Exodus(Journal Of Baobab Of Pantala)

Exodus-Journal 4-Entry 2:The Dwarves of White Mountain

6,231 A.S. Early Spring
Oak and I finally found a chance to go investigate the mountain in the south near the Edda River.
Leaving the hospitality of the BeetleWings, we traveled to the large mountain that wasn't nearly as tall as the Beor Mountains but towered over the mountains that made up the Spine on the east coast.
"It is large and easily defendable with lots of hiding places." Oak noted as we made a list of all the hidden crevices and caves that the enemy could be hiding in.
"It is." I agreed with him. "We will have to be extra cautious. If they are dwarves then they may not appreciate our sudden appearance. If not...then try and make peace." I said, not entirely sure of what to expect from these dwarves or whatever they were.
As we continued flying up the mountain I felt as if someone or something was watching us.
I turned my head to look behind me just as Oak suddenly dropped twenty feet, shocking me.
"What happened?" I queried the LeafWing.
"Someone shot at us." Oak responded, his dark brown eyes with green around the pupils searching the mountain side for the source of the archer.
I didn't know at the time who shot at us, but in the future, after lots of struggles, we became very good friends.
   We continued to fly cautiously around the spot on the mountain, looking for the person who shot at us. But whoever it was didn't want to be found.
   As Oak was about to give up, and head up to the peak of the mountain, I overheard the slight buzzing noise of a projectile heading towards us.
   "Oak! Dead drop!" I told him.
   Oak didn't hesitate, and folded in his wings, and dropped.
   The air whooshed past us as Oak descended another eighty feet before snapping open his wings to stop our fall.
   "Whoever that was really does not want  I on their mountain at all." Oak said, glaring at the mountain, more specifically where the hidden sharpshooter was.
   "You got that right." I responded, searching for the archer's mind, but to my surprise couldn't sense another mind around me and Oak at all except for the plants and animals. The archer was either good at hiding their thoughts or they weren't registering any mental activity.
I then heard another arrow coming straight for us.
Oak heard it too, and dove down until he found a rock ledge that would provide good cover.
The LeafWing landed under the stone ledge as I climbed off his back.
"We need a plan. A way to draw the archer out of hiding so we can talk to them." I said, already formulating a plan.
"I don't like where this is heading." Oak told me, concern in his voice. I knew then that it would be a risk to put Oak in so much danger like that but it was the only way to find the archer, and Oak knew it too.
Oak gave in when I explained the plan to him, and soon we were back up in the sky.
   While flying close to the side of the mountain, I leaped from the flying dragon's back, and over to the nearest ledge, landing on it neatly.
Oak continued to fly up into the archer's range.
I redouble checked the wards I placed around Oak. He was a good flyer but I wanted to take every precaution I could. I wouldn't lose Oak today, not like my parents. I wouldn't let another person I loved die, never again would I attend another funeral for a loved one. I would keep them all safe, no matter what.
I climbed as fast as I could up the side of the mountain, watching the arrows disappearing into the sky as the archer failed again and again to hit Oak. And thanks to their constant misses, I knew exactly where they were.
As I approached the archer's hiding spot, I became more cautious to not alert them of my presence by hiding my mind and not making a sound.
I could hear them muttering a stream, well more like a river, of curses every time they failed to miss Oak.
This archer was not very stealthy with all their cursing and missing.
   I snuck closer to where I could see them.
   The archer was small, around four feet tall, with a braided reddish-brown beard, and a stocky build. He had to be a dwarf, especially by his foul use of words. Dwarves loved to cuss and held long grudges.
   I tensed my legs as I prepared to tackle the dwarf from behind.
   When the dwarf let loose his arrow, I jumped, knocking the dwarf to the ground and pinning his arms behind his back.
   "Oi! What's the bloody meaning of this! I swear to Helzvog if that's you, Brokkr, I'm going to feed you to a shrrg!" The dwarf yelled, struggling underneath of me.
   "I'm not Brokkr." I told him, knocking his bow and arrows out of his reach along with his axe leaning against the wall of the rocky tunnel.
   "Who the bloody are ya then?" The dwarf asked, still struggling under me.
   "Raegel." I responded.
   "Sounds like an elf name, elf." The dwarf said with distaste in his words. "I'm guessing that bloody dragon outside is yours, Jurgencarmeitder?"
   "He is."
   "Well get off me so I can look you in the eyes and ask why you are here." The dwarf demanded.
   I did as he asked, still keeping all of his weapons out of his reach.
   "Still don't trust me, eh? That's unfortunate." The dwarf said, standing up, and brushing off his clothes.
   "Why." I asked, watching him carefully.
   "Because it makes me not want to trust you either. As well as your dragon flying around outside. I would prefer to be armed when surrounded by a Rider and a dragon." He said. "And I could be a valuable ally," he added a quietly.
   "What do you mean you could be a 'valuable ally'?" I queried him, looking at him watchfully.
   "Eh? I said that. No, I don't think I did."
   The dwarf was playing dumb, and that irritated me. I just wanted to get this over with and return back to Viserra and Jack.
   "Yes, you did." I said more forcefully, slipping a probe to go look for an opening in his defensive mind; he had a very good defense.
   "Hmm. Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. We may never know." The dwarf said, shrugging his shoulders.
   I scowled at him.
   "You don't look like a full blooded elf. Are you one of those human-things that came over the sea?" The dwarf asked.
   "That is not in question. Answer my question first and I might answer your question."
   "Nay. You answer my question first."
   I looked at him, concentrating on pushing secretly through his mental defense.
   Then the dwarf suddenly went ridged with a concentrated look on his face.
   The dwarf's mind shoved back against mine, determined to keep me out.
   "Low blow, elf-human. I didn't think a Rider would sink so low just to get an answer."
   "This is your own doing. All I asked was a simple question and you refused to answer. You left me no other choice." I justified.
   "Ha! You think you Riders deserve to know everything. Well you don't. This is my and my clan's own business."
   "What business is that?" I asked, pressing harder on his mental defenses.
   "Not telling," the dwarf said through a grimace of pain.
   "Does it have to do with the dragons living in the hills near your mountain?" I asked again, putting even more pressure on his defenses.
The dwarf held up surprisingly well for another few more minutes before caving in under the force of his mental attacks.
   "Yes! Yes it does! Now get out of my bloody head you bloody, cursed Jurgencarmeitder!" The dwarf exclaimed, beads of sweat running down his exhausted looking face. It made me almost feel bad for him for a second. But it also reminded me that he brought this upon himself.
I withdrew my mind from the edge of his.
"Now, what is this plan?"
"I can't tell you. It is secret and you are not a dwarf."
I sighed. He was so asking for another mind battle that he was definitely going to lose again.
"Look, either you tell me or I'm going to march up there and ask myself and I'll be less pleasant about than I was with you." I threatened. The thought of returning to Viserra and Jack motivated me to make decisions I would not normally make.
The dwarf didn't say anything. His face was emotionless.
"I guess we'll be going then. Good day to you." I told him, and walked over to the edge of the tunnel where Oak was hovering, waiting for me.
Before I jumped from the edge I stoped to look back at the dwarf.
"Maybe instead of fighting you should try and make peace with them instead."
The dwarf just grunted angrily.
I shrugged my shoulders, and jumped from the edge, and onto the dragon's back.
Oak flapped his wings to pull away from the mountain, and head up for the top of the mountain.
Then the tumbling of rocks caught my ears.
I turned to see a rocks and snow falling from the near top of the mountain. The avalanche must have been caused by Oak's flapping around.
Oak pulled far out of the range of the rocks and snow.
But then I remembered the dwarf.
I knew that I could have leave him to die. I just couldn't. He could be someone's husband, father, uncle, brother or son. I couldn't let someone else go through the pain of losing a loved one when I was there to do something about it.
"Oak, dive back down to the dwarf." I told Oak.
"Are you mad?! You want to go save the dwarf that was trying to fill me full of wood? You're crazier than him." Oak argued.
"Just do it please. He doesn't deserve to die even though he tried to shoot us." I begged him.
"Multiple time, I recall." Oak said, pulling his wings into a dive as he raced the snow and rocks down the mountain side.
When the tunnel was in sight, I stood up in the saddle.
"What are you doing?!" Oak cried to me.
"Just catch me and the dwarf when we come out the other side." I told him, pushing off from his back and landing back on the ledge.
The dwarf turned around from packing up his weapons and supplies.
"Back for some more?" He asked.
"No. I came back to save you."
"From what? That avalanche. I can handle myself. It can't fill the tunnel, elf-human." The dwarf said, turning back to his packing.
"That may be a risk you're willing to take, but I'm not." I said, grabbing his arm, and dragging him towards the other exit.
The sound of the avalanche rumbling closer made me anxious, along with Oak's troubled mind.
"Stop! Unhand me, Jurgencarmeitder. I do not need saving." The dwarf protested, trying to grab his axe on the floor.
He could sense something of great importance about that axe.
"I cannot leave Gem Breaker!" The dwarf roared, still struggling against me.
   I sighed.
   Reaching past the dwarf, I grabbed the axe, and handed it to the dwarf.
   "Happy now?"
   The dwarf just glared at me, and allowed me to drag him down the tunnel.
   The rumbling got closer and closer by the second. Oak was calling for me. The air became increasingly colder as the wave of snow and rock approached.
   As we ran through the narrow path from the tunnel to the ledge, snow drizzled down on us along with the occasional rock or two.
   I felt like we weren't going to make it until something grabbed us from behind and pulled us away from the wave of snow and rock that nearly buried us alive.
   I looked up to see Oak's pained face.
   I could feel blood running down my left leg and I knew the Oak had been hurt.
   I looked down to see a bloody gash on his left leg were a rock had injured him.
   The sight sadden me. He didn't deserve this. But this only happened because I wasn't fast enough to get the dwarf out of the tunnel. This was my fault.
"This was not your fault, Raegel. I did this because I wanted to save you two. And I payed the price for my heroics."
   "I forgot how far you were willing to go to save me."
   "I would go to the ends of the world just to save you." Oak told me, throwing me and the dwarf on his back.
   "Get me off this jurgen!" The dwarf yelled with fear in his voice.
   "Whatever he says." Oak said, grabbing the dwarf, and dropping him off on a ledge far away from any snow.
   Oak flew far up the mountains side towards the top.
As we approached the peak of the mountain, I saw a empty courtyard of a compound built into the mountain. Whoever lived here hadn't been gone too long, or they left to go hunting or whatever and left a few dwarves behind, like the one that attacked Oak and I.
From there we approached the compound with caution.
   Little did we know a trap awaited us and was hiding in plain sight.
   As soon as Oak touched down on the ground, a trebuchet was revealed from behind some fake flora and a net was launched onto me and Oak.
   Oak struggled against the net, but only succeeded in tangling himself up even more in the net.
   I tried to cut through the net only to find out that the net was made of metal. It was thin but strong. Strong enough to hold up against my Rider sword, which were indestructible and could cut through most things. Which led to my conclusion that the net had to be enchanted by dwarf magicians.
   "We've got you Jurgencarmeitder and jurgen." A deep voice said. The dwarf that the voice belonged to then stepped out from the shadows of the mountain and fake canvas of flora.
About two scores of dwarves joined him, forming a circle around Oak and I.
"Why did you attack us?" I asked. "We did nothing to harm you. We came here seeking peace, not harm." I told him, hoping to convince him that we were of no threat.
"Because jurgen have been attacking our hunting and expedition parties when we were just minding our own business."
The dragons didn't mention attacking any dwarfs. But dragons didn't always tell the truth. They liked to keep certain things hidden under the rug.
"Hey! We're not all like that." Oak defended his kind.
"Sorry. Not all dragons are like that, yes. But some are." I told Oak. I didn't need a bunch of dwarves and Oak mad at me.
"I'm sorry that happened. They probably just felt threatened—,"
"We felt threatened when our parties came back with burns and black scars." The dwarf interjected. "They were raving about the dragons shooting strands of fire like silk from their wrists and black venom flying from their fangs and burning anything alive that it came into contact with. Those that got it in their eyes or bloodstream died immediately. Those that survived were less fortunate and now have to live with these hideous scars for the rest of their lives because of these dragons. And the only way to prevent them from attacking again is to wipe them out before we give them the chance to attack us. Lock them up. We attack at dawn."
Before the dwarves could make a move on Oak and me a familiar voice rang out over the mountain.
"Stop! I command you to not touch either the dragon or Rider."
"Grimstborith Dellingr," one of the dwarves said before falling to their knees in respect. All the other dwarves did the same except for the one that had spoken to them.
"Brokkr, release them immediately." The dwarf named Dellingr commanded, looking at Brokkr with a stony glare.
Brokkr looked like he wasn't going to yield anytime soon.
"I refuse to, Grimstborith Dellingr. These dragons in the hills deserve to die. And if we let these two go they will give away our element of surprise. We have to hit these four winged dragons first before we give them the chance to to us." Brokkr argued.
"I will not tolerate disobedience, Brokkr."
Brokkr gritted his teeth.
"These dragons are the reason your father, Grimstborith Thordri, is dead."
"My father didn't want this. He wanted us to thrive. To establish a mine so that we might prosper from its profits. But going to war with these dragons is not the answer. There are more of them than us. We are too few in number to outright attack them, and we cannot rally enough forces in time if we continue to provoke them."
"That's why we build these weapons. To give us an edge in the battle. If we all fight—,"
"Even the young and the old?" Dellingr asked.
Brokkr hesitated.
"If that's what it takes to beat them, then yes. We need every dwarf available. We all signed up for this when the king asked us to do this, and we will not fail. To war we go or we die!"
"Ya!"
"Down with those bloody jurgen!"
"They killed my brother!"
"Blood must have blood!"
Many angry dwarves yelled. A majority of them rising to their feet to rally behind Brokkr.
"War is not the answer!" Dellingr yelled over the cries. "It will only kill us all. I believe," Dellingr looked at me, "peace is the only step forward at the moment. And we can achieve it with this Jurgencarmeitder's and his jurgen's help. No more us will die if we make peace with these dragons. I know they killed you loved ones, your grimstborith and my father. But I promise you that I will do everything I can to make peace with them. Join me in this endeavor, and I will not fail you."
The dwarves muttered among themselves before those that were convinced joined Dellingr. The others stayed with Brokkr.
Brokkr's face was red with anger.
"Fine! If you all want to go on a suicide mission then good for you. But don't come running back to us for help when they turn on you." Brokkr said, turning around and walking away with his few followers. "While your talking, we will be preparing for war." He said, and disappeared into the compound.
The remains dwarves were muttering in concerned tones amongst themselves.
"There's never been a split like this before in any of the clans."
"They all only joined Brokkr because he's Vrenshrggn."
"I heard that no one thinks Dellingr can lead us."
"Their faith in him died when he forced us to retreat after his father died."
And the rumors just kept going on and on and on.
They made me feel horrible at the time, but little did they know that Dellingr would become the greatest of the dwarven kings to ever live in dwarven history.

(Edit by Du Skulblaka chetowä:
Grimstnzborith Hrothgar was the
greatest king of the dwarves, besides              Grimstnzborith Korgan.)

Dellingr had the net removed, and Oak and I stood up, thanking Dellingr.
"You are welcome. It's the least I could do after you and your dragon saved my life. And I need you to help us negotiate peace with these dragons. So what's our next move?"

P.S. If you are an Inheritance Cycle fan then you know "White Mountain" means Arngor in Dwarvish.

I really liked this song too, especially the hammer sounds in the background. It made me think of the dwarves getting ready for war. The same for the first song.
Du Skulblaka chetowä will make an appearance sometime in Dragon Riders: Rising Again, and we will learn more about them in that book. I might drop a few hints to who they are in this book.
But hope you all are enjoying.