Dan Parkinson - The Swordsheath Scroll

"We have steel," Dunbarth Ironthumb growled. "We have excellent stockpiles of steel."

"Good for you," Derkin drawled ironically. "Then we will make trade?"

"What do you want the weapons for?" Swing Basto demanded.

"To wage war against the human legions who have invaded our land."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

"You said you came for two reasons," Dunbarth said. "What is the second?"

Derkin planted his fists on his hips. "I also want Thorbardin troops to help me in my war."

The murmuring doubled in volume. There were scattered shouts and cheers.

"Why should we help you?" Swing Basto growled. "Your war is not our concern."

"The land I intend to retake is the land of the dwarves." Derkin glared at the Theiwar. "It is the land of Kal-Thax."

"It is outside!" Swing snapped. "Our concern is Thorbardin. Let those outside do their own fighting."

"Klar don't have time to go off to war," Trom Thule said. "Plenty to do right here."

"If we were to send troops," Dunbarth Ironthumb asked, "who would lead them?"

"I will lead," Derkin told him. "My people and I. We know the land, and we know the enemy. We will conduct j the war against the human Lord Kane. I ask you to join us I in this cause."

Jeron Redleather stood. 'Those are your requests, then? That we trade you weapons, and that we send an army to join you?"

Derkin nodded. "Those are my requests."

The voices in the crowd had died down. All were silent, waiting for the council's answer.

"Then the council will deliberate the matter. Do you intend to stay and listen? Derkin Winterseed and Calan Silvertoe have the right, as citizens, to observe council action."

"But not the rest of these who are with me." Derkin shook his head. "No, I will wait with them in the concourse. We will return to hear your decisions." Turning, he strode from the dais, followed closely by Helta Gray-wood and the Ten. Calan Silvertoe walked to the nearest audience row and sat down, bustling several dwarves aside to make room for himself. "I'll stay," he muttered. "It's been eighty years since I last heard thane leaders bicker."

Derkin and his party left the hall through wide plank doors. Luster Redleather and about half of his company followed them out, and the doors closed behind them.

"I'm not supposed to let you out of my sight," the young Daewar told Derkin.

"How do you think it will go?" Derkin asked.

Luster shrugged. "Who knows? My father might favor your proposal, and maybe Dunbarth Ironthumb. They both regret the way Thorbardin has gone. But the others? Who knows?"

Hours had passed, and the sun-tunnels were dimming when the Great Hall's doors opened again and a guard signaled. Followed by Helta and the Ten, Derkin walked again to the dais. As he passed Calan Silvertoe, the old dwarf frowned and shook his head. "These idiots haven't changed a bit," he whispered.

The conclusions of the Council of Thanes, read to Derkin by Jeron Redleather in a level voice that told few details of what had occurred in the privacy of the packed hall, confirmed Calan's whisper. Thorbardin would produce the weapons and armaments demanded by Hammerhand and would trade them for the goods offered by the Chosen Ones. But Thorbardin would raise no army and would not join in Hammerhand's war.

Aside, Dunbarth Ironthumb whispered, "I'm sorry, Derkin. The vote was three to two."

From beyond the dais, Calan Silvertoe's old voice rasped, "Can you guess what argument carried the decision, Derkin? It was that, if Thorbardin sent an army outside, there wouldn't be enough reliable guards left inside to keep the peace."

"To keep the peace?" Derkin muttered. Then, to the chieftains, "You have made your decisions. We of Kal-Thax are on our own. You will trade us weapons, but you will not help us fight. You, Jeron Redleather, said earlier that I have the right to speak. Have I that right still?"

"This council is still in session." The Dae war nodded.

"Very well." Derkin turned, addressing the entire assembly, his voice cold and clear.

"Your ancestors once put aside their grudges and their feuds," he said slowly, "to form a nation in these mountains. Now there is no nation here. Even within this fortress, where you all breathe the same air, drink the same water, eat from the same fields and stores, and hide behind the same gates, there is no real nation. You tell yourselves that Thorbardin lives! Because the vents still bring you fresh winds, and the water troughs still flow, and the warrens still yield food, you tell yourselves that all is well.

"I say Thorbardin does not live! I say Thorbardin is asleep, and if it does not awaken soon, it will truly die!"

A rumble of voices erupted in the crowd, and Derkin turned to glare at the rows of dwarves, his eyes as dark as storm clouds. Gradually, the clamor subsided.

"Once the gates of Thorbardin were funnels of life," Derkin growled, his deep voice filling the great chamber. "Once Southgate thronged with the traffic of the mines- ores coming in from the Daergar mines around the Thunder Peaks and from Theiwar digs all over the Promontory. Once there were Thorbardin patrols and scouts roaming as far as Sheercliff and the Anviltops, seeking rich new areas to mine. Once Northgate stood open every day, and Neidar from all of Kal-Thax came there to trade the produce of the forests and the fields for the produce of Thor-bardin's mighty forges. Now the gates stand closed except by decree, and Thorbardin is an elaborate prison.

"Once the Shaft of Reorx fed smelters that operated night and day, fed by the ores from Daergar shafts and Theiwar veins. Now the smelters are silent, and the forges are still.

"Once the people of all the thanes labored side by side to give themselves a home like no other home on this world and to forge a mighty destiny for themselves. Now Thorbardin is not a home, but just an arena for petty bickering and useless feuds. And that great destiny forged by your ancestors is as forgotten as the reason it was forged."

"What great destiny?" a dwarf in the audience shouted sarcastically, then went silent as Derkin's eyes fixed on him.

"The Covenant of the Thanes," Hammerhand said. 'That great covenant made long ago to preserve the dwar-ven lands. That is what has been forgotten! The Covenant has not been repealed. It has simply been ignored! Your ancestors fought to defend Kal-Thax against human invasion and built Thorbardin for that purpose. But you have turned your backs on Kal-Thax! Where were Thorbardin's mighty armies when humans marched across Kal-Thax and looted Neidar villages? Where was Thorbardin when the Emperor of Ergoth sent his slavers through Tharkas to capture dwarven slaves for his mines? And where is Thorbardin now, when Lord Sakar Kane and his regiments occupy the passes south of Tharkas and develop more mines there-mines stolen from dwarven people-to feed the human emperor's wars in the east?

"Thorbardin was created for one purpose-so that Kal-Thax would always be protected against invasion. Thorbardin was to be the sinew and the beating heart of a nation! The dwarven nation of Kal-Thax!

"But Thorbardin has withdrawn into itself, and Kal-Thax lies invaded, conquered, and occupied! And when I come here seeking Thorbardin's assistance-so that I can do the task that is Thorbardin's task-what do I find? Do I find armies ready to march, to defend the land of the dwarves? No, I find only Home Guard companies, marching between closed gates to keep down riots and hold troublemakers at bay. Do I find the hard-working, stubborn people who built this great fortress and made it powerful and rich? No, I find sullen, sniveling crowds with nothing better to do than vandalize their neighbors and throw rocks at one another in the streets."

Here and there in the Great Hall, clamors of outrage erupted, but were quickly stilled by the guards.