A Dwarf's Tale: Will of a Silver Coin
Chapter 19

Griff and I were only several minutes from the farm. The lights far ahead was telling already a tale: the battle had begun. I was about to urge Griff to fly faster, but there was no need. She could tell the same thing I did. She furiously beat her wings to get to the farm faster. When we got closer, the majority of the troops were mustered. They were at the front lines. The oldest children and the women were hitching up several wagons while others were loading supplies. I looked straight down, and a convoy line was at the ready to evacuate to Stalvinport should the battle turn sour. Griff circled the farm once and landed at the barn. Steve was there and readying the small barrels of the blast powder. I patted Griff. “Take good care of Steve Griff.” She squawked and went over to Steve. I hopped off of Griff, winked at Steve, and went into the house. Several dwarven women were setting up the large tent for an infirmary. Inside, Talma and several other dwarven women already set up the house as an infirmary.

“The soldiers are at the front?” I asked of Talma.

“Yes, they are there.”

“All evacuation preparations are done?”

“Yes, we will be able to move within minutes.”

“Good. Then, I go to the front lines too.”

“Tor, you and Calvin come back ok? No heroics?”

“Can’t promise that for me, but I’ll make sure Torid drags him back here when he arrives.”

“May the gods favor we the foolish.”

“Indeed. Farewell Talma.”

I left and jogged to the battlefield. I had no intentions of letting a small issue called death to stop now. Sounded pigheaded of me I know. But damn it all. We have come too far to fail now. I heard an explosion up ahead. I think was one of the blast bombs. Good. The humanoid army was attacking at night rather than the morning. I think they plan to rush the barricade and us, to get to Stalvinport by morning. Well, with a bit of luck, we won’t allow that to happen.

In getting to the barricade, I saw the troops along the way. Thousands here ready to beset the humanoids. I nodded to soldiers near me as I ran further to the front. At the wall, the archers were pouring into the army. They were covered by soldiers with extremely large shields, allowing them to rotate. Hundreds of melee fighters were covering the gate. The gate, before open, was now barricaded against normal intrusion. The humanoids, were returning fire with their bows and crossbows. Sadly, we incurred a few casualties, but no deaths-yet. I climbed on the wall and peered over. Hundreds of humanoids were already dead beyond the wall. The archer officers were giving clockwork commands and directions of where to aim. So far, it seems we were holding them off. The horde army backed off some one hundred yards. Their own shield bearers were shielding them from the archer arrowstorms. For the moment, a stalemate. Good. I went down from the wall and looked around for Calvin. I found him a few minutes later. He was directing other officers and putting the wagons on their sides as another makeshift line of defense.

“Good. Now, make the openings of the wagons no larger than two men abreast. Station eight archers for each opening, four per side. Spear wielders, stay with the archers. Shield bearers, cover the spearmen and the archers. All else, fall in around them. We need more torches. Get the lanterns in the trees too.”

“Nice to see we are holding them back.”

“Tor! Yes it is. How goes the river?”

“The river was held. Not one of us injured. Only a few hundred, maybe five hundred, survived and fled to the opposite shore.”

“Good! Maybe we can win this yet!”

“The left flank, where the wall meets the river, is it covered?”

“Three hundred archers and six hundred fighters are there. If they try the river there, there will be resistance.”

“Good. Any reports of an ogre and giant battlefront troops for the wall?”

“None yet. Do you think there will be?”

“Almost sure of it. It is what I would do.”

“Tor, what’s wrong?”

“We are being attacked at night. They know about this barricade. They know about us. They were to assume we would have sentries to be alerted. So, why at night?”

“I can’t worry about that now Tor. If you find out or think of a good reason why, let me know. But I need to worry about what is in front of us.”

“Of course Commander Randoss.” I saluted him with a smile and went over to the mountain.

He is completely right. He can only worry about what he has in front of him. So, again, I ask myself: why attack at night? I found the stairs that climbed up the mountain to the catapult platform the dwarves had built. Maybe I can get a sense of what their ‘Leader’ is thinking from up there. I started to climb the stairs. Why the night? Unfettered movement for the vampire and his puppet? Another powerful undead attack? Humanoids are used to raiding at night, but not known for large prolonged battles at night. As a group, they suffered too many hindrances to fight properly. I do not want to believe that the ‘Leader’ is so careless, frustrated, raged, that he would perform such a tactical error. I could really use Kosser’s or Woodard’s advice right now for the undead. The catapult above me unleashed another barrel. Some seconds later, I could see the explosion with the impact sound coming a second later. In that split second in the flash of light, I could see a couple of hundred grip their various body parts as the bits of rock penetrated their bodies. Could they be simply sloppy? Maybe so. I had to think otherwise though.

I was about thirty feet away from the catapult. From here, I made my way to the edge and looked down. The horde army pulled even a bit farther back. From my last encounter, this means they are regrouping or waiting for a special type of unit to come forward. It was difficult to discern what is happening because of the torches. Suddenly, as one unit, I saw gnolls raise massive shields at the ready. Instead of a weapon and shield, each had a torch and shield. From the first line, I saw a second, third, and then a fourth line of torches and shields all held by gnolls. Their shields were body sized shields, made of thick hides and wooden frames. While inspecting the shields, that when I saw them. Hundreds, perhaps a couple of thousand of orcs readying their bows with notching their arrows. They were going to arrow storm our troops.

I stood up and screamed at the top of my lungs. “Arrow storm! Take cover!”

Fortunately, the soldiers were able to hear me. Shield men gathered with the archers and covered them with their body shields. The orcs released their arrows, flying through the air like angry insects with the tails of the arrows whistling a bit. I looked over to our soldiers. The arrows, mostly, bounced harmlessly off of the soldier shields. A few were struck in a leg or foot. But no deaths. Turning back to the horde army, I saw the soldiers advance five paces, and the orcs were notching arrows again. I had to admired their commander and officers. This battle tactic was far superior than anything used at Sigur fortress. It was sound: make a moveable wall of shields to advance towards a wall, and then, allow an opening for melee fighting to occur. This would effectively cancel the advantage that our archers have. That horde shield wall needs to be taken out now. If only we had more catapults up here, we could, wait a minute.

“Stormstrike, can you throw those barrels?”

He took one up with a claw and tested the weight. It looked so puny in his huge scaled claw. “Yes, and I understand what you are thinking. But I have no idea as to how long the flame needs to burn before throwing it.”

“We do sir! We’ll help.” The dwarves at the catapult were eager to help, now that they see what I had in mind. They too, were thinking how to repel this shield army.

Stormstrike nodded to the dwarves, and held his claw out holding the barrel. “Ok sir, when we light it, count to five seconds, and then, aim for the closest part of that line. For the farthest point, that would be eight seconds. Equally divide the distance for those in between.”

“Simple enough. Thank you. Now, light this barrel and let’s try it.”

The dwarves lit the fuse. I could see Stormstrike count by making small nods with his massive head. On four, he reared up on his hind legs, and at five, he threw the barrel at the closest part of the horde shield wall. It was perfect. The barrel exploded about a dozen feet above them, rock fragments spraying in all directions. Scores of gnolls and orcs went down with just that one barrel, including scores more directly behind the archers. At a farther distance, just a couple of seconds after this bomb went off, there was another explosion. Steve and Griff were taking out targets in the middle and the flanks of the horde army. Small boy, extremely smart boy. Get the areas where they are bunched up and start raining down death.

“Master dwarves, that, was a measure of fun. I can see why my grandson Bremis joined Griff in dropping these barrels. Here, light me another barrel.” That accounts for all of the smaller blast barrels. Stormstrike had another barrel in hand. The dwarves gladly lit this barrel for him. Another count of five, another rear on his rear legs, and then only the briefest of delay, Stormstrike threw this barrel at the farther end of the front line. That blast barrel exploded a bit higher from the gnolls and orcs, but only by several feet. It did seem to shred the front lines though a bit more. That was about eighty feet of that shield line. Having Stormstrike doing the throwing, meant a lot of blast barrels impacting against the horde. The loaders were still loading however. They didn’t stop. They launched their own barrel, sending it far behind the front lines. The gnolls and the orcs, still on the front lines, started to waver. They were unsure whether to proceed. An officer was about ready to bark orders when Stormstrike launched another barrel. He was right underneath it, the rock fragments goring into him, shredding him apart. He didn’t even have a chance to scream. He joined scores of other bodies, no, hundreds, shredded by its path. The rest of the gnoll shielders, retreated backwards. The orc archers started to run away. Our soldiers started to cheer.

The horde army started to part. In the wake, were two massive battering rams on wheels. It was a full thirty feet long, twelve feet in height, and the rams were massive oak trees suspended on heavy chain within a large frame. There were five massive curved shield-like structures per side of the battering rams. These alone were ten feet tall and skimming only a few inches off of the ground. I could see ogres getting behind these shield-like structures. I yelled to the dwarves above. “Siege weapons! Aim the next barrel at them!”

“We can’t sir, we are still reloading!”

Damn it all to the hells! The archers could not get to the ogres because of the shields. The rams started to move forward. In a couple of minutes they would reach the wall. With those rams destroying the walls in two spots, we would be compromised badly. I could see the horde archers aiming so that if a rush was done on our side, they would be shot down. I looked down, unsure and feeling helpless as to what to do. When they got to thirty seconds of the wall though, two large silver dragons appeared. Vex and Vexia! They peered over the wall, took a deep breath, and released their cones of cone from their mouths. Vex hit the ram closest to me, and Vexia hit the ram farther from me. That ice froze the battering rams in place. Cheers came up from our side. Personally, I wondered what happened to the ogres. As luck would have it, I found out. One of the ogres tried to power its way out of the ice. Problem was, the ogre’s feet were frozen solid with the earth and the rest of the ram. Because of the ogre’s great strength, he broke his legs from his feet at the ankles and fell. Several more ogres tried to do the same thing with the same results. I almost felt sorry for them as their enraged howls of pain permeated through the night sky. Fortunately, our archers made the yowls of pain short lived. Our soldiers cheered again.

I could see the torches of the rest of the horde army starting to fall back. I do not think they were expecting dragons in the area. To add to that effect, we heard a very loud dragon scream into the night. Stormstrike was above me, perched on the rocks. He was also casting a spell. I recognized the movements. It was the same sort of movements he performed when going after that lone ship. He took off in the air while casting, swooped downwards, and launched another huge fireball blast right in the middle of the torches of the horde army. The scene, was ghastly spectacular. The flames lit up the soldiers within that fireball, their bodies incinerating and reduced to ash in a matter of several seconds. The whoosh of the catapult also went, another barrel hurling into the air. That barrel landed behind the fireball, also exploding, its force and rock fragments splitting more soldiers. I think I figured it out. The dragons had communicated and coordinated this attack and then the dwarves above picked up on it. Intimidation. It is about damn time that intimidation be used against this horde army. With these attacks, and the previous archer fire, I could guess several thousand horde troops had perished already. And the enemy, namely us, seemed to be only getting stronger.

“Leave now or perish!” Stormstrike, I could swear he is a good actor. Quieter to us, he said “Combative negotiations you said Tor with no option for defeat.”

I chuckled. I heard two of the smaller blast bomb farther away. That would be Steve and Griff along with Bremis. I would guess that took out another several scores of the horde army. Their morale had to be at a bottom point. I was peering to see any further reactions of the horde army, when Griff swooped down with Steve on her back. “Giants! Lots of giants!” Griff also went to the soldiers, as I saw her land. Right next to Griff, a boulder landed.

“Incoming!”

The soldiers, archers, and dwarves tried to take cover. Over two dozen boulders landed among them. Many were immediately crushed and killed by these rocks. Others were screaming out in pure pain as their legs, or shoulders, or part of their bodies laid under these massive rocks. Stormstrike landed down with Vex and Vexia. The troops gathered around them as the dragons were catching what boulders they could.

So, they did have giants here. Lots of giants? I fumed with anger as I scrambled back down from the mountain face to the troops. I heaved against one of the boulders, moving it, to get the several survivors out. More boulders were falling around me. “Soldiers, get the wounded out with each rock I go to!” A dozen men ran to me, carrying their comrades out of the barrage of stone.

“Tor, help me!”

I turned. Yimnak was there under a boulder, his leg crushed. His brother Durak was there, unconscious and not breathing. No! I ran over to Yimnak, and heaved against this boulder with all that I was worth. They were both freed. I put my head to Durak’s chest. There was breathing, but shallow. It looked like his entire lower half of his body was crushed. I picked him up and cradled him. Two of the soldiers got Yimnak. We carried them back.

“Woodard!”

Woodard came running seeing me carry Durak. I set him behind several massive trees. “Please Woodard, save him.”

“I will try Tor, I will try!” He started praying. I prayed too, prayed that Durak will survive. I turned around, only to see Calvin struck in the arm with a fragment of a landed boulder. He winced and cradled his arm. I ran over to Calvin, and steered him to the edge of the rock-face. Steve ran up and tried to help his father.

“It’s ok, it is only broken. Hurts like the devil. Ok Steve, how many giants are there?”

“Dad, I saw thirty at least!”

I asked Steve. “Did they have spears or clubs?”

“Neither. Each one was dragging a very large wagon full of large rocks!”

“Hill giants then. Calvin, muster the troops back, along the extreme edges of each wall. They will not worry about the wall themselves, but hail down stones upon the troops.”

“You heard the dwarf men! Do it now!” Calvin turned to me. “We did not expect this many giants.”

“I know. I wonder where the son of a bitch gets them from. No time to ponder that now. We need to take out those giants. The wall only comes up to waist level on them. They will easily tear it apart and then the horde will rush us.”

Calvin turned to Kosser. “Any chance your elementals can deal with them?”

Kosser shook his head. “They would get demolished. I could perhaps charm one or two of them.”

A soldier ran up. “Sir, we see the giants now. At least thirty as young master Randoss spoke of. But, a strange thing. One of them is dancing, and most of the other giants are distracted by the dancing giant.”

“What?”

We looked over the wall. The giants were close enough that we could see their heads and shoulders. Sure enough, there was one of the center giants dancing away. We were a bit confused. Stormstrike came down to his children Vex and Vexia. They were conversing as well.

“Ok everyone snap out of it. We have maybe a minute or two more. We need something!” I spoke perhaps a bit harsh, however, even a few seconds could mean success or defeat, and in this case, death.

“Dance, dance before your god Grask, king of the hill giants!” Do what? There was another giant, full twenty feet tall, equipped in ornate furs and a silver crown. The hill giants looked confused too, but one by one, they took off the harnesses of the wagons and gathered around this new hill giant and started dancing. “Good good! Keep dancing you lot. Dance around me in a circle! The first giant to stop dancing will be killed by me! The last giant dancing, will get a special reward and weapon! Eyes on me!” The giants, hearing those words, began to dance even more.

“Ok, in the middle of looming death, does anyone know what the hell is happening out there?”

The silver dragons were laughing softly. “Looks like your pixie friend has them confused.” Stormstrike had answered my question.

Tyna! That sweet little pixie woman just bought us a little bit more time! And that just gave me a hair brained idea.

“Ok, whew, glad to know insanity is not yet upon us. Does anyone have rope, a stout rope, and lots of it?”

Torid came up with rope. It looked like a full one hundred yards of rope was slung around his shoulders. “I have rope Tor. Why?”

“Calvin, have several of the guards open the gate, but be ready to close it if we get rushed.”

He nodded, and six guards came up. “Ok, Torid, I’m going to take one end of the rope and rush out to the giants. Stay at the gate, and make sure the rope does not get tangled.”

“Ok, got it. No rope mess.”

“Good, let’s go!”

They all ran with me to the gate. The guards removed the cross beams and opened the heavy wooden gate.

“Ok, ready Torid?”

“Ready Tor.”

“Count of three. One, two, three!”

I rushed out towards the giants, dragging the rope with me. Torid, true to form, did not allow the rope to snarl or tangle. I went past the Tyna giant and started going in between the legs of the other giants. I wrapped the rope around their legs and going from giant to giant. When I got to the original dancing giant, I stopped and ran back to the Tyna giant. I picked up the other end of the rope and went to the right side of the circle of giants. I had just enough rope left to get them all. I picked up the two ends of the rope and tied the ends together. Hefting the rope, I threw it on the original dancing giant. It caught in his left arm and started twisting around his torso. I ran out of the circle.

After a few seconds, the dancing giant started making the rope taunt. The other giants, started falling on the ground, being pulled and dragged by this dancing giant. When the dancing giant ran out of slack rope, he started moving towards the center of the circle. I was about ready to cheer when a darkened figure jumped into the center, raised his hand, and a huge jet of flame erupted from his hand. The flame hit the Tyna giant Grask full on her body. She screamed, as the giant part disappeared, and her blackened form was now writhing in flames. “NO!” I ran back, hit the darkened figure fully, making him tumble into the giants, and leapt upon Tyna. I used my hands, and tried to douse the flames. Finally succeeded, I gathered her small limp form and ran out of the circle of hill giants towards the gate. Another sear of flame hit me, but I didn’t stop. I ignored the intense pain of burning, feeling my worg armor burning. I got to the gate, and handed Tyna to Torid. I ripped off what was left of my worg armor, ignoring the pain of the burns. We got back on the other side, and the guards put the cross beams back into the gate. I took Tyna from Torid, and felt for a pulse. She had a very weak pulse, and was breathing very shallow. I slipped off my silver ring, and put it on Tyna. She was so badly burned, her wings and hair were all gone. Her small body was mostly burned and charred. I gave her gingerly back to Torid.

“Torid, very carefully, bring her to Talma. She will recover, but she needs much rest.”

“Yes Tor! I do! Then, vampire will pay!” There were actually tears in his eyes. Like carrying and cradling a fragile infant, Torid went back to the farm house. I completely understand his feelings. I grew tired of this myself. Rage started to burn inside of me. I was near shaking with such anger. Slowly, having to concentrate, I turned to Stormstrike.

“Tor, what is wrong with your eyes?” Stormstrike had a look of pure concern. I didn’t care.

“Stormstrike, this ends now! I don’t care the costs! Can you make me larger like you did Griff and Torid?”

“Sure Tor. But why?”

“Stormstrike, just do it! Please! All of you! Please!”

“As you wish Tor.”

Stormstrike cast his spell. I felt myself getting taller. Kosser also made me even taller. Vex and Vexia added to the spell. I was now a full eighty feet tall. “Thank you friends. Time to end this!”

I turned around, walked over to the wall, and simply stepped over it. I noticed my weapons were equally enlarged. So much the better. Feeling no compunction, I walked over to the tangled mess of giants and swung my axe over and over again. With each swing, I decapitated their heads or arms, whichever were immediately available. I started feeling pinpricks, as the arrows of the horde army started to hit me. I ignored them. Most did not even break my skin. Any that did, felt like mosquito bites to me. I didn’t care. I set about my grizzly work and continued to behead the giants. Giants? The dwarf was the giant and the giants were the dwarves. My axe bit over and over and over again into the necks of the giants. Nearly every head had an expression of fear, pain and realization that it was dying and dead. I simply did not care. My heart no longer cared.

When the giants were killed or dying, I looked over to the wagons of rocks. The rocks, looked like small stones in my current size. I picked up a handful of the rocks, and threw them at the torches of the horde army. I could hear crunches of bone as the rocks pummeled the horde.

I screamed at the horde, “Payback is a bitch you bastards!”

I emptied one wagon, and simply went to the next. The dragons saw what I was doing, and took flight. Vex and Vexia took a wagon and dropped the rocks from above. Stormstrike, being much bigger, simply took a wagon, and was dropping a rock at a time, choosing his targets. Leaving the few remaining wagons for them, I simply took a thirty foot tree and pulled it out of the ground. Wielding it like a club, I lumbered forward, swinging in front and downward from me against the horde army. I had the satisfaction of seeing bodies flying right and left. Any of the horde soldiers that I missed with my club, I merely stepped on them. By the torches, they were starting to run away in panic. “Where are you Leader? Let us end this now!” I kept swinging my club, taking and sweeping a score of the horde with each swing. A pack of verbeeg came up and threw their spears at me. This gave me a measure of pain, as I swung the tree in their direction, scattering them right and left. I was looking for the Leader.

Suddenly, something slammed into my back and I fell forward. Landing on the ground, it was a weird sensation feeling life beneath me crushed. It was a sickening set of sounds, of bones crushed, death screams against my body. It is something I will not soon forget. I turned around, and there was the darkened figure before me, also made bigger, nearly my height.

“I was wondering when you would appear. This ends now vampire!”

Those hands were like claws upon me. I wrestled with this figure, taking its hands in mine and grappled. It lunged at me with its head. I moved my hand towards me, the bite of the darkened figure bit its own arm. It howled in pain. Seizing that moment, I moved my other hand to the bitten one, put my first hand to its shoulder, and snapped the elbow. There were more howls of pain as it scrambled off of me, holding its arm pathetically. Remembering Kosser’s words, I took an arrow from my quiver, went to the darkened figure, and stabbed it straight in the heart. There was a shriek as it tried to claw at me with its good arm. I pushed the arrow forward, feeling it go through the heart of the vampire. It let out another shriek, and then, it was still. I pulled back the hood of the figure. It did not look like the other puppets. It did not have Steve’s visage at all. It was very old, gray long hair showing. Perhaps, this was the Leader, finally, destroyed.

I heard the thundering of many hooves. Calvin, had the cavalry mounted, many having an archer riding with them. They were going after the horde. Standing up, and taking my club, I lumbered after them. The archers were firing, nearly every arrow hitting a humanoid and taking it down. The horseman were lancing at the forces, impaling them with their halberds and lances. When I didn’t have good clearance with my club, I simply stepped on the horde forces. Some of the elite chiefs and their officers tried to mount counter attacks with the use of shamans. Some of our cavalry dropped from these attacks. When they saw me lumbering after them, they turned tail and ran away. Mostly those that dropped, were only injured. Some were dead however. Most of the cavalry pursued, but some stopped to help their comrades. I took the dead in my hands however. They deserved a proper burial, not to be butchered by these animals. The other horsemen took the reins of the horses that survived, and ferried them back. I personally took the dead back to the gate.

When I reached the gate, it was in time too. I started to shrink. I set down the dead soldiers gently, and saw against the mountain. In a matter of a few minutes, I was back to my normal size. I stood up, and went to the area where the darkened figure and I battled some time earlier. When I got to the figure, it too, shrunk to normal size. The arrow did as well, but was still firmly in the heart of the vampire. This carcass I dragged back. I wanted Kosser to inspect this form. I wanted to know whether this was the vampire he fought fifty years ago. It took some time to get back. When I finally did, the guards opened the gate and I passed through.

“Kosser, is this the son of the bitch that you fought those many years ago?”

Kosser peered at the figure. “It looks like him. I’m just puzzled about the aged look.”

“Maybe vampires did finally age, or, the blow that you dealt him those many years ago damaged him that he did age. Does it look like him though?”

“Yes, yes it does.”

“Good. Then, it seems this whole business is coming to an end. There is one way to tell for sure though. Right Kosser?”

“Yes, wait for the sun to rise.”

“Tor! I have never seen in all my years that type of fight there! How the devil did you come up with that?” Calvin came over and was excited, almost giddy.

“Sometimes Calvin, you just have to go with the flow. At that point, I didn’t care anymore. I was in rage. I only cared about ending this horrible war. Now, I am just tired. How is Tyna?”

“She resting Tor.” Torid had come back and came up to me. “I mad at you. You did not leave anything for me to smash.”

“I’m sorry Torid. I guess I was too greedy and ‘ogrish’ in my anger.”

“That ok Tor. Next one mine. Deal?”

“Deal Torid.” We shook hands.

“Indeed my boy. I agree with Calvin. I would of never thought up that stunt. How did you know it would work?”

“I didn’t. I meant what I said, you go with the flow. I do suspect that dragon magic has further powers than non dragon magic. But that was a guess on my part. So, what now Calvin?”

“Well, seems like the war is pretty much over to me.”

“Still, have the remaining troops here start burning the bodies. After everything that we have been through, may as well not take any chances.”

Calvin nodded, and mustered up the remaining troops to do just that. Anger, rage, they had their uses. We succeeded, but I could of easily died too. Sometimes, life is like that. You have to take what you can get and run with it. I checked and secured my weapons. That is when I saw that my bow was broken. It must have been when the leader slammed into me knocking me down in my enlarged state. It couldn’t withstand the impact. I took the bow in hands. That is when Samos came to me. “Tor, you are a gift from the gods. Oh, your bow is broken?”

I handed it to Samos. “Ask your crafters to mount that, and put it on the gate there. Also, the names of each person that has fallen from Sigur, and here tonight, have their names on the wall. I will talk to Calvin, and the mayor of Stalvinport if I have to, to have at least a dozen soldiers stationed at all times.”

“Actually Tor, some of the dwarven families have offered to stay here. About a dozen families. The men will help watch, and help Calvin with his farm, as well as the women too. They have grown fond of this place. There is a certain charm that I have to admit to as well. But my duty is to Sigur Fortress. The time for reclamation is close.”

“Excellent Samos. Just simply excellent. Where the catapult is, can be remade into a lookout tower.”

“Aye. I’ll make all of the arrangements. Durak and Yimnak are two that want to stay behind. They are young, and I feel they have the itch for adventure.”

“They did not get that from me.”

“Don’t be so sure. There were not many eyes that didn’t see what happened out there.”

“Right now Samos, my eyes, only care about Tyna and that she is alive. Also, how is Durak and Yimnak?”

“Durak will live. Woodard mended him. Yimnak too.”

I nodded, additional relief. But I looked at all of the dead.

“We have lost too many over the years to that bastard of a vampire. The time for death and blight is over. These men deserver proper burials, with full honors. Their families will need counsel and help to get over the grief of loss. They will also need financial help as well.”

“I will make sure they are taking care of my friend.”

“I already made arrangements with Goper in Stalvinport. But, he will need help.”

“And he will get it Tor.”

I nodded to Samos. I looked to the dead. So much loss.

“So much death. But, there is now life and hope. The time for blight and dread is over. The time for rebuilding and restoration will be at hand. There are still the towns to the east to reclaim.”

“Leave that to the forces of Stalvinport. In fact, there is a navy that needs to do their jobs seeing how you and your group obliterated the enemy navy.”

“Heh, true. I wanted this over.”

“Seems you have your wish Tor. Seems like you have your wish.”

We came up to the farm house and we entered. Some of the wounded were here. All of them present were awake. They saluted and waved at us. I went around to each one, personally saluting and shaking their hands. Talma saw me and came to me. She hugged me, and felt the burns on my back. “Tor, let me.”

“Not yet. How is Tyna? Where is she?”

Talma led me to my room, and there on my bed, laid Tyna.

“She would of died Tor. She was almost dead by the time you got to her.”

Her little form was still so burned. She was resting well enough.

“Samos, I didn’t save the night. This little pixie named Tyna did. She gave the inspiration of how to defeat the giants. If it wasn’t for her, we could have been all dead or fleeing.”

“How did she?”

“She caused the giant to dance, and then appeared as that hill giant with the crown.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Pixie magic. She did not want the land to hurt anymore either. She told me so herself. Also, she wanted no more deaths of innocent people. I thought she had died when she got blasted with the flame.”

“Silly, it takes more than that to get rid of me.” Tyna coughed weakly and opened her eyes.

“Glad it does little Tyna.”

“I feel so horrible. Talma how bad is it?”

“Pretty bad Tyna. You are burned nearly all over your body. Your wings and hair has been burned.”

“I’m scarred for life.”

I took her hand and showed my silver ring, which shrunk to her dainty finger. “Not for life Tyna. You will recover in time. Just keep that ring as long as you need it. It will restore you given time.”

She looked at the ring.” What a pretty ring. Oh no, does that mean we’re engaged?”

We all chuckled at that, and I kissed her small hand.

“No, but it wouldn’t bother me.”

“Sorry Tor, you are a gem, but you are just not my type. I couldn’t even think about those children. Dwixies? Piwarves?”

We all laughed quietly. I so gently kissed Tyna’s forehead and covered her up more with the light blanket. “Ok, the patient needs her rest and sleep.” Talma started to get us out of the room. “Now about those burns Tor.”

I nodded. I did not want to get on Talma’s mean side. I sat down in a chair and pulled off what was left of my shirt. Samos whistled and Talma exclaimed softly. “Tor, this is a mess.”

“I’m better off than most others however.”

“Tor, it is going to hurt.”

I shrugged. I took one of the goblets that Kosser had given to the Randoss family and willed spirits into the goblet. I drank that down and filled it with another. “It’s ok Talma, do what you need to do. Samos, please, can you do what I asked?”

“Of course. The healer must now get on with her patient, before she loses her patience.”

“Great, dwarven humor now. Scat, scoot, get out of here.”

All of the occupants laughed. “I’ll be out there before sunrise however. It is what, two hours away?”

“About that. I think everyone may want to see it.”

I nodded. It took Talma about thirty minutes with the careful cleaning and applying of salves. She wasn’t lying, it hurt like hell. She also applied a different salve to my ankles and legs. Those arrows and spears left painful pinpricks all over them. After she was done though, the burns and the pinpricks barely affected me. I hugged Talma and addressed the group.

“So, who here wants to see a vampire burn in the sunrise?”

Everyone raised their hands. Additional soldiers came in and helped their comrades out the door. Talma was in with Tyna, and when they came out, Tyna was wrapped with different linens and a set of clothes to keep her warm. She actually fit into a toddler bonnet that Talma was carrying. When we went outside, the soldiers were gathered around and a very large circle was formed. I found Calvin, Kosser, and Woodard, and we went to them. Calvin hugged and kissed his wife.

“What news of the horde army?” I asked of Calvin.

“Decimated. Still thousands out there, but they are now fractured. I’ve appointed Thompson as my second, and he will lead the army to go after them.”

“How many did we lose?”

“About eight hundred. All considering, it was a fortunate night. Around five hundred more wounded.”

“How did the additional deaths occur?”

“Their elite forces were in the back. They already had plans and traps set up. Many did not realize this until it was too late.”

“Of the horde, how many?”

“Way over half. Some say seventeen thousand, some say over twenty thousand. So, we still have a sizable army out there to fight.”

“My guess Calvin, is that since the ‘Leader’ is about ready to be reduced to ash, there won’t be any organization left. Also, the navy is now free to reclaim the port towns.”

“I think so too.”

The first rays of the sun were about to peek over the horizon. The vampire’s body, was already starting to smoke. The darkened robe, was pulled away from the body, exposing it fully. I looked at the figure. One vampire. One person. In all of its ambitions, it laid right before us. The first rays did rise, and hit the body full. More smoke appeared, and then, a fire started to burn. The figure moved, releasing one last shriek and reaching up to the sun. Then, it did not move, as a roaring fire engulfed it. There were no cheers from us, only our head bowed low. Not for the vampire, but for all of the death, destruction, and chaos, past and present, it caused. Our heads remained bowed, until only ash remained. Woodard, taking no chances, went to the ash, and poured a clear liquid from a crystal flask upon it. Holy water I am assuming. Perhaps now, a sense of normalcy can fall over the land.

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