by Allan Joyal
"Aw, I want to sit with you," Shaylin complained.
I nodded to the girl. "Sorry, we need to spread out, and I figure you don't want to leave your friends. You can sit with me and we'll talk once we are camping again."
Shaylin frowned, but moved closer to Lydia, who was making sure everyone she needed was nearby. Esme and Natalie were all smiles as they walked up to join me. Esme winked at me as I turned to head to Morgarn's table.
"So you want me around?" Heather whispered. "And you think I can be a leader?"
"Heather," I whispered back as we moved around a table surrounded by dwarves. "Out of all the women in our group, you are the best leader. You just need to keep calm and not let your temper get the best of you."
"And be careful around alcohol," Natalie said. "You made quite a spectacle of yourself last night."
"I did?" Heather asked with a squeak as we approached the table set aside for us. Morgarn watched us approach and then indicated the empty seats near him.
"Come and sit," he called out.
I sat to his immediate right. Heather claimed the seat to my right as Esme and Natalie sat on the left side of Morgarn. Right after we sat, Morgarn joined us and then the other five seats at the table were filled by dwarves.
"Interesting division of people," Morgarn observed.
"Lydia and Steve both have experience with business dinners," I replied. "They can provide guidance to the others."
"And the younglings? Is that why you had them grouped together?" Morgarn asked.
"Yes," I said. "I thought it best if they stayed together. Hencktor and Lydia should be able to keep them from being disruptive. This is an adventure for them."
"For all of us," Heather said. "I never imagined I would find myself in a dwarven city far underground."
"Not that far," Morgarn said. "We have mines that are far deeper. But I guess for a human this would be considered far under the ground."
"It is," I affirmed as several dwarves brought large platters to our table. One distributed several bowl-like objects. Others placed several large metal bowls on the table. The liquid in the metal bowls steamed slightly.
Natalie picked up one of the bowls and looked at it. "It's a mushroom cap," she said dubiously.
"Perfectly safe to eat," Morgarn said. "Come, choose a soup or stew and fill your bowl. The roast will be another glass or two before its ready."
"Glass?" I asked.
Morgarn snorted. "I forget you humans and your limited craftsmen. We keep time with a special glass filled with sand. It has two chambers and a narrowed opening between them. Sand takes a certain time to flow between chambers when it is turned over."
Esme looked up. "We've seen those. The only problem is that I don't know how long between turnings yours are."
"You use them?" Morgarn asked.
"Not normally," Esme said. "We developed other timekeeping methods, but there are places they are still used. Normally only for something that takes a very short time."
Morgarn looked surprised. "I thought no humans could produce such products."
"The humans of our homeland are endlessly inventive," I said. "They have developed a number of amazing devices. Now not to change the subject, but I have to ask Esme how Caspern is doing."
"He will live," Esme said. "At least, he was alive and resting comfortably when we left him. I know a couple dwarves watched us. Hopefully they can keep the wound clean and remove the stitches when the healing is complete."
One of the dwarves said something, clearly directing his question to Morgarn. He turned to look at Esme when the dwarf was done speaking.
"Our healers were wondering about your technique. I heard you say there are stitches to be removed. When will they know to do that?" Morgarn asked.
Esme frowned. "I don't know exactly how fast he will heal. The wound was deep enough that most humans would have died in minutes. However, once stitched up, the flesh should heal fairly quickly. He should remain in a bed for three or four days and the stitches probably can't come out for twenty days or so."
"Stitches?" Morgarn asked.
"I used some light thread to sew the wound closed. The thread will need to come out once the healing process is far enough along," Esme said. "It should heal clean, but it will take some time."
Morgarn looked surprised. "We bandage wounds and occasionally use a device to immobilize an injured limb. We never tried to sew a wound shut."
Esme nodded. "Ideally I would have had some special thread. In our homeland we have thread specifically made for stitching wounds closed. Here I had to use what I had found. It's not as fine as I would have preferred."
Morgarn turned and said something to the dwarf who had asked the original question. The duo started a rather involved conversation, leaving the rest of us to eat. Heather had selected some meat stew for both of us.
I had almost emptied the mushroom cap bowl when the serving dwarves returned. This time they had a large roast resting on the center of a shining metal tray. The other dwarves at our table smiled as the tray was set in the center of the table.
The dwarf sitting to Heather's right pulled out a pair of knives. He used one to hold the roast on the tray as he began slicing slabs of meat off the roast. He offered the first one to Heather. She drew her own knife and accepted the roast with a frown.
"I want to know what we are eating," she whispered.
"No you don't," I whispered back. "We don't want to be worrying about that. I doubt it's any kind of beef. Just enjoy it."
Heather nodded and took the meat in her left hand. She cut off a smaller piece with the knife and then tasted. She had a pleasantly surprised look on her face as the dwarf doing the carving held out a slice and offered it to me.
I accepted the slice, taking hold if it with my left hand while I drew my knife. The meat was a bit on the rare side, but still quite hot. I burned my fingers cutting off a piece and then set the meat down on the remnants of my mushroom cap bowl.
The dwarf served Esme and Natalie as well before distributing meat to his fellows. I tasted the slice I had made and found the meat to be tender, but very strong. A strong spice had been used as well, making each bite an explosion of two conflicting flavors. It was edible, but not very pleasant.
Heather was frowning as well. I could see her getting ready to complain and shook my head. She glared at me and I nodded towards Morgarn.
Morgarn had completed his conversation with the other dwarf. He noticed that we were trying our first slices of meat. "Ah, crawler roast. This is one of my favorites."
"It is a taste like I never imagined," I replied carefully.
"It is a bit strong," Morgarn commented. "But it's one of the most filling meals we have, and not easy to obtain. Crawlers are not tamable, so we have to hunt them in the tunnels."
"I imagine that you hunt for most of your meat," I said. "I am impressed though. The dinner you have served has been extraordinary."
Morgarn smiled. "Oh, we know the favored routes most of them take through the tunnels. There are some tunnels which are more likely to provide food for them."
"Speaking of that," I said, "I understand that our journey to Purahomp will take several days. Can you tell us much about what we can expect on our journey?"
Morgarn frowned. With his right hand, he stroked his beard for a moment. The other dwarves stopped eating to watch him. Finally, the head of the dwarven outpost shook his head. "It's not so easy to say. The trading path you will follow is one many races use and the neutrality of the path has been kept by all parties. However, you will also pass very close to territory claimed by kobolds. They have been known to attack trading parties who are less than vigilant. Also there is evidence that a number of slaver parties have ventured through the area recently."
"Slavers?" I asked. "Would they try to enslave us?"
Morgarn snorted disdainfully. "They would try to enslave anyone they thought they could overpower. Usually they avoid trying to capture dwarves. We fight back
against the slavers, making the attempt risky. That's why we'll send our latest trade caravan with you, the number of dwarves going should ensure that any slavers stay far away."
"I thank you for that," I said. "The prospect of ending up enslaved has many members of my group worried."
"It would worry any sensible being," Morgarn said with a nod. "But I assure you that we will get you to Purahomp safely."
I nodded as Heather sat up. She looked over at Morgarn. "I know Ron already mentioned this to Mertiln, but we would be willing to carry any items you need traded in Saraloncto. Although, I'm not sure how you'd receive any goods we purchase for you."
Morgarn laughed. "Several Clans have trading centers in Saraloncto. Most caravans stop there at some point during the year. We might have you take some ore, but you would only have to deliver it to the clan. They would handle the trading."
I nodded. "We just want to help. You have done so much for us already, and it sounds like you will be saving us several days of travel by escorting us to Purahomp."
"You have shown us respect," Morgarn replied. "And for the first time in a long time, humans have helped without demanding payment."
"It would not have been right to demand payment," I said. "Our relationship began after we discovered the battlefield where four members of your clan lost their lives. We were able to return one item and inform you of the location of other items taken from the battlefield. Yet, our discovery of that battlefield is part of why we were able to get to the Wizard's Academy before the snow flew."
"And kept me alive," Natalie added. "I hate to admit we plundered the battlefield, but the weapons we took slew the creature that attacked me, and Esme was only able to save my life thanks to a potion we found."
"So you use potions?" Morgarn asked.
"Not where we came from," Esme said with a frown. "We do have many medicines, but nothing that is as potent as the potion I gave Natalie. Unfortunately, we only found two potions when we visited the battlefield, and I've been saving the last one."
Heather smacked her forehead with a bare hand. "We could have given the potion to the injured dwarf!"
Morgarn shook his head. "You only have one healing potion left and yet you suggest using it on a dwarf you only met two days ago."
"Actually," Natalie said. "I don't think any of us ever talked to him so I'm not sure we can claim we met him. But it would have been the right thing to do if it could have saved his life."
Morgarn snorted. "You did save his life. He's still alive now, and it sounds like the bleeding has stopped. Dwarves are hardy. He will heal."
Esme sighed. "I was so frightened that I couldn't save him. When we unwrapped the bandages once we arrived here I was surprised by how massive the injury was. When he was first injured, I didn't even think about where he was hurt, just that he had a wound. Once we were there and unwrapping the bandages my mind started to think about what an abdominal wound might mean. I do know a human given the same wound would likely have to deal with infection issues. But for your man, it was all fat and muscle."
Morgarn looked perplexed. "Isn't that enough?"
Esme frowned. "I don't know. I really don't know enough about dwarf anatomy and how it compares to humans. I do know that a human with the same gash as your man had would have seen his guts ripped into. That usually leads to some nasty infections and is why gut wounds often kill humans. There are ways to prevent the infections, but I don't have the drugs to do it here."
Morgarn looked confused. "But Caspern had a gut wound."
"Esme is talking about what lies underneath the muscle and fat. For humans, that part of the body has organs we use to process the food we eat. Unfortunately, if those organs are ripped open, they release poisons that harm the rest of the body," I said.
Morgarn looked even more confused, but Esme nodded. "It doesn't make sense, but it's true. Fortunately, that did not happen in this case. Caspern just needs time to rest while the torn muscle and flesh mends."
"He'll have that," Morgarn said. "We are actually going to be closing down a couple of mines for the next few months."
"Why?" I asked.
Morgarn just looked at me. "Some of the mines we operate are fairly close to the surface and are through areas where limestone is common. The heat generated while we mine causes the snow to melt and it seeps through the limestone. It can cause cave-ins so we pull out after the snow covers the land."
I just nodded. Heather gave me a nudge. "Ron," she asked. "I know you'd love to talk for hours, but we really need to get some sleep. We still have miles to walk."
Morgarn laughed. "She is a wise one. I know our traders will be up most of the night getting the ore carts ready. They will want to leave early."
"On little sleep?" I asked. "Won't that be dangerous? Tired men might make mistakes."
Morgarn snorted. "Humans and their weak bodies. If we have to, we can go days without sleep. One night won't hurt and the traders will sleep every night on the journey."
Natalie sat up. "We won't slow you down, will we?" she asked worriedly.
"The beetles we use to pull the carts aren't all that fast. You should have no problem keeping up with them," Morgarn said.
"They are dangerous though," Esme pointed out.
"Only under pressure," Morgarn said, "and with inexperienced handlers. I have to apologize for that. Our best handlers were needed to get the caravan organized, so some of your escorts were new. They made a mistake."
Heather put a hand on my arm. "I know this probably sounds strange, but do you have a way for people to bathe? We haven't really had much of an opportunity to keep as clean as we'd like."
Morgarn burst out in laughter. "Humans who want to be clean. Now I'm sure you aren't from Jord." He turned to his right and waved to one of the dwarves wandering the hall. The dwarf came over and a brief conversation commenced. When it ended, the summoned dwarf was shaking his head in bewilderment.
"Glorin will take you to the bath chamber," Morgarn said. "He will also guide you to your room afterwards. You'll find we have already laid down bedrolls,"
"Thank you," I said as Heather and I stood up. Glorin nodded to me and then turned to start walking towards an opening in the chamber we had been in. Heather pushed me to follow as I turned to reach for the utensils we had been eating with.
"We'll clear the table for you," Esme said with a giggle. "Go and relax in the bath."
"They'll do a bit more than relax if Heather gets her way," Natalie said as I stopped fighting Heather and followed Glorin out of the dining hall.
Chapter 20: Back into the Darkness
More than two hours later, Heather and I finally stumbled into the large room the dwarves had set up as the sleeping chamber for the group. There were a couple of dimmed lanterns glowing in the doorway so we were able to find the bedroll the others had saved for us and lay down to sleep. For the first time, I pulled Heather down and spooned against her naked body, holding her breasts gently but firmly as we went to sleep.
I awoke the next morning as Shaylin and Gertrilla started arguing over who would carry Corwar's pack to the sleds. My arms were still around Heather, so I carefully rolled onto my back before sitting up and looking around the room.
Most of my friends were carefully folding the various bedrolls and furs and stacking them in a corner. Steve walked over and offered me a cup filled with a steaming liquid. I took a sip as Natalie and Esme made their way out of the room.
"I think we woke up earlier than the dwarves expected," Steve said as I swallowed. The liquid tasted very bitter, but it woke me up as my friend continued. "None of them have said anything, but I figured we should start gathering in the courtyard. We are leaving today?"
"Morgarn said that we'd be leaving early," I reminded my old friend. "I guess several of the ore veins they mine are close to the surface and the heat produced by the mining processes they use causes snow above the mine to melt. They are shutting down those mines so they have spare dwarves to act as g
uards for a caravan."
Steve winced. "Ouch, if the ground is mostly limestone, you'd be setting yourself up for a cave-in as the melted snow started to dissolve the ceiling of your mine. I can understand them shutting down. So we're joining a caravan they run then?"
"That's what Morgarn told me. Heather, Esme, Natalie and I were told that they were preparing it while we traveled here, and that we got the apprentice beetle handlers for the last two days because the experienced ones were getting the ore ready to transport," I said.
Steve snorted. "And we ended up with Jennifer, Aine and Verval all being traumatized."
"How is Verval doing? I haven't had a chance to say much to him." I asked as Heather stirred and sat up. The fur that had been covering her fell away, revealing her naked body to Steve's gaze.
My friend glanced over and then looked me in the eye. "She's definitely a goddess," he mused. "Verval is doing better. I'm pretty sure that he and Jennifer did more than just sleep tonight, but I'd say you did the same thing."
"No," Heather said sleepily. "Once we got here we fell into bed and just cuddled."
"Really?" Steve asked an incredulous inflection in his voice. "The girl who clearly isn't getting enough didn't demand that her man take her?"
Heather giggled as she found her clothing. "Oh, he already had. Didn't you notice that we were the last to come to bed?"
Steve looked perplexed. "Nat said something about you going to a bath," he said in a confused tone. "I figured you just went for a walk."
Heather giggled. "No," I replied. "The dwarves have a large bath chamber. One pool with heated water that you soak in initially. When you leave that pool, they spread some kind of oil on you and then scrub your body with a piece of pumice."
"Is that what that rock was?" Heather asked. "All I could see was that it was white or gray and crumbled easily."
