The Dwarf Kingdoms (Book 5) Read Free Page A

between the trunks of the great oaks and chestnuts that covered the hills. Branches grew across it, hiding it from anything passing overhead, and grass and drifts of leaves covered its surface so that it looked a part of the forest around it. The rushing streams that had carved deep gullies out of the sides of the hills were crossed over clever bridges of stone that were disguised by ankle deep water, making them difficult to pick out as the work of Dwarven hands.
    After several miles, the road brought the column of Dwarves to the lip of a wide gorge that ran north to south. Far below, Elerian could see the Catalus foaming white and green in its stony bed. Swift and strong from the cold melt waters that it received from the peaks to the north, the river had cut a deep channel through the mountains here. Ascilius’s hidden road now angled to the left, disappearing into the enormous trees which grew on the steep slopes of the gorge.
    Followed by Elerian and his column of Dwarves, Ascilius began to descend the narrow track in front of him. The forest on either side of the road offered little concealment for an enemy, for only clumps of feathery, knee high green ferns grew among the twisting roots of the trees, but the thick canopy above them was a different matter. Both Ascilius and Elerian kept a close eye on the branches overhead, looking for any telltale flash of red, but they saw only ordinary birds and a number of squirrels, some of which were the size of hares, with brown fur on their upper parts and creamy white on their undersides. There should have been other game, too, but Elerian suspected that the presence of Eboria had caused most of the larger animals to leave these hills or to go into hiding.
     As the column descended deeper into the gorge, the ears of the company were filled with the roar of the river which grew increasingly louder until the road finally ended on the stony west bank of the Catalus, which was about one hundred feet wide at this point. The river’s current was strong and great sprays of mist sprang into the air where water blackened rocks obstructed the flow of its green waters. Elerian wondered how Ascilius proposed to cross the watercourse, for judging from his past experiences with the Dwarf, he felt certain that not one of his company would possess the ability to swim.
    “The road runs under the riverbed,” said Ascilius to Elerian as if sensing his question. “We will need help maintaining our footing if we are to follow it, however.”
    Taking off his pack, Ascilius retrieved a coil of light, thin rope from its depths. Securing one end of the rope to a barbed steel crossbow quarrel, he set the dart in a small crossbow. When Ascilius released the trigger, the steel dart sped across the gorge with the thin cord uncoiling behind it. After it buried itself for half its length in the splintered stump of a fallen oak that was close to the east bank, Ascilius wrapped the other end of the rope around a sturdy ash tree growing nearby, pulling the cord, which was much stronger than it looked, as tightly as he could before fastening it with a joining spell.
     “Follow me,” said Ascilius to Elerian and the Dwarves standing behind him, “but be careful for the flow of the current is strong here.”
    Grasping the taut rope, which was about waist high to a Dwarf, in his right hand, Ascilius waded out into the river. The Dwarves at the head of the column held their breaths, for they expected him to be swept away at any moment. Elerian tensely held himself ready to swim out and rescue the Dwarf if that happened, but the swift green water of the Catalus never came up higher than Ascilius’s boot tops as he cautiously waded across the river. While Elerian stood to one side, the column of Dwarves followed Ascilius in single file. They discovered that a firm roadbed was cleverly concealed beneath the river’s cold green waters, but even so, many of them would have been swept away without the rope, for