Council of War by Richard S. Tuttle Page B

long as the huge chamber, and it was too wide to leap across in the center. The dwarf was young, but there was an air of authority about him. That air of authority was certainly not created by his clothing, for the dwarf was dressed in rags comprised of mismatched colors and weaves. On the floor beside the dwarf was a pile of clothes that, while not fit for royalty, were more suitable for a miner. The dwarf unfolded his arms and removed a silver ring from his finger. He bent over and placed the ring on top of the pile of clothes and then rose and crossed his arms again. As the dwarf leader gazed into the maw of the bottomless pit, singing infiltrated the chamber. It was a solemn song, and the words spoke of an ending, not just any ending, but a crucial climax of a way of life.
    The singing grew in volume as hundreds of voices echoed through the tunnels of the mine. The leader dwarf felt a shiver race up his spine as the beginning of the column of dwarves appeared at the entrance to the great chamber. The dwarves in the procession were as poorly dressed as the lone dwarf, and each of them carried a pile of clothes. As the singing dwarves entered the chamber, they lined up along the edges of the bottomless chasm and placed their finest clothes at their feet. Those with jewelry removed the rings and necklaces and placed them atop the piles of clothes. Others, who wore no jewelry, placed a well-cleaned tool on the pile in lieu of the silver adornments.
    When both sides of the gaping maw were lined with singing dwarves, the leader left his place and walked to a portion of the wall that had been cleaned for the occasion. He bent down and picked up a hammer and chisel and stared at the smooth face of the rock. The only blemishes on the wall were some strange symbols that he had chiseled there a while ago. Stretching up as far as he could reach, the leader started chiseling a farewell message as the rest of the dwarves continued their solemn song. The message was short, and the leader was proficient with his tools. In mere moments the farewell message was set for eternity in the face of the rock. The leader neatly placed the hammer and chisel on the floor and returned to his place alongside the chasm.
    "It is done," the leader stated as the singing abruptly stopped.
    "Hail, King Drak!" shouted the dwarves.
    "We have finished our work here on the Isle of Despair," the king said, "and we will never toil here again. Today we are to take the fateful step from which there is no return. Who among you are ready to follow me?"
    To a dwarf they shouted, "Hail, King Drak!"
    The king stared into the black void and spit into it. Every dwarf along the edge of the chasm followed the leader's example.
    "There will be no noise," declared the king. "No shouting, no talking, no songs. Absolute silence is required. Is that understood?"
    The dwarves nodded silently, and King Drak smiled with pride at his people. With one last look into the gaping hole, King Drak turned and walked out of the chamber. The dwarves along the edge of the chasm turned towards the exit from the chamber and began to walk single file behind the king. King Drak led the silent procession through a series of intersections in a climb to a higher level. The king halted as the tunnel ended in a small rectangular room. He stared at the wall in front of him and waved for two dwarves in the procession to come forward. The face of the wall was smooth except for a long horizontal crack near the top, giving the appearance of a large flat, vertical stone with a smaller rectangular one on top of it like a lintel. Two of the male dwarves moved quickly forward to the wall and slid the long rectangular stone to the left. A faint noise echoed through the room, and the king smiled broadly. The two men then put their strength to the large flat surface and pushed. Slowly, the wall slid to the side revealing a recently built tunnel.
    Inside the tunnel was a pile of unlit torches. With a nod of the