Read Online Elvenshore: 01 - The Dwarves of Elvenshore by Clark Graham - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Clark Graham
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under the tree.
“The night went better than I could have hoped,” he said.
Hemlot was stiff from sleeping on the too soft ground. “The warriors don’t like your dried meat,” he said with a grimace and then stretched his back out.
“I know but fortunately for them there is not much of it. In a few more days we will be forced to do something different,” he said with a smile. “Anyway, we will make this camp permanent, by building fences around the outskirts. The watchtower can give us warning of approaching evil, so we will not have to send out guards every night. We will send out patrols day and night. Thirty warriors and one man per patrol. If we send them out in all directions during the day, and just one per night we can observe all that there is to see in the area we were assigned.”
“I’ll see to it.” Hemlot was off.
Three patrols left at noon. When they came back three hours later, three more set out. Sarchise went with the third group of patrols that day. The forest was sparse, more so than he had ever seen before. It let in light so the underbrush was heavy in that area. H e taught the warriors to watch where they were stepping and how to pass though the jungle quietly. This was a foreign concept to dwarf warriors but they learned quickly. Soon they were coming across rabbits and deer that had not been spooked away by their approach. Three hours later they wandered back into camp. Sarchise climbed up the tower and watched as the other patrols came back. The scouts had repair ed the base of their tree house watchtower by taking out the rotten wood and replacing it with fresh logs. Sarchise gazed out from his secure perch. Nothing was stirring in the woods except for the normal wild life. It troubled him, because he did not know where the enemy was. You cannot defeat an enemy that you cannot see.
The first night patrol went out and the watchtower guard was posted. The scouts had talked one of the dwarves to climb the tree and act as watchman. They even made him a step stool so he could see out of the tree better. Sarchise found his tent and slipped in his blankets. He stayed there, not sleeping, but listening to the sounds of the forest until the first night patrol came back. He got out of his tent to greet them and they reported that they might have found a spider’s lair. They did not want to go into it at night so they marked where it was on the map and came back and reported. ‘At last’, Sarchise thought to himself. He settled in for a good night’s sleep after that.
In the morning Sarchise organized an assault party. Hemlot was not happy with the idea that Sarchise would be going along. His job was to protect the prince and he could not do that if he insisted on joining every possible battle. Ermort was invited, along with fifty dwarves.
After an hour’s walk, they came across the lair. Weapons were brought to the ready and with a rush they hacked their way into the middle of it. Silver white webs encompassed the inside of it. There were bones scatt er ed around the base. To everyone ’s surprise there was no spiders inside.
“Old lair, been abandoned for months, webs are dusty and there are no egg sacks,” Sarchise reported. He looked around at the bones on the floor. “They were feeding on deer and bear cub. Pretty sparse bones for a lair. They didn’t find much to eat.”
“Do you suppose that they left to find more food?” Hemlot asked.
“I don’t know, on the one hand that would make sense, but there is so much food here now. There are deer and bear everywhere. The bears are fat, so they don’t seem to have much competi tion from other predators. The only reason they would leave a good hunting ground is to go to a great one. On the other hand, they will be competing with the spiders that already live there.” Sarchise said, “Let’s get back to camp and h unt some deer and rabbit on the way
“The night went better than I could have hoped,” he said.
Hemlot was stiff from sleeping on the too soft ground. “The warriors don’t like your dried meat,” he said with a grimace and then stretched his back out.
“I know but fortunately for them there is not much of it. In a few more days we will be forced to do something different,” he said with a smile. “Anyway, we will make this camp permanent, by building fences around the outskirts. The watchtower can give us warning of approaching evil, so we will not have to send out guards every night. We will send out patrols day and night. Thirty warriors and one man per patrol. If we send them out in all directions during the day, and just one per night we can observe all that there is to see in the area we were assigned.”
“I’ll see to it.” Hemlot was off.
Three patrols left at noon. When they came back three hours later, three more set out. Sarchise went with the third group of patrols that day. The forest was sparse, more so than he had ever seen before. It let in light so the underbrush was heavy in that area. H e taught the warriors to watch where they were stepping and how to pass though the jungle quietly. This was a foreign concept to dwarf warriors but they learned quickly. Soon they were coming across rabbits and deer that had not been spooked away by their approach. Three hours later they wandered back into camp. Sarchise climbed up the tower and watched as the other patrols came back. The scouts had repair ed the base of their tree house watchtower by taking out the rotten wood and replacing it with fresh logs. Sarchise gazed out from his secure perch. Nothing was stirring in the woods except for the normal wild life. It troubled him, because he did not know where the enemy was. You cannot defeat an enemy that you cannot see.
The first night patrol went out and the watchtower guard was posted. The scouts had talked one of the dwarves to climb the tree and act as watchman. They even made him a step stool so he could see out of the tree better. Sarchise found his tent and slipped in his blankets. He stayed there, not sleeping, but listening to the sounds of the forest until the first night patrol came back. He got out of his tent to greet them and they reported that they might have found a spider’s lair. They did not want to go into it at night so they marked where it was on the map and came back and reported. ‘At last’, Sarchise thought to himself. He settled in for a good night’s sleep after that.
In the morning Sarchise organized an assault party. Hemlot was not happy with the idea that Sarchise would be going along. His job was to protect the prince and he could not do that if he insisted on joining every possible battle. Ermort was invited, along with fifty dwarves.
After an hour’s walk, they came across the lair. Weapons were brought to the ready and with a rush they hacked their way into the middle of it. Silver white webs encompassed the inside of it. There were bones scatt er ed around the base. To everyone ’s surprise there was no spiders inside.
“Old lair, been abandoned for months, webs are dusty and there are no egg sacks,” Sarchise reported. He looked around at the bones on the floor. “They were feeding on deer and bear cub. Pretty sparse bones for a lair. They didn’t find much to eat.”
“Do you suppose that they left to find more food?” Hemlot asked.
“I don’t know, on the one hand that would make sense, but there is so much food here now. There are deer and bear everywhere. The bears are fat, so they don’t seem to have much competi tion from other predators. The only reason they would leave a good hunting ground is to go to a great one. On the other hand, they will be competing with the spiders that already live there.” Sarchise said, “Let’s get back to camp and h unt some deer and rabbit on the way
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