Vignar and the Dwarvish Doom

By Byron Gordon

Short Story
Recommended Ages: 17+

Long ago a great doom fell upon the Dwarven cities. Their gates were locked from within, their forges silenced, and none could say how or why. Now Vignar and Mariel travel to Dwarval, the last remaining settlement for the refugees of the Dwarvish race. Their intention is to browse the markets and purchase some trinkets, but it is not long before they realize that Dwarval is about to suffer the fate of those ancient cities. And it is up to Vignar, Mariel, and one of Vignar's rival's to stop it...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Byron Gordon
• Release date: Dec 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311917478

Byron Gordon

Byron Gordon grew up in the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland, USA. One of six children, he soon discovered his love of reading, ranging from the clever humor of P.G. Wodehouse to the epic fantasy of Tolkien to the fast paced science fiction of Timothy Zahn. Fed on this widely varied diet, his imagination blossomed and he began to write, desiring to create worlds and adventures of his own.After realizing the bleak financial prospects of an aspiring writer trying to break into the fiction realm, Byron enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. He spent an extra week in Coast Guard Boot Camp (Cape May, NJ) for writing during the breaks between classes. After Boot Camp he traveled to California for training in radio communications. Following the completion of his training, he spent three years on a Coast Guard Cutter, interdicting and repatriating illegal migrants. He currently is still on active duty and plans search and rescue efforts on the east coast of the USA.Despite the intense, and often hectic, schedule that military life entails, Byron has continued to write in his free time. While writing a complete novel still proves elusive, he has composed multiple short stories and a small amount of poetry. In the spring of 2011, he started publishing his writings electronically and now has a fair number of short stories and poetry available online in a variety of formats.

Book preview

Vignar

And the Dwarvish Doom

Byron Gordon

Copyright © 2014 Byron Gordon

All Rights Reserved

Cover Art by Peter Hartnett

Smashwords Edition

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Other Books:

The Vignar Saga

Vignar and the Halfpeak Murders

Vignar and the Viking Gold

Vignar and the Witch's Revenge

Vignar and the Jarl of Urdurheim

Vignar and the Dwarvish Doom

Vignar and the Undead King

Vignar and the Elvish Seer

Vignar's Vengeance

The Gunner Long Case Files

In the far future, on an over industrialized world, a crippled private eye tries to scrape a living out of a gutter teeming with organized crime and corrupt corporations. These are his cases...

The Girl In Brown

Mistress Or Mate (Short Story)

Machines and Men

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Space Cowboy

Cards And Corpses (due Summer 2015)

The Nephilim Trilogy

Giant Slayer

Troll Bane

Nephilim (due Winter 2015)

The Dwarvish Doom

North of Coldgrim, city of the Uruk'Sil, and west of Half Peak Mountain and its holds, the great tundra turned into rough hills, children of the mountain range that came up from the south and reached the long arm of the East Mountains out to the North Sea. The hills were true scions of the mountains, carpeted in lush green grass like the hills of the south, but harsh ridges of exposed rock, whose flinty soil held as much ice and flint as it did actual dirt.

There was little vegetation. The only trees were stunted pines, gnarled and twisted from the harrying of the harsh winds. The occasional clump of tall frost grass marked pockets of loam, but even they were few. The most abundant life was the stone blue lichen that grew on the sheltered sides of boulders and provided sustenance for the small hill deer that came down from the mountains when the snow winds blew.

It was a harsh land, one that had no forgiveness in it and would gleefully kill a man for a single misstep. Mariel regarded it warily from her vantage-point on her horse, but Vignar nearly sighed with joy as his gaze took it in.

They had spent three weeks in Fellheim and the bustle of the city put him in a bad temper. He was a big man and not suited to crowds. Their journey across the Snowmelt River, riding along the southern edge of the East Mountains, had given him space and some measure of peace. It took them the better part of a week to reach the hills, a week of open skies, empty plains, and brisk air that restored Vignar's soul. Though Mariel was troubling him. She had been quiet for the better part of the week and while she never complained, he suspected the cold was growing to be almost more than she could bear.

Also troubling him was the sky. While it was clear overhead, he could see a bank of heavy, sullen clouds on the horizon. It was the cloud bank of a mountain blow, the kind that started landslides which could cover an entire hold in the blink of an eye. From his experience with mountain weather, Vignar felt they could ride for the better part of the day along the rough road they were following but they would be wise to find shelter before the sun dipped behind the mountains.

How much further is it to Dwarval? Mariel asked.

It is said that the village is on the lower slopes of the mountains, Vignar said. He gauged the height of the mountains cowering below the clouds on the horizon. If so, two days ride on a plain. Following this path, in these hills? It is hard to say.

You could have said you didn't know, Mariel said. And if you want fine weapons, we could have gone south. I know smiths who put dwarven steel to shame.

And I've seen trolls juggle apples, Vignar said. Go south if you want. You don't have to follow me.

Mariel shook her head in exasperation. As dimwitted as you are, the dwarves will take all your gold and give you a dagger. You'll need me to negotiate.

Vignar laughed and pressed his heels against his horses flanks, urging