“How dare you!” shouted a tall dark elf who strode forward. “Lies! I claim the right of truth through battle!”

Bert’s eyes stared holes through the dark elf, as he moved his hand to his axe on his belt.

The Queen hissed, “Tumult! Stop. You cannot claim that against Bert after I have given him my protection.”

Tumult nodded. “No. But I can with him,” he said, pointing to Ruferto.

Bert eyed the angry dark elf and said, “He is under my protection, and if you need more, I claim Shakatala for him.”

Tumult spat. “You can’t do that unless he has shown great valor in arms against a superior opponent. He is just a boy dressed in pretty red armor. And may I say, it is a lovely matching set for this unlikely pair. That won’t save him from my elven blade.”

Bert stepped to face him. “What if he killed a Grnantah, in a fair, one-on-one combat, and at night?” There was an intake of air.

“That is unthinkable for a mere human.”

“Really. Ruferto, when we were attacked by the dark elves, how many of them did you kill?”

Ruferto had to stop and think. “Let’s see, the bowman with the three quivers, then I killed the one next to him . . . you killed the one that screamed something at me after he swung at my head.”

With a booming voice, Bert said, “He called out a Shadu-sa-ekta, a ‘fair one-on-one honor fight’ after he attacked Ruferto from behind while Ruferto was still engaged in battle with the second dark elf. Even then, he still missed.”

“The boy was armored,” yelled a voice from the crowd.

“You were not there! And we were not armored at the time. It was an honorless attack and I killed him by your law.”

Tumult growled, “I still see no call for a Shakatata.”

“We are not done yet. After defeating at least four other dark elves, Ruferto was then attacked by a dark elf fighting wielding twin swords and Ruferto defeated him by sheer skill alone. Again, I chose to be bound by your laws of combat and not to interfere.”

“Impossible!” howled Tumult, who was vibrating in anger.

“Ruferto, please show them the blades.”

Ruferto hooked his helmet at his side to free his hands. Reaching into his bag of holding, he pulled out the twin swords and held them out. The Queen strode forward and looked closely at them; her hand hovered close without actually touching the weapons. Naturally, she was as pale as moonlight; now she became white as new snow.

Her hand pulled back. With a soft voice, she said, “Those are the Blades of Destruction.” She looked at Ruferto and then Bert. “Did Oblivion die in honor?”

“Yes. Far better than your brother deserved.”

Ruferto returned the blades to his bag of holding and when he did, Tumult moved forward drawing his blade, and yelled, “I demand blood retribution against this human. All we have is their words on it. We all know that humans and gnomes lie.”

“Tumult, step back. They are under my protection and until I—"

The Queen’s brother charged with his sword before him and attacked. “I am done waiting!” Ruferto dodged backward and sprinted away to gain the space to draw his longsword. The crowd fought to move out of their way. “See, he runs like the coward he is!” The elf did not relent as he swung at Ruferto’s head and missed by an inch. Ruferto planted his forward foot and spun to deliver a slashing strike across the chest of the overly eager dark elf. Tumult staggered in his step and looked down at the blood that was beginning to show on his rent black armor. With a cry of frustration, Tumult charged swinging at Ruferto’s armored chest. Ruferto brought his blade up to redirect the elven blade to the side and drove his sword forward like a spear impaling the elf through his breastplate.

“No!” screamed the Queen, as she watched her brother crumble to the floor and die.

Arrows streaked in from the crowd at Ruferto. With a twist, he angling his chest away causing the arrows to careen off. There were cries of pain as the wayward arrows struck the surrounding crowd. Ruferto pulled on his helmet with his left hand.

Bert roared, “You have no honor! You claim to be the honor-bound dark elves, yet you shoot arrows from the crowd at the victor of that fight! Shame on you all for your cowardly ways! Tumult was always a bully, and he showed no honor when he attacked Ruferto without giving him time to prepare. He completely disregarded and broke the Queen’s sworn oath of protection. You claim that is not your way and yet, you are no different when I was first here.”

Bert was stalked forward, pointing his finger at his young friend. “You think his armor is pretty? I am glad that you like it. He got it from Warren, the King of the Red Dragons. And no, not from his treasure hoard. These are his scales. Ruferto killed him single-handedly. Does that suffice for Shakatala? None of your greatest heroes could ever claim better!”

A voice from the angry dark elves yelled out, “That is impossible! Not even all the human armies could beat Warren!”

“No? But he did.” Bert thumped his armor. “It’s nice stuff.”

David Grunwell's novels are available online at

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Read excerpts from Trolls and other Trouble - Book One
Read excerpts from Prophecies and other Problems - Book Two