Good.
I gently sat down and watched as the dwarves continued their little gathering and merrymaking with an explosion of noise.
“Glad you joined us!” the king said happily. I looked around.
“What’s going on?”
The dwarf laughed and slapped me on the back, smacking the air right out of my lungs.
“Why it is a feast in your honour! You must have quite some story to tell.”
That was completely unexpected.
“Well, I think so.”
“Don’t keep it all to yerself, boy! Tell us about it, master Terrognome.”
“Uh, Terrowin.”
“Whatever.”
I should’ve known that the dwarves were quite the people for stories and tales.
They always seemed to find a reason to celebrate. I imagined Carlaylin sitting here, enjoying herself, smacking dwarves with a mug and laughing ceaselessly with all the others.
Why stop it then?
I went right ahead and nervously told them about selective parts of what happened, starting with the master who ordered me to travel to Thorodan to go get Carlaylin. I told them about the monster attack. I softened the blow by telling them about the poison, careful to keep any emotion out of my little tale. Even Carlaylin’s attempt to heal me, accidentally being turned into a four legged chicken as well to keep the crowd from flying into a rage at the sound of a tedious story.
Thereafter, I went ahead and also told them about the farmer and left out the part about my dream. I left out quite the bit, playing it on the careful side, but soon my tale came to an end. I didn’t exactly see it as much of a story or even exciting, but the crowd applauded. They especially seemed to have enjoyed the part where Carlaylin hit me with a mug the most... typical.
The crowd of dwarves had listened closely, not daring to miss a single part.
“And what about tha’ arm of yers? Surely it couldn’t have break all by itself?” asked the chief, eager to hear as he leaned in closer.
“Well...” I told them about the assassin and the forest fire, but not daring to tell them that I was the one who caused the fire in the first place.
The crowd went mad and applauded yet again. I even noticed a dwarf trying to strangle another with an overload of ecstasy and joy at the far end of the table.
“That is quite some story, lad! Though I do wonder about tha’ fire...”
My eyes widened. For a moment I thought that he was about to seek the truth and might just accuse me of being the cause…
“Oh, no matter.”
I gave an unnoticeable sigh of relief when all gazes were turned away.
“Borin, my son, I think it’s time to show this man the locket....”
BORIN’S A DWARVEN PRINCE?!
No wonder he was sitting here next to the chief, king or… whatever you call the head of the dwarves.
Borin nodded, came to my side, got out a small golden locket and opened it.
“The founder of this city was mah great, great, great, great, great, great-”
“Lots of greats later, yeah, I get it, on to the point please.”
Borin clucked his tongue and continued.
“Mah great grandmother.”
He showed me the picture in the locket. I couldn’t help but gape and stare at the picture in complete and utter surprise.
Unfortunately, I went ahead and said the first few words that popped into my head without so much as a thought.
“That’s a woman?!”
I had managed to postpone the history lesson and created one angry dwarf. I understood that they trusted me enough to let me in on their most prized antiquities, but honestly!
“Of course it is! Are ya blind, puny human?” I choked back a laugh.
“Puny? Speak for yourself.”
“Excuse me? You-”
“Are double your height, yes. Oh sorry, I seemed to have cut you short there at the moment.” I choked back another laugh.
“I have little manners, please forgive me.”
The crowd of dwarves all leaned in closer from their seats. This seemed to get a tad interesting for them.
“No problem, but I see yer goin’ big with tha’ jokes.” Borin seemed to have struck back.
Oh… touché.
“Oh, here’s a classic since yer into insulting mah people. How’s tha’ weather up thar?” He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. All the dwarves quickly focused their gazes on me, just eager to hear how I was to respond.
To be honest, I had no idea what got into me, but the opportunity seemed so… welcoming.
I looked at Borin and grinned.
“I don’t know. At least it isn’t any colder up here than it is for you down there.”
He scowled at me.
“Don’t look so offended, Borin. Perhaps you should take things less seriously.”
“If I wanted yer opinion I'd climb up thar and give it to ya.”
“Oh, why don’t you just grow up?”
I have never seen anyone’s face turn as red as his with ire before.
Hmm… Come to think of it, the colour suits him.
He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Have I gone too far perhaps?
“That’s enough!” he demanded. I raised an eyebrow and snorted.
“I always knew dwarves had a short sense of humour. Never knew it was this short though.”
Borin grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the outside, dragging me out of the dining hall.
We stopped and found ourselves just outside the main hall’s now closed doors.
I squatted down and sat on my haunches to face him.
“What d’ya think yer doin’?! Yer embarrassing me in front of mah father, King Burin!”
Borin, Burin – I’m starting to see a resemblance here.
He spoke in hushed whispers, careful not to alert any wandering dwarves. Come to think of it, the outside of Mantra was completely deserted. I guessed all dwarves to be inside, busy enjoying themselves and giving each other fatal injuries.
“What? I’m just getting my payback.”
He didn’t find it funny and punched me in the face. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, landing on my rear end.
My eye throbbed.
Remind me to never squat down in front of an enraged dwarf again.
“Hey!”
Borin narrowed his eyes and gave a menacing smile.
“Yer lucky to be so tall so tha’ no one can see tha’ wreck ya call a face.”
He had gotten me on my nerves one too many times, crossing the limit.
“Oh… it’s on!”
Sill in my current state, I thrust out my leg and ended up kicking him in the stomach. He stumbled back, but quickly closed in on me again. Surprisingly, he grabbed my ankle and bit it. I yelped and shook him off. It sent him flying through the air and left me with bite marks when I checked.
This is just great! I’m making the exact same mistake my father once made. Get into a fight with a dwarf. For some reason these little bastards always win!
I stood. Borin leapt at me, climbed me like a mountain and punched my broken arm just before jumping off. I doubled over with agony.
“Seriously?!”
He grabbed a nearby rock and got ready to throw, but a loud roar stopped his act in doing so. We both ended up frozen on the spot, keeping our positions, careful not to make any sudden movements. A string of panic coursed through my veins.
We slowly turned our heads to our left.
The dwarf king’s panther was watching us up from a rocky cliff all this time, his sharp claws extended.
He bared his teeth along with a growl as a warning.
His told me an entire story: Forget the warning about coming too close I gave you earlier. I’m tremendously hungry and you really look delicious right about now.
Borin and I exchanged glances. It was clear that if we didn
’t cease this fighting right now, we’d surely end up as the panther’s next meal.
I wanted to run, but fear had me frozen on the spot, unable to move. The panther took the opportunity and pounced, dashing towards us.
That got my mind running again.
“RUN!” Borin yelled and together we sprinted back into the main hall, slipped in through the closed doors and instantaneously closed the giant heavy doors behind us again. Thereafter, we hammered our backs to the door, making sure that the black panther wasn’t about to burst in and finish us off.
I felt a thump at the door as the panther accidentally ran into them.
I gave a sigh of relief.
As soon as we faced the crowd of confused dwarves, we acted as though nothing had happened, but I guessed that my one red eye and Borin’s rock in his hand was a dead giveaway.
The whole crowd went silent. Borin and I tried to give our best fake smile we could pull off.
Lucky for us, the dwarf king interrupted the uncomfortable silence by asking,
“Um... everything okay?”
Borin and I exchanged glances and came to a silent agreement. This shall not be mentioned to anyone.
“Uh, yes,” I said.
“Ya,” Borin said.
The dwarf king leisurely nodded, not particularly falling for it.
“Um… okay. Uh, master Terrowin, is there anything I can do for you to repay you for entertaining us with such an entertaining tale?”
I highly doubted it was entertaining, but managed to give a smile.
“Yes, in a matter of fact there is.”
“And what would that be?”
“I was wondering if you could help me find a way to Suntaria.”
The king looked slightly offended by the way he pulled his face.
“Of course we can! What do you take us for? There is a tunnel somewhere around here that leads to the Mines of Suntaria. Borin, escort young master Terrowin to Suntaria, but first... who wants more beer?”
CHAPTER 23
THE VILLAGE OF WATER
CARLAYLIN
My eyes shot open with a gasp escaping my lungs. I flew upright, panting, almost like someone startled from a rough nightmare.
My heart raced.
It didn’t take me long to recuperate from the panic and calm down. My vision adjusted and I took a good look around.
I was in a small wooden cabin of some sort, on a comfortable bed decorated in animal skin and pretty much fluffy material.
Rays of bright sunlight sauntered in through the open door to my right hand-side, fighting back some of the shadows and bringing a welcoming sense of warmth.
My guess would be that this was a fisherman’s home since there was a large fish jaw mounted up on the wall on the other side of the little cosy cabin.
Two wooden pillars adorned the middle of the cabin and kept the wooden ceiling in place, not to mention the reasonable space between them. It was your true villager hut with old-fashioned self-hunted and self-crafted adornments.
The side effects Tarauntis had warned me about started to kick in. My back was aching. I groaned and tried stretching for the pain to subside, but it only helped slightly. My stomach did a flip and a horrid sensation of nausea pushed up my throat.
I doubled over the side of the bed and let it all out.
Normally I don’t empty my insides on another man’s floor, but, eh, I was feeling too sick to care. Thereafter, I fell back on the cosy bed, barely able to keep my eyes open. I might have been out for what seemed like ages, but nevertheless, I still felt pretty exhausted.
I knew for a fact that my trip to the Realm of the Void was no dream. It was too real to be a dream. It was a memory.
Anyway, I liked the whole I’m-flying-on-a-dragon thing, but throwing me off was a little bit irrational… I mean, seriously!
What looked like a friendly villager entered the hut and took my side.
“I see you awake.”
I gave him a simple groan for an answer.
“Here.”
The man handed me a waterskin, sloshing with clear water within.
“Drink.”
I sat up straight one last time and took the skin from him.
“Thanks.” I didn’t exactly realize just how thirsty I was before I drank it all at one go.
Who knew falling four or five thousand feet through the air could get you so parched?
“Come. Come.” The man gestured with his hands for me to stand. By the way he talked, it was obvious that English was not at all his first language. His home tongue was most likely foreign, but at least he tried to help me with English. And for that I was very grateful. I was too puzzled to try and make sense of sign language…
I slowly stood, feeling a little woozy at first, but tried to keep my balance. You know that feeling when you try to walk again in a very long time? Yes, that’s the one. Jelly-legs!
I stumbled and fell to the ground, but the man quickly grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to my feet again. I put my arm around his neck and let him lead me to the outside of the cabin where I needed to shield my squinted eyes from the bright sunlight as I gazed at the scenery in front of me.
The skies were clear, not a single cloud in sight. I was aware of lots of cottages standing about randomly on the village grounds, acting as homesteads for the villagers.
The village was surrounded in an arch of green forest trees. A washing line stood nearby with wet laundry dangling from it. A woman sat close by and weaved all kinds of different baskets. Fish hung from a line next to the fisherman’s cabin. In front of it all was a large, wide river that stretched out for miles into the distance. It flew with a wondrous clear, blue colour. Specs of light from the sun danced on its watery surface. Then this must be the Shivering River. I’ve heard so much about.
Beyond the waters, I could only see the black silhouettes of burnt trees, indicating a forest no longer there…
So not everything in the Realm of the Void was an illusion after all…
A little wooden dock was constructed at the river, surely for all the fishermen to catch their daily fish at. A few small sailboats and fisherman boats were docked there.
I personally think that this, for once, was a lovely village.
Birds chirped and the children laughed and ran around, playing tag or hide-and-seek. Adult villagers continued their responsibilities in weaving baskets, catching fish, harvesting crops and so much more, but they seemed to enjoy themselves, not taking it as hard labour, but either a joy to their daily life. If anyone would ask me to return to this peaceful little village one day, I surely would.
The villager led me to the river and pointed at it.
“Clean. Jump in. Meet in cabin after.”
I wanted to argue, but the man was already on his way back to his bungalow.
But I really couldn’t complain since I was covered with burn marks and soot for some reason. I shrugged and stared at the river for a while. I took a deep breath, slowly let it out and dove right in without a worry in the world.
I felt as ice-cold water touched my bare skin. It was great. It was refreshing. I swam down deeper into the river and watched as schools of fish of diverse species swam by.
Seaweed, coral and several rocks of all shapes and sizes decorated the bottom, creating one magnificent reef.
Spears of sunlight lanced down into the river from above. I swam around a bit, caught my breath and dove down deep again. It was nothing more than pure leisure as I enjoyed myself.
Nothing could stop me from swimming back down again, only deeper, and marvel at my aquatic surroundings, trying to avoid the heightened pressure if one would dive down too deep.
Unfortunately, on my way back up to the surface, I swam pass by a random aquatic plant with long tendrils of green kelp.
As though it was alive, with a mind of its own, the piece of seaweed wrapped itself around my ankle and pulled me down. I was star
tled and looked down to see what was tugging at my ankle. I knitted my eyebrows and tried to swim up and reach the surface, but the plant kept pulling me down. I started running out of air and struggled to get loose, but it was absolutely of no use. Panic settled over me, clouding my mind. My lungs started to burn and shrivel.
I tried my luck and grabbed the plant, trying to unbind it from my ankle, but didn’t have enough strength to succeed.
My vision blurred and it felt like my entire body was busy being pressed inot a box that grew forever smaller…
Great, I survived just to die again.
I couldn’t hold my breath for much longer and let it go, but, by my surprise, I wasn’t exactly drowning.
Air rushed back into my lungs and I could breath like normal again. The water felt like air as I breathed it in. (Well, only a bit heavier, but you get the idea.)
What the – what’s going on?
I looked around, still deep underwater and still being held prisoner by a piece of plant.
This is impossible, isn’t it?
A remembrance suddenly came to mind. I’m the next heir to take the place of the Wizard of Elements, right? I could use any of the four elements at my disposal…
I grinned. I had one heck of a defence mechanism! I was so panicked that I had accidentally called upon magic to turn the water around me into air, enough air for me to escape with, but my supply was still limited. I took another deep breath and my cheeks puffed up like that of a puffer fish’s.
I reached down and withdrew my sword, cutting the plant from my ankle and made a dash for the surface.
I swam as fast as I could, but there was still a great distance between the surface and I. I couldn’t hold out much longer.
I kept on swimming, picking up the pace and hoped for the best. It wasn’t long before I finally re-emerged from the water and gasped for air.
I swam towards the riverbank and hauled myself onto dry land. I was soaking wet and wringed river water out of my long dark hair.
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