Chapter IV Journey to Cron As Jonathan, Joseph, and Brinstauf climbed out of the car another car came speeding towards them, "Look out!" Jonathan shouted. The car rammed the back of their car and flipped sending a small boy flying out, he landed flat on his back and cried out in pain. Jonathan walked over to the intruder, "Who are you?" "No!" the boy yelled, "You wont take me!" "Take you where?" "Who are you?" "I'm Jonathan. Now answer me, who are you?" "You killed my father!" the boy pulled a knife from his brilliant blue cloak. Jonathan grabbed his hand and lifted him by it, the boy yelped and dropped it -- Jonathan dropped him, "Don't try that again, please. Now tell me, who was your father?" "He was the leader of the thieves... He didn't mean any harm, Ranskon tricked him!" "Who is Ranskon?" "He's a mage from Mordra, he tricked my father, he said my father was just going to take care of the guards. He really just wanted to get rid of the thieves because the army was about to find out about him through the thieves." "Where is Ranskon?" "In the cave by Stonehall." "I think I know who you are talking about. I'm sorry I had to kill your father. What can I do for you?" "The only way you can repay me is to let me tell the king all I know about Ranskon." "I think that's reasonable, let's go." Brinstauf motioned for them to follow, then lead them to horses. Jonathan's horse was white with a black spot on it's neck and was very calm, not even flinching when Jonathan mounted. "We should be at the edge of the forest by nightfall, then we can ride into Cron about noon." Brinstauf said. They rode towards the distant Dwarf Mountains. "Tell me more about Ranskon and your father, and, what's your name?" Jonathan said to the boy. "Christopher. Christopher is my name, but you can call me Chris. My father was just looking for a job when he met Ranskon. Ranskon said that he and his thieves could do a job for him. Ranskon told him that if he got rid of the guards he would give him 2000 golds and each of his thieves that participated 100 golds. But he lied, when the king sent more guards he thought that my father had given him away. Then you and your army came, Ranskon panicked and didn't send help. He left him to die," Chris sniffed and looked like he was about to cry, "After that I went to Ranskon because I had nowhere to go, my mother fought along side my father. Ranskon said that he would kill me for being the son of a traitor. I ran away and came here." "Where did you come from? I mean, where's Ranskon now?" Jonathan was fascinated. "Dragons Peak, he and his orc army set up their camp there. A cave leads to Dragons Peak from Stonehall." "Yes, when Joseph and I were going through the pass from Rivergate to Last Stop, we saw a lot of orcs and a mage, which I guess is your Ranskon." "But the cave is by Stonehall, I've never heard of a cave by Rivergate." "Well, that's were we saw him. When we found Ranskon, he teleported us to a cave, where a huge dragon was waiting. Joseph got banged up and I killed the dragon, then we wandered around until we found Brinstauf in the dwarf mines." "Are you going after Ranskon?" "Yes, but first I must report to the king and raise an army." "May I please go with you? It's all I ask, now that I'm an orphan." "Hmmm... I dunno, this is royal business, but I suppose since you are involved..." Jonathan rubbed his chin, "I don't think so." "Why not?" Chris mumbled sharply. "Well, I guess you don't get it, army. Do you know what that is?" "Of course!" Chris looked irritated. "And you're not in the army, so you can't go on army business. Leave the fighting to the fighters." "But, but I can fight too!" "Sure you can." "No, I'm serious! My father taught me to fight." "Oh, and who won the fight against your father?" This enraged Chris, he jumped from his horse at Jonathan with his knife drawn, "I'll kill you, you bastard!" he yelled. "Hey! What the... ouch!" Jonathan winced in pain as the knife slid through one of the chinks in his armor and sliced his left arm. He grabbed Chris by the throat and threw him to the ground. "You'd best learn to control your temper," Jonathan said nursing his wound, "You either sit there and be quiet or leave now." "Yes, sir," Chris said getting up. The rest of the ride was uneventful and they soon reached the edge of the forest, the sun was just beginning to set. "This is it, the Dwarf Forest, we should make camp over there," Brinstauf nodded towards a clearing in the dense forest, "and then ride into Cron tomorrow." He then rode towards the small clearing; Jonathan, Joseph, and Chris followed. The camp was a small one, a tree considerably larger than the rest loomed overhead sheltering most of the camp from the single ray of moonlight which shone through the small opening in the massive canopies of the trees. Bedrolls were laid out and a small fire was lit (there was more than plenty of wood lying about). As they sat around the fire munching their dinners Brinstauf told stories of his people and of the city of Cron. He also brought up the history of the very clearing they were camped in, "About a hundred years ago when I was just a child a strange wizard came to Cron, he was of a different race, and he carried a strange glowing staff. He threatened our people with the staff, and soon warriors were sent after him. The wizard said that he was superior to us and that he would soon take over the world, our warriors ignored him and attacked, the wizard fired bolts from his staff, but had amazingly bad aim. The warriors overtook him easily and he fled. Our warriors chased after him and trailed him into the woods, to this very spot. And when they caught him he tried his staff once more, but this time the staff just exploded, it knocked our warriors clear fifty or so yards, and made this clearing, the trees just seemed to disintegrate, and the wizard was never seen again." The rest of the night passed uneventfully. At the crack of dawn Brinstauf was up and ready; Jonathan and Joseph, however, were not ready to get up. "You cushy little officers, always adjusted to the comfortable life. Ha! I'll bet you've never had the lowly rank of `soldier'." Brinstauf droned annoyingly. "Just leave us alone..." Jonathan replied sleepily. "No, no, no. I thought you were trying to stop this threat before it happened." "Well... yeah, but who doesn't like a good fight?" Jonathan smiled and got up, "Joseph, come on we've got to go." Brinstauf went to wake Chris but he was nowhere to be found, "Over here," Chris whispered from the trees, "you three are noisy as Kragmarians trying to sneak into the castle. Look, over there." Chris pointed to the road where a score of orcs were half walking, half stumbling, down the highway, "I heard them about five minutes ago, I think they heard you three, listen." By this time Jonathan and Joseph were listening too. They could barely hear the orcs, but they were speaking in the common tongue, "Mercs," Chris muttered. The larger, fiercer looking orc was giving orders to the others, "Over there, in the trees, no... there... not there fool! Look... look over there -- I heard them there!" The orc pointed directly at the place where they were hiding. "Uh oh..." Chris said as the orcs started lumbering their way. Jonathan and Joseph were already going for their bows which were laying in a pile along with the rest of their arms. Brinstauf hid behind the big tree with his axe in hand. Chris started to climb the tree, "What are you doing!" Brinstauf whispered sharply. "Trust me," Chris uttered while still concentrating on climbing, he perched himself atop the largest and longest limb, under the cover of the dense leaves. By this time Jonathan and Joseph had taken up firing positions beside two trees, aiming right down the trail the orcs were coming from. "We'll skewer some orc today eh?" Joseph said while he drew a long arrow from his quiver. The orcs had barely come into sight when Jonathan and Joseph let their arrows fly. Two orcs dropped dead -- pierced through the heart. "Aaagh! Shoot them!" the large orc screamed, but before he had time to shout another command, Chris leapt from his roost and plunged his knife into the orcs neck. Brinstauf jumped out from behind the tree and simultaneously swung his axe at an arc towards the nearest orc; he nearly split it down the middle, "That musuve `urt bad!" he remarked wrenching the axe from the orc's torso. While all this was happening Jonathan and Joseph fired the rest of their arrows and killed the last four before any of them even had time to react to their aggressors. "What an ambush!" Brinstauf said while wiping his axe clean. "Well, let's get out stuff together and head out okay?" Jonathan pushed away the compliment. They loaded their horses and left the orcs to become the forest's meals. Chris had already checked all but one of the corpses for money, the particularly gruesome job Brinstauf had done on one of the orcs was quite... messy. A few hours passed and Cron was visible, it was nestled on the back slope of the Dwarf Mountains, inside the pass. It had high stone walls and the gates were open. The city terraced down the slope, with the fort at the highest point (this some would say was poor architecture, because if the city were attacked by catapults they would simply need to lob the boulders straight up at the fort, and since the walls had no catwalks, the fort was the only station for archers and such). When they reached the city they could see much traffic to the nearby stone quarry. The city its self wasn't much, the houses were all the same, the rich had houses high up on the mountain side, outside the city. Most of the work in the city came from the mines in the mountains, but many farmers took advantage of the great western plain's rich soil. They rode on through the gate and up towards the fort. None seemed too interested in Jonathan and Joseph's, seemingly to them, strange attire for this realm. The fort was tall and had, as Jonathan could tell, at least five stories to it, each becoming smaller as the building rose into the sky, the slope at the back was dug in for a flat surface; the fort stood on its own terrace above the rest. Jonathan thought that there would have to be some powerful catapults in order to reach this structure. Reaching the fort, a guard clad in bright mail stepped foreword toward Brinstauf and in response Brinstauf made a gesture, drew a small insignia from his pouch, and presented it to the guard who in turn motioned for them to enter. The fort was a simple yet sturdy structure presented it to the guard who in turn motioned for them to enter. The fort was a simple yet sturdy structure. Inside two rows of columns made their way to the back of the structure where a spiral staircase rose to the next floor. The guard led them up the stairs and into a short hall past another set of stairs to what seemed to be a conference room. "Brinstauf of Brauf chief of silver mining operations here to see you sirs", the guard shouted. A deep voice from within the room boomed, "Let them in." The guard opened the door and a rush of hot air dispersed. In the room a crowd of well dressed dwarves were seated around a large stone table, the banner of the dwarf clan draped across it. "Please seat yourselves sirs," the preceding voice belonged to an elderly but strong looking dwarf -- the Chief. Finding some empty chairs Jonathan, Joseph, Brinstauf, and Chris sat down. "What is it?" the chief implored. "Well, sir, this is General Jonathan and Captain of the Guard Joseph." Brinstauf replied. The dwarf turned to Jonathan "What business have you with us, if you don't mind me asking." "Well sir, we, Joseph and I, were investigating an orc uprising near Rivergate, when we were attacked by a large group of orcs led by a powerful mage. Then we were transported to your mine and attacked by a fierce dragon. I've come to enlist some of your clan into a small attack force and strike the orcs at Rivergate. Joseph already has a Guard stationed there, Yet I fear that is not enough." "Say no more. There are a dozen of the finest axemen stationed there. Show them this," the Chief scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to Jonathan, "and they will serve you." "How will I find these men?" "Ask around, they're the guardsmen of the mines, I suppose they'd be lingerin' about there." "Very good then sir, I must be off. Time is of the essence." "I'll speak with you later of your exploits, but for now, I'll have you off." "Good-bye." As they departed from the meeting hall Joseph turned to Jonathan, "What about sending word to the king or this assault?" Jonathan thought for a moment, "Did the king not say to take care of the problem in the mountains? Well, we are taking care of it arn't we? I don't think he needs to know until this is done." "But sir..." "Look, just let me make the desicion, and take the blame." This marked the beginning of a long and brutal war. The outcome ultimately crushed the world of Kroth. It was a senseless war. The Mordrans had discovered something big -- too big. As it turned out, this power that the Mordrans had harnessed, was too great for the people to handle. The technology was in the hands of a psychotic leader. He thought that with this technology, he could easily defeat the other nations, this was not so.