The Fate of the Dwarves - By Markus Heitz Page 0,212

party to walk into a trap.

XXVI

Girdlegard,

Former Queendom of Sangpur,

Southwest,

Spring, 6492nd Solar Cycle

“Is it still tailing us?” Ireheart turned left and found himself in a wider lane that seemed unfamiliar. How did that happen? They appeared to have got lost trying to escape. “This confounded maze!”

“No,” Slîn called out, bringing up the rear. “I can’t see it anymore.”

“I know why,” barked Balyndar, stopping in his tracks and grabbing Ireheart by the collar. “It’s in front of us!”

The creature made of shields, spears, daggers, knives, swords and countless other weapons rounded the corner. It had taken on a shape vaguely like a scorpion with six sets of pincers snapping open and shut.

“Charming,” said Slîn, pointing to the right. “Get in here. The alley will be too narrow for it.”

“Then it’ll just turn itself into a snake,” Ireheart replied in a fury. “It can pursue us wherever we go. Running away is no use at all.”

“Yes it is. It means we stay alive until we’ve thought of a way to outwit it,” wheezed the fourthling.

“Shoot it with your crossbow,” Balyndar snapped. “You’re never able to keep up with us, anyway.”

Ireheart was racking his brains. Only magic would get them out of this spot, but if they could not find their way back to the queen they were wasting their time. All this running was tiring them out and the steel creature would fall on them and scrape the flesh off their bones. He caught sight of his own crow’s beak dangling at the end of the poisonous sting. Balyndar’s morning star was next to it. “What works with iron?” he mused wildly, getting nowhere.

“Rust?” suggested Balyndar sarcastically.

“An enormous magnet,” said Slîn.

“What a great idea! And where do you propose we get one of those? Can you find us a pulling-stone big enough to attract and immobilize four hundred sackfuls of iron and steel?” the fifthling mocked.

“And what about the rust idea? Where’d you get that all of a sudden?” Slîn snarled back.

The creature was drawing close, so they had to charge on.

Ireheart thought the pulling-stone idea was not to be discounted. Such magnets were fashioned from a mineral that made most metals, including iron, stick to it. Only gold, silver and other precious metals were unaffected. But to stop this enemy we’d need a whole mountain of magnets. It’s a waste of time just hanging around waiting for a miracle. Time is one thing we don’t have.

“We split up,” he commanded.

“Won’t the creature just do the same?” whimpered Slîn. “You’re the only one of us with a weapon. All we can do is chuck stones at it.” Balyndar sounded as angry as Ireheart felt.

Then Slîn did something unexpected. He stopped, got down on one knee and lifted his crossbow. “Anybody know where a scorpion keeps its heart?” he asked, his voice determined, as he took aim at the creature, which was twirling its various weapons in the air and approaching fast. Its sword-legs scraped and clicked their way over the flagstones.

“Forget it: It’s hopeless. Come with us.” Ireheart was about to grab hold of him, but the fourthling shook his hand off.

“Just tell me where its heart will be.”

Balyndar picked up a rock and threw it at the creature. “It’s made of iron and magic! It can’t be shot down.”

They saw how the stone, shortly before hitting its target, was grabbed by the metal pincers and crushed.

“Ho, that’s my crow’s beak! You’ll ruin it if you use it on stone!” shouted Ireheart.

Slîn had made his decision. He pointed the device down slightly, aimed, concentrated and fired.

The bolt whizzed off.

The shot was too fast for their foe’s reflexes. It whirred in between the edges of two shields and buried itself in the body. There was a clatter, and the whole creature fell and disintegrated.

But the various parts—swords, daggers, spears and other blades—had not lost their momentum. A whole arsenal was flying directly at the three dwarves. The weapons’ combined weight alone would have been lethal.

“Move aside!” yelled Ireheart, throwing himself through a closed door, which burst open at the first impact. Surrounded by bits of wood he found himself in a hallway. He could feel something on his foot but no pain.

He quickly rolled onto his back to check on his companions. He sighed with relief when he saw they had dodged the hail of weapons by diving for cover under a courtyard arch. The alley they had all been standing in was littered with steel weapons that had buried themselves in the flagstones.

“I’ll