"Oh, you should be able to pull faster!" Trede Macnucleus shouted to the three dwarves and two horses pulling the cart, "I hope that before the hot summer sun shines on my bald head, We can make it to Shallow Water Town!" His voice echoed in the nearby stones, a roar that suited Tred's personality.Tred was a strong fellow, with a durable frame and destructive, muscular arms like the other dwarves.His long yellow beard was habitually tucked in front of his large belt, and a pair of flyweights (commonly called "dwarven arrows") were strapped across his shoulders, ready to be thrown.

A dwarf pulling the cart responded, "We could pull it easier if you didn't sit in the back of the cart like the others, you bloody fool." Tred responded by throwing a whip at his back. The beaten dwarf tried to stop, but the wagon kept going, and he put himself on the yoke, convinced that this would keep the short, strong legs moving. "I'll get the whip back!" he yelled at Trodder.But the other dwarves pulling the wagon, including the three who had been sitting upright in the wagon, leaning against Tred, were only laughing at him. It has been two ten days since they set out from the Fortress of Many Arrows and walked from west to north along the Riven Mountains.During the long and tedious journey, the party made a few small deals with the Barbarian Black Lion Clan stronghold for supplies.For the seven thousand dwarves of Many Arrows, the Boruna Mine was as good a place of trade as Sundabar, Silvermoon, and Quelva.Usually dwarven caravans arrive at Boruna Mine, and after trading their goods, return to their home in the mountains to the south.To the astonishment of the chiefs of the savage tribes, this particular procession, having reached Boruna, continued its march west and northwestward.

In order to do more business, Tred decided to open a road along the Surbring River and another small town to reach the western edge of the Spine of the World.Recently, there have been rumors that Mithril Hall has reduced its trade with upstream towns due to some unknown reasons. Qued, who has always been good at taking advantage of various opportunities, wants the Fortress of Many Arrows to fill this gap.There are also rumors that many surprising gems and some ancient artifacts are being unearthed by their dwarven relatives from the shallow mines west of the Spine of the World. The climate of the ensuing winter was favorable for the next fifty miles, and the wagon passed the northern part of the Moonwood without incident to the foothills of the Spine of the World.However, the north is a bit far from the dwarves' home in the mountains to the south.The current temperature is relatively comfortable, but if this continues, it will destroy the snow cover and bring a large number of avalanche hazards.

On that morning, a cart horse developed an abscess on the hoof.A clever dwarf pulled out the causative stone and drained the pus, but the horse was no longer able to pull the loaded wagon.So Tred let him be led to the back of the wagon first, and then he divided the other six dwarves into two teams. The dwarves were very good at towing, and the wagon maintained its earlier speed for quite some time.When the second team rotated, the speed of travel began to slow down. "When do you think that horse will be able to pull a cart again?" asked Trough's brother, Duggan McNuclis, a dwarf with a yellow beard that hung down to his chest.

"Bah! Tomorrow it will be able to run fast." Qued replied confidently, and all the other dwarves nodded in approval. After all, all dwarves know horses less than Tred.In addition to being one of the best blacksmiths in Fortress of Many Arrows, Trent was also the best farrier.Whenever the caravan returned to the fortress, the dwarves and even King Emerys Warcrown himself would ask Tred to shoe the horses. "Maybe we should unpack for the night, go camping, have a good stew and drink a barrel of ale we brought." said a dwarf in the front trailer. "Ho ho!" cried the other dwarves, as usual, when strong ale was mentioned.

"Ah bah! You think so comfortably!" Qued said with a straight face. "Don't you just want to overwhelm Smig to get to Shallowwater first!" Dugan said loudly. Tred bumped and waved his hands.This is an obvious reason, and every dwarf here knows it. Smig is Tred's greatest rival, and the two friends pretend to be hostile to each other, but in reality they just hope to outdo each other.Both rivals knew that there was a famous wizard and wizard tower in the small town of Shallow Water.Many people came and went in that town before winter, and the inhabitants were in great need of good weapons, armor, and horseshoes.And they heard that King Emerys Warcrown would be happy to establish new trade routes along the Spine of the World.

For three centuries, since the dwarves took back the Keep of Many Arrows, which had been occupied by orcs, the area west of the Keep was relatively peaceful.The mountainous area to the east has always been unsafe due to monsters.It is rumored that there is a direct path from the Underdark to Mithril Hall, but no one has yet discovered this passage to the north of the Warhammer clan. All the dwarves from Fortress of Many Arrows who were traveling with Qued, including his brother Duggan, the cobbler Nick Willig and Bocum and the Stecum brothers who were delivering goods (lots of ale among them) were very eager to reach Establish a trade route in Shallow Water Town.

The first caravan to arrive will be the first to exchange their goods with the townspeople.What's more, the caravan that arrives at Shallow Water Town first will be honored and favored by King Emerys. Before setting off, Tred and Smig had a boozy night of carnival.He bought a potion from Moradin's priests in advance that would counteract the effects of the ale.Tred thought Smig would not wake up until he and his caravan had left Arrow Keep for at least a day, if not more.And it would take another day for Smig to shrink his drunken head enough to squeeze through the front door of the fortress.If Smig caught up with them because of a little trouble like a horse with an abscess, he'd call himself bloody.

"If you can run three more miles, we'll think it's a good day," Tred suggested. Hearing this, everyone complained about him, even Bokum who insisted on earning less and camping early.Although everyone knew that if the ale was consumed, it would sell less, he still said that he would sell less ale in Shallow Water Town and save some for celebration on the way home. "Two miles, then!" growled Tred. "Would you like to camp with Smig and his company tonight?" "Bah! Smig and they haven't started yet," said Stucomb. "Even if it's on the road, he and his companions will be slowed down by the falling rocks we throw." Nick Verig interjected.

"Two extra miles!" Tred snarled. He whipped the whip in his hand again, and poor Nick Villiger stood upright, turning and glaring at the rough guy. "If you hit me again, I'll give you a pair of shoes you'll never forget," he growled. His foot had made a small groove in the ground from the force of the trailer, but that only made Tred and the other dwarves laugh out loud.Just as Nick Villiger was about to get angry again, Dugan began to sing a song about the fabled dwarven town of Utopia, a song about a great town in the deep mines that would delight Moradin the Great.

"Follow that trail!" Duggan crooned, and the others watched him, unsure if he was singing or ordering them. "Open that door!" Duggan went on singing, and Stucomb yelled, "What door?" But Duggan went on singing, "Find the Mystery Tunnel, Run Farther!" "Ha, Upsen Heights!" Shouted Stucomb, and the whole team—even the stern-faced Nick Villiger—couldn't help singing the passionate song loudly. In unison the dwarves sang the old song, repeating it several times.As before, they took that marvelously good place in the song, "Apsen Heights," as the destination of their own dreams.It's a funny song that's been popular among dwarves, and it's a great way to calm dwarves, be they friendly or hostile. Moreover, the song was good entertainment for the three dwarves who were pulling the cart, and it gave them a temporary relief from their fatigue.Amidst the singing, they pulled the car and walked south for a long time, the mountains began to appear on the right, and the road under their feet had turned into a rocky road. Tred directed the carriage, barking the orders so that everyone could hear them.They walked on until Tred called to his brother Duggan.The other five dwarves kept humming, and when they were about to sing it a second time, they found that Dugan hadn't responded. "What's the matter with you?" Qu De asked, turning his head to look at his younger brother with concern, and saw a face with distorted features. "You're singing along, brother!" Duggan looked very strange, he said nothing at first, and then said quietly, "I think I'm hurt." Qued looked at his brother in bewilderment, and turned to study him carefully.Only then did he discover that there was a spear stuck in Dugan's body!His screaming stopped the singing immediately, and he and the other two dwarves in the back of the carriage saw that Duggan had fallen from the carriage. Everyone fell silent, when suddenly a boulder rolled down from the right side of the three surprised dwarves whistling in the car, over them, and hit Nick Villiger on the shoulder, knocking him out.The cart-horses were frightened and galloped away, and the two frightened horses tried desperately to break free from their bridles, but poor Stucombe couldn't hold back, and fell to the stones on the side of the road.Tred struggled to grab the reins and stop the galloping horses, lest the brothers pulling the cart be dragged underground, especially Nick Villiger, who appeared to be unconscious. Boulders kept falling from the right side of the road, hitting the backs of the jumping wagons, and one of them fell in front of the procession, blocking the way.The horse pulling the cart immediately turned to the left, trying to turn around, and the weight of the cart rested entirely on the two wheels. "Turn right!" cried Tred.As soon as these words were spoken, the left wheel of the carriage broke off, and the entire carriage fell down, then bounced up after touching the ground. The horse pulling the cart in front immediately lost control, dragging the yoke and the three dwarves hanging on the yoke and galloping on the rough stone road. The two dwarves behind Qued were thrown from the car into the air at once.Duggan was still unconscious, and Tradder was trying to get his leg out from under the wagon seat.The entire carriage was pressed against Qued's body, and he felt that his bones had fallen apart, and then his head was hit by something hard.At first he thought it was blood, because the wagon kept rolling, before he realized it was ale.Fortunately, he was thrown into an ale cask with a broken lid when the carriage came down.He rolled all the way down the hill in this way, and suddenly, the wine barrel hit a stone and smashed, and the Qude in the barrel was turned in a confused direction.Surrounded by stones, Qued struggled to stand up.One of his legs was below, so he was thrown into the stone, and he could only support his body on his elbows with difficulty. Then he saw dozens of orcs, swinging spears, clubs, and swords, charging at the wagon and the fallen dwarves.Two giants followed them down the hillside. Qude thought they were hill giants, but they were actually blue-skinned frost giants.This is an unusual raiding team. Consciousness is gradually drifting away from Qu De, he tried to move back, but fell to the ground and rolled to one side.At last it rolled into a clump of thorns and slammed into a rock.He tried to stand up, but he only felt sweetness in his mouth, and he didn't know anything. "How are you, alive or dead?" A distant and abrupt voice came. Trade opened one eye, the other blinded by blood.He vaguely saw poor Nick Willig squatting in front of the thorns and staring at him intently. "Well, you're still alive," said Nick Willig, offering Tred his hand. "Keep your ass down, unless you want to be scratched by the thorns." Tred took his hand, and held it tight, but did not leave the bush. "Where are the others," he asked, "where is my brother?" "The orcs killed them all in the attack just now," Nick Villiger replied coldly. "The pigs haven't been gone long. The damn horse dragged me for almost a mile." Tred wouldn't let Nick pull him out, but he wouldn't budge either. "Hurry up, you two hundred and fifty," Nick cursed, "we must hurry to Shallowwater and report the attack to King Crown." "Go ahead," replied Tred, "I have a broken leg, and it will drag you down." "Ah! Why do you talk like a fool—I always thought you were a fool." Nick Willig yanked hard and pulled Qued out of the thorn bush. "Phew! You're the one!" Tred snarled back. "The orc might still be around, and you asked me to leave you here?" These words reminded Qued. "Give me a stick, you stubborn old man!" Soon, with the support of Nick Willig, Qued stood up leaning on a wooden stick.The two tenacious dwarves walked slowly towards Shallow Water Town, planning along the way how to avenge the orc team that attacked them. They didn't know that hundreds of orc teams like the one just now were coming out of their caves and starting to move.