The War God's Own

than trees down here.'

Bahzell nodded, but his attention was on a huge iron cauldron or ladle as it tracked along an overhead rail, driven by the thumping waterwheels. It was enormous-twice his own height-and he swallowed as he watched molten metal seethe within it. He stared into that liquid, incandescent heart, and then flinched, despite all he could do, as a huge, fan-shaped billow of flame and sparks erupted from another vast piece of machinery.

'We're making steel, not iron, Bahzell,' Kilthan told him, still quietly. 'That-' he pointed at the bright shower of fury '-is from where we're blowing a stream of air through molten iron. Without going into details, let's just say it lets us produce steel by the ton… and more cheaply than we could produce wrought iron, as well.'

Bahzell looked down at him, and the dwarf shrugged, then waved an arm at the scene beyond the window.

'We don't show this to just anyone. Not because it's arcane and complex-in fact, most of what you see out there is actually quite simple, once you break it down by task and function-but because it's the true heart of the Empire's economic dominance. We've spent centuries working out the most efficient ways to do the jobs you see going on out there, and after so long an investment, we've no interest in sharing our techniques with people like the Purple Lords.' He paused, then frowned and shook his head. 'No, let's be honest. Until we joined the Empire, we had no interest in sharing them with anyone. They were our secrets-the dwarves' secrets-and the source of our wealth and power. That was the true reason we were so hesitant about using nondwarvish labor.'

Bahzell blinked down at him, overwhelmed and still confused. It seemed to take an inordinately long time for him to get his voice to work, but at least he cleared his throat and asked, 'Were you after bringing all this from Kontovar after the Fall?'

'No.' Kilthan stood beside him and gazed out the window with him, eyes distant. 'Before the Fall, most of what we do here would have been done with wizardry, or at least with devices created and powered by wizardry. We had to start over, working our way up from the most basic concepts, to what you see out there. It's harder than it was in Kontovar-or the records seem to indicate that, at any rate-and we need enormous amounts of water power. There aren't too many sites where we can have that and proximity to coal for the coking ovens and to iron ore and copper ore and tin. Transportation is the biggest single bottleneck of our entire operation, but when all the elements combine properly, we can actually produce more steel and bronze in less time than anyone ever managed before the Fall.'

'But why be showing me this?' Bahzell asked.

'Because of your father,' Kilthan said simply.

'Ah?' The hradani turned to look down at him, and the dwarf met his eyes levelly.

'I was honored when you told me about Sharna's meddling in Navahk and asked my advice on dealing with it, Bahzell, but we already knew about it.' He snorted at the Horse Stealer's expression. 'Of course we did! Of all the Dark Gods, Torframos probably hates Sharna worst. He's none too fond of Fiendark, either, mind you, but Demon Breath prefers to hide his corruption underground, and Stone Beard doesn't like that. Stone and earth are His domain, and even if they weren't, no sane person wants Sharna anywhere near him, whatever god he serves. We don't have any more details about the late, unlamented Harnak's friends than you do, but we have enough to know we want that infection crushed, and the people who opened the door for it with it,' he finished grimly.

'Well enough,' Bahzell said, nodding slowly after another moment of silence. 'I can be seeing that much, but you were after mentioning my father, as well.'

'I was.' Kilthan agreed, gazing out at the blast furnaces and water wheels. 'Dwarves are patient, Bahzell,' he said. 'But we're good haters, too. I think both those qualities come from the stone dust in our blood. And we're also Torframos' servants, so patience or not, what we'd really prefer is to offer you a Dwarvenhame army to go in and burn Navahk to the ground. Unfortunately, we can't. We don't have proof Sharna is even there, and the only way we could get it would be to go in and dig it up by force. But we need the proof before we act.'

'Just slow down there a mite,' Bahzell interrupted. 'Who exactly might this 'we' be that you're after mentioning?'

'I can't-' Kilthan began, then paused. 'Let me just put it this way,' he went on after a moment. 'There are those both here in Dwarvenhame and back in Axe Hallow who recognize the threat Sharna's worship poses and who, under other circumstances, would possess the power to do something about that threat. But there are problems.

'First, if we were to invade Navahk, no matter what the reason, it would be seen as a foreign incursion that might well rally all the Bloody Sword cities behind Churnazh.

'Second, and to be honest, the thought of fighting hradani doesn't really appeal to us-and especially not to those of us who know hradani best.

'Third, the confrontation between Churnazh and your father has reached a stage where any outside interference could have catastrophic, unpredictable consequences. We might crush Churnazh and then withdraw, leaving a vacuum for Prince Bahnak to expand into… but we might also 'taint' him in the eyes of his fellow hradani as a 'tool' for outside interests. In that case, we could eliminate Churnazh only to shatter your father's alliances and set all the clans at one another's throats. That would be bad enough for your people, but if your lands turn into an ongoing, endless civil war like the one in Ferenmoss, it could spill over onto any of your neighbors, as well.

'And fourth, we don't dare make a move that even looks like we're taking sides between Churnazh and your father because of the Sothoii.'

Bahzell had nodded slowly in time with each of Kilthan's earlier points, but now he stopped and looked at the dwarf sharply.

'And just what would the Sothoii be having to do with all this?'

'They're worried,' Kilthan replied simply. 'Ever since they first claimed the Wind Plain, there's been raiding and warfare between your people and them, Bahzell. Surely you know that better than I!' The hradani nodded once more, and Kilthan shrugged. 'The way they see it, only the fact that you've been fighting amongst yourselves just as long has prevented it from being any worse. They were anxious enough when your father began uniting the Horse Stealers, but the idea that he may conquer and assimilate the Bloody Swords as well frightens them- badly.'

'But we've scarcely bothered them at all, at all, since the first war with Navahk!'

'Of course you haven't. You've been preoccupied with Churnazh and his allies. But once Churnazh is gone and your father rules all the northern hradani, what will he do then? Troll Garth and the Ghoul Moor would block expansion to the southeast, and moving west or southwest would bring him into collision with the Border Kingdoms, which would bring the Empire in under the terms of our treaties with them. That leaves the north and northeast… which would bring him right up against the Wind Plain and the Sothoii, who just happen to be his own people's bitterest traditional enemy.'

'That's daft, man! Oh, raids and counter-raids are one thing, but if we were ever actually invading the Wind Plain, the Sothoii would call in the Axemen quick as quick, and Father knows that as well as you or I!'

'I didn't say it was a rational fear,' Kilthan said patiently. 'But consider this. If-and I say if-Prince Bahnak did attempt a full-scale invasion, what would happen to anyone in its path before the Empire could respond to any Sothoii request for aid? The fact that any invasion would eventually turn into a slaughter for our combined forces-or, for that matter, the possibility that the windriders alone might beat it back-couldn't prevent your people from inflicting enormous damage before they were stopped.'

'But we've no reason to!'

'I know that, and most of the King-Emperor's advisers know that. The Sothoii, unfortunately, don't appear to know it. At the moment, King Markhos is maintaining a wait-and-see attitude and hoping for the best. He's worried by the prospect of a unified hradani kingdom on his flank, but he's got the Escarpment as a barrier if worse comes to worst. And I think he also feels there's some potential for good in the possibility. For one thing, your Iron Axes may not have been raiding the Wind Plain, but some of the other Horse Stealer clans have shown less restraint, and your father hasn't been in a position to make them behave. I suspect Markhos feels having a single paramount hradani lord