Dawn of Dusk

Cadot Stonpiker stood in front of the Dwarven council of twelve. He looked into the eyes of each.

The Dwarves were not a beautiful people like the Elves. Most Dwarves, male and female stood 1.25 meters tall. All were strong and stout. Men would joke that Dwarves were almost half as wide as they were tall. All Dwarven men had flowing beards and thick mustaches. While they were fastidiously clean, neither Dwarven men nor women used any kind of razor. All Dwarves were extremely strong and could carry several times their body weight.

The most unique thing about Dwarves was their eyes. In total darkness the iris could expand into the sclera (the white of the eyes) allowing the pupil to open as wide as the entire eye itself. The Dwarves also had developed a transparent second eyelid that helped capture light and focus it into the pupil. With the iris expanded into the entire eye, the second eyelid would close to offer protection and additional light gathering abilities for the Dwarf.

Stonepiker had several problems to deal with. The oldest problems the Dwarves had been Goblins and Gnomes.

Gnomes were becoming a problem again. The Dwarves had lost three children in two weeks. These were not tots but older children, almost adults.

The first had been a ten year old boy. He had been seen playing near the southern cavern entrance. No trace was ever found of either him or of any foul play. Those who knew him agreed that he was not the kind of boy who would disappear on his own.

A twelve year old girl had disappeared three days later from the under passage on the eastern elevation. The gemstones she had been playing with were still on the floor, and there were signs of a scuffle.

Today a thirteen year old boy vanished from the over passage on the southern bypass. Blood from the boy and greenish ichor, was found in the area as well. The boy was hardly defenseless; he was the junior clubbing champion of Vermath.

Many Dwarves claimed that the ichor belonged to the Gnomes. Cadot Stonpiker didn’t think so. For one thing, the ichor was too thick. Cadot Stonpiker had fought the gnomes all his life but he had never seen it so thick. It was almost the consistency of gel. It looked like what Gnome blood might have looked like, if it had been carried for some distance in the sun and some of the fluid had evaporated. Cadot Stonpiker was convinced that this was made to look like Gnomes had done it because it was Dwarven character to go tearing after revenge, especially from Gnomes.

Gnomes were easy to hate. From the time that the destruction had almost killed the world, Dwarves and Gnomes went underground. It is said in the Dwarven legends, that the surface of the land was poisoned. One could die from walking on the surface of the planet. Humans, from whom all the races evolved, dug underground and began living their lives there. Hundreds of generations of humans lived and died without ever seeing the light of day. Eventually they begin to change in form. It was a gradual thing. Each successive generation developed superior night vision, grew shorter, and became more and more skilled in using their hands from digging and working with metals. When Men started venturing around the world again, they found the Dwarves, just beginning to venture back out on to the surface of the planet.

Dwarfs’ eyes worked best in the darkness their eyes would open to give good vision even in what Men called total darkness. Dwarves were always scouts during the night. This had helped during the wars of the races because for some reason, Gnomes had never developed good night vision. Some say it was because Gnomes never went truly underground; they always had been making visits to the surface.

Cadot Stonpiker listened as the Chief Captain of the army gave his scenario for a foray into Drathmire to rescue the kidnapped children. Cadot Stonpiker was convinced that the Gnomes had nothing to do with the missing children nevertheless he listened closely to the briefing to imagine what was going on inside the minds of the military. Most of the time as a politician he chose not to think about what the military officers were planning to do.

When the Chief Captain was finished Cadot Stonpiker looked directly at him to acknowledge his report and then waited for a few seconds. As soon as a murmur arose from the assembled group of council members, ambassadors, courtiers, and servants, he spoke. All had turned and looked to see what Cadot Stonpiker had to say.

“It is my opinion that these deeds were not committed by Gnomes, but that we are expected to believe so. Chief Captain Rokbrakre, when did you ever see ichor as thick, as was found in the southern bypass?”

“Well, ah, uhm, now that you mention it, ser, I never have. What does it mean?”

“We can only guess, but I think that the ichor was brought in a container from quite a distance. It is my opinion that someone wants us to believe that the Gnomes are starting to cause problems again and is expecting our deep seated hatred for them to cause us to rush into action without thought. I am afraid that if this becomes well known, public opinion will force other political leaders to act which may cause this Council and me to act in a manner that does not best represent the Dwarven best interests.”

“This evidence could be made to disappear Ser,” Rokbrakre said.

“The problem is,” Stonpiker said quietly to Rokbrakre, “if this was an internal plot to make me look bad, suppressing the evidence could get me in more trouble than letting out the information.

It appears that the least I can do is to inform some of the party leaders from both sides and ask them to keep the information quiet until we can get some answers.”

“We can do that, Ser, but as you know the information always gets out. The best you can hope for is forty-eight hours.”

“Then let’s hope forty eight hours is enough to find some answers. This time put some surveillance on the news people and see if we can pick the person who is letting the information get out.”

“We’ve got it covered, Ser, you don’t have to worry about it any more. We’ll find the person or people responsible.”

Rokbrakre turned and left the room. Cadot Stonpiker looked around and felt a chill as he contemplated the destruction a new war of the races would inflict. The cost that would have to be paid both in lives, and in destruction, made him determine that he must do anything to avoid another war, regardless of the personal sacrifice.

Drathmire Castle, North of Cryarlac

Kronilack reached out with his magick and felt a fox scampering across the grasslands near the Dwarven lands of Vermath. He could easily reach the southern borders of Drathmire with his magick now. Only a few years ago he had been weak, unable to defend himself from marauding goblins that had accidentally come across him when they were frustrated from their last incursion into the Mans’ Kingdom of Karrondor in the Duchy of Cryarlac.

He had been tortured for three days until he finally managed to burn his ropes on the fire they were using to torment him with. They had taken hot irons and burned his face, his chest, elbows, stomach, thighs, and between each toe. They had cut him in numerous places and more than once he had fainted from loss of blood. Three times they had put a rope around his neck and slowly raised him off of the ground until he fainted. His claws had been pulled out one at a time and then nailed through his palms from the back of his “hand”. The nails had stayed there and had begun growing there, until four spikes of almost three inches in length protruded from the palm of each paw. If he had been a Troll instead of a Gnome, he could have caused his body to heal itself completely. Gnomes’ restorative powers were more a curse here than a blessing, because now the claws were growing out of the wrong part of the paw and pain was unbearable most of the time.

He seized the fox with his Magick. He turned it inside out and watched the lungs heave trying to breathe, now that the source of air had been eliminated since the nose and mouth were now both inside the body. Eventually he saw the heart stop beating. He turned the creature right side out and let his mind wander throughout his kingdom never to think of the poor creature he had killed so hideously, again.

This had been his most spectacular kill from a distance. His previous kills at that distance had been simple amphibians or fowls. This total destruction of a higher life form thrilled him. Soon he felt he would be able to do that kind of thing to Goblins, Trolls, Men, Dwarves, Elves, and Giants. He was already able to kill Gnomes from almost a mile away that excited him as much as anything.

He thought about the goblins that had hurt him, they had paid. He had felt the stirrings of his magick within him weeks before they had captured him he had not had the ability to key his magick. Once free he called upon his magick with all his pain and struck out at the leader. From this close distance, and with all of the pain Kronilack felt, he summoned a power that he never hoped to find and sent it hurling at the goblin leader.

The goblin exploded; sending parts of his body as far as one hundred yards in all directions. The other goblins in the party were all incapacitated. Some who were standing near the leader were hurt from pieces of the leader hitting them like shrapnel, others who were farther away were stunned from the shock of the explosion and almost unconscious.

Kronilack emerged from his hiding place. He approached the hurt and helpless Goblins. He picked up a rock, approached the nearest Goblin and raised the rock over his head. As he looked the Goblin in the eyes, the anger sprang up within him. He remembered the things they had done to him. The pain again rushed forth.

He struck out at them all. They began screaming in a howl so agonizing, so wretched, that even Kronilack shivered in sympathy. Their bodies began to smoke, Kronilack worked to control his magick. He did not want them to burst into flames and die. He wanted them to feel pain for as long as they were able to feel anything at all.

It took them three days to die. Kronilack learned some of the other things he could do to them during that time. A party of Trolls had come by during the second day and seeing a Gnome inflicting such pain on Goblins, made a hasty departure. Kronilack enjoyed inflicting his pain on those who had hurt him.

He did not realize at that time, nor did he care, that in drawing power from his pain, he was sentencing himself to a life of misery. He was bound to the pain because pain was the emotion that triggered his magick. Once a Gnome’s magick had been triggered or keyed, it was controlled for the rest of the Gnomes life by that emotion.

Usually as a Gnome felt the stirring of their magick within them, they went into a controlled environment, and they would be kept calm, happy and sedate. Kronilack realized that the power that could be unleashed through the base emotions like hate, lust, fear, and of course pain, was stronger than any power the other Gnomes had ever had.

It was forbidden for a Gnome to trigger under such conditions for as long as Gnome history went back. There was some promise of great danger and the superstitious fools believed it. Kronilack knew better, it just gave the host more power.

Magick is different from Magic that Men and Elves have. Magick is created by a creature about the size of an earthworm called an earwig. The earwig is introduced to the Gnome by crawling into the Gnomes ear and eating its way into the brain. It then drops its legs, attaches itself to the frontal lobe and the Gnome feels the stirrings of their Magick within them.

The earwig as a parasite usually lives as long as its host compared to the few weeks it may last on its own. After the host dies, the earwig lays its eggs and dies. Once hatched the baby earwigs eat their way out of the old host and look for a new one.

The combination of the earwig and the Gnome together form a power that is triggered through an emotion or feeling. Kronilack would never have chosen pain as his trigger the choice was made for him by the Goblins. What became of him after that was no longer his responsibility. The moment he triggered his magick he became a pain addict. Not only did he have to suffer pain, but, he had to inflict pain on others as well. He became a creature with no conscience, no remorse, and no inhibitions. Anything he wanted, he got. Nobody stood in his way for very long that wanted to live.

Pain pushed out all other emotions. There was no room for love, hate, pity, empathy, or sadness. The only thing Kronilack could feel was, pain. He delighted in inflicting pain on other creatures as well.

He lived for the power of his magick, and the magick demanded pain. The more pain he felt, the more pain he had to inflict. The more pain he inflicted on others, the more pain he had to feel.

When earwigs enter the frontal lobe of their host, they usually become dormant. When Kronilack triggered his magick with pain, the earwig inside him also shared the pain he felt. Every time he felt pain, it felt pain with him. The constant pain caused the earwig to keep his legs and continue to feed. At present, 17 per cent of Kronilack’s brain had been eaten by his earwig; therefore, not only had Kronilack become a sadist and masochist, but he also had become quite mad.