After conquering the fort of Lor Holdram, which guarded one of the great underground tunnels that served as the low-ways into Belgrath, Gerra gathered his legion and stormed through the tunnel, intending to seize the large Gate of Irithul that stood between him and the city of Belgrath proper. A dwarven commander known as Haelen Blacklocks organized resistance along with the mage known as Douglas Haley

Gerra launched his troops into the tunnel en masse, but this proved a grave mistake. Dwarven ambushes in the dark were frequent and they had laid many traps and cave-ins. The use of dragon-scale shield walls against incoming enemy fire were not as effective and Dwarves armed with cheirosiphons were able to use the hand-pumped weapons to spray liquid fire into the massed heavy infantry, leaving many dead.

Relying on Telemachus to conjure a mighty golem from beyond to break the Gate of Irithul, Gerra hoped only to hold out long enough for Telemachus to complete the summoning. However, something went horribly wrong and the conjuration failed. As a result, the majority of Gerra's forces were slaughtered almost to a man.

The half-giant, fearing the wrath of his father Menalus, fled from the disaster at Belgrath all the way across another continent, until he reached the edge of the western world in Amol-Kalit.