The Home Stone

Frey and Kirin set the giant bird down just east of the inn in Maryton. There to meet him was his friend Blick. The two greeted each other and both entered the inn. There, Bathilda smiled as she met her old friends that she had not seen for some twenty years. She asked about Duncan, who she had an eye on from the first time they met. Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the old dwarf. “He would have made a fine husband,” she said as she filled two glasses of wine and brought them to the table where the two warriors were sitting and discussing their next strategy.

“I’ve been able to hold the bridge, but I can’t get across,” Blick was saying. “Every time the barbarians try to fight their way across, we drive them back. And the same happens to us. We need a way to flank their ranks, or we will be here fighting forever.”

Kirin listened carefully and then added. “Have you used the Sky Elves yet? What success have they had?”

“Yes. Yes,” replied the dwarf. “I’ve used them to drop large boulders on the enemy, but it’s of little use. The moment they see the birds coming they hide and we can’t hit anyone. They’re dug in too well.”

“Then we must find a way to flush them out to where our archers can be of better use. With our long bows we should be able to pick them off with little loss on our side,” said the elf. “Have you tried fire?”

A smile crossed the dwarf’s face as he sat back and took a drink from his glass. “I can use some of our catapults that have iron baskets to throw fireballs over the river, but that will only set the forest on fire.”

“That’s all you have to do,” replied Kirin. “Once they are exposed, my archers can pick them off and then we can cross and take the fight to them.”

Blick liked the idea and waved to one of his generals, who happened to be eating at a nearby table. The dwarf left immediately and put this new plan into action. By the time both friends left the inn the trees nearest the river were ablaze. There were screams as men on the other side were caught in the middle of the hail of fire that rained down upon them. The dwarf army was some two thousand strong and Blick had them all concentrated in and near Maryton. The bridge there was just too important. Another one thousand dwarfs were scattered along the east bank of the East Border River, to make sure that no one tried to cross somewhere upstream.

Kirin kept the four thousand elves hidden from the enemy; by having them camp east of the village. He ordered five hundred of his longbow archers to join with the dwarfs at the bridge, while the rest of his army stayed hidden. Even though the Rocs flew time and time again and dropped boulder after boulder on the enemy, the barbarians charged again and again only to be driven back each time. With losses piling up on both sides, Kirin had to find another solution. He called Blick to his side as an idea struck him.

“With the man power you have now,” he began, “can you hold them back while I take my army north and come at them from their left?”

Blick stared at him, for he knew that such a journey would take at least four to five days if not more.

“I will take only half of my army and leave you the rest. Keep them in reserve. I don’t want the enemy to find out how many men we have, because he might send for reinforcements. Can you hold here until I arrive?”

Blick just nodded his head that he understood what was asked of him. He told his friend that he would hold the enemy here until he saw the elves on the other side. Then he would cross with his full force. Wasting no time, Kirin sent word to his generals of the new plan and to make ready to leave at once, but before leaving he called Frey to him and the two mounted the giant bird and flew off across the river. Staying out of arrow range, they flew high and wide to get a good idea as to what they were facing. From up high he saw the scorched earth where the dwarf catapults had done their job, but he could not see much of the enemy. He knew they were there; down there hidden in tunnels dug deep into the ground. Off in the distance Kirin saw smoke rising up from villages that have been set ablaze by raiding parties or by the Halflings themselves, hoping not to leave the enemy anything of value. Satisfied with what he saw, he and Frey returned to Maryton where his generals were waiting. Saying good-bye to his friend Blick, Kirin mounted his horse and headed to the front of his men and marched them off towards the great mountains of the Northern Divide.

Kirin and his army made good time in reaching the foothills, but the days did not pass without incident. At the halfway point they ran into a scouting party of about twenty enemy soldiers. After a quick battle in which the scouting party was destroyed, Kirin ordered his army to spread out so none of the enemy would get passed and out flank the army of the dwarfs. By the time they reached the foothills of the Northern Divide, Kirin was quite sure that there were no more barbarians on this side of the river. The following morning, the army moved up into the mountain pass that Treymane had shown him for the first time some twenty years ago, while they were escaping The Teufel’s Tahl. This would lead them into the valley where the halfling fished with his father as a young lad. Sending a few scouts up ahead, Kirin made sure that there were no surprises waiting for them once they reached the other side.

One more night was spent in the pass and by dawn the next morning, the elven army exited the pass and stood all two thousand, five hundred out on the plain. There before them was the lush green forest that the elf leader had come to enjoy once more after all these many years. He sent scouts ahead to search out the woods and make sure it was safe for the army to spend the night before entering the second pass the led south out of the mountains. Camped temporarily out on the plain, one patrol of scouts came back with someone in a large burlap sack. Struggling to free himself from the sack, he was dump at the feet of the elf leader.

“Who have we here?” asked Kirin as he sliced open the bag revealing the halfling. “You sure come to us in strange ways.” He continued and joked.

“Why, I’ve never…”

“Uh, uh, uh,” interrupted the elf. “You’re lucky that you’ve not been killed, but I’m glad to see you old friend and you can help me to find the pass that I’m looking for.”

Straightening his clothes, Treymane glared at his captor and then turned back to Kirin. “I see that you remembered how to get here and now after the way your men treated me you want my help?”

“If you want me and my men to help Blick rid the Hillshire of these barbarians,” Kirin continued to amuse himself at the sight and state of his friend. He knew he could not keep this up for much longer, because the little man could refuse to show him the way and set the army back a day or two. So they just stood there until both burst out into laughter. Treymane led Kirin and some men to where he was camped and showed him the fish that he had caught before he was captured. Throwing more wood on the fire the two sat down and cooked the fish and drank ale that Kirin had brought from when he and his army left Maryton. Kirin had his officers bed down the army with orders to be ready to march at the first signs of light.