by G Clatworthy
The elf seemed to realise something was wrong as it stared at me. As the smoke cleared slightly, I saw a strange metallic tube and glinting glass eyes under the hood. It reminded me of a large insect. That made no sense, maybe I had hit my head in the fall.
The elf hissed a word, and more blue lightning arced around it. I heard Gunther cry out somewhere to my right and felt pain as the electricity coursed through me. The last thing I saw was the room glowing blueish purple and the floor sparking as the electricity fizzed across the water. Then I passed out.
When I came to, there was still a hint of purple haze in the room. An unfamiliar face was hovering over mine and I tried to scream but my throat was still hoarse from the smoke. I blinked and registered the green paramedic uniform.
I sat up too quickly, and sparks formed in front of my eyes.
“Take it easy,” the paramedic smiled, “you’ve had a bump to the head. You seem OK, but we should get you to the hospital to be sure.” She helped me up and I held onto the empty podium next to me for balance. I was impressed the podium had stayed upright after I had been flung against it.
“No hospitals. I’m fine,” I coughed, “don’t even worry about it.” I wasn’t convincing anyone. I looked around the room. Gunther and Aloora had cups of hot drinks and were talking in hushed tones.
Marco was coughing up purple phlegm and looked pale. The two tourists and the museum worker who had been trapped in the room with us were in similar conditions. The Professor was talking urgently with two police officers. Lorandir was nowhere to be seen.
Aloora rushed over once she saw I was awake and hugged me. “That was awful. That smoke, I could hardly breathe and I couldn’t see. It’s gone, Ame. They have it.” She was distraught. Gunther was right behind her and rubbed her on the back tenderly.
I blinked again. This was too much. Dzraking elves and dzraking dragons. Dzrak to everything! Dwarfish was definitely the best language for cursing and I felt slightly better after swearing in my head. My head was throbbing, there was a dull ache along my back where I had hit the podium and my leg was jerking uncontrollably, a reaction to the electrical magic bolt that I’d been blasted with.
A policewoman entered carrying a black mask with large glass eyepieces and a metallic tube attached to the front like a strange elephant. Gas masks. That made sense, the elves had planned to release the smoke. She placed it into a see-through evidence bag and placed it next to another one containing a crowbar. I was surprised that had been able to break bullet proof glass and guessed it had been enchanted.
The paramedic’s interest in me was fading as she looked around the room. Thank you Lorandir. Aloora and Gunther took the opportunity to usher me past the officials in the room and into the lobby. I tried to hold my breath as a coughing fit threatened to take hold and I wasn’t sure the spell could hide that. Tears leaked from my eyes, but we made it to the gift shop before I leaned against a wall and coughed, trying to catch the purple spit in my coat sleeve. I swore as whatever was in the smoke stained my pale sheepskin coat. I hoped it would come out in dry cleaning.
Lorandir spotted us and sauntered over gracefully. “They got away.” His voice was dispassionate but a muscle in his cheek twitched.
“Espretha...” I muttered between coughs. Everyone looked at me. “I think it was the same elves that took Aloora…wanted to…redeem selves,” I managed to sputter.
Gunther let out a low whistle. Aloora narrowed her eyes. Both of them seemed less affected than me and I wondered if full-blooded magical beings were better able to recover from the smoke.
“Marco…” My voice was croaky.
An expression of concern passed over Aloora’s face. “He was passed out and frothing at the mouth when the smoke cleared. So were the tourists. I think it’s best he goes with the paramedics.”
I nodded and forced myself to stand up straighter. Gunther disappeared into the shop and reappeared moments later with a bottle of water. I swilled some around my mouth before I swallowed, the cool clear liquid soothing my throat.
“What now?” he asked. We all looked at each other. The elves had the Fang Dagger, and they clearly knew the location they were going after. There was only the ritual left to decipher and they would have what they wanted – a dragon.
The Professor approached, twirling his long moustache between a finger and thumb. He was accompanied by a very annoyed looking Mei.
“How did you know about this?” she hissed, “I’ve had to explain to a very important collector that his prized possession has been stolen despite all the extra security…and the police have no leads. So tell me how it is that you lot were here before I insist that you are arrested.”
“I told you already, my dear…” The Professor began.
“Don’t you dare “my dear” me Elrond. Start making sense,” Mei used her fingers to emphasise her air quotes.
The Professor gave a small half bow and continued, “It is as we said yesterday, m...Mei. We think that a group of people are trying to awaken a dragon. They have a ritual. They kidnapped this young gnome here to help them translate it and they needed an artefact. Your display gave them an opportunity and now they are closer than before to being able to complete the ritual,” he paused. “Perhaps I should speak to your benefactor…”
Mei wagged a finger at him, “Oh no you don’t. What else do you know? How can we get it back?”
“Blood,” I croaked. Mei looked at me with wide brown eyes. I took another swig of water, “I mean, I cut one of the elves. He… She…it was bleeding.”
Mei nodded, “Yes, the police saw the blood trail and the bloody axe in the room. They didn’t know the weapon was yours though. They followed the trail and the dogs have been sniffing round, but it disappears just across the road. The working theory is they got into a car, they’re looking at CCTV and traffic cameras but nothing yet.”
My chest felt tight. The police had my axe. There was no way they’d release it while an active investigation was going on. Schiztz.
“So they’re keeping you informed?”
Mei rolled her eyes, “Obviously.”
“Will you keep us informed? We’re trying to stop them after all. Now that they have the dragon artefact, that is, the Fang Dagger, we should focus on the translation of the ritual. It will tell us more about what they plan to do and how they will do it. There might be a clue we can use to stop them.”
Mei sighed angrily, “Alright. But you promise to tell me what you translate in this damned ritual.” She wagged her finger at the Professor again then whirled off as he executed another half bow.
“Food I think!” he exclaimed and then called a taxi.
I stumbled back towards the exhibition room and Gunther put a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at his questioning face.
“My axe…” I didn’t need to say anymore. He knew the importance of dwarfish weapons and he also knew my father had gifted me our ancestral axe only a few short years ago. He shook his head sadly.
“I have to try,” I replied and brushed him off. I made it back to the room. Marco and the other humans were already gone, presumably to the hospital. I scanned the room and saw my axe in a large evidence bag. I could try to grab it and run off, risking arrest and injury as everyone was tense after the robbery and more likely to be trigger happy…or I could do the mature thing and speak to the policewoman standing next to the table with the evidence on it. It was tempting, but I decided to be mature.
I explained that I owned the axe and yes I might have hit one of the culprits but I changed my story slightly, making out that I slipped on the water and I couldn’t see anything. The policewoman noted down my story and frowned at the goggles hanging round my neck but didn’t say anything about them.
“You’ll have to file a statement. And we need to run some tests. That’s evidence.”
“Please,” I squeaked.
Her face softened, “Give me your number and we’ll be in touch when your axe can be released. I’ve got yo
ur statement, we’ll let you know if we need anything else.”
There was nothing more I could do and I walked dejectedly back to join the others. I wanted to be alone to wallow in self-pity but I had an overwhelming sense of duty to our group, committed to stopping a dragon from being woken up.
I didn’t say anything as we climbed into the taxi and the Professor gave directions to a restaurant. I didn’t really register Gunther taking my hand or rubbing my shoulder as we sat in the grey interior of the car. He might have been the only one who understood what having a weapon, an ancestral weapon, taken from a dwarf meant but I was too wrapped up in myself to even acknowledge him.
Chapter 12
The Professor took us to a restaurant on Albany Road that specialised in elvish food. It was filled with elves and a couple of humans who were living on the wild side and experiencing a different culture for the evening.
I hadn’t been there before and, as I stared at the menu, I could barely keep the look of disgust off my face when I discovered it was mostly vegetarian or vegan. What a schiztz way to end a schiztz day.
A tall blonde elf arrived quickly to take our drinks orders and was delighted to see the Professor again so I guessed he was a regular. Professor Maron ordered for us from the limited drinks selection and soon a jug of fizzy spring water from the elvish city of Breconia and glasses of light honey wine were on the table.
I downed half of my wine in one go, I was depressed and wanted alcohol to salve my wounds. I ordered one of the speciality platters but was not expecting anything much. The Professor kept up an air of joviality with trivial small talk but the rest of us were downcast as we sipped our fizzy water in silence.
Aloora was texting Marco to make sure he was OK. Lorandir was brooding. Gunther looked angry and I was glum.
The smiling waitress brought our food orders quickly and I stared at my plate filled with greenish parcels. The speciality platter was looking like a big mistake. I shoved one of the dark green leaves into my mouth and immediately changed my mind. The leaf disintegrated and a rich creamy sauce filled my mouth; it was a pleasant combination of earthy and slightly sweet. Then I tasted the gamey flavour of deer stewed in spices. It was a perfect balance of flavours. I had seriously misjudged elvish cooking and began eating with a lot more relish. It was probably having something filling and savoury to eat rather than café cakes and sugary sweets, but I felt a little better as I ate.
The Professor finally registered the depressed silence at our table. “Now, now, young adventurers. We cannot give up. We still have the ritual to translate and with both Aloora and I working on it, we can get it done in half the time.”
“But…” Gunther started.
“We must control what we can now. These dragon awakeners have a plan. We must try to stop them. The ritual is our only clue for now. We have already made good progress on the translation. Aloora, my dear, join me in my office tomorrow after a good night’s sleep and we shall swiftly decipher the rest.”
I tried to share the Professor’s optimism but I was never really given to flights of fancy, despite my love of fantasy literature. The reality was that the elves had everything in their favour and we were relying on translating a print out of a ritual and a lot of guesswork around locations.
I kept that to myself and instead commented. “We need a better name for them than ‘dragon awakeners’. That sounds like a weird yoga group or some sort of chatline.”
Gunther snorted and sprayed his dish with the mouthful of fizzy water he had just gulped. The atmosphere lightened considerably after that. I forced myself to stay engaged as we each came up with more outrageous suggestions for what to call this group of idiots intent on raising monsters.
“The Dragonettes!”
“Dragonateers! All for one and one for all!”
“Dragonistas!”
“Draconic raisers!” We all stared at the Professor after he made that suggestion then burst into laughter.
I wheezed, “That sounds like a metal band.” Images of headbanging elves appeared in my mind and it was so incongruous with the usual image of a graceful elf, I laughed even more.
We passed through more abstract suggestions - Woke being among them - before eventually we settled on The Awakeners. I still thought it sounded a bit like a student band but I couldn’t come up with anything better. We finished the meal in a lot better mood than we started and I was grateful the Professor had dragged us out.
He paid the bill with a flourish, batting aside all offers of contributions from the rest of us. As we prepared to leave, he pulled me to one side.
“I know what your axe means to you, adventurer, but trust to the universe and you will have it when you need it,” he gave me a theatrical wink at the end before turning to say goodbye to the others. I had no idea how to respond to that. I’m not into trusting the universe and the Professor’s platitudes grated on me. I felt uncomfortable for the duration of the taxi ride home, the unease at losing my axe settling on me again after the fun at the meal.
Weapons are important to dwarves, treated with respect and reverence. My axe had been passed down from generation to generation, an unbroken tradition from all those ancestors who had wielded it or displayed it on their walls. I had let them all down, I had let my dad down. I couldn’t even imagine how I could break the news to him. Er Dad, well you know that super important axe you handed me for safekeeping, passing on the traditions of my dwarven heritage, yeah well I was stupid enough to have it confiscated by the police and I might never get it back.
I shouted and screamed into my pillow until I was exhausted, then fell asleep.
Chapter 13
I awoke early the next day and took a disgruntled Errol for a walk. He snapped as we stepped out into the cool morning but I needed to burn off some energy. I quickened my pace as I passed the stone animals leering over the wall that marked the boundary of Bute Park, probably some fancy of the former owner of Cardiff Castle. The animals looked ready to pounce as they peered down from the wall and the glass eyes gave them a sinister realism that always made me uneasy. The baboon in particular made me shudder as I passed it. I relaxed a little once I was inside the park, moving at a relaxed pace as I coaxed Errol along the path.
As I was trying to distract myself by paying attention to the trees budding into bloom and the soothing sound of the river Taff in the background, flowing fast after the recent rain. Aloora texted me uncharacteristically early. She was heading to the Professor’s office and Marco had been discharged from hospital already. He was sleeping but might like a call later.
I was about to make a mental note but decided instead to set a reminder on my phone. The more grating sounds of the city waking up and traffic on the road started to get louder and I headed for home, stopping at the Dragon’s Head coffee shop on the way for a filling bacon sandwich. Errol started pulling me along as soon as we left the shop as he hurried to get back into the warmth of the forge.
There was nothing to do but wait for news of the translation. I killed time between customers by searching for news of dragons on my phone but didn’t come up with anything useful. Searching for dragons and castles pulled up images of dragon motifs and an interesting legend that there was a dragon sleeping under Castell Coch. I saved it for later and sent the link to the rest of our group. I got a strange eye roll emoji back from Gunther I wasn’t sure he had meant to send and radio silence from everyone else.
My reminder to call Marco beeped just as I was closing the shop. I jumped as the alarm broke the silence of the Arcade before realising what it was. It took me several moments to turn it off and I apologised to Errol who was peering blearily into the room, his sleep disturbed by the noise. Eventually, I managed to turn off the alarm, cursing definitely helped, and call Marco. He sounded very happy when he answered, although a bit hoarse, and I asked how he was.
“Yes I am doing very well. Aloora has gone to see the Professor of course but she left me some chocolates and the lovely Lorandir h
as been caring for me. He is very attentive you know and he has found this divine elvish tea, I feel so much better,” I smirked at the idea of the elf being a house maid.
“Do you want me to come over?”
“No, no. Don’t you dare! It’s just me and Lorandir tonight, he has promised to cook me some soup for my throat and I have promised to show him Lord of the Rings, can you believe he hasn’t seen it?!”
I frowned. I couldn’t believe anyone hadn’t seen it. “OK, well I’ll leave you two to it then. I’ll come over later in the week.”
“Yes, yes. Now I say goodbye,” As he hung up, I thought I could hear him greeting Lorandir. It sounded like they were going to have a cosy evening.
I decided to make some noodles and do some work in the forge. I needed to replenish my stock of protection charms and I wanted to keep busy. Even though I didn’t usually have Bane on my person, the empty shelf under my distressed counter had weighed on me all day.
My phone buzzed while I was eating. Mum and Dad. Schiztz. I ignored them and scoffed the rest of my noodles before heading downstairs. Errol had perked up a bit after sulking from his enforced early morning walk and sat in my lap as I worked, lending his heat to help when I needed it and being a comforting warming presence.
I went to bed late but still couldn’t sleep. I guiltily texted my Dad to tell him I hadn’t heard the phone ring as I was busy making jewellery and was going to bed now. I promised to call them later in the week. Well I’d call them if I wasn’t killed when a cult raised a dragon. I stared at the ceiling for a long time, studying a strange grey stain in the shape of a leaf, or a heart I supposed if I was more romantic. I decided to watch something and set up my laptop to play a Marvel movie marathon while I raided my emergency chocolate stash and idly managed to get through a family sized bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Caramel. I woke up the next day with the laptop still playing and when I went to the bathroom, I found the chocolate wrapper was stuck to my cheek. Classy!
