Red Sky at Dawn by D. A. Adams Read Free Book Online

sound preparations for war, but in reality, he had been stalling for time, hoping that more news of Roskin would arrive and end the madness. Now, his hope had run out, for the ogres were gathering at the base of the eastern gate mountain. Unless King Kraganere recanted and offered a full apology for his accusations, by ogre custom, they would attack one complete cycle from the full moon after the accusations were made. By Master Sondious’s reckoning, that meant nine days.
    From his study chamber in the Hall of Gronwheil, Master Sondious watched a group of young soldiers gather in a courtyard below. Their jovial laughter betrayed their actions as they took turns stabbing a straw effigy of an ogre. As one would stab, the others would offer grandiose predictions of how many ogres they would each kill. The scene sickened Master Sondious.
    None of those young dwarves had seen a battlefield before. In fact, other than their training, they had barely been in more than a fistfight. While he himself had not fought in a battle, he had seen warfare in person as a young dwarf. During his tenure as Special Advisor to the Governor of the Deep, he had traveled as an envoy into the free Ghaldeon lands while the Resistance was at its strongest. The Great Empire, while ultimately unable to hold those lands for long, had pushed near Kehldeon, and the Special Advisor’s convoy had been stranded between two surprise attacks.
    Master Sondious, who had been sheltered his entire life because of his intellect, would never forget the screams of both humans and dwarves as the battles raged around them. When the attacks subsided enough for his convoy to make a run for the mountain trail, he had been forced to run through a field strewn with dead and dying and body parts of all kinds. The images and smells still woke him in the night.
    These soldiers had no idea what fate awaited them if they indeed found themselves in battle, and Master Sondious pitied their ignorance. The greatest asset the Kiredurks had ever possessed was their peaceful isolation, but the side effect of isolation was that many thought war glorious and romantic. Few of them had experienced the realities of destruction. Master Sondious now believed that if more Kiredurks had been exposed to fighting, then fewer would be so eager to send off their young ones.
    His thoughts were distracting him from his tasks at hand, so he closed the shutters to the window and returned to his desk. He had to calculate production rates for the blacksmiths to determine how many troops could be moved from Dorkhun to the eastern gate within the next two days. It normally took seven days to walk the distance, but the soldiers could quicken their pace to make it in four or five. That would give them time to rest and prepare for battle.
    Given their tactical advantage with the terrain and the fortifications of the gate, the Kiredurks wouldn’t need more than a few dozen soldiers to withstand the initial onslaught. The biggest difficulty, however, was that most Kiredurk weapons and armor were of too poor a quality to last in any kind of sustained battle, so every soldier needed to be equipped with at least Ghaldeon axes. By Master Sondious’s estimate, the blacksmiths could have three dozen axes completed in two days. While certainly not enough for a prolonged campaign, that number of soldiers could hold the eastern gate for a couple of days until reinforcements arrived.
    A knock came to his door, and he called for the person to enter. When the door opened, he was greeted by the captain of the king’s personal guard, an imposing dwarf with thick arms and a long, full beard. Even though Master Sondious held higher rank within the kingdom, the captain always humbled the frail advisor. He motioned for his visitor to enter the room and take a seat.
    “How may I serve you, Captain Roighwheil?”
    “We need to talk,” the captain responded, closing the door.
    “My ear always welcomes your council, Captain.