Deepforge (11 page)

The crowd applauded when he said this, but he calmed them with a gesture. Queen Kathryn and Taylen watched, still mourning those lost.

Grognor continued, “The Stone Children will be leaving a detachment to help protect you, but everyone else…all army divisions will be traveling west, first thing in the morning. The Drakmids are after me and the citadel itself. So, they’ll follow us. They have no interest in Lake Valley. This will be called the Tenth Deepforge Army, as it is the newest configuration. The divisions are as follows: General Victoria, you will take your people; Brendon, you will be General of your division; Hentlehoff of Underhill, you will be General of your division. Lucas, you will lead the rest of them. Now, that takes care of the human and halfling divisions. The rest of us, the minority of dwarves and everyone else will be under myself directly until we meet up with the others. Then we’ll continue on. Pearl, you are to return to your people and recruit as many as possible. Bōddy, you and yours will scout on ahead, and recruit as many of your people when you get to your villages…wherever they are. Everyone get some rest, and keep alert. We leave at first light.”

The crowd began yelling questions and objections, but Grognor ignored them. His word was final. His exhaustion was almost too much for him, so he went to the dwarven encampment and lay down to rest.

Before his eyes closed, one of the warriors woke him up.

“Sire, there’s a cavalry division coming in.”

“Thank you. I’m coming.” Grognor got up and walked to where the division could be seen arriving.

There were roughly two hundred humans, mounted on heavy warhorses. They were lightly armored, dressed in light leather clothing, and all had long bows and swords.

“The Ranger division, good,” Grognor said. He walked up to the leader, who was adorned with various animal parts and a headdress of feathers. “It’s good you have come. We’re preparing to start the expedition west in the morning.”

“Emperor. I am Eugene, Chieftain of the Naw-nee people. We came as soon as we heard. We’ve also found a few of your warhorses. They seem to have been spooked. We were able to calm them down with Tambar’s help.” He patted his own horse, who seemed to be much more intelligent than a horse, as evidenced by its mannerisms. “What in the world are we up against?”

“They’re a malevolent people wearing armor and weapons of a kind we’ve never seen before. I’m sure the engineers and forgers will be deciphering it soon. They intend to take me and Deepforge itself down, Chieftain. There’s something they’re after, and nobody seems to know what it is. What’s certain is, there’s a lot of them. We’ll need to rally every warrior we’ve got.”

Deccon appeared as himself at just that moment, with Teelena on his back. She slid off, and Deccon resumed his human form. Teelena was bleeding from a wound to her head and torso, and had obviously been badly burned on one side. She had been in battle.

“Grognor! Deepforge citadel is under attack!” Teelena said, nearly falling into his arms.

“It’s true, Sire. Nearly this entire time we’ve been gone we’ve been fighting. What…what happened here?” Deccon asked, seeing the bodies stacked up and the wounded warriors walking around.

“We too have been in battle. My gods! Teelena! Let’s get you to the hospital at once!” Grognor held and began taking her as he looked up at Deccon. “I knew something was wrong. Somehow, I knew. The Stone Children are here, we would have been wiped out otherwise. Do you have any idea what these people are after?”

“No, Sire, none,” Deccon said, still looking around at the dead and the soldiers coming in from the west. “Looks like many of the smaller villages have come. The rest are trying to defend the citadel.”

“Where’s Bahamlo? What does he have to say about this?” Grognor asked.

“We don’t know, he said something about Lotanna, and that something wasn’t right. Then, he just left…right in the middle of the battle.” Deccon looked shocked and…worried for the first time.

“Left?”

“Yea, I have to be honest with you, Grognor. I don’t know what’s going on anymore. There’s something terribly wrong about all of this.”

“That doesn’t help.”

“I know. We just have to keep fighting. None of this sounds like what we expected, a battle between two factions. There’s something else going on.”

As soon as they entered the hospital, nurses came to Teelena’s aide. They took total control, and began treating her immediately. Deccon looked around at the full-to-capacity hospital and really began doubting everything he thought he knew. Grognor could see it in his human expressions.

“Welcome aboard.”

Deccon looked at him with confusion. “I’m sorry?”

“How does it feel to not be in control, to not know things anyone else knows, and to be making it all up as you go?” Grognor asked, sarcastically.

“Not good, old friend. Not good at all.”

Grognor nodded, understanding. “Like I said, welcome aboard.”

More warriors showed up until the Botana villagers trickled in, all twenty of them. Kristov Botana, a human, sought out Deccon and Grognor. He found them talking in the hospital emergency room.

“Deccon, and your Majesty.” Kristov bowed with respect. “We are here at your request. When we departed, we heard the sounds of battle behind us.”

“Thank you, Botana. Go ahead and fall in with the camp. We’ll be heading back in the morning,” Grognor said.

“Sire, that was the last of them. We engaged the chromatics just a few miles west of there,” Deccon said.

“Ok, well, we need to get going. I have to give everyone a chance to rest, we’ll depart before sunrise. I know you probably want to get back, but I would feel better if you stayed with us for the time being,” Grognor nearly pleaded with the dragon.

“Of course. One dragon, more or less, won’t make a difference over there, but could help you all a great deal.”

“That bad?”

“Sire, they’ve come close to breaching the Great Door many times. The forgers and metalsmiths have fortified it, and are confident.”

“How many are there?”

“Roughly seven thousand, and several dozen chromatics of every type. They’re determined to get into the citadel.”

“Damn. I wish we could get back faster…wait…I may have an idea.” Grognor walked out of the hospital and quickly found Bruno. “Bruno, you said there was a mountain path, do you think you could lead us through it?”

“Sure, but, it’s not a trip for the wounded or infirm. It certainly requires stamina. Also, we won’t be able to take the war machines through it.”

“How much time would we save by taking that route?”

“Four or five days, probably. Maybe less.”

“That’s good enough. You’re now our trail leader.”

“Got it. We’ll be ready.”

“Good. Get some rest. We leave at first light, before dawn.”

“Yes, Sire.”

Deccon and Grognor walked back to the hospital as the suns set and the troops prepared. Songs of victory were sung, and the anthem was repeated many times. Kathryn and Taylen came to the hospital along with Bōddy and Brendon. They all sat in the waiting room. Bruno walked in to check on the wounded, saw the people waiting, and joined them as well.

“So, Earth, huh? Where is this world, I mean…you’ll have to point it out in the night sky later on,” Grognor insisted of Bōddy, referring to the earlier conversation.

“Even with the most powerful telescopes,” Bōddy started, “it would be just a tiny flicker of light. I have a vague idea of where it is, but am not certain. A lot of time as passed. I would expect your astronomer could figure it out. It’s six billion light-years away.”

“Light-years?” Brendon said, not recognizing the term.

“I lived there once,” Deccon said.

“On Earth? Really?” Bōddy was shocked. It was the first time he had heard of this.

“Yea, it was a very long time ago, before the humanoid races evolved. There were large creatures of both animal and high intelligence. I had an entire sub-continent to myself. Wow, I hadn’t thought of that in a long time…”

“We sure have heard that name a lot lately, Earth,” Kathryn said.

“Yea,” started Deccon, “I left after a catastrophic war between the dragons took place. I sure hope it doesn’t get like that here… anyway…it was the war when the chromatics and the metallics split factions…split families, really. The whole thing finally came to a climax at my home. Some of my…siblings…trapped me and my closest cohorts at my home, and the others attacked. The fire and destruction went all the way to the mantle, becoming volcanic in nature. The war ultimately caused a mass extinction. I guess, really, the humanoids wouldn’t have come millions of years later if it hadn’t have been for that war. There was even a collision of an asteroid caused by one faction or another…kind of like what happened on Armadia. Strange how things work out.”

“Deccon trapped. That’s hard to imagine,” Taylen said.

“Oh, it’s true. Many millions of years later, humanity even named that area after me, without even knowing it.” Deccon looked over at Bruno. “I had a friend there; you’ve always kind of reminded me of him.”

Bruno looked Deccon deep into his eyes, thoughtful, then nodded. “I
am
him, Deccon…old friend. I
am
him. I wasn’t supposed to tell you but, I really don’t think it matters now. It’s me, Michael.”

Deccon got a look of shock on his face and stood up. He moved to Bruno, looked deep into his eyes, and grabbed his shoulders. “That’s impossible; you’re a Stone Child… how?”

“Deccon, do you remember how I looked back then, and how you’ve seen me for…your entire life here on this world?”

“Of course, Bruno, but…I don’t understand?”

“The pointed star is always in the east,” Bruno said.

Deccon recognized the phrase, a phrase from another time, long ago. “Impossible! Michael? Is it really you?”

Bruno nodded and grabbed Deccon’s arms. “Yes, old friend, it’s me. I was sent here a very long time ago, for many reasons, some I don’t understand. This time, right now… I was never told about, never briefed on. I’m running blind. Something’s not right, and the gods can’t help us.”

“Can you still, I mean…can you transform?” Deccon hoped.

“Yes, I’m unchanged.”

“What about your people? Do they know what you are?”

“Yes, they’ve known for a millennia. I couldn’t keep it from them, especially after what happened with the Nords. They saw me react and transform, so I had to tell them the truth.”

“Then, now we have hope. There may be a chance after all.” Deccon smiled.

“Excuse me, but, what the hell are you two talking about?” Grognor asked.

“Sire, I’m… not exactly what I seem. I’m immortal, and can shift into any shape,” Bruno said.

“So, like the dragons?” Bōddy asked, feeling a bit left out of the conversation.

Deccon chuckled, as did Bruno. Nobody else had any idea of what was going on.

“Show them, old friend,” Deccon insisted.

“Are you sure?” Bruno seemed hesitant.

“Bruno, my old friend… Michael Angelico…the First One. We’re
all
running blind. It’s time to pull out all the stops. Just show the Emperor and everyone else who you are, who you
really
are.”

Bruno nodded and stepped back. In a moment, he transformed into a gargoyle.

“What the hell?” Grognor unlatched his axe.

“By the gods!” Kathryn screamed.

“What the hell
are
you?” Taylen held the Queen.

Bruno fell back into his Stone Child shape. “It’s a long story but, the short version is, I’m immortal. I can never be harmed and will never, ever die. I can become any shape, in every way. I was supposed to remain incognito. But, something’s changed. I wasn’t even supposed to be active in this valley for another twelve thousand years, or so I was told. This is all new. It’s the main reason I hesitated helping. It’s too early for me to be here. I just hope we haven’t jeopardized the future.”

Bōddy chuckled. “An immortal. A
real
immortal, huh? Not just an unlimited life span like us?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Bruno confirmed.

“Bruno, the future can take care of itself. We can’t be worried about what’s to come,” Grognor said. “We have to live for now.”

Bruno nodded, knowing it was true. “You’re right, Sire. Of course you are. I stand ready to help however you need.”

“We just may have a chance, now,” Deccon said.

At that point, a doctor approached the group. “Emperor, she’s going to be fine. We have most of her wounds bound, and her burns were only superficial.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Will she be ready to move out in the morning?”

“Well, actually, it would be best if she stayed a few days, for observation.”

“Unacceptable. Make her ready for travel by dawn.”

The doctor reluctantly agreed.

“I’m going to be with my wife. Everyone, we have a long week ahead of us. Get some rest,” Grognor ordered. “Bruno…thank you for revealing yourself to us. You can bet your talents will be needed. We’ll talk more.”