Elvenshore: 01 - The Dwarves of Elvenshore by Clark Graham Page A

Fourteen of the egg sacks were gremlins. The gremlins usually had a green tint to their hairless skin, but these had turned blue.  The four and half-foot tall creatures had small fangs that protruded out between their lips. Their teeth were sharp. Their faces looked fierce through their angry eyes. When he cut one of them open Sarchise noticed the eggs were so small that they could have been only a few hours old.  The last egg sack had a Minotaur in it. He had several cuts to his chest that a spider could not have put there. He had the body of a tall strong man but the head and tail of a bull.  They were a strong race and very brave.  The horns could gore a man and did in close combat on many occasions. Sarchise cut him open and scooped out the eggs.
    “Tie him up; we will use him for questioning when he comes t o.  The gremlins are not any use to us. Burn them along with the lair,” he ordered.
    They bound up the Minotaur and dragged him back to the camp.  It took four dwarves to carry the massive body. The rest of the army prepared for the counter attack of the spiders. When the fire went up and the lair started to burn several hundred spiders came crashing through the forest.  Arrows stopped most of them in the ir tracks.  Those that did get through were met with battle axes and long swords.  They managed to bite two of the dwarves, but none of the spiders got out of the battle alive. Sarchise had the warriors add the spiders to the fire and then they marched back to the camp with the wounded.  
    Hemlot was looking worn and tired.  The dried meat was not setting well with the dwarves and their morale was starting to take the toll. They were not complaining but they were not the same energetic army that had marched out of High Mountain. Sarchise had them broaden the camp and build a fire pit in the middle of it.  Poles for walls were lashed together around the outside and the shelter was strengthened.  They plugged the holes in the roof and set up a watchtower in the trees. It was not as nice as the one on the elf mound but it was better than nothing.  Sarchise climbed it, but noted that not much could be seen here where the forest was very thick. Never the less he manned it with scouts.  Dwarves did not like going up the watchtowers.  Their legs were very short and not made for the rungs of a ladder.  The only way they got some of them up there was with rope and tackle.
    “We need to send out runners to establish contact with the other armies.  I would like to stay a few days here until we find where the other armies are and then continue on deeper into the woods,” Sarchise said.
    Hemlot gave him a look of displeasure. “We lose more warriors at every turn Sire.  We will not go on until we join our forces with the fifth army. I cannot risk losing you. We are now up against spider s , gremlins and Minotaur. As commander of this army I say we fortify this camp even more and wait for reinforcements.”
    Sarchise was very surprised at that. He knew ultimately that Hemlot was in charge, but had never thought that he would pull rank.  Hemlot had always gone with what Sarchise said because of Sarchise’s knowledge of the forest.  Sarchise let out a sigh and said, “Very well.” And with that he walked off.
    Hemlot did not ignore Sarchise however; he wrote a battle report and sent one copy to High Mountain and four other copies he sent out to the east and the south.  Three were sent to the east as they didn’t know where the other dwarf armies were.
    During the next few days they strengthened the camp and sent out patrols. Spiders would come to investigate the nightly campfires, but a few arrows later they would all die.  They never came in large numbers. The two dwarves never did show any signs of recovery.  Sarchise ordered them burned, “You cannot leave meat in the forest” he had said.  The dwarves didn’t like this and were going to send them back to High Mountain. Hemlot interceded and