ready.”
Aelric bowed to the group. “If you will excuse me, I have my own part to
play. This battle will not be fought entirely in the World you know and my
own role comes-elsewhere.” He started to go and then turned back. “One
other thing. You may find you have acquired some unexpected allies. I
would suggest that you simply accept such help as you are given.” He
picked his way off the crowded dais and strode toward the door.
Moira followed him and caught up with him in the corridor.
“You came back.”
Aelric looked down at her. “Did you doubt that I would, Lady?”
She stopped. “Lord . . .” The elf duke turned back at the sound of her
voice.
“Lord, I have not properly thanked you for your aid. I have been surly and
ill-natured to you and,” her eyes begin to fill with tears and the words
came with a rush, “and I am sorry and thank you. That is all I wish to
say.”
“You are most welcome, Lady,” Duke Aelric said, ignoring her tears. “Truly
this has not been easy for any of us.”
“I wish there was something I could do to make up for everything.”
“Bend every power you possess to our victory,” Duke Aelric said. “Then
hope that it is enough.”
The dwarves were panting and exhausted by the time they reached the base
of the castle. The explosions and beams of burning light had never come
close but they had taken them as a hint and crossed the plain at a dead
run. Since dwarves are too short and stumpy for distance running they were
pretty well worn out.
A dozen dwarves slumped down in a row beneath the towering walls of living
rock and gulped great lungfuls of air. Out on the plain the explosions
continued unabated.
“Now that we’re here,” Thorfin gasped after several minutes, “how do we
get inside?”
“Place isn’t spelled against us,” said Snorri. “Don’t see any gates,
though.”
“Gates would be guarded,” Gimli pointed out.
“There are openings further up,” Glandurg shaded his eyes and craned his
neck. “Leave your packs here and bring only what we shall need for the
final assault.”
Thorfin and Snorri looked at each other and shifted uneasily. “You mean
those openings that spout fire and explosions every so often?”
“You have a better idea? I thought not.”
The wall was solid rock and so steep it was only a few degrees off
vertical. But dwarves are creatures of the mountains and if they cannot
run they can climb like flies.
Glandurg lifted Blind Fury high above his head with both hands.
“Forward!” he proclaimed. “For glory and honor!” Glandurg turned and began
to climb the wall. Behind him his loyal followers hesitated and then
started after him.
It took Mick and Karin longer to cross the plain. Mick insisted on going
flat every time the artillery came within a few hundred yards of them.
Fortunately the fire never got really close and their only injury was to
Stigi, who received a scratch from a shell fragment.
“Well, we’re here,” Mick said as they rested in the shade of the wall.
“Now are you satisfied?”
“I wonder if we can get inside?” Karin said thoughtfully.
“Even for you that’s a crazy notion. We’ve done too much already.”
“Let us work our way along the wall and see if we can find a gate,” she
went on as if she had not heard him.
Mick looked at her, sighed and nodded.
The things men do for love!
“The scouts are in position,” the Watcher reported.
Bal-Simba looked up at the display. Already it was beginning to show the
information pouring in from tens of thousands of scouting demons like the
ones Wiz and his company had used to locate the heart of Bale-Zur in the
City of Night.
Unlike those demons, these absorbed everything that happened around them
and transmitted the information back to dozens of concentrators floating
well to the south out of the battle zone.
Circling off the southern end of the island was a thing like a gray tarp,
a relay for communications and the concentrators. It absorbed the