Troll Wars: The Gnome Saga #1

By Charles G. Dyer

It is the end of the Dark Ages. While most of the Gnome men are out on patrol, Trolls kidnap Brodo’s wife Ada and his sons, Morel and Rada.
Led by Toki, a small group of Gnomes track the kidnappers through the forest to a cave at the foot of a mountain range. The ensuing battle, together with an earlier similar attack, marks the beginning of a war of attrition.
Trolls are five times bigger than Gnomes, but they are rather stupid and somewhat cowardly. Intelligence, bravery, ingenuity, poisoned arrows and a little bit of magic gives the Gnomes a small advantage.
This thrilling action-packed drama will keep you on edge as you see how the tiny Gnomes cope with the Troll bullies...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles G. Dyer
• Release date: Sep 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311119452

Charles G. Dyer

Charles Dyer is a consulting engineer, former senior lecturer and former technical magazine editor. He creates 3D models to help with visualisation and realism in his writing.

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Troll Wars

The Gnome Saga #1

An Epic Romantic Fantasy

Charles G. Dyer

Copyright © 2013 Charles G. Dyer

All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition

License

Thank you for purchasing this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are products of the author's imagination. It remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to purchase their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could post a review on the site where you purchased this book. If you have any comments about this book, good or bad, you can write to me at [e-mail].

Other book in the series:

Dilric's Quest - The Gnome Saga #2

It and the rest of my books can be found at:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/chas1951

Contents

Prologue

Chapter_1

Chapter_2

Chapter_3

Chapter_4

Chapter_5

Chapter_6

Chapter_7

Chapter_8

Chapter_9

Chapter_10

Chapter_11

Chapter_12

Chapter_13

Chapter_14

Chapter_15

Chapter_16

Appendix

About_The_Author

Prologue

When dinner was over, the little family settled into their comfortably upholstered oak chairs in front of the fireplace. Tiny logs, no more than twigs by human standards, burned slowly with a single large flame. The hearth and chimney was made with little flat white pebbles, set in terracotta potter's clay.

The walls, floor and ceiling were all panelled with tight-fitting timber planks of various hardwoods. These planks ranged in size but nowhere did they exceed the width of a cat's tongue.

Gently quavering light from the fire and a few strategically placed oil lamps gave everything a wash of orange. If nobody moved, it looked like a scene from a faded old oil painting. The little people warmed their hands on thimble-sized pottery mugs of steaming tea.

A deep soft voice cut into their thoughts. Here's a little challenge for you Morel, Brodo said to his son. Tell us, from a human perspective, about Gnomes and Trolls.

Morel stared at the little fire in the cosy sitting room of their underground house. You mean that I should put myself in their place and minds to present their perceptions?

Of course son, I think that I put it plainly enough. Brodo chuckled into his mug before drinking deeply.

Don't you know Father, that Morel always needs everything spelled out and verified? Rada laughed at his brother's expense.

Now, now Rada there's no need to go baiting him. Let him ask if he sees fit. It is only the fool who does not ask for clarity when there might be doubt. Ada chided and adjusted the pale mauve silk scarf that hid her hair. Her dulcet tones belied the demand of her message.

Sorry Mother, but he does leave himself open to my jibes. Rada put his free hand behind his head and smiled into his beard.

The little family leaned back more comfortably in their chairs and waited for Morel to begin. He turned from the fire to face them and sipped some camomile tea from the mug that was clasped in both hands.

The whole continent is covered in huge ranges of forests. These evil and forbidding forests used to be the pagan strongholds of myths and legends, where people disappeared without trace. Demons and the agents of the Devil were often blamed. Reports of sightings of Giants, Fairies, Trolls, Gnomes and other fanciful creatures of the dark and sinister timberlands were accepted by humans as good reason to respect and distance themselves from the wooded shrines to their gods.

Now that Christianity has started to tighten its grasp on the minds of the masses, vast tracts of forest are being cut down to develop farmlands, thereby dispelling the myths and reinforcing the new religion. At least that's what the clergy hope to achieve.

Morel looked sideways at Rada, half expecting some comment or contradiction. His brother remained silent, so he proceeded with the tale. During the Eighth and Ninth Centuries, western Europe was ravaged by constant invasions of barbarians, namely the Vikings from the north, the Saracens who supplanted the Visigoths from Spain in the south and the Magyars of eastern Europe.

In addition, there were raids by other barbarians, such as the, Franks, Teutons and Burgundians. Celts or Gauls and Romans had already been largely assimilated into the Christianity that the Emperor Charlemagne had spread throughout central Europe.

Ah, but the pagans still have a strong following and many of them merely pretend to have adopted Christianity so that they might live, Rada interrupted.

That may be so Rada but we are listening to Morel's interpretation. Give him a chance to express his views. Brodo scowled at Rada and gestured to Morel to continue.

"Gnomes and Trolls are hominids from the same gene pool as humans. It is estimated that about one and a half million years ago, Early Humans, Trolls and Gnomes split into three distinct sub-species of the original anthropoids that developed intelligence. The Gnomes diminished in stature, but their brains and bodily functions developed to the same levels of humans and in fact surpassed them."

Gnomes use a greater part of the brains than humans do and they are seven times stronger, when comparing abilities with body weight. The Gnomes' evolution finally stabilised at a tenth of the height of humans, with a lifespan of four hundred and fifty years. Their longevity boosted their intelligence and their intelligence helped them to survive.

Ada leaned forward with an apologetic smile. Sorry to break the flow Morel, but that is hardly a human point of view. We know that is so but the humans have never known anything of our joint heritage. They also have little appreciation of their own origins, beyond myths and misleading religious writings.

He frowned briefly and then smiled. That may be so mother, but for my story I will assume that they do know more than we give them credit for. He turned back to face the fire and she sank back in her chair with raised eyebrows.

Trolls remained at half the height of humans and had a lifespan of about fifty years. Interbreeding amongst Trolls caused degenerative hereditary problems, owing to a stock group that was too small. Consequently, maladies and malformations that were unique to their species beset the Trolls. In the normal course of evolution, they should have become extinct. However, they survived because they attached themselves to the dominant hominids called humans and were thus protected from the savagery of life at the time.

Perhaps early man regarded Trolls as some sort of god or messenger from the gods and felt obliged to provide them with succour and shelter. Whatever the reasons, the Trolls did survive to become part of human folklore. It was only later that humans began to shun them and see them as misfits of society. By then, the severe dangers to their existence had become extinct and they were able to continue to survive without the assistance of humans. Morel drank some more tea and wiped his beard with the back of his hand.

More like apes than humans, Trolls had soon been shoved to the fringes of early human settlements. They were either regarded with amusement, terror or disdain, depending on the human tribe to which they clung. Some humans enslaved Trolls to carry out menial tasks or perform like circus animals, but most shunned them like lepers.

Unable to contain himself, Rada contradicted his brother again. Actually, it is unfair to compare them to apes. Apes are more sociable and have a more structured troop than Trolls. Trolls have no apparent hierarchy in their groups, other than the fact that males dominate females and stronger males bully weaker ones.

That may be so Rada but as long as the Trolls stayed out of reach of humans, their continued survival would prevail. They were certainly not seen as a threat to humanity. In the Dark Ages, Trolls had been all but forgotten by man. They took care to keep to themselves and only attacked people that were easy targets. The superstitions of ordinary folk during this period ensured that men did not interfere with the Trolls. Unfortunately, many Trolls had witnessed barbarian invaders at work. They did not have the courage or the weapons to emulate these attacks against human armies. However, they did see fit to attack isolated humans and later they turned on the Gnomes.

The Trolls have always bothered us. According to our history, Trolls have been a thorn in our sides from the beginning of time, Rada chipped in.

Rada is right, but I think that Morel means that they have concentrated their attentions on us more of late than on humans, Brodo said and raised his eyebrows at Morel for approval.

Morel nodded his confirmation and went on with his story. The few lowly human victims were unable to convince their lords or kings of the threats posed by the Trolls. Human leaders discounted such tales as the superstitions of pagan peasants and often punished the authors of such reports with torture or condemnation as heretics. As often as not, these lords were just as afraid of creatures of the dark and inexplicable occurrences but they hid their fears better behind their positions of power and their adopted religion.

The Gnomes tried to keep out of the way of both humans and Trolls. On the whole, they were successful at this for a long period of time. They were past masters at coexisting with humans, without being detected. Only a few isolated incidents or encounters with mankind ever occurred and these were relegated to the realms of myths and superstitions.

The Trolls developed an inbred hatred of humans and melted away to disappear into the mountains, where they could eke out an existence as hunter-gatherers. They never forgot the maltreatment meted out to them by humans. Whiling the nights away, the adults would tell their children the tales that they had heard from their parents. No doubt, these stories became distorted and exaggerated, but they served to pass hatred from one generation to the next. Whenever the opportunity arose, they would terrorise isolated individuals or families of humans or Gnomes. Morel sat back to indicate that he had exhausted the subject.

Ada looked at Brodo, half expecting him to comment immediately. When she saw that he was still mulling over what had been said, she spoke. Morel you told a fine tale and gave a reasonably accurate account of history as we know it. However, you told it with a Gnome's slant. Much of what you said is unknown to humans. You should try to put yourself in someone else's place and see things from their understanding. Not just in this little exercise but in life in general.

Your Mother's right Morel, it was a well-told tale but you missed the point. Brodo smiled.

He clasped his hands together. The ability to appreciate other points of view is important. It makes for good leadership, better understanding, and anticipation of reactions. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of a foe could be the difference between life and death in battle.

In some ways, I feel that I should apologise for the question but I wanted to see how you would handle it. As far as we know, humans are unaware of the existence of Trolls and Gnomes so you might well have answered very briefly. Given such a question I might have been tempted, from a human stance, to dismiss both species as the superstitious imaginings of the ignorant.

I also think that an educated human, who had seen either a Gnome or a Troll, would probably keep his own council for fear of being branded as mad or as a heretic.

Ada said, We are aware of the problems of husbandry through our experiments with mouse herds. However, I think it unlikely that humans would connect a small stock of Trolls or any other species with hereditary diseases and deformations. They may have had that knowledge at some stage in the past but it is lost to them now.

Rada, with no ribbing of his brother intended, addressed the fire rather than to anyone in particular. It is also worth noting that humans around the world have different names for us. That is of course, where they suspect that we exist at all.

In China, they believe that we number amongst their fox spirits or hu hsien. The Arabs call any entity that defies their comprehension a jinni.

Closer to home, to the north, we are called nissen, tomte or kobold. Across the water in Britain, humans who have had sightings of our kind have used several names from knockers to fairies. In Ireland, they call us Leprechauns.

The Gnome family continued to dissect Morel's presentation, without malice, for an hour or so. When the embers of the little fire died down, they retired to bed. Such sessions were a commonplace tradition that nurtured freethinking and encouraged study of subjects as diverse as history, various crafts, herbal remedies, and ways of preserving food, to name but a few.

The family circle was part of an ongoing informal education that was integral to Gnome culture. They had learned long ago that the method surpassed any formal education other than specialised apprenticeships.

In any case, a formal education was fraught with practical difficulties. Gnomic houses were underground and often far apart. Travel on the surface was dangerous enough for experienced adults, so they were unwilling to risk their children's lives by sending them to far-flung schools.

Parents shared the task of teaching their progenies in the safety of their homes until they were old enough to apprentice themselves to some or other specialist.

~#~

Chapter 1

Snow was still melting in the mountains after a long hard winter. Gone were the pristine white slopes of winter, to be replaced with bluish grey scarred with black and dark green where forests shook off their icy shrouds. The Trolls had spent most of the bitterly cold weather, huddled in their caves and squabbling with each other over trivia.

These troglodyte relics of an almost forgotten branch of hominids had never developed a written language. In fact, they hardly had a language at all. It was mostly grunts and clicks, mixed in with gestures and phrases, carried over from an earlier age, when they had spent some time with Neanderthal men.

Five of these preternatural creatures shared a cave in the foothills of what the Gnomes called the White Chain Mountains. The two female Trolls were in the inner chamber. They knew better than to get involved in male talk. Three males were at the mouth of the cave, chattering about a scent that one of them had picked up, in the forest below their cave.

Human smell be strong. Gnome be hard to smell. Nog snorted and sniffed violently to stress his meaning.

The oldest of the three Trolls still seemed unconvinced. You sure Nog?

Nog startled both his companions by clapping his hands loudly together. It be Gnomes! he said emphatically. The pale slightly yellowish skin on his exposed face, ears and hands turned bright red with excitement, turning ugly features into a frightening diabolical appearance. Such a countenance might easily explain why human victims spoke of visitations by monsters, goblins and devils.

We have fun now. Yes? The youngest Troll named Fij suggested and started jumping up and down. His greasy black tresses flopping heavily about his pimply shoulders. He had discarded his rabbit-skin cloak, as soon as the snow outside their cave had soaked into the ground.

Trolls had heavyset broad shoulders; short legs and their bodies were mostly covered in fine short brown hairs, interspersed with tufts of coarse curly black hairs. Short curly black hair lined the heavy jaw and disappeared into the mop of untidy hair above the ears. Thick bushy black eyebrows were joined at the bridge of a very flat nose with flared ape-like nostrils and long black eyelashes did not improve their appearance.

Pointing down at the forest below, the greying Troll said, Where you say Nog? Just down there? Nog grunted his confirmation and scratched a festering sore in the corner of his mouth. He got up and sighted along Dis's outstretched arm. Yes Dis, that be place, he breathed out heavily.

Why you go there? King say not leave mountains. Dis picked his huge wide nostrils and contemplated his broken fingernails. Nog shrugged and looked sheepishly at his father. After a while, Dis got up from his crouching position and adjusted his weasel-skin loincloth. Their hairy bodies hardly needed any clothing. However, the scant clothing that they did wear was a habit inherited from the time they had spent with the less hirsute humans.

The two younger Trolls looked at him expectantly. He changed his focus to probing into his almost pointed sticking out ears. The little finger of each hand was furiously corkscrewing into each orifice in an attempt to gouge out the winter's build-up of wax. At length he licked his lips and said, Me like idea. We catch. We torture. Yes.

Both of the others jumped up and down in a strange ritual. Their knees came up to their chests, while their long arms remained straight and pointed at the floor of the cave. Up and down, they pumped their legs in rapid succession. The dirt of decades of broken bones, offal and fat had been trampled into a slippery sheen on the cave floor. The whole place had a rancid stench, which would have been enough to make any decent being gag and gasp for fresh air.

Caught up in the atmosphere, Dis joined them, until they were all worked up into a state of frenzy. Flecks of foam flew from their mouths and dribbled down into the short curly black stubble that dangled under their chins. Mucous flowed from their gross nostrils over bare upper lips, to be licked off by long red tongues.

The disgusting trio grabbed their wooden clubs as they left the cave. They hopped like mountain goats from one rock to another as they descended to the forest. Dis stopped halfway down the rough boulder-strewn slope and the others joined him in a huddle. Final plans were made. Crude plans, but cunning, they would approach quietly through the forest, from the downwind side. On arrival at the site, they would attack in a pincer movement.

The rest of the morning was spent getting into position. Their destination was not clearly defined, but they would rely on their keen sense of smell, when they drew closer, to winkle out the Gnomes. Most of their hunting was carried out in this fashion. The simple method worked well for unwary prey.

The Trolls' bare feet padded softly through the pine needles that carpeted the forest floor. Fij was a hand shorter than Dis and Nog was somewhere in between. As they closed on their quarry, their arms, which normally reached to their knees, became a second set of legs. This enabled them to lower their profiles behind most of the sparse undergrowth.

Here and there, there were moss-covered rotting logs from trees that died and fallen over and created a hole in the canopy. The logs provided shelter for a host of insects, beetles and the occasional rodents. These glades were havens for a variety of small plants, which had probably been seeded from bird droppings or their seeds had blown in on the autumn winds.

As the Trolls approached the Gnome lodge, they set a few traps. A crude noose of thin twisted sinew was attached to a springy sapling. A broken twig was lightly hammered into the ground with a few taps of the club. A loop in the string was hooked onto the twig peg and the snare was laid out in an open patch. Bits of dirt and pine needles were sprinkled over the noose to hide it.

Not much grew under the pines. A few saplings, some isolated brambles and hardy shrubs struggled to find nutrients and sunlight. However, between them and the tree trunks there was enough to cover to screen the approach of the Trolls. Shaggy black eyebrows twitched over red noses as nostrils flared, straining to catch the scent. They slowed their pace, sensing the proximity of the Gnomes before actually smelling them.

In the under-developed minds of the Trolls, torturing Gnomes was their compensation for being bullied by humans. Gnomes were a fifth of their size and were like miniature humans. Therefore, the Trolls felt more than justified in persecuting Gnomes, whenever they could find them.

***

Just over five months earlier, the Gnomes of the region had convened an extraordinary meeting of the Guild Council. Comprising one Elder from each of the four lodges that formed the Guild, the Council sat to deliberate over strategies to adopt in the wake of the worst disaster that had befallen the Gnomes in living memory.

In an unprecedented attack by Trolls on the largest lodge in the Guild, thirty-two Gnomes had lost their lives. Warin was the Elder from that ill-fated lodge. He had been visiting a neighbouring lodge at the time of the attack and Kryno had been left in charge.

The four Gnome Elders sat around a rectangular table in the sitting room of Morvan's house. Being a small Guild, they had opted not to build a guildhall. The cosy surroundings of a home suited them all and they openly admitted being partial to Marie's savoury mince pies. Between the two clay oil lamps on the table was a platter of these mouth-watering delicacies. In front of each Elder was an acorn-sized silver goblet filled with freshly pressed blackberry juice.

A human observer might be forgiven for thinking that they were all closely related. Gnomes generally have a similar appearance, an impression that is reinforced by the fact that they all wore the same style and colours of clothing. Pleasant round faces with high cheekbones and round rosy cheeks are invariably framed in a full grey or white beard. The only tangible variations are the colour of their eyes and subtle peculiarities of wrinkles.