Sword of Kings
Chapter 46– Frustrations, Delays, and Discoveries

by Bill W

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Legal Notice:
The following story contains descriptions of graphic sexual acts. 
The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality.
Don’t read this story if:
**You’re not 18 or over,    
**If it is illegal to read this type of material where you live,
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I wish to extend my thank you to Emoe57 for his editorial assistance with this chapter.

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Still far away from the battle, the dwarf’s Commander Elgin had a decision to make and he needed to do it quickly. The sun would be up soon and he and his troops would be exposed and vulnerable to possible attack from any of the Dark Lord’s henchmen who might be in the area or by the giant condor, as it flew overhead. Besides these worries, there were still several things his small army would need to accomplish before they would be ready to join up with the rest of the Tarolian army. Conceding these facts, the experienced military leader called a quick meeting of his officers, to discuss how they should proceed.

“As you know,” the commander began, “we are considerably behind schedule and need to make up time. It is imperative we get to the other side of the River Sterling, but I’m sure we could also use more rest. It’s been a long couple of days and I know we’re all weary, but we must accomplish this task as soon as we can.”

“But the river is swollen because of the recent precipitation and is flowing rapidly,” Elgin’s second in command stated, “so how do you plan we move across it?’

Commander Elgin looked at his subordinate and flashed him a wry smile. “I have studied the situation thoroughly, and after looking at the maps, I see only one possibility. Since the bridges were all destroyed to keep Madumda’s soldiers from following the citizens of Tunstan as they fled, and the river is now too deep and the current far too swift to ford, the only thing left for us to do is to go around it.”

“How do you go around a river?” a young officer asked, quite innocently.

“In this case, it’s not all that difficult,” Elgin replied. “You see, the River Sterling originates where the Citadel Mountains and the Devil’s Horseshoe meet, so we shall take a slight detour and march to the river’s source. When we get there, we should be able to ford it where it is narrow, shallow and flowing gently. Once we are on the other side, we should be able to avail ourselves the opportunity to get some much-needed rest. We’ll still have a considerable march before we reach the battle, but we’ll be of little use if we are too exhausted to fight. Therefore, we must take the time to recuperate first. This will delay our arrival even more, but I think Beraut would prefer us to show up a little later, yet ready to fight, rather than fatigued and ineffective. I just pray our tardiness will not change the outcome of this conflict.”

Before long the small army was back in formation and marching northward, along the western bank of the river. Commander Elgin took one last opportunity to gaze across the water and examine the smoldering remains of Tunstan, so he could allow that image to burn into his brain. Silently, he vowed to wreak as much destruction and havoc on Madumda’s assassins and terrorists as they had done here. Having made that pledge, he returned his attention to the task ahead.

The pace of the march was brisk, at least as swift as the muddy ground would allow. As the dwarfs made their way to the junction where the two mountain groups merged, the peaks appeared to grow with each passing step, rekindling both memories of their homeland and concerns about the dangers that might be hidden within. This ignited a wide-range of emotions within their ranks, from euphoria and anticipation to foreboding and apprehension. Commander Elgin was keenly aware of the conflicting feelings building within his troops, since he was acutely attuned to the psychological needs of those under him. Due to his sensitivity to these issues and recognizing this foray was not part of their original itinerary; he decided to make a brief address to his troops, to ease their concerns. After halting their progress, he had them form up around him.

“These mountains can prove to be an extremely dangerous place for us,” he began, “especially since they are under the influence of the Dark Lord and his minions. Not only do these mountains offer various natural hazards, which most of you are familiar with, the terrain may also hide any of Madumda’s cohorts who might be waiting out there to ambush us. I’m would imagine there are numerous locations where a small force could easily hold off or destroy a much larger and stronger opponent, so it is important we are well aware of these facts. For that reason, I have decided to dispatch scouting parties to investigate the area ahead, so we don’t want to fall prey to another of the Dark Lord’s traps.”

Several small groups were immediately formed and sent out, before the main body reassembled and resumed their march. As they reached the mountainous terrain and began to make their way toward the spot where the river was born, the footing became even more difficult, so they had to slow their pace to accommodate this change. They hadn’t gone very far, when the first scout returned and made his report.

“Sir, we’ve spotted some enemy soldiers up ahead, but we were unable to determine what they are up to. The others are keeping an eye on their activities, while I came back to report to you.”

“A very wise move, trooper,” commented Elgin. “How many are there?”

“We saw a dozen or more at various times, but they weren’t necessarily together. There may be others out there as well, but those were all we saw.”

“Very good,” Command Elgin told him, before turning toward his second in command, so he could speak to him. “Please dispatch a squadron of thirty soldiers to handle this situation. The scout will lead them to where Madumda’s warriors are, but I want you to assign a season officer lead them, one who can make difficult decisions quickly. He will have to decide whether it would be best to eliminate this patrol or determine if we can get past them without jeopardizing our mission. Once they have handled that task, I want them to send a messenger back to advise me of the course of action they chose to follow. If they decide it would be best to remove this threat, I would like for them to try to capture at least one prisoner, who shall be brought back to me to be interrogated. I feel it would be wise to see if he is privy to any secrets we are unaware of – anything that may benefit our cause.”

The squadron was dispatched and immediately rumors began to circulate throughout the troops. Some of the soldiers close to the front had heard tidbits of the information the scout had reported and tried to pass it on. Before long, several stories were circulating throughout the ranks, but most had very little basis in truth. One account claimed the scouts had killed a whole unit of enemy soldiers, while another boasted the scouts had captured an enemy patrol. Another story claimed a messenger carrying secret documents had been captured or killed, but the biggest misconception of all was a rumor that the scouts had killed the giant condor, after sneaking up on it while it was dining. This inaccurate gossip wasn’t entirely a bad thing, however, as it innocuously seemed to lift morale and reinvigorate the troops. Silently, each warrior now wished to be the next one to make a significant discovery or to be the one who would do something spectacular to help the cause.

As soon as Commander Elgin heard mention of the condor, it reminded him about another concern. He was already deeply troubled that their camouflage would be ineffective in the mountains and would reveal their location rather than shield them, as it was designed specifically to blend in with the terrain where the mountains met the plains. The grasses and other vegetation they had woven into the coverings would significantly stand out to an astute observer, like a fire glowing in the dark. After toying with the idea of removing the grasses and altering the deception, Elgin finally decided they would just have to pray the condor was not keen witted enough to detect such an incongruity. Even inappropriate cover would be less obvious than a collection of dwarfs standing out in the open, so he would take the chance that the condor would be concentrating more on finding something to eat, rather than in noticing a change in the variety of plant life.

As the commander continued to contemplate this situation, another messenger interrupted his thoughts. This trooper quickly reported that four of the scouts would be returning with a captive shortly. He also advised the commander that the rest of the scouting party would return after that, to deliver three other warriors and an elf, who had also been captured. This information greatly confused the commander, since he had never heard of any of the other races aligning themselves with the Dark Lord. Befuddled by this news, he began to think of a series of questions he wished to ask the elf when he arrived.

When the first captive was brought before him, Elgin questioned him thoroughly, especially about the elf, but wasn’t able to learn very much from him. It seemed this soldier had heard something about such a creature, but said the elf had been with another group of his confederates, so he knew very little about him. Since the man had nothing of importance to share on that topic, Elgin questioned him about his mission and what tactical information he was privy to. The trooper pointed out that he and the others were merely mercenaries, paid by the Dark Lord to perform certain duties, such as scouting the mountains for intruders. Therefore, he had little information and wasn’t aware of any of the details of Madumda’s battle plan. Agreeing this was probably true, Commander Elgin ended his interrogation and waited to see if the others might be more enlightening.

It wasn’t long before another detachment returned with three more mercenaries in tow, plus one smaller figure bundled in blankets. Commander Elgin ordered his second in command to take charge of the three prisoners and to begin interrogate them immediately, while he talked to the elf, to see what he could learn from him. As the enemy scouts were whisked away for questioning, the commander strolled over and stood in front of the still wrapped curiosity.

“I am Commander Elgin and I wish to ask you a few questions. What are you doing with the Dark Lord’s patrol?”

There was no immediate response to his questions, but the commander was able to distinguish some muffled sounds coming from under the many layers of blankets. Elgin wondered if the elf was responding to his query or if it was only some faint moaning noises he heard. This caused the Commander to ponder other possibilities. Might this individual be injured? Elgin hadn’t previously considered the elf might be a captive, and not a confederate serving the Dark Lord. Suddenly, it dawned upon him to see if the elf might be suffering from a wound or some other affliction.

Purposefully, the commander moved nearer the bundled form and carefully began to peel back the blankets from his body, in an attempt to see if he could discern any physical problems. As the numerous blankets began to fall away, Elgin was shocked to discover the elf appeared to be a mere youth. Even though all elves looked younger than their years, the commander judged this particular elf to be no more than a teen. This immediately negated all the theories he had formulated in his mind concerning what the elf might be doing here. Elgin was more confused now, than before, especially when he realized the elf was weeping and groaning. Elgin was able to discern a few words spoken between these noises, since the blankets no longer muted them.

“I… I… I betrayed them all,” the elf said, in halting breaths. “They’re probably all d… d… dead now, b… b… because of me.”

“You betrayed whom?” Elgin asked, as he tried to comfort the youth, while attempting to discover the answer to this riddle. “Did you betray the people of Tunstan? Is that what happened?”

The elf responded, but it was as if he hadn’t heard the commander’s question. “I couldn’t s… stand… the pain,” he continued, while sobbing even harder, “so I told them about the… the plan. I’ve betrayed all of them. I’ve m… murdered my best friends. I should have let them kill me instead, but I didn’t. I couldn’t stand the p… p… pain anymore, so I told the soldiers what they were up to.”

“What are you talking about, my boy?” Elgin blurted out, somewhat annoyed by the youth’s unresponsiveness and trying frantically to piece together this puzzle. “Who are you talking about and what did you tell them? You must explain this to me.” The elf didn’t respond and continued to weep softly. After a few more seconds, he lifted his head and looked at the commander.

“I told the soldiers what th… th… they were up to. Once they knew that, they went to… to kill them all. It’s my fault. They’re all dead and I’m responsible. They died because I couldn’t t… take any more pain. I killed my friends, and the others too.”

None of this was making any sense to Commander Elgin, but he realized he probably wasn’t going to get anything more coherent from the lad, so he assigned one of his soldiers to tend to his needs. “You take this boy and make him as comfortable as possible. Build a small fire to warm him and make certain his injuries are tended to. Also try to find him something suitable to wear and make certain he gets something to eat. If he should happen to tell you anything that could shed some light on his situation, report it to me immediately. It might help if I could make some sense out of what he was saying. It might even prove to be important, if I knew what he was doing in these mountains.”

Once the commander finished speaking, the soldier saluted his superior and began to tend to the young elf. Since there was no advantage in remaining there, Commander Elgin moved off to where the other prisoners were being held. Immediately, he noticed they were now shackled, both hand and foot, while his second in command was intensely grilling them about their mission. “What were you and your comrades doing in these mountains? How did that elf come to be with you? Where were you heading when my men intercepted you?”

Unfortunately, he wasn’t getting any response to his questions, as the three prisoners remained tight-lipped. Their contempt was made clear by their expressions, while their defiance was evident in every movement they made. Upon seeing his superior’s arrival, Elgin’s second-in-command turned to report his progress, or lack thereof. “It is apparent this will take some time and we will be forced to use other forms of persuasion to loosen their tongues,” he informed his superior. “I suggest we begin torturing them immediately, so we can extract the information more quickly.”

“Let me see what I can do first,” Commander Elgin responded in a hushed voice, so the prisoners couldn’t hear him. “I think I might be able to entice them, without having to lower myself to using the Dark Lord’s tactics.” He winked at his subordinate, before speaking in a louder voice. “In the meantime, I’m famished and need something to eat. Please send someone to bring me some victuals and pass the word to the rest of the troops that we will take this opportunity to eat here.”

“Yes, sir. Very well. If that is what you wish,” he responded and then saluted his superior. Doing a quick about-face, the senior officer then walked over to one of the troopers and passed along the orders, putting a special emphasis on his need for haste. The trooper was off in a flash and, after a brief time away, returned with several assistants, each bearing food and drink for the officers and guards. They spread the food out, where everyone could get to it, and then Elgin ordered his men to begin eating. Eagerly, the hungry warriors started devouring the various items set before them, as the wily commander did the same. As he animatedly ate, he kept a watchful eye on the prisoners. He was interested to see if their dining was having any serious effect upon them. Almost immediately, Elgin began to focus on one of the captives, on whom the look of hunger was undeniably chiseled upon his face. It was then that the commander made his decision on how to best use this to his advantage. Casually, he tuned to his second-in-command and issued another order.

“I believe it is now time to separate our guests for some special attention. You take this soldier,” he stated, while pointing at one of the more defiant mercenaries, “and see to it that another officer takes the one to his right. Move them to different areas and see what you can find out. I shall join you shortly. In the meantime, I will begin questioning the prisoner who is left behind. With any luck, it won’t be long before we start to get some answers.”

The others did as they were ordered, and as they started to move away, Elgin began to bait his psychological snare for the remaining captive. He walked over to where a platter of dried meat rested, grabbed a large piece, and took a healthy bite from it. After he had chewed and swallowed what was in his mouth, he let out a mighty belch, all the while shrewdly observing his ‘guest’ out of the corner of his eye. The prisoner was now lightly licking his lips, so the commander knew it was time to make his next move.

“Would you care for something to eat?” he asked the startled man. The prisoner, who had been waiting for others to show up and begin setting out various instruments to torture him with, sat momentarily dumbfounded and unable to speak. After regaining his composure, he gave an affirmative response to Elgin’s offer of hospitality, so the commander broke off a hunk of bread and grabbed a chunk of meat and took them over to him. The bound trooper was able to take the items from the commander’s hands and quickly wolfed them down, hardly taking time to chew anything, before swallowing it.

“There’s plenty more to eat and drink, and you can have your fill, if you tell me the information I wish to know,” Elgin advised him.

“I should have known there’d be some kind of a catch,” the man sneered. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I don’t know very much and there is nothing I can tell you that will help you. I’m sure you realize I’m only a hireling and about as unimportant as they come.”

“Let me be the judge of how much you know and whether or not the information is important,” Elgin explained. “Just tell me what you were doing in these mountains.”

The prisoner thought for a minute or two before he responded. He couldn’t see how sharing this information would be of value to anyone, so he didn’t see any harm in revealing it. “We’ve been patrolling the mountains for several weeks now,” the prisoner began. “I guess Lord Madumda was afraid of some sort of treachery might begin around here.”

“How did you end up with the elf?” the commander shot back.

Again the trooper hesitated, before he responded. “Well, he was found lying unconscious at the bottom of a ravine. We were on patrol in the foothills in that area, when we heard the rumblings of an avalanche, followed by a scream. We took cover until things settled down and then we went out to investigate. That’s when we found the elf lying unconscious, partially buried in the snow. We figured he was the one who screamed when the snow gave way under him and he was sucked down the mountainside. No one expected him to survive, but he did. He wouldn’t have, though, if we hadn’t discovered him. He would have died from exposure or been killed by wild animals. I’m sure they would have enjoyed dining upon what was left of him.”

“What was he doing in the mountains?” Elgin pressed.

“I have no idea,” the warrior responded, “as I wasn’t one of those who questioned him. I do know that whatever they learned from him must have been important, though, because a messenger was dispatched to Treblanc to inform Lord Madumda about whatever the elf had said.”

“Then the lad was alone?” the commander asked, incredulously.

“We found no others in our search,” the prisoner responded. “We did not go into to the upper reaches of the mountains to look for more, as the snow was too unstable and other avalanches might have occurred. ”

“Do you have other patrols in the area?” Elgin followed.

“I do not know about such things,” the soldier explained. “All I can say is I have seen very few others in my time out here.”

“What of your army?” the commander pressed. “Where are they and what are their plans?”

“I cannot help you with any of that either,” the bound man responded, looking pleased by the commander’s frustrated expression. “I have no knowledge about the army or what they are up to. We have only been hired for this purpose and have been out here for several weeks. We have had very little contact with anyone else.”

“Seeing you have told me what you could, you shall receive your reward,” Commander Elgin announced. “Guards, allow the prisoner to eat his fill from what is here and then return him with the others, once he has finished.”

After receiving a nod of response from the guards, Elgin went to check on the other prisoners, to see if they had any information to share. Elgin was quickly briefed about what the other prisoners had revealed thus far, although it had taken intense physical persuasion to extract this information from them. The commander soon discovered this new information confirmed what the first prisoner had told him, but one of the tortured prisoners had also told them some wild and unbelievable tale about large contingents of soldiers being assigned to the mountains. Elgin concluded the man made up this tale to save himself more pain or hoping to scare the dwarfs into leaving the mountain range. Whatever his intent, it wasn’t going to change Elgin’s plans.

Confident he had learned everything he could from the mercenaries, the commander set off to see if he could discover anything more from the young elf. He walked briskly to the place he had left the lad and quietly questioned the soldier he had assigned to watch over him. “Is the boy doing any better?” he asked, showing deep concern.

“He has calmed down a little, sir,” the guard told him, “but he keeps repeating that he has killed someone.”

“Has he had anything to eat?” Elgin wanted to know.

“We had some food brought to him,” the guard replied, “but so far he’s just ignored it. All he does is sit there, rocking back and forth, talking to himself.”

“I’ll try to see if I can get through to him,” the commander responded, glancing over at his new responsibility. “Did you go get something to eat yourself?”

“No, Sir, not yet,” the trooper responded.

“Then go grab something, but send someone back here to replace you,” Elgin commanded. “I’ll stay with the lad in the meantime. Do me one small favor, though. Make sure your replacement is a married trooper – one who has children of his own. This boy needs someone who can be sympathetic to his plight and understands the emotional needs of someone his age.”

The soldier acknowledged this request and turned to leave, while Elgin walked over next to the fire, near where the teen was sitting. The commander knelt down, as if to warm his hands, and waited silently in that position, while watching to see if the youngster responded to him on his own. As he continued to kneel there, he unobtrusively studied the boy’s features, noted his movements and listened to his mumblings. He concluded the elf looked a little better now, but knew the lad was far from being all right.

It was obvious the guard had helped to clean him up and found him a few warmer items to put over what he had been previously wearing, but the young elf was still consumed by whatever demons were haunting him. The commander continued to monitor the boy, when a brief glimmer of recognition stirred in Elgin’s mind. In an effort to determine if he was correct, the dwarf moved nearer to the teen, so he could study him more closely. Satisfied with his conclusion, he took a seat next to young man and purposefully placed an arm around the young man’s shoulders.

“I believe I know you, young sir,” he informed the catatonic youth. “Didn’t you recently visit Thorold with Beraut?” The elf turned and looked at the warrior when he mentioned the name of the wizard and the dwarf’s homeland and a glimmer of recognition flickered in his eyes. This caused the commander to realize this would be the key to getting through to him now.

“Yes, that’s right,” the commander continued. “You were there not so long ago. What’s your name again? I seem to have forgotten it.”

There was a pause, as the elf seemed somewhat embarrassed that he had been recognized. Shyly, he turned away from the commander, before making a hushed reply. “Romaric.”