Tom Liberman - The Hammer of Fire

Dol looked up for a moment, startled and tore his gaze away from the hammer, “No, I think we lost them but they’ll be all over the area soon enough. Let’s find that exit and those mules. Have you ever ridden a mule, Milli?”

The girl looked at Dol for a moment and arched her eyebrows as she gave off a silly little grin, “Actually, what is a mule?”

Brogus laughed aloud although the sound didn’t travel far in the thick stone corridor, “You’ll find out soon enough, spawns of Arioch they are. I rode them with the trade caravans, they like to bite, they do, and their gait isn’t smooth.”

Milli laughed and her smile returned in full force, “Why didn’t you tell me all this before we stole the hammer?”

“It’s just around this corner,” said Brogus as they turned down another of the winding passages and then he pulled up short.

“What is it?” said Milli as she also came around the corner but then she saw the brick wall extension that extended for as far as they could see. “They bricked it up?”

Brogus sat down with a thump and put his hands to his head and tugged at his beard, “They’ve been on to us from the first.”

Milli looked down the corridor, “There have to be other areas close to the surface we can break through, don’t there?”

Brogus shook his head and yanked at his beard some more, “They’ll be here any minute, even if Uldex distracts them somehow; they know this is where we’re headed.”

“Don’t give up,” said Milli and she looked at Dol. “What… oh.”

Dol stood in front of the brick wall, the great Hammer of Fire grasped in two hands. The handle was slim, with delicate rune figures carved up and down its length, but the hammer head was thick and almost black with a few heavy red symbols barely visible on it. With a quick motion the dwarf brought the hammer back and smashed it into the brick wall. There was a dull thunk of a sound, but nothing else. Even before the sound faded Dol brought back the hammer and struck another blow.

“Help him,” said Milli turning to Brogus, but the heavyset dwarf was already on his feet pulling an iron jam out from his pack.

“Thump,” went the hammer into the wall again but this time one of the brick’s faces cracked and a powder of red dust puffed into the air. Brogus thrust the jam into the cracked and held it with steady hands just as Dol’s hammer smashed into it sending a shower of brick particles through the air. One of them sizzled past Milli’s head and she ducked back and away.

“Slam,” came the sound of the hammer and the spike drove half its length into the wall.

“Now, this one,” said Brogus as he jammed another spike into the wall and Dol’s hammer hit it directly on the head. The entire wall shuddered and three heavy bricks fell from up above, narrowly missing the two and landing with a crack at their feet.

“Wham,” went the hammer and another spike drove into the wall.

“Two more and we drive a cross spike,” said Brogus, holding the spike at the end without even looking as Dol brought he hammer in for another blow.

“Crash,” sounded the hammer and a shower of bricks flew from the wall.

“That’s enough,” said Brogus placing a spike at angle to the ones already in the wall.

Dol brought the hammer down again and an entire section of brick tumbled to the floor with a terrible crash.

“Now,” said Brogus. “One good blow and we’ll punch through.”

No sooner had the big dwarf uttered the words than Dol’s hammer hit the wall with terrible blow and the old limestone crumbled beneath it. Daylight streamed through.

“You did it!” screamed Milli almost jumping up and down as she peered at the two from around a little bend. “We’re through, come on!” She dashed out and ducked down to crawl past the narrow opening. Dol was next and Brogus came up the rear.

He spotted one of his iron spikes on the ground in the debris of fallen bricks and reached down to pick it up, “Waste not, want… by the spirit of the elders,” he said and suddenly dropped the spike with a flip of his hand. The thing rang out as it scuttled across the floor and he stared at his hand for a moment, “That’s not possible.” He stared at his hand and felt the pain of the burning heat beginning to spread.

“Come on, you big oaf, there’s a bunch of things out here with four legs and a lot of teeth,” came Milli’s voice from outside in the blinding sunshine.

Brogus took one more look back at the iron spike now resting on the floor and shook his hand in pain. “Coming, coming.”

Seven dwarfs sat in solidly made, thick stone chairs these on a raised podium decorated at the corners with flourishes depicting axes, hammers, and shields. Before them stood a single dwarf dressed in heavy plate armor that gleamed in the intense light thrown down by a hundred glow-stones embedded in the walls of the huge spherical chamber. The highly polished marble floor looked glass-like as the reflections of the seven on the podium were so clear that they almost appeared to be separate dwarves. Around the chamber stood one hundred tall, fluted columns each with a massive volute at the cap. Etched into the podium the faces of fifty dwarfs stared starkly down at the petitioner in front of them. Around the perimeter of the chamber stood two dozen dwarves, these wearing heavy plate mail that gleamed bright gold as if polished just a few hours before and carrying massive pikes at least ten feet tall with wicked curved blades at the tip.

Outside the pillars and in a large alcove hundreds more dwarves stood and watched the proceedings in a state of silence.

“High Council,” said the young dwarf who stood before the podium, “We must chase down the criminals and bring them to justice. We cannot allow this theft to go unpunished. What sort of message would that be to the younger generation of dwarves? There is also the grave danger the criminals will reveal the location of Craggen Steep to our enemies. The girl is not a dwarf and the half-breed cannot be trusted because of his tainted blood line.”

The dwarf in the extreme rightmost chair on the podium leaned forward, one of the jewel-encrusted, platinum bands around his beard clunked into the stone podium. “What you say is true, Cleathelm Firefist,” he replied and stroked his beard with his left hand which showed massive gemstones set into a golden ring on each finger. “The thieves must not be allowed to escape. What puzzles me is the reluctance of the High Councilor to recognize this fact. Why must we debate this issue when time is of the greatest importance? A cadre of our warriors must set out in pursuit at once.”

“This is not a decision to be made lightly,” intoned the dwarf at the center of the podium who sat on the chair with the highest back. “There are those among us, including its creator, who wish the hammer to be used in the world.” He spoke slowly and deliberately with each word hanging in the air for a long moment.

“That doesn’t make any difference,” squealed Cleathelm from the floor. “We cannot allow them to get away with stealing. What sort of example does that send to the younger dwarfs?”

“Your duty is to present your case; not harangue the High Council,” said the dwarf in the center of the podium.

The dwarf to the extreme right shook his head and mouthed, “Be quiet,” to Cleathelm. “High Councilor,” he said and turned to face the dwarf at the center of the long table. “The petitioner is my son and a fine lad, but he has the headstrong nature of youth. Forgive him for his words.”

The High Councilor nodded his head, “Make your arguments, Councilor Six,” he said in the same slow, monotonous tone.

“While my son is rash what he says is essentially true, High Councilor. However, there is more to this unfortunate episode than merely the theft of the hammer. I’ve spoken with the Master at Arms and he tells me that agents of the dwarves who sit in this very room misdirected the pursuit. The Blackirons have much to gain from the humiliation of the Firefist name. It is clear to me Borrombus Blackiron planned this theft along with the First Edos,” continued Councilor Six with a sharp glance at the councilor in the far left hand seat of the chamber.