He led the dwarves through the portal and into the Erastate. Their front line clustered in a circle. Gavoch barked something in dwarvish and his people raised their spade-shaped hands as one.
“You have never seen us wield like this, Master Earengale,” said Gavoch, a twinkle in his overlarge gold eyes. “This is tunneling—this is what we do best.”
The earth between the dwarves cracked and trembled. A great mass of dirt flew up, arcing over their heads and spilling several heights away with a thump.
The dwarves leapt into the hole. They had speed, grace, and agility that their short, stocky frames belied. Fletcher approached the hole and peered inside—and nearly had his head taken off by another flying clump of dirt. Daring to peek again, he saw that Gavoch and his team had vanished, tunne
