Elvenshore: 01 - The Dwarves of Elvenshore by Clark Graham Read Free Book Online Page B

you are free to head back to the High Mountain. Next time you bring an army with you; please send a messenger ahead, won’t you?”
    “Yes Sir,” Sarchise said as he headed out.
    “Well, Sam and Ermort,” Sarchise said after the door closed behind them. “I guess this is goodbye.  You will get a deserved rest and then some other assignment I suppose. You have been great scouts, and have done all that a master scout could expect.”
    “Thank you.” They watched Sarchise leave to go back to the camp.
    Ermort turned to Sam “Do you think that this prince thing will go to his head?”
    Sam didn’t hesitate, “without a doubt.” They both laughed.
    It was early morning when Sarchise stumbled back into the dwarf camp.  The sentries had spotted him, but recognizing him, they let him pass. “Welcome back my prince.” Was all that they would say. This was encouraging to Sarchise it meant that the watch was doing its job. He slept for a few hours and then crawled out of his blanket and went to find Hemlot.
    “My Prince,” he said in way of greeting when Sarchise finally tracked him down.  “The watch said that you had returned safe.”
    “They did a good job,” Sarchise said.
    “We are finding game scarce this close to the city.  We should head out soon so that our hunters can find us more food,” Hemlot said.
    “We will head out this afternoon, prepare the men for a night march, we won’t stop until we reach High Mountain,” Sarchise said.
    “High Mountain?” Hemlot was surprised.  “I thought that we had come out to fight the spiders.”
    It had not dawned on Sarchise until now that he could not take this army back to High Mountain until it had a battle under its belt. He sat in deep though for a moment and then had an idea.
    “Of course, you are right.” He  quickly scrawled  a message and sealed it.  “Please send for Ferdin.”
    He used Ferdin as a runner.  He sent him up to the watchtower and no further. He then sent Fordin back towards High Mountain with another message, but not before he drew him a map of where the army would be when he returned. He then waited. Late in the evening his fifty men and Ferdin, with a pack train of food and supplies showed up.  He then set out towards what is known as the horn of Westwood. Westwood’s eastern side has an area that protrudes towards South Fort.  The locals call it the horn.  It is the closest that the forest comes to the city-state. There is a camp that is maintained by the Royal Scouts. Sarchise rested his army just south of that camp.
    He planned his strategy with Hemlot. “We will enter Westwood at the horn and proceed down through the outskirts of the forest until we reach the lower gate.” It is about a ten day journey but we will have gathered a lot of information and killed a lot of spiders before we get to High Mountain.”
    “We cannot take these wagons through the forest.” Hemlot pointed out.
    “No we can’t,” Sarchise explained. “We will send them on to High Mountain across the plain.  Each dwarf must take enough food on his back for 15 days, just in case.  We cannot light cooking fires in Westwood and the water is rank for the most part.  The wagons contain dried meat and bread.  It will sustain us until we reach the lower gate. I just need the Kings permission to send the pack train with the men to High Mountain. We will wait for Fordin to return.”
    In the days that were spent waiting for the King’s response, man and dwarf grew closer together.  With the fifty scouts in Sarchise’s group along with the twenty-five that were stationed in the camp at the horn, starting to exchange food and tales around the campfires.  The men even learned some of the warrior songs.  Barriers of animosity that were between them almost disappeared and ancient allies were starting to be friends again.
    A very tired Fordin stumbled into camp on the afternoon of the eighth day.

 
Summons of the King
     
    “My Prince, there is