Margaret Weis - Dragons of The Dwarven Depths

“Drink it,” he said in Common. “It will not hurt you.” To prove it, he took a drink himself. Riverwind sipped at the brew, spluttering and coughing as the fiery liquid burned its way down his throat. Warmth flooded his body, and he felt better. The throbbing pain eased. He shook his head when offered another drink, however.

The noble looking dwarf did not waste time on pleasantries. “I am Hornfel,” he said, “Thane of the Hylar. Realgar, Thane of the Theiwar, the dwarf who took you and the others prisoner, says that you arrived here with an army of humans and elves prepared to invade us. Is that true?”

“No, lord, it is not true,” said Riverwind, talking slowly through swollen lips.

“He lies!” Realgar snarled. “He admitted the truth to me himself not an hour ago!”

“He lies,” said Riverwind, fixing the Theiwar with a baleful stare. “I am the leader of a group of refugees, former slaves of the evil Dragon Highlord of Pax Tharkas. We have women and children with us. We were sheltering in a valley not far from here, but then dragons and dragonmen attacked us and we were forced to flee.”

He watched the Thane’s expression, and when he spoke of the dragons and dragonmen, he saw Hornfel’s face harden into disbelief.

“We have heard such lies before, Hornfel,” Realgar said, “the exact same tale told to us by the other Talls.”

Riverwind lifted his head. Other Talls. That could only mean his friends. He wondered where they were, if they were safe, what was going on. The questions were on his tongue, but he did not ask them.

He would find out more from the dwarves before saying something that might be entirely the wrong thing to say.

The dwarves went back to arguing among themselves, however, and Riverwind could not understand a word. He had the impression the dwarf known as Hornfel did not trust or like the dwarf he called Realgar. Unfortunately, Hornfel did not trust Riverwind either. One other Thane appeared to be siding with Realgar, and another with Hornfel. The rest seemed to be having trouble making up their minds.

Gilthanas stirred and groaned, but the dwarves ignored him. Riverwind could do nothing to help the elf. He could do nothing to help anyone. He sat, watched, and waited.

Tanis had no trouble getting himself apprehended, though he first had to free his captors to do so. He was walking down the street near the inn when he came upon two Hylar guards bound hand and foot, with gags over their mouths. He cut their bonds and helped them stand, then told the guards he needed to speak to Hornfel on a matter of the utmost urgency. The dwarves were clearly furious, but not at Tanis. They, too, wanted to talk to their Thane, and after a moment’s deliberation, they decided to take Tanis with them.

The dwarven guards hustled him into one of the lifts. Other dwarves stared at him and scowled, and several called out, wanting to know what was going on. His guards had neither the time nor the inclination to answer. They kept fast hold of him, though he assured them he wasn’t going to try to escape; he wanted to see Hornfel. When the lift stopped, the guards stopped to question other guards, asking where Hornfel could be found.

“The Court of Thanes,” was the answer.

Tanis was in no very good humor. He’d had little sleep and nothing to eat. He was outraged at the attempt on their lives, deeply concerned about Flint and Tas and the knowledge that draconians were in Thorbardin. He entered the Court of Thanes determined to make Hornfel understand his peril. He planned to have his say first and give the Thanes time to digest his words. When his friends arrived with the draconian prisoner, he would use the monster to emphasize his point. He would demand that he and his friends be allowed to seek out Flint and Tas in the Valley of the Thanes. Tanis was convinced Flint had been, or was going to be, lured into some sort of trap. These words were in his head and on his tongue, and he forgot them all in dismay and amazement when he walked into the Court of the Thanes to find Riverwind bound, bruised, and bleeding, and Gilthanas barely conscious.

Tanis stopped and stared at his friends. The Thanes stopped and stared at him, wondering what he was doing here. The most astonished was Realgar, who had been convinced Tanis and the rest were dead. Realgar foresaw trouble, but he didn’t know how to combat it, for he had no idea what had gone wrong.

Tanis tried to speak, but the guards launched into their grievances. Hornfel grimly asked for an explanation for why the prisoner was loose. The guards explained with furious gestures at Realgar, while the other Thanes added to the confusion by loudly demanding to know what was going on.

Tanis saw that for the moment, his guards were defending him better than he could. He hastened over to Riverwind, who was sitting up, his back propped against a column. Gilthanas lay on the floor beside him, more dead than alive.

“What happened? Who did this?”

“An ambush,” Riverwind answered, grimacing in pain. He drew breath haltingly. “Draconians. Waiting for us at the gate. Don’t worry. The refugees are safely hidden. I left Elistan in charge…”

“Hush, don’t talk. I’ll sort this out.”

Riverwind seized hold of him with a bloody hand. “That dwarf, the one in the helm, he tried to make us admit we were here to invade…” Riverwind sank back, breathing hard. Sweat beaded his brow and ran down his face.

Tanis put his hand to Gilthanas’s neck, felt for the life beat. The elf lord needed care. Hornfel managed to shout down the other Thanes and obtain some semblance of order. The dwarf guards started their tale by relating first how the kender had escaped and knocked them out (they glossed over this fairly quickly), then, in mounting rage, they stated that when they’d regained consciousness, they were set upon by four Theiwar. The next thing they knew, the Tall (Tanis) was cutting loose their bonds and insisting on seeing Hornfel.

Hornfel glowered at Realgar. “What is the meaning of this?”

“I will tell you, Thane,” said Tanis, rising to his feet. “The Theiwar wanted our guards out of the way so they could poison us.”

“That’s a lie,” Realgar snarled. “If someone tried to poison you, human, it was not me or my people. As for these guards, my men caught them drunk on their watch and decided to teach them a lesson.”

The guards were vehement in denial. One leaped at Realgar, and his companion had to drag him back.

“We have evidence to prove our claim,” said Tanis. “We have the poisoned mushrooms and the bodies of two Theiwar who came to gloat over their handiwork, and we have further evidence of an even more serious matter than the attempt on our lives, great Thanes.”

“What of our evidence?” Realgar demanded, pointing at Riverwind. “This human and those with him admit that they are with an army of humans and elves planning to invade our realm.”

“If he or any of those with him said this, they did so to escape the pain of their torment. Look what has been done to them!” Tanis said. “Is this how men of honor of any race treat their captives?

“I bring you this warning, Thanes of Thorbardin,” Tanis continued grimly, “there is an army prepared to invade your realm, but it is not an army of humans. It is an army of the Dark Queen’s dragonmen.”

“He would have us believe this wild tale to distract us so that he and his humans can take us unaware! I, for one, will not waste my time by staying around to listen to this human’s lies. I must go prepare my forces to repel the human army’s invasion—”

Realgar started walking toward the door.

“Stop him, Thanes!” Tanis warned. “He has betrayed you. He is in league with these dragonmen and their evil master, Lord Verminaard. He has opened the gates of Thorbardin to them.”