Grea'nock

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

Prologue.......................................................viiChapter 1: Hillsborough........................................3Chapter 2: An Unlikely Meeting.................................5Chapter 3: Getting a Group.....................................16Chapter 4: The Road South......................................25Chapter 5: The Hunt Is On......................................35Chapter 6: Tree of Two Worlds..................................46Chapter 7: Elven Home..........................................59Chapter 8: The Path of Enchantment.............................74Chapter 9: The Girl Who Would Be?..............................89Chapter 10: Predators, Prey, and Provision.....................103Chapter 11: From the Depths....................................113Chapter 12: From Darkness to Light.............................126Prologue.......................................................143Chapter 1: Hunted in Dreams....................................144Chapter 2: Returning to Darkness...............................160Chapter 3: Rebuilding..........................................170Chapter 4: A Time of Majick....................................179Chapter 5: Lovers' Quarrel.....................................185Chapter 6: Majick's Mischief...................................188Chapter 7: Family, Friends, and Foes...........................195Chapter 8: Reclaiming Old Strength.............................199Chapter 9: The Hard Press of Darkness..........................211Chapter 10: As Evil Comes......................................231Chapter 11: The Counterbalance.................................243Chapter 12: To What End?.......................................251Epilogue.......................................................253Glossary.......................................................265

Chapter One

The mountains—there was something about them that comforted the people who lived nearby, though the range had become as quiet as the grave due to the lack of dwarven industry, and haunting voices echoed from peak to peak amid the winter storms. Still, those living near their base saw them as a lasting structure of security. Unlike the fortress cities of old, the mountains were pure and indestructible. "No army will ever pull those walls down," many of the old-timers would say.

Here at the base of the Northridge Mountains lay the gentle foothills of the township of Hillsborough. The wealth of the foothills of Northridge was in the trees, from the evergreens of the higher slopes to the municipal orchards that lay south of the town. The town of Hillsborough grew as rich in people as it did in lumber- and fruit-bearing trees in the several generations following its founding.

The men of the mountains, or Mountainfolk, were the first to live here. Giant-like and incredibly strong, these hardy folk were among the very few capable of living among the giant yews of the highest northern slopes. The smaller yet more ferocious Hillmen who lived and hunted throughout the barren hills to the east also came to trade among the townsfolk of Hillsborough.

Then there were the Vanguard. They were the descendants of the people who populated the great fortress cities that used to dot the land. They were the largest in number in the town yet were smaller and weaker than their wild cousins. However, among men they possessed the greatest knowledge of industry and considered themselves the upper crust of society.

But it was the dwarfs of this region who were considered by most to be the real high society. Although few and far between, dwarfs who lived among the peoples of Hillsborough had become synonymous with convenience and innovation.

The most mysterious of all were those descendants of immortals and men who still walked openly in the world. These half-elves and Quadrian elves lived and traded quietly among the people of Hillsborough.

The town itself, sitting on top of the broadest foothill of Northridge, was walled in by a large square of blue granite. Each home of Hillsborough was made of the same granite as the protecting wall, and the streets were paved in the same.

The farming folk of Hillsborough worked the orchards to the south yet still enjoyed the protection of the walled town, staying safe from the wild. There were, of course, those who lived among the wilds of the green world. These people only ever came to Hillsborough to trade. This sort was never well liked or trusted within the walls of the town. This sort never really cared for the trust of the sheltered folk and never will.

Chapter Two

A wide gravel path begins out the south side of Hillsborough through the wall's only gate. This path leads south down the hill and through the first of many municipal orchards. When the gravel gives way to dirt, this is called the Green Path.

Lumbering up the Green Path on a late afternoon day in early autumn, there came a large man of the Mountainfolk. "Boy" would be more accurate, being as he was only sixteen years of age. He was a man in size alone. His movement was aided by a large iron rod, nearly as tall as he was, that he took everywhere with him. He was limping from a childhood injury that had never quite healed and was dressed in soot-covered clothes. He was wearing gray torn work clothes under a brown apprentice tabard. Wearing a tabard was an outdated tradition, but his employer, Kreg, insisted he wear it. Kreg had taken him in after his parents had died.

His name was Erik. Because of the giant walking stick, he was called Erik the Rod, or just Rod for short. Due to his injury and a healthy appetite, coupled with the fact that he was of the Mountainfolk, Erik was enormous. Not only was he very tall and muscular, but he also had a large belly and a round face that made his eyes squint.

On this day, the blossoming apple and peach trees were shedding their petals and giving off a sweet scent. The petals painted the deep green path with wisps of pastel colors that shifted slightly with each breeze.

Erik was red in the face, huffing and puffing his way up the green path toward Hillsborough. He was carefully cradling a wreath of blue plum blossoms, the rarest and finest flowers known in that region. He was to present the gift to the girl of his dreams, Gayle Fletcher. She was a raven-headed Vanguard who lived in town. Only a year older than Erik, she was already regarded as one of Hillsborough's finest archers. Erik knew blue was her favorite color and thought the wreath of flowers would make a good present before he asked her to the harvest dance in the town hall later that year. With considerable effort, he made it to the south gate only to be greeted by the unkind voice of his employer, the smith, Kreg.

"There you are, you miserable heap! Where have you been? Not gathering wood for the smithy, I see. Instead you're out picking flowers?" Said Kreg as he came stomping from around the other side of the gate.

"We have plenty of wood for weeks of work, especially now that there is another smith in town," replied Erik.

Kreg's face contorted into an enraged mask. Erik knew that he did not like being reminded that there was a new smith in town—let alone a dwarven family.

"Do I need the word of an apprentice to tell me...