"Of course," Korinn said without hesitation, realizing that the dragons would be doing most of the work. "Your dragons do understand that the dwarves are now their allies, don't they?"
"I think so."
Korinn laughed to himself; he had asked the question in jest, and he hoped Thelvyn had been jesting in turn. Then he turned to see his brother, who had made his way through the tower where the gatehouse joined the main wall. Dorinn was moving with even more difficulty than usual, obviously near-ing the end of his strength, and his abused armor was mute testimony that he had seen his own share of fighting. He paused, a bit shaken to see the head of a gold dragon only a few yards away.
"Thelvyn Fox-Eyes, you recall my older brother, Dorinn," Korinn said quickly, to remind Dorinn that this dragon was an old friend. "I take it the city is secure once again?"
"We're rounding up the last of the invaders who made it over the wall," Dorinn explained, still somewhat hesitant. "I was coming to look for you. I was concerned for your safety
when the gate wall collapsed."
"I need to gather a large force of fighters and lead them down through the secret ways," Korinn explained quickly. "The dragons are helping to destroy our enemies, but we must still help them in any way we can."
"Yes, of course," Dorinn agreed without hesitation. Dwarves always wanted to play as large a part in any fight as they could. "I must begin to set things in order here, especially the repair of the road. And I should send a message to the lower city so that father will know that the danger is over. It is over, isn't it?"
"It should be over by nightfall," Thelvyn answered. "We still have to hunt down the remaining Masters and either slay them or drive them from this world. They seem to have entered our world somewhere in the mountains north of the steppes. We might have to chase them all the way back there. If you can manage things here yourself, I'd like to take Korinn with me."
"Me?" Korinn asked, confused.
"Every city in Rockhome has been under siege. They might be pleased to see the dragons destroying their enemies, but they might need to be reassured about their new allies."
Dorinn was obviously pleased to continue his duties as the leader of the defenders of Dengar, even if it meant going into battle once again with his warriors. Making himself useful at such a time of need was very important to him, important enough that he was able to overcome his physical limitations by will alone. Aside from the ruined gate, the upper city had suffered little damage during the battle, although the gemstone dragons had once again inflicted damage on a number of the highest towers.
As it happened, the battle in the valley below was well on its way to being over. The dragons had already destroyed or driven away the Masters, and Kharendaen had led a score of red dragons against the invading army. By surrounding the invaders, the dragons were steadily driving them into a trap in a blind canyon a few miles north of Dengar. So far, Kharen-daen's chief concern had been struggling to prevent the red dragons from being needlessly cruel. All the gold dragons except for Thelvyn's bodyguards had left in pursuit of the Musters, since their greater size, speed, and magic were needed to fight the gemstone dragons.
Thelvyn selected one of the gold dragon clerics among his bodyguards to take command of the young reds. Then Korinn Hear Slayer mounted Kharendaen's saddle, which she had brought along in anticipation of this very need. Flying as itwiftly as they could, Thelvyn and Kharendaen made a complete circuit of the cities of Rockhome, beginning in the east with Kurdal and Smaggeft on the shores of Lake Klintest, then crossing the mountains to Evemur and on to Stahl. The dragons had already driven the Masters from all the cities, leaving behind a small force to deal with the invading forces abandoned by the gemstone dragons. Korinn spoke briefly with the leaders of each city and the local commanders, and then they hurried on.
By late afternoon, they arrived at Fort Denwarf. Korinn had been concerned about the safety of the fortress he had been forced to abandon, but the invaders had done no great damage in their haste to push on into Rockhome. Korinn planned to summon a small force under General Balar from Stahl in a couple of days to secure the fortress and begin necessary repairs. The dwarves would feel better once their borders were secure once more. The dragons had already slain more than twoscore of the Masters. The rest had fled across the steppes back toward their base somewhere in the Wendarian Range to the north, with over a thousand dragons in close pursuit.
The Ethengar were in a worse situation, scattered in the forests of the foothills of the mountains of Rockhome. They had witnessed the flight of the Masters and the pursuit of the dragons, but they didn't understand what was happening. They remained as fearful of the dragons as they were of any other enemy, and so they were unwilling to come out of hiding to speak with Thelvyn and Korinn. There seemed to be no way to get news to them until the dwarves returned to Fort Denwarf, and Korinn knew that they would have to remain in the lower mountains of Rockhome for some time to come. The steppes had been completely destroyed from north to south and across its full width from the Northern Reaches in the east to the Highlands in the west. Weeks or even months would pass before the deep grass and the herds would return to the blackened hills of the plains.
Night had long since fallen by the time they had returned to Dengar. The upper city seemed to glow under the golden light of hundreds of lamps and flickering torches, for the dwarves were already hard at work on repairs. Their first concern was with restoring the damaged portion of the gate ramp and the gate itself, since there was no way to carry goods in and out of the city while that access was blocked. Dragons had already lifted the body of the amber dragon out of the trap in the gate fort and were helping to fix the collapsed platform.
"Now, there's something I never expected to see," Korinn said as they circled down to land. "Dragons working alongside dwarves. How were you able to manage that?"
"I told them the dwarves would pay them a hundred gold crowns each for their trouble," Thelvyn said, staring straight ahead as he spoke. Finally he couldn't help smiling, and he turned his head to see if the dwarf was taking him seriously. "Actually, the dragons are genuinely concerned about the Masters. And being helpful to someone else is such a novelty to them that it piques their interest."
Kharendaen glanced at him briefly, as if she wanted to dispute his last remark about dragons, but she found that she could not. The gold dragons would, on rare occasions, offer some help to adventurers of other races if their quest and their motives seemed worthwhile. But for the most part, dragons were seldom helpful, even to each other.
Thelvyn circled wide, giving Kharendaen a moment to drop down quickly and settle onto the paving stones of the market square before the entrance to the lower city, a scene of great activity as the dwarves worked to restore Dengar. Everyone hurried out of the way as the two dragons approached, giving them far more room than they actually needed. Thelvyn dropped to the ground just as Korinn was climbing down from his saddle. The dwarves cheered loudly, and most of them rushed forward as soon as both of the dragons had folded their wings, but others paused to stare in awe and mutter among themselves when they saw that Thelvyn wore the Collar of the Dragons. He was pri-vntely amused to wonder if their admiration was for him or for the wealth of gold and jewels in the collar.
Korinn lifted his fist to the crowd in a triumphant salute. " The Masters are gone, their armies scattered. Rockhome once more belongs to the dwarves. The dragons have brought us victory!"