The Orb of Truth (The Horn King Series) (23 page)

“We need to be gettin Bridazak back is what you meant, right brother?” Dulgin snipped.

“But how? Manasseh will have him,” Xan questioned.

El’Korr responded quickly to soothe and control the volatile situation, “Then that is our new target. Our only option is to infiltrate the castle and find Bridazak and Manasseh.”

“It’s time to go for the head of this serpent,” Dulgin proclaimed as he stood back to his feet.

“But Manasseh is getting his power from the Tree. Without the Orb we can’t defeat him,” Xan added.

“I don’t care!” Dulgin retaliated. “Abawken, back me up on this.”

“Master Dulgin is right. We must try. I would lay down my life to rescue him.”

“Bridazak didn’t come all this way on his own. We must have faith that the Orb will protect him, and hopefully grant us a little luck along the way. An answer will reveal itself in due time,” the Dwarf leader finished.

“During the battle, Master El’Korr and I spotted a narrow stairway on the other side. We suspect it leads into the castle somewhere,” stated Abawken.

Dulgin headed out, mumbling as he passed, “Somewhere is a great start; let’s go.”

They crossed the chamber to the stone steps. El’Korr came alongside Dulgin as they walked. Dulgin walked hurriedly and paid his brother no attention. El’Korr kept in step with him and there was an awkward silence until finally El’Korr began, “…Brother?”

“He’s my best friend and we need to be gettin him back, Orb or not.”

“We will, but we have to be smart.”

Dulgin abruptly stopped and glared into El’Korr’s eyes to show his bitterness behind his words. “I don’t have time to be smart! He is—” Dulgin’s voice started to crack with emotion, “a brother I didn’t have.”

“I’m still your older brother,” El’Korr finally broke the intensity, “but because of you, I’m alive and I’m back. Things will be different now Dulgin, and I hope you can forgive me.” Dulgin paused, noticing the others moving further away, as he wondered what to say or do next.

“Bah, older my ass. You never aged in that damn curse you fell into. I look older than you now.”

“When our father left us in search of the Mountain of Gold, I took on the role of protecting you. I never imagined I would, in a sense, wind up doing the same as our father. I never wished to abandon you for anything. Now though, I see that in trying to shelter you, I have done you a great disservice. You have become a mighty fighter on your own. I no longer walk in front of you, but instead, walk beside you, my brother. Your pains are my pains, your goals are my goals, your victories are my victories. Let us unite, and let nothing separate us again.”

Dulgin held his gaze until finally embracing him. The two mighty warriors walked side by side, and caught up to the others soon after, both seeming a little taller, now. Abawken stared at Dulgin’s moist eyes.

“Cave allergies,” the Dwarf retorted as he walked by.

Abawken smiled.

.

16

Black Rock

R
aina stood, dauntlessly surveying the area from the precipice above the expansive ravine they had been traveling through. Before them waited Black Rock Castle, the menacing tower rising hundreds of feet above the obsidian walls. The base of the fortress appeared to have been fashioned from the lava rock itself, and indeed showed the great power of King Manasseh. There were thousands of men in training outside the walls along the edge of the Desert of Guilt. The ashen grey stretched for miles—the marker for those insane enough to enter Kerrith Ravine. Several small, black, mounted dragons practiced maneuvers in the distance. Only a few hundred yards of open terrain separated her army from Manasseh’s. The odds were against her; they were outnumbered ten to one.
“Perfect,”
she thought to herself.

“I am ready,” she said aloud to one of the wild dwarves standing beside her. “Direct the men to engage once my spell has been cast.”

She stepped up onto the lip of an opening that led down into the ashen desert. A slight breeze caused her hair to flutter back and her robes to push into her sleek, elven body. She raised her wooden staff into the air above her head and began to whisper words of the arcane. “Kel vas torakvue sheltite ke-ahmbet!” Sparse clouds overhead quickly gathered together and became dark. A flash of lightning struck from within. Her eyelids fluttered as the sky opened up, revealing a wrathful hailstorm of fire. The initial stares from the humans below turned to yelling, then screaming directives to take cover. Raina opened her eyes to witness the beginning onslaught coming for King Manasseh and his army. The humans were forced to take cover and be spread out or be showered with the ignited meteors pouring out of the sky. Hundreds from the ground and air now writhed on fire, and the smell of burnt flesh and sulphur reached Raina’s nose.

“Geetock! Begin your assault!”

“Yes, Master Raina. It will be our pleasure,” the Wild Dwarf responded.

“Do not move to the walls until I give you the sign,” she added.

“Understood, my lady.”

Geetock gave a shrill whistle to alert the dwarven army to move into the region. The booted footsteps poured out from the ravine into the Desert of Guilt. Twenty-two formations of warriors in groups of fifty, plus a group consisting of just the wild dwarves, fanned out and made their way to their enemy. Fifteen of El’Korr’s personal bodyguards charged in as the tip of the arrow. The remaining four dwarves stayed with Raina along the ridge.

“It is done, my lady,” Geetock informed her.

“We will have King Manasseh’s attention with our first strike, and then my full destructive might will fall on his castle door,” she claimed.

The firestorm subsided but the clouds and mystical energy above remained. Dwarves flooded through the ranks of King Manasseh with their killing blows. A thousand men fell at their hands.

“My Lord, we are under attack!” Vevrin quickly announced as he barged into King Manasseh’s personal chamber.

Manasseh was shirtless, wearing only black leather pants. He turned in surprise to face Vevrin, rising from his seated position upon his mock throne.

“What! By whom? Which of the Horns dares to attack me?”

“Not the Horns, my Lord; it is dwarves.”

Manasseh’s eyes narrowed in contemplation of this unexpected scenario. “Meet me in the tower with your other mystics. I will assess what we are facing from there.”

“Yes, my liege.” Vevrin turned and promptly left, his red robes flowing behind him.

Two guards sealed the door and Manasseh sat on the edge of his chair, stroking the smoke-filled medallion gifted to him by the dark deity.
“Could this have anything to do with the halfling?”

“I think we have his attention now,” Raina declared. “Alert your team to move toward the gate.”

Geetock nodded and then moved to the three others of his clan. They closed their eyes in unison, only to open them moments later.

“It is done, my lady. Our message was received by the others.”

The storm clouds above the battle began to swirl in a vortex. Lightning bolts hit the ground in several areas, each releasing a deafening crack. Raina stretched out her staff toward the sky and labored to bring it down, as though she were pulling on something tangible. Out of the formed eye of the clouds a huge meteorite of fire burst forth with a sonic boom, streaming down toward the fortress. The battle below stopped to watch the ball of flame soar in and strike the front gate of the castle. A gigantic crater lay behind as splinters of the former door and shards of the surrounding stone were sent flying in all directions. Smoke and debris littered the area, with the strong smell of burnt wood, stone and flesh mingled together.

“Knock, knock!” Geetock yelled. “I’ll bet our King El’Korr below heard that one!”

“Indeed. He will know we have arrived.”

Several smaller meteors fell from the sky and pelted along the wall of the castle. Archers fell in scores, brick tumbled, timber split.

Several minutes went by before one of the other wild dwarves pointed, “Look—dragon!” A colossal black dragon suddenly appeared at the top of the highest tower and hovered there.

“This is the first large one we have seen. I will target the tower next,” Raina said with a smirk.

“Where did these dwarves come from?” Manasseh demanded, looking out of the Tower of Recall.

“We are not sure my Lord. There has been no—”

“It doesn’t matter,” the King cut him off as he returned from the balcony. “Once we regroup, we will crush this minor speck of an army. Send out the giants to push them back and then have our commanders gather what is left of our men outside the wall. They have no siege warfare to penetrate our defenses.”

“Yes, my King,” Vevrin responded with a head bow. Suddenly they heard a boom, and watched a soaring meteorite hit the front gate. They grabbed hold of something to steady themselves as the tower swayed.

“They have a mystic! Find it and kill it!” he raged. Vevrin signaled to a group of red-robed wizards standing behind him, waving them out.

King Manasseh composed himself, “I have always hated that front gate.”

“I am sure this mystic is not able to summon another of that magnitude. It has never been heard of that one could summon two meteors,” Vevrin tried to console his leader.

“You are sure? I would suggest you make damn sure right now Vevrin, because you stand where they will most likely strike next. Do something for a change.”

Vevrin moved to the balcony and cast a spell. His mumbled words were not discernible and then he walked back inside. “The tower is protected, my liege.”

“Good. I feel perfectly safe now,” he sneered. “Now somebody tell me just how an army marches right up my ass.”

Manasseh walked to the balcony to view the battle below, watching more of his men fall. He knew the group of dwarves were more than regular fighters. They were different—more powerful, but still no match for what lay directly beneath him. He could feel the strength of the Tree pulsing through the very ground he walked on as it radiated its power throughout his conquered land.

Suddenly, a huge black dragon manifested right before his eyes. He retreated back from the opening along with Vevrin.

“I have the halfling you seek,”
it said telepathically while displaying the caged Bridazak.

Manasseh moved closer to get a better look, his mannerisms starkly altering to that of a gracious host, “My gratitude, Barawbyss.”

“I don’t want your gratitude.”

“I know that we have not always seen eye to eye, but we might be able to come to some agreement.”

“You have waited too long to move on the other Horns. I have run out of patience.”

“So have I. We were building an army with your help, but it appears we are currently losing some men, if you haven’t noticed. This halfling, however, has something that will change the tide.”

“This is your last chance Manasseh, and this will be my last gift.”

He released Bridazak and two guards grabbed him.

“Where did you find him, Barawbyss?”

“He was in the caves. Alone.”
The dragon then disappeared.

“I see. So this army is yours, perhaps. Where did you find so many dwarves? Most of this race is dead and scattered.”