Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) by Thomas Rath

discovered.
                  Raising her head just over the vapor, she was instantly sprayed with blood as one of the combatants went down with an ugly gash to his forehead. It was a dwarf. It had to be. Her mother had told her of the rough, dwarf people that lived in the hard rock of the Dorian Mountains; their long red beards and braided hair, their squat, thick bodies and the large nose that covered most of their face.
                  Another dwarf moved in desperate battle, swinging his battleaxe in wide arcs to keep his enemies at bay. Rani did not know the creatures he fought. There were three standing and two others littered the bridge spilling their gore upon the grass-covered stone. They were slightly larger than the dwarf having rough, black skin, though whether that was their natural color or just a coating of filth, she could not tell. Their eyes were completely black and they wore awkward pieces of armor and clothing that she could only guess came off the bodies of earlier victims. Their ears were large and fanned out like tiny wings on the sides of their heads and they were completely bald save for a tuft of hair that grew from the very tops of their skulls. Two of the combatants wore their hair long and braided with pieces of bone, teeth, and what could only be chunks of skin weaved throughout. The other’s tuft was just barely long enough to reach the back of its neck and flew about loosely. All carried swords in different states of disrepair that they pressed eagerly upon the lone dwarf.
                  Without the slightest doubt, Rani chose sides and quickly loosed a dart into the clot of unknown creatures piercing the one with the shorter braid just under the armpit as it swung out wide with its sword in an attempt to remove the dwarf’s head. The dwarf blocked easily but was hard pressed in reversing his momentum to bring his great axe back in time to block the thrust of its companion’s sword. Dodging to the side, somewhat off balanced, the sword swept past harmlessly but he was now caught exposing himself to the first attacker.
                  Rani watched contentedly as the ‘short braid’ moved in for the opening but was suddenly unable to maintain the weight of his body and, instead of making the kill, went down in a confused heap. The dwarf, somewhat amazed that his guts had not been spilled, took quick advantage of the pause in action to right himself in a defensive stance giving a little more ground to his stunned attackers.
                  Rani also took advantage of the lull in battle and quickly gave another hard blow to her gun shooting out a second dart. The ‘long braid’ suddenly roared and threw his head back in anguish as the dart penetrated his left eye with a sickening thwack. With a quick slice of his axe, the dwarf cut short his pain as ‘long braid’s’ head toppled to the ground and rolled off the bridge. ‘No braid’ stared gapping at the dwarf with the sudden change in advantage.
                  Squaring his shoulders, the dwarf growled. “Yer turn to die young one. Come and taste me blade.”
                  Suddenly, ‘no braid’ turned and started running back across the bridge casting aside his sword as he fled.
                  “Oh no ye don’t!” the dwarf breathed hefting his axe above his head and then letting it fly. 
                  Rani watched with fascinated horror as the weapon tossed end over end and embedded itself with loud crack into ‘no braid’s’ back. He dropped instantly without so much as a squeal.
                  “All right, whoever ye be, come out and show yerself!”
                  Rani jumped at the sound of the dwarf’s angry voice and quickly ducked farther down into the blanketing sheet of mist. Her first instinct was to flee. With the cover of the early morning fog, she was certain she could get