The Hammer of Fire (40 page)

“Yes, although not in a way you would
imagine. We did not create this planet, we simply shaped it. The
planets shaped themselves from the quantum dust born of starry
fire.”

“Did you create the universe then?” asked
Dol.

“That I do not know, although when I was
young it was a topic of much discussion,” said the molten form
slowly shifting into a new shape that began to look like a terrible
dragon. “My kind were not first born,” said Gazadum and the flowing
energy that made up his form seemed to shrug, although how Dol
sensed this he could not exactly tell.

“Who was first born then?” asked Dol.

“Fafaradum and his kind awakened in the
universe and they were so numerous as to be beyond counting. He and
his kind merged and mingled and Glangaldum and her kind came of
this mixing. When countless many of Fafaradum and his kind gathered
in too small a space my kind was born of the fiery inferno that
resulted. But even this was well before my time.”

“How old are you?” asked Dol. “Why did you
create the dwarves if not to enslave them?”

“I shaped this earth for almost three billion
years from the early times when much of our work was constantly
undone by the bombardments, and then the later years when things
became more … settled. But I lived long before that. I was born in
a burning star and lived there for many billions of years with
those of my kind. We enjoyed power beyond comprehension and saw
things of such great beauty that it all seems a dream to me today.
The lashings of plasma arms a million miles long, the lakes of a
fire bigger than a thousand of your worlds, the explosion of suns,
the formation of the great blackness, the swirling of galaxies, all
of this I witnessed.”

“Three … three billion years?” said Dol and
his arm dropped to his side and the hammer with it.

“Indeed,” said Gazadum and the roiling
creature seemed to smile as it became more dragon like yet with
fiery red eyes and a long purple tongue. “The shaping of a world is
a time consuming process but the result is well worth the effort.
You and your kind came of the twisting of Glangaldum, although that
too took millions of years.”

“You claim we were not meant to be slaves,”
said Dol and raised the hammer back up. “But, the legends of
Craggen Steep say we overthrew your rule and took your great
citadel for our own.”

“This is all true. Some of my … children, for
lack of a better word, did not fully understand our plans or
perhaps over the many years we forgot them ourselves. The trappings
of power are great, Dol Delius of Craggen Steep, and to be feared
more than anything else. No one is immune to power and the greater
the more seductive. My children grew arrogant and jealous of the
living creatures that arose over the years. They did enslave them
and I, to my shame, allowed it to happen. My power, my strength, it
was spent in the creation of my children and in the fashioning of
this world. I am a shell of what once strode the earth but I do not
lament.”

“You claim that you did not want to enslave
us so that I might spare your life?” said Dol and turned his head a
little to the side. “It seems odd to have such as you begging for
your existence.”

“Quite the opposite, Dol Delius of Craggen
Steep. I do not beg for more of that which I have had so much. So
very much. Looking back it is clear I should have allowed myself to
be slain back in Tor Balog when your kind expelled me from my
ancient seat of power but I allowed my children, Hezfer the Blue
Flame, Shadak the Black Fire, and of course, beautiful Eleniak the
Dancing Flame, beautiful, beautiful Eleniak, to sway me. Do not
mistake my words for the begging of forgiveness or for mercy; no,
indeed, now I welcome you here. For of all the many years I have
seen none have been more awful than these last few thousand.
Sitting idly and watching. I am a creature of action in
self-enforced idleness. There are many of my kind still in the
stars and they will perhaps live forever, but we four chose a
different road. We chose to come to this planet, to forge it, to
birth life, life, Dol Delius, life. We chose our fate all those
years ago and we did it knowingly. Perhaps I beg, but I do not beg
for mercy.”

“Only you four then,” said Dol.

“Oh no,” said Gazadum and the dragon shape
opened its massive maw and laughter boomed like thunder causing the
chamber to shake. “There are many stars and many more planets yet.
My people of fire, those of air, earth, and water forged into
countless billions of little bands. We settled on many worlds,
many, many worlds. Our plans were great. My only regret in all of
this is that I will not see how the others fared. Did we four shine
brightly or are our creations dull and lifeless little things?
Someday your kind will traverse the stars and meet the children of
the others. I will not see such. I am used up. I am tired. I am
sad. After so long I find myself ready for an end. I have spoken
long enough. Raise your hammer, Dol Delius of Craggen Steep. Let us
see if you are the one who can end my life. But be warned, although
perhaps I am ready for death, still I will cling to life. I will
fight for more of that which I’ve had so much!” With that the
creature suddenly seemed to finish its shifting into the shape of a
great dragon, its terrible maw open and striding across the floor
with motions that seemed leisurely but covered the distance between
the two in a twinkling.

Dol raised his hammer and brought it down
towards the side of the creature and connected with a hard blow
that did not even slow the beast. Dol felt energy from the dragon
shoot up the hammer and into his body, and suddenly his arm
stiffened although he felt such power that his head seemed to glow
with power. Dol staggered back and away from a swiping blow that
missed his head by a few inches. He looked down at his arm, trying
to figure out what caused the strange stiffness. First he saw that
the hammer glowed even more brightly and seemed to pulse and throb.
Then the reason for the stiffness in his arm became clear. His
chain armor seemed to have melted into a solid mass and somehow
fused with his flesh. Dol felt a presence on his right and ducked
away from another strike and lashed out with a blow that landed
powerfully on the creature’s lower leg and sent it sprawling to the
floor with an ear-bursting roar. This time Dol watched as the
energy of the beast flowed into his hammer and although much of it
was somehow absorbed, the residual heat tore into him like a bolt
of lightning spearing a tall tree. Dol screamed in both agony and
ecstasy.

Dol maneuvered to the side of the creature
which seemed to be having trouble moving and aimed a blow just as
the beast opened its mouth and a ball of molten fire leapt from the
beast and engulfed the dwarf warrior. He felt fire in his mouth,
nose, ears, and eyes and the ripping, burning sensation pierced his
lungs, and he felt his internal organs shriveling from the blast.
Somehow he ignored the pain for long enough to continue forward and
bring down a killing blow on the head of the beast.

Gazadum managed to squirm or flow or somehow
move just to the right and the hammer came down hard on its upper
shoulder region and sent it crashing to the ground with the sound
of a boulder smashing to the earth after a long fall.

Dol staggered backwards and fell to one knee,
his lungs burning and his eyes unable to focus. It took a moment
for him to recover enough to rise back to one foot and squint so
that he could see Gazadum. The terrible elemental lay in a heap on
the floor, most of its dragon form now more like molten rock, and
it shimmered and twisted as it tried to regain its feet. “I have
you now,” said Dol and moved forward slowly, his legs somehow did
not seem to work properly.

“Dol!” shrieked Milli from the doorway as she
saw what she could only assume was her friend close in on the
beast. His body glowed red where the metal of his armor fused with
it. One eye was burned out and the other showed a milky iris. His
skin was melted and burnt black where not combined with the armor
and his hand appeared melted to the handle of Kanoner whose
formerly lily white coloring was scorched black along one side.

Dol turned and saw as the girl collapsed to
the ground, lurching forward and trying to reach out to him. Her
skin was blue in color and a crusty yellow chalk formed around her
lips, nose, ears, and eyes. She tried to crawl once again towards
him, raised one hand, but then her head fell and her body stopped
all movement.

Dol turned once again to Gazadum and raised
his hammer, “Now you die!”

“I am ready,” said Gazadum from the floor,
although it still tried to regain its footing.

Dol squinted through his one good eye and saw
clearly for a moment that great molten tears were falling from the
eyes of the ancient creature.

“You fear death?” asked Dol as he stepped
forward.

“No,” said Gazadum. “These are tears of joy
for a life well spent. Perhaps I will never see my children reach
the stars. I will never see if they were stronger than those
created by the others. But, looking at you, I think I know the
answer. Dol Delius of Craggen Steep, I thank you. Perhaps you would
request a boon before you slay me. Even now in my weakened state
there is little beyond me.”

Dol hesitated a moment and the great power of
the hammer flowed through his dying body. He suddenly felt shame,
terrible, intense shame, and then looked at Milli dying on the
floor and pointed at her, “Yes, great Gazadum, my friend. There is
a woman in the hills not far from here. Could you send Milli to
her? So that she might live a full life, a life like yours?”

Gazadum nodded his head and the girl suddenly
vanished. “There is nothing you want for yourself? Your wounds are
mortal.”

Dol felt the fire burning in his lungs. “I
have lived my life as fully as could be, I think. No, I have
nothing … wait, yes, great Gazadum. I wish to die among my people
in Craggen Steep, there is something I want to say to them before I
pass. Can you do that?”

“I can,” said Gazadum. “Bring down your
hammer and it will be done.”

Dol, tears in his own eyes, raised the hammer
high and brought it down.

The High Council chamber was in an uproar
with hundreds of young dwarves packing the floor and balcony of the
great room shouting and yelling obscenities at the two dozen
golden-armored pike warriors who protected the seven council
members in their high-backed chairs.

Cordoned off were the figures of Borombus
Blackiron, First Edos Fierfelm and half a dozen other dwarfs,
stripped naked in leg shackles and kneeling on the floor before the
high council. In the chair formerly occupied by Borrombus sat a
tall dwarf with a long beard held in place by heavily bedecked
jeweled bands who looked down upon the prisoners. “The evidence of
their rebellion is all around us,” said the new councilor with a
sharp gesticulation of his right hand towards the maddened
crowd.

More jeers came from the audience and someone
shouted out, “We will be free of the tyranny of the
Firefirsts.”

Another shout came out, “To Corancil, to
Empire!”

But a group of young dwarf thugs in one
corner of the packed hall shouted back in return, “The High Council
has spoken, we are ruled by laws. You speak treason!”

At this the enflamed passions of the crowd
exploded as dwarves pulled out axes and hammers and began to attack
one another. It was impossible to tell who was on whose side in the
melee as they all wore similar uniforms.

“We must cut the head off the rebellion,”
shouted the new councilor to the dwarf in the center chair.
“Borombus and his allies must die. It is the only way to save
Craggen Steep.”

The dwarf in the high council seat looked
nervously back and forth to the other councilors. “The period of
judgment has not been completed. The laws of Craggen Steep do not
allow for execution.”

“The laws are not for emergencies of this
nature,” said the new councilor and Councilor Five, formerly
Councilor Six, joined him. “High Councilor, this is an emergency of
a like not seen in Craggen Steep in thousands of years. The rebels
threaten to expose our location to Corancil. To march our armies
south with the invasion force. Drastic times call for draconian
action!”

The High Councilor again paused, “I do not
like to suspend the law,” he said but then a hand-axe, thrown by
someone from the balcony struck the high back of his chair with a
crack and ricocheted off the heavy stone.

“High Councilor,” said all six of the other
councilors almost in unison.

The High Councilor bent down, picked up the
axe, and tested the sharpness of the blade with his finger, paused,
and then nodded. “Let the traitors face the ultimate penalty.”

A massively built dwarf with a beautifully
fashioned double-headed axe with an ivory hilt of the purest white
moved forward and towards where Borrombus lay kneeling. The fat
dwarf sneered at his executioner and looked up towards the High
Councilor, “This is a betrayal of the laws of Craggen Steep and
your willingness to embrace it shows that you are in the wrong. Let
me go, let my companions go, let Craggen Steep be free to mingle in
the world, to realize its full potential!”

“Silence him,” said the High Councilor to the
executioner who looked up with unyielding black eyes. “Silence the
traitors and let us put this nonsense behind us once and for
all.”

A younger dwarf in golden armor suddenly
burst through the massive doors at the entrance to the great
chamber and this breech in protocol dimmed the cacophony of sound
that reverberated through the halls. “Councilors, councilors, High
Councilor!” he shouted.

“The chamber is not to be disturbed once in
session,” said the High Councilor.