The Eastern Dwarfs: Part One - The Red Fields

by deSouza, Leo

  “As you wish, sir. I’m a dust devil.” The creature replied.

  “I know of ye. Smooth talk, mild-mannered, but could steal someone’s goods in the blink of one eye and then turn into a whirlwind and fly away.” Thuor spoke.

  “What? The whirlwinds we saw before?” Olaf asked.

  The captain. “There are more than one of them, I know this creature.”

  “Then maybe it was he who dropped our water on the ground!” Rurur exclaimed.

  “Hah! This is so appropriate! I like killing while having a good excuse, it makes me feel better not falling in moral regrets later.” Torag said while smiling perversely.

  “Not before he tells us about the bridge.” Thuor spoke.

  “Tricky as he is, I don’t think he put the boulder there by himself.” Olaf said.

  “Well I have an idea.” Torag spoke. “He told about using head instead of arms. Why don’t we hit his head against the boulder till it cracks?”

  The creature smiled nervously.

  “Don’t free him, he will flee away.” Thuor said. “Tell me, there is a way to cross?”

  “Yes. There is. But you would have to set me free first.” The creature said.

  “So now the bribe changes! Let’s finish this!” Torag said reaching for his axe as he still held the creature’s neck.

  “If you do it you will need to go back to where you came from, you cannot break the boulder nor pass through it.” The creature argued.

  Thuor looked at it for a moment, then stepped back and motioned to Torag. “Leave him.”

  “What? Ye said yourself that he would flee. He will turn into a whirlwind and fly away!” Torag replied.

  “I just changed my mind. Either he is lying and he knows nothing about how to cross the bridge, or we will not manage to get the answer from him this way.” Thuor spoke.

  “Well I know one or two tricks that could help us in this matter, captain!” Torag insisted.

  “No.” Thuor replied. “Just leave him.”

  Torag shook his head in disapproval, then freed the captive. The creature stepped back as he rubbed his neck, then distanced himself from the dwarfs, nodding and looking at them. “I’ve never crossed a bunch of such aggressive dwarfs like you before.”

  “Tell me now, how can we cross?” Thuor insisted.

  “You know I could leave at any moment right? But I’m not going to, let’s do as I say. One silver coin is enough, but you must solve a riddle first.”

  “Here comes…” Torag whispered.

  “Fine, let’s finish this, tell the riddle.” Thuor spoke.

  “First you give me the coin, if you solve the riddle you can pass, if not, I will leave with my coin. I think this is a fair deal, and don’t forget sir crossbow dwarf… If I die you will need to make your way back to where you came from…”

  Thuor shook his head troubled, he took a coin from his pocket and threw it to the creature who caught it in the air and smiled.

  “What for ye want this coin, creature? Are ye planning to buy something, in some store… I guess.” Torag asked with a sarcastic tone.

  “No, silly dwarf! This is for paying travelers passing here when they come with good trade, quite different than crossing with stupid aggressive toughs.” The dust devil replied.

  Torag spat on the ground. “Speak.” He said.

  “Only one of you will answer, and I will choose the one. You!” The creature spoke as he pointed to Olaf.

  The dwarf frowned and then stepped ahead. “Me? Well… fine then. I don’t think it can hurt.”

  The creature smiled and gazed at Olaf’s eyes.

  “Why did he choose him?” Rurur asked.

  “Because he looks like the dumbest one.” Torag replied.

  “Here we go.” The creature continued. “First question is. What is the distance from one edge of the world to the other one?”

  Olaf squinted, trying to find the right answer in his mind. “One day of journey, which is the time the sun takes to do it.” He spoke.

  The creature nodded and smiled still gazing at him. “Fine, you are right, smart dwarf. Now tell me, what is the only thing above the king?”

  One more time Olaf got thoughtful, he rubbed his head and walked around, then suddenly stopped and turned back to the creature. “The crown!”

  “That is right! What a sapient dwarf, now the last one. Tell me master dwarf, what I’m thinking right now?” The creature asked.

  “About defeating me!” Olaf exclaimed.

  The creature clapped once. “Three questions three hits. And now the key for the passing.”

  Olaf laughed as he looked at the other dwarfs, satisfied and proud. But Thuor was serious and stepped towards the creature. “I’m waiting.” He said.

  “Sure. The key for getting rid of this boulder is, water!” The creature said.

  “What? Oh ye silly bastard ye made me waste my time.” Torag said advancing towards the creature.

  The dust devil stepped back and raised his hands in defense. “Wait, what is the problem? I gave you the answer! Just throw some water on the boulder and you will see.”

  “We don’t have any water with us.” Olaf broke in.

  “No water? How can someone enter a desert with no water?” The creature asked.

  Rurur pointed his finger towards him. “So it was really ye! Ye! Ye was there, ye was the whirlwind which took our water!”

  The creature raised one eyebrow. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Come here!” Shouted Torag jumping to catch him.

  But the small devil twirled in a whirlwind of dust and moved quickly. “You foolish ones. Let me show you how to do it!” He approached the boulder above the bridge and spat on it, then stepped back. The boulder stirred dropping dust, the dwarfs looked at it with curiosity.

  “What is this?” Olaf asked.

  The boulder rose, revealing it to be not a simple rock but actually a creature, a creature made of rock, taller than a man and larger than a bear, a curved humanoid being. It stepped towards the dwarfs and growled, the dust creature distanced itself and waved to the dwarfs. “Now, my fellow travelers, it is time for you to deal with it. I promised the key, never said anything about safety.” He turned into a whirlwind and went away quickly. The big rock creature stepped ahead, heavy and threatening.

  “Get back!” Thuor shouted to the other dwarfs.

  Everyone spread out.

  “Circle it and then run to the bridge!” Thuor continued.

  And so it was, the dwarfs made space for the rocky creature, who was revealed to be slow, and when he went far enough away from the bridge they ran towards it and crossed, Rurur was the last one, he ran as he pulled the ram by its rein, but they did not stop running after crossing the bridge and went away farther. The creature itself showed no interest in them, it just sat again above the bridge, blocking the way. When the dwarfs went far enough, they finally stopped, everyone was sweating and breathless.

  “I will tell ye something… If one day I got to meet this tricky sandy bastard again… I would not give him a second chance.” Torag said among snorts as he propped his hands on his knees.

  Everyone was thirsty, but none said anything as they knew that nothing could be done. The company began to walk again, Thuor explained for them that it would take just a little more time to leave the desert and find the fields again, but being thirsty is something that can make anyone downcast, specially when travelling across a desert with hot sand under the feet. As the group advanced the sun went higher, which made the heat even worse, their lips were cracked and their skin was covered by a thick layer of dust. The dwarfs were all silent as they walked when Rurur saw a sand pool moving nearby. “What is this? Quicksand.” He said pointing to it.

  “I saw it during the night, it is just sand bugs.” Olaf spoke looking out.

  Torag was leading the group beside Thuor, at some distance. “No… It’s just your eyes playing tricks on you. There is not such a thing
as…” His speech got interrupted. The ground gave way under him, the dwarf went down to half his body height, leaving the torso, arms and head upper side. “Ouch! That was a heavy step even for a RockFoot!” He said.

  Olaf came close and reached his arm. “And ye say Rurur is the fattest one, even the ground cannot handle ye.” But when he was about to pull Yotag up, the ground under him also gave way, making him sink. “Arrgh!” He shouted.

  Rurur was standing at some distance, laughing and rubbing his belly. Thuor stopped walking and looked at the scene, then came close and reached out for Olaf, again, the soil gave way, swallowing the captain. Now there were three of them stuck in the ground, Rurur laughed even more. “It seems old Rurur is the chosen one to save the day, lest those rascals do not get stuck there forever.” He said advancing toward the others.

  “Ye stay still!” Thuor said in loud voice. “Three are already done, there is only one more to fix this. If we all get stuck in the sand then there will be no one to pull us out, except for the vultures maybe. Tie a rope to the ram and throw it to us.”

  Rurur frowned and turned to the ram, but when he was about to take the rope the dwarfs noticed all the ground around them moving, a large area, as if suddenly the entire place had become a sand pool. Olaf and Torag looked at each other just a moment before a new collapse, and this time the soil ate all the dwarfs. The ground gave way under all and they fell into an underground air pocket, the dwarfs hit a lower level ground with violence among dust. The ram came with them as Rurur tried to hold onto the rein and ended up pulling the animal down the hole. Groans and curses were heard, coughs and sneezing, the air was filled by dust, Olaf stood up first as he slapped himself to get rid of all the sand, the others rose one after another.

  “This heavy big potato bag fell above me!” Torag spoke pulling Olaf.

  The ram was clumsily trying to get up under the weight of the saddle, the dwarfs came to it and helped the animal get up, then gathered some stuff that had spread on the ground, putting it back on the saddle. It took some time for the dust to settle.

  “What is this dirty ghastly hole?” Torag asked.

  “Goblin tunnels!” Olaf said.

  Thuor shook his head. “No… Goblins do not dig like this.” He said as he approached the wall and touched it.

  It was a tunnel, large enough to set the four dwarfs side to side, and its inner surface was furrowed, as though formed by many rings carved into the soil.

  “Who dug this? Rurur asked.

  “Better than finding out who is the dweller is to leave his house before he gets here.” Torag said looking at each side of the tunnel.

  Thuor looked up to the collapsed roof. “It is too high. We cannot climb.”

  “Lets’ throw a hook, and use a rope.” Rurur replied

  “And where is this hook supposed to clasp?” Thuor asked. “No, we must choose a path to follow.”

  They felt a tremble, dust felt from the roof, and a sound of something moving came from one of the tunnel sides.

  “I choose this way!” Torag said pointing to the opposite side and advancing towards it. The others came after him, everyone was hurried, Rurur looked back as he pulled the ram, the group advanced through the tunnel.

  “I was surely not expecting this when I left our warm house!” Olaf spoke.

  “What about the goblins? No one told me I would need to fight goblins, and not just a few but an entire pack!” Rurur added.

  “Ye craven whiners stop complaining about everything.” Torag grumbled.

  As they ran ahead the tunnel went darker so Thuor lit a torch.

  “I’m going to make a formal complaint to the King when we get back.” Olaf said.

  “What about the fees? They forgot about the fees. Did ye get any promise about being paid for risking your damn life in such an irresponsible adventure?” Rurur added.

  “Shut up! Shut up!” Torag shouted as they kept running.

  “Well I’m certainly going to make some kind of plea.” Rurur insisted.

  “Ye can count on this! Someone will get to pay me.” Olaf continued just when they passed by a fork, he looked inside it and saw something that gave him a fright. “By the beards of the Fathers!” He shouted as he stepped back.

  The rest of the group also looked, Thuor lit the way and then everyone could see, a huge earthworm, but not a common one, this one had a big mouth at its front, and in it a ring of sharpened teeth. His fat, bloated body filled the entire tunnel.

  “Wereworm! Run!” Torag shouted.

  Then a great mess formed up, the four dwarfs ran and pushed each other through the narrow tunnel, they could hear the wereworm chasing them while making disturbing noises with its hundreds of little paws, the ram ran so fast that Rurur had to made a great effort to keep the rein and ended up being pulled by the animal. A little further they found another fork and stopped there.

  “Where to?” Torag asked wide eyed.

  “Anywhere! Get out of my way!” Olaf shouted as he came right after, pushing Torag.

  They took the right tunnel and kept running while completely losing all sense of orientation, after a vigorous race Thuor abruptly stopped, making all the other ones after him jam in a row.

  “Why did we stop?” Olaf asked.

  The captain looked back to the tunnel. “He is not following us.”

  The others looked too.

  “So what now?” Rurur asked, sweating and snorting.

  “We must find a way out. Did anyone notice if we went up or down while running?” Thuor asked.

  Torag rubbed his chin while thinking. “Hum… I think we came down.”

  The captain looked to the tunnel ahead. “Anyway we must go up from now on. Let’s go.”

  Then the group advanced again, and after some time, now walking, again they found a new fork. Thuor came to the ram and took an empty bottle from the saddle, he put it on the floor and crouched nearby, watching it carefully. “The floor is quite plain, let’s see where the bottle rolls to.”

  On the first path, the bottle rolled ahead, Thuor took it from the ground and held it towards the other dwarfs. “Ye see? This path leads down.”

  “Seems like the floor is flattened by the wereworm’s belly, that’s disgusting.” Torag whispered.

  Thuor came to the other tunnel and did the same procedure, put the bottle lying down on the floor and crouched to watch it, but after some time nothing happened.

  “It is not moving.” Olaf spoke.

  The captain stood up and began thinking, one hand in his belt and another one stroking his beard. Then he came again to the ram and took from it some beverage bottles, he opened one and started leaking the content from it onto the ground. Olaf understood what he was trying and took a bottle of mead, but was stopped by Torag who hold his arm. “Not all the beverage, keep some for us.” Torag spoke.

  The liquid leaked by Thuor was enough, they could see it flowing back from the tunnel. “This way up!” The captain said going back to the ram and putting the bottles back in the saddle, then he motioned his arm and the group went ahead, the air was stuffy and humid and there was a wet earth smell around.

  “Do ye think there are more of these worms down here?” Rurur asked.

  “At least one hundred, it’s a maggot lair.” Torag replied.

  Now they passed through another entrance, Olaf stopped there and looked inside.

  “It’s not another fork, just a cave.” Thuor said.

  “Wait.” Olaf spoke stepping into the cave. “Light it.”

  The captain came and reached the torch inside the cave. the dwarfs could see many bright points in various colors, shining in the dark against the firelight of the torch. The group slowly entered the room and then they could see the cause, many gems spread around the ground.

  “There is our payment!” Olaf exclaimed slapping Rurur’s back.

  “Shut up!” Torag broke in. “Don’t attract attention to us, we just got lucky.”

  “Well I guess we cou
ld take some time to collect some of these.” Thuor said.

  Everyone bowed and started taking gems from the ground.

  “Oh yes… Yes , yes , yes… My luck is finally changing… Look at this…” Olaf whispered as he collected the gems.

  But soon they noticed that there were more than gems there.

  “Skulls, bones…” Rurur whispered looking around.

  “They are probably the former owners of these gems, better for us, none will complain.” Torag said.

  “I’ve heard many stories about travelers that went missing in this desert, some said they fell into the crack, but now it seems that this was their final destination. Swallowed by the ground.” Thuor spoke.

  “Oh by these damn wereworms!” Torag exclaimed.

  Olaf took a big object from the ground and raised it in the air. “Hey captain, light this, I think I found a big one.”

  Thuor came close and reached out the torch. Then both saw what it really was. “Yeeergh!” Exclaimed Olaf dropping the object on the ground.

  “It’s an egg!” Thuor spoke.

  Rurur swore at the other side of the room. “There are more around, disgusting things!”

  Then they felt a tremble again and a sound coming from behind the wall. It got louder as the dwarfs stepped back, and then suddenly the wall broke right in front of them, from the crack came a big wereworm and it opened its hideous mouth showing its many teeth. Torag threw one gem at it and turned to run towards the entrance. “I’m getting out of this damn place! Stay if ye want!”

  Everyone ran toward the cave entrance and into the tunnel again, the group ran as the wereworm came after creeping at a frightening speed, some gems dropped from the dwarfs’ pockets, the ram trotted and they traveled a long distance until Thuor finally saw sunlight ahead. “It’s an exit!” He shouted.

  The ram outpaced everyone, the dwarfs ran through the corridor and finally went out of the tunnel, back to the surface. Already out there Olaf stumbled on Rurur’s ankle and fell, pulling everyone down with him. The group spread on the ground and then with some effort everyone sat and looked at each other, Rurur started off the laughing that spread among all. Then a portion of ground nearby moved, everyone stood up quickly and ran up onto a nearby rock, the ram was already there when they reached the top, there they took a rest.