The Revenge of the Dwarves (88 page)

Goïmdil’s folk

Gandogar Silverbeard
of the clan of the Silver Beards, king of the fourthlings and high king of all the dwarves.

Bylanta Slimfinger
of the clan of the Silver Beards, sister to Gandogar.

Ingbar Onyx-Eye
of the clan of the Stone Turners, lift master.

Glaïmbli Sparkeye
of the clan of the Spark Eyes.

Tandibur Pitpride
of the clan of the Pit Prides.

Sigdal Rubiniam
of the clan of the Gem Stones.

Feldolin Whetstone
of the clan of the Thyst Finders.

Bramdal Masterstroke
, executioner.

Gordislan Hammerfist
, king of Trovegold.

The fabulous Rodario
, actor and impresario.

Furgas
, theater technician and prop-master.

Nolik
, rich man.

Tassia
, his wife.

Gesa
, comely matron.

Reimar
, worker.

Lambus
, a smith from Mifurdania.

Gilspan
, innkeeper.

Ilgar
, worker.

Lia
, treasure seeker.

Franek
, treasure seeker.

Deifrich
, merchant.

Kartev
, merchant.

Kea
, female assistant.

Tamás
, building master.

Ove
, building master.

Meinart
, captain of the Urgon guard.

Hakulana
, spear leader, female lieutenant.

Torant
, scout and equerry.

Alvaro
, commander of bodyguard to Prince Mallen.

Kordin
, captain of the
Waveskimmer
.

Retar
and
Algin
, fishermen of Weyurn.

Flira
and
Ormardin
, children of fisher family.

Talena
, fisherman’s wife.

Mendar
, sloop captain.

Risava
, famula.

Dergard
, famulus.

Lomostin
, famulus.

Prince Mallen of Ido
, sovereign of Idoslane.

Ortger
, King of Urgon.

Bruron
, King of Gauragar.

Umilante
, Queen of Sangpûr.

Wey IV
, Queen of Weyurn.

Isika
, Queen of Rân Ribastur.

Nate
, King of Tabaîn.

Liútasil
, Lord of the elves of Âlandur.

Rejalin
, envoy from Âlandur.

Eldrur
, envoy from Âlandur.

Irdosíl
, envoy from Âlandur.

Antamar
, envoy from Âlandur.

Vilanoîl
and
Tiwalún
, elves from Âlandur.

Esdalân
, Baron of Jilsbon from Âlandur.

Limasar
, elf warrior.

Itemara
, elf warrior maiden.

Hui
, dog.

Gronsha
, orc.

Kamdra
, ubari warrior.

Flagur
, ubari prince.

W
ho would have thought it? A third volume with Tungdil and his companions!

I am happy for the dwarves in their success and am particularly glad that my diminutive friends have enjoyed and still enjoy such popularity. With this they have achieved my dream: they made it possible for me to earn my bread exclusively as an author. Small creatures, great effect.

Apparently, the thing to do when it is all going really well is—stop. In this case it is time to do just that.

Why?

I should like to allow Girdlegard some privacy to order affairs between its various peoples.

Let us see what emerges in a few years’ time. Perhaps one day I shall open the gates to Girdlegard once more, and who knows how it may look then and what fates awaited the heroes? In the meantime I am traveling in Ulldart, my fantasy continent, forging peace and causing mayhem.

My thanks are due to the many dwarf friends who laughed along with Tungdil and his companions when things were good and sighed for them when times were hard. I should like to thank the loyal team of test readers: Nicole Schuhmacher, Sonja and Jan Rüther, and Tanja

Karmann. For their staunch support on previous volumes, thanks to Dr. Patrick Müller and Meike Sewering. Much praise and many thanks to my German editor Angela Kuepper, who has looked after the dwarves with me for the last three years.

M
ARKUS
H
EITZ
was born in 1971 in Germany. He studied history, German language, and literature and won the German Fantasy Award in 2003 for his debut novel,
Shadows Over Ulldart
. His Dwarves series is a bestseller in Europe. Markus Heitz lives in Zweibrücken.

If you enjoyed

THE REVENGE OF THE DWARVES,

look out for

THE FATE OF THE DWARVES

by Markus Heitz

The Outer Lands
,

The Black Abyss
,

Winter, 6491st Solar Cycle

Filling the air was the smell of bone dust, ice-cold stone and frosty damp. The thin-armed creature stepped cautiously out of the shadow of a rock and blinked. Ten paces ahead, the shimmering made everything on the far side appear vague. The same as always.

The nameless creature sent a long green tongue over the skin of its doglike face, revealing needle-sharp teeth. With two of its sixteen fingers it explored the short dark fur under the dirty armor, scratched, and yawned. It adjusted the armor that was pressing uncomfortably on its balls.

Relieved, it sighed and then gave another yawn.

On the orders of the Strongest it had to keep watch from dawn to dusk and to report at once any changes to the shimmering vibrations in the air. It was a boring task. Thankless and boring.

After a while it picked up and ate a yellow beetle which had emerged from under a moldering thigh bone on the ground. As it chewed the creature was reminded yet again that not one of the hundreds of its own kind could remember a time when the air had
not
shimmered.

It grunted and kicked at the black rock wall, then strolled up to the edge, trailing an over-long sword. The metal blade, covered in a rusty brown layer, scraped against the rock floor, collecting yet more dents and notches.

The creature sat down on the ground next to the shimmering. Yawning, it picked up a pebble and idly chucked it. The air hissed and flashed, for a second turning opaque like murky water and stopping the pebble’s flight. The little stone bounced back and landed at the tip of the creature’s boots. Another sigh. This was a ritual that had never ever changed. It could understand why it had to chuck the pebbles. They didn’t disappear when they hit the shimmer.

There had been times when the invisible barrier had simply been an indestructible wall. It would hurt if you ran into it, but nothing else happened. Then, all of a sudden the wall started to destroy whatever touched it: there’d be a crackling flash and you’d be drenched in fire and burnt to a fine cinder ash that blew away in the wind. But for about seven world ages now, the wall took quite a long time to actually kill you if you touched it. If you were quick and tore yourself back off you’d get away with a burn.

On the other side the creature could pick out a peculiar vertical structure composed of metal rings. When the sun stood high there’d be a bright light in the center. Every so often a few
small chunky two-leggers could be seen going up to the rings, walking around and then disappearing again. You could see the strong high walls with colorful flags atop square towers, but the shimmering made everything indistinct. The towers were quite a way off.

If it tried very hard, the creature could make out two-leggers walking to and fro on the battlements. They looked different from the ones that marched round inspecting the interlocking iron rings. Bet their job was just as boring—until, suddenly, the air was no longer making waves like on a hot summer day.

This was the moment the Strongest One had been waiting, along with so many others, big and small, two-leggers and many-leggers, screech-phantoms and soulrippers alike—and the Kordrion, of course. Even the Strongest One was afraid of the Kordrion—the flying horror was obeyed by all.

If the shimmering stopped, a new empire would open up, the Strongest One had told them. There’d be delicious fresh meat and rich pickings for all. The Strongest One before the Strongest One had promised that as well. And the one before that, the Strongest Ever, had said the same.

The creature didn’t believe the words any longer, but it wasn’t going to let on. You died soon enough if you stepped out of line. A single life was nothing—the Strongest One had thousands of foot soldiers at his beck and call.

Another pebble to chuck, half-heartedly. The large brown beetle crawling out of its rocky hiding place was really much more interesting.

Moving swiftly, the creature grabbed the beetle, pulled off the poisonous mandibles and sucked out the entrails that tasted of rotten wanko berries. There was a lot of satisfied chewing. The empty beetle case was discarded and the creature bent down. Where had the pebble had fallen this time?

Long fingers searching the ground found—nothing.

Curiosity now aroused, it lifted its head and saw the small stone lying out in the sunshine.

Snorting in disbelief, the creature got up and stared out: the shimmering had stopped.