Trek to Kraggen-Cor Read Online Free PDF Page B

they gang together to waylay settlers and travellers alike—slaying them and despoiling their bodies—and to attack and loot and burn the steads and holts of Riamon and Valon, or to plunder river traffic, pirating the flatboats of the River Drummers. Gnar has decreed that there shall be no survivors from the raids, except when he orders a prisoner taken, upon whom he commits unspeakable abominations.
    "All of this the King learned from a captured Rukh who boasted of it before he died when the dawn came and the Sun rose; for the Rukh was slain by High Adon's Covenant forever banning the evil Spawn to the night or to the lightless pits of the underearth when the Sun is on high.
    "Upon hearing from the King that Spaunen held Drimmen-deeve, Anval and Bonn were enraged, and pledged the Dwarf Host to the task of exterminating the Yrmish vermin from the Dwarves' ancestral home—a pledge since affirmed by Durek. This pledge was swiftly accepted by a grateful King Da-rion, for the Spawn present a grave problem to the Realm: the High King knows that all his cavalry and knights, his pikemen and archers, and his infantry and all other soldiery, though mighty upon any open field of battle, would be sorely pressed to fight the Yrm in the splits and cracks and other black holes under the mountains. Though he had planned to lay long siege to Drimmen-deeve, the problem of routing out the Spaunen still remained.
    "Durek's pledge solved that problem, for there is no better underground waiTior than a Dwarf—and they are always eager to avenge old wrongs upon their ancient adversary, the Yrm. Thus, the Dwarves are to issue into Drimmen-deeve and vanquish the enemy. They have asked King Darion to forego his planned siege that they might more readily take the Spawn by surprise; this the King has agreed to do. During the interim, Darion sends escort with traders and travellers to protect them, and he has gathered the farmers, woodcutters, woodsmen, and other settlers in to holdfasts til such time as the Dwarves smash the foe.
    "Even now the Dwarf Host has mustered and, if things have gone as planned, is on the march from Mineholt North. Though Gnar's raids still go on, soon—we hope with your help, Perry—they shall be eliminated forever." Lord Kian returned from the window and settled back in his chair and fixed Pern with a keen eye.
    "But how can / help?" queried a puzzled Perry, wondering how the Dwarf mission could possibly bear upon The Raven Book and him.
    Borin leaned forward and pushed the 'Book across the table to Pern "Except for Braggi's doomed raid," Borin growled, "Chakka have not lived in Kraggen-cor for more than a thousand years—even though it is rightfully ours —for to our everlasting shame we were driven away long ago by a foe we

    could not withstand: the Ghath, now dead. And though our lore speaks of many things in Kraggen-cor, such as the Spiral Down or the Great Chamber, our knowledge of that eld Chakkaholt consists of legendary names and fragmentary descriptions. Our homeland is a mystery to us. We do not know how to get from one place to another. We do not know the paths and halls and rooms and caverns of mighty Kraggen-cor. If we must, we will fight the foul Grg enemy upon unknown ground and chance defeat—but only if we must.
    "Yet, if our information is correct, it will not come to that end. We are told by King Darion that your Raven Book —at least the original—holds within it a description of a journey through stolen Kraggen-cor. If so, then from that description, that route, we can glean vital knowledge of the layout of at least a part of Kraggen-cor—knowledge needed to smash the Squam and retake the caverns."
    'The High King knows about Mister Perry and his book?" asked Cotton in awe, momentarily overwhelmed by the idea that High King Darion could know of someone in the Boskydells.
    "Aye, he does indeed know of your Raven Book, "answered Anval, "for he, too, has a copy in Pellar—or did have. His book