Taker Of Skulls(60)

“If we can sneak into his camp we may be able to recover the blade,” said Guttri. “With it we can kill him.”

“It is suicide,” said Ferik. “We would all die.”

“Not all of us,” said Guttri. “This is the sort of task best suited to a small group. A warband might not be able to infiltrate the mine but a small party might.”

Ferik considered his words. “How many?”

“You are the warleader, you decide.”

Kormak realised that he was going to have to reclaim his blade. Without it there was no chance of getting out of this place anyway. It was simply a case of waiting for doom to overtake them.

“I will go,” said Kormak. “It is my blade and I am the one with the best chance of slaying Graghur.”

“That I will take as true,” said Ferik. “I am going for I would have words with Utti. I will take Mankri. He knows his way around the mines. I will take half a dozen volunteers. Any more risks leaving the gates unguarded at a time when they must be held.”

“I will go,” said Karnea. “I don’t want to but I don’t want to be left behind either.”

Boreas and Sasha looked at them, and Karnea explained what was being said. “You three should remain here where it’s safe,” Kormak said. He was thinking of his orders from the Grand Master and his promise to Tam.

“I’m not being left here on my own,” said Sasha. “These dwarves look as if they are just waiting to cut my throat.”

“You might need a healer,” said Karnea. “And my wards and the rune may help. If you don’t get the blade, it will only a matter of time before Graghur comes to the Dwarfhold and slays us all. We have a better chance together.”

“In that case, I’m going too,” said Boreas. “I am your bodyguard.”

“Before we go I need to feed the Mankh rune flames,” Karnea said.

Ferik nodded his agreement. “It will be so. Such power may prove useful to us.”

“I need some more runestones for my stonethrower,” said Sasha. “If the dwarves could provide some I would be grateful...”

Karnea translated. Ferik barked orders. Dwarves scuttled off to find what was needed.

Kormak looked out at the crowd. The dwarves clamoured for his attention. He picked them out one by one. Despair gnawed at his heart. He had lost his blade and without it he had no chance of killing Graghur, much less of keeping the others alive.





Chapter Twenty-Three





GUTTRI AND THE remaining dwarves waved them good-bye from the gates of the Dwarfhold. Ferik embraced Branhilde, his beard intertwining with her hair in a gesture that seemed curiously intimate. Once they parted Ferik turned and did not look back. Neither did Kormak. There was no reason for him to do so. It was just one more place that he was leaving behind him as he had left countless others.

He could tell the others did not quite feel the same way. They had gotten used to being inside the Dwarfhold. If it had not been safe, it had at least felt predictable, which was the next best thing as far as most people were concerned. He had learned long ago that no place was truly safe.

Karnea glanced back nervously and polished her glasses. Sasha glanced out into the darkness fearfully. The dwarves had provided her with a pouch full of runestones for her weapon. Boreas hefted his new warhammer and tried a practise swing.

“Better than my last,” he said. “Better balanced. Better made.”

“I’m glad it makes you happy,” said Kormak.

Boreas gave him a mock frown. “I never said I was happy.”

Kormak lifted the axe the dwarves had loaned him. It felt strange in his hand, after all these years of wielding a sword. Of course, he knew how to use it. He had been trained with all the weapons he was ever likely to be called on to wield back when he was a novice. It irritated him that he was not entirely comfortable with the weapon now. His life might depend on it.

They marched back across the bridge. There were no signs of Graghur’s army. According to Mankri, it had retreated all the way back to the mines. Ferik sent him scouting ahead anyway. The dwarf chieftain kept them moving at a tremendous pace through the darkened corridors. Everglow lanterns probed the darkness just ahead of them, but Kormak knew enough about the dwarves now to know they were not relying on their eyes. Their ears, their noses and even their beards all relayed them information as they sensed vibrations through the floor. They had many more ways than a man to know what was happening around them in the long darkness. They were very far from blind. The lights were more for the benefit of the humans than the dwarves.

They took a ramp that spiralled downwards. Kormak wondered how far below the ground the City in the Deeps went. Sometimes it felt like they were burrowing towards the heart of the world. Perhaps if they kept going long enough they would emerge in the Kingdoms of Dust.