PRELUDES II
VOLUME TWO
Flint
- the-
King
Mary Kirchoff and
Douglas Niles
VERSION 1.1 (Feb 16 00). If you find and correct errors in
the text, please update the version number by 0.1 and
redistribute.
As always, this book is for
Steve and Alex for their
unlimited help, patience, and
midnight snacks;
And to Bruce Johnson and
Peter Fritzell, teachers/
mentors who knew when to
encourage and when to
laugh.
- MK
For Lou Niles,
My mother and first fan.
- DN
Prologue
The hammer fell rhyththmically against the anvil, oven
and over, gradually returning the wheelrim to its circular
shape. A sheen of perspiration glistened on the dwarven
smith's skin when the fire rose, but then he fell into shadows
as the blaze sank into the coals. The smithy around him was
empty, dark but for the forge fire.
As the hill dwarf's body labored, so did his mind, franti-
cally. He thought about the secret he had learned, scarce
minutes before. Again and again his hammer fell on the rim
as he pushed himself past the point of exhaustion. Sparks
exploded from each contact, hissing through the air before
settling to the earthen floor of the shed.
Indecision tormented him
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