Haldora replied quickly. ‘I am sure you have been most considerate and considered in your deliberation. But I heard a few of these folk say that perhaps there’s not so many orcs as I said, and I think they need to be corrected. There are a lot of orcs, your majesty. Not just more than I’ve ever seen, but more than anybody in Ekrund has ever seen, I warrant. If we go out to fight them we’ll be outnumbered horribly.’

‘I have no intention of surrendering the advantage of our defences,’ said the king, throwing a glare at his eldest son.

‘Oh,’ said Haldora. ‘Well, that’s good.’

‘We must protect the Lower Gate,’ said one of the king’s other advisors. He looked at Haldora. ‘The outer defences have already been abandoned without any attempt to hold them, we cannot do the same of the Lower Gate.’

‘Excuse me,’ said Haldora, feeling that this comment was an accusation of some kind, ‘but had we tried to hold Undak Grimgazan none of us would have lived to warn you of the danger. And we did fight, believe me, when we had to.’

‘Nobody is doubting your courage,’ said Erstukar. ‘But it is a shame that there was no opportunity to delay the orc advance and allow further preparations.’

‘Begging your pardon, your majesty, but I think that’s just what this gentledwarf was doing.’ Haldora crossed her arms, as she had seen Awdhelga and her mother do so many times. The male dwarfs had certainly seen such a stance before too and several of them paled visibly, perhaps remembering stern lectures from their own kin during their younger years. ‘Doubting our courage, I mean. There’s not an Angbok, or Troggklad, nor even a Fundunstull or Grimsson, that would not have happily died defending our homes if it had made a beggar’s bit of difference. But it won’t have and so we didn’t, and any dwarf that thinks otherwise is a fool.’

The dwarf in question trembled at this, his beard swaying to and fro as he shook his head vigorously.

‘Apologise, Brekar, and let us get on with this,’ said Prince Horthrad.

The advisor looked as though he was about to protest, but the king turned an eye in his direction and the matter was settled.

‘I am sorry for inadvertently impugning the courage of your clan and their allies,’ Brekar said stiffly. He breathed out heavily and addressed the king. ‘Regardless, I think it would be an oversight to not make the most of the Lower Gate’s defences.’

‘And if we send out warriors and war machines against this… tide?’ Unlike the others, Runelord Nordok spoke softly and slowly, measuring his words as diligently as he no doubt measured the metals and minerals in his alloys and runes. ‘If the Lower Gate cannot hold we must abandon the engines or else expend more lives bringing them back to the main walls.’

‘I understand your concern, cousin,’ said Erstukar, but his tone already betrayed his intent to disagree. ‘We cannot expect the clans of the Lower Gate to simply allow the orcs to break in and plunder what they wish. No orc will ever pass the gates of Ekrund, not while there is anything we can do. To allow this army access to the upper passes without confrontation is not an option I will consider.’

Nordok accepted this judgement with a silent nod. There were a few grumbled protests from the runelord’s allies and some smug looks on the faces of Brekar’s contingent. With the principle and policy decided, the council set to wrangling the details of the plan – which clans would be sent, how much support they would offer to the Engineers’ Guild and so forth.

Haldora waited a while but it became clear that these negotiations would take some considerable time. She cleared her throat loudly.

‘If it pleases your majesty, might I be excused? Only, it’s that my father and grandfather had not yet returned when I was summoned and I would like to go back to the Lower Gate to seek news of them and to aid in the defence.’

Erstukar looked down at her, slightly surprised by her continued presence. He stood up from the throne and stepped off the dais. Haldora felt like curtseying again but half-resisted the urge, resulting in an ungainly bob up and down in front of the king.

‘Summon my armourer,’ said the king, looking back at his advisors. ‘We shall resolve this matter whilst we make our way to the Lower Gate. If the defence is to be there, that is where I shall also stand. It will not be said that King Erstukar did not fight upon his own walls at this troubled time.’

‘That is very heartening, your majesty,’ said Haldora. She dropped her voice. ‘If it’s all the same, that sounds like it might still take a while. Is it all right if I nip off now?’

‘Depart with my blessing, young lady,’ the king said with a smile. ‘Someone will arrange a chair to take you back to the Lower Gate. I hope your family are well and sound and that I will get to meet them when I arrive.’

‘Oh, your majesty, that might well make my pa drop dead with pride!’ Haldora bowed, then curtseyed, and then turned and almost ran from the loggia, partly in dread and partly out of excitement.

Stewards were waiting with her axe and shield and, she was surprised to see, a parcel of food for the journey. She took the pack of provisions and shook the servant’s hand.

‘The king knows how to treat his guests proper, I’ll say that for him,’ she said.

‘Aye, he’s big on hospitality is Erstukar,’ the retainer replied. He produced a weighty gold coin from somewhere and handed it to her with a sly wink. ‘You’re Awdhelga’s grand-daughter, right? If you could fix up a barrel of that famous blackbeer for the king’s table, there’s a couple more where that came from.’

‘You’ve been very kind,’ Haldora said loudly, putting the coin into a belt pouch as the servant backed away. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

She stepped onto the sedan chair and gave the bearers a thumbs up when she was settled into the cushions. ‘The Lower Gate, if you please!’

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

‘Grimbalki gave permission to his people to dig as much as they wanted from the coal seam, but they weren’t to sell a single piece to the Drakkanfolk or send it to the old mountains. Instead, using the last of his money and sending a trade party along the south road led by his own son, Grimbalki signed a treaty with the king of Karak Eight Peaks. Half the coal of Mount Bloodhorn would belong to the other king in exchange for ore to smelt.

The king of Karak Eight Peaks thought this a fine idea, for his furnaces were as hungry as any, and he sent iron and tin and lead and other ores that were needed to create forged and proper tools.

With these in his possession, Grimbalki had the Angboks, who knew best smelting of all the clans loyal to him, build the first forge. Fuelled by coal from under their feet, the forgeworks ran day and night as the king’s followers laboured to make pick and truck and bucket. As quick as they could get it out of the ground, the Angboks burned the coal to make more digging implements.

The mine grew.’

The rest of Gabbik’s night was spent in hectic retreat, running down the road with the others, ignoring the soreness of burned hands and face. His head was throbbing, the cut he had received in the first skirmish with the goblins feeling raw now that it was exposed to the night air. It was near enough to finish him but he gritted his teeth and put one foot in front of the other, pounding south along the paved valley. When his strength flagged all he had to do was look at Menghir and his lads – much more rested before that night’s events – and pride fuelled Gabbik’s next steps, propelling him onwards to the Lower Gate.

Daylight was a smear over the mountains when there was a shout of warning. Looking back, Gabbik saw the dreadful, telltale shape of the wyvern moving across the last of the night stars, sweeping back and forth, no doubt looking for them.

‘I can’t,’ Gabbik gasped. ‘I can’t fight no more.’

‘Steady there, lad,’ said Skraffi, falling into step beside him. ‘Let’s just keep running a ways and see what happens.’

Gabbik concentrated on keeping his footing, risking the occasional glance to keep track of the wyvern’s progress. It was now above the road, some way behind them, circling slowly. It was not fear that kept Gabbik running, not in the sense anyone but a dwarf would understand it. The thought of the wyvern attacking worried Gabbik tremendously, but even more concerning was the thought that the dwarfs around him, even Skraffi, might see he was worried and think less of him. The loss of honour this would represent outweighed the physical fear by a considerable margin, overcoming the natural self-preservation and dread that might otherwise have plagued Gabbik.

So it was that despite being exceptionally vexed by the thought of being eaten by a wyvern, and having risked the same not so long previously, Gabbik’s determination to show that he was in control remained resolute. He knew the others were feeling the same; it would be unnatural not to be concerned by a gigantic monster intent on devouring them. ‘Fear’ was, like ‘love’, a word and concept that was not spoken but taken as existing without a need to constantly refer to it. Every dwarf knew there were times when the heart beat faster and undergarments might feel a little uncomfortable, for either fear or love, but there was no need to go on about it.

A loud, rasping shriek of triumph followed the dwarfs on the wind, accompanied by a barely heard bellow. Beast and rider had both spied their prey and when Gabbik next looked back he saw the wyvern plunging low across the mountainside, following the curve of the road.

He stumbled to a stop and turned, drawing his axe. He sensed Skraffi stopping a few paces later and felt his father’s hand grip his shoulder.

‘Not this time, lad. Let’s keep moving.’

Gabbik looked over his shoulder and saw that Menghir and the rest of his warriors were continuing down the road without hesitation. A few of Gabbik’s clan had stopped, reacting to his halt, others were still following the dwarfs from the Lower Gate.

‘If it falls upon us when we’re not ready…’ Gabbik didn’t feel the need to explain further.

‘We got lucky last time,’ said Skraffi. He pointed down the mountain, to where Gabbik could see lantern lights like sparks in the twilight. ‘That’s the walls of the Lower Gate, lad. If we run now, we can make them before that thing catches up.’

With one more look at the wyvern, remembering teeth like swords and the wicked blade of the rider, Gabbik needed no further encouragement.

It was hard to stay relaxed and just let the road and mountainside sweep past knowing that at any moment a giant claw might close around him, but Gabbik managed to do just that. He breathed easily, almost resigning himself to whatever doom would come, neither hoping to reach safety nor fearful of being killed. In confronting his worst dread – the loss of his honour, not the wyvern – he had somehow come through and out the other side into a placid state of acceptance. Not fatalism, but a certain knowledge that what he was doing was the right thing and that he had given himself every chance of surviving. Knowing there was nothing else to do but run made his boots feel lighter and the road soft beneath them.

Another cry like the cawing of a gigantic crow shook Gabbik from his fugue. Sweat stung his scorched skin as he increased his pace, trying to listen for the telltale flap of wings, the scratch of claws on stone or perhaps the stentorian breathing of the monster bearing down on him. He dared not look back in case he lost his footing. Gabbik pumped his arms as though he was getting the last dregs from a barrel, mouth open to heave in as much air as possible.

Ahead the towers and ramparts that rose from the mountainside were alive with light. Lamps as big as dwarfs hung on chains from the parapets while a plethora of smaller lanterns were mounted on the ramparts.

Gabbik flinched as he heard something whistle overhead. It was only after a moment that he realised the sound had come from in front, not behind. It was repeated several times and he risked a look up to see iron shafts as long as the span of his arms hissing past overhead. Higher still, just about visible against the paling sky, boulders from stone throwers arced across the night.

A monstrous roar of pain greeted the fusillade, followed swiftly after by the crack and smash of stones hitting the road. Gabbik could see the war machine crews on the towers now, winching their engines around to track the incoming wyvern, while others hurriedly reloaded massive darts and wound down the arms of mangonels and trebuchets.

A heartening cheer welled up from the crowds of dwarfs thronging the battlements and turrets. Banners fluttered defiantly in the night air and golden icons gleamed in the flickering light of the lanterns and torches. Gabbik risked a quick peek behind, just long enough to see the wyvern no more than fifty paces behind him, dropping quickly, half a dozen shafts jutting from its chest, neck and shoulders.

Another hail of bolts hissed past and the following cheer was even more raucous. Gabbik saw the other dwarfs around him slowing, turning to look back, and he did likewise.

The wyvern was grounded, one wing broken, blood streaming from scores of cuts, its crest mangled by boulder impacts. Another trio of shafts slammed into the creature, punching into the flesh of its neck with sprays of blood and shattered scales.

As the wyvern slumped forward, its long, battered face crashed into the flagstones. The orc leapt from the back of the dying monster. Gabbik stood looking in awe at the huge greenskin coming towards him; in truth its skin was so dark as to be almost black. A baleful energy gleamed from its bared blade and its red eyes were filled with raw hatred.

With a crash that made Gabbik jump, a stone the size of a small shed landed on the orc, smearing blood, bone and pieces of armour across the splintered paving of the road.

With a last plaintive roar the wyvern shuddered heavily, raised its head one final time and then fell dead, rolling to its side. Gabbik watched it for some time, to make sure it was truly deceased, before he started walking towards it. Wyvern scales were highly prized by runesmiths and armourers, and its teeth would fetch a little coin too. If anybody was entitled to a cut of the proceeds, it was Gabbik.

‘Hoi! Where are you going?’ Gabbik looked back to see Menghir gesturing wildly at him.

‘It’s all right,’ Gabbik called back. ‘It’s dead.’

‘That one is!’

Gabbik wasn’t sure what Menghir meant by that until he saw that the war engines on the walls were in motion again, turning southwards and angling up. He followed their aim to see more gigantic shapes blotting out the stars.

The other two wyverns.

Spurred by this fresh threat, he turned and sprinted down the road. The Lower Gate was open and a sea of dwarfs pressed into the gap, cheered and urged on by their kin on the walls and gatehouses above. Gabbik was one of the last to go through, casting one more glance along the road. In the pre-dawn grey he could see little of the foot of the mountain, save for a living shadow, an ocean of warriors and beasts that swept over the foothills like a violent tide.

For the second time that night he stumbled over the threshold of the Lower Gate, grateful to hear the thud of the huge wooden portals closing and the clang of bars and locks being set into place.

The hall was awash with dwarfs, both newly arrived and those that waited for them. Skraffi emerged from the scrum and hugged his son, causing Gabbik to wince.

‘We made it!’ Skraffi declared.

Menghir joined them, grabbing Gabbik’s free hands in both of his to shake it vigorously.

‘Well done, Gabbik, well done!’ Menghir let go and pointed across the milling crowd, towards a pole hung with a silver bearded face above a bronze representation of a lightning bolt. ‘And look, the messengers reached my father in time. He’s brought his guard back from Gundak Karazin. We should be able to hold the Lower Gate without much trouble now.’

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

‘Unknown to Grimbalki and his friends, his younger brother was not faring so well. His mine at Ankor-Drakk was drying up and after the Great Eastering most of the demand for the goods of his people was gone as well. King Grimbalki would never trade, and taxes from the road dropped because everything going to Garudak’s brother went by the southern route.

He might have been able to turn his fortunes around, but he was not well liked by the Drakkanfolk at this point. When miners broke into a goblin lair and Ankor-Drakk was invaded, many of the dwarfs fled. Garudak stayed and insisted that the mine could hold, but he was killed in a battle with the goblins and the rest of his followers were forced out.

His son took his father’s name, and vowed that Ankor-Drakk would be retaken and he would rule, but suddenly it seemed that the power in the mountains had shifted firmly back to Grimbalki.’

‘The gates will never hold,’ declared Lord Garudak, staring with a sour expression over the rampart of the High Tower.

‘They have giants…’ muttered the king.

Haldora saw the truth of this. From her vantage point amongst the entourage of Erstukar at the pinnacle of the fortifications overlooking the Lower Gate she could see south almost all of the way down to the wildlands, and if she turned around and looked east she could see a good portion of the pass leading up to the East Gate and the Second East Gate.

What she could see was a cause of some dismay, though she did not give in to it. The orcs had split into three distinct armies, heading to the western, southern and eastern roads. The greater portion of the horde seemed to be coming directly towards the Lower Gate, a host at least forty thousand strong. As yet the enemy were too distant and the morning light not yet strong enough to discern details, but it was clear there were several larger figures moving amongst the others, several times taller than any orc, troll or ogre. And of these last two types of creature there appeared to be a goodly number as well.

‘This is not coincidence,’ Prince Rodri growled. ‘This is an alliance of dark forces forged by some knowing mind.’

‘Do not attribute to intelligence that which can be readily explained by raw malice.’ Everybody turned at the sound of Nordok Stormhammer’s voice. ‘All creatures of darkness from the smallest goblin to the greatest giant have cause to despise our kind. It was us that drove them from the old mountains and scoured the plains and hills of their ilk. Such spite as we see today is the product of hundreds of years of resentment and bile building until it can no longer be dammed.’

‘But you cannot argue that they attack without a scheme of sorts,’ said the king. ‘See how they show rough organisation, the wolf riders scouting our forces, the main army dividing to attack from several directions at once. They did not follow the patrols back to Ekrund, it has been their intent to assault us for some time.’

‘That is true,’ said Nordok. ‘For now, at least, some warlord or council of such creatures holds sway over the horde, directing its purpose if not commanding as we would understand such a thing.’

‘That’s a good thing,’ said Prince Horthrad. ‘Isn’t it? If this horde has a general it can be killed. And when winter comes and they find themselves still camped outside our walls, freezing and starving, it will take more than brute force and charisma to unite such a fractious host.’

‘It is something for which we can hope,’ admitted the runelord. ‘If we last until winter.’

The mountainside rang with the shouts of teamsters and overseers, as caravans of war engines were being brought down from the upper fortifications and dragged out of the halls of the Lower Gate. With them came engineers, who fussed with lenses and counting stones and calculations, sighting the war machines at advantageous locations along the walls, and rigging pulleys and ropes to hoist bolt throwers and stone lobbers up to the highest towers.

Haldora was comforted by the noise of hammers driving home wedges and banging in fixing spikes, the hoarse chanting of apprentices hauling on block and tackle to raise the enormous arm of a trebuchet into position, the burr of saws and drills, and the chip of stone hammers as platforms and turntables were built and embrasures opened in battlements that needed them. The industry showed the Ekrundfolk at their best, united in purpose and bending all will to a task at hand.

‘Impressive, isn’t it?’ Horthrad said quietly, joining Haldora at the rampart. ‘The labours of all Ekrund set to the job of killing orcs. Just wait until they start loosing their deadly ire!’

‘You really like the machines, don’t you?’

‘I do,’ the prince admitted with a shy smile. He looked down at a line of machines being assembled on the tier below where they were stood. ‘Down there, that’s history. Those two bolt throwers on the left, they’re called Windrip and Ironstorm. Designed and built by Thorgad Rinkeldraz, my great-grand-uncle. They first saw battle at the second siege of Barak Varr, where they sank two elven hawkships and drove off a dragonship. They saw battle nearly a score of times after, more than any single dwarf.’

‘But they can’t tell us what it was like, they don’t have memories like a veteran,’ Haldora said, and she was sad at the truth of this.

‘Not themselves, but there are those that can tell their stories for them,’ said the prince. He leaned out over the stones and encouraged Haldora to do the same. He pointed and she could just about see a mangonel being bolted to a turntable atop one of the towers near to the road.

‘What’s that?’ she asked.

‘Ask your father about Heartbreaker, one day.’

‘How would he…?’ Horthrad answered her with a wink, and she understood, leaning further forward in her excitement. ‘That’s one of the engines pa crewed? He never really talks about it.’

‘Most of the older folk need to reach a certain age before they can pass the time talking about old wars and battles. Perhaps there needs to be a minimum amount of grey in the beard, or maybe grandchildren, before they feel it is decent to talk about events where folks gave their lives.’

‘But once they start, you can’t stop them,’ said Haldora with a laugh. The prince did not share her humour and she felt awkward for a moment. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’

‘Just a feeling,’ said Horthrad. ‘This is history happening right now. Forget the conquest of the old mountains, that’s for the ancestors. Our fathers and grandfathers, they made themselves in the fires of the war against the elves. This day, these coming days, will be the battles of our generation. The orcs and goblins are returning. Two holds have fallen already. Our lives, our legacies, will be defined by the war against the greenskins.’

It was hard for Haldora to imagine an older version of herself looking back at this moment, or even children or grandchildren listening to stories of this day. Awdhelga had been larger-than-life and her stories, whilst never fabrication, had seemed to have an element of embellishment about them. Thinking about what had happened in recent times made her wonder if perhaps those fanciful tales had contained more truth than Haldora had credited.

‘Horthrad!’ They turned at Rodri’s call. ‘If you’ve finished flirting, there’s war-talk to be had!’

Haldora felt blood rushing to her cheeks and she quickly turned away, suddenly flushed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Horthrad similarly flustered. He mumbled something she didn’t quite understand and strode off along the wall.

A servant appeared at her shoulder and coughed discreetly.

‘You have visitors, Lady Angbok,’ he said.

‘Visitors? And, I’m not a lady.’

‘You are now, my lady,’ said the servant, nodding sagely. He stepped aside, allowing her to see past to the steps winding up from the storehouses below the tower. Three figures stepped out onto the rampart, blinking in the light.

‘Pa! Ma! Skraffi!’ Haldora burst past the servant and threw herself at her family, trying to give them all a hug at the same time, until all four of them were brought together in an embracing huddle. It was Gabbik that broke the reunion, parting them, his expression awed as he looked around. Beneath his helmet his head was heavily bandaged and there was a thick gel-like ointment covering his face and sticking in his beard.

‘That’s the king,’ he whispered, almost hoarse with exhilaration. ‘And the princes. And the council. Look, that’s Alderinni Galbokkor, the Chancellor Excellent of the Royal Estates. He’s the head of purchase accounts for the whole of Ekrund! If only we could get a contract…’

‘We’re not here on business,’ said Skraffi. He looked carefully at Haldora, one eye almost closed with a bruise. ‘Are you well, Haldi? About what I said earlier… If I was sharp…’

‘It’s Haldora,’ she said automatically. ‘I don’t know what you said earlier, it’s all quite a blur, but if I took offence at the time I don’t recall.’

Gabbik turned towards her, a look of sudden horror on his face. He grabbed her hand and patted it madly, fingers trembling.

‘It is good to see you again, lass. Really good. I know it’s bad that we upped and left you like that, and you must have been right sore at me for doing it, but it was for the best, you understand?’

‘It was rather cruel to leave me like that,’ said Haldora. Her father seemed to crumple with guilt beneath his beard and she could not stay angry at him. ‘But I understand why you did it. If I’d gone with you, chances are it would have been less likely any of us came back.’

‘Good, good, so glad you understand.’ Gabbik’s gaze wandered back to the royal court, who were inspecting a strange contraption of gears and slings, next to it a pyramid of glass balls filled with orange liquid. ‘And you must introduce us to your new friends.’

‘I don’t think they’re my friends,’ said Haldora. ‘In fact, I’m not sure at all why I’m even back here.’

‘I think that was plain, wasn’t it?’ said Friedra, with a smug smile. Her eyes flickered to the king’s group and back again. ‘We saw Prince Horthrad talking to you when we came up.’

‘Horthrad? I think he’s just being kind because his brother took a dislike to me. I see there’s quite a rivalry between them, of a sorts.’

‘There was more to that than sibling rivalry,’ said Skraffi, nudging Haldora in the ribs. ‘A prince, eh? Gabbik, what do you reckon to that?’

Haldora was not amused by the speculation and when her father turned back to her he was met by a withering glare, the likes of which made him straighten as if scolded, no doubt having less-than-pleasant memories of Awdhelga’s wrath.

‘I, er, that is, Haldora has made it clear she has no intent to marry in the foreseeable future.’ He coughed, and then continued as he looked away, avoiding her stare. ‘But if she so chooses to let a prince woo her, that would of course be a marvellous thing for the Angbok clan.’

‘I am not after anybody wooing me,’ Haldora said with gritted teeth. ‘Prince or any other.’

‘Oh my.’ Friedra’s quiet exclamation drew their attention to what was happening along the road.

The sun was now on Mount Bloodhorn, revealing the true extent of the forces massing against the dwarf hold.

There were thousands of goblins, some on wolf back, others in chariots pulled by wolves, most of them on foot carrying crude spears and shields. These were not the cave-dwelling, sun-fearing creatures that hid in the caverns and tunnels of the Dragonbacks. Ragged banners and totems of bones and skulls were like a forest above the mass, indicating tribes and war parties brought together from many places. These were wildlands-born, lured up from the south with promises of loot and vengeance. The goblins brought with them broad boar-drawn wagons laden with timber and rope that Haldora assumed were unassembled war engines of some form.

Alongside the wildlands goblins came greenskins clad in leather armour and dark cloaks, taller than goblins but not as burly as the orcs: hobgoblins. Haldora knew of them only from old stories, for they had been driven from the wildlands many centuries before, and were thought to haunt the Dark Lands past the old mountains and into the tundra of the north. To see them here, on foot and riding monstrous pale wolves, leant credence to the argument that the horde had been forced together, or possibly drawn, from a massive area.

Some of the goblins did not move along the road, but clambered amongst the rocks and gulleys. They sported extravagant headdresses of feathers and banners of plumage and bones. A great many of them rode on the back of giant spiders with hides of black and red and purple, which skittered and leapt from rock to rock leaving trails of web. Some of the spiders were as big as horses and a few bigger still.

At their heart rode a chieftain on an extravagant throne decorated with hundreds of gaudy feathered banners, carried atop a spider-beast as large as a herder’s cottage. It was midnight black with a thorax striped with blood red, its underparts a sickly pale yellow. Plates of lacquered wood and sharpened staves had been hooked into its carapace, providing a rough sort of armour, and more goblins hung from ropes and capered in swaying howdahs, ready with small bows and viciously barbed javelins.

Almost as numerous as the goblins were the orcs. Some were hunched, scrawny creatures from the southern jungles, clad in little more than rags and armed with stone axes, their olive skin decorated with tribal tattoos. These savages wailed as if tormented, driven to madness by hatred of the dwarfs and the burning light of the sun.

The bulk of the orcs came in a great mass, strewn with banners and tribal colours, some a rag-tag huddle around their standards, others with more semblance of discipline and war-craft. Rumbling chariots pulled by armoured boars almost as big as horses cut through the horde, as did tribes of orcs mounted directly on porcine steeds.

Behind the goblins came a phalanx of brutal warriors clad in heavy armour, marching in step. Haldora knew these too only from legend: black orcs of the Dark Lands. Unlike the majority of orcish kind, the black orcs were not only warlike but militaristic. They were organised and disciplined, and so intimidating was their presence that the natural unruliness of the greenskins around them was quelled. Of single mind and purpose, the black orcs advanced with ladders and rams, using the goblins as a shield to cover their advance.

The steady beat of drums reverberated up the valley, along with the cry of shrill horns and the blare of brassy clarions. Beasts howled and snarled and roared, and overhead the surviving two wyverns passed back and forth, out of range of the bolt throwers, their shadows flitting across towers and ramparts.

‘We best get back to the rest of the clan,’ said Gabbik. ‘It won’t be long now before the fighting starts.’

‘What about contracts and such?’ asked Haldora. ‘We might not get so close to the king again.’

Gabbik glanced south and shook his head. ‘Some things are more important, like the company of one’s own kin in bad times.’

‘Besides,’ said Skraffi, ‘now that you’re on first name terms with the prince, I’m sure we can get an audience any time we like.’

There was a shout before Haldora could argue against this and all eyes turned to see the cause. A battery of catapults on the wall furthest south had loosed its boulders towards the horde. Four rocks sailed down the valley and crashed into the teeming masses, leaving rents in the goblin horde like claw marks on flesh.

There was no cheering. More goblins surged into the welts in their ranks, the score or more killed just a tiniest drop in the ocean of bitterness and spite that boiled up the southern road.

Haldora remembered Lord Garudak’s warning that the Lower Gate could not hold. She was no war expert but it seemed a pessimistic appraisal. The walls were high, the gates and towers strong, and though giants and wyverns threatened, there were bolts and boulders by the hundred to greet any assault. And even if the orcs could close to the walls themselves, several thousand dwarfs awaited them.

‘How’s Nakka?’ Haldora asked as the Angboks headed towards the steps, realising she had not heard any news of him since her family had arrived. She felt a pang of guilt that she had not thought of him earlier.

‘He’s right enough,’ said Skraffi. ‘Probably looking forward to a bit of orc-slaying.’

‘I worry about him, a little bit,’ said Friedra. ‘I’d not say he’s battle-crazy, but he does like a good fight.’

‘He reckons the Troggklads have Grimnir’s blood,’ said Haldora.

‘That’d do it,’ said Gabbik.

They descended the steps to the inner hall and from there started the journey back to the main gatehouse where Stofrik, Fleinn, Nakka and all the others were waiting for them. It took some time to negotiate the many tunnels, ramps and stairways from the top of the mountainside to the valley floor, and in that time the mood inside the hold changed.

The number of runners going from one place to another increased, many of them coming up from the southern fortifications, but a fair few from the west as well. Haldora recalled seeing the other tendrils of the horde passing up the mountains to the west and east.

There had been a buzz of excitement when the king had arrived, but that had been replaced by a pensive mood about the halls and chambers. Every dwarf of age from the Lower Gate and the king’s companies, as well as a few strays like the Grimssons, Angboks and Fundunstulls, were manning the walls, leaving only womenfolk and beardlings inside. A steady stream of victuals passed from the kitchens and lower deeps up to the defences, and an equally steady stream of empty baskets, packs and unladen children returned.

As they came closer to the gatehouse itself, Haldora thought she could hear something, coming from the open stairwells ahead and the light shafts leading up to the surface. It was a throbbing noise, as though the ground was shaking, though she heard no impacts that might cause such a thing. It grew louder and louder as time passed, growing in intensity and volume more than could be accounted for by her nearing the walls.

The answer was revealed when they finally walked out onto one of the crenulated walkways leading to the bastion wall. The valley to the south thronged with greenskins, lurking at the extreme range of the furthest war engines. Now and then a bolt or rock would gouge a swathe into their ranks, but filled with the bloodlust of the initial attack even the goblins were unmoved by their casualties.

Thousands of throats were giving voice to a war chant – the shrill calls of the goblins to the bass bellows of the orcs and stentorian shouts of ogres and giants. It was a wordless utterance, as far as Haldora could tell. A simple, bestial outpouring of rage and the will to destroy, short and guttural, over and over again.

Waa-orc! Waa-orc! Waa-orc!

The black orcs clubbed blades on iron shields to set a beat, picked up by drums and horns, echoing back from the neighbouring valleys as the tumult of the horde spread from one arm to the other, filling the mountains with a deafening cacophony. Feet stamped and spears shuddered, trolls moaned and wolves howled. The wyverns were perched on either side of the divide, not so close that the dwarf artillery could target them, overlooking the building frenzy below.

Waa-orc-waa! Waa-orc-waa! Waa-orc-waa!

It seemed impossible but the volume increased even more. Haldora caught her father glancing over his shoulder up at the summit of Mount Bloodhorn. She spared a look too, the highest peak swathed with snow as it was all year round, though there was not so much yet that an avalanche might be caused.

The tempo of the chanting and drumming increased, reaching a fever pitch. Tens of thousands of bare, booted and sandaled feet stomped the beat, and it was the echoes of this that Haldora realised were reverberating in the hold below. The whole south valley was shuddering with a massive declaration of destruction.

Waa-waa-waa-waa-waa-waa!

Red eyes and fanged mouths, a sea of spears and swords, a tide of unrivalled violence. Haldora realised her legs were trembling not from the vibrations but from a far deeper cause. She swallowed hard and stopped herself from glancing at her companions. No doubt they would not be showing any signs of fear, and she refused to be the one to display any reaction to the terrifying appearance of the orcs.

And then there was silence for a moment. The dwarfs saw the orcs and goblins looking west and followed their gaze, to see a gargantuan orc chieftain mounted on one of the wyverns with a glinting axe raised above its head.

The axe dropped down, pointing towards the Lower Gate, intent clear.

Waaaagh!

With a drawn-out bellow the horde surged up the valley.

Haldora was surprised that she was pleased that the assault was coming. The waiting, the drumming and shouting, had made her tense with foreboding. It had been wearing away at her since she had first heard it in the halls beneath the mountain. Seeing the primal fury of the horde had unnerved her, but now the force was expended, rendering the enemy just a horde of savage warriors, nothing legendary or mystical at all.

‘The others are on the western bulwark,’ said Gabbik, pointing towards an outcropping of the bastion about a quarter of the way from the opposite end. ‘We should stand with them.’

‘I’ll be getting some food on,’ said Friedra, stepping towards the arched gate back into the hold. ‘It could be a long few days.’

‘Aye, that would be grand,’ said Gabbik, smiling fondly at his wife.

They set off along the wall to meet up with the rest of the survivors of Undak Grimgazan. Haldora kept looking down the valley to see what was happening, though the others spared little interest to the burgeoning assault. The goblins were flooding along the road and to either side, a welter of rocks and bolts falling into their midst as more and more of them came into range of the engines. Some tried to scatter from the impacts, but many were so tightly packed by their numbers that there was no escape from the bombardment, crushed beneath huge rocks or ripped apart by shafts three or four times as long as they were tall.

And they were still a thousand paces from the bastion, their course lined with emplacements and ramparts thronged with crossbows and war machines.

‘I’m not sure they’re actually going to reach the bastion,’ Haldora told the others.

‘We might be lucky yet,’ replied Skraffi, cocking an eye towards the greenskin army. ‘But let’s not count the gold ’til it’s smelted.’

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

‘Grimbalki was not without some feeling for the Drakkanfolk, and he sent warriors to man the towers around Ankor-Drakk, ensuring that the goblins could not get out by way of the main road.

His nephew, the new Lord Garudak, asked that his people be spared the grudges against their ruler, though he did not ask for himself. Impressed by this selfless display, the king agreed to a compromise. From that day forth the realm of Ankor-Drakk would belong to the descendants of Lord Garudak, but their leading thane would have to take his name also and remember the shame of his treachery.’

Haldora’s prediction proved partially correct. The goblins’ initial enthusiasm for the assault waned quickly in the teeth of the dwarfs’ war engines and by noon the smaller greenskins had retreated out of range. They tried again that afternoon, bringing with them three giants, but when one of their immense allies was beheaded by a particularly fine bolt shot they fell back in disarray once more, the surviving two behemoths retreating with them.

However, the rest of the army had not been idle during these attacks. The spider-riding forest goblins had made good progress up the eastern side of the valley, protected in part by the slope of the mountain itself and the boulders and ridges that broke its flanks. Though not huge in number, these goblins were able to get within bow range of the towers and wall, and until dusk they unleashed volleys of darts from their short bows, forcing the crews of the engines stationed there to keep their heads down, slowing their rate of fire.

As late summer day became dusky summer eve, lanterns were lit all along the walls and fires burned in the camps of the greenskins. Canteens of stew and platters of bread were brought out to the defences but Gabbik felt little appetite. This was no goblin raid, easily driven off with a few stout hearts, a bellyful of kuri and some determined axe swings.

His gaze was drawn to the figure of the massive orc warlord atop its wyvern. Neither rider nor beast had shifted position since landing. The orc’s eyes were ever on the defences, not its army, and though Gabbik could not believe such a creature knew too much of siegecraft, it was clear the orc general was studying the fortifications of the dwarfs.

‘See how he watches us,’ Gabbik remarked to Fleinn.

‘He can watch all he likes,’ the other dwarf replied with a mouthful of spiced flatbread. ‘Angry stares can’t pull down walls or topple towers.’

‘I don’t think that’s what it has in mind,’ said Durk. He gestured down the valley with a half-eaten sausage.

The goblins assembled their war engines, raising giant catapults, towers and covered battering rams from the mess of rigging and timber on their wagons. Dozens of constructions took place down the valley, sharing no common design beyond basic shape and function. Some catapults towered over the horde, capable of hurling boulders as big as anything the dwarf engines could loose; others were portable, wheeled creations with basket buckets designed to hurl clusters of smaller rocks. Spear throwers were much in evidence, some mounted on wolf-drawn carts and boar wagons, some atop the siege towers that were slowly rising up from the mass of greenskins. Covered with metal shields and hide and planks, these rickety giants looked as likely to topple over or collapse under their own weight as they were to reach the walls, but there were an awful lot of them.

For the gates there were battering rams aplenty, ranging from simple sharpened logs bound with rope handles to building-sized frames carrying immense trunks mounted with iron bands and heads shaped like wolves and wyverns and other monsters. There were even some drills and picks amongst the bizarre inventions.

Through all of this goblin activity strode orc overseers, whips and prods in hand, bellowing and striking at any they thought shirking. The goblins didn’t need much encouragement, and worked with surprising speed and dexterity to hammer nails, tighten screws and bind ropes.

‘If I didn’t know better, I’d say they’ve been practising,’ said Stofrik, observing this efficient labouring.

‘It’s one thing to build ‘em, another to use ‘em properly,’ said Horgir. ‘First sign of trouble, they’ll run off and leave ‘em behind, mark my words.‘

Gabbik did mark his words and did not agree with them, but he was not about to start a debate. He’d seen goblin delving first-hand, as had the rest of them, and knew that though they were disorganised and petty, they were not without some guile and craft.

He looked again at the warlord watching everything from the back of its wyvern. Was there craft and guile there too? Somewhere inside that thick skull there was a cruel mind, but was it really capable of plotting the destruction of Ekrund? Just a few days ago Gabbik would have scoffed at any dwarf who suggested as such, but there was planning in evidence, from the war machines to the way the general had mustered its brutish forces.

Gabbik brought himself up short. He was thinking nonsense, he told himself. It took more than a few crudely built engines and numbers to overrun a hold. The elves had tried, with their dragons and magic and thousands of years of experience, and they had failed. No grubby greenskin on a half-drake was going to get the better of Ekrund, even if it was considered a genius amongst orc-kind.

After the food was finished, Gabbik put his head down with the others, sleeping on the rampart. He was used to falling to slumber with the distant sound of axes and picks and hammers at work, but this night the noises were different. The thud of mallet and the rasp of saw was less than comforting, but given the exertions of the previous days it was unsurprising that he fell asleep not long after dark.

Skraffi watched the orcish engines advancing up the valley, seen by the light of hundreds of torches and the westering moons. Some of the taller towers had fallen over when the slope had steepened, crushing dozens of greenskins beneath timber and metal, but for the most part the rock- and spear-throwers, the battering rams and siege towers were making steady progress.

The engines on the walls had relented as darkness had filled the valley, but now they awoke with the slap of rope and thud of wood, launching their missiles into the approaching masses. Towers hit by catapulted rocks exploded into splinters and shards, while bolts gleaming with runes punched through the hide coverings of battering rams and parted the twisted springs of bolt hurlers. Amidst the destruction the goblins and their orc masters pressed on heedless, perhaps fearing something else more than the dwarf machines.

Thinking of this, Skraffi turned his eye to where the orc commander had been sat with his wyvern for most of the day. The ridgetop was empty, no darker shadow against sky and stars could be seen.

‘Where’s that greenskin general?’ he asked no one in particular, looking up and across the valley. Nobody seemed to know, or could recall seeing the orc warlord taking off.

From the western bulwark Skraffi had a good view of the main gatehouse, and the royal party encamped upon the summit of its tallest tower. He could not make out much by the lantern light, but there seemed to be quite a bit of movement; evidently the king and his advisors were also concerned by the missing warlord.

Horns blasted commands from the gate fortifications, rousing dwarfs to their posts. Gabbik, asleep against the wall not far from where Skraffi stood, woke with a yawn and a wordless grumble.

‘Are they coming?’ he muttered.

‘Not here, not yet,’ said Skraffi.

‘Fine,’ replied Gabbik. He rolled over and pulled his cloak tighter across his body. ‘Wake me if they do.’

‘This is it, the real attack,’ said Stofrik, standing at Skraffi’s right elbow. ‘The cunning beggars have been testing the ranges and the road all day and now they know the best route up.’

‘It won’t help them,’ said Durk, joining them with a mug of steaming tea cupped in his hands. ‘Rams and siege towers are no good unless they can reach wall or gate, and those aren’t getting anywhere near us.’

‘Look how shoddy they are,’ said Stofrik. A three-tiered tower with a roof of hides caught fire as a blazing rune-crafted catapult stone split its timbers. Flames caught tarred ropes and soon small burning figures were cascading from the tower’s upper reaches like sparks as the robes and rags of the goblins within burned.

Though the dwarf engines were taking their toll, the goblin machines were now within range to reply. Lacking the elevation of the dwarf emplacements, these war engines could only target the lower towers and walls, and they were not as powerful as the machines of the Ekrundfolk. Nevertheless, they kept up an impressive weight of fire, the diminutive crews large in number, motivated by the lashes and punches of their orc bosses.

Boulders and bolts flew out of the darkness, shattering lanterns and pummelling millennium-old stones. The ramparts were filled with stone shards and ricocheting splinters of wood and metal fragments, scoring timbers, cutting ropes and injuring the dwarfs manning the defences.

The spider riders crept closer, scaling cliffs and walls on their arachnid steeds to fall upon the machines directly. Scuttling bodies and spear-armed greenskins overran three of the towers at the far end of the valley before swarming together to pour up and over the wall above them.

Reinforcements surged out from within the halls of the Lower Gate. Axe-wielders and hammerers waded into the forest goblins while quarrellers turned their heavy crossbows onto the machine crews below.

And then the wyverns attacked.

Screeching madly, the two beasts shot down from dark skies, wings folded as they stooped to the kill. Jaws and claws raked bloody furrows along the walls where the goblins were assaulting, killing as many greenskins as dwarfs with reckless abandon. Skraffi saw pale fire burning from the warlord’s axe as it swung the great blade left and right, hewing through dwarf and machine with equal ease.

The second wyvern settled on the rampart of a tower, stone crumbling in its clawed grip, showering jagged blocks down onto the lower levels. A green nimbus of energy shone from the rider and Skraffi realised that it was an orc shaman. Jade lightning forked down from the magic-wielder’s outstretched staff, blasting apart dwarfs, engines and ramparts with detonations of green fire.

‘Grungni’s hammer, look!’ Fleinn had them all turn southwards, where the siege towers were. The orcs and goblins had abandoned their machines and were pouring up the valley with ropes and ladders.

‘A ruse?’ Skraffi could barely believe it even as he uttered the words. ‘The towers were a trick just to distract the engines.’

‘More likely they’ve just given up trying to get the towers close enough,’ said Durk. He looked at the other dwarfs, uncertain. ‘Right?’

The dwarf crews of the bolt throwers and stone lobbers on the surrounding battlements were divided. Some turned their aim towards the monsters rampaging along the walls, others continued to bombard the goblin engines while the rest tried to force back the coming tide of greenskins.

‘It’s not a fluke,’ said Stofrik. ‘See how everything is directed at one side, at the lower defences. If they can get a foothold, they’ll work their way along the valley, moving up the siege towers and rams behind until they reach the bastion.’

Skraffi could see the truth of this. In fact, the plan was blindingly obvious now that he knew what he was looking for. The spider riders had fallen back from the dwarf counterattack but were now gathering for a fresh assault further to the north. The goblins clung nimbly to the backs of their eight-legged steeds as they skittered over the rocks towards the stairs and archways where the reinforcements had emerged – as though that was what they had been waiting for, perhaps.

The shaman had taken flight again and was circling the lower towers, shredding armour and flesh with a tempest of emerald shards that whirled ahead of it along the ramparts; its wyvern finished off any dwarf fortunate to survive the sorcerous blasts.

‘The giants are coming again,’ muttered Stofrik.

In the smoky, ruddy glow of the torchlight the immense figures strode up the valley. They stooped to pick up boulders, heaving them hundreds of paces to crash into the walls and mountainside.

The storm of bolts and rocks from the defenders’ engines was lessening as more positions were overrun or the dwarfs counterattacked and the crews could not risk hitting their own kin. Stones and bolts continued to plough into the goblins and orcs advancing up the road, leaving piles of dead and wounded, but the fighting on the valley walls was rapidly turning against the Ekrundfolk.

‘Here now, this’ll change things,’ said Skraffi, spying several figures atop a tower a hundred paces or so from the closest orc attack. ‘Nordok and his runesmiths.’

Nothing outwardly changed. There were no flashy blasts of light, no glittering domes of power. Instead, it felt as though something was sucked out of the air – a dryness on the lips and in the eyes and an itching of the beard and back of the neck.

As soon as the runesmiths began their work, the shaman’s magic failed. Devastating swirls of green energy became trickles of fading sparks. Chanting their dispels, the runesmiths redirected the shaman’s forks of jade lightning, causing the magical storms to earth harmlessly or shoot into the sky; plumes of green fire eddied away to nothing before licking flames could singe whisker or set fire to ropes; spears of pure magic seemed to turn to dust in mid-flight.

The shaman, incensed, turned its wyvern to the cabal of rune-priests huddled on the tower top, but it was driven away within moments by a fresh barrage of bolts from the war engines around them. The other wyvern broke away from clawing and biting its way through the dwarfs trying to hold one of the arched gates into the secondary halls and turned its attention to the crossbow-armed dwarfs taking a heavy toll of the greenskins flowing past the goblin catapults.

Fresh horn notes sounded over the clamour of fighting, rebounding back from the valley walls.

‘That can’t be right,’ said Skraffi, listening to the rise and fall of the tune.

‘Your ears are not so old,’ said Fleinn. ‘That’s the signal for retreat.’

‘Retreat? Already?’ Stofrik glowered towards the main gatehouse, where the king watched the unfolding battle with his advisors. ‘We’ve barely started, it’s no time to be giving up after one night.’

The horns sounded the withdrawal again, ensuring there had been no mistake.

There was commotion on the bastion wall as waking dwarfs heard the horn blasts and thought that they were being overwhelmed. Those that had remained awake assured them in no uncertain terms that they were far from danger, and to calm down and stop acting like beardlings, or worse, elves. This caused a few scuffles – many of the dwarfs were on edge and short of temper and wardens from Lord Garudak’s household intervened to issue stern reprimands and threats of worse for any troublemakers. More of Garudak’s senior warriors moved out through the fortifications, their purple and blue livery plain to see in the lantern light, shouting for the dwarfs to obey the retreat order.

Skraffi spied a familiar face amongst those that were coming along the bastion: Menghir. The others got to him first though, forming an intimidating yet respectful crowd around the lordling. Veterans with rune hammers and golden armour created a cordon around their masters, glaring at anybody that stepped too close.

‘What’s this?’ the dwarfs asked.

‘Why’s the king sounding the retreat?’

‘Let us have a go, we’ll kick these greenskins back down the valley come dawn!’

‘We’re doing no good back here, we should be up there fighting it out.’

‘This is some ploy, isn’t it?’ said Skraffi. ‘Lure the orcs in and then get them with a counterattack.’

‘No ploy, no games,’ Menghir said. His words went unheard in the chorus of demands. ‘Quiet! Cease your prattling!’

His bellow silenced them all. A few muttered apologies, Skraffi amongst them, while others retreated into the anonymity of the throng, eyes averted in shame.

‘Good.’ Menghir looked at the crowd, eyes stern beneath the brim of his boar-crested helm. ‘The Lower Gate cannot hold.’ There were a few protests, quickly stifled by snarls and admonishments from the veterans. When calm was restored, Menghir continued once more. ‘My father and the king are agreed on this. The orcs are too many to hold at the outer defences. You do not know this, but the battle goes poorly to the west and we are only just holding our own to the east. Already inside Ekrund the inner gates are being shut, barred and locked. A timely withdrawal, giving ground on our own terms, is the only way we can be sure to get as many back to the central halls as possible.’

‘What about the Outer Deeps?’ asked Gabbik, from just behind Skraffi. ‘The South Reaches? The Western Towers?’

‘All of the major gates will be defended,’ Menghir assured them. ‘Some of the further mine workings will be abandoned. When we leave the Lower Gate anyone in them will be isolated. Already families and vaults are being evacuated from the affected areas.’

‘And then what?’ demanded Stofrik.

‘What about the engines?’ asked Skraffi.

Menghir looked at Stofrik first, frowning. ‘And then we continue to fight to defend our homes, Thane Stofrik, as the king commands. We cannot defeat this horde with one glorious battle. This will be a war of attrition, one that will be much better served in Ekrund proper with supplies and thicker gates.’

Stofrik seemed mollified by this, but only just. He stomped away, grumbling for his clansdwarfs to go with him.

‘As for the engines,’ said Menghir, ‘that is a matter for which we are already prepared. Those not in imminent danger will be withdrawn. Those most at risk were chosen and set to those positions on purpose, for many bear the Rune of Immolation, so do not fear for them falling into green hands.’

Engineers from the machines based upon the bastion came along the wall, seeking volunteers to help with the dismantling and carriage of their creations. Skraffi and the other Angboks set to with purpose under the direction of a guildmaster in a heavy black apron threaded with many engineering runes and soon they had the timbers, cables and fixtures of a mangonel shared between them, loaded on low trolleys or carried on their shoulders.

‘This is the right thing, isn’t it?’ asked Haldora, wheeling a barrow of wooden cogs beside Skraffi, who had a large loop of rope from left shoulder to right hip.

‘The king’s no fool,’ Skraffi told her. ‘There’s many that will not like it, I can tell you, but he’s the one that has to make the hard decisions. If Erstukar thinks it’s right, I’ll not argue.’

‘Easy enough for you eastfolk to say,’ said one of the dwarfs from the bastion’s garrison – a Lower Gater by clan. ‘It’s not your homes they’re throwing to the orcs to buy some time.’

‘Would you prefer it if the orcs broke through and rampaged everywhere?’ said Haldora. The dwarf shrunk back, mumbling something. ‘I’m sorry about your halls, but it sounds like the East Deeps are going to be sacrificed too, and we’re not even there to make sure our belongings are brought out safe.’

‘The Society will look after everyone’s hoards, right?’ said Gabbik, alarmed at the thought of goblins being given free run of the clan vaults. ‘Hedrigar will make sure everyone’s vaults are emptied, timely like.’

‘Let’s hope so,’ said Skraffi. ‘Some of my best mead recipes are in that vault.’

‘Your recipes?’ spluttered Gabbik. ‘It’s the family trove I’m worried about. What with the recent gold seam, we’ve been doing all right. We can’t let that get taken.’

The crack of a detonation cut across the valley, drawing their attention back to the southerly ramparts. Greenskins had taken over a handful of fortifications, but the gates had been barred against them. Skraffi knew that rocks were being piled inside right at that moment, and rune-inscribed columns activated, readied to bring down the roof on any intruder that passed the enchanted wards.

The explosion had come from a bolt thrower in one of the furthest towers. Nordok and his runesmiths were activating the Runes of Immolation, engraved into the war machines. Filled with magical energy, these explosive runes were created for just such an occurrence. A catapult exploded next, ripping through the greenskins clambering over the walls around it. More fiery blasts erupted along the flanks of the mountains, slaying greenskins by the score.

As the last of the dwarfs on the bastion marched into the gatehouse, the Master Runes of Destruction were cast. Great blossoms of fire punctured the valley wall as sigils engraved into the foundations and stones of the defences unleashed more than a thousand years of accumulated magical energy. Like miniature volcanoes, each rune burst with fire and smoke, hurling broken rock and shattered masonry far down the valley, incinerating hundreds of goblins and orcs, scattering thousands more.

The warlord was almost caught in one such detonation, but a flash of foresight and the powerful wings of its mount carried it to safety moments before the tower it had perched upon turned into a column of fire that scorched into the night, lighting the valley for more than a thousand paces in every direction.

Blackened bodies littered the road, alongside the bloody smears of those crushed by falling rocks and the ammunition of the stone throwers. As many lay pierced by crossbow quarrel and bolt thrower. From the crumbling walls greenskins hewn down by axe and hammer spilled like waterfalls.

Skraffi took a last look over the rampart – the bastion would be left standing and defended from the Lower Gate itself – and guessed that the orc and goblin dead numbered several thousand, just from one night’s fighting. A few thousand dead. Ten, twenty, maybe thirty times that number left. Even so, Skraffi was not despondent as he felt a tug on his arm and turned.

‘It feels like we’ve lost,’ Haldora said with a mournful look. Skraffi gave her his best smile of encouragement.

‘Nobody loses until they’re dead,’ he said, but as he took one last look at the horde – already swelling in number again, forging through the breaches towards the gates following the giants – he wasn’t sure if it was just pride talking.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

‘At this time, to show respect to the King of the Dragonbacks, boats from across the ocean arrived on the coast bearing emissaries from the elves.

The elves claimed that the wildlands belonged to them, and that their prince, the famed Malekith himself, had helped clear the orcs from the plains. Grimbalki did not dispute this, but claimed no ownership of the wildlands anymore, having left the Urbarvornfolk many years earlier. He offered to send messages to the scattered villages and towers to ask if they minded the elves coming back, but the elves said not to bother – they could see there wasn’t much worth claiming in the wildlands after all.

Grimbalki welcomed them to his stockade, though his abode was rough and not to their liking. He apologised for the starkness of his surrounds and explained that the palatial quarters in Ankor-Drakk were currently occupied by goblins.

The elves offered to help the dwarfs clear the foul green things from their settlement, and since he had not asked for help, the king was keen to accept their assistance. Backed by battle mages and finest archers, the Drakkanfolk and Grimbalki’s men joined forces and retook Ankor-Drakk in four days and three nights of bloody fighting.

The goblins had made a ruin of much of the stronghold, and on seeing this the elves declined further invitation to stay, saying that they had other business to attend to. And that was the last the Dragonback dwarfs saw of elves until they were fighting them in the war.’

The wisdom of surrendering the Lower Gate, or at least the outer defences there, proved itself over the following days. Perhaps surprised by the ease of their victory, the orcs and goblins set to looting and destroying whatever they could find in the ruins of the towers and guard rooms, frequently fighting with each other over the meagre spoils. From the gatehouse proper the warlord was observed flying around on his wyvern trying to restore order, but as soon as the greenskin general’s attention was drawn elsewhere its minions started bickering again.

Although many engines had been lost – as the king had been warned might happen – there were still several dozen catapult and bolt throwers left to rain down death from afar on any mob of greenskins that approached too closely to the bastion. The runesmiths served shifts to counter the enemy spells, thwarting the sorceries of the shaman and several magical goblin acolytes.

It seemed as though with the bolt-like surprise of the orc attack weathered, Ekrund gave itself time for a breath and to take stock. The attacks to the east and west had reached the major gates, but the towers and other defences were holding well. They were subjected to nightly assaults but the goblins and orcs had learnt to fear the accurate war machines during the day.

Yet there was no complacency amongst the Ekrundfolk. They knew they had come close to disaster and only happenstance, or perhaps the guidance of the ancestors, had led the Angbok patrol into the path of danger to bring warning of the impending onslaught. While the orcs busied themselves despoiling and burning everything south of the bastion, the Angboks became minor celebrities as word of their adventure spread, along with the rumour that they were favoured somehow by the king and princes. Gabbik was keen to have any renown being offered, though he worked diligently to ensure Skraffi had as little contact as possible with others on account of his wild exaggerations concerning his personal feats during the Battle of Burned Tor, as it came to be known.

Haldora found herself something of a curiosity too – on account of her clan but also her participation as a warrior. She insisted that she continue to walk the walls and serve guard duty at the inner gates with the others, and between their different duties she saw little of Nakka. It seemed that whenever she was coming back from the walls he was heading out or the other way around.

Though they enjoyed their limited fame, some might think it notoriety, it came as a surprise to the Angboks when they received fresh summons from the king. Haldora, Skraffi and Gabbik did their best to smarten themselves up for the audience, but they were woefully aware – except perhaps Skraffi – of how grubby and stained they appeared. Friedra had done her best but there had been little enough time to wash bloodstained tunics, sharpen battle-dinted blades and polish gore-spattered mail.

‘The king’s a dwarf’s dwarf, he doesn’t care about a few bits of goblin stuck in your beard,’ Skraffi assured them as they were led into Lord Garudak’s chambers, where the king had taken up residence, his cousin ousted to the lower levels.

The inner court was in attendance, surprising Haldora even more. She had assumed there would be a wider gathering, but aside from the king, princes, Gundraks and Angboks, there were a handful of retainers, Runelord Nordok, Thane Brekar and the advisors she had seen before. They were gathered about a table of food and drink, picking at berries, meats and cheeses. The king was standing over a platter heaped with different foodstuffs, a half-eaten duck leg in one hand.

‘Skraffi Angbok,’ said the king, eyes narrowing, letting the drumstick drop from his greasy fingers. ‘The prop bearer.’

Haldora had no idea what this meant but it raised a wry smile on the lips of her grandfather. His smile faded as he turned his gaze on the advisors, who were all in various stages of dining.

‘The very same wagglebeard and wazzock,’ Skraffi replied.

‘Had we listened to your advice, Angbok, half the Ekrund throng would be heading across the wildlands to reclaim Karak Varn while goblins left their little turds in our halls.’ This was from Brekar. ‘Or did we misinterpret your addled rant?’

‘Maybe,’ said Skraffi, ‘and maybe not. I did say danger was coming.’

‘While the past is often the seam we must labour upon, I am not interested in history at this moment,’ the king interjected. ‘If you recall, I sent out patrols and reinstated the garrisons of the Mingol-a-gazan. Had I not, the situation would have been far worse. As it is, the outer workings have been sacrificed, and I have no doubt that the Lower Gate will fall just as soon as our foes can be bothered to assault it.’

‘I still think that is no foregone conclusion,’ said Prince Rodri. ‘If you had left enough engines to defend the gates properly we could make the orcs pay for their gains more dearly.’

‘A mistake repeated is a double burden,’ cut in Nordok. ‘Your majesty, we have other matters to bring to bear.’

‘Yes,’ said Erstukar. A throne, one of several used when travelling about the hold, had been brought down to the chambers. The king settled on the red cushions, plate balanced with one hand on his gut. ‘Rodri is right in a sense. I would be a foolish zaki not to make the defence of the Lower Gate count for something. However, we cannot risk losing more machines to the next greenskin advance. I am convinced that we will need every engine we have for the defence of the main gates if we are to hold out until the colder weather.’

‘That is your intent, your majesty?’ asked Gabbik. ‘To endure as we can until winter loosens the grip of these orcs?’

‘Do you have an issue with that?’

Gabbik shrunk back as though confronted by another wyvern. ‘Not at all, your majesty! Nothing was further from my mind. I was simply seeking clarification, your majesty, to make sure I had it straight.’

The king looked at him for a while, caught between confusion and irritation. Eventually he continued. ‘I am led to believe that you have been responsible for some extraordinary exploits. The name Angbok is being spoken in high circles.’ Haldora wasn’t sure, but she thought there was a flicker of a look towards Prince Horthrad at that moment.

‘I assure you, your majesty, that we would not like to think we were being thought of as ufdut, not at all,’ Gabbik said quickly, thinking that Erstukar considered the clan to be boastful and vain. ‘It is not our intent to spread rumours or tell tales for the sake of false reputation.’

‘I thought no such thing,’ said Erstukar. He nodded at Haldora. ‘I have already heard a portion of what has happened first-hand, and it seems to me that there is something in the Angbok blood that lies deep and hidden at most times but springs forth in times of desperate need.’ The king looked at his advisors. ‘Did I not only earlier this day hear from my own captain of the halls, Thundred, about the astounding feats of Skraffi Angbok during the war with the elves? In particular, the slaughter of some seventeen of their finest swordmasters in one battle.’

‘I had a hangover, your majesty, and was not best pleased to be woken so roughly,’ said Skraffi, misunderstanding the king’s intent.

‘And now,’ Erstukar said without giving in to the distraction, ‘I hear that his son confronted a wyvern with nothing more than a signal flare and the fury of Grimnir.’

‘In all honesty, your majesty, I didn’t kill the wyvern,’ confessed Gabbik. ‘I just scared it off. I know some of the stories what have been going around say I killed it, but I never did no such thing.’

‘The killing was not the point,’ the king said gravely. He looked at the three of them in turn, stroking his beard. ‘It can be said, without fear of contradiction, that the Angboks are counted alongside the bravest dwarfs amongst all Ekrundfolk. You are an example to the other clans, of studious intent, industrious pride and fierce heart. All the qualities we value from Grungni, Grimnir and Valaya.’

‘There are tough times ahead,’ said Nordok, darting a look of impatience at the king, who had stopped to take a bite of a ham. ‘The orcs will do their worst, but waggling tongues and weak hearts are the greatest threat to Ekrund. The greenskins will run rampant through the Dragonbacks, burning farms, destroying the crops– ‘

‘My hives!’ gasped Skraffi.

‘ –but we must show that we can endure this hardship while the orcs cannot. Surrendering the Lower Gate is the right thing to do, but we cannot have it look like a defeat. If the rest of the valley falls without a fight there will be mutterings and mumblings.’

Nordok shook his head, and Haldora was left in no doubt how dire mumblings and mutterings could be. She knew herself the damage stray words could cause, having suffered them several times in recent days.

‘So we need some heroics,’ said the king, licking his fingers. ‘And that means some heroes.’

‘And a heroine,’ added Horthrad with a grin. ‘Don’t forget the heroine.’

‘Yes, heroines too,’ said Erstukar. ‘There’s many a maid and wife that’ll be needed to wield axe as well as pan in these coming battles.’

‘The Angboks?’ Gabbik looked horrified by the prospect, but Haldora’s chest swelled with pride, which considering the tight fit of her mail shirt was no easy feat.

‘What do we have to do?’ she asked, breathless with the thought.

‘A raid,’ said Nordok. ‘The orcs will bring their engines into range of the bastion. We’ve lost too many of our own for counter-battery attack, so we are mounting a night raid to burn and destroy as many of their machines as we can, to even the score, so to speak.’

‘Just us?’ Gabbik held up his hands. ‘We’ve done all right, against wolves and goblins, but I’m not sure the three of us could handle such a mission.’

‘Don’t forget the wyvern,’ Horthrad said with a smirk. ‘With just a signal flare.’

‘Behave yourself, Horthrad,’ snapped the king. ‘Of course it’s not just the three of you! I want you to be heroes, not corpses. Lord Garudak’s son, Menghir, will lead the sortie from one of the hidden doors the orcs have overlooked. Out, do some damage, and then back in again, all in the dark, with you right there to lend your expertise.’

‘Sorry, your majesty,’ said Haldora. ‘This is all very exciting, but why do you need us? There are plenty of more experienced warriors.’

‘Let’s be honest here,’ said Erstukar, making Haldora wonder if he had been dishonest before. ‘We all like a good story. Our people are going to need some good stories to keep up their spirits in the days to come. Never mind the food, think how bad morale will be if the beer starts running low! You three are perfect. Greybeard, thane and, um, daughter – warriors across the generations. You’ll have sagas written about you.’

‘You’re not changing your name to Ardent,’ muttered Gabbik, darting a warning look at Haldora. She blushed at the thought. The thane returned his attention to the king. ‘Is there, for instance, compensation for this kind of dangerous work?’

It was all a bit much for Haldora to accept and understand, but the king made it clear that the raid was going to happen that night, before the orcs and goblins finished their looting and gathered for another attack. He made it equally clear that although there would be recompense of some fashion – if they returned – this was not an offer the Angboks could refuse.

Gabbik reached under the dark cloak concealing his armour and gripped the talismans of Valaya, Grimnir and Grungni in turn, hoping that all three of the great ancestors were watching over him that night.

It was madness, he knew, but the sort of madness that could not be contradicted or escaped. How could he explain away the misunderstanding that had led him to confront the wyvern? How could he point out that the Angboks were just victims of circumstance who had made the best of a bad situation over the last few days?

‘We shouldn’t be doing this,’ he muttered.

‘Did you have other plans?’ said Menghir, who was standing close at hand. There were fifty dwarfs in all, hand-picked by the king and Lord Garudak. The lord’s son raised his eyebrows, genuinely expecting a reply. ‘Maybe some other strategy in mind?’

‘No, no plans, no strategies,’ replied Gabbik. He reached over his shoulder to pat the pack-full of firebombs on his back. The others were likewise laden. ‘We sneak out, set fire to as many goblin engines as we can before legging it back here. Clear as diamond, and a fine plan to boot.’

Gabbik drifted away as Menghir moved the party closer to the doors. From this side the sortie portal looked like a small stone gate just a little taller than a dwarf and wide enough for two abreast; on the outside it was indistinguishable from the craggy rock face overlooking the valley, concealed by a holly bush.

‘This is exciting,’ said Haldora. Her face was smeared with oil as rough camouflage and her black cloak was a little too long for her shorter frame, almost dragging on the floor. Against her darkened skin her teeth showed like pearls when she grinned. ‘We’ll be famous!’

‘We’ll be dead,’ Gabbik grumbled quietly. ‘We don’t belong with this lot. Look, there’s folk from the hammerers and longbeards and ironbreakers and rangers. We’re miners, not fighters, I don’t know why the king picked us.’

‘He explained it well enough,’ said Skraffi. ‘And you’re wrong. Things might not have happened just as we expected but the stories of what we’ve done is true. We survived that patrol and the forest and the wyvern, and we’re going to survive this.’ He patted Elfslicer, which hung from his belt, a leather hood over the head to conceal the gleaming blade. ‘Stick close to me and each other and we’ll get through this. I thought you wanted the Angbok name to be known across Ekrund.’

‘For reliability, for responsibility… Not for, I don’t know, jaunting about killing goblins.’

A horn echoed in the depths behind them, and another followed, closer to the group. It was the signal they had been waiting for. Beside the secret portal Thaggrin Brikbok, a runesmith, incanted the words of opening. Silver runes gleamed on the stone gate. Thaggrin laid his hand upon the rock and gently pushed. The door swung silently outwards on hidden gimbals, letting the cool breeze of night wash in.

‘Stick together. Nobody lights a fuse until I say the word,’ Menghir told them. Thaggrin stepped aside and the strike force filed out, following the heir to the Lower Gate. As he waited for the others to pass the threshold, Gabbik tested his firebox one last time, getting a spark from the flint before he stowed it into a pouch on his belt.

The Angboks were amongst the last dwarfs to leave. Gabbik caught his cloak on the holly bush obscuring the secret door, and as he turned to tug it free he looked back and could see nothing but pale grey rock. Even though he knew his own people had fashioned such a thing, still he was amazed by it.

There was no light save for a sliver of the red moon. The lamps upon the bastion had been doused to make it harder for the goblins to target their engines by night; when subjected to stones and bolts from the main gate, the greenskins had also learnt not to illuminate their siege line. Darkness filled the closest part of the valley, though further south campfires stretched down to the wildlands and beyond. If anything there were even more than they had seen from the rampart of Undak Grimgazan. The sky to the west and east was obscured by smoke beneath the scattered clouds, evidence of the other two prongs of the orc attack.

Slowly they picked their way down the slope, careful to draw no attention to themselves. The rangers went ahead with their bows and crossbows, ready to silence any sentry or prowling wolf, but their progress went unheeded. In the orgy of looting and destruction of the outer defences the orcs and goblins had sated some of their eagerness, and most were still further down the valley filling their guts with dwarf meat and stolen ale.

The goblin engines were located on the road and the western side of the valley, spread over several hundred paces. Coming to the wall on the eastern flank of the road, the dwarfs stopped and surveyed the situation. Unable to accurately target the dark-shrouded defences the goblins, lazy creatures to a fault, slept by their machines, snoring, grunting and hissing.

Nobody was keeping watch.

Menghir signalled for them to cross the wall and they did so in pairs and trios, taking care not to make any noise on the flagstones – they had bound cloth over their boots for just such a reason. The closest of the engines, a catapult several times taller than the creatures manning it, was seventy paces away.

As they had agreed, the party thinned out, spreading across the road with the lead dwarfs heading straight over towards the machines on the opposite side of the valley while those at the back angled to the left, moving south towards the closest engines. Gabbik imagined the glass globes of flammable liquid in his pack jiggling together as he jogged, but they too were bound to stop a stray clink from betraying the sortie force.

They hunkered down about thirty paces from the war machines, waiting for the signal to attack. As the dwarfs across the valley had further to retreat, they would throw their flame bombs first, which would give them a little more time. Gabbik was now second-guessing the wisdom of being near the back because, although he was certainly a few hundred paces closer to the secret door, by the time he attacked the goblins would undoubtedly be aware of what was going on. His hope was that they would be drawn to the flames, abandoning their own machines in the chaos.

Crouched on the road, trying to keep his breathing steady, Gabbik resolved to himself that he would not let his pride get him into such a damnably foolish situation again. He was happy to fight for his hold – perhaps a stint on the war engines as he had done in the war – but he simply didn’t have the mental constitution for this sort of escapade.

The first fires lit up the western slope, silhouetting the angular frames of bolt throwers and trebuchets before they too were set alight. The ruddy sparks of firebombs arced through the darkness, splashing into fiery blossoms as they hit.

The goblins were slow to rouse and the flames had crept nearly a hundred paces back towards the road before the first of them woke. Soon the mountainside was alive with small figures dashing to and fro, screeching and fighting, split between trying to get away from the danger and being punched and whipped into action by their orc overseers.

The crackle and pop of burning timber and tarred rope was soon loud enough to obscure any noise made by the dwarfs. Skraffi held up his hand. ‘Get your first bombs ready,’ he told them.

Unfortunately, although there was less danger of the dwarfs being heard, the light from the burgeoning fires was spreading to the road. In the flicker of red and orange, the dwarfs would become sitting targets. Gabbik realised this as the light grew brighter and brighter. The closest goblins were intent upon the action further up the slope, where short figures could be seen sprinting back to the road, but it was only a matter of time before they turned their attention to foes closer at hand.

‘Up and at them!’ Gabbik shouted, lighting the fuse of his first firebomb. He ran at the engines another dozen paces and hefted the sphere as hard as he could. He did not wait to see if it hit before slinging off his pack and snatching another bomb. Lighting the fuse he stood up and saw the other dwarfs nearby pelting fire at the closest machines. In the growing blaze, the dwarfs were as plain to see as in daylight. Some of the goblins had bows, and flimsy arrows started to snick and skitter from the slabs and cut the air near Gabbik’s head. A crossbow quarrel and an arrow from a couple of the rangers snapped back in return, each shot pitching a goblin to the ground with a shaft in its chest.

Gabbik threw another bomb, aiming for longer this time. The globe shattered next to a catapult, spraying liquid across the goblins using its frame as cover. Moments later the vapours lit from the sparking fuse and a handful of greenskins reared up ablaze, shrieking and running in circles in their torment.

Gabbik had two more globes, and their orders had been not to fall back until they had thrown every one. Matters were progressing quickly though. There were wolf riders on the far side of the road, wary of the flames that were now spread halfway across the valley, but soon enough they would pluck up the courage to give chase. Added to that, the wyverns would surely not be far away for long.

He glanced to his right and saw Haldora lighting the fuse on a bomb, her face a mask of concentration in the flare of light. Smoke was starting to thicken across the road and Gabbik lost sight of the goblins for a moment as the wind whipped the smog around, backing upon the flames. There was no way to tell if the counterattack was imminent or might have already begun. There was no more time to waste.

‘Kruk,’ Gabbik said to himself, closing his pack on the two remaining bombs. He threw his bag over one shoulder and broke into a run, raising his voice. ‘Come on, back to the sally port! Quick now!’

Haldora lobbed one more firebomb and followed, as did several others. A few remained to cast the last of their globes at the engines, but Gabbik spared them no more attention. He reached the wall, breathless, and waited for Haldora to join him. Helping her over the bricks, he vaulted to the slope beyond and started forging up through the scrub. By the light of the fires the ascent was swifter than the descent had been and they quickly negotiated the rocks and scrubby bushes that barred their way.

Another light, paler than fire, gleamed from the mountainside ahead. Someone had reached the secret portal and the door had opened. Risking looks to his left and right, Gabbik saw other dwarfs half-climbing the slope, running when they could, scrambling up on all fours when necessary. More crooked arrows splintered on the rocks around them as the goblins found their range and the howl of chasing wolves swept Gabbik to a new surge of speed.

He slowed enough to make sure Haldora crossed the doorway first, and looked back for Skraffi. The old dwarf was still about a hundred paces back. Goblins were just a couple of dozen yards behind, far nimbler over the broken terrain.

Cursing, Gabbik realised he couldn’t abandon his father. He dashed back down the slope, dragging off his pack as he did so. Pausing beside a rock, he put a sparking tinder to the canvas, lighting the pack itself before throwing it overarm at the incoming goblins. Skraffi saw him and changed his course, angling directly for the door as the firebombs exploded behind him. Gabbik did not know if he had killed any greenskins, but it had scattered them well enough.

‘You’re getting a knack for this lark, my lad,’ said Skraffi. ‘Maybe we did raise you right, after all.’

‘Shut up and keep running,’ Gabbik snapped, pushing Skraffi in front of him up the slope.

Panting, they reached a ring of rangers defending the secret door with slings and bows. These warriors loosed a last volley at the pursuing greenskins and together they all made a final dash for the opening, stumbling and crashing through the doorway one after the other, until it swung shut by a barked command from the runesmith within.

Menghir appeared from deeper in the hall.

‘How many?’ he snapped at Thaggrin.

‘I counted them in myself,’ said the runesmith. ‘Eight less than went out.’

‘Eight…’ Menghir looked as though the dead had numbered ten, even a hundred times that. ‘Another eight, for a few days more.’

‘Every day will count, with winter coming,’ said the runesmith, turning away from the portal. ‘There might come a time when we all wish for a handful of days more.’

CHAPTER TWENTY

‘The mining continued, at Ankor-Drakk and further up the mountain, for many years. Then one day a messenger arrived from Karak Eight Peaks, and the king was reminded that his offer of coal had now run its course. The contract was finished, so to say.

The messenger claimed that Grimbalki, as descendant of the old kings of Karak Eight Peaks, was still subject to the rule of their chosen king. That meant that he would be allowed to continue as the King of the Dragonbacks, but would have to send a tithe of their coal to the homeland to secure his position of royalty.

To nobody’s surprise at all, Grimbalki gave the messenger a clip round the head and told him there was more chance of him letting an elf have his mines than some gold-grubbing goat fart from the old mountains.

So it was that Dragonback asserted its independence, and the day was marked each year after with the Freedom feast, where lots of goat’s cheese was eaten in memory of the king’s message.’

Although the raid lessened the bombardment from the greenskins, in all likelihood it hastened the fall of the bastion. The remaining goblin war engines continued to loose rocks and bolts upon the walls for another day, but during the night that followed the rams and siege towers were brought up once more. With few engines to destroy the siege towers, the order from the king was for the few remaining dwarfs of Lord Garudak to give way on the walls and pull back from the bastion to the Lower Gate.

By midday the bastion was crawling with goblins and orcs. The wyverns returned, terrorising the dwarfs on the ramparts around the main gatehouse, while giants with tree trunk clubs and boulders battered at the timbers of the Lower Gate.

Haldora and the other Angboks had been evacuated from the lower parts of the hold along with most of the other dwarfs – only the warriors of Clan Garudak and a few others contested the Lower Gate. Instead of fighting, she watched the loss of the bastion from another rampart a few hundred paces further up the valley. Those dwarfs not directly defending their homes had been stationed on the line of towers and walls about a third of the way between the bastion and the South Gate, near the fortress of Kundazad-a-Zorn. Dwarfs from central Ekrund manned the citadel itself.

Word came in the middle of the afternoon that the Lower Gate was now fully abandoned. The runes upon the gate and the bars across it still held, but the orcs had broken through several of the lesser portals further down the valley, and with the bastion in their hands there was no way to defend the outer part of the hold from without and within.

As the evening fires were being lit, grim-faced survivors of the withdrawal joined the companies stationed on the next line, Menghir amongst them. Haldora handed the lordling a mug of broth as he sighed heavily and leaned on the battlements looking southwards. Curls of black smoke rose from the window-shafts and lesser gates as the orcs torched the Lower Gate.

‘Generations to fashion, days to lose,’ said Menghir, with another long sigh. He accepted the broth with a weak smile. ‘I fear it will take more than mutton soup to warm my heart for a long time.’

‘It can be built again,’ said Haldora. ‘As long as we survive and prevail we can carve new halls and raise new gates.’

‘True enough.’ Though Menghir’s words shared her optimism his expression was bleak. ‘We took what treasure we could, but there are vaults there still where the wealth of ancients is hid. That cannot be recovered once taken.’

The rest of the night passed slowly, as the campfires of the orcs crept closer, engulfing the bastion and Lower Gate. The approaches to the South Gate took a turn to the west above the fortifications where the Angboks were stationed, so that Haldora could not see further up the valley from where they were. Wolf riders and forest goblins on spiders infiltrated along the western and northern mountainside, and from there they gained access to the upper pastures.

They brought fire and ruin to the Vornazak Zorn, burning orchards and timber groves, despoiling the goat meadows and the tilled farmland. The smog of the destruction hung about the peak of Mount Bloodhorn and drifted north across the Dragonbacks.

‘My poor bees!’ Skraffi lamented, tugging in frustration at his beard. ‘It’s a grim day when a dwarf cannot raise his axe in defence of his bees!’

Goats and other livestock had been brought in, but the speed of the orc advance and the lack of warning meant that crops had been left in the fields. There was no room for hives inside the hold.

‘More woe,’ said Menghir, who had taken to keeping watch with the Angboks while his father attended the councils of the king. ‘I think it is not chance that brought this horde upon us before the harvest time. Our store rooms are at their emptiest, the silos and breweries holding the last of the spring grain.’

‘We can tighten belts better than any greenskin,’ said Gabbik. ‘The winter will prove a harsher enemy to them than us.’

‘But they do not take what they could use themselves,’ said Skraffi. ‘They burn but do not pillage. There is no intent for them to wait until winter.’

‘It doesn’t matter what they intend,’ said Haldora. ‘The gates will hold and they will starve.’

‘The goblins, perhaps, but the orcs will feed on the lesser creatures,’ said Menghir. ‘They might last until the snows come.’

‘Then let us hope that the snows come early,’ said Skraffi.

For several days it seemed the orcs would repeat their plan of bombardment, as they moved their remaining engines up the valley towards the main gate. These were supplemented by fresh constructions, built using timber stolen from the upland stores by the groves, though as the dwarf carpenters pointed out, this wood was still too green for such work. It did not seem to bother the greenskins as they laboured making fresh war engines, using this pilfered wood and whatever they could scavenge from the half-burned wrecks of their old machines and the remnants of the Ekrund batteries.

The following night, however, before any new stone had been hurled at the walls, the orcs came at the towers and walls in siege engines and with tall ladders and long ropes. Haldora was roused from her sleep by the horns of the hold sounding the alarm.

She snatched up shield and axe – always close to hand – and with the others off-duty she dashed out onto the ramparts. She could see little, for the smoke of the fires swathed the stars and the orcs had approached under the cover of this darkness without torch or lamp.

This time it was not the goblins that came first, but the toughest, largest of the orcs, including the black orcs from the Dark Lands. These were a far more fearsome prospect than wildlands goblins and spider riders. Haldora’s mouth was dry as she watched hundreds of the brutal creatures massing between the rocks below, pushing ladders up from the foot of the wall.

The dwarfs pushed back the ladders where they could and rained down firebombs, burning oil and stones. There were no crossbows though, for the order had been to conserve arrows and bolts for the defence of the main gate. Instead slings and hand catapults tossed stones and lead bullets at the armoured greenskins.

Ladders crashed against the wall to the left and right. The orcs swarmed up them like ants on a branch as the dwarfs tried their best to push them back. The weight of the greenskins made shifting the ladders difficult once there were any number of orcs on them, so Haldora ran back and forth helping out as best she could with those ladders still arriving.

She found Nakka standing between two ladders, a double-bladed axe in his hands. Black orcs were clambering up on each side, cleaver-like blades in their fists, iron-bound shields held up to protect against the shower of projectiles raining down. In the brief flare of flashbombs and fire globes she saw snarling, bestial faces and red eyes filled with hateful intent.

The first orcs to reach the top of the wall were greeted by the axes of the waiting dwarfs. Nakka’s axe swung left and right, hewing down a greenskin to each side with every blow. Haldora battered away at the shield of another orc as it tried to pull itself over the battlement. She saw an opening as it stepped into the embrasure, and cut its leg off at the knee with one downward chop. Howling, the orc toppled back, bouncing off the following greenskin before disappearing into the gloom.

A blade snapped out towards Haldora, sparking from the stone beside her head with a loud clang. Other dwarfs threw the orc back with axes and hammers, and the one after. A shout warned of more orcs reaching the rampart to the left. Haldora found herself at the front of the counterattack as two burly black orcs vaulted over the battlements, each carrying a pair of blades.

She brought up her shield as the first orc leapt towards her. Its blow almost broke her arm, splitting the shield through the metal rim and a hand’s span of wood, the tip of the blade missing Haldora’s ear by a fine margin. The force of the strike knocked her backwards and she was only kept upright by the press of dwarfs behind her, who surged past, battering and chopping madly.

Haldora almost fainted, realising how close she had been to that orc blade cutting her throat or cleaving her skull.

She was just a stupid girl playing at being a warrior, no match for the beasts that were pushing their way onto the top of the wall. Awdhelga had killed a few goblins but she had never faced black orcs nor the monstrous elite of the greenskin wildlands tribes that would be following.

‘Are ye gonna fight or watch, lass?’ barked someone beside her. She didn’t recognise him, but his black beard was matted with thick orc blood and his hammer smeared with the same.

‘Get the kettle on, dear,’ said another, ‘if you want to be useful. This is going to be thirsty work.’

They didn’t mean anything by it, they really didn’t, but their dismissive attitude was like a firebox to the fuse of a bomb. Haldora was not going to be treated like that, not by anybody.

‘Durazut Angbok karak!’ she screamed, breaking into a run.

She buried her first axe swing between the shoulders of an orc looming over a wounded dwarf by the parapet. Dragging the blade free she chopped again, severing its spine just above the waist. She thrust her shield out to catch a swinging maul and then swept her axe low, cracking open her attacker’s shins.

After that the melee became a blur of snarling faces, splashing blood and tireless axe strokes.

The attack was relentless for three whole days and the dwarfs equally tenacious in their defence. When the orcs finally withdrew, the goblins came. When the goblins withdrew, the giants and ogres assaulted with rams and towers, sending trolls ahead to soften up the defenders. And when they were finally beaten back, the orcs came again.

Eventually the enemy warlord called a halt to the assaults, pulling back its forces behind log ramparts and earthworks that had been thrown up under the cover of the attack. Protected by fascines and walls of dirt-filled sacks, the engines resumed their pounding, targeting the defences on the dog-leg of the valley from the opposite side.

The orc and goblin dead were piled up beneath the walls and towers, in some places so deep that later assaults had simply clambered up the corpse ramps to attack. Dwarf teams with long poles and hooked ropes did their best to pull down these piles, but they had to work in short bursts – any group that spent a lengthy amount of time on the walls was targeted by boulders and bolts, while spider riders scuttled closer and unleashed flurries of barb-tipped arrows.

The forest goblins became more problematic as it was discovered that their missiles were coated with spider venom. Most of those hit by these envenomed arrows survived, but it brought a debilitated state – fever and partial paralysis – and sometimes delirium.

Skraffi felt as if he could sleep for five days straight, having fought for the whole of the latest assault. Sleep would not come though, as the tormented grunts and moans of the poisoned dwarfs conspired with the fireside chants of ogres and greenskins to keep him awake.

It was with some relief that Gabbik came to him in the ruddy twilight before dawn and told him that they had been summoned to the king’s court again.

‘I don’t know what hare-brained mission they have for us this time,’ confessed Gabbik.

‘Only one way to find out,’ said Skraffi.

‘What about Haldora? She would want to come too.’

‘She’s helping her mother,’ said Skraffi, ‘doling out gruel to the wounded in the lower towers.’

‘She’s a good girl.’

‘Aye, one of the best.’

They were both too tired to clean the gore from their armour or comb their beards and it was in such ragged state that they were brought before the council, which was being held not far away in the hall of Thane Rozgard of Clan Brikbok. They were not the only ones whose appearance was in poor maintenance; the hall was filled with dwarfs sporting bandages and fresh wounds, as well as bloodied tunics and unpolished mail.

‘Not a hare-brained mission, I reckon,’ said Skraffi, seeing the assortment of thanes and guildmasters on display. ‘This is serious.’

The king was in his rune armour, clean, Skraffi noticed, though the two princes were in attendance too and they were less well-presented. Erstukar’s cheeks looked sunken and his eyes were red-rimmed from sleeplessness. Skraffi had heard that the king had been fighting for the West Gate. He did not know whether it boded well or ill that he had made the two-day journey back from there to hold this council.

Erstukar Rinkeldraz’s first words settled that matter.

‘The West Gate will fall,’ announced the king. A hubbub of dismay rose up, quickly silenced as the king held up his hand for quiet. ‘Not soon, but the outer towers have been taken, three days ago, and now they have giants and two rams at the gates. We are evacuating everybody from the West Halls and collapsing the bridges across the Frigidflow.’

This was grim news, and was received with more groans of disappointment.

‘That is not all. I will issue the order for the throng in the southern valley to pull back to the South Gate. We cannot hold Kundazad-a-Zorn. The defences are too exposed to withstand another assault, and we must always retreat in good order to ensure gates and doors are barred in our wake. The Lower Gate is almost overrun.’

‘Totally overrun!’ someone shouted in correction. ‘The engineers collapsed the third and fourth halls on the First Deep. Nobody is coming in or going out that way.’

Erstukar grimaced at this news and his shoulders hunched a little more.

‘The East Gate holds well, for the moment. The North Gate stands free of threat, also for the moment.’ The king took a shuddering breath. ‘A time is upon us to face a drastic decision – one that will remain with us for the rest of our lives.’ He looked at his two sons. Horthrad gave him an encouraging nod while Rodri looked as though he was chewing a live wasp. ‘This is too momentous a choice for me to take on my own, even with advice, and so it will be put to a vote. The simple question we must answer is whether we continue to fight for Ekrund, and risk being overrun entirely, or whether we use the time we have bought for ourselves to leave these halls in timely fashion and good order.’

The hall erupted in an uproar of raised voices and wagging beards and pointing fingers. There was no measured council, not even the back and forth of good-humoured debate, but forthright and emotional argument conducted at the loudest volume possible. Gabbik added his own words of condemnation being levelled at the king.

‘I already gave up my halls for this hold, I’ll not see that sacrifice wasted!’ Gabbik bellowed. ‘By my beard and my ancestors I will lay down my blood for Ekrund before I see a greenskin in these hallowed tunnels.’

‘Careful now,’ said Skraffi, pulling Gabbik back a little as he tried to forge his way through the crowd pressing in around the king. ‘Oaths are not sworn lightly, my lad.’

‘I mean it,’ said Gabbik. He was exhausted but his blood was up. ‘All my life I’ve strived to make Ekrund a better place for my daughter to live in, and for Clan Angbok to have better prospects than when I were a lad. I would rather have my beard shorn off and the memories of my ancestors defiled than give up all that hard work because of a bunch of green-skinned savages. I’ll kill every last one of them myself if I have to.’

‘Hear that?’ someone else called. ‘That’s Gabbik Angbok. If he swears to defend the hold to his death, I’ll be damned if the Norstroggums will be found wanting.’

‘If the Angboks stay, we stay!’

‘Nonsense,’ Skraffi shouted back. ‘You’ve all got blood-fever, I swear. This ain’t glory or death time, it’s time to wear our beards straight and make the right choice.’

‘The Varnfolk held on too long,’ said Prince Horthrad, ‘and now they are almost wiped out. We came from Karak Eight Peaks two thousand years ago, we can go back. But only if we live!’

‘You’re half the dwarf your brother is,’ another thane shouted. ‘What’s the opinion of Rodri?’

There was a clamour of calls to hear Rodri’s desired course of action. The prince held up his glittering rune axe.

‘This blade does not leave my hand until every greenskin has been slain!’ he roared, and half the dwarfs in the hall chorused their approval.

‘You’ll die holding it, that’s for sure.’ These words silenced the crowd, coming from the lips of Nordok Stormhammer.

The ancient runelord was clad in armour plate etched with dozens of runes, surrounded by a silver aura of magical energy. In one hand he held a hammer that glowed with a golden hue, in the other a staff of iron tipped with a figurative lightning bolt, bound with bands of precious metals and studded with gems carved with more runic shapes. A few of the gems looked blackened and burned, their magic expended combating the sorceries of the orc and goblin shamans.

‘You will leave, Nordok?’ a thane asked.

‘I go or stay as my king commands,’ said Nordok. He looked at Erstukar and raised his hammer in salute. ‘But if you ask for my advice, I say that being a good runesmith is about timing. When to heat the rune a little more, when to quench it in troll blood, when to strike upon the anvil and when to leave it be. If the orcs break into the main hold it will be too late for us. We cannot fight and retreat at the same time. Those that stay in these halls may well be defending their tombs.’

‘If we don’t fight,’ said Gabbik, ‘the orcs will take Ekrund for sure.’

‘They will,’ said the runelord, and offered no further comment.

‘The time is upon us to cast our votes,’ said King Erstukar.

‘No, no vote!’ someone shouted. ‘We must all stand to defend the hold, by your command.’

‘I’m not trusting the future of my clan to the axe-arms of a bunch of Nurthilguls,’ came the retort. ‘We’re not staying here to die, you can stuff your vote up your jerkin.’

Once more the hall descended into accusations and shouting at cross-purposes. A flare of white light stilled them all. Nordok lowered his runestaff and glowered at them.

‘Our kin even now die at the walls, and this is how you behave?’ he growled. ‘Your ancestors would recoil in shame at your lack of respect.’

This was one of the gravest chastisements the runelord could heap upon them, and the thanes and masters mumbled apologies, not looking each other in the eye.

‘There can be no vote,’ the king said, looking forlorn. ‘This is not a time for the many to command the few. Each clan, each family, must choose for itself the right path. I will stand, for Ekrund is my hold and I swore oaths to defend these halls, come what may. I place no bond upon any other to fight with me, and I do so in the knowledge that our doom might already be inevitable. Clan Rinkeldraz will hold the tide back as long as we can, so that others might yet know future generations. Go forth from here and speak with your own people, and decide for yourselves whether you stay or go. There is no shame in either option.’

‘So this is our doom, is it?’ said Skraffi. ‘Exile or extinction.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

‘The mines of the Dragonbacks, both upper and lower, steadily grew, and although Ankor-Drakk never quite fulfilled its early promise, the upper slopes became the centre of a growing city. As well as the Angbok forges there were breweries aplenty, and tanneries and mills and dancing halls and all kinds of places.

All of this was above ground, mind, not like most dwarf holds. The mines was still being worked, you see, and that meant no living in them. Towers and halls with roofs of wooden tiles and slate were erected to house the growing Drakkanfolk, who were now united again under one king.’

The days and nights dragged on.

Some were spent at the rampart, fighting a seemingly endless tide of foes. Others were spent within the guard rooms and tower chambers, listening to the crack of stone on stone as rocks and boulders turned walls and turrets to rubble around them.

Sometimes the wyverns came, roaring and shrieking, driving companies of dwarfs back into the hold until crossbows and mangonels could be mustered to drive off the winged brutes. Giants split open fortifications with tossed boulders and bare hands. Trolls let loose wicked claws and acidic vomit upon the defenders, while ogres gorged themselves on the dead of both sides and sang their cooking songs around massive campfires.

The quieter the dwarfs became, the louder the greenskin cacophony. For the most part the walls were silent, and within the hold the corridors and halls echoed emptily. The clash of metal and the hoarse war cries of the clans were a relief at times, a break from the unending silence of cold forges and untapped mines.

Every day was a drawn-out agony, of waiting for the next assault or bombardment. Nobody spoke, except for the barest essentials of food and hygiene. There was talk of rationing the beer further, for the vats were almost empty and the grain being ground for stonebread. This almost caused a revolt by the South Gate, but the king himself came down and spent a few days fighting and talking, easing the minds of those at the sharpest end of the attack.

Sometimes Haldora fancied that the orcs were tiring of the siege. The autumn equinox came and there was no assault, no attack by the war engines. A whole day and night passed without a single arrow being loosed or a single blade being unsheathed. It was eerie and it grated on her nerves more than the persistent horn blasts calling her back to the wall when she was sleeping, or the stench of death and sweat that permeated everything she wore and every part of the towers and walls. The grey stones were stained black with dried blood, from dwarf and orc alike. The clouds were often thicker than the smoke that came from the pyres built to burn the dwarfish dead to stop disease and the fires of the enemy.

Sometimes the Ekrundfolk retreated during the night, on those irregular occasions when they were not being attacked directly. Always better to pull back when calm and patient. There was never any question of a rout – those defences that had been taken by force had fallen drenched in dwarf blood, for not a warrior would turn his back on a foe at hand.

They would sneak away from the walls, leaving lamps burning and a few volunteers from amongst the badly wounded to keep the defences looking occupied. It burned pride like a spark from the furnace on the skin to slip away into the tunnels, bringing down pillars and props and archways to stop the orcs moving any further beneath the mountain, but there was no alternative.

And day by day the gaps grew, from those killed by the foe and those families that finally took the decision to quit Ekrund. They left without fanfare, taking what provisions they had been able to muster. Watch rotas were changed, new orders circulated to cover for those gone. Every day it felt as though the whole hold was weakening. Even as dwarfs left, intent on survival, it swayed the balance against the favour of those who stayed behind.

Ekrund was being bled dry.

Six days after the equinox lull – six days filled with near-constant catapult attack and several forays by the orc shaman on his wyvern – the Angboks and the other East Deeps families found themselves together off-watch. Their billet was a former grain store with a few benches dragged in from a nearby ale hall. Blankets were piled neatly in one corner, while some of the younger clan members worked a grinding wheel to the axes and daggers of the warriors.

The food was hard, cave-matured cheese and stonebread. There was no place for a fire to be lit without filling the halls with smoke, and so they ate cold repast in silence, each dwarf chewing at length to soften the stonebread, breaking the monotony with sips of water – at least the springs beneath the halls were still clean. There was no spare fuel – every piece of coal, every drop of oil and every faggot of wood was reserved for the lanterns at the walls. The larger halls and corridors were lit by rune lamps, but for the most part Ekrund suffered in darkness, broken by candelight and the glow of rune weapons.

The bread had been baked at least thirty days before, when the royal ovens had still been alight. It would be good at least until spring, though even to the palate of a dwarf the taste left a lot to be desired.

‘I can’t take it!’ snapped Haldora, tossing her stonebread aside. It left a crack in the plastered wall. ‘Can we not all sit around like we’re already in our tombs?’

‘What do you want us to say?’ said Nakka, sitting next to her. He put his plate aside and laid an arm across her shoulders. ‘I’m grateful for a break today? My highest tally for an attack so far is eighteen goblins and twelve orcs?’

‘We need to talk about what we’re going to do.’ She looked at Skraffi. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘I do?’ He looked far from convinced by this notion.

‘The king has given all the clans leave to quit Ekrund if they desire. Almost half have left already. I hear a group from the Lower Western Levels are going to be heading out tomorrow. The longer we leave it, the harder it’ll be.’

‘I swore an oath,’ muttered Gabbik, as though that was all the explanation that was needed.

‘I bloody didn’t,’ said Stofrik Grimsson. ‘The lass is right, we need to have a proper talk about this. It’s a no-win situation now. There’s not enough of us to drive off the orcs.’

‘We wait them out,’ said Fleinn. ‘That was always the plan. Come winter, it’ll be a different story.’

‘If we don’t make it to winter?’ This was from Norbrindor Troggklad. In the early days he had tried to keep up everyone’s spirits with solo renditions of the old songs from the rampart, but now even he had no heart left to sing. ‘I don’t reckon the inner portal to the Lower Gate is going to last forever. From there the greenskins will take the North Bridge. That only leaves the Forgeway to the North Gate. How long before the enemy get there?’

‘We wait until winter,’ Gabbik said defiantly, not looking up from his stonebread. He knocked it against the edge of the bench, breaking off splinters of wood. ‘The orcs have less supplies than us. They’ll be forced back to the wildlands.’

‘I hate to say it, but even if that does happen, what do we do?’ said Skraffi. ‘How do we survive over the winter? How do we keep fighting if the orcs come back next spring?’

‘I swore an oath.’

Haldora almost said, ‘There’s more to life than oaths,’ but she couldn’t bring herself to speak the words. She didn’t really believe it. If oaths and honour meant nothing, they were no better than the greenskins. It was the savages, the orcs and goblins, that stabbed each other in the back and fought for control. Dwarfs were better than that, and if a dwarf was not as good as his word he was no good as a dwarf. She wished her father had not sworn to stay, but he had and now they were all bound by that rash decision.

‘You can stay as long as you like, but we’re leaving,’ said Naldorin Burlithrom, the oldest surviving member of his family; not old at all at two hundred and four, but the greybeards had died one by one on the walls. Thorek, the old thane, had eventually gone mad, driven by the memory of his beard being shaven and the torture of the goblins. He had climbed down a ladder left after one of the enemy assault and single-handedly charged the orc camp. His family had watched horrified as he had been cut in half by an ogre’s scimitar, but they were thankful that at least he had not been captured again. ‘You don’t speak for us.’

‘Nor us,’ said Stofrik. He looked at Haldora and then the others. ‘Strength in numbers. We’ll head east, back to Karak Eight Peaks. Start over.’

Haldora got up and retrieved her stonebread from the floor.

‘I’m going for a walk,’ she said, and headed back towards the defences without a backward glance.

The halls she loved, the chambers that had been her home for so long, had become a prison. She would never have thought before that she would be uncomfortable underground, but when she was forced to stay it was unbearable. It was the company of the others that depressed her the most.

They had given up, even those that were determined to stay. Nobody would say it out loud, just as they would never admit they had been wrong or confess their affection for each other. Like everything else, the sense of defeat was something shared not spoken. A tacit understanding.

As she walked down the tunnel leading to one of the archways out onto the high rampart where the latest defence was being tested, she heard the clamour of battle ahead. There was a time not so long ago, maybe even a score of days, when she had felt her heart quicken at the thought of combat – excitement and a little fear. Now it left her numb. She did not even hurry, but walked calmly to the rampart and drew her axe from her belt.

The sun was lower these days, though warm enough still to bring sensation to her cheeks as she stepped out onto the wall. She paused to look down the valley. The orcs had taken the bend and everything on the north slope was now in their hands. Only five hundred paces away, through the narrowing gorge, was the South Gate. It was a testament to the guidance of the ancestors and the persistence of the defenders that it was not yet besieged. The West Gate was a ruin, and the East Gate under constant pressure. But the South Gate, that led almost directly into the heart of Ekrund… If that fell, it would, as near as mattered, spell the end of the hold.

A fresh attack was under way. Goblins, for the most part, driven onto the weapons of the defenders by the orcs behind them. Haldora was convinced there were just as many as on that first day, despite the thousands of goblin bodies that littered the line of the dwarfs’ retreat. She had no idea how they bred but perhaps they were like rabbits, able to spawn litter after litter in seemingly unstoppable fashion.

She flinched as a shadow passed over the wall. Both wyverns were in the air, keeping close to the ground where the stone throwers and bolt hurlers had difficulty targeting them. The shaman occasionally threw down balls of green fire, some of which were stopped by the chanting runesmiths, others turning dwarfs to cinders and stone to slag.

‘Aye-aye, the Angbok Axe-maiden is back,’ said one of the dwarfs on the wall. A desultory cheer welcomed Haldora, but most of the dwarfs were preoccupied with the sea of spiteful green creatures gathering at the bottom of the wall. The sound of flints and metal chipping away at stone echoed up – the goblins had already brought down one tower with their incessant picking – but this was not the greatest threat. Two siege towers wobbled their way across the broken ground towards the rampart, the troughs and pitfalls filled in with dead goblins and dwarfs, a rough road laid out with planks, jerkins, blankets and other scavenged materials. The towers themselves were armoured with metal plates now, and doused with water from the rivers to stop lighted arrows setting fires. Bolts as long as the lances of elven knights hissed from their many levels, opening cracks in the wall or skewering the defenders depending on how the shots fell.

Haldora looked up to see what the Ekrund war machines were doing, but they were blocked by an outcrop of rock; the orc warlord had picked this fresh line of attack with some care.

‘Looks like it’ll be some axeplay,’ she said.

‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ said Nakka, coming up from behind her. He jabbed a thumb up the mountainside, to a tower top just visible over the next crest. ‘Looks like old Stormhammer is going to show these greenskins how he earned his name.’

The runelord stood on a paved terrace, dark against the sky. A team of dwarfs appeared from a hidden door, carrying on poles the ancient dwarf’s anvil. It was almost as tall as Haldora, and flickered with magical energies as it was set down before Nordok. The runelord stood with golden hammer raised, gazing at the skies. She could imagine his chanting – she had always assumed rune-smithing needed a lot of chanting and nobody had yet corrected her. He was too far away for his booming voice to reach, but the sworls of magical energy that coalesced around his upraised hammer glimmered brightly enough to be seen. Overhead, the sky started to churn, black clouds forming where moments before had been the greyish-blue of a pleasant autumnal day.

The riders of the wyverns also sensed something was wrong and turned their monstrous steeds northwards towards Nordok’s pinnacle.

The clouds about the anvil were blacker now, staring to twist on themselves, flickers of golden lightning sparkling between the storm and the hammer.

‘Oh…’ Haldora finally realised what Nakka had meant.

The runelord had something held in a pair of tongs in his left hand – something black and silver. He placed it upon the top of the anvil and brought down the hammer.

As Nordok smote the magical rune, the storm burst into life. Thunder pealed, rolling along the length of the valley. The drums and horns of the goblins were silenced by the deafening blast and thousands of pinched, evil faces looked skywards where the storm clouds roiled.

Down came the hammer again and this time the storm did not give voice, but spat out its wrath. A fork of lightning flashed from the darkness, striking one of the wyverns. The beast contorted, almost rolling over completely, and plunged towards the mountainside trailing burning scales and smoke. The other wyvern rider, sensing it would be next, turned and swooped out of sight, fleeing for the cover of the adjoining valley.

Again the hammer beat upon the rune and half a dozen bolts erupted from the storm, slashing down into the seething tide of goblins. Dozens were thrown into the air by the blast of the earthing magical energy, which boiled blood and split rock. Haldora blinked, the white of mystical lightning blurred across her vision.

The goblins surged towards the wall, sensing that their best chance of escaping the magical destruction was to be close to the dwarfs that were unleashing it. A forest of ladders sprang up as if from nowhere and Haldora joined the others as they set to the task of pushing them down and slaying the goblins trying to ascend.

A crack of thunder heralded a third blast from the runelord’s anvil, even greater than before. Energy leapt from goblin to goblin, turning them to charred bones as Nordok’s rune-spell reached its full potential.

Driven mad with terror, unable to retreat due to the ranks of orcs pressing on after them, the goblins scrabbled at the wall trying to climb the sheer masonry. Ladders were cast down by the score, killing dozens more of the greenskins, but for every one that fell another three leapt forward, snarling and spitting.

The lightning was almost constant. Flash after flash after flash accompanied by the boom of thunder, incinerating swathes of the massed goblins with every strike, leaving ashen piles in its wake, sprinkled with droplets of molten metal from armour and swords.

The lightning could not directly aid at the wall though, as the goblins had guessed rightly that Nordok could not risk striking his spell too close to his fellow dwarfs. Despite the efforts of the dwarfs, more and more ladders were being raised and eventually the goblins ascended to the lip of the parapet. The dwarfs were there to meet them with axe and hammer, Haldora amongst them, suddenly invigorated by the display of the runelord. It was uplifting to know that the dwarfs had not yet expended all of their might. The peace was actually more tiring than the fighting these days, and she longed to take the battle to the enemy rather than just wait for the next inevitable attack.

Another peal of thunder split the air, but this time it sounded wrong, somehow. Haldora risked a glance up to the mountaintop. The storm had become a vortex, funnelling down through the anvil. Bolts of lightning flew out from the anvil in all directions and Nordok’s hammer threw off fountains of sparks every time he brought it down. Yet the spell continued to rage, shredding companies of goblins and orcs as they pressed up against the base of the defences.

‘The mad beggar’ll bring the mountain down,’ someone shouted.

Haldora had to look away for a few moments, to sweep the hands from a goblin as it tried to climb through the embrasure in front of her. Without any hands to grip, it fell away, its scream swallowed by another roar of protest from the gathered storm.

Nordok brought down the golden hammer once more, but this time there was no lightning or thunder. With an ear-splitting screech the anvil itself shattered, hurling back the runelord, scattering flaming pieces of itself across the terrace and beyond.

A collective grumble of shock resonated through the dwarf army, followed by a slightly more relieved rumble as Runelord Stormhammer could be seen pulling himself to his feet, slightly dizzy but alive. The anvil, alas, was no more.

Haldora’s mood deflated and she set to chopping down approaching goblins with a heart growing heavy again with each swing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

‘The mountains was never quite free of goblins, though. The wildlands tribes were driven off eventually, and the caves around Mount Bloodhorn cleared every once in a while, but like the smell from a bit of chuf that’s been under a miner’s helmet for a year, the night goblins never truly went away.

The Drakkanfolk moved north and the night goblins went west. The Drakkanfolk went west and the night goblins fled east. From the east to the north and all over again, like trying to catch fog with your hand.

But the night goblins knew better than to take on dwarfs on their home territory and not since Ankor-Drakk was retaken did they ever come in threatening numbers.’

‘The snows will come.’ It had become a mantra, repeated often amongst the dwarfs when they were not manning the gate towers or defending the corridors and halls. It seemed trite – they might just as well say ‘the night is dark’ – but it gave some small hope to Gabbik.

Autumn was almost over. He could feel it in his waters and in his bones. The north wind had been late in coming this year, but it would come, just as it did every year to herald the end of the harvest, not that anything had been grown this year, and the start of the winter.

Almost all of the overground had been relinquished to the orcs now, save for the South Gate towers and a few turrets and ramparts around it, filled with war machines and crossbows. The bolt throwers were kept trained on the skies to keep away the last surviving wyvern while the rock lobbers kept up a constant bludgeoning of the greenskin forces camped in the valley – there was no shortage of blocks of masonry and rocks from the demolished tunnels and halls from areas they had surrendered to the advancing tide.

Until recently, food had become so closely rationed that they ate only every few days. Water was still plentiful, at least, but there was not a drop of beer to be had anywhere. Gabbik sometimes dreamed of finding a small stash of his mother’s blackbeer, just a kilderkin or even a firkin, enough for a few drinks. He would wake up with mouth dry, the cuff of his shirt gnawed.

There had been a change of a happier note. With no grain left in the stores to eat, the rats were venturing further abroad. They helped supplement the stonebread and mushroom kuri that had become the norm. Grain-fed rat had always been something of a favourite amongst the West Deepfolk and Gabbik was quite adept at snaring the blighters as they scuttled along the walls searching for food.

One morning he was roasting a particularly scrawny specimen over the flame of a mining lamp. The ban on fires in the deeps had been lifted because there was already a constant haze of smoke from the orcs’ fires and the blazes that had been set in the upper levels to drive back the latest encroachment.

‘A rat’s as good as a goat, my grandpa used to say,’ Gabbik told the others. Haldora was half-asleep, resting against Nakka’s shoulder, while Skraffi stared at the roasting rat with a look Gabbik had only seen on a dwarf when gold had been present. He turned the stick-skewered creature in his hands and licked his lips as juices fizzed on the flame.

‘My pa said that?’ Skraffi asked, rousing himself from his trance.

His hair was totally grey now, all trace of the colour gone. His eyes were ringed with black, like everyone else’s, and he scratched his nose with broken, dirty fingernails. His beard was almost a single matted mess, stained with soot and orcish blood, and no small amount of the old dwarf’s own. There were holes in his mail and his helmet was more like a battered tureen than a war-helm, and both had not belonged to him originally. They had all been forced to take what they could from the dead.

But Elfslicer remained. The rune axe was as sharp as the day the orcs had first attacked, the blade a shining silver, the wood of the haft a deep red. The weapon was like the soul of the dwarfs. Outside all was broken and battered and almost fit to collapse, but inside there was nothing stronger. Every day of desperation and every battle fought simply hardened that core further. Like metal beaten again and again, the dwarfs that survived in Ekrund that day were each veterans now. Gabbik could not recount how many foes he had killed, nor tally the wounds he had suffered, both grievous and minor. Now and then he still felt a twinge in his scalp from the blow he had taken fighting that first patrol, but it was only one amongst many aches, pains and scars.

‘He did,’ Gabbik replied eventually, remembering Skraffi had asked a question. ‘I used to make fun of it. I would tell him that you’d never get much milk out of a rat.’

‘Rat milk?’ Haldora stirred briefly. ‘That sounds good.’

‘Sorry, dear,’ said Friedra, ‘it’s just your father going on. There isn’t any rat milk, I’m afraid.’

Haldora slipped back into her semi-comatose state, eyes fixed on the cooking rat. Her jaw slowly worked and there was a piece of leather sticking out of her mouth – Haldora had taken to chewing a piece of belt-strip to keep herself from feeling empty.

Friedra was in remarkably good spirits. Like all the womenfolk she had been tested, forced to fight when the orcs broke through – there was little in the world more fierce than an Ekrund-maid fighting to protect her loved ones and home. She darned and scavenged and had even learnt a little metalcraft to fix the rings of their mail and reset the heads on their weapons.

‘You are an inspiration,’ he told her quietly.

‘That’s nice, dear,’ she replied, returning her attention to patching a pair of red-and-black checked trousers. Gabbik vaguely remembered seeing them on a dead body at the arch of the upper tunnels to the Third Deep, but he wasn’t sure. He didn’t ask Friedra where she managed to find so many raw materials and she wasn’t going to volunteer the information any time soon.

A shout echoed down the tunnel some distance away. None of them paid it much heed – there was always some ruckus or other these days. They were off-shift, and that was all that mattered. Gabbik gave the rat an experimental prod with his knife.

‘A little bit longer, nobody wants the squits from half-cooked rat.’

The call was repeated, coming closer. This time they could make out the words. Almost instantly they were all alert, Angboks, Troggklads and even a few Nordekkers and Thornsons on their feet. Metal scraped on leather and wood as weapons were readied.

Nakka ran to the door and took up the call, raising the alarm for those further down the tunnel.

‘Goblins in the deeps! Bear arms! Night goblins in the deeps! Bear arms!’

It had been a matter of little remark that the goblins that had occasionally pestered Ekrund with their raids had not made an appearance since the start of the siege. At the outset patrols had been sent into the mines to watch for any sign of encroachment. Of late such diligence had been impossible. Every dwarf was needed for the gatehouse and to defend the inner portals against the orcs and goblins in the workings that had fallen.

The night goblins had been patient, and they had amassed their strength. Several thousand of them poured up from several mine workings, converging on the upper halls in black-robed waves. The dwarfs knew better than to throw themselves piecemeal against such an attack and the command came from the king for the Ekrundthrong to muster in the Hall of Eighty Pillars.

The massive chamber was pragmatically named for the eighty vast columns that held up its high ceiling, each pillar nearly thirty times the height of a dwarf. The hall had once been a natural pocket in the mountain, and had been mined and later shaped by masons into an octagonal space a little less than six hundred paces across. Each of the eight walls was broken by a tall archway. It served as a cross-road of sorts, between the Rinkeldraz chambers, the Central Hall and two tunnels down to the mine workings.

The Angboks arrived from the western side of the hall. There were, at most, two thousand dwarfs present, all that could be spared from the defence of the upper reaches being assailed by the orcs. They were quickly marshalled by Prince Rodri into a fighting line between a company of crossbow dwarfs and a fearsome band of Trollslayers. Haldora had not really paid much heed to the Slayers before. She had heard what had happened to her father at the king’s council, and that several more of the Cult of Grimnir had arrived soon after, but now there were thirty or forty of them.

She sidled over towards the outlandish warriors and waved at the nearest.

‘Hsst! Hey, you!’

The Slayer turned, his high orange crest as stiff as a fence, the rest of his scalp dappled with undyed stubble. His face was little more than a red-dyed beard and a pair of eyes, everything else was scar tissue and the mashed remnants of a nose. Haldora couldn’t imagine an uglier dwarf, and she had once met Norgamm ‘Ogre Face’ Hastengrom.

‘Milady?’ the Slayer said, in a curiously aristocratic accent that took Haldora by surprise. She guessed he was from Karaz-a-Karak, the High King’s hold.

‘Where are you from?’ she asked. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘As to the first, I cannot say. My past is buried beneath my shame and I will not speak of it. As to the second question…’ The Slayer pointed a rune-decorated axe across the hall towards the corridors leading south. ‘I came to slay or be slain.’

‘How comes there’s so many of you?’

‘Ekrund is doomed,’ said the Slayer. ‘We were drawn here by the call of Grimnir to find our glorious deaths. Seven of the brotherhood have already been released from their guilty burden since the siege began.’

‘Just gobbos today, I think,’ Haldora said. She tried to look sympathetic. ‘I think it’ll mostly be slaying today, not slain.’

‘Perhaps,’ said the Slayer.

A shout of warning turned their attention across the hall. Haldora hurried back to her place between Skraffi and her father. She slipped her axe free from its sling and held her shield up to her chest. Gabbik spared her a glance.

‘Whatever comes up them tunnels, be ready for…’

His voice trailed off as something monstrous and red squeezed through one of the archways opposite. It was basically a huge sphere with a mouth and two legs. Its hide was scarlet, pocked and ridged like old leather armour. Two black, beady eyes glared at the dwarfs over a maw filled with sword-like fangs. A team of night goblins hurried past, dragging on chains hooked into its flesh. It stepped out into the hall, claws raking across the bare stone floor, prodded forward by more goblins with jagged goads.

Crossbows greeted the beast with a storm of bolts. Most clattered uselessly from its thick skin, two of the night goblins were felled and a handful of quarrels stuck in its flesh. Opening its mouth even wider, pink tongue lolling like a serpent, the monstrous cave-thing issued a weirdly high-pitched mewing.

Some of the dwarfs started to snigger. Haldora couldn’t help herself as a chuckle burst out. The laughter was infectious, spreading from one company to the next, until it seemed that the whole hall was filled with guffaws and sniggers.

A shadow blotted out the lanterns in the tunnel beside the cave-thing and the laughter started to subside. It fell silent as another monstrous beast, even larger than the first, heaved itself into view. The hysteria that had gripped the battle-mad dwarfs drained away, and Haldora cast a glance at the Slayer she had spoken to. He was talking excitedly with his companions, and they all seemed rather enthusiastic.

Another flurry of bolts sped between the columns. More night goblins emerged from the shadows, their hoods pulled up against the light of the lanterns, eyes glinting, teeth bared in snarls. Like oil spilling into a puddle, the black-clad wretches spread into the hall from three of the arches.

A whooping cry went up from the Slayers and they barrelled forwards, heedless of any battle plan. As a group they broke into a run, heading straight for the cave-beasts, brandishing axes and boasting to each other regarding who would ‘pop the great beastie’ first. There were shouts of annoyance from the crossbow dwarfs, whose aim the Slayers interrupted.

Haldora felt her confidence ebbing away as more and more night goblins arrived, filling the far side of the hall from one end to the other. Wicked blades glinted as the night goblins formed up around icons of beaten copper shaped like moons, and standards of poorly woven black cloth daubed with images of skulls and flames.

The clatter of metal on stone drew Haldora’s gaze to the left, where a group of ironbreakers filled the gap left by the Slayers’ wild charge. Each dwarf was clad toe-to-scalp in thick armour, forged of iron and hardest gromril, engraved with runes of warding and defiance. The ironbreakers were professional tunnel-fighters, employed to keep the mines clear of intruders such as the night goblins.

At their head stood Erstukar Rinkeldraz.

‘Look, the king,’ whispered Haldora. Others murmured about this auspicious occurrence. The king had been fighting as hard as any dwarf, but it had always seemed to be somewhere else on the walls or in the halls.

Haldora felt a nudge from her left.

‘Look who else is here,’ said Skraffi, nodding towards a company standing beneath a Clan Rinkeldraz banner. Next to the standard was Prince Horthrad, looking splendid in golden armour. He had no helm and his beard, though short with youth, was thick and bushy, his hair a wild mane around his face.

Sudden yells and war cries drew everyone back to the Slayers. The cave-creatures lunged in a counter-charge, crushing the half-naked dwarfs beneath clawed feet, stooping to sweep them up with their massive jaws. The Slayers would not die without a struggle, and even those being stepped on by the immense weight of the beasts continued to hew and hack with their axes until the life was squashed out of them. The others whirled about the massive creatures in a flurry of glinting runes and sharp iron, chopping at red flesh.

Haldora could not make out in the melee which of the Slayers she had spoken to – it was a scrum of orange hair and tattooed flesh. She saw one Slayer disappear into a beast’s mouth, taken whole. A few moments later the creature reared up as though stricken. Its jaw gaped and blood sprayed. The Slayer jumped out, axe in one hand, severed tongue in the other.

For all that they held a deathwish, the Slayers were dwarfs and no dwarf could purposefully go about a task without trying their utmost. So it was that although the doom-seeking sons of Grimnir wanted an end to their shame, they felt bidden to meet that doom against a worthy foe. They were well experienced at facing trolls, giants and all manner of monstrous opponents and the cave-things fared no better than most.

‘Push them back to the tunnels!’ the king announced, his command reverberating around the hall. He held aloft his axe and waved the line forward.

Crossbows heralded the dwarf attack, slashing into the front ranks of the goblins as the Ekrundthrong rumbled across the hall. Haldora was swept along with the rest of the Angboks, shoulder-to-shoulder with her family. It had been some time since she had considered battle a novelty, but this was the first time she had been forced to raise her axe within the halls themselves.

‘Killing blows, when you can,’ Gabbik told her.

‘Don’t break the line or you’ll get them at you from all sides,’ added Skraffi.

With these two pieces of tunnel fighting advice in her thoughts, she felt the others closing around her. The ironbreakers tightened their ranks and the Angboks’ company moved alongside, ensuring there was no gap between the formations for the goblins to exploit. Face-to-face, the night goblins would be no match for the solid wall of dwarf muscle and iron bearing down upon them.

The twang of bows greeted the dwarf advance. Haldora held up her shield, and around her the others did the same, presenting a barrier of metal and wood against the barbed shot that clattered around them. A dart glanced from her helm and another snapped on the rings of her mail, but she paid them no heed.

Peering over the top of her shield, presenting nothing but a pair of eyes between helmet brim and shield rim, Haldora could see the night goblins tussling and wrestling with each other. Some were trying to get away, others were pushing their cowardly companions to the front, trying to make sure they were not the first to receive the brunt of the dwarfs’ ire.

The dwarfs slowly picked up speed, like a boulder rolling down the flanks of Mount Bloodhorn. There was an impetus gathering, a momentum and weight that seemed implacable. Companies split from each other and then united again as they moved around the columns, not once faltering in stride. In places, thickets of spears of varying lengths erupted from the goblin ranks. Brash gongs and drums clanged and rolled, trying to keep up the spirits of the goblins and intimidate the dwarfs.

When the line was less than eighty paces from the goblins, Haldora noticed even more fervent struggling in their ranks. The cause for this was suddenly revealed as a handful of goblins broke from the mass, wailing and gnashing their teeth. She could see blood-specked spittle flying from their lips and their eyes were wide and staring. Each dragged after it a huge ball on a length of chain, some spiked, others smooth, of metal or stone. Gibbering and snorting, the manic goblins started to turn on the spot, pulling up the great weight of the balls, spinning faster and faster.

‘Fanatics!’ someone cried, and the dwarf line halted as one. ‘Crossbows!’

While space was made in the ranks for the crossbows to come forwards, the goblin fanatics continued their whirling, haphazardly approaching closer and closer to the dwarf line. Haldora watched one of the night goblins coming right at her, spinning so fast she felt dizzy just watching it.

Skraffi stepped forward and hurled a throwing axe. It clanged from the whirling ball, blade shattered, and the goblin came on, still picking up speed.

‘Hold the line.’ This came from Gabbik. Her father had his jaw set, eyes fixed on the madly whirling goblin. She wanted to step back or to the side, amazed that such a small creature could have the strength to lift such a large and obviously lethal sphere. Her father’s calm demeanour persuaded her otherwise.

At the last moment, when it was no more than ten paces away, the night goblin fanatic stumbled. The ball clanged from a pillar and the goblin veered off course, heading along the dwarf line rather than towards it. Another pillar proved even more of an obstacle as the night goblin spun right into its base, the metal ball bouncing up in the air and then down onto the goblin’s head, pulping it instantly.

Elsewhere, other dwarfs were not so lucky. The screech of tearing armour and the moans of the wounded, coupled with curses and crashes, marked where the fanatics ploughed into the dwarf companies. Against the impact nothing but rune armour was sure defence, and standing between the columns of the hall the dwarfs had no place to avoid the spinning maniacs.

Some of the fanatics simply collapsed out of exhaustion, others spun into each other while a few were eventually pinioned by the bolts of the crossbows. The night goblins charged in the wake of the fermented toadstool-fuelled ball-wielders, giving the dwarfs almost no time to re-form their ranks.

Haldora and the others took the charge with shields set side-by-side. Amongst the mass of spear and crooked blades, some of the night goblins flung nets of heavy rope, weighted with metal ingots and stones. These nets dragged on shield arms and wrapped around hammers and axes, and a few landed lucky blows, falling over heads or wrapping legs. The dwarfs around the netters’ victims did the best they could to drag their comrades free, but the night goblins were on them in moments, slashing, stabbing and clubbing with spiteful ferocity.

Haldora could bear little thought except for what was directly in front of her. She blocked and chopped methodically, all thought of the deadly dance Nakka had taught her ground out by days upon days of relentless fighting. She was hewing at foes, lost in the simple monotony of carving them down.

A shout from Gabbik warned her that all was not well. She glanced to her side to see her father struggling with a cord net entangling his shield, being dragged out of line by two leering goblins. Haldora smashed her shield into the face of a night goblin trying to skewer her with its spear and lunged forward to hack at the net with her axe. This exposed her side to another foe and she could not help a cry as a speartip pierced her armour, digging deep into her shoulder.

The goblin that had injured her was swiftly slain by Skraffi, while Gabbik relinquished his shield to the goblins and snatched a knife from his belt to replace it. Skraffi stepped in front of Haldora as she staggered back, blood oozing between the links of her mail, her right arm going weak.

For a moment she thought all was lost. The goblins were in amongst them, biting and clawing as well as hacking with short swords and swinging mauls with nails and sharp stones bound into them. Everything slowed down and the noise of battle was replaced with an odd whooshing sensation of blood pounding in Haldora’s ears. Green, grinning faces loomed up in front of her. She tried to swing her axe but her fingers felt numb. Red eyes bored into her and sharp little teeth flashed in the lantern light.

Like a vision from a saga, a gold-clad dwarf crashed into view, scattering goblins with every swing of his shining rune axe. Green-skinned heads and limbs and tattered black robes parted before him.

Prince Horthrad led his veterans at the tip of a dwarf wedge, slashing into the ranks of the goblins as easily as his axe bit into their flesh. For a moment Haldora came face to face with the prince. She thought he smiled at her before he turned away, leading a fresh charge against the fleeing goblins.

Haldora felt faint and allowed the rest of her company to advance past her. When she was clear, she stumbled against a column and sat down, back to the stone. Her arm was seizing up and it was difficult to move her fingers. She let her head loll back, her helm clanging against the granite pillar. She wondered what had happened to Nakka. She had not seen him since the battle had started. It didn’t matter just then and, just for a moment, Haldora closed her eyes, mind filled with the image of Prince Horthrad.

She did not know for how long she had passed out. It might have been a brief moment or the rest of the day. She roused herself when she realised that the sound of fighting had almost gone, replaced by the distant echo of triumphant shouts and the thuds of blades into flesh.

Opening her eyes, she saw dwarfs streaming back from the archways, bloodied but unbroken. The king was amongst them and with him the two princes, but they paid Haldora no heed, passing by some distance away, deep in conversation with their captains.

‘You were right,’ said a well-articulated voice. Haldora looked up and saw the mashed face of the Slayer looking down at her. There was a fresh cut between his eyes, from where the bridge of his nose would have been and up the left side of his brow. His crest was flattened in places. ‘No doom for me today.’

‘I know that is what you desire, but I am glad that you live to defend my home.’

The Slayer looked at Haldora oddly, head cocked to one side. ‘Might I ask a question of you?’

‘Of course.’

‘We are here to find an end to our shame. Why are you still here?’

‘My father,’ sighed Haldora. ‘An oath.’

‘Ah, I see,’ said the Slayer, nodding sagely. His expression saddened, if that was possible for a mess of puckered flesh and scabs. ‘There’s always an oath.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

‘Eventually the seams at Ankor-Drakk were emptied. There was no more coal or ore to be had from them, no matter how deep and far the dwarfs looked. There were some that said the mines should become the city of the Dragonbacks, but Grimbalki said no, true to his oath that his stronghold would put Ankor-Drakk to shame.

Not all the clans were so bothered, and with Lord Garudak they started turning tin mines and coal shafts into hallways and galleries and chambers. The king refused to visit, and though he was of an age now when his end was approaching, he would not be swayed from the notion that his throne would be set in the higher peak.‘

There was more waiting than fighting in the days that followed the night goblin incursion. The cave dwellers had been driven back into the depths but the mines had been lost. The last of the oil stores were expended setting fires in the deepest caves and tunnels, driving the interlopers back to their lairs. What bang powder remained was used to bring down the Hall of Eighty Pillars, sealing the greenskins in with the flames. Here and there smoke leaked from fissures and old tunnels like the fumes of a dormant dragon.

The snows came, light flurries and nothing more. It was as if nature itself had sided with the greenskins. Although the wind was bitter and the nights drew longer, the orcs looted plenty from the captured halls and towers to burn on their fires while the dwarfs shivered below.

Not much of the hold remained in the control of the Ekrundfolk. The South Gate held, as did a line of tunnels and hallways to the North Gate, above and below for a handful of levels. Somewhere between fifteen and twenty thousand of them remained, but there were not the towers or ramparts for them to man – the greenskins’ war engines continued to pummel Mount Bloodhorn day and night.

Gabbik had become used to the noise of the impacts, echoing dully through the halls like the incessant knocking of an annoying neighbour. A lot of the time he was not quite sure if he was awake or asleep. The banging reminded him of forge hammers and pick axes, and he would dream of the time when he had simply been Vice-Treasurer of the Ekrund Miners’ Welfare and Social Society.

He drank in Fulnir’s ale hall, the finest of Awdhelga’s blackbeer by the pitcher. There was roast hog and roast mutton, and platters of cheese as tall as any dwarf, and honey and kuri chutney. They tallied the day’s takings and swapped stories of seams and ore and sang the old songs until it was time to go to bed.

The banging did not stop though, and the noisy neighbour would not go away. Gabbik woke up, and the first thing he was aware of was the gnawing emptiness in his stomach.

‘What I wouldn’t give for a nice juicy rat,’ he muttered, sitting up.

The hall wasn’t quite so cold as when he had fallen asleep. More dwarfs had come in while he had slumbered, and now the King’s Chambers were packed with Ekrundfolk. The air misted with their breath and the heat from their bodies staved off the chill that seeped in from overground.

Nobody said anything. There was little enough to say, and few enough to say it.

Remembering the dream, it brought a pang of sadness to recall that Fulnir was dead. The ale hall and breweries had been abandoned in the first days of the attack, along with all the halls of the Angboks. Fulnir had been eaten by a wyvern not long after. So many dead and so few left.

‘A curse on those that turned from their kin,’ he grumbled, remembering the Grimssons and Fundunstulls and all the others that had run away.

‘Aye, and a curse on orcs with warm clothes too,’ said Fleinn, rousing himself on the floor nearby, a patched blanket around his shoulders. ‘The snows will come, my backside. Fat lot of good that’s done us.’

‘Might yet,’ said Gabbik, but his heart was too broken for hope.

‘The north-west galleries have fallen,’ Fleinn told him.

‘The orcs took them?’

‘No, they’ve actually fallen, down into the Hall of Three Kings. The runesmiths brought them down when the orcs were crossing. Still a big fight though.’

‘We were waiting for word from the king, but nothing came. I think the First Deep has been lost.’

‘So has one of my pretty elf blades,’ Fleinn said sourly. He lifted up the blanket to show an empty scabbard. ‘It stuck in the chest of a black orc and then the Grungni-cursed thing fell down a stairway and I couldn’t get my sword back.’

‘Sorry to hear that.’ After such a catalogue of death and disaster, it seemed such a small thing, but Gabbik felt that this was some kind of omen. Fleinn without his swords was like… Well, it was like Ekrund without dwarfs. An impossibility. ‘Those were nice swords. For elvenware.’

‘You see, that was always the thing,’ said Fleinn, leaning closer, dropping his voice. ‘They were elf-style, all right, but they were from before the war. I took them apart once to have a look, and there was dwarf runes on the tangs of the blades. Made by Mojolnik Skrantok, runesmith and forgemaster of Karak Vlag, no less. Worth a fortune.’

Gabbik stood up. ‘Those no-good thieving orcs. We’re going to get your sword back.’

‘Sit down, you silly beggar,’ said Fleinn.

‘I mean it.’ Gabbik gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. ‘It’s too much, just too much.’

‘What’s too much, pa?’ He turned to find Haldora rubbing her eyes, her helm on wonky over her unkempt shock of hair.

‘Fleinn lost a sword. I’m going to get it back.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ said Haldora. She fumbled around and found her axe and shield. ‘Where did he lose it?’

‘I’ll come too.’ Skraffi grinned and polished the blade of Elfslicer with his cuff. No matter how many goblins and orcs he cut down, there was never a speck of blood on the silvered head of the rune axe.

There were other volunteers, as word rippled out across the hall that the Angboks were going on another mission. They had become talismans of sorts, as the king had hoped, but Gabbik couldn’t help but think that sometimes the longbeards and hammerers and other thanes were merely humouring the king.

‘Gabbik’s getting an expedition together,’ he heard someone say.

‘The Angboks are going on a mission.’

‘Those mad Angboks are at it again.’

The voices hushed and silence filled the hall.

Actual silence. The pounding of the goblin engines had ceased.

‘The snows?’ someone asked quietly.

‘Have they come? Is it the snows?’

‘Winter’s here, proper, by Grungni’s shade!’

‘Let’s see them green-skinned beggars deal with a blizzard or two and see how they like mountain life.’

‘They’ll be pushing harder than ever to get in,’ Skraffi warned. ‘If the snows have come. Better in than out, and they’ll want in worse than ever.’

Suddenly a boom resounded through the hall, passing from south to north, setting the lanterns to shaking. The dwarfs fell silent again, cowed by the enormous sound. It came again, a few heartbeats later, the noise spreading along halls and tunnels like ripples on a mountain mere. And again, a third huge impact that made Gabbik flinch even though he had almost been expecting it.

And then a double-thump came, worse than the single boom of before, like a monstrous heartbeat.

‘Giants,’ Haldora said. ‘The giants are at the main gate.’

A collective sigh rose up from the assembled dwarfs. Giants, not snow.

‘It’s only a matter of time,’ said Haldora. ‘Rune-bound or not, the gates can’t hold forever.’

‘They just have to hold long enough,’ Gabbik replied. ‘Until the snows come proper.’

‘That’s not going to help!’ shrieked Haldora, her patience finally worn out. ‘Snows could bury the army and they’ll still keep coming. The orcs aren’t going anyway, not with the snows, not ever.’

‘You don’t know that,’ said Gabbik.

‘I know that they’re not going to be held back from the North Gate forever, pa. Even if the South Gate holds, we’ll be surrounded sooner rather than later. We won’t be able to get out.’

‘What of it? We’re not going anywhere.’

‘Why must you be so stubborn?’

‘Why do you have to be so foolish?’ he bellowed. He regretted the words instantly and dropped his voice. ‘I swore an oath, Haldi. An oath by our ancestors. You know what that means. Would you have Awdhelga and all the others cast from the Halls of the Ancestors because we did not have the heart to see this through to the end?’

‘So, we have to join them first, do we?’ his daughter snapped. She shook her head and turned away. ‘And it’s Haldora.’

‘I’m staying.’ Friedra had come up behind Gabbik without him noticing. She laid a hand on his arm. ‘When we wed I swore oaths too, to protect and serve my family above everything else. We have to stick together.’

‘We’ll all die here, ma,’ said Haldora, turning back, tears streaking her blood- and grime-coated face. It was the first time Gabbik had seen her cry since she had been an infant and knew no better.

‘We all die somewhere, dear,’ said Friedra. She patted Gabbik’s hand and then moved to join her daughter, wrapping an arm across her shoulders. Another boom of a gigantic impact shuddered across the hall. Friedra looked up and tutted. ‘Might as well die at home as anywhere else. That’s what being kin is about.’

Haldora let out something of a sigh and a sob combined, her shoulders quaking for a moment before she regained some control. Wiping tears and snot from her face she looked at Gabbik, fierce rather than sullen.

‘Family,’ she said. ‘Live together, die together.’

‘Durazut Angbok karak,’ Skraffi said quietly. He held out a fist in a symbol of solidarity.

‘Durazut Angbok karak,’ the rest of them replied, holding out clenched hands too.

Gabbik noticed that there was a ring of other dwarfs watching them. He suddenly felt self-conscious and drew his hand back with an embarrassed cough. Pulling out his axe he stood up and glared at the onlookers.

‘What’s the matter, nothing else to do?’ he snarled.

‘What’s to be done, Gabbik?’ Fleinn replied.

Another hammering blow echoed past.

‘I don’t know about you lazy beggars, but I’m going to go and see who’s damn well knocking.’ Gabbik brandished his axe, the blade notched but still sharp, catching the light of the lanterns overhead. ‘And I’m going to give them short shrift if they’re not polite.’

Gabbik gathered quite a following as he marched through the halls, up towards the South Gate. Haldora suppressed smiles as she heard mutterings of ‘Gabbik Wyvern-burner’ and ‘those Angbok lunatics’. More than seven hundred dwarfs ended up following, some stirred by Gabbik’s defiant streak, others not sure what was going on but damned if they were going to miss out.

They had entered the Second Deep, a level below the gate when the thunderous hammering stopped. Not sure what this meant, the gaggle of warriors hurried on, almost running up the last sweeping set of stairs in the hall behind the gate.

The wide space was already packed with dwarfs, most of them in the colours of the king and his clan. They formed a solid semicircle around the buckled gates, which had been shored up with timbers and piled rocks. A few bolt throwers had been salvaged during the retreat from the walls and were pointed at the huge portal. For all that the orcs looked about to make immediate ingress, the atmosphere was disconcertedly relaxed.

Gabbik and his vocal band slowed to a halt when confronted with the gate’s defenders. The other dwarfs turned and looked at them, most with disapproving glares. A small party broke away from the rest and headed towards the Angboks. Haldora’s spirits lifted when she recognised Prince Horthrad.

‘Gabbik, what are you doing here?’ the prince asked, shooing away the bodyguards that had followed him. Horthrad put his axe over his shoulder and looked at the dwarfs still coming up the steps. ‘And why have you brought so many friends with you?’

‘We, that is, I, er,’ Gabbik floundered under the prince’s scrutinising stare. He was reduced to a mumble. ‘The giants. We, that is, I was going to kill the giants. I mean we were. The giants.’

‘Thank you,’ said the prince. He took a step back and gestured towards two half-naked, heavily tattooed dwarfs with red crests sitting on the lower steps of one of the tower stairs. They both looked glum, even for Slayers. ‘The thought is appreciated but the Slayers heard about the giants first.’

‘They’re dead?’

‘One of them is, and the other is missing an arm and I doubt will be back soon.’ The prince darted a quick smile at Haldora. ‘I see you wish to add giant-felling to your generous list of talents.’

Haldora smiled back and stepped close to Horthrad, indicating that she wanted to talk privately. The prince escorted her a few steps away from the others, and kept his voice low.

‘You really shouldn’t be up here, it’s very dangerous.’

‘No more than anywhere else I’ve been fighting,’ said Haldora, patting her axe haft in her hand. ‘But let’s not get into that here. You have to help me.’

‘What can I do for you?’

‘My father swore an oath, in hasty mood, and now we can’t leave the hold.’

‘There’s a lot of that around,’ said the prince, casting a glance to where the king was with his hammerers, discussing plans with Rodri. ‘I don’t see how I can help.’

‘The king could release him from his oath, if you spoke to him.’

‘I see.’ Horthrad looked across the hall to Gabbik. ‘Did he swear the oath to the king?’

‘I’m not sure. It was more of a general oath-swearing. By our ancestors and such.’

‘I don’t think it’s in my father’s power to waive such an oath,’ the prince said with an apologetic shrug. ‘He could relinquish fealty again, but he did that when he gave the thanes permission to leave Ekrund more than a hundred days ago.’

‘Damn,’ muttered Haldora. She forced a smile. ‘It was worth trying.’

She was about to step away when Horthrad’s hand on her arm stopped her.

‘Are you so eager to leave?’ he said. ‘Do you think we have no hope?’

‘Slim hope, no hope, what’s the difference?’ she said. She tugged free from his grasp and waved her axe at the buckled gates, the cracked pillars and the bloodstained tiles of the floor. ‘There’s nothing left to defend, except pride.’

‘And revenge,’ said Horthrad. ‘The longer we stay, the more greenskins we kill. You’re right, Ekrund can’t hold much longer. All we can do is make the taking of our home as bloody as possible for them.’

‘And that’s it? I thought you had loftier goals than revenge.’

‘We are all bound to the wills of our fathers,’ Horthrad said with a nod towards Gabbik. ‘Princes more than most.’

Haldora went back to her family, nothing more to say. The crowd had already started to disperse, drifting back down into the lower halls, the promise of battle unfulfilled. The Angboks followed them in silence; there was nothing they could say to each other that would change what had to be.

They had reached the second deeps and were passing a side tunnel when Haldora heard her name called from behind. The voice sounded familiar and she turned back to see who it was. A lamp light in the smaller tunnel caught her attention and she headed towards it. At first she could not see the figure holding the lamp, but as he placed the lantern in an alcove the yellow light illuminated the features of Glorri, the ranger.

‘Hello, Haldora,’ he said, giving her a grin missing several teeth. ‘How you been keeping?’

‘Well enough, if you leave out the death and misery,’ she said. The smell of tobacco hung in the air, though she had not seen a dwarf smoking a pipe in quite a few days. ‘What do you want?’

‘To help you, my maiden in distress. Surely. I overheard what was being said down below, with you and your folks. It’s a right pickle, no mistaking that.’

‘What of it?’

‘The North Gate, it ain’t gonna hold forever, and once it’s gone…’ Glorri clapped his hands together sharply, making Haldora flinch. ‘We’re all gonna be stuck.’

‘I know that. But my father’s oath can’t be broken.’

‘His oath, not yours, and not mine.’ Glorri looked around conspiratorially. ‘And the North Gate ain’t so safe any more, leastways not once you’re outside. The last few families what left, they never got more than a league from the gates before the goblins caught them. Night goblins, in the caves above the road now, and wolf riders if you make it as far as the Crooked Pass.

‘We’re not leaving,’ Haldora said, more firmly than before.

‘I know another way,’ said Glorri, winking. ‘Out through the mines. Spotted it a few days ago. Nobody else knows about it, and the goblins don’t neither. We can slip out that way, head west to the coast and then be up to Barak Varr without so much as a spot of bother from the greenies nor princes.’

‘You want me to run away with you?’ The thought made Haldora ill, and if she had eaten anything in the last three days it might well have turned her stomach. As it was, her gut was so empty it felt as hard as stone. ‘The two of us, together?’

‘Not just us,’ said Glorri, eyes bulging with surprise. ‘I’d go on me own if I thought it was safe, but I figure I’d like some friends around if I do happen to run into the odd wolf or orc, if you understand me. What nobody knows, nobody needs to know, oath-wise and such, if you take my meaning.’

‘I understand you. You think we would forget the oaths we swore, damn our forefathers and foremothers to shame and torment? Just so you can get away from here with someone to watch your back?’

‘Mutual interest, isn’t it?’ said Glorri. He tried to paw at her arm but she knocked his hand away with her shield. Snatching back his hand, blowing on rapped knuckles, Glorri glared at her. ‘You’re all going to die here, and it ain’t worth a pot or the pee in it. You’ll all die and nobody will remember or care.’

He snatched up the lantern and disappeared down the tunnel, leaving Haldora alone in the dark, breathing quickly, anger making her tremble. The rat of a ranger thought he could scare her into leaving, with his talk of dying and being forgotten. Glorri made it sound as though there was nothing more at stake than pointless pride and empty grudges. It made her want to shout and scream in frustration.

Mostly, because he was right.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

‘At about this time the mining clans banded together to form the first Dragonback guild. They did so to raise complaint to the king about the conditions where they were living. The mines were being worked all day and night, and they had to tramp to the surface to get food and kip each shift end. They wanted the king to put his money to the furnishing and improvement of their quarters underground.

Grimbalki told them that they were a bunch of moaning grumbaki and if they wanted to live like soft elves they were welcome to take their own furnishing down the mines. The miners refused to work, but Grimbalki brought in non-guild clans from Ankor-Drakk to replace them at the royal mines. Blackboots they was called. This caused a great deal of a ruckus, as you might expect, and no few fistfights, though no blade was ever drawn in anger.

Eventually the blackboots were sent back to Ankor-Drakk and the king agreed to pay an extra coin in a hundred for the ore and coal being taken out of the mines, which the miners gratefully accepted, though a year later the king raised his taxes by the same and dispute threatened again.’

‘There’s none I’d rather have by my side,’ said Thundred Norbrocker. There were affirmative grunts from the dwarfs around him. ‘As it always was, the king commands and we obey, right?’

Again this was met with nods and muttered assurances. The ageing dwarfs had taken it upon themselves to re-form their old fighting company, eschewing their clans in favour of oaths and shared experiences far more binding. The hall around them buzzed with the chatter of the assembling dwarfs, as did the corridors and hallways above and below. The king had summoned them all for one final push, to drive the orcs back from the South Gate and into the unforgiving grip of winter. Erstukar had made it clear that this was a gamble, and many of them would not return, but if they were successful it could be a smarting defeat that would lead to the fracturing of the shaky alliance that bound the green horde beneath their warlord. The enemy were, the king had claimed, more desperate with cold and hunger than the dwarfs, and if it could be shown that great strength yet remained in the halls of Ekrund they would lose the last vestiges of their will to fight.

It had been a good speech, Skraffi had thought, full of determination and thankfully short of pointless optimism. Erstukar had not tried to pretend that there would be an instant end to the woes of the hold, but he had promised them an opportunity not to surrender meekly to their doom.

The idea for the old band to get back together had come from Thundred. It still surprised Skraffi to see one of the king’s most trusted captains at the head of a rag-tag bunch of ageing dwarfs. They were longbeards and greyhairs to the last dwarf, veterans of the elven war each and every one of them. Not one was less than five hundred years old and Bokri Harkenthrak was nearly seven hundred. He lifted a brass trumpet to his ear.

‘What?’

‘As the king commands, so we obey,’ Thundred said again, a little louder.

‘Aye, that’s right,’ shouted Bokri. ‘Champions, every one of us.’

‘There might be only thirty-one of us left,’ continued Thundred, looking sternly at each of his warriors, ‘but we’re still the Four Dozen Blades in our hearts.’

‘The Four Dozen!’ they all declared, raising their rune axes in unison, saluting each other. ‘The fell Four Dozen!’

‘It is the gift of our ancestors that we are here today, and that we are called upon to fight in this war, most likely our last. We were born to the bloodshed of battle and though we knew a scant few decades of peace, it was never our lot to know it for long. I stand before the shades of those of us who grew old and died in their beds, surrounded by family and friends, and I would not change places with them for a moment. We were the scourge of the elves, the Dour Axes of Ekrund, and our deeds have become legend. Yet we can build a greater legend upon its foundations, and be known as orc-bane and goblin-hewers also.’

‘I’ve already killed about three hundred of the beggars,’ said Bokri, grinning. ‘Poor sport, all of them.’

‘He today who sheds the blood of our foes beside me shall be forever my brother in battle,’ Thundred intoned solemnly. The others repeated the words, renewing the oaths they had sworn to each other before the walls of Tor Alessi and Athel Toralien and Athel Maraya, at Griffa Ridge and Dorin’s Stand and The Vale of Four Waters, and on a dozen other battlefields whose names Skraffi had never learnt. ‘He who today sheds his blood beside me shall be forever counted amongst the honoured dead, and in whose stead I shall seek revenge and in whose absence I shall raise a pot of beer, as and when I get the chance.’

They all had tankards in hand for this moment, though there was no beer.

‘Wait a moment, lads, we can’t swear oaths with silt water and spit,’ said Skraffi. He reached under his cloak and produced a large clay jar, as might once have held pickled eggs or perhaps a good portion of jam. He unstoppered the top and tipped a little of the contents of the jar into each of the tankards, a golden liquid that smelt of pastures and trees.

‘Stinks of elf wee, if you ask me,’ muttered Bokri, rather more loudly than he perhaps intended.

‘Is this your bees’ water, Skraffi?’ asked Thundred, lip curling in distaste.

‘The finest, and probably last, from the Angbok meadery. Drink deep and toast the bees that stung those greenskin thugs when they came for my hives.’

They each drank from their cups, some less enthusiastically than others. However, there was much smacking of lips and surprised expressions all round.

‘I take it back, my old pal,’ said Thundred. ‘That’s not a bad drop at all.’

‘Worthy for a toast to our ancestors and the fallen dead,’ added Bokri with an apologetic look.

This sentiment was echoed by the others, who slapped Skraffi on the back and declared Angbok’s Bee Water to be a triumph against adversity. It was one of the proudest moments of his life, up there with the time Gabbik had killed his first goblin and seeing Awdhelga’s blackbeer get second place in the Brewers’ Guild’s ‘King’s Champion’ Beer award.

Stood with his fellow veterans, suddenly losing Ekrund didn’t seem so bad, or as inevitable.

‘Remember the old battle cry?’ asked Stondorin Haggerund.

The rest of the throng in the hall turned a mix of confused, irritated and admiring gazes on the Four Dozen Blades when, as one, they raised their tankards and boomed out their battle-oath.

‘First to the battle, first to the bar!’

The wind whipped snow down the mountainside, and within moments of marching out into the valley Gabbik had ice frosting his beard. He could see less than a hundred paces ahead; the darker shapes of King Erstukar’s longbeards and hammerers led the way. As for the companies advancing down the other side of the valley, including Skraffi and the surviving Four Dozen Blades, nothing could be seen. The keening of the blizzard and the thick snow underfoot masked all sound.

The snow was knee deep, and a path had been forged by the dwarfs ahead. There were thicker drifts in places, some of them towering like white cliffs where they had been cut through by the rangers leading the attack.

‘No goblins in this, I’d wager,’ said Gabbik. His words came as clouds of vapour, swiftly whisked away by the wind. ‘We’ll be lucky to find anything to kill.’

‘Let’s hope we can find the path back,’ said Durk, looking over his shoulder. Gabbik did likewise, and saw the shadows of the following column of dwarfs.

‘I reckon we should be all right. The snow will be packed solid by the time we’ve all trodden it down.’

They passed the remnants of broken and abandoned war engines. Icicles hung from snapped ropes and split beams, while dark timbers jutted like skeletons from the blanket of white that covered the road and valley walls. There were real bones too, here and there, cracking underfoot as Gabbik trod on them. Where the way had been cleared, frozen green faces and the remains of dwarfs leered out of the ice walls like insects trapped in amber.

Gabbik didn’t look at them too closely. He was worried he might recognise someone, and that would be too much.

The sun was just a paler disc in the grey sky, somewhere overhead. They marched at noon for the best light possible, after the morning fog had cleared. They had covered a little over seven hundred paces when they came upon the companies in front, spreading out into a semblance of a battle line.

‘Looks like the rangers have found some orcs,’ said Fleinn. He drew his remaining elven blade. ‘What are they waiting for?’

Gabbik listened. Over the wind and the creak of shifting snow he could hear guttural voices and the crackle of flames. He could see nothing and the wind was coming from behind, carrying away any smoke or stench of the orc camps. There were no bright fires to give away their position and as far as Gabbik knew, the orcs could be a hundred paces ahead or a thousand.

A lone shape emerged from the white haze. It was Prince Rodri. His face was almost a complete mask of snow, beard, hair and eyebrows crusted with ice, framing ruddy cheeks and dark eyes.

‘Move out that way,’ he said, waving his axe to the south-west. ‘The orcs are about five hundred paces further on. This is a raid, not a battle. Kill a few orcs, destroy their shelter and then follow us back up the valley. Understood? There’ll be a pursuit, and we can’t have the side gates open too long. Am I clear?’

‘As merewater,’ said Fleinn.

‘Aye, prince, we’ll be right on your heels,’ said Gabbik. ‘Don’t you worry about that.’

The prince nodded and said nothing further. He moved on to the next company and directed them to the south-east. Gabbik clapped his gloved hands, shaking off the accumulated snow. He pulled free his axe and slung his shield from his back.

He caught Haldora looking at him, her face pale, expression determined. She mustered the strength for a weak smile. She hadn’t been the same since she had been wounded fighting the night goblins, but there was nothing else to be done. None of them had survived this long without being harmed. Some had rested for a day, others for ten. Haldora had been back in the ranks after seven. Nakka was right next to her, as he had been every day following the fight with the night goblins. Haldora insisted that her arm was still good, but Nakka hadn’t taken his eye off her for any waking moment since they had traipsed back from the mines and found her slumped against a pillar.

‘If the orcs think they can just wait us out, they’re sorely mistaken,’ Gabbik said, trying to lift his spirits as much as anyone else’s. ‘Just you see. We’re not done yet, not by a long way.’

Nobody felt like arguing and the Angbok company – inasmuch as Gabbik was in charge, though the company was dredged together from a dozen different clans – moved to their allotted position in the attack.

Standing still was worse than anything and Gabbik stamped his feet to keep warm. The snowfall was thinning and the wind dying, and he took this as a good sign that the ancestors were watching over them that day.

Quietly the word was passed along the line for the army to move on. There was nobody ahead to flatten the snow and so Gabbik trudged through the drifts, often up to his waist, using his axe and shield to clear the way. Either side of him, the others were doing the same, forced to spread out so that they were not throwing snow into each other’s path. After a distance they had a method resolved, moving the snow from the centre to the flanks of the company like a plough in the earth.

The further they went, and the more tiring the advance became, the more Gabbik’s earlier optimism faded. This was no way to launch a daring attack. He could barely stand up straight or turn, and swinging his axe was a constant labour, his shoulders already aching from the effort.

Eventually he could see something looming ahead. It was a sloping canvas sheet, like the sail of a ship, tied over a wooden frame. He recognised it as coming from one of the windmills on the high dales, and guy ropes tied it down to spears driven into the frozen earth.

He could smell smoke now, and orc dung, and could hear guttural voices and savage laughter.

A horn blast rang out, signalling the charge. Gabbik felt like laughing – there was no possible way to move any faster. Waving the others on with his axe he tried his best to press forward more speedily, where the snow was trampled in places by the movements of the orcs.

When they reached the orc camp, the greenskins were emerging from their shelters and holes, grunting and shouting. The snow was flattened a lot more and Gabbik was able to break into a jog, huffing and puffing as he closed with the nearest foes, trusting to the others to keep up.

The orcs were disorganised, staying close to the fires. Gabbik recognised the stench of burning flesh and realised the greenskins were eating the dwarf dead. This fired his anger, soothing away the aches of the march and the ennui of long confinement.

An orc lunged out of the swirling snow, gabbling in its harsh language. Gabbik’s axe took off its left leg and the return swing cut up into its chest, slicing ribs and organs. He wrenched his weapon free and dashed after another, burying his axe into its lower back before cleaving its skull in half.

Disorientated and surprised, the orcs were easy pickings for the initial rush of the dwarfs. Gabbik had hewn down four before he even came across a foe with weapon raised and ready. He deflected its swing with his shield and kicked it square in the kneecap, snapping bone with his iron-toed boot. As the orc fell, Haldora slammed her axe into the side of its head, taking off the orc’s ear and half of its jaw.

‘Cut the ropes, put the canvas on the fire!’ Gabbik yelled.

They surrounded the lean-to, those with axes hacking at the thick rope cables while those with hammers drew knives and slashed at the shelter. The floor beneath was covered with untanned hides and stinking furs, and Gabbik grimaced as he saw cushions made of dwarf packs unmistakeably stuffed with beards and hair from their previous owners.

‘Watch your heads!’ The cry warned Gabbik just in time. He took a few steps back as the broken lean-to crashed down, sending up a cloud of snow and ice that obscured everything. Sputtering, Gabbik wiped the snow from his eyes with his thumb, squinting against the ice freezing his eyeballs. As his vision returned, something large loomed out of the snowstorm.

It was an ogre. Three times as tall as Gabbik and almost as broad as it was wide, the monstrous warrior was clothed in thick furs, its prodigious gut covered by an immense plate of metal and bone. It carried a serrated blade in one hand, its other fastened within a mail-and-leather glove with a protruding spike an arm’s span in length. The ogre’s flabby face was turned away, cheeks and ears protected by a helm with flaps tied down under the chin, an aventail of bronze scales concealing the neck and throat.

It sniffed the air heavily, turning its head this way and that. As it shifted its weight, Gabbik saw armoured breasts sticking out like the shot of a rock chucker, the only indication that the monster was female.

Not so long ago Gabbik would have retreated into the concealing snows, happy not to be seen. Not so, anymore. He charged the ogre from behind, slashing his axe into the back of its knee. The creature bellowed and spun, but Gabbik was still moving, bringing his axe blade across the other leg, hamstringing the ogre completely.

It toppled back, twisting as it fell. Gabbik did not hesitate. He slammed the rim of his shield down into the creature’s face, smashing its nose to a pulp, stunning it for a few more moments. Placing a booted foot on its shoulder, Gabbik heaved with all of his strength. The axe blade sliced through the aventail, scattering fragments of bronze, and bit into the flesh of the ogre’s neck. Blackish blood sprayed through the severed armour and bubbled from the creature’s bulbous lips.

A flailing arm struck him in the chest, hurling him into the snow. Incredibly, the ogre rolled, trying to get up, hand searching for the sword it had dropped. Gabbik heaved in another breath, trying to get winded lungs to work, and the two of them gained their feet at the same time.

More shapes appeared out of the snow, some orc-sized, others much larger.

A horn sounded the order to retreat.

‘Thank Grungni for that,’ Gabbik muttered, turning and running. He glanced back to see the ogre stumbling after him, trailing bloody splashes on the snow, issuing wheezing croaks from its ruined windpipe.

He was dimly aware of the others retreating around him – shadows in the whiteness, the thump of boots and jingle of mail.

‘Haldora?’ he called out. He hadn’t seen her since the initial charge. ‘Skraffi?’

‘Hoi! This way!’ a voice called to his right. He veered towards it and lost his footing on a patch of ice. His knee crashed into a rock buried by the snow, sending jags of pain up his leg. The voice – Haldora’s – shouted again, fainter than before.

‘Me knee,’ he called back, pulling himself up with the aid of the rock. He tried to stand on his leg but agony flared again and he almost fell. ‘I busted me knee!’

‘Where are you, pa?’ Haldora’s voice was even more distant, moving the wrong way.

Looking over his shoulder, Gabbik saw the orcs coming closer, darkness in the snow moving past him to the left and right. He put his back to the rock and readied his axe.

‘Come on, you daft beggar,’ laughed Fleinn, appearing like a ghost, face almost white with snow. A gloved hand snatched hold of Gabbik’s collar. ‘No time to be hanging about like a fart in a drop shaft.’

Fleinn pulled Gabbik’s shield from his grasp and tossed it away, so that he could put his shoulder under Gabbik’s arm and heave him up. Gabbik tried to hop on his good leg as Fleinn dragged him through the snow.

‘Too slow,’ grumbled the other dwarf, looking over his shoulder. Gabbik glanced back too and could see the obvious silhouette of a troll lumbering right after them. ‘Up you go!’

Gabbik was unceremoniously hoisted on Fleinn’s shoulders. The dwarf surged into the snow, head down, legs working tirelessly to get them back up the valley. Gabbik breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the shadows receding back into the snows.

Some feeling was returning to Gabbik’s leg and he told his companion to put him down. Testing his weight on it, Gabbik found that he could hobble, using his axe like a walking stick. A few more dwarfs drifted towards them, some with fresh wounds. They all took a moment to rest, saying nothing, and then with a wordless agreement set off once more.

They passed broken statues of ancestors and former kings. Once they had stood on the walls and heights, now pulled down and defaced by the greenskins. Stones from tumbled ramparts littered the road – as Gabbik assumed the flatter terrain indicated they were on the road – and there were more bodies in the snow, mostly of goblins frozen by their engines, more afraid of the orc whips than frostbite.

‘Almost there,’ said Fleinn. ‘I reckon we’re almost there.’

They could see fresh tracks in the snow ahead, from dwarf boots heading back up the valley. More and more Ekrundfolk could be seen as the snow continued to clear and the sun broke through the cloud cover.

A monstrous screech had them all staring up into the sky. Dark wings soared across the pale clouds.

‘Back to the gate!’ someone bellowed. The dwarfs needed no second urging.

Gritting his teeth, trying to suppress a pained yelp with every stride, Gabbik forced himself up the road. Ahead he could see the high towers of the South Gate still standing proud of the mountainside. He dared not look up or back, but could hear the flap of immense wings.

From up ahead purple lightning leapt into the sky. Gabbik could see a runesmith, his staff held aloft, the sigils on his rod sparking with arcane energy. Around him gathered a body of dwarfs, most of them bearing double-handed hammers – the king’s personal guard. A flash of gold showed that Erstukar himself was there.

‘Keep going, keep going,’ Fleinn urged, doubling back to help Gabbik. He nodded off to the right. ‘Up the wall-stairs, there.’

The steps were carved into the bare rock, winding back and forth to one of the lesser gateways above. The rampart was mostly intact, and Gabbik could see that if they followed it along they would come to the gate tower from where they had marched forth.

‘What about the king?’ he said, looking to where Erstukar and his hammerers guarded the road. ‘We should help.’

‘You heard the prince’s command,’ said Fleinn. ‘I’m all for a fight, you know that, but they’ll close the gates on us if we take too long.’

They reached the steps and began to haul themselves up to the rampart. Gabbik kept looking back, seeing more dwarfs behind, following in their footsteps. He hoped Haldora and Skraffi were amongst them, but he could not see any familiar faces.

The wyvern plunged down through the blizzard like a dark comet, the orc warlord on its back. The beast barely slowed as it crashed into the king’s bodyguard, claws and fangs reaping a terrible toll. Gabbik stopped and watched in horror as the monster took off again, trailing falling bodies and limbs. There was something golden in its jaws.

‘The king…’ whispered Fleinn. Other dwarfs on the stair stopped to watch the unfolding spectacle.

Carried aloft, his rune armour proof against the fangs of the wyvern, Erstukar continued to lash his axe into its jaw and neck. The wyvern landed on an outcrop and thrashed its neck, hurling the king against a boulder. He lay in the snow for a moment but righted himself, eliciting a hopeful cheer from the watching dwarfs. Blue light gleamed from his axe as the king launched himself at the monster, hewing at legs and lashing tail, trying to get under the beast to split open its belly.

The wyvern was floundering in the snow and for a few heartbeats Gabbik lost sight of the battle behind a huge plume of white. As the snow settled, it revealed the king pinned against a cliff face by a taloned claw, his arms trapped.

The warlord leaned in his saddle and brought his black blade across in a sweeping arc, chopping just above the wyvern’s claws.

A collective groan rose up from the onlooking dwarfs as Erstukar’s head tumbled to the ground, leaving a spray of red mist on the snow.

Gabbik felt as though his gut had been ripped out. He fell to his knees with an anguished sob, head in his hands. He was not alone. The valley echoed with the wails and moans of grief-stricken Ekrundfolk.

A cruel laugh drowned out their laments, followed by a triumphant, wordless bellow.

Gabbik felt himself lifted to his feet. He snatched himself away from the other dwarf’s grip, utterly disheartened. He floundered against the wall of the steps, gnashing his teeth with despair.

The king was dead. Gabbik had been convinced Erstukar would lead them through this ordeal. The king was as solid as Ekrund itself, Gabbik had thought. Now he was no more. If the king could die, Ekrund could fall.

Ekrund would fall. Gabbik could see how foolish he had been to harbour any hope of victory. He had wanted to believe so much that he had ignored all of the evidence to the contrary. In doing so, he had doomed his family as well.

The thought of this brought a fresh sob out of him. His beard was already wet from ice, but tracks melted through the snow from his hot tears as he sat on one side of the steps and wept.

Other dwarfs passed. Some turned away, others gave him a pat on the shoulder or a few words of encouragement. Their assurances were nothing more than platitudes. They were all dead dwarfs walking, putting on a brave face against the inevitable.

Darkness swallowed him and he thought it was the shadow of the wyvern.

‘Pa!’

He wasn’t sure he heard right at first.

‘Pa!’

His vision cleared and he saw Haldora stood before him, blotting out the dim sun. Her face was set with her sternest look. Suddenly ashamed, Gabbik nodded to her and set off up the stairs, unable to look her in the eye. The knowledge that she was alive fuelled his steps when all other hope was lost.

There was still something worth fighting for.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

‘Another confrontation between the king and the miners’ guild was averted by the arrival of a strange dwarf by the name of Zakur Lorforsson. He was a runesmith, you see, and the first to move out of the old mountains.

Such was the appeal of having a runesmith amongst their number, the royal and mining clans put aside their differences to show Zakur that he could ply his trade as easily in the Dragonbacks as elsewhere. He was most enthusiastic, and talked a lot about the moons being just right this far south, and how Karak Eight Peaks couldn’t match the midwinter sun in the Dragonbacks.

King Grimbalki immediately appointed Zakur as the royal runesmith, as you’d expect. It seemed that Grimbalki and the Dragonback dwarfs had everything they needed except an actual hold. They had dozens of mines and the empty tunnels in Ankor-Drakk, but none of the mines so far was big enough to start a city. They were still considered zaki by most of the other dwarfs in the old mountains – homeless and a little bit on the dim side.

With only a few years left to him, Grimbalki offered a tempting reward to any prospector or clan that found a seam big enough to mine for several years, and promised not only riches but renown.’

The only sounds to break the still were the scrape of stone on stone and the metronomic grunts of the dwarfs. They stood in long lines from the lower halls behind the collapsed East Gate. All of the other entrances had been blocked and now only this one remained. They passed broken masonry from hand to hand, working in the near-darkness of a few candles and the last glimmers of light from the rune lanterns in the halls above.

With each rock laid on the piles blocking the huge archways, every broken column piece and chunk of debris, the light grew dimmer. Nobody was sure whose idea it had been. Possibly Prince Horthrad’s, or maybe someone else’s. It didn’t really matter. There was not enough strength left among the Ekrundfolk to drive the orcs back from the gate. Giants would come and they would break in, and the greenskins would have access to the main hold.

That could not be allowed, not without some effort to stall the shame of such intrusion. So the dwarfs laboured, piling the broken innards of their homes against the gates, filling the tunnels with stones, pulling down the props and breaking the pillars.

Slowly and surely, with all the care and diligence of their kind, the dwarfs of Ekrund entombed themselves.

Haldora worked in the line along with the others, wordlessly taking the stones from her mother and passing them to her father. In her numbed mind she laughed at herself, and in the laughter was a kernel of bitterness. She had tried so hard to be different, to be remarkable like Awdhelga. Now she really understood how she had been the same as everybody else.

She had not believed the orcs would come. She had been defiant, prideful. Ekrund would last for eternity, that had been her firmest belief. Even when the doubts had started, in the wildlands, she had ignored her instincts. Superiority and self-importance had drowned her concerns. She had felt nothing but contempt for the greenskins, along with the rest of the Ekrundfolk.

And she was no better or worse than the dwarfs around her. For so long she had wanted to be like the menfolk, but now they were all the same. Male and female, the dwarfs were all grimy and tired, labouring without difference. There was no food left to cook, no hearths to sweep. Even the children were dead or had been led to safety long ago. All of the time Haldora had spent avoiding the nature of her maidenhood and now it made no difference at all. Friedra had killed more goblins than Awdhelga now.

She was beyond fatigue, beyond pain. She existed, and that was enough. They all lived still, proof that the orcs had not yet won, proof that the dwarfs were still masters and mistresses of the Dragonback Mountains.

Vanity and pride, but it was all they had left. There was water and there were a few stores of bread, and there were a few thousand dwarfs. They would survive long enough to see the orcs dig and lever their way into the inner halls, and then they would fight with their last strength.

And then the Ekrundfolk would be consigned to history.

It was impossible to tell day and night since they had retreated from the surface. At some point a halt was called and the lines dispersed. Some of the dwarfs simply sat or flopped down where they were. The Angboks had a little area of the Third West through-tunnel set out with blankets and a candle, and to this patch of home they returned.

Nakka joined them, face smeared with sweaty grime, his beard an unruly tangle. Even so, he managed a smile for Haldora as he sat next to her.

‘I understand it now,’ said Haldora.

‘What’s that?’ he replied, half-vacant eyes looking through Haldora rather than at her.

‘I realise that Awdhelga wasn’t remarkable because she wanted to be. She didn’t set out to be a heroine or a great fighter or a master brewer.’ Haldora looked at Skraffi, but her grandfather wasn’t really listening. He had a cracked clay pipe between his lips and was sucking away merrily, though there had been no tobacco for a long while. She felt Nakka take her hand in his, his grip rough but strong and reassuring. ‘She was remarkable because she did what she had to do. She faced what life threw at her and got on with whatever needed to be done. She didn’t do it for herself. She did it for her family. She fought goblins because they attacked her. She brewed beer because the ore was running scarce.’

‘It’s always the way,’ said Gabbik. He lay on his back, eyes closed, hands clasped over his beard on his chest. He sat up and there was an odd look in his eye. ‘We all do what has to be done.’

Haldora wasn’t sure what he meant by this, but Gabbik pushed himself up and disappeared into the darkness, heading down the corridor towards the lower levels.

‘Now where do you suppose he’s off to?’ asked Friedra. ‘Not like your father to go wandering off without a word of where or why.’

‘He’s gone zakzuli,’ said Skraffi. ‘Death-mad, I reckon. Comes on you, it does, just like that. I remember Grodbar Five-fingers, from back in the war.’

Haldora fought back a sigh. Skraffi seemed to spend half of his time back in the war against the elves, and the other half daydreaming of his bees. She indulged the old dwarf’s ramblings if only because it was a distraction from the ever-present nothingness of their situation.

‘Grodbar Five-fingers? It’s normal to have five fingers, isn’t it?’

‘Not between both hands,’ chuckled Skraffi. ‘Three on the left, two on the right. Used to have a leather thing he’d use to bind his hammer into his hand.’

‘Just get some sleep, dear,’ said Friedra. ‘Tomorrow we’re emptying out an old forge store on the Fourth Level, so we can block up the Greater Stair.’

Tomorrow. It was a concept that balanced hope and despair. Tomorrow was the day they survived for. Tomorrow was the day they thought about as they toiled to bury themselves. Yet tomorrow was also the day the orcs might come. Tomorrow was another day with food dwindling. Tomorrow was pregnant with fresh disaster.

Haldora didn’t have strength enough to care, or to argue. She lay down. Her head rested on Nakka’s thigh. He was already gently snoring.

Tomorrow would come, bringing with it either relief or catastrophe. Or neither. There was nothing she could do to change their doom one way or the other.

This was the only way.

Gabbik was sure of that fact as he stopped in front of the grand archway that led into the shrine. Three immense stone blocks formed the gateway, though there was no stone or wood between. While everywhere else in the hold was swathed with darkness, that giant doorway was lit with fire. Two bowls burned to the left and right, and more flames flickered within.

He was reluctant to cross the threshold, knowing what that next stride signified. It was the end. The end of despair. The end of hope.

Standing there, willing himself to take another step, Gabbik told himself again. It was the only way. This would save them all. This would be his real legacy to the Angboks. Survival. He had hoped it would be fame and fortune, or at least a modicum of respect and a comfortable income.

He stepped under the rectangular arch and into the shrine.

By the light of the fires, the great face of the ancestor god gleamed on the wall. It was cast from purest iron, studded with copper and rubies for the red beard and the plume of hair, eyes made from sapphires as large as fists.

There were offerings heaped beneath the image – a pile of gems and gold and silver. Chests were opened, their contents of runic artefacts and family heirlooms on display to the ancestor god they had all turned to in these dire times.

Grimnir.

Deathdealer. Warbringer. Bloodwader. First of the Slayers.

He had many names, curses to set upon the foe and titles to steady the heart or fire the blood. Yet for all the names by which Grimnir was known, there was one alone that Gabbik thought about as he stared up at that broad, fierce face.

Saviour.

There were two ornate representations of axes crossed behind the mask. With two rune axes forged by Grungni, and with wards and blessing laid upon him by Valaya, Grimnir had gone north at the dawn of time. There he had faced a sea of foes and he had laid about them with his rune axes, felling an enemy with every swing. He had fought the daemons to a standstill. Grimnir had stood alone at the gates of the underhell and alone he had driven the hordes of the Dark Gods screaming back to their otherworldly masters.

The elves had their stories, of wizards and a magical vortex, but Gabbik knew the truth of the matter, as did any dwarf of true heritage. Grimnir saved the world.

All Gabbik wanted to do was to save his family.

‘I didn’t think it’d be you, but I shouldn’t be surprised.’

Gabbik looked to his right, through a smaller door to one of the side chambers he saw another dwarf, naked but for a loincloth and many piercings. It was the Slayer that had interrupted his speech at the king’s council more than half a year earlier.

‘Huh. I thought you’d be long dead,’ said Gabbik.

‘Grimnir still guides my arm, so he does,’ said the Slayer. ‘’Tis an unfortunate thing, but there you go. What did you do with my troll head, by the way?’

‘Your…? I had it flensed and mounted in the family shrine. It was my father’s hives that it despoiled before you killed it. Seemed just that we kept a reminder.’

‘Good on you, that’s the thing to do.’ The Trollslayer stepped back away from the door, inviting Gabbik in.

He hesitated.

‘You know that you’ve already made the decision, don’t you now?’ said the Trollslayer. ‘Even if you walk away, you’ll be back tomorrow. Or the day after. Or you’ll be dead.’

‘You’re right.’ Gabbik took a deep breath and then strode into the inner sanctum of the shrine.

There was only one other Slayer there – a mashed-faced dwarf who was busy drilling a hole in an ogre tusk. He already had a necklace of the same, and orc fangs, and several bracelets of smaller goblin teeth.

‘I thought you would be out there, seeking your dooms.’

‘Plenty doom enough in here, so there is,’ said the first Slayer. ‘Name’s Zhamuz, by the way. This here’s Golgodrin. Anyway, there’ll be fighting to come yet before Ekrund finally falls, and we’ll be there to see it, don’t you worry.’

‘So…’ Gabbik looked around the small chamber. It was sparsely furnished and most of it seemed to be filled with grisly trophies. ‘How do we do this?’

A particular smell brought Skraffi to full consciousness. He had been half-awake, dreaming of bacon, but it was not the aroma of juicy, sizzling rashers that now assaulted his nostrils. They all stank, after so long underground, but dwarfs spent a lot of their time together in such a state and a comradely onk was literally nothing to be sniffed at. This, however, was something more akin to orc dung.

Skraffi opened an eye, fearing the worst. He saw another dwarf, quite scrawny, stooping over Haldora.

‘Hey there,’ said Skraffi, not shouting because it would alarm the others. ‘What you sneaking about for like some frongol-picker? Get out of it before you get a kick up the don–’

‘No bother, no bother,’ said the other dwarf, standing up sharply. His beard was thin and straggly, always a sign of an untrustworthy sort, and like the others he was covered in filth. There was, however, something even more rank about the grime covering this individual: the returning stench of goblin dung.

‘What’re you skulking about for?’ said Skraffi, snatching up the candle to shine a little more light on the interloper. The stranger was dressed in leather armour and furs – the garb of a ranger. Skraffi recognised him now, or rather remembered seeing him about, although never working on the line. ‘Who are you?’

‘Glorri,’ said Haldora, sitting up. ‘His name is Glorri, and he’s a creeping stinker.’

‘If you isn’t going to be polite, I shall take me services elsewhere,’ said the ranger, feigning departure. Skraffi grabbed the other’s arm.

‘What services?’ he demanded. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘A way out, isn’t it?’ Glorri looked at Haldora. ‘She knows. I told her already. A secret way out, not through the North Gate.’

‘Like I said before, we’re oath-bound to stay here,’ said Haldora. ‘Get off with you, and wash that goblin-stink out of your beard.’

Glorri looked genuinely contrite for a moment. He swept off his hat and held it in both hands, revealing lank shoulder-length hair. His moustache drooped and his bottom lip quivered for a moment.

‘That’s not such a problem, Haldora, not anymore. It was your father’s oath, weren’t it?’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Haldora, standing up. ‘What do you mean that’s not a problem anymore?’

‘Where’s Gabbik?’ Friedra had been roused by the discussion and was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. ‘I never heard him coming back.’

‘He’s not coming back,’ Glorri said quietly, eyes downcast. ‘Not ever.’

‘What do you mean?’ Haldora demanded again, grabbing Glorri’s leather jerkin and shaking him a couple of times. ‘Where is he? What happened?’

‘He’s down in the Second Hall, Fourth Level,’ said the ranger, reluctant to provide this information. ‘He said not to say, but I don’t want nobody blaming me.’

Friedra was already up and stomping away, muttering angrily to herself. Haldora followed, stopping to pick up her axe and shield. Skraffi was left with Glorri. He eyed the ranger suspiciously.

‘I don’t know what tricks you’re up to, wanaz, but when I find out there’ll be a reckoning.’

‘You got me all wrong, Skraffi, all wrong.’ Glorri sagged even more. ‘I just want to help.’

‘Trying to impress Haldora?’

‘A dwarf’s gotta try, ain’t he? Gotta try.’

‘Stay here,’ Skraffi snapped.

He hurried after the others, catching them up before they reached the Fourth Level. There were less dwarfs down here; for some reason most of them camped close to the Lower Gate, although that was likely the most dangerous place to be. Skraffi supposed that it was better to be caught up in the first rush of the attack than spend your last days being hunted down like an animal.

They arrived together at the Second Hall. It was more a glorified corridor than a proper hall, linking two galleries of the Second Deep, but it had a vaulted ceiling and tiled floor all the same. The rune lantern that had hung from the ceiling had been pulled down, but a few of its crystals were being used by a group of dwarfs at the far end of the hall. Except for them the chamber was empty, and on coming closer Skraffi understood why.

They were Slayers.

Seven of them. There had been more and less during the course of the siege, as some had found their dooms and others had sworn the Oaths of Grimnir to swell their numbers.

‘Has one of you lot seen…’ Friedra’s question tailed off as one of the Slayers turned at the sound of her voice.

Like all of the other Slayers, his head was shaved to the scalp except for the thick crest of hair dyed orange, pulled up into spikes with fat and lime. His beard had been dyed also, in memory of Grimnir’s ruddy hairs, and across his face glistened the blue of two fresh tattoos in the shape of runes, one on each cheek.

Dreng – to slay – and dum – darkness, doom, despair.

Despite the changes, Skraffi immediately recognised Gabbik.

Haldora let out a gasp of horror, and clasped to Skraffi’s side. Friedra stood in silence, trembling.

‘Gabbik, what have you done?’ Skraffi asked.

‘Gabbik’s gone,’ replied the Slayer that had been his son. ‘He took the Oaths of Grimnir and will never return.’

‘What have you done, lad? Why’d you do it?’

‘Gabbik knew it was for the best.’ There was a dull look in his eyes, as though the life had been drained from them.

‘He, I mean you, just gave up?’

‘He didn’t give up.’ Some semblance of animation returned. ‘He did what he had to do, and sacrificed the last thing he had to offer.’

Friedra was still mesmerised, unable to speak. Haldora would not look at him, leaving Skraffi to try to make some sense of it all.

‘There was no need, lad. We could have coped. We would have died together, at least.’

‘Gabbik took the oath so that nobody has to die. He’s gone, you see? Gabbik’s gone. Dead to the world, to all intents. No more. He took the Last Oath and is no more.’

‘I understand,’ Haldora said meekly, finally turning to look at what had become of her father. She reached out but he flinched from her touch.

‘You do?’ said Skraffi. ‘What do you understand?’

‘The oath,’ said Haldora. There was a glimmer of something in the Slayer’s eyes: not pleasure, but a spark of brief happiness. ‘Gabbik is gone, he took the Last Oath. Like he said, no more. No other oath binds him.’

‘Or his family!’ said Skraffi, catching on. He looked at his son in amazement. ‘Did you seek out Glorri first? Is that what this is about? So we can leave Ekrund?’

‘Gabbik heard Glorri talking to Haldora, and he wanted her to be safe, wanted her to leave. But the oath bound them to the halls of Ekrund, and to break oath is to be worse than dead. He could not leave that as his legacy to the clan. Now he has taken the Last Oath, Gabbik has freed his family from the bonds that existed before.’

Skraffi did not know what to say. He wanted to say thank you, and to hug his son, and to celebrate being freed from the oath, but all he could think about was the tattooed figure before him, resigned to a violent death, ashamed and alone until that bloody moment.

‘I hope that you… I hope Gabbik realises how thankful we are for what he did.’ Skraffi stroked his beard slowly, looking into that uncompromising gaze. It was spooky, as though he really was talking to someone other than his son. He did not know what was sworn in the Last Oath, what other rites were practised by the Brotherhood of Grimnir, but seeing the effects first-hand on someone he knew made the old dwarf shudder. ‘I hope,’ he managed to say, ‘that Gabbik knew his father was proud of him and that… He knew that his father loved him.’

There was no reaction from the Slayer, he took this message without even a blink. Gabbik spared them any further torment. He turned away, darting one last look at Haldora, and joined the other Slayers.

‘Friedra?’ Skraffi touched her shoulder.

Her eyes snapped to Skraffi’s as though coming out of a trance. She swallowed hard, wiped a single tear from her cheek and nodded to herself, trying to smooth the creases out of her tunic.

‘We can mourn later,’ she said. ‘Let’s get packed up and ready to go. We’ve been here long enough already.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

‘Norboron Angbok broke the rock over the largest seam of coal in the Dragonbacks, but unfortunately in his excitement he got drunk and fell down a chasm before he could tell the king. Or so the family legend has it. The claim itself was made by Storrin Goldnose, a remarkably gifted prospector who happened upon Norboron’s little camp a few days later.

He was called Burlithrom back then, but after the size of the coal seam was confirmed he and all his descendants were granted the title of Goldnose by King Grimbalki and they have served as prospectors and miners to the royal clans ever since.

And the seam was a whopper. Hundreds of dwarfs could labour on it at a time, going down and down and down into the bowels of the mountains. They built a whole gate just to reach it, not far from the king’s stockade, and it became the most important place in all of the Dragonbacks.

The First Delve it was called, though some named it after the winding stair that followed its course into the bottom levels – Ekrund. The king liked this a lot and took it as the name for his city, and so eventually the dwarfs whose adventurous ancestors had left Karak Eight Peaks dug a new home and became the Ekrundfolk.’

They found Glorri where they had left him, nervously chewing grubby fingernails as he sat amongst their things. He looked up sharply as they approached, furtive and restless. Haldora wondered if he had spent so long tracking goblins in the wildlands that he had started thinking and acting just a bit too much like them.

‘I told you, I had nothing to do with it,’ Glorri said, standing, hands held up defensively. ‘I didn’t know what he was gonna do, he just said that the Angboks would need my help and I was to come up here this morning.’

‘It’s morning?’ Friedra sounded surprised. She had said little on the journey back up from seeing Gabbik. Haldora could sense the tension in her mother, like water held behind a dam. She hoped it stayed in check long enough for them to get away. ‘I thought it might be late afternoon. Are you sure it’s morning? How can you be sure?’

‘A ranger knows these things,’ said Glorri, tapping the side of his nose. ‘It’s second nature, it is.’

Haldora packed up what little remained of their possessions – a few heavily darned blankets, a sack of dry bread and some water canteens. Friedra sharpened her axe and Haldora’s, while Skraffi took a small hammer to the iron rims of their shields, knocking in extra nails, smoothing out the dents. Glorri watched all of this with a rodent-like restlessness, moving from foot to foot and fidgeting with his beard until Friedra fixed him with a stony glare.

‘So, where is it you’ll be taking us, master ranger?’ she asked, scraping the whetstone along the edge of Haldora’s axe. ‘Where’s this secret route?’

‘It’s not pleasant,’ Glorri warned. ‘There’s goblin tunnels, old ones, some of the way. A bit of crawling on your belly, and we can’t afford no lights.’ He plucked at his clothes and shrugged. ‘And there’ll be some dung.’

‘Goblin tunnels?’ said Skraffi. ‘How do you know they’re safe? Why aren’t they guarded, by them or us?’

‘Nobody thinks they go anywhere. The goblins is all killed, long time before the attack, years ago. And it looks like they come to a dead end, but there’s actually a crack in the rock, just about big enough to squeeze through on your hands and knees. Hard to find, but I found it. Smelt the air. Rank, but different. I been all the way to the surface, checked it’s clear.’

‘And then you just came back?’ Skraffi looked unconvinced. ‘To help us out?’

‘It’s not safe overground,’ said Haldora. She looked at Glorri and realised that it must have been quite an ordeal, crawling around in the filth and darkness on his own, hoping that the route led somewhere, wondering if he would be set upon by goblins or worse at any moment. ‘He told me before, didn’t you? Goblins and wolves in the woods to the north, right?’

‘That’s right. I don’t think I can make it on me own, not if I run into trouble.’

‘We can’t sneak out a whole army,’ said Friedra. ‘But four’s not much better than one in a fight, and more likely to be seen.’

‘That’s a good point,’ said Skraffi. ‘We could do with a few extra bodies, just in case we meet trouble.’

Glorri did not look happy about this but he said nothing.

‘What do you think?’ Haldora asked him. ‘Ma and Skraffi are right, we can’t fight off a pack of wolf riders with just the four of us. How many do you reckon we could take, and still be able to slip through the woods without drawing too much attention?’

‘That’s a tricky one,’ said Glorri, gnawing his lip. ‘A dozen, I’d say. No more than a dozen. Who you thinking of taking?’

‘Fleinn and Durk, of course, if they want to come,’ said Skraffi. He looked at Haldora. ‘And Nakka too. Maybe old Thundred would want to join us.’

‘What about Prince Horthrad?’ suggested Friedra. They looked at her, taken aback, and she shrugged. ‘Why not? He might want to come, and if we turn up at Karak Eight Peaks or Barak Varr with a royal prince we’re more likely to get let in.’

‘That’s another good point,’ said Skraffi with an appreciative nod. ‘I like your thinking.’

‘Be quick and quiet about it,’ said Glorri. ‘We don’t want everyone and their pony following us, causing a racket, do we? And I ain’t sure about bringing the prince. That’ll be noticed, for sure.’

A rumble caused them to stop what they were doing and look up. It had come from above, towards the South Gate. All around them dwarfs paused and looked to the south, sharing a moment of trepidation. Then came a muffled thudding, punctuated by rapid tapping that echoed through the still halls and tunnels.

From a city that had once taken several days to traverse north to south and east to west, from the highest pinnacle to the lowest deeps, Ekrund had been reduced to a handful of levels and a dozen or less halls. The noise reverberated from the south to the north, and then it seemed as if there was a reply, a knocking and creaking that came back from the northern galleries behind the collapsed gate.

‘The orcs are digging in,’ muttered Glorri. He looked at Skraffi. ‘How long do you reckon it’ll take them?’

‘Days, at least,’ said Skraffi. ‘Leastways, it took us seven, eight days to fill up them gateways and tunnels.’

‘They’ve got giants, and ogres, and trolls,’ said Haldora. ‘And goblins under the lash.’

‘It seems to be coming from everywhere,’ said Friedra, as more thuds and scraping disturbed the quiet of the hold. ‘Will your route still be safe?’

‘If we don’t hang around gabbing about it, yeah,’ said Glorri, fidgeting even more than before, like a beardling needing permission to relieve himself but too intimidated to interrupt the conversation of his elders and betters to ask to be excused.

‘You fetch Nakka and the other Troggklads and what other lads you think would make good company,’ said Friedra, sounding decisive as she looked at Skraffi. She turned her attention to Haldora. ‘Find Horthrad and speak to him. Sound out what he’s about, but if you’re not sure, don’t tell him we’re going, he might not like that.’

‘Are we sure this is what we want?’ Skraffi asked before Haldora could go. He looked at each of them. ‘There’s no surety we’ll be any better off outside than in, and even if we get away from the Dragonbacks, there’s folk that will always think less of us, might not give us sanctuary.’

‘You saw what pa’s done, to give us this chance,’ said Haldora. ‘He did that so we could leave with honour and that’s what we should do.’

‘We’re leaving,’ Friedra said sternly. ‘I lost too many folks I know and cared for, I’m not losing Haldi too.’

‘Haldora,’ she corrected without thought.

‘All right, if you’re done with your heart to hearts,’ said Glorri, ‘maybe you’d like to get a shift on before the goblins turn up.’

Haldora nodded and set off, heading up towards the South Gate. The dwarfs were roused by the noise of the greenskins’ excavation, but a lot of them were milling around, not sure what to do. A steady stream filed up towards the South Gate, mostly out of habit. There was no telling where the orcs might break through first, or how long it would take.

Others just waited, especially the younger ones. Most of the longbeards they looked to for guidance were dead. The king had been killed and ever since a vagueness had pervaded the Ekrundfolk. Nobody had heard from Prince Rodri or his personal company since they had tried to lead a break out through the West Gate; everybody assumed they had been killed. Horthrad was overwhelmed by the turn of events. He was not more than a year over coming of age and nobody had ever thought he would become king. Most of the council were dead. The loremasters and runelords and guild leaders that would have advised and guided him had been gutted and beheaded and ripped apart by vile monsters.

Haldora had seen him occasionally, wandering almost ghost-like amongst his people, listening to their praises and complaints, their hopes and fears, saying little in return. She could not imagine how he felt, inheriting the throne of a hold about to be overrun, made lord of a doomed people. They looked to him to be a leader but he did not have it in him to lead.

She found him alone on a gallery overlooking the First Delve. Even lit by a handful of lanterns, it was still an impressive place, a great hole in the earth that went down five deeps, around its edge a spiral stair wound into darkness. Bridges and tunnels and galleries broke its flanks, but the sheer-sided shaft seemed to suck everything down into it.

The noises of digging and rocks breaking outside the halls reached even here. The thuds and cracks seemed to spiral down with the steps, all the way into the lowest depths.

‘I wouldn’t do it,’ she said, coming up beside Horthrad.

‘Do what?’ he asked, not looking at her.

‘You know…’ she nodded down into the depths. ‘Ending everything.’

Horthrad laughed, a bitter sound, and looked at her.

‘With our current fortune I would land on something soft,’ he said. ‘But don’t worry, I’ve no intention of ending it like that. My father and brother are already in the Halls of the Ancestors, waiting for me. I would never take the coward’s path.’

‘You’ll stay and fight to the very end?’ Haldora asked quietly. ‘With your people?’

‘The choice was made for me, back when there were other options,’ he replied, gripping the ornate ironwork rail in both hands. ‘I don’t think my father wanted to stay, but he knew he had to.’

Haldora looked at the prince, trying to judge what he meant by that. Could she really ask him to abandon his people? To sneak away in the dark and leave them to their doom? Was it even right that she tempted him with such an offer?

But when she looked at him as Horthrad, she wanted him to be safe, to have a future. He was brave, there was no doubt of that, and exceptionally intelligent. He honoured tradition but was not bound by dogma. He would, when he had grown into the role, become a great leader of the dwarfs. It seemed a waste of a life to have that potential snuffed out for no good reason.

‘You still have a choice,’ she told him. He cocked his head and looked at her. ‘There’s still a way out.’

‘The way your father found a way out?’ There was a sadness in his voice, not malice. ‘Word travels on swift wheels these days. Not for me, I think, the Brotherhood of Grimnir.’

‘No, you daft beggar, an actual way out. We know a ranger, he’s found a route out of Ekrund and into the mountains.’ She dropped her voice, realising that the First Delve could amplify sound in strange ways. ‘We can get away from here. Alive.’

She watched his face, contorted by a succession of emotions: understanding, hope, confusion, doubt and then finally resignation.

‘I should argue,’ he whispered. ‘I should say that it is a king’s duty to stay with his people and that I cannot come with you. I should say that my honour is bound to the doom of Ekrund and is greater than the desires of my heart.’

‘You should?’

‘I should, but I can’t.’ Horthrad turned to her, hands clasped together, held to his chest. His eyes were moist. They glittered in the dim lantern light. ‘I want to go with you. And, truth is, nothing binds me to this place, not yet. I am not king. I have sworn no oaths, and the crown and sceptre are lost. The throne and the halls are buried, and the vaults and troves and thindrongols are all empty or lost. I’m just one amongst a few thousand Ekrundfolk that has been unlucky enough to survive this long.’

‘Unlucky? Why unlucky?’

‘Wouldn’t it have been better, don’t you think, to have died earlier, spared this deprivation and slow death? I wonder if the doom of Ekrund was when the Angboks survived that patrol. If you’d been slain, the orcs would have come upon us totally unprepared. It would have been brutal, but swift. Almost a clean end.’

‘Never,’ said Haldora, amazed that he would suggest such a thing. ‘Life just is, and no matter how bad it gets, it’s better than being dead.’

‘Without honour? Without a home? Is that really the existence we want?’

‘I ain’t planning on dying any time soon,’ said Haldora, annoyed and suddenly conscious of the growing noise of the orcs and the passing of time. She grabbed Horthrad’s iron-clad arm, feeling the embossed metal beneath her fingertips, a curling dragon chased in gold along his vambrace. ‘And neither do you, otherwise you’d have just about hit the bottom by now.’

He looked so sad and alone in that moment, helpless against the troubles of the world. It nearly broke Haldora’s heart to see him like this.

‘I have people…’ he whispered. ‘Loyal retainers.’

‘A couple, maybe, can come with us,’ Haldora said. ‘We need to be quick and sneaky, not a big throng that’s going to draw in every orc and troll in the mountains.’

‘It’s hard, leaving them behind,’ he told her, looking over his shoulder into the hall behind the gallery. ‘Maybe it would be better though.’

She did not have time for him to work up a list of justifications.

‘You’re doing the right thing, but we can’t dally about,’ she said, tugging his arm. ‘Either come or don’t, we don’t have the luxury of being forlorn about it.’

‘You’re right,’ said the prince, setting his face stern. Haldora knew herself how odd it was that simply forcing one’s expression to change could also affect the inner mood so easily. Heart cajoled by head, every time. ‘No regrets.’

He followed her off the gallery and into the tunnels.

When they met up again with the others, all was ready for the journey. Nakka and a few of his kin were there, though sadly not Vadlir or his mother. They had died defending the tunnels near the East Gate some time before. Fleinn and Durk were there, with Durk’s wife Hildrazeth, and another couple of Haldora’s cousins – Jorgrim and Skolli. Glorri had left a little earlier to make sure that everything was in order, and they waited for his return.

Fleinn raised an eyebrow at the prince, who stood to one side, keeping his own counsel, and then patted Haldora’s hand.

‘Your father always meant well. He was dependable, and that’s the nicest thing he would have wanted anyone to say. I can’t say as I thought I’d see the day he took the Last Oath, but I’m not surprised he did it for his family.’

There was nothing Haldora felt like saying, so she simply smiled in appreciation of Fleinn’s words. She caught Nakka looking at her oddly and moved down the tunnel to stand with him.

‘What’s up with you?’ she asked.

‘What’s he doing here?’ Nakka said, glancing at Horthrad.

‘Ma’s idea,’ Haldora said quietly, in case the prince heard her. ‘Thought it would be good to have some royalty along. Open doors, and suchlike.’

‘No other reasons?’ he asked.

Haldora felt no urge to indulge his jealousy. She tutted, gave him a kiss on the cheek and then left him to his sullen mood to wait with her mother and Skraffi.

A blue haze spread along the corridor and they turned as Glorri appeared, a rune-lamp in one hand and a small pick in the other. His pack was quite full, and Haldora thought she saw gold glinting beneath the buckled flap.

‘All ready?’ asked the ranger. He didn’t wait for a reply before turning back down the tunnel. ‘Follow me.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

‘There was much still to be done, but with the coal from the First Delve bringing in gold and goods by the cartful, Ekrund was firmly on its way to establishing itself as something more than just a mine. To seal the point, the king ordered a tunnel to be dug linking it to Ankor-Drakk, and the settlement to the south was renamed the Lower Gate. The South Gate, where the road that had been the lifeline of his people for so long, was made the main entrance to the hold and the king set his chambers above the First Delve to signify that the Ekrundfolk were there to stay.

He died two years later, good old Grimbalki, and never saw his hall or gate finished. But he died a contented dwarf, I can say I’m sure of it. Ekrund never lasted long enough nor got big enough for it to be known as a karak, which is a shame I think, as there was many a hold of lesser worth that got called as such.

Still, Ekrundfolk was pleased with what they had achieved and their descendants have been inspired by their efforts ever since.‘

They had broken into a few small groups and made their way down to the Fourth Hall of the Second Deep, from which place Glorri had led them to an abandoned minework on the western side of the inner hold. Had it not been for the orc attack it would have been busy with masons and engineers turning it into habitable chambers and meeting halls, instead it was a network of rough walls and raw rock, following the lines of the seams in haphazard fashion.

The further reaches had been caved-in by the removal of the props, but just before the solid heap of boulders and broken wood, Glorri stopped beside a particular outcrop of rock. Haldora could see nothing of a gap, but the ranger leaned close and pulled free a bundle of blankets covered with dust, stones and mud – a simple but highly effective concealment in the darkness.

‘You said nobody else found the way out,’ Haldora remarked. ‘You mean they couldn’t find it because you had hidden it.’

‘Others could have used this before us,’ said Horthrad. ‘You kept it to yourself when dozens more, maybe hundreds could have slipped away after the fall of the North Gate.’

‘Why have you waited until now?’ demanded Nakka. ‘There’s other groups you could have taken if you wanted some extra protection.’

‘I know you, Nakka, and I trust you,’ Glorri said soothingly, throwing the grubby blankets aside. His eyes flickered to Haldora, perhaps betraying another reason the ranger had for wanting to travel with the Angboks. ‘And I didn’t let nobody else go first because they need me to guide ‘em through the tunnels, and it would have attracted attention. A secret escape ain’t so good when it ain’t a secret, right? Soon every beggar would be traipsing through here, warning the orcs and goblins.’

They had to concede to this logic, being as it was to their benefit, and stepped aside to allow Glorri access to his bolthole. He dropped onto all fours and crawled into the gap. A few moments later he whispered for them to follow.

‘I’ll go next,’ said Fleinn. ‘It’ll spare you lot having to stare at his skinny backside.’

Durk followed and the others arranged themselves into an order, with Haldora near the back, Horthrad just in front of her and Nakka bringing up the rear, behind Friedra. One by one they squeezed into the gap.

Haldora found herself in a small alcove-like space. There was a shelf above her and a hole, and she saw the light had gone that way. She pulled herself over the lip and into a small crawl space with smooth sides where once water had worn away at a crack. Fortunately it was dry now, but she knew they would be lucky to get to the surface without getting at least a little bit damp. There were streams and waterfalls aplenty throughout the mountains, kept away from the dwarf chambers by dams, pipework and cleverly constructed wells.

She soon lost any sense of time as she followed the bluish glow ahead. Sometimes the tunnel was high enough to stand upright, and it passed through bubble-like chambers or caverns that had been widened by goblin labour, and in others she was forced back to her hands and knees, almost climbing vertically.

They kept together, occasionally touching each other with outstretched hands as they wound their way through another rocky passageway. The gleam of Glorri’s lantern led them on, bobbing and weaving, sometimes almost disappearing, other times brightening as he waited for them to catch up.

Even here they could hear the noise of the orc excavations. Now and then the walls rang with a particularly large impact, while a constant skittering and clattering followed them. Perhaps it was because they were heading up again, closer to the North Gate, or maybe it was just the odd acoustics of the caves. Whatever the reason, Haldora thought they were getting closer to the source of the noise, or it was getting closer to them.

Suddenly the light went out. There were raised voices, quickly silenced by a hiss from Glorri. In the dark, as their eyes adjusted, the dwarfs then saw what had caused him to douse the lamp. They were on a ledge, about wide enough for two of them to walk abreast, passing along the wall of a cave a short distance above the floor. There were two other openings in the cave, leading to tunnels off to the right, and in one of those tunnels was a reddish glow, becoming brighter.

Glorri silently urged them on, stepping to have his back to the wall, waving them towards an opening at the far end of the ledge. Haldora risked a glance down, and saw the flickering of flames now. The muffled sound of shrill goblin voices confirmed the nature of the creatures bringing the light.

They hurried as best they could, taking care to keep their footing. Haldora was just about to pass into the crack at the end of the ledge when she heard a shout of alarm, swiftly followed by a curse from Nakka.

She looked back to see him drop down off the ledge, axe in hand. Soon the cries had turned to shrieks of pain.

‘Keep going!’ snapped Glorri. He pulled a long, slender knife from his belt, good for skinning game. ‘There’s a limestone hole about another hundred an’ fifty paces on. Wait for us there. I know what to do with nosey goblins.’

He pushed her towards the opening and then followed Nakka off the ledge. Haldora stood there, caught between two desires – to make sure they were all right and to keep up with her mother and the prince. It would do no good to get separated from either. Practicality won over. Ignoring the grunts and groans, the clash and scrape of metal and the dull thud of chopped flesh and bones, she followed the others.

She called on them to wait in the cave ahead, and as Glorri had told her, it was a broad space, several dozen paces across, broken by stalagmites and stalactites. A slightly luminous fungus provided enough light for them to see, illuminating three ways out.

They waited, listening to the distant sounds of fighting, which stopped after a while. It was an agonising time until they heard shuffling along the tunnel into the cave. Horthrad and Skraffi stood by the entrance, rune axes glowing, but it was Glorri that stepped out into the luminescent gleam.

‘Where’s Nakka?’ Haldora demanded, thinking that the ranger was of low enough character to abandon another dwarf to save himself.

‘Just here,’ Nakka called out as Glorri stepped out of the way. He slapped a bloodied hand to the ranger’s shoulder. ‘This one has got a mean streak in him, that’s for sure. Killed more of those gobbos than I did.’

Glorri looked smug for a moment, before his nervousness took over. He spared a glance back the way they came.

‘They’re digging not far away,’ he told them. ‘They weren’t here when I came by yesterday. Must have broken through somewhere.’

‘Only a matter of time before they find the bodies,’ said Horthrad. ‘They’ll be onto us.’

‘And a little more until they find the way we came, into Ekrund,’ said Fleinn. ‘Maybe we should have blocked it off!’

‘Too late now,’ Glorri said hurriedly, setting off across the cave towards the leftmost exit. ‘This way.’

None of them felt like arguing and they followed after, up a maze of steep and twisting tunnels hewn by the greenskins. There was barely room to fit through in places; as Glorri had warned they were onto their bellies a couple of times, pushing their packs ahead of them.

They had just left one such stretch when a chorus of excited shouts followed them up from the darkness. Angry hissing and spitting amplified by the echoes betrayed the goblins’ intentions.

‘They must’ve found the bodies,’ said Glorri. ‘Get a move on. These are their tunnels, they know them better than me and there could be a way for them to cut us off.’

Progress was painfully slow, as they had to clamber over rocks and push through tight holes, now and then wading across pools and, on one occasion, even going through a waterfall. The area was a mix of natural formations and goblin lair, so that at one moment they might be in a spectacular cave, admiring the striations and formations as only a dwarf could; the next they would be in a winding tunnel, crawling through old goblin dung and discarded bones.

‘How much further?’ Haldora asked. ‘I can definitely hear them coming after us!’

‘And getting closer,’ added Nakka.

‘Not far now, not far,’ insisted Glorri. ‘Keep up!’

They came across a rope ladder that dropped down a shaft into a pool of water, fixed into the rock by a pair of iron pegs.

‘Your handiwork?’ said Horthrad to Glorri.

The ranger nodded. ‘I know what I’m doing, your majesty.’

They climbed down, no more than three of them on the ladder at once, those left at the top keeping watch for the pursuing goblins. Haldora swore she saw a glint of eyes now and then, or the glow of a torch, but nothing came of it.

However, just as she started down, axe and shield slung, Skraffi on the ledge above swore and moved away from the drop.

‘Just climb!’ someone shouted from the bottom.

Haldora didn’t argue. She unhooked her feet from the rope rungs and used her arms to lower herself quickly down the ladder, ignoring the burning in her muscles. She splashed into the pool at the bottom and stepped away, others not far above her.

Nakka was about halfway down when the first goblin appeared at the top. Another appeared next to it, bow in hand. At first it looked at the dwarfs gathered in the ankle-deep water below, face creased with a wicked grin. Then it noticed Nakka on the swinging ladder and nocked an arrow to its bow, leaning out over the edge.

A stone bounced from the creature’s helmet with an audible ting, knocking it back a step. Haldora glanced over her shoulder to see her mother stooping for another missile, hands fishing through the water.

The goblin aimed again as they threw more stones at it, but this time it was not put off. It loosed its black dart, which hit Nakka in the right arm. He lost his grip and hung by one hand, almost falling onto Skraffi who was just a few rungs below him.

More goblins arrived, casting stones and spitting down at the dwarfs to drive them back while others loosed more arrows at Skraffi and Nakka. They were still only two-thirds of the way down and the arrows were clattering from the wall beside them and sticking into the thick cable of the ladder. Some of the shafts splashed around the dwarfs at the bottom, a couple of shots narrowly missing Haldora as she moved to the foot of the ladder and held it taut. There were black-robed night goblins climbing after them, knives between their teeth, scuttling head-first like evil, pointed-nosed, green-skinned squirrels.

‘Sod this,’ she heard Glorri mutter.

She thought he was going to leave, but as she turned to confront him she found the ranger pitching off his pack. He undid one of the buckles and upended the pack on the side of the pool, tipping out golden goblets, silver platters and a small fortune in rings, amulets and torqs.

‘You were stealing all of that?’ Horthrad looked as if he was about to seize Glorri by the throat.

‘Stealing? These is my family trove, I’ll have you know. Just because you was planning on being a pauper don’t mean I had to be.’

‘Too heavy for you to run?’ snarled the king, making a lunge at Glorri, who dodged away.

‘Sorry, your majesty.’ Glorri punched Horthrad square in the jaw, knocking him to his backside. ‘But you’re a royal numpty.’

Glorri snatched up a gold teaplate with ruby-studded edges. He spun it sideways towards the goblins, flashing blue and orange in the light of the rune-lamp and goblin torches. It struck one of the archers in the shoulder, spoiling its aim, but this was not the only effect. Seeing the shiny metal landing in their midst, the goblins seemed to forget about the dwarfs and fell upon each other in their desire to claim the prize.

The others caught on quick and helped Glorri as he pelted jewellery and coins up at the goblins. One of the descending night goblins tried to catch a necklace of pearls as it flew past. It lost its grip as it leaned out and plummeted from the ladder with a wail, crashing into the pool just a few paces from Fleinn. He stabbed it through the eye and then wiped his sword on its hood as it sank into the water.

‘Greedy beggar should’ve known better.’

Skraffi made it to the bottom with Nakka just behind. The goblins were already getting over the distraction of the treasure – more were climbing down and the first of a new flurry of arrows hit the water.

Without saying anything, Glorri headed into one of the cracks on the other side of the chamber.

‘What about your treasure?’ Haldora called out.

‘Let the spiteful little cowards fight over it,’ the ranger called back. ‘It’ll give us more time. We’re close. Run!’

Nobody argued. They piled after Glorri, dropping shields and packs and anything else except their axes, hammers and swords. Haldora could hear the splashes and hoots as the goblins dropped into the pool and started pawing over the pile of treasure.

Glorri turned left sharply into what looked like a dwarf-made gallery.

Haldora didn’t recognise it, but she realised that one side was open to the sky, like the loggia where she had first met the king. It was night time, thick cloud obscured moons and stars and the wind was still. They were high up Mount Bloodhorn somewhere. She could just about see the flicker of hundreds of campfires in the valley below, and by their light the broken towers of the North Gate.

The steep slope was covered with trees ahead, and the remnants of a bridge crossed from the gallery over a frozen river to a cliff face on the opposite side of the gorge. The middle section of the bridge was crossed via a couple of narrow planks, which Glorri stopped to toss down into the chasm when they were all over.

Night goblins spilled out onto the gallery after them, hurling high-pitched curses and shooting arrows as they came to a halt at the end of the bridge, none of them bold enough to make the jump. Haldora heard distant wolf howls and was reminded that their goblin problems were not yet over. They had dumped their food and water in the last scramble to get away, and there were days upon days of walking ahead of them, through mountains crawling with foes and the wildlands, not to mention the winter itself.

But they were out.

They reached the sanctuary of the trees, breathing heavily, and flopped against the trunks, grinning for the first time in a long while. Haldora took a good lungful of crisp, fresh air.

Freedom.

‘We should keep moving,’ said Horthrad. ‘The goblins will figure out a way across that bridge soon enough.’

‘Let’s just rest a minute, take stock,’ said Skraffi. He peered up at the sky and shook his head. ‘Can’t see the sun. Glorri, which way’s north?’

‘We ain’t heading north,’ said the ranger. He looked at Haldora. ‘We go east, across the wildlands to Karak Drazh. I got old family there. We’ll be sure to find someone to take us in.’

‘Nonsense,’ declared Horthrad. He laid a hand on Haldora’s arm. ‘My Great-Uncle Doriaz is king of Karak Eight Peaks. Come with me and you’ll be a princess.’

‘North,’ said Skraffi. ‘Barak Varr. The wildlands to the east will be crawling with greenskins.’

‘I’m king,’ said Horthrad. ‘My command is to go to Karak Eight Peaks.’

‘Is it also your command to marry you?’ snapped Haldora. ‘Your majesty?’

‘I didn’t mean that. But someone has to make a decision.’

‘And you decided it was going to be you?’ said Glorri. He sucked air through his teeth. ‘I don’t think so, your majesty. Who’s gonna get you across the wildlands? Who knows where the water and game is and where the greenskins is at? Me. So I choose Karak Drazh.’

‘And they’re going to welcome a penniless ranger, are they?’ said Horthrad.

‘I don’t see you rolling in gold coins any more,’ Glorri said with a sneer.

‘I am of royal blood. A king.’

‘Not yet,’ Haldora said quietly, stepping away from the pair of them. ‘You said yourself, you haven’t sworn the oaths or got the crown.’

‘All right, but I am still a prince.’

A howl cut the night, not so far away. Glorri grimaced and held out a hand to Haldora.

‘I’ll keep you safe, protect you,’ he promised. The ranger was not without his faults, but he had given up the family trove to save them, and he certainly knew the wider world better than anybody else in the group. Knowledge like that would be invaluable in the years to come.

Horthrad just looked at her, confident that his offer was already known. His family connections in Karak Eight Peaks guaranteed that he would be welcomed with open arms, and few questions would be asked about how he got out of Ekrund. Although he didn’t have treasure on him, there was no doubt that old family interests in Karak Eight Peaks would supply him with a steady income soon enough.

And he was, as he had pointed out, an actual prince.

She had not thought that it would come to this. She caught her mother looking at her with a satisfied expression, as though Haldora had intended this. Certainly her father had realised the strength of potential marriage, and now Haldora had it within her power to choose the fate of her family. In such uncertain times, that was an exceptional ability.

‘Looks like you get to decide,’ said Skraffi. He sniffed the air. The wind was cutting through the trees and the stench of goblins was easy to detect. ‘Better choose quickly, Haldi.’

She looked at the menfolk, the centre of their attention, each of them waiting for her decision for a change. More than that, they were looking to her for guidance. For leadership. They expected her to know what to do, and they were prepared to listen to her.

‘It’s Haldora,’ she said firmly. ‘And this is what’s going to happen.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

‘The halls were finished and the hold was considered complete when the last stone of the South Gate was put in place by King Furdak, Grimbalki’s son. It was a mighty achievement, the first city founded since the karaks of the north mountains, and kings and thanes from the southern holds, and even the High King himself, came to see for themselves what was so special about the Dragonbacks.

Each visitor received a grand welcome, gifted with the finest Ekrund beer and liver sausage, and banqueted at no small expense until they could eat no more. They were given tours down the First Delve and saw the trophy chambers where the honours of years of fighting against the goblins were kept.

Most impressed they were, and they went back to their holds well-fed and of good spirits.

And when all the visitors was gone, the Ekrundfolk held themselves a party, even more extravagant than the hosting of the High King, even amongst the most thrifty clans, for there’s no point sparing a coin when you’re celebrating such a thing that only comes once in ten generations.

They raised tankards to toast the shades of Grimbalki and Ordorin before him, and the celebrations lasted for five days and nights. And there was not a soul there, I wager, that thought that Ekrund would ever diminish, not in five thousand or fifty thousand years.

Barely a thousand was all it had, but that’s another story.’

They came from the West Gate first of all. Firelight glowed through the cracks in the piled boulders and timbers. The barricade collapsed and goblins scampered through, easily cut down by arrows and shot from the waiting dwarfs. But the breach had been opened and though more goblins died, with each one that came through those labouring behind pulled away another beam or dragged aside another rock, widening the gap.

Horns sounded the alarm, but there was nobody to respond. The dwarfs that remained in Ekrund had chosen the places of their deaths days before, waiting by one of the grand tunnels or in the halls of their ancestors.

The goblins reached the line at the West Gate, and though they were chopped apart by axe and bludgeoned to death by hammer, they were not the last. The forest goblins broke in, their spider mounts scuttling up columns and along walls. Their war-chieftain followed, atop his great arachnarok. Bolts pattered and broke on its thick hide as it towered over the waiting dwarfs, venom dripping from its maw. In its wake came more goblins, with flint spears and arrows, thousands-strong despite the many thousands of dead on the surface.

At near enough the same time, the attack on the South Gate was led by trolls, nearly fifty of them. They were of all varieties: olive-skinned river trolls that stank of rotting fish and weeds; bluish-grey stone trolls from the mountain passes; marsh trolls with brown hides and vibrant red crests; and common trolls with warty black flesh and claws as long as knives. They were tough enough to weather the missiles of the defenders as they heaved aside boulders, urged on by orcs behind.

Gabbik looked at the trolls and felt more satisfied than he had done for a long time, since before even the siege had begun.

The universe had become such a simple place now. Three things existed in his life. Himself. His axe. An uncountable number of enemies. He would bring these three elements together for as long as possible and then, at some point, it would be over.

He embraced the finality and in doing so was freed from fear, from expectation, from desire, ambition and everything else that had distracted him for the centuries of his life. The Last Oath, the ritual of joining Grimnir’s Slayers, had helped him realise that his mistakes could not be rectified, his honour was already lost. The only thing that he could do was find glory and death, and by those means he would once more be admitted to the Halls of the Ancestors.

Gabbik looked down at the axe in his hands, not recognising it. It had come from the shrine of Grimnir and there was a rune upon the blade, to part armour and flesh. There seemed an almost mischievous twinkle to the magical light that glowed from the sigil, as though the axe was looking forward to what would come next.

The Slayers sensed each other’s anticipation and as one they broke into a charge.

The trolls were thrashing into a group of clansdwarfs that met the monsters with heavy picks and hammers, slamming knobbled fists into mailed bodies, gouging innards with their claws, crushing skulls with tree-limb clubs. Gabbik picked out a particular beast – a heavy-set river troll with flared ears and webbed digits that had lank hair hanging to its waist knotted with fish bones and filth.

He slammed his axe into the creature’s leg. The rune did its work, parting flesh and then bone with ease, so that Gabbik was almost thrown off-balance when the axe head passed out the other side of the monster’s thigh.

It toppled and Gabbik was on it in moments, hacking again into its neck with lusty strokes. The troll’s flesh writhed, trying to regenerate. Parted muscle and skin attempted to knit together, snapped bones grew calcified outcrops to repair fractures.

Zhamuz joined him, an axe in each hand, and between the two of them they cut off the troll’s head and kicked it away.

‘My first troll!’ Gabbik exclaimed.

‘Great, let’s not make it the last,’ replied Zhamuz.

Gabbik turned to face the breach. There were still lots of trolls pounding and crushing, opening a path into the hall. The tunnel behind them rang with iron-shod feet, marching together. Black orcs, armoured head-to-toe, carrying pairs of scimitars and cleavers, heads encased within horned helms.

And there would be more after them, and more still. Ekrund would fall that day.

Gabbik lifted his axe and let loose a bellow that echoed over the din of battle. It was a wordless shout of challenge that drew the attention of several trolls. They heaved themselves in Gabbik’s direction, moaning and snarling.

Gabbik broke into a run to meet the degenerate creatures. The other Slayers charged with him, and from Gabbik’s lips a last battle cry that had announced the arrival of his clan for generations.

‘Durazut Angbok karak!’

He had felt the touch of this feeling before, when he had confronted the wyvern. He had been certain of dying then, and the certainty had robbed death of its power. During the long night when they had been fleeing the goblins, when exhaustion had set in and nothing mattered except getting his family safe, that had been easy too.

The memory stirred other thoughts. Thoughts of Skraffi and Awdhelga. He looked at the memories as if from a distance, as though someone else had done an etching of the scene and animated it. He was there, both in the scene as himself, now looking at it with the eye of the dead.

His wedding to Friedra. Ale flowed, her smile lifting his heart so much that he didn’t even count the cost of the banquet. Seeing her in the kitchens or laying the table or washing the floors. More than dependable: essential. The foundation of his life, upon which he had been able to build everything else.

And Haldora. Tiny little Haldora, in his hands, freshly bathed for him, curling her fingers through his beard. And Haldora grown up. The very likeness of her grandmother, in looks and heart. Strong. Independent.

So proud.

He had lived a good life. Gabbik had not realised it at the time, not thoroughly, but he had always been thankful for the blessings the ancestors had gifted to him. He had worked hard to preserve that which he loved the most, and though they had joked at his expense, they had known that while he always knew the value of gold, he also believed something else.

Family was priceless.

A good life. Now it was time for a good death.

EPILOGUE

‘And that’s how Ekrund was founded, where your forefathers and foremothers came from,’ the old dwarf finished. She puffed on her pipe, the only light left in the chamber now that the fire had dimmed. A ring of faces looked up at her, rapt with attention. Little Gabbik held up his hand and she gave him a nod of permission.

‘And was that where you killed the goblins?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I killed goblins there, young ’un, plenty of them.’

Another young dwarf thrust up her eager hand. The matronly dwarf smiled at her, crow’s feet around her eyes deepening further.

‘Yes, my lovely Awdhelga?’

‘Is that where Grammi Nakka killed a dozen black orcs in one battle? Is it true?’

The old dwarf grinned and nodded towards the doorway. There stood another equally ancient dwarf, a few strands of reddish-brown left in his hair and beard, eyes a startling blue beneath a creased brow. He was looking at the children with a distant, fond smile.

‘Evening, your majesty,’ he said with a tip of the head.

‘Why don’t you ask him yourself,’ said Gramma Haldora.

‘Though Josef Bugman’s ancestors moved into the lands that would later become the Empire, they lived for a few generations in the Grey Mountains. Dwarfs are reluctant to talk about such things to outsiders, but it is the understanding of these scholars that Josef’s ancestors were involved in some part with the founding of Karak Norn. While little can be gleaned from our libraries, Karak Norn is remarkable amongst the holds of the dwarfs for the fact that its first ruler is believed to have been a queen. History has, alas, forgotten her name.’

‘Dwarfs of the Empire, a Brief History’, by Rikard
the Holy and Njel of the Stills.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gav Thorpe is the author of the Horus Heresy novel Deliverance Lost, as well as the novellas Corax: Soulforge, Ravenlord and The Lion, which formed part of the New York Times bestselling collection The Primarchs. He is particularly well-known for his Dark Angels stories, including the Legacy of Caliban series, and the ever-popular novel Angels of Darkness. His Warhammer 40,000 repertoire further includes the Path of the Eldar series, the Horus Heresy audio dramas Raven’s Flight and Honour to the Dead, and a multiplicity of short stories. For Warhammer, Gav has penned the Time of Legends trilogy, The Sundering, and much more besides. He lives and works in Nottingham.

For Samuel, the next generation.

A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION

Published in 2014 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd., Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.

Cover illustration by Stefan Kopinski.
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