In An Age Before – Part 288
The 7th dawned clear with the chill lefto'er from the winter just past still clinging in the air. Only a few thin clouds floated high above, streaking the deep blue sky and moving so slowly as to appear still. The temperature o'ernight had been low enough to encourage frost on the ground and even a delicate skin of ice to line the edges of the stream that ran before the gates. A thin dusting of white coated the curbs and paving stones on the road, but t'would prove short-lived 'neath the rising sun.
Helluin took a glance 'round, appreciating the look of frost in sunlight and the stark contrast of light and shadow, but her thought was preoccupied with the mission. The cold she noticed not at all. Then the Noldo cast her gaze upward to mark the 'most wonderful bird' circling o'erhead. 'Twas so brightly illuminated by the low angle sunlight that it fairly blazed with colors and the sight of it brought a smile to her lips.
The Dwarves stamped and rubbed their gauntleted hands as the cold hit them. Though hardy, they were mortal and felt winter weather acutely. They endured but did not revel in it, favoring the shelter of their deep halls, the warmth of roaring fires, and the cheer of good company, food, and drink. Yet being compact and solid of body, they were better suited to surviving the cold with less hardship than taller, lankier Men. The hundred soldiers formed up in ranks and files for their march as a gathering of onlookers cheered their departure.
The horses snorted and shook their manes, commenting on the conditions 'twixt themselves, but quickly adapting to the early spring morn. The seasons of the year were familiar to them all, a part of the environment that their kind had acclimated to in time immemorial. Being as their bellies were full, sleet and lashing winds were absent, and their pace would be slow, they found the day quite easy to welcome. Those paired in draft leant into their harnesses and the carts began to move forward. At the head of the column, Helluin riding Smoca and Kallfelak on Fola the two-faced pony led them out.
The breath of the Elf, Dwarves, and horses blew as clouds of pale fog rising into the cold air from nostrils and mouths as the company passed from the entrance hall. South facing, the gates still lay half shadowed 'til Anor topped the southeastern arm of the mountain, but already the lingering darkness that had filled the southern bay was retreating east. The company came out into the sunlight, the marching soldiers followed by the six carts rolling away south down the road at a steady walking pace with the bird circling o'erhead.
The road ran in a curve of seven miles from the gates 'til it came abreast of the tip of the southwestern spur. For the sake of the carts, the company followed the paved way ere turning west onto the dirt track leading towards the Ered Mithrin. As they made the turn, they waved a greeting to the watch post on the spur. The watchmen behind the topmost parapet waved in reply and to Helluin's surprise, a pair of ravens winged their way from the rocks to join their company, alighting beside the driver on the bench of the first cart. The parade of soldiers and carts finally passed out of sight of the gates after two and a half hours.
"There is 'naught quite like marching to battle to warm the blood on a cold morn, eh Kallfelak?" Rukhsiflid¹ the captain of the company of soldiers asked, only half rhetorically. ¹(Rukhsiflid, Orc Slaughter = rukhs(sing. n., Orc) + iflid(imp. sing. v., slaughter!) Khuzdul)
"Nay, there is not," agreed Kallfelak who had dismounted from the two-faced pony to pace alongside it like the infantryman he was.
The captain eyed the beast for a moment, curious about it as were all the Ereborrim, yet thus far constrained from indulging his idle curiosity by his discipline and military bearing.
"What canst thou tell of thy mount, noble Kallfelak?" he finally gave in and asked.
The Dwarf stroked the pony's mane and patted its neck and said, "Helluin claims that to her horse Smoca, its right face claimed the name Fola, though the left face claimed to have forgotten it. To be honest, upon first meeting them, I had reservations, but I have since found them to be hard working, trustworthy, and mild of disposition. The last has been a blessing, for I am no talented rider." He chuckled at this, for few Dwarves took naturally to equestrianism.
Rukhsiflid stared at him in surprise, finally sputtering, "…its right face claimed?"
"Aye, and by Helluin's account, it speaks with two voices, the right one practical, the left one forgetful, or perhaps simply less concerned," he said. At the look of astonishment that greeted his words, he lowered his voice and intimated that, "The Elves speak in silence with all manner of creatures, just as did the Wizard Aiwendil. I know not how, but he claimed that many sundry animals hold conversations 'twixt themselves and we are privy to none of them."
The captain cast a sidelong glance at the pony, and then back at the draft horses pulling the carts. Finally, he shook his head, uncertain of what to believe.
"Of what could they be speaking, I wonder," he said to himself, this time wholly rhetorically.
Kallfelak only shrugged, being like the captain, unable to speak with these animals.
They chatter 'twixt themselves in astonishment that we have 'aught to say, Fola's right face commented to Smoca, having turned to face the stallion.
Have they not e'er done so? Smoca asked, not at all rhetorically.
Aye, they do, and on those few occasions when one would speak to me in jest, I would defer to my other face to reply, Fola's right face said.
What did I answer? I seem to have forgotten, Fola's left face said.
Thou asked for cheese and beer, knowing they would not understand, Smoca said.
What did they say?
To that, the stallion rolled his eyes, but said, I have forgotten, but it likely made no sense anyway.
They continued down the dirt track a few more paces and then Fola's left face asked, were we talking? I am looking at thee as if we were, but I cannot recall…I do not wish to appear rude.
Pray trouble thyself not, my friend, said Smoca. I take no offense. We but spoke of trifles to pass the time. Shall we not exchange some riddles instead?
Very well, said Fola's left face, I am agreeable if my right face is willing to join us.
I am, so long as thou forgets not the answers to the riddles thou ask.
What riddles? asked Fola's left face.
The company continued west for nine days and on the tenth began their climb up the miners' road towards Gunûdu Uzbad. Smoca and Fola had ne'er come that way aforetime, but some of the draft horses had made that ascent in years past. Now though, they found that familiar way less welcoming. A chill breeze blew down from the north, from the Withered Heath that lay beyond the heights of the Ered Mithrin, and the highlands lay silent 'round them.
Of those upon two legs, only Helluin was a stranger to the miners' road. The soldiers and the engineers had all come to the Halls of the King ere the Reeking Dragon's attack and so for them, 'twas a return to a lost home. Still, they went forward in a grim and anxious silence, regretting e'ery creak of cartwheels and squeak of harness leather. Though their scouts had deemed the Dragon asleep for half a year, there was no sure way to be certain save by entering the occupied mansion and descending through its befouled tunnels to view the monster in its lair.
In the early afternoon, after spending four hours on the uphill road, they came to the last league ere reaching the gates. There they halted to take their delayed noon meal and deploy a scouting party to reconnoiter the entrance of Gunûdu Uzbad and the stream that lay before it. Now as they ate, it became apparent that all of the soldiers desired to view their old home as soon as possible. Helluin felt it best that she go alone so that by virtue of her stealth she might approach undetected even should the Dragon be wakeful. Her opinion birthed a cacophony of protests, and in the end, she threw up her hands and deferred to Captain Rukhsiflid to decide.
"With the esteemed Bazgûnsulûkhu shall go Kallfelak, five soldiers and two engineers that we may determine the danger, the condition of the stream, and any other factors affecting the deployment of the apparatus," he said. "The remainder of the company shall wait here to guard the carts. We shall now draw lots for the five places of honor."
The process was conducted 'neath 'nigh paranoid scrutiny, with Kallfelak picking a hundred grass stems, five of them shorter, (all carefully counted and inspected by the party in the interest of fairness), and which he stirred in a soup pot ere blindly choosing ten at a time to present to the soldiers. In ten groups of ten, the soldiers lined up and chose their straws. By chance, no group of ten included more than one short straw, whilst five included none. Only the captain declined to draw a straw, having assigned himself to command those who remained with the carts.
How the twenty-four engineers decided which two of their number would go was a mystery, but there was no contention and no discussion. Two stood forth, Ustalusantarâg and 'Urnarûn¹, and the rest nodded in agreement. Unlike the soldiers, they did not appear happy to be going. ¹(Ustalusantarâg, Adjuster of Wonders = ustalu(adjuster of, sing. person form) + santarâg(things that are particularly impressive), and 'Urnarûn, Tiny Measurements = 'urnarûn(tiny measurements, pl.) Khuzdul)
With all their formalities completed, the group of nine walked off 'round the bluff and paced down the road towards the broken gates of Gunûdu Uzbad. They had little choice in this, for upon their north the land rose sharply, whilst to their south it fell away in a fatal drop, conditions typical of roads cut into the faces of cliffs.
One of the ravens fluttered after them and found a perch on a soldier's pauldron. He welcomed it with a nod that the bird seemed to return. All of the Dwarves were wearing their filtering masks and trying to step as quietly as possible, which to Helluin's ears meant that save for their lack of bickering, they were tramping down the paving as stealthily as a company of Yrch. She groaned mentally as her eyes fixed on the dark maw of the approaching mines.
One further consideration had Helluin as they drew 'nigh. A glance up and a few moments of searching revealed the 'most wonderful bird' circling far above the highlands to the north, as if it knew not to allow even its shadow to be cast upon the threshold of the Dragon's lair. She nodded in approval and returned her attention to their approach.
Now upon their very nervous arrival, they found no evidence of recent activity by the Dragon. There were no new tracks. The trampling and collapse of the stream's banks were old, as were the pugs left closer to the door. The partially eaten cadavers of the Dwarvish defenders brought soft growls of rage from the soldiers and sorrowful looks from the two engineers. Helluin wondered if they would find the bodies of King Dáin and Prince Frór amongst the slain.
"We shall lay them all to rest, every single one, even if we cannot give them proper tombs," Helluin told them, and they dipped their heads to her in respect.
The water level in the stream was high enough and the current swift enough to deploy the water wheel to good advantage, 'Urnarûn and Ustalusantarâg decided after only a few moments of study. The streambed they deemed stable enough to anchor the four support posts. Its closest point to the gates was just slightly upstream, 'nigh the stone bridge that bore the miners' road west towards 'Urdazhâr, and this too they thought a blessing, for their apparatus would be out of the direct sightline from within the entrance hall.
The soldiers reckoned the bridge a natural emplacement for the arbalest as t'would provide an elevated position with a clear line of fire at the gates should the Biraikhgirul-Uslukh sally forth. The blind area behind the bridge would provide a natural campsite; close enough to provide easy access to the waterwheel, furnace, filter, and blower to make adjustments without direct exposure to the Dragon's lair. All parties seemed willing to accept the conditions.
Having satisfied themselves that the site would accommodate their needs, one of the soldiers whispered a message in Khuzdul to the raven and then released it into the air. Their eyes followed its flight back down the road 'til it disappeared 'round the bluff behind which the rest of their company waited. Shortly later, the soldiers marched 'round the bend with the carts trailing behind, and after the better part of an hour they arrived. A short consultation with Captain Rukhsiflid followed and after his agreement, the deployment began.
Whilst the rest of the company continued on to the campsite, the cart bearing the waterwheel and blower remained beside the stream as the team of engineers and some of the soldiers unloaded it and set the four support posts into the water. Once these were deemed stable, the lightweight waterwheel was hefted, raised into position, and secured. It began to turn immediately as the current propelled the fins forward. The engineers linked the blower's frame to the waterwheel and attached the drive belts. To confirm that 'twas active, one held his hand before the blower's output port and felt a strong, steady draught.
At a signal from the engineers, the cart carrying the furnace, filter, and conduit drove from behind the bridge to join them whilst the empty cart that had carried the waterwheel and blower retreated to their camp.
Anor was westering as the team labored to stabilize the filter in the stream and level the furnace as closely as possible to it upon the bank. They were forced to settle for just o'er a fathom and a half's distance 'twixt the two. After these were placed and the weight of the water in the filter's lower reservoir had added to its stability, they attached a section of conduit joining the furnace flue to the filter's intake port and another from its exhaust port to the blower's intake. A soldier pressed his ear to the filter's brass casing and gave a thumbs up sign after hearing the water bubbling within. One of the engineers held his hand to the intake louver on the furnace and felt a strong draught that would feed the coal fire. Finally, an engineer attached the long length of conduit to the blower's exhaust port, but left it coiled on the ground 'til after the furnace was lit and Helluin would venture into the entrance hall to place it in the tunnel leading down to the treasury.
Now the cart that had carried the furnace, filter, and conduit retreated back to camp and a third cart came forth. This one had a short ton of coal in its bed and a sealed canister of activated carbon on the bench beside the driver. When it reached the furnace, the draft horses were unhitched and the canister offloaded and opened. The upper chamber within the filter was charged with activated carbon and the furnace's firebox was laid with tinder and charcoal. A starter fire was kindled and the intake louver set to encourage a swift burn. When this was established, a soldier shoveled coal into the firebox 'til a hot, clean burning fire was established.
Now the engineers gathered 'round the output conduit leading from the blower and there they tested the production of mal-airs with a candle. They adjusted the air intake on the furnace 'til the coal fire was subdued by a slight lack of air. When the candle was held below the conduit, the mal-airs snuffed it out, but only slowly. When they held the candle above the conduit, 'twas snuffed out at once. From this test, they reckoned the predominance of the lighter mal-air, the one most deadly to 'aught living and therefore most deserved by the Dragon.
'Twas already dark when the team returned to the camp, assured by then that the furnace was producing primarily the lighter mal-air and that the burning in the furnace was stable.
"We are confident that the conduit may now be placed within Gunûdu Uzbad and the poisoning of Biraikhgirul-Uslukh begun, O Bazgûnsulûkhu," Ustalusantarâg told Helluin.
"Excellent work, my friends," she replied to the gathered engineers. "A productive day ye have had and I pray ye take your ease and enjoy the evening meal."
"Felak 'ars ma zatabgili,¹" said 'Urnarûn with a dip of his head to honor her good wishes, though few would truly be at ease so close to the Dragon's lair. "We thank thee." ¹(Felak 'ars ma zatabgili, A hot chisel will not rust. A proverb meaning that 'working hard will bring rewards'. Khuzdul)
"I shall place the conduit straightaway," Helluin told them and took her leave of the camp.
Night had fallen and within the entrance hall 'twas dark as the proverbial mine, (a mine which in this case it actually was), but the Noldo walked out from behind the bridge and made her way towards the installation. There she greeted the furnace tender on the stream bank, hefted the open end of the conduit, and marched through the gates of Gunûdu Uzbad, making sure to point the end of the conduit with its outflow of deadly airs away from her face.
By this point, the Noldo was well convinced that Biraikhgirul-Uslukh indeed slept. Despite their care and worry, the Dwarves simply were not that quiet. A wakeful Dragon would have been upon them long ere they had completed the installation of the apparatus, charging from the gates in a rage to blanket them with a blast of its foul biochemistry. Having convinced herself thus, the Noldo strode into the entrance hall, lighting her way with a dim ril of silver and gold, and with o'er a hundred feet of conduit trailing behind her striking random sparks as the steel coils dragged 'cross the stone floor.
Having enjoyed the counsel of the architects at Erebor, and having sculpted a passable miniature of the entrance hall, tunnels, and treasury, Helluin had no trouble finding the correct passage. She dragged the conduit behind her 'til at a distance of eight fathoms, she reached its end. There she tucked it against the right-hand wall and began to withdraw, shoving the conduit to the side as she went.
As she retraced her steps, the Noldo felt a lightheadedness taking hold. Having had a prior experience with asphyxiation by the mal-airs, she recognized the effects at once. Helluin held her breath and hastened her pace even as she began to stagger. Only after exiting Gunûdu Uzbad did she lean against the rock wall beside the gates and inhale great draughts of fresh air, clean, chill, and wholesome. Then she collected her wits and returned to the furnace tender on the stream bank.
"The conduit is in place, as far down the tunnel as its length would allow," she told him. "I bid thee continue for the duration of thy duty, for the apparatus is indeed producing mal-airs."
The Dwarf, who had watched her wobbling and gasping for breath after returning to the surface, chuckled and dipped his head to acknowledge her orders. After a quick glance at the sky to check Ithil's position, he told her, "I have another three hours 'til my replacement relieves me and I shall tell him to maintain the furnace at its current settings. Should thou again venture within, I wager thou shalt be well served by wearing thy mask."
Helluin nodded her agreement to his chiding and then made her way back to camp on the far side of the bridge. 'Twas the night of 16 Gwaeron.
"All is well, my friends," she told them. "Now time and the mal-airs of coal must do our work that the Dragon falls into a sleep unending. It may take some time after his death ere the treasure can be collected though."
"That time we can hasten by reversing the conduit's connections on the blower and using it to suck the mal-airs from the mine," Ustalusantarâg told Helluin. "Only need we detach the blower from the filter that it vents into the open air."
"Superb," said Helluin, "and hopefully that can be done ere Biraikhgirul-Uslukh's carcass becomes corrupt in death."
The gathered company nodded, imagining that gruesome scenario of trying to wrest their gold from 'neath a decomposing Dragon far below the ground. They realized that they had no sure way of predicting his actual time of death. The plan had simply been to burn all three tons of coal and then allow another few days to be sure the mal-airs had permeated the mines ere venting Gunûdu Uzbad and seeking confirmation of the effects. By then, the Dragon could have been dead and rotting for a fortnight whilst still lying atop his hoard. Many groaned and shook their heads so that their beards wagged as they all came to the same conclusion. 'Naught but time would tell.
"Worst comes to worst we shall wear our masks and with Mahal's favor, cleanse the treasure in the stream," 'Urnarûn said, exuding optimism. "Malkûn aslâtul zatamdini zaharu uslukh, nî tazkafi balg,¹" he added with a chuckle and the company nodded in agreement. ¹(Malkûn aslâtul zatamdini zaharu uslukh, nî tazkafi balg, A hungry Hobbit will enter a Dragon's den, if it earns him a meal. A proverb meaning that 'with the right motivation, a person facing great challenges can do the impossible'. Khuzdul)
Helluin had rolled her eyes at his adage. Having witnessed both the appetites and circumspection of Hobbits aforetime, she doubted that any Hobbit would e'er willingly enter a Dragon's den, no matter how hungry. In this, she would eventually be proven wrong, once literally, but many times metaphorically.
The company had begun to settle into a routine, with watches of twenty soldiers guarding the perimeter of the camp on both sides of the river, manning the arbalest on the bridge, and keeping watch from higher ground upstream from the gates of Gunûdu Uzbad. The engineers gathered for their night's rest, save the pair who were detailed to o'ersee the installation. Helluin had begun to relax, lying somewhat apart from the company on her ground cloth of sea pig pelts and enjoying a view of the sky.
Suddenly from upstream 'cross the water came the heavy thump of something hitting the ground in an abrupt impact. The soldiers bolted to their feet and the engineers cringed together in a circle. They had actually felt the thud through the ground as much as heard it. Helluin started upright, her eyes jerking to where her senses reported the disturbance had originated. Without a word, she leapt up and hastened 'cross the bridge, an arrow on the string of her bow. Roughly half of the soldiers with their captain at the fore joined her, their axes held ready as the rest closed in a defensive circle 'round their camp.
They came forward swiftly and as silently as they could, and no few imagined the arrival of another Dragon, so strongly was the nearby presence of Biraikhgirul-Uslukh captivating their minds. Doubt and no little fear they felt, yet they gritted their teeth and continued to advance for 'twas not their way to shy from battle.
Alone amongst them, Helluin was wholly perplexed. 'Twas no Dragon that had landed in their midst, for she felt no life, no presence of any of the kelvar whence the impact had come. Still, she raised her Númenórean bow, the string held taut 'twixt her fingers as she sought for a target. Captain Rukhsiflid remained beside her, matching her pace for pace.
Now they came upon the place where bare rock lay beside the stream banks, and there they found only the shattered body of a mountain sheep, twisted and broken in its fall from a great height. Blood seeped through its rent fleece, spreading on the stone as it flowed down towards the water. Whilst some of the Dwarves searched the surrounding darkness for any sign of Wargs or Wolves, the Noldo and the rest looked up.
'Twas only after some tense moments that they marked a soft whisper of wings beating and soon the arrival of the 'most wonderful bird' as it stooped upon the carcass and began rending it with its beak. Finally, the Dwarves relaxed and lowered their axes, a few chuckling at their prior agitation, but Helluin was vexed as she met the bird's eyes.
Whilst I am glad that thou hast found a meal, bombarding the rock 'nigh our camp with thy prey has set all the company in distress, she chastised, not to mention tempting the waking of the Dragon.
It slipped, said the bird, quite nonchalant, it had struggled most vigorously after I bore it aloft, and 'twixt the length of its wool and the lanolin, managed to wriggle free of my grasp. Just look at it now! I shall be well not to choke on a fragment of bone.
At this, Helluin could not but throw up her hands and roll her eyes.
Hereafter, I pray thee drop thy prey at some greater remove. 'Tis a far more profound impact than that of an osprey dropping a mollusk or an eagle releasing some unlucky turtle.
The bird bobbed its head in assent to her request and continued feeding. Helluin turned away and rejoined the Dwarves who required little explanation now that they saw the scene for what 'twas. They proved surprisingly understanding.
"At Erebor we have a population of throstles," said Captain Rukhsiflid, "and they are famous for knocking snails against the rocks to breach their shells for the squirming tidbits within. Thy magnificent bird is simply larger and louder in its hunt."
"I bid it drop its prey farther away at the next opportunity," said Helluin, "although perhaps I should have suggested that it take a goat instead of a slippery sheep."
The captain chuckled at that, and after they returned to the camp with explanations for the rest of the company, a good laugh was had by all. In the end, it seemed that no harm had been done, for the Dragon remained quiescent insofar as any could tell. Helluin and the Dwarves resumed their rest that night and their schedule thereafter, adding coal to the furnace and activated carbon to the filter as required to maintain production of the unscented mal-airs.
For a fortnight and three days, the furnace continued burning. The routine proceeded without pause and 'naught interrupted their slow-motion assault on Gunûdu Uzbad. E'ery few days, they marked the impact of something further away and reckoned that the 'most wonderful bird' continued hunting the creatures of the Ered Mithrin, but ne'er again were such crash landings 'nigh the camp and the Dwarves cease their concern, investigating none of those incidents.
'Twas during this period of regular activity that the Dwarves arranged details to search out and collect the remains of those who had fallen in the failed defense of Gunûdu Uzbad in 2589. The desecrated bodies of their slain were laid out to either side of the entrance to the Halls of the King in anticipation of burying them in honor within their old home once the Dragon was dead and the treasure deemed recoverable. Alas, the bodies of the king and the prince were not recovered, yet with each comrade whose remains were found, the simmering wrath of the Dwarves for the Dragon grew a shade deeper and burned a bit hotter.
At the end of the seventeen days, the coal was expended at last. The furnace grew cold and the blower's drive belt was detached from the waterwheel. 'Twas then 2 Gwirith and the mine was as poisoned as t'would e'er be. The furnace tenders were finally relieved of their duty and relaxed with the rest of the company for another three days as they allowed the mal-airs to spread and do their worst.
On 5 Gwirith, the engineers detached the conduit 'twixt the blower and the filter and then connected the conduit that Helluin had dragged into the tunnel of Gunûdu Uzbad to the intake side of the blower. With the airflow thus reversed, the venting of the Halls of the King commenced. The mal-airs were being sucked from the interior of the Dragon's lair and the company had but to wait another five days, or so the engineers reckoned. They expected fresh, wholesome air to be drawn down the light shaft and into the treasury to replace the poisonous airs that the coal furnace had produced, leaving behind a dead Dragon and their treasure.
Alas, a pivotal factor that had not been revealed in Helluin's testing of her scale model was the peculiar aerodynamics of the light shaft that illuminated the treasury. Its upper opening intersected the surface at a sharp angle, forming a window forty fathoms up a sheer face of granite. Whether by some forgotten subtlety of design or some unintended quirk in its construction, the reversal in airflow as suction was applied by the blower caused a faint whistling, as when a musician's breath passes o'er and into the mouthpiece of a flute.
Normally, the warmer air within the Dwarf mansion rose up the light shaft, establishing a draught as in a chimney, whilst gusts of outside air only infrequently reversed that flow as short puffs, irregular and ineffective against the inertia of the established uprising of the interior's heated airs. Now, as air rushed in through the upper opening of the light shaft because of the blower's constant suction, 'twas split on the sharp downhill edge of the window creating a vibration. The length of the light shaft then acted as a resonating chamber, increasing the volume of the vibration 'til 'twas impossible to ignore. 'Twas not so loud as to be marked by any standing outside the gates, but 'twas easily marked as a change in the ambient soundscape within the treasury.
Now another factor that Helluin really should have comprehended aforetime was hinted at by the scarcity of lizards and mice when she had first begun her experiments in Erebor. The children had brought her many creatures in the autumn, but by winter, these had all but disappeared, having gone into hibernation 'til spring's warmth arrived. The Noldo should have understood that whate'er a little lizard did, a big lizard or a Dragon would do better.
Worse yet, she and all the Dwarves had ne'er truly apprehended what the gold sleep was. They reckoned it a state of intense satisfaction, a gloating lethargy brought on by the security of a lair and the acquisition of wealth, much like a full belly, a roaring fire, and many mugs of ale gift a Dwarf with deep and pleasant sleep.
Here we must also recall somewhat of Aiwendil's lore regarding the Dragons that he had acquired through long observation on the Withered Heath.
"The more they are fed, the faster they grow, and like lesser reptiles, they periodically shed their skins. 'Twixt sheddings, they may consume certain of the local sands and minerals, whence they forge their scales by the heat of their innards. With great age, such scales thicken to become truly impenetrable."
The Dragons hibernated upon their hoards so that, o'er many years, their growing scales would incorporate the precious metals and gems to reinforce the weakest areas of their natural armor. By the acuity of their senses they could discern the disappearance of even a trifling fragment from their hoard, for gold, mithril, and most gems were so inert that they resonated with the vibrations of Arda itself and any change in the conduction of such vibrations was obvious to them. 'Twas so to a lesser extent with some small, natural lizards in which the alignment of their bodies at times with Middle Earth's vibrations by magnetorecption was known to the Wise¹. Abetted by their fine sense of smell, Dragons invariably recognized thieves and hunted them down on principle for the aggravating disruptions they had caused. ¹(I am proposing that Dragons are sensitive to the lines of the planetary magnetic field. This is really no more farfetched than the notion of Dragons in the first place and I figure their lore allows for some latitude in depicting their capabilities. Also, some species of modern terrestrial lizards exhibit magnetorecption when they align their bodies in relation to the magnetic poles.)
The Cold-drake Biraikhgirul-Uslukh had finally succeeded in arranging his hoard along lines dictated by the vibrations, (of the magnetic fields surrounding the round Arda created after the Whelming of Númenor¹), in the ground. With that critical alignment accomplished, the hoard now matched his own growth lines as reflected in the pattern of his scales, and having achieved this, he then lay down and fell into a state of hibernation, intending to acquire a fine waistcoat of precious metals and gems ere he next woke. ¹(Although this is not canon so far as I have ever read with regard to Middle Earth, the creation of a magnetic field by a rotating planet with both volcanism and abundant iron in a molten core is true of our Earth. After Arda was made round so that, 'All roads are now bent', it can reasonably be inferred that like new lands, Arda had also acquired a magnetic field.)
What those on two legs characterize as greed was only a part of why Dragons are attracted to treasure. The urge was equally practical in origin. Though favorably inclined to sparkly and shiny items, (as are some birds, which we all know are the surviving dinosaurs), the acquisition of a hoard was attendant to self-preservation through the augmentation of their natural armor.
The Reeking Dragon had ne'er been 'asleep', but his metabolism had dropped precipitously in deference to expending well 'nigh all his energy on forming new ceramic scales, some of which would include the 'bezels' that would adhere the accretion of gold, mithril, and gems upon which he lay. He breathed at so slow a rate that twenty days' exposure to the mal-airs of coal affected him barely at all. But the appearance of a low vibration in the air column moving down the light shaft drew him to wakefulness, for like an act of thievery, 'twas a change in his environment that could not be ignored. Then, he found that he could not breathe.
Biraikhgirul-Uslukh drew himself to his feet and hastily padded up the tunnel from the treasury to the surface. So long as he felt the movement of air, he breathed not, but followed the draught as it led upwards. He did not yet assume that his den was being attacked, for he smelt 'naught of any assailants. Still he was alert, for he did not understand the situation.
For a creature now twenty-two fathoms in length, (a third of which was tail), and weighing twenty-five short tons¹, his tread was remarkably light. Indeed, Helluin and the Dwarves marked 'naught amiss 'til he had well 'nigh reached the entrance hall. By then, he had passed the intake end of the conduit in the tunnel and had emerged into far more wholesome air. There he breathed deep and then bellowed. ¹(Roughly the same mass as the Saurischian dinosaur Diplodocus, though in this case, somewhat longer o'erall and larger of head, but shorter in height and length of neck.)
At the first tremors in the ground, Helluin and the Dwarves froze in shock. What they felt was not coming from deep within Gunûdu Uzbad. The vibrations were regular, as the swift, scuttling gait of a monstrous creature, and they came not from the treasury, but rather from far shallower in the tunnels approaching the surface. When Biraikhgirul-Uslukh reached the entrance hall and roared, their paralysis finally broke. The Dwarves scattered in all directions leaving Helluin standing beside the waterwheel and blower shaking her head in amazement at this unwelcome turn of fortune.
Skai! I did not see this coming, she thought to herself as the Reeking Dragon's head appeared three fathoms away where the gates of the Halls of the King had stood.
For a moment, Biraikhgirul-Uslukh was equally flabbergasted. He was reasonably certain that he had seen Dwarves fleeing from the threshold of his den, leaving behind he was not sure what, covered in black scales, standing beside some inexplicable items of metal, including one in the stream that was endlessly turning in hypnotic fashion. He shook his head and blinked, but all remained as aforetime. Still, he could smell the recent presence of Dwarves, but whether they had fled him or the scale-clad one, he was uncertain.
"What is all this upon my doorstep?" he asked, for despite his confusion, he was curious. He bent his attention on the black-scaled creature and was actually surprised to receive an answer.
"'Tis just what it appears," Helluin said, indicating the apparatus with a sweep of her hand, "an attempt to extract from these mines some mal-airs that have accumulated thither."
Biraikhgirul-Uslukh blinked, understanding now the cause of his prior difficulty in breathing, but because he had detected no lies in her speech, he did not attack. Instead, he simply asked, "Why?"
Now for Helluin, this was actually a far more difficult question to answer. Whether he meant, 'why had the mal-airs accumulated', 'why had she tried to remove them', or some other 'why', she could not tell. She only deemed that answering either of those questions, (or well 'nigh any other question beginning with 'why'), would simply make her situation more complex.
Instead, she cocked her head in question and said, "Ahhh, so is this to be a game of riddles? Well enough, then. I pray thee, canst thou be more specific? Most riddles begin with 'what' rather than 'why'."
The Dragon did a double take and blinked in surprise at the creature. Did it truly believe this was the time for a game of riddles? Another sniff of fresh air confirmed the recent presence of Dwarves, but now he also detected that scent lingering on the creature standing before him. A new question he asked and it still began with 'why'.
"Why do I smell Dwarves and why do I smell them on thee?"
Helluin nodded to the Dragon in thanks for asking a more specific question. She spread both arms to encompass the waterwheel and blower to her left and the filter and furnace to her right.
"For the making of these apparatus, I employed the aid of some Dwarves, for they are cunning in the creation of machineries," she said.
Biraikhgirul-Uslukh stared closely at each piece of machinery, not really understanding what he was seeing. One thing he did understand though was that by its own admission, the black-scaled creature was in league with Dwarves.
"Thou art allied with my enemies! Thou confederate with Dwarves to conspire against me, I just know it!"
Quite the paranoid fellow, this one, Helluin thought with a groan. He leaps to conclusions, in no small part fueled by his guilt o'er his prior treatment of them, I wager. Alas, he is correct.
Rather than deny his accusations and offer a lie that he would immediately detect, the Noldo shrugged and agreed with him instead.
"Indeed so," she told him, "thine assessment is quite correct. The Dwarves would reclaim their home and their treasure, both of which thou hast unjustly stolen from them for thine own gain and at the cost of many of their lives. We have essayed to suffocate thee and shall now destroy thee, thereby to return what is rightfully theirs, hard-won from the mountains with great labor."
E'ery Dwarf within hearing groaned and shook his head, for she had surely condemned them all to death with her words. They could only grasp their axes and await the end.
The Dragon stared at her in shock, for again he had detected no untruths, and yet ne'er aforetime had he heard such a threat, nor confronted one who did not flee from him. The creature stood before him unmoving with arms crossed rather than drawing weapons, as if daring him to do 'aught. Worse, because he had detected no lies, her accusations were true. He was the thief and murderer here and had wronged those hiding in the landscape 'round him. For a moment, Biraikhgirul-Uslukh found that he detested the sensation of guilt, and then his lizard brain took o'er.
In the blink of an eye, he cocked his head back and then lunged forward, his jaws agape, striking swift as a snake. Helluin barely had sufficient time to dive aside. The Reeking Dragon's mouth closed 'round the furnace that stood but a foot from her face, and then he was crushing it 'twixt his teeth as his head withdrew.
Biraikhgirul-Uslukh bit down hard on the steel plates, but rather than tasting meat, he tasted ash. Most of his teeth had pierced the thin metal casing though a few of the smallest had snapped off against the firebrick insulation and that enraged him all the more.
Up on the bridge, Captain Rukhsiflid had stealthily loaded the arbalest whilst Helluin parlayed with the Dragon, and now he let the bolt fly in defense of the Bazgûnsulûkhu who had dared defy the monster. The fathom long black-steel arrow struck the crushed furnace at a down angle, piercing both it and the inside of the Dragon's lower jaw and pinning the ruined device in his mouth.
In those precious moments of respite from his attack, Helluin had come to her knees. She drew and knocked an arrow on her bowstring, and when the target came into view, she let fly the Númenórean broadhead. The arrow entered the front corner of the Dragon's right eye and impacted against the interior of the socket where it lodged in the bone of his skull.
Biraikhgirul-Uslukh shrieked in pain and rage and retreated into the entrance hall. Helluin already had another arrow knocked and Captain Rukhsiflid was struggling to prepare the Wind Lance for a second shot. In the entrance hall, the Reeking Dragon wailed in fear, for the black-scaled creature had told no lies when it threatened him with death and in the moments since, he had been sorely wounded. He turned his back on the broken gates, curled his tail o'er his spine, and backed up 'til his most lethal weapon was framed in the entrance. Standing three fathoms away in a direct line, Helluin recalled the words of a counselor in Erebor.
"During its attack, it sprayed a fetid musk from its anal glands as if it were a great skunk," said the first counselor, "and deprived thereby of breath, some of our defenders choked to death on its vapors."
Before her, the gaping maw of Gunûdu Uzbad was occluded by the Reeking Dragon's hindquarters, and most prominent therein, its rectum with the openings of its anal glands to either side. The Noldo groaned at the sight of its puckered orifice, a fathom in diameter and devoid of scales, as the monster clenched it buttocks and prepared to expel a blast of its fetid, suffocating musk.
Now there must be mentioned here some lore learnt only later by the Wise. Dragons such as Biraikhgirul-Uslukh were rare and but few of his kindred had e'er been equipped by the Great Enemy with such chemical weapons. On later reflection, Helluin could not recall any such creatures from the Fall of Gondolin, though to be honest, their study had not been her preoccupation at the time. Perhaps Morgoth had excluded them from the assault force, for their effect on the attackers would have been no less than upon the victims. For whate'er reason, the Noldo had ne'er encountered such a Dragon aforetime.
There was truth in the counselor's belief that Biraikhgirul-Uslukh was much like a great skunk. His anal glands indeed produced an oily, noxious exudate, and by the clenching of certain specialized musculature, he could expel it forcefully in narrow twin streams. Howe'er what truly made his attack so deadly was that, added to the streams of musk was the great blast of bowel airs that accompanied them, atomizing the musk and converting the narrow twin streams into a vast, explosive cloud of vapor. The Dragon's bowel airs, like those in many other animals, were composed of multiple airs including primarily methane and oxygen, along with a small portion of Airs of Sulfur. The latter conferred the reeking quality, but the first two provided fuel and oxidizer, making the whole greatly flammable.
Helluin saw the Dragon's rectum begin to open and she loosed her arrow straight up his wazoo. In the next moment, she was diving backwards into the stream, desperately hoping that the waters would afford her some protection. Behind her, Biraikhgirul-Uslukh attacked, and the violent expulsion of his chemical assault shook the air with a wet, ripping sound.
On the bridge, Captain Rukhsiflid fired the arbalest and ducked behind the parapet whilst in the surrounding landscape the remainder of the company covered their heads with their arms and prayed to Mahal for deliverance.
The bolt from the Wind Lance struck a glancing blow on the Dragon's hindquarters where 'twas deflected off his scales to impact against the rock beside the gates in a shower of sparks. The result was a huge explosion that began with Biraikhgirul-Uslukh gas cloud and encompassed all of the area before the gates, the entrance hall, and in a swift wave front of ignition, the tunnel leading down to the treasury. It literally blew the top off the mountain.
Holding her breath 'neath the swift but shallow waters of the stream, Helluin was aware of a brief gout of fire, the muffled sound of the detonation, the impact of the shockwave, and the rain of debris. A few rocks the size of pears and apples glanced off her armor, but by the grace of the Valar, 'naught larger struck and she was uninjured.
When she finally dared rise from the water, 'twas to stare in shock at the rubble-strewn crater where the gates had stood and the collapsed ground above the ruins of Gunûdu Uzbad. In the sky, a thick column of dust and smoke rose high into the air above. A few Dwarves were just standing back up, looking 'round in thanksgiving for their deliverance, but dismayed by the destruction. There was no trace of the Dragon.
Well, that could have gone better, the Noldo thought as she shook her head in exasperation, what am I going to tell King Thrór?
To Be Continued
Khuzdul proverbs were found in The Dwarrow Scholar Combined Support Documents .pdf file.
Guest: Thanks for your review on Chapter 93. Because I can't reply directly to an unsigned review and you raised some points for clarification, I shall do so here. Your review follows:
"How in the hell, did he managed to bring yrgh around her, capture an elf with little struggle and then bring the captive past her to him? Did she just sit there and watch without acting..? Did the elf just flop down from where ever she was without contest? this whole scene seems odd. Though inaction is about the only way I can picture all that happening."
"So fixed upon the tower was Helluin that she marked not the company of Yrch which snuck from a postern door 'round a corner of the wall from the gate; nor did she mark that they moved through a culvert to flank her whilst making for the woods,". The Yrch left Dol Guldur by a postern door, (like the one that Aragorn and Gimli used at Helm's Deep in the movie "The Two Towers"), not visible to Helluin as she stood facing the main gates where she was completely focused on taunting the Nazgûl. They then advanced from the fortress through a culvert and being hidden below ground level, could not be seen as they made their way to the woods.
"…from amongst the ravaged trees behind her came the sounds of fighting; guttural profanities of Yrch, twang of a bow, quick hiss of an arrow, a thud and a cry of pain, and then the rapid clash of steel." And afterwards, "…she saw five Yrch dragging forth a prisoner from the tree line…" Inthuiril put up a fight and it is implied that at least one Orc (the one that she shot), was killed, but the engagement was originally at least six against one. Describing a prolonged fight would have just slowed the pace and wasn't important to the plotline.
It is apparent that Helluin valued the elleth's life sufficiently that she was unwilling to jeopardize her even when killing Tindomul the Nazgûl with the Sarchram was possible. Also, being able to intercede swiftly enough would have depended on Helluin being very close, but she was standing in the clearing in front of the gates, not right at the gates where she would have been an easy target for anyone on the walls and would not have been able to see over them to watch the tower. This becomes apparent in her calculation about the flight time required to kill the Nazgûl with the Sarchram.
"Helluin was trying to decide whether she could cast the Sarchram and slay this Nazgûl ere he could slit the elleth's throat. She doubted not her accuracy, but rather the time t'would take for her cast to cover the distance. To her eye the flight time required would leave her lacking for some factions of a heartbeat. The Sarchram would send thither to the Void the wretched wraith's fëa, but t'would come to pass as the elleth's blood began to flow upon his blade. With a groan, Helluin realized that she could not slay this enemy and save the strange Elf-maiden."
During the time that the Yrch were dragging Inthuiril towards the gate where the Nazgûl waited, Helluin was astonished that the Ringwraith thought the elleth was actually Beinvír and couldn't tell the difference. She couldn't attack the five Yrch for the same reason that she couldn't attack the Nazgûl at the gate…it would have likely resulted in the elleth's death. Instead, she chooses a tactical surrender and feigns despair.
(Passages above in italics are taken directly from the posted story.)
Luna Lightblade: Thanks for signing up for story alerts. I hope that you continue to enjoy reading "In An Age Before".