Free Blue Diamonds (Book One of The Blue Diamonds Saga) by R.E. Murphy Page B

tell you.
    Carved into the center of the spark was a burning heart, with streams of smoke that morphed into a backdrop of sculptures on the cliff face behind the hammers. There were hundreds of these smaller carvings that you’d need to be standing near the entrance in order to see clearly. They told stories of the dwarven heroes of long ago. Intertwined with these were renditions of dwarven gods and scenes from historic battles. Most of these were only in beginning stages of sculpting, but Pall could make out enough details in their actions and posture to give names to the characters.
    As glorious a sculpture it was to look at, it was an equally dangerous monument to wander too closely to without invitation. Dwarves grew accustomed to protecting their mines from intruders over thousands of years, and the defenses of Fort Hammerheart told the story clearly.
    Between a score of the stone figures were shadow-covered portals that concealed lookout stations, each manned with guards operating powerful crossbows. The crossbows were dwarven repeaters, famed for their ability to shoot three projectiles simultaneously, while being accurate enough to target any part of the road below all the way to the tree line. The crossbow's crank, a device Burt adamantly claims was invented by a Hammerheart, cocks the string, loads the arrows and fires all in one complete turn of a crank. On the side of the weapon was a long, open slot where a second dwarf loads arrows by the handful.
    The main entrance looked like a massive tunnel from a distance, but as you got closer you found that it narrowed abruptly, just steps inside of the huge hammer frame. Then, once inside, you continued down a tunnel wide enough to fit two wagons at a time if side-by-side. If an army were to make it to the entrance, they would surely be at a dilemma here. At this point the dwarves would hold a fierce phalanx front with shield and spear. The goal of the armored wall of spikes is only to bottleneck an enemy’s advance, so that their soldiers taking up the rear could remain open to the bombardment of crossbows.
    If by some unnatural feat the raiders were able to breach the phalanx, the dwarves would signal for the tunnel to come down in a triggered collapse. It is no secret as to why entry tunnels into dwarven strongholds are always one hundred yards long. It is because that enables them to perfectly balance a thousand tons of rock above the tunnel, all of it rigged to fall by the pull of a lever. Even if the enemy tried to dig through, unless they were Dwarves themselves it could take several months. It always gave Pall the shivers when he walked through this deadly section of tunnel. Dwarves were crushed in mine accidents all the time, and in a way this trap was designed to inflict on enemies their worst fear.
    Pall lost nearly an hour weaving through tunnels crammed with dwarves busy at work before finally locating his father. He was in a long, oval cavern that was going to be the clan’s dining hall. There were several ways into the hall, and enough tables and chairs to seat a thousand hungry diners with seats to spare. Six rows of tables stretched along the ballroom ending at a taller table that was positioned perpendicular to the six rows like the spine on a comb. There was no guessing who would sit here. The silver and gold trimmed tablecloth draped over the table hinted at the bountiful feasts that were sure to come spread over equally impressive platters, but for now it was covered corner to corner with blueprints and maps.
    Jevon Hammerheart, Pall's father, was clearly in distress by the way he frowned over the table as four other prestigious looking dwarves watched. Three of them Pall easily recognized as elders of the Hammerheart clan. Jaspar the Lead Miner, Jargon the Mappist, and Marco the Lead Architect. The fourth he had never seen within the clan, here nor in Ol’ Brook.
    “Finally me son shows his face!” announced Jevon, raising his head from the