Chapter 16 - The Dwarves and the Exiles
The trees greatly affected the light in the forest, and, in turn, affected the Force's sight as they pushed through the woods. When they finally reached the final few trees before the open field ahead, they squinted as that light shown through the cracks between each mighty tree.
The sight was beautiful. The town was composed of several giant underground passages, but above the city of the dwarves, lay a vast field of beautiful flowers and trees. The sun bounced of the bright, healthy grass, and at an angle that reflect the greens against the small cliffs and ledges that ran through the fields.
"Wow..." said Keith, as he gaped at the flowers and the bright sunlight that seemed to thrill his eyes.
Duran and Vahn walked slowly forward toward a nearby stairwell that led to the underground tunnels, both of them moving with their mouths and eyes wide. They all enjoyed the scenery for a moment, when Orin snapped them out of it.
"...hey, we have work to do..." he said, startling them.
Orin seemed more determined now that he was so much more vulnerable in battle. He directed them sternly. They all walked down into the dark, damp stairwell that descended into the underground village below.
The six of them emerged from the stairwell, and came into a wide room, brightly lit with candles and lanterns. It seemed as if someone had only just lit them, but no one was there. They walked cautiously through several tunnels, twisting and turning in and out of what seemed to be underground residences. Finally, they gave in and, with there heads held low, took a rest in several stools that lined the wall of one of the tunnels.
"Where the hell is everyone?" groaned Keith, as he looked down the underground hallway, seemingly waiting for someone to emerge from around the corner.
"Maybe the devils attacked them...many people have dropped their weapons after the devils disappeared from Grans Island." said Orin.
Vahn cut him off and continued on the subject.
"Very true, indeed. Most people of Grans have no use for weapons any more...but this obviously leaves them vulnerable to situations like these." said Vahn.
"So...what now?" asked Tess, who seemed eager to leave the cave-like village.
"I guess we have to find a pass through the mountains ourselves." said Orin, as he stood from the stool. "There's no other choice. We have to search across the cliffs edge for safe passage to the other side."
"That's crazy!!" said Duran, who stood up quickly. "It'll take at least a week to march from here, and along the mountains until we reach the closed pass to the east!"
"He has a point, Orin..." said Keith, who seemed reluctant to doubt Orin.
Vahn nodded in agreement, as did Ikara. Tess said nothing, but stood calmly looking toward Orin. She seemed intent on his reaction to their comments.
"Good luck walking home then..." said Orin coldly, as he walked off briskly toward the stairs.
They were all slightly taken aback, but realized that there was only two choices: help their friend, their leader, and save their king and his old comrades, even if it meant attempting the impossible, or, to simply give in and march home.
Tess ran off after Orin, as the rest of them followed slowly, feeling slightly guilty about how they had reacted. Tess caught up with him, and looked at him with a somber look in her eyes.
"Don't worry about it, Orin..." she said, trying to sound as concerned as possible. "Your friends would never leave you, even if they thought you were trying to accomplish what mortal men have deemed as impossible."
He said nothing, but continued up the stairs until he reached the top. Tess began to speak again, but couldn't get a word out before Orin had drawn his blade.
There, between the small forest ridges and hills, stood a group of 4 or 5 dwarves, armed with huge axes of all shapes.
"What is yer business ere, human!" yelled the dwarf in front. "We don't take kindly to those who march into our lands and enter our homes!"
Orin looked at them angrily, but put down his weapon when he realized they were his allies, and this was all a misunderstanding.
"I am Orin, son of Bowie, King of Granseal. I have come in search of information regarding the kidnapping of my father." said Orin, trying to sound royal and established.
"Son of Bowie? Leader of the Shinin' Force?" said one dwarf.
"Then we've been looking for you, too." said the dwarf in the lead. "We have unfinished business!"
Suddenly, from the trees in the distance appeared 5 more men, only these men were twice as tall as the dwarves, and were also armed with heavy axes. They walked up behind the dwarves and smirked evilly at Orin and Tess.
"These are our allies. The Galam Exiles. In return for your head, they have promised us our kidnapped families and protection from monsters for as long as their 'government' stays intact." said the head dwarf.
"Wha...WHAT!?" yelled Orin, as he readied his blade again.
The head dwarf lost his evil grin, and replaced it with a sort of sad expression.
"We're are very sorry, poor boy. Your father is a great man...but if we let you live, they'll execute our families and torture us to death..." said the head dwarf.
One of the large Exiles came from behind and knocked the head dwarf in the head with the butt of his axe, causing the dwarf to crash to the ground.
"You weren't supposed to tell him that, you fool! Get back to work!" roared the angry Exile soldier, as he pulled the dwarf to his feet by his collar.
Orin kept his eyes against the huge group of men that had spilled forth from the bushed and trees, at least 13 men, including the 5 dwarves stood before them, prepared to kill them all. It would have been difficult even in an open field, but this area had limited space for mobility. The Force would surely be hacked to pieces. Orin turned to Tess and the rest of the group that was slowly rising from the tunnels with fear and surprise rushing into their faces as they saw the Exiles.
"Flee!" yelled Orin, as the rest of the group began to ready their weapons.
"What!?" Vahn yelled back, as he stood ready for battle. "We can't just run! They'll find as eventually!"
"Not if I stay here..." said Orin turning to them, gripping his blade tightly with both hands. "Get moving!"
Keith looked at the huge group of men and then at Orin who stood confident in his sword's abilities. Duran did so as well, as did Vahn, and Ikara, and Tess. They all readied there weapons with pride and the will to fight in their eyes.
"GO...!!" cried Orin again, as he turned his head and looked over his shoulder at them.
No one moved, except for Keith, who drew an arrow from his quiver, pushed Orin aside, and lined his eye to the head of his arrow.
The Exiles lifted their axes to the sky and let out cries of battle, and charged relentlessly at the awaiting force. Keith let his arrow fly into the eye of a single Exile, who drop his axe, and fell back behind the rest of his group without so much as a groan. Orin had no time to do anything else, and as he thought for a split second about what was going to happen, Duran lunged in front of him, hi axe in one hand, and he faced Orin. Duran's stature didn't deduct from the look of anger in his eyes. He grabbed Orin by the collar as the exiles and dwarves grew closer, and looked him the eyes and said: "To hell with running."
He let go of Orin, and turned to see the Exiles right at their front, ready to bring down there weapons. It was roughly a 2 man to each force member fight, leaving the force greatly vulnerable.
Duran clasped his axe against a bulky Exile's, who pushed down with all his strength, and finally overpowered Duran, throwing him back. Orin didn't let it slide, and as Duran fell backward into the dirt, Orin drove his blade into the man's stomach, and drew it back out almost at once. He ripped his sword through the man's throat, and Orin shoved him to the ground with his foot as the man gurgled in pain.
Ikara yelled out from behind, over the roars of the Exiles as one clashed with Orin, and another with the now standing Duran. Her magic had increased in power by now, and without knowing it, Ikara's eyes beat a bright white as a huge ball of flames jetted from her staff in the direction of the approaching enemies. The ball took a leap into the air above the soldiers, and exploded, sending a flurry of fire to the ground below, that set at least 3 men ablaze.
Tess flew by and Duran, and jumped onto the Exile, who was trying to swipe at Duran at the time, and brought her dagger to his throat. She slit it and bolted from him to the next man attacking Orin, and drove her dagger into his hip several times. As he turned to catch her with his axe, Duran hopped into the air and lopped of his head, which was sent rolling out into the mess of soldiers. Six enemies remained.
Keith fire two arrows at one exile, missing both times, before the great muscular warrior had met with him, and swiped at him with his axe. Keith showed how agile he was as an elf, by flipping backwards over the axe, and letting Ikara finish the job. She fired a ball of flame at him, that hit him in the stomach, setting him aflame. He roared out as the flames took his body over, but with a last strike, he caught Keith off guard and slammed him with the butt of his axe. They all cringed as they heard Keith's ribs break, and as he was sent barreling down a hill and into a huge patch of shrubbery.
Vahn was trying his best to avoid a dwarf's axe, ducking and dodging the blade, when he caught a glimpse of Keith rolling down into the bushes. He cracked the dwarf in the head, but it was no use. The little man was protected well from head to toe with steel plates and armor. The axe finally caught Vahn in the stomach, and though he tried to back and avoid it, it caught him well enough to rip through his robes and cause a spurt of blood to redden his cloths and the angry dwarf's face. The dwarf smiled evilly, and as he pulled a dagger from his boot, and drove it into the center of Vahn's chest as he backed away in pain, the smile of a man who was said to be fighting for his family was imprinted into Vahn's mind.
Tess screamed as she saw Vahn collapse, and become encircled in a pool of his own blood. She jolted forward in his direction, and almost got caught herself by another dwarf's axe. She dodged it, and with little trouble, by-passed the dwarf and moved onto Vahn. The dwarf who had attacked Vahn stood in awe as Tess' legs moved at a blur, and she cracked him in the face twice with her fists, knocking him unconscious before he knew what had happened.
She ran to Vahn, and rolled him from his side to his back, revealing the wound in his stomach that had nearly penetrated all the way through to his innards. The knife still protruded from his chest, and his gasps for air were faint and weary.
Orin was having trouble fighting off the head dwarf, and Duran was trying to fight off two at once. The final dwarf managed to catch Ikara, and started to swipe at her relentlessly.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!" she screamed, trying to fend off the powerful steel axe with just her staff.
The axe swiped through the wood, hacking it in two, and leaving Ikara basically powerless without the aid of her staves' magic attributes. The dwarf finally gave into Ikara's ducking and diving from the axe, and dived headfirst at her. She stood, helpless as the dwarf rammed into her and sent her tumbling down against a tree, and knocking her unconscious. The dwarf turned too late to see an arrow pierce the left side of his chest armor. He looked at it, feeling dazed, as another arrow pinned him between the eyes, killing him in an instant.
Keith walked halfway from the bushes, holding his ribs, his eyes welling with tears of pain. He collapsed with hardly any breath in him, and landed on top of a dead Exile.
Duran had managed to jam his axe through one of the dwarves' chests. With little time to yank it from the steel armor that acted like a grapple, he turned and attempted to punch the other enemy, but was to late. The dwarf's axe cracked him in the hip, breaking his hip and sending him to the ground with a howl of pain.
From a distance, Tess saw Duran fall, and approached the enemy as fast as possible. She was too far, and she felt not even her legs could save Duran from the axe that the dwarf had now lifted over his head to deliver a final blow.
Suddenly, Orin emerged from nowhere, meeting the axe with his sword. The sword drew sparks and cracked in half when the axe hit it. Nevertheless, the attack was diverted, and because the axe had bounced back off the blade after they met, Tess dived in from the side and stabbed the Dwarf once in the chest. She lost grip of the dagger and was sent flying head first into the dirt.
The dwarf held the dagger, but pulled it from his chest and threw it down. The head dwarf, who had managed to be fooled by Orin, and looked around confused, had now caught sight of Orin and ran at him in a rage. With the remaining shards that were still sticking from the hilt of Orin's sword, he thrust the blade into the first dwarf's stomach, and simply let go of the useless weapon as the dwarf fell back and rolled down a hill, gasping for air before he died.
The head dwarf only remained now, against Orin, who had no weapon. With no other choice, Orin reluctantly grabbed Duran's axe, which seemed to way 3 tons to Orin, as he had not once wielded an axe, and hoisted it to his shoulder.
The head dwarf smiled, as he seemed to know Orin was at a severe disadvantage with such a limber, thin body and such a heavy weapon. Orin and the dwarf clashed their weapons, Orin holding a pained look as he attempted to hold the heavy axe and his ground at once. It was no use. The dwarf brought his axe back, and batted Orin's weapon from his hands.
The dwarf couldn't finish though, as he had been rendered immobile by the dagger that was now stuck in his temple. He fell over, and revealed a weak smile from Tess who stood behind him.
Orin smiled back, and fell to one knee. The battle was over...but what was the price? Had Tess been right to not want to approach the territory of the Exiles? Orin looked over at Vahn as Tess got down on her knee in front him and held both his shoulders.
"Ge...get up, we have to get the herbs from Ikara..." said Tess weakly, as she pointed to Ikara who was lying with her back against a tree, and her eyes closed.
Orin stood weakly and walked as fast he could to Ikara. Without her flames, the healing process took longer with herbs that were not turned to ash. Even so, they'd have to do for now.
Orin handed Tess three herbs, one of which she herself ate, and Orin opened Ikara's mouth and fed her one. She opened her eyes slightly and winked weakly at him, smiling at the same time. She sat up strait and waited for the organic burst of fresh air to flow through her from the herb. Orin stood with the pack of herbs, ate one, and marched toward Duran. Tess was already tending to Vahn, who was fading fast, most of his blood out of his body rather than in it.
Orin shoved an herb into Duran's mouth, who was still conscious through it all, but in great pain. He ate it while grunting angrily and gritting his teeth. Orin stood and tended to Keith next, who lye on the grass, his breathing loud and forced through his lungs that were almost being crushed by his broken ribs. A final herb went into Keith's mouth, which he had trouble chewing through his labored gasps for air.
"There..." said Orin, sitting next to Keith, whose breaths were slowly sounding less labored as the herbs kicked in.
Though they healed wounds well, bones were hard to mend with just that. He and Duran would be unable to battle for a few days at least, and would both have to consume the herbs daily to speed the mending of the bones.
Tess yelled for Orin to come back up hill to her, and so Orin grabbed Keith's bow and hoisted him over his shoulder and carried him up the hill. He laid him down next to Duran, who smiled weakly and Keith.
"Heh, what happened there, buddy?" said Duran, who was still lying with his face to the canopy. "Did Keith the bruiser get a little cut?"
Duran smiled again weakly, and nudged Keith in the shoulder. Keith could hardly talk but he managed to smile too.
"You don...t...lo..ok...so good...y...your...self..." said Keith, as he rubbed Duran's head as rough as he could with his weak muscles.
Vahn had stopped losing blood, but was on the brink of drawing in only one last breath. Orin approached him with a pained look on his face.
"Vahn...shit..." said Orin as he kneeled down next to Vahn, and looked at the deep wounds across his body.
He pulled the dagger, which was still lodged in his chest, out quickly. No blood came out, as the herbs had already stopped all the bleeding, but even so, the deep hole wasn't a sign of high hopes. Tess approached Orin from behind and stood looking down over the both of them.
"Ikara is up and walking...she has a pain in her stomach, but that's the least of our worries..." she said, looking down at the both of them.
Orin could do nothing but nod. He stood up and looked around for a place of proper camping, and spotted a nice area that had a small break of light leaking in through the canopy. He walked to it, gathered up several sticks and logs and piled them up. He made a circle of stones, threw the wood in the center of the circle, and took a flint from his satchel. With a few strikes, the sparks had began to burn the wood and send out heat.
Tess and Ikara set next to the flames, warming their weakened bodies as the night began its approach. Orin lugged both Keith and Duran to the area, making sure not to push up against any wounded areas. When they had been placed near the fire, and Tess and Ikara began to tend to their wounds with another dose of herbs, Orin return for a bloodied Vahn. He lifted him onto his shoulder, trying his best not to cut off what little breath Vahn was able to take in, and brought him back to the rest of them.
Orin sat down with Tess and Ikara by the fire as twilight came upon them, and the forest became dark and eerie. A dew was beginning to settle upon the forest as well, dampening the grass and trees, and drawing in a thin night fog.
"Strange, this place..." said Tess, as she rubbed her hands together.
She grabbed a thin wool blanket from the pack Duran had been carrying, and tossed it over her cold body, as Ikara mimicked her and did the same.
Orin looked at the bodies of the dead men, and sighed, letting his warm breath steam out into the air. Ikara noticed, looked at the bodies herself, and shook her head.
"I know, Orin. Those dwarves had no reason to die...they fought only to save their loved ones. It saddens me to have to hurt the innocent." said Ikara, as she glared into the fire, thinking about the men dwarf she had mercilessly charred with her spell.
"Oh! And what of our weapons, Orin?" she asked suddenly. "I see your blade is missing, and my staff was hacked to pieces."
"I'm sure the dwarves have some stocked underground. Then again, Vahn mentioned that they may not have weapons, which was what led to the takeover of this area." replied Orin. "I'll check down there in the morning. Maybe they have something both of us can use."
Ikara nodded, and both she and Tess got a cot for themselves to lay and go to sleep by the fire. Orin didn't move. He poked the fire with a stick, waving it around every time it caught flame on its tip.
Finally, when it was completely dark, and only the fire's dim light remained, he tossed the stick into the flames and grabbed a cot himself. He laid down on his back, facing the only patch of black sky he could see through the thick leaves of the trees. He was lost in thought for a moment, remembering what had happened over the past week or so, but his thoughts were broken by a cracking sound in the distance.
He jolted from his bed, on his feet and looked around. After reaching for his blade, and remembering it had been destroyed, he stood quietly looking out into the darkness as the campfire light slowly died down.
From the darkness emerged a small man, who held his face with his right hand. There was dried blood from his nose to his chin, and an axe hoisted on his shoulder, and he looked at Orin with pain in his eyes.
"Y...you..." said the dwarf sounding exhausted. "You killed my friends..."
Orin had his mouth agape, as he realized one dwarf had survived the battle. He pulled himself together quickly, and spoke to the wounded dwarf.
"They attacked us, what choice did we have?" said Orin, as he took a step backward slowly.
The dwarf said nothing. He simply dropped his axe and wobbled in Orin's direction.
"We...we 'ad no choice either, m'boy." replied the dwarf as he stumbled forward, and stopped before he toppled forward. "If we didn't fight you, they'd surely 'ave killed us."
"I'm sorry about your family...and I understand your situation, but we had to defend ourselves. You understand, do you not?" asked Orin, as he walked toward the dwarf now, trying to sound as persuasive as possible.
"Yeah...I get it." replied the dwarf, wiping the dried blood from under his nose.
He chuckled a bit, and looked Orin strait in the face.
"The little girl packs quite a punch..." he said, holding his head and smiling a bit at once. "But yer friend...I..."
The dwarf pointed at Vahn, who lay sleeping soundly, still struggling inside to stay alive.
"Oh...was that you then...?" asked Orin, trying to sound calm even though he felt a spike of rage in his heart against the man who had attacked Vahn brutally.
"Please, you 'ave to understand! My family!" he said trying to cover for himself.
"I know, I heard you the first time!" yelled Orin back.
Even though he understood why the dwarves were forced into the battle, he still felt bitter toward the dwarf. He looked from Vahn to the dwarf and spoke again.
"Are you hurt very bad, then?" asked Orin.
"Not really." said the dwarf as he sat crossed legged on the ground. "Just a bit of blood is all."
Orin calmed a bit and sat down too. He was very tired after all, and such a confrontation had made him uneasy.
"Where will you go? Isn't your family in need of your help...?" asked Orin, breaking an awkward silence that seemed to have lasted for hours.
"You know as well as I do they're already dead." said the dwarf, as he ran his thumb carefully across the blade of his axe. "There's not much left for me."
Orin wondered what he was thinking, the mix of sadness and frustration on the dwarf's face as he held his weapon. He was alone now. Suddenly, Orin remembered what he'd come for.
"Well, we're in need of some help...that's why we came here. I need directions to a mountain pass near here." said Orin, his eyes widening and waiting intently for the dwarfs answer.
"I guess it couldn't hurt..." replied the dwarf. "It's not like they'd 'ave taken pity on me if I 'adn't given you info."
Orin was actually feeling increasingly sorry for him. If the Exiles found him he would be dead in an instant.
"There is really no direct pass through the mountain, unless you go through the cave north of 'ere." said the dwarf. "But there are probably devils 'iding within. No ones been up the mountains in years."
"So the old path through the mountains is totally blocked?" asked Orin.
"Yeah. It closed up with the resealing of Zeon. All of Grans quaked on that day..." he said, looking up from his axe and at Orin.
"Well...thank your for the directions. I guess that makes up for the damage..." said Orin, trying not to sound like the dwarves were fighting intentionally.
"Not a problem, m'boy...no problem at all." said the dwarf, as he stood with his axe. "If you don't mind, I have a bed waiting for me downstairs. I'd ask you to get more comfortable in the beds underground, but it looks as if your friends are out cold."
Orin looked over his shoulder at the rest of the Force, who were fast asleep. He turned back to the dwarf, and nodded. The dwarf smiled weakly and turned toward the stairwell a few yards away.
"Wait..." said Orin, as he stood up.
The dwarf stopped and looked back at Orin.
"Some of our weapons were damaged in the battle." said Orin, as he walked forward a few steps. "Would we be able to...borrow some?"
"Of course, m'boy." said the dwarf. "What would you need?"
"A blade, the most powerful you can find." Orin said immediately. "And a staff if possible."
The dwarf thought for a moment.
"Of course. I'll get them to you in the morning. Right now, you should rest." said the dwarf.
"I hope I'm not being too demanding." said Orin as he took another step forward before the dwarf descended the stairs.
"Not a problem." he said, looking back before he began walking down into the tunnels below.
Orin still felt a bit uneasy about talking to a man who was an enemy only a few hours ago, but tried his best to brush it off. Just in case, though, Orin would stay on guard tonight. With a friend fighting for his life, and the fear that the Exiles would find them, sleep was the least of his worries.