The land burnt. The stench of smoke and ashes rising from a ravaged ground caused Jjord’s eyes to water as he begged his companions to flee.

‘Magnus, Arlan, come! We must leave, and live to fight another day.’

‘Fight?’ Arlan put out the flames that singed his trailing, ginger beard. ‘How can the three of us fight against an entire army of these accursed elves?’

‘We can start by surviving! Walk faster, Magnus!’ Jjord barked.

‘My wife’s out there!’ Magnus sobbed.

The trio bowed their heads. ‘I know.’ Jjord’s voice, thick with sorrow, trembled. ‘Many of our kin have been lost this day.’

‘What if the elves find us?’ Magnus whimpered.

‘They don’t know these mountains like we do.’

‘So that’s your grand plan then?’ Arlan scoffed. ‘Run and hide in the tunnels?’

‘Do you have a better idea?’

They fell silent, climbing higher and higher until they reached a gap in the mountain’s rockface. Just big enough for a dwarf to crawl through.

‘A secret entrance to the forge.’ Jjord said solemnly.

‘I never knew of this.’

‘Aye, well, when you’re the dwarf-king’s son, it’s your duty to know the ins-and-outs of your realm. Those tree-rats will not be able to find us here. They will assume we are dead.’

‘And then what?’ Arlan said. ‘Our supplies are limited. We can only last so long.’

‘Let’s just focus on lasting ‘til tomorrow.’ Magnus said, his expression darkening.

‘Arlan’s right, we can’t stay here forever. We’ll have to leave the mountains.’

‘Leave? But the mountains are all we’ve ever known!’

Wriggling through the crawl-space, Jjord muttered, ‘aye. But what’s left for us now?’

Following on his hands and knees, Arlan said, ‘I’d follow you anywhere, Jjord, but where shall we go?’

‘The Realm of Men. They will help us raise an army. They despise elf-kind as we do. You know the stories.’

‘But they are vicious!’

‘Aye, and that’s just what we need.’

And there the seed of cruelty began to fester and grow within him.

‘We’ll leave,’ Jjord said firmly, ‘but this I promise you, we’ll be back.’

Oh, yes. They would be back. And the whole of Ӓlvenhame would pay for their atrocities.