Council of War (2 page)

The dwarven prince tried to sleep, but he could not. Eventually he rose and walked to a small beach on the edge of the island. It was a forbidden area for the dwarves, but the prince did not care. The Empire no longer kept guards on the island as there was no place for the dwarves to go. There was no land in sight in any direction from the Isle of Despair. The prince sat in the sand and stared out at the stars twinkling over the dark sea. He mentally tried to come to grips with the death of his father, but he could not. He had always looked at the king as a rock that the whole tribe depended on. Despite his father's comforting words, Prince Drak knew that he could never replace the king. He had neither the desire nor the skills to take the place of King Granarik. Slowly his thoughts turned to what might happen if he did not take the crown that was rightfully his. Would another dwarf step up to claim it? Would they all refuse? And what would K'san do if no one accepted it?

His thoughts turned dark with despair as he tried to envision the future of the dwarves. Whether he became king or not, the dwarves were doomed to extinction. He knew that none of the couples would willingly bear a child to have it taken away, so when the last dwarf died, the mining would stop. In a small way, it was a defiant act taken against the Empire that the Emperor was powerless to change. Perhaps, he wondered, it might be better to die sooner rather than later. Without a conscious thought of what he was doing, Prince Drak rose and began stripping off his clothes. He folded them neatly and placed his ring and necklace atop the pile. As he stood naked on the beach, he suddenly realized what he was doing. He looked down at his neat pile of belongings and nodded in agreement with his unconscious decision. The dwarven prince turned and spied a cliff farther down the beach. He walked slowly towards it and climbed to the top. Closing his eyes, Prince Drak dove off of the cliff.

The water stung as his body plowed through the surface, but the prince paid no attention to the pain. He dove forcefully downward, not in search of the bottom, but rather in search of peace. After a few moments his mind began to whirl, and he lost control of his arms and legs. As blackness enveloped him, the dwarven prince smiled thinly and let the darkness claim him.

Unexpectedly, air was forced into his aching lungs. His eyes popped open to see a field of gold flowing before him. The prince had not known what to expect after death, but he felt another presence around him. More air was forced into his mouth, and he felt the pressure of lips against his own. Frowning in confusion, he shook his head. That was when he saw the face of an angel. It was a human face, but it was beautiful beyond comprehension. The prince struggled to make sense of what was happening, but he could not. The lips met his again and more air flowed into his lungs. His mind began to function again and he reached out and touched the human. He was surprised with the sensation of feeling his fingers against her flesh. It was a sensual feeling and he heard laughter as he tried to concentrate on the feeling.

Suddenly the angel moved back, and the prince got his first look at her. The woman was naked, but she wasn't human. The top half of her was human, but the bottom half was that of a fish. He shook his head in confusion again, and the laughter returned. The angel moved in again and pressed her lips to his. Another dose of air found its way into his lungs, and he began to feel stronger. It was only then that he realized that the creature was trying to save his life. His despair began to return, and he tried pushing the woman away, but she was far stronger than he was. With a flick of her tail, the woman shot around the prince and grabbed him from behind. Prince Drak felt the sensation of water flowing past him as if he were wading in a river. In just a few moments, he felt his feet dragging on sand. Prince Drak gave up the battle against the woman as she slid him up onto the beach near his pile of clothing.

"You must have fallen into the sea," the melodious voice stated. "Good thing I happened to be around."

The prince wanted to be angry about the rescue, but he could not suppress the warm feelings he felt for the creature. He stared at her as if she were the most beautiful creature to ever exist.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am called Samar," smiled the woman. "You are the one they call Prince Drak. Are you not?"

"Yes," frowned the prince. "How do you know who I am?"

The creature merely smiled.

"I didn't fall into the ocean," offered the dwarf. "You had no need to save me. I will just have to try again."

"Why?" frowned the angel. "It is not right to throw your life away."

"It seems right to me," replied the dwarf. "I cannot be king of the dwarves, and my father lies dying outside the mine. I no longer wish to live."

"You must," retorted Samar. "Who will lead the dwarves if you do not?"

"That is not my problem," countered the dwarf. "Nor is it yours. You must not stop me the next time."

"It is my problem," frowned Samar. "I am responsible for your being here. I will not let you die."

"How are you responsible?" asked the prince.

"I guided the ship that brought you here," Samar said sadly. "I wish I had not, but I cannot change what has happened."

"You?" balked the prince. "I did not see you aboard. An old woman guided the ship that I was on. They called her a water witch."

"We age outside the water," stated Samar. "We are not meant to be land dwellers."

"I am confused," declared Prince Drak.

"Legends call us mermaids," explained Samar, "but the Zarans only know of us as water witches. We have the ability to adopt a human form on land, but it ages quickly. This is our true form."

"And you work for the emperor?" Drak asked suspiciously.

"We guide his ships," admitted Samar, "but we do not approve of what the Baroukans do. We are a peaceful people and do not condone slavery. There is talk among those of my kind of refusing to work anymore, but we are afraid that we will be killed."

"It seems as if the emperor enslaves everyone," frowned the prince. "Maybe you should just drag me to the bottom. It would save me a trip back up the cliff."

"I will do no such thing," Samar stated adamantly. "If you can no longer abide here on the Isle of Despair, I will take you to the mainland, but I will not let you drown yourself."

"You know of the mainland?" asked the prince.

"I know a great deal about it," nodded the mermaid. "When I was younger, I was quite curious about it. It is beautiful in its own way, but it can't compare with the sea."

"How far is it?" asked the dwarf.

"The closest part is fifteen leagues due south," answered Samar.

"Is that where the emperor lives?" asked Prince Drak.

"No," replied Samar. "He lives in a big city at the mouth of the Despair River. The closest land is Elfwoods. It is a great forest where they keep the elven slaves. It stretches westward all the way to the mountains."

"Mountains?" brightened the prince. "Are they big mountains?"

"Very big," Samar answered. "They stretch for hundreds of leagues."

"What I would give to see those mountains," sighed Prince Drak.

"I can take you almost there," offered the mermaid. "The Despair River gets too shallow near the mountains, but I could get you close to them."

The dwarven prince did not immediately respond. His mind whirled with the information he had gained from the mermaid, and a plan began to congeal in his mind.

"What are you thinking?" prompted the mermaid.

"I am thinking about a way to get my people to those mountains," answered the dwarf.

"I could take them one at a time I suppose," suggested the mermaid.

"No," the dwarf shook his head. "K'san would soon notice the low number of dwarves, and he would slay them all. When we leave the Isle of Despair, we must all leave at once."

"I cannot do that," frowned Samar. "And you cannot go by boat even if I could get you one. You would be spotted by the patrols."

"I have a plan in mind," smiled the prince, "but I will need more information from you. Are you willing to meet with me once a month?"

"As long as we are not discovered," answered Samar. "Perhaps during the night of no moon?"

"Perfect," smiled the prince as he rose and began getting dressed.

The mermaid watched curiously as the dwarf got dressed. "Why did you leave your clothes behind?"

"It is our custom," shrugged the prince. "When one commits suicide, he takes nothing dwarven with him. To do so would disgrace our ancestors. I must go, Samar, but I thank you for saving my life."

The mermaid smiled broadly, and the dwarf disappeared into the night. For hours Prince Drak sat alone and drew diagrams in the dirt and wrote columns of numbers. By the time the sky began to lighten, he was whistling a merry tune. He rose and hurried to where he had left his father, but King Granarik had already passed away. Tears came to prince’s eyes as he knelt next to his father’s body and embraced it. He had come to share his vision with the king, but that was not to be. Prince Drak stood up and raised his arms skyward as he wailed in anguish.

The noise woke the rest of the dwarves, and they began to rise for another day weary toil. Prince Drak inhaled deeply and composed himself. He wiped the tears from his eyes and began to compose the words he would speak to K’san. As the miners began to assemble for work, a small boat arrived. K'san and six soldiers marched to the mine entrance and demanded the king's presence.

"My father passed away this morning," Prince Drak declared as he pointed to the king's body. "The strain of not meeting your quota was too much for him to bear."

K'san glowered as he stared at the dead king. He turned to face the prince and his eyes narrowed in contempt. "So you are the new king," he spat. "Meeting the quota now falls on your head. Make sure that you do not miss it."

K'san turned to leave, but the prince spoke before he could take a step. "The vein is played out," he announced. "Without changes, the quota cannot be met."

K'san whirled around and glared at the uppity prince. "You will make the quota, or you will die."

"I understand that," retorted Prince Drak, "but killing all of us will not get the emperor any more gold. If it is gold that you want, let me run this mine as I see fit."

"You are trying to bargain with me?" K'san snorted with amusement. "You are hardly in a bargaining position."

"If I can deliver gold to the emperor as required by his quota," the dwarf smiled thinly, "am I not pleasing the emperor?"

"If you can deliver the quota," retorted K'san, "then it is to your advantage to do so. There will be no changes."

"Then there will be no gold," declared the prince.

K'san's nostrils flared with rage at being talked to in such a way by a slave. He stepped close to Prince Drak, and his hand shot out and grabbed the throat of the dwarf.

"You will meet the quota or die," repeated K'san.

"Only with the changes I require," croaked the prince.

K'san's huge hand lifted the dwarf off his feet and shook him in anger, and Drak's face turned bright red, but the prince did not give in. Finally K'san placed the dwarf back on his feet. For several long moment K’san glared at the dwarf, but his rage slowly died.

"What changes?" he spat.

"We need time to find a new vein of gold," Prince Drak said as he massaged his throat, "but I have a way to free up time to accomplish it. I propose to move all of my people underground, including the women. That act alone will free up a tremendous amount of time that we now spend entering and exiting the mine. We can use that time to explore for new veins."

K'san pondered the thought for a few moments before nodding his agreement.

"We also need more food," pressed the prince. "I know that you are hesitant to waste food on mere slaves, but dwarves require more food than humans. Most of my men are weak by the end of the day, and their pace slacks off. It is not because the will is not there, but rather the lack of strength. Give us more food, and we will give you more gold. That is a promise."

K'san turned and gazed at the dwarves that had assembled for work. He admitted silently that they were far leaner than when they had arrived. Keeping your enemy weak was useful in controlling him, but he knew that the prince was speaking the truth on this matter.

"You appear to be far wiser than your father," K'san stated. "I will agree to your changes, but I will double the punishment for missing your quota."

Without waiting for a reply, K'san turned and marched towards the boat. The soldiers dutifully followed, but the dwarves waited for the boat to depart before speaking.

"What are you planning, Prince Drak?" asked one of the dwarves. "Why do you all of a sudden wish to make the emperor wealthy by the sweat of our labor?"

"We are all going to work harder than we have ever worked before," declared Prince Drak. "Starting today, the women will join in the mining, and the days will be lengthened. We have some hard toil before us."

"Are you beginning to feel the noose around your neck now that your father is gone?" quipped another dwarf. "Is that why we must toil longer?"

"No," replied the prince. "We will toil longer and be happy to do so because our labors are going to lead to our freedom."

"You are daft if you think the emperor will be so pleased with his gold that he will let us go free," said a dwarf.

"I would be daft to believe that," chuckled the prince. "You must trust me on this. Our freedom will come at the expense of the Empire, and they will be feeding us more to give us the strength to make it possible."

The five riders halted at the edge of the forest. Garth Shado extracted a scope from his pack and brought it to his eye. The others remained silent and unmoving as they waited for their leader to report.

"The gates to the city are closed," confirmed Garth.

"I am not surprised," commented Morro, an elven thief. "Everyone entering Giza will be scrutinized by the Federation troops."

"But it has been a month since the sinking of the fleet," frowned Tedi. "Surely the security cannot be for that?"