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

had them burned stating that they could not afford to lose any more warriors. 
    On the fifth day the Minotaur started sweating.  Sarchise had him lashed to a tree, not knowing how strong he was.  He woke up several hours later.  When Sarchise came close to the tree the Minotaur tried to lunge forward at him.  Sarchise had his sword ready just in case he broke his bonds but they held. The Minotaur let out a mix between a groan and a growl.
    “Good Morning.” Sarchise said, sitting down in front of the Minotaur, while sipping hot broth.  He had another cup of it that he sat in front of the beast.  Hemlot also came and sat down.
    “I hear that after you awaken from a spiders bite that you are very hungry, is this true?” Sarchise asked.  Anger flashed across the Minotaur’s eyes.
    “Not very talkative aye?” Sarchise said taking another sip. Hemlot was sharpening his axe and would look up from the blade to the neck of the beast and back to the blade as if he were gauging how sharp it would need to be to take off the Minotaur’s head with one swing.
    “Let’s start with something simple.” Sarchise said. “Then we will get to the more difficult questions.  First off, for a sip of this broth, what is your name?”
    The Minotaur started to struggle. 
    “I wouldn’t do that,” Sarchise said. “You will break the mud pack bandage and then you r wound will start to infect. I would n’t want to see you rot while still alive. I did keep you alive, but I burnt all of your gremlin friends.”
    The beast looked down at the mudpack on his stomach. He looked at it with curiosity.  He could not understand why a human would keep him alive in the first place and then bandage him besides. “Barazar” he said simply.  Sarchise shrugged and held the cup up to his mouth for him to take a sip.
    “Well, that wasn’t hard, Barazar.” Sarchise said, “Next question.”
    Barazar interrupted. “Please you must help us, my people are being destroyed.”
    Sarchise was taken back “What, your army of gremlins and Minotaur is being attack ed by spiders?”
    “No, the Minotaur are being destroyed by an army of gremlins.”
    Sarchise and Hemlot stared at each other.  They wanted to believe but felt it was a trap.  Finally Sarchise turned and glared at and yelled, “You lie.”
    Barazar looked at the ground.  He let out a long deep sigh and said, “I only wish that I did. I wish that this nightmare would end.  I do not want to watch the extinction of my race.  We have already lost two cities and a third is besieged. There is only one free city left.  We are hunted down like dogs when we try to leave our cities.  We are surrounded if we stay to fight. Every time we destroy one of their armies they make another, then another.  They care not for their losses they just breed more. 
    “Every battle we have with the gremlins the spiders come and carry off more of us. They hear the clamor of war and they come.  The y multiply and multiply.  They have a horde of a thousand that crosses the forest unopposed, killing gremlin and Minotaur alike . We cannot leave our cities because of the spiders, we cannot stay because the gremlins come and surround them. We are lost.”
    Sarchise poured the rest of the broth into Barazar.  “How could this happen?  The gremlins don’t breed themselves, but need someone else to run the breeding pits.”
    Barazar simply said, “Tabor.”
    “Tabor is dead,” Sarchise said.
    “There is another.” Barazar paused, swallowed hard then continued, “ it is all our fault. When we lost the last battle the el ders said that we would never go to war again. It was a time of peace for our race.  Humans no longer bothered us for they do not love the woods. The elves had left.  We rebuilt the cities of the elves and lived in peace for many years. Then the trouble started. We do not live to the age of man and the elders all died off.  The ones that took their place had never seen war and