The Wealth of Kings by Sam Ferguson Page A

golden dragon knew that Tu’luh had done many reproachable things, the love he held for his son was still there, pulling at his soul.
    “Speak,” the orc riding Tu’luh told Hiasyntar’Kulai.
    The golden dragon looked to his son’s sad, broken eyes and then asked his question directly. “Where is the addorite you stole from me?”
    Tu’luh grunted, but didn’t answer.
    The orc riding him lifted a mighty, golden whip and cracked it down on Tu’luh’s brow. He then yanked upon the chains and Tu’luh groaned in pain. “Khefir has ordered you to answer the Father of the Ancient’s questions fully and honestly. Now answer him!”
    Tu’luh complied. “The addorite was taken to a cave to the west of Roegudok Hall, but it is no longer there.”
    “What do you mean?” Hiasyntar’Kulai asked.
    “I used some of it. Gorensikdar, my brother, was the one who told me how to create the spell that later became known as Nagar’s Blight. Its creation required a great amount of addorite.”
    Hiasyntar’Kulai growled angrily. “And where is the rest?”
    “Taken,” Tu’luh replied. “A band of goblins stole the rest. I tracked them farther west, into a small network of tunnels and caves, but I never found it. Go west from Roegudok Hall for two hundred miles, then turn south from the dark forest where the funnel spiders live. In a pine forest you will find three small mountains. The entrance to the network of caves is in the middle mountain, but I do not think the addorite still remains."
    "Why not?” the golden dragon pressed.
    “The goblins who took it used its power to augment their magic. They had no understanding of its toxicity. It warped them into something different. Now they are a strange, vile tribe that hardly resemble goblins at all. Unless I am mistaken, they died from their use of addorite, and the addorite has been entirely consumed.”
    “Any more questions?” the orc shouted out to Hiasyntar’Kulai.
    The golden dragon replied, “No, that is all.”
    The orc yanked on the chains and Tu’luh walked away. Khefir returned for a moment and reminded the golden dragon of their deal, then the portal vanished. Hiasyntar’Kulai stopped circling and flew away, making a direct line for the Middle Kingdom, which was many thousand miles away.
     

CHAPTER 5
     
     
    Year 3,403 King’s Era.
    203 rd year of the reign of Sylus Magdinium, 5 th King of Roegudok Hall.
     
     
    Dvek stepped into the miner’s hall as they were finishing their supper. Normally the hall would have been filled with tobacco smoke and flowing with ale, but that was not the case now. The miners sat around wooden tables playing cards and betting with toothpicks instead of anything that had real value. A few of the miners looked up at him, but none of them said anything. They knew well enough that he hadn’t come to speak with them.
    The Minister of Commerce made his way to the left side of the hall and pushed through a swinging door to find thirty dwarves standing around and talking with each other in hushed voices. When he stepped inside the room, they all turned and fanned out to face him.
    “I have the orders from the king,” Dvek said. “We are in a tight spot, so I won’t mince words, and I am not going to make this a long, drawn out meeting. You are some of the best team leaders Roegudok Hall has ever known.”
    “Tell me something I don’t know,” said Brugg, a brown haired dwarf with a burgeoning belly and thick, scarred arms.
    A couple of the others laughed.
    Dvek arched a brow and continued. “I have a list for each of you. It details how many crews will be assigned to you, as well as who is on each crew. We are changing tactics so we can spread out to explore as many mines as possible. Each of you is going to have a team that consists of seven crews. Each crew is going to have four miners and one explosives expert. The senior-most miner on each crew will be the crew leader. In order to keep the mines working around the