will win this war by attrition,' explained Nariko.
'Your suggestion is to hunker down for the long haul and outlast these vermin? How will that be accomplished?' asked the king. He agreed with the druid's assessment of the situation and thought his ideas were spot on. However, the implementation of such a plan would require extraordinary communication between the ranks.
'We will have our oldest and most reliable friend, Mason Bardomli, set numerous underground traps for our unwanted guests below. This should slow the approach just enough so that we could set traps above ground as well. By doing this, we should be able to delay the assault for a couple of days, which would allow us to be better prepared. My only concern is with the channels of communication. How will we coordinate our efforts so that we shore up the appropriate weak points?' asked General Gideon. He was a brilliant strategist and knew that if they could not communicate well that a weak spot would be found by their enemies.
'I share your concern. I believe that we can use sparrow hawks for the most urgent communications, and the rest of the correspondences will have to be run by messengers. We need to organize a team of runners who do not tire easily and can run fast,' the king explained. 'The hawks can also be used to eliminate enemy spies.'
'So, your sparrow hawk will carry the most vital messages while runners handle the less-urgent reports? I think that is the best we can hope for,' replied General Gideon.
'I will send an envoy to brown bears and their army. They will assist us in defending our home,' said Lord Nariko.
'Hopefully your furry friends arrive in time to help us. How will you relay your request? We will need you here, so you cannot go in person,' the king said.
'You are correct. I have a reliable friend that will convey the message for me. He will be able to deliver the message faster and with greater persuasive powers than I could. He will not fail us,' said the warrior druid confidently.
'A guardian would never fail us,' replied the king confidently. His druid friend smiled slyly at his friend's ability to read his mind.
'I always forget that it does not do any good to try and hide something from you, King Jarvis. You always know,' the druid said with sagacious smile. The king was able to break through any mental barrier without much effort. The trick was to simply mirror the mind of the attacker and use the mental chink in the defense to enter their mind.
'Then it is agreed; we must move quickly now if we are to avoid losing any of our land or people. We must be ready for those foul beasts to crash upon us like a wave against a reef. I will go at once to meet with our friend Mason to begin the laying of traps, and then I will instruct the commanders and captains about what we are planning to do. I will not hold any information back from them so that they are totally prepared,' General Gideon said determinedly.
'I will take leave of you as well to meet with Lord Neb, and then I will return to help finish the traps and other preparations,' said the druid quickly.
'This mountain fortress has never fallen into enemy hands and has never even allowed a foe to set foot inside these walls. Mason has already improved the integrity of our defenses, so we must not let him down by allowing any of these vile creatures to break down our walls. We owe it to him and to our people. We must be vigilant,' declared the king boldly.
'May the Maker protect us and bless us in our time of need,' said Lord Nariko solemnly. He bowed slightly and transformed into a massive brown bear. He stood up on his hind legs and raised one paw in farewell. He roared loudly as he stood there, which inspired the king and the general to shout in unison a deafening war cry. The bear then came down on all fours and lumbered off to an unknown destination.
'We are going to need him more than anyone else in this battle,' said King Jarvis.
'I know. We will not be able to win the day without him. He will lead us to victory; of that I am certain. However, we cannot let him have all the fun,' said General Gideon with an infectious grin.
'Too right you are. Let's get on with it then; our unwanted guests approach,' replied the king as his face took on a look of fierce determination.
Mason Bardomli stood in the dark and damp entrance on the east side of one of the main halls in the dwarven underground kingdom. He was pondering how the traps should be set and how many there should be. He was methodical in his planning, which meant he never did anything out of haste or urgency. He had already organized his usual team of dwarves to assist him with this project. They knew that he would take time to think things out in his head first, and they knew better than to rush him. His plans had never failed them, and he had never put them in any danger by taking time to orchestrate a complex defensive and offensive stratagem. He was totally lost in his own thoughts as he stood rooted to the spot while he tried to find all possible weak points in his thinking. He was going over several different scenarios in his mind so that when they did begin to work they would not have to stop or undo any of their traps.
He turned around slowly to face his crew with a look of someone who had come to a definite conclusion. He looked at each member of the group in front of him without revealing what he was thinking. 'We will have to be swift in laying these traps. We will divide into two groups so that the traps on the topside will be finished at the same time as the ones we lay here,' said Mason gruffly.
'Which team will you lead?' asked one of the dwarves.
'I will lead the group who stays here below. Captain Barak, you will lead the above ground team. Select who you want to go with you topside after you meet with me so that I can tell you what we will do and when it will need to be completed by,' said Mason in his raspy voice.
'Yes, sir!' replied the captain.
Barak quickly selected twelve dwarves to assist him in laying traps and sent them topside. He then returned to where Mason was still standing so that they could discuss the strategies that would be employed. He noticed that the stout dwarf was lost in his thoughts again, so he waited patiently for him to recognize his return before speaking. He waited for several minutes before the statuesque figure in front of him realized that he had returned from selecting his team.
'Captain Barak, I am glad to see that you have not wasted time. You will need to be that dutiful in the task that lies before you. Time is of the utmost importance,' he said wryly.
'Of course, Master Mason; what is your plan?' asked the captain patiently. He did not want to rush him out of respect for who he was.
'We do not have time to dig pits, so we will have to disguise existing pits, or cliffs in your case, so we can send our enemies plunging to their deaths,' Mason began. 'What we will spend most of our time doing is setting up traps that will be triggered by the hordes heading our way.' He went on to explain in greater detail exactly what that meant. After nearly an hour of detailing his plans, they parted ways and went to work.
All of the traps had been set and tested by the end of the next day. The underground army would arrive in about six hours and would then be led carefully to their premature deaths. Mason estimated that his creations would delay the attackers at least five days. The army approaching on the mountainside would be slowed so that they would arrive two days late. This would have both forces reaching the real dwarven defenses at the same time. For the time being, they would simply have to wait and see what would transpire. While these preparations were being made, General Gideon had finished his defenses for a long-term siege. Lord Nariko had sent his message to the bears and had already returned. He was in meetings with the general and King Jarvis while Master Mason remained below to ensure that the approaching army was sufficiently delayed.
The goblins had disposed of their torches hours ago so the dwarves would not see them before they attacked. The goblin captains were under the direction of Commander Jabari of the rock trolls. He had sent one of the little soldiers ahead to determine what path would conceal their approach the best. They had not returned, and some thought they heard a distant cry and then nothing. While the trolls waited patiently, the rest of the army began to worry and fret that they had been discovered and that the dwarves had used some sort of demon to destroy their comrades. Their jitters worsened when Jabari sent more scouts ahead and they too did not return. This time a sickening thud was heard as though there had been an avalanche of some sort. What they did not understand was that the commander was sending the scouts ahead to clear the traps that he knew the dwarves would have laid in anticipation of their underground approach.
Commander Jabari continued to send scouts ahead to spring the traps for nearly three hours. Finally, he
