“Glad someone will be,” joked the half Giant to more chuckles.
Everyone milled around for a bit talking about who else might be interested and when they thought they would be ready to leave. Finally, Justin thought it was time to go.
“Something else you should probably be aware of, is how Lucy and I have been, and intend to continue traveling,” suggested Justin.
Justin blurred and turned into a kestrel. Lucy was amused to see awe or envy on every face rather than uneasy acceptance or fear. Perhaps the island was somewhere Lucy would want to visit again once this was over. Although she was pure human, her magical abilities set her apart more than she thought they would. As her powers grew, she felt the distinctions more. She was also curious to meet more Ostrakans and discover their various talents. Could she learn to duplicate any of them? Lucy waved goodbye and melted into a kestrel herself. They flew around the group a couple of times then flew northeast towards the Dwarves.
Chapter 37
Lucy enjoyed the flight as they soared towards the Dwarves.
“That was quicker and easier than I expected,” Lucy commented to Justin mind to mind. “With the Ostrakans, I mean. Did you know it would be that simple?”
“I suspected as much,” Justin replied.
Lucy could sense his amusement even in bird form. That intrigued her. She wondered if real birds felt emotions.
“I was sure it would be easy enough to convince someone to come. I wasn’t sure how many. It often depends on the difficulty of the challenge and what else is going on. We haven’t been paying attention to anything else going on in Kinowenn.”
“We still don’t know how many are coming.”
“It will be more than you think and it will help,” reassured Justin. “Besides, I thought you could use an eager and open-minded group to start with. The Dwarves may not even let us talk to anyone.”
“Should we have brought Kinda?”
“For a normal visit, perhaps. However, if they already rejected her warning, I’m sure she is annoyed. An annoyed Kinda is a hazard.”
Lucy laughed inwardly at the idea of an annoyed Kinda. She had seen Kinda amused, friendly, and eager for battle. She had seen Kinda mildly irritated when she put the bandits to sleep rather than let her have a rousing fight. A very annoyed Kinda, which she would probably be if someone wouldn’t accept her words of warning, was something Lucy wouldn’t mind seeing but certainly didn’t want to be on the receiving end of. Justin was right; it wouldn’t help with negotiations or convincing, especially if Kinda started tossing around insults. Lucy suspected you could only accuse a Dwarf’s mother of being a hamster so many times before the mayhem of an all-inclusive melee ensued.
They continued flying. Lucy’s first glimpse of the Dwarven mountain was awe-inspiring. Even from the air, it was monstrous. Covered in pine trees at the base, it stretched into a rocky monolith. It looked more gigantic the closer they got. She definitely didn’t want to try climbing it. She followed Justin as he descended, wondering why they were stopping so far from their destination. Why not continue all the way to the base of the mountain? Justin melted back into his usual form, and Lucy followed suit.
“Why are we transforming here?” asked Lucy.
“It will make a better impression if we arrive on foot. They will instantly distrust us if we fly to their front door and then transform.”
That made sense. Lucy remembered how it had been with the Elves when she’d jumped everyone across the river. They’d been lucky Ferra had been waiting for them. If only Nolder had witnessed their arrival, they’d likely know what a pincushion felt like.
“It won’t hurt you to walk a couple of miles, flying addict,” teased Justin.
“You’re right, it won’t. Are you sure it will help make a better impression on the Dwarves?”
“I’m not sure anything we can do will make a favorable impression on Dwarves. I’m hoping to not anger them long enough to have our say. They won’t mind if we are in their trade city, but the leaders we need to talk to are in the caves. They tend not to let outsiders in.”
“Optimistic,” Lucy loaded the word with sarcasm.
“Realistic,” corrected Justin without humor. He grabbed Lucy’s hand and led the way north.
It did not take them long to travel to the base of the mountain. There was a well-worn walking path that paralleled the road. The walk was easy, and they were close enough to a Dwarven city to discourage banditry.
“Ethledge,” announced Justin, naming the Dwarven city.
Ethledge lay at the base of the mountain. There was a wall behind the city with one gate, an entrance to a tunnel, leading into the caves. In front, the city was protected by a river. It was fast moving and deep enough to discourage fording. There was only one dock on the west side of the city. There was only one bridge, wide enough for two wagons to pass each other in opposite directions. Most travel into and out of the city occurred in the morning. Since it was mid-afternoon, Lucy and Justin did not have to wait. A Dwarven soldier looked them over and nodded them across.
Ethledge was known as a bustling trading town. Dwarven goods were popular and it was better and safer to control the trade in the city rather than send out traders. People from all over Kinowenn traveled to Ethledge, bartered for a day, and left the next morning. Most of the Dwarves created their wares within the safety of the mountain, but came into the city to sell. The Dwarven craftsmen went back to their homes in the mountain at night. The Dwarven-run inns catered to the guests. Dwarves liked hearty food and ale, so guests were generally fed well. The inns were supported by the Dwarven soldiers who made sure everyone behaved.
Anyone was welcome to visit the city, but anyone not willing to follow the rules was ousted without mercy, if not outright killed. Dwarves liked things simple so the rules were simple. No stealing, cheating, raping, killing, or being overly irritating. To keep things even simpler, Dwarven soldiers were always considered right. It was advisable not to piss them off or complicate matters too much. Wordy, defensive explanations often led to the transgressor being thrown into the river to simplify things. Justin and Lucy needed to find a soldier in charge who would allow a message to be sent to the ruling council. It sounded simple, but that didn’t mean it would be.
Chapter 38
Justin and Lucy paid for a room in an inn called The Stewed Ax. Lucy hadn’t been sure about the name, but as soon as they stepped inside, she was willing to give it a try. The inn was scrupulously clean and smelled delicious. Lucy could smell bread baking and meat roasting. Her mouth watered. They sat at a table in the common room. All the tables were sturdy slabs of oak. A Dwarf approached them and asked what they wanted. He was about four and a half feet tall and almost that broad at the shoulders. He wore brown trousers, a beige linen tunic under a leather vest, and sturdy leather boots. Sturdy, but not steel-toed. He was armed with a long truncheon attached at his left hip. His hair and beard were both long but carefully braided to keep them out of the way as he cooked, brewed, and served his customers.
“It smells amazing in here,” said Lucy. “What’s available?”
“We have a hog on the spit that won’t be ready until later. Right now, we have stew in a bread bowl, beer or wine to drink.”
“We’ll each have the stew please,” said Justin. “What are the beer choices?”
The innkeeper smiled. He loved beer and brewed his own. He enjoyed it when a customer asked which kinds were available rather than simply ordering beer.
“We have a dark beer, a rich, amber ale, and a pale ale heavy on the hops,” he said with pride.
“I’d like the dark, please,” said Justin. “Dwarves brew the best dark beer, and I’m excited to try yours.”
“And for the lady?” he asked smiling under his beard at Justin’s compliment.
“The amber, please,” replied Lucy. She didn’t love beer, but she was willing to try some made by this innkeeper.
The innkeeper walked off to get their order,
and Justin and Lucy discussed how to phrase their letter to the Dwarven High Council. They did their best to be polite, but straight to the point. They wanted to impart the urgency of the coming army without coming across as crazy reactionaries. They had to make their letter succinct. Dwarves had been known to tear up and burn anything they considered too lengthy. The innkeeper returned with their meals and drinks, carrying them deftly in his overlarge hands. Lucy laughed at Justin’s beer.
“What?” he asked.
“It’s so dark and thick; it looks like a pureed steak.”
“That’s the way a good beer should be, a meal in and of itself,” Justin defended his tasty, dark beer.
Lucy looked at her stew. She was beginning to understand what was meant by hearty, Dwarven fare. The bread bowl was a molasses rye bread, thick and filling on its own. The stew was more like a casserole with chunks of meat, carrots, celery, potatoes, leeks, onions, and tomatoes drenched in gravy. It tasted amazing. It was so filling though Lucy was sure she wouldn’t be able to finish. Gavin would have loved it. Justin picked up the last bite of Lucy’s bread bowl and finished it with a smile.
“Now, to find a reasonable Dwarf captain,” said Justin enthusiastically.
Justin stood up and Lucy followed. They left the inn and looked about for the nearest solider. It didn’t take them long to find one. Similar to the innkeeper in build, but less meticulous about his appearance, the Dwarf walked down the street looking for trouble.
“Good afternoon,” said Justin politely. “Where would we find your captain?”
“What do you need the captain for?”
“We have a message for the council, and we thought we needed to see your captain before it could be delivered.”
“That be true,” he said. The Dwarf looked confused. He wasn’t sure he wanted to help them, but he also wasn’t sure he wouldn’t get in trouble if he didn’t help them. The captain did not like being bothered. Finally he decided that if they annoyed the captain, the captain could have the joy of kicking them out. “Captain Reddick’s the one you want. I’ll take you to him.”
Justin and Lucy followed the Dwarf down one road through a busy trading area and took a left. He introduced them to Reddick, an even more formidable looking Dwarf armed with morning stars.
“You have a message for the council?” asked Reddick.
“Yes.”
“What does it say?”
“I believe that is the council’s business,” said Justin trying to be reasonable and polite.
“The council doesn’t like to be bothered by outsiders. Dwarf business is their priority, not the concerns of outsiders.”
“This is a problem that concerns all,” said Justin.
“Then, you should be able to tell me,” argued Reddick.
“Read the message,” said Justin. He was surprised Reddick had such a reasonable argument. He decided the quickest way to get the message to the council was to get Reddick on their side.
“Army, humph,” Reddick snorted. “No army would dare attack us in our mountain. Even if they did, they wouldn’t win,” he said with confidence.
“That may be true, but this is no normal army. If they annihilate everyone else first and then come for you, there will be no one left to aid you when your mountain fails.”
“Our mountain will never fail,” argued Reddick, offended.
“They might be able to make it fall. Collapse it in on top of you.”
“They might be able to do that, but then we would all be dead and have nothing left to worry about.”
“Do you get to make that decision for all or should others have a chance to weigh in?” asked Lucy.
“This says you have proof. I would like to see your proof.”
“It requires magic. Will you allow Lucy to show you?”
“Humgh,” Reddick snorted again. “If you must.”
Lucy led them to the water and waved her hand. She traveled west, showing Reddick the aerial view of the land. She wasn’t sure he believed what he was seeing. She wasn’t sure if it was her, magic, or simply that Reddick tended to distrust everyone and everything. She showed him as much of the army as she dared but did not enter the keep or show him the Shadow Weavers. She kept Trilla’s words in mind. She didn’t need to fall into a Shadow Weaver’s trap. That wouldn’t help anything.
“That’s some army,” agreed Reddick. “They look like they should be ready to move soon,” he observed.
“We agree.”
“How do you know they are coming here?”
“They’ve gathered everyone from the mists. Where else could they go? What else is there?”
“Humgh. I will take your message to the council myself. You’re right, more should hear about this threat.”
“Thank you. We have a room at The Stewed Ax. Would you like us to wait here or there?” asked Justin.
“At the inn, please. It is the council, they may take a while before they decide to meet with you.
Justin nodded and turned to go back to the inn. That was his biggest fear. The council could argue for days about whether or not they should waste their time listening to him speak. After that they would argue indefinitely about whether or not to believe them, if they should do anything about it, and then, what they should do about it.
“We could have used magic to deliver it to the council,” said Lucy. “Or flown in and dropped it on their table.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted to show a captain,” accused Lucy.
“Yes.”
“Are you hoping he will help convince the council? Or are you hoping he will spread the word to others and a group of soldiers might show up independent of the council?”
“I’m hoping for anything I can get. The more people who see that army, the better. Not all of them will be convinced it’s a trick. If nothing else, at least I’ll feel guilt free. I did my best to warn everyone. At this point, their choices are their own.”
“How long do you think it will take for them to make a decision?” asked Lucy.
“Long enough for us to enjoy the room we’ve already paid for,” he replied with a wink.
“Marvelous, I could use a nap,” laughed Lucy.
Chapter 39
Justin and Lucy were in the well-lit common room enjoying slices of roast pork that had spent the day turning on the spit. Justin was drinking more of the dark beer. Lucy had switched to red wine. Lucy was able to stomach small amounts of meat since her meeting with Chester. The pork came with a side of green beans, turnips, carrots, and onions that had been cooked inside the pig as it roasted and a small loaf of wheat bread. If nothing else, Dwarves knew how to cook, Lucy decided. She was almost sorry Gavin had missed this meal. She would have to find a way to bring him there to visit. Lucy had almost finished her wine when Reddick entered, followed by a group of twenty Dwarves. The common room, already at least half full of Dwarves, other traders, noise, and pipe smoke, reached capacity. It was interesting, how Dwarves filled a room, because the room seemed very crowded, but only up to five feet above the floor. There was a lot of open head space, but not much shoulder room. The innkeeper looked like he didn’t know what to say, but he finally found his voice.
“Honored council members, may I offer you something to eat or drink?”
“Is that a pig on a spit I smell?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’ll have that,” the Dwarves behind him nodded in agreement. “I’ll have a dark beer. I’ve heard that’s excellent here.”
This was followed by a chorus of beer requests.
“Do you have something with hops?”
“I like my beer thick enough to chew.”
“Do you have a smooth ale?”
“Cider if you please. Mead if you don’t have that. Ale will do if you don’t have either of the others.”
“Extra pale ale.”
“The dark will do for me.”
“Me as well.”
The innkeeper bustled into the k
itchen and started bringing out food and drink as fast as he could carry it. Lucy watched as the Dwarves enjoyed their meal. She wasn’t sure if the council visiting them here was promising or not, but she certainly wasn’t going to ask while they were eating. She and Justin exchanged glances, but continued their meal as well. When the last plate had been wiped clean with a piece of bread, and another round of beers had been ordered, the council members turned their attention to Justin and Lucy.
“We decided we wanted to hear what you had to say,” said the biggest Dwarf.
“We didn’t want you coming into our mountain,” announced the Dwarf with the longest beard.
“We thought seeing you here was the diplomatic solution,” explained the youngest looking Dwarf.
“I’m here because I like the dark beer,” chimed in the one with a scar down his cheek.
Lucy wasn’t sure how to respond.
“We are at your service,” said Justin smoothly.
“You’d best start with your story and then let the lady do her magic,” suggested the one with the scar.
Thus decided, Justin didn’t waste any time. Dwarves, after a full meal and into their second cup of beer could become bored easily. He summed things up as best he could, ending with the information that Shadow Weavers were behind everything. This news was met with much arguing, banging of mugs, disbelief, annoyance, and from one Dwarf, snoring.
“Whether or not you believe in the Shadow Weavers’ involvement, you should see the army,” interrupted Justin before things could come to blows. One of the many reasons it took the council so long to reach any decision was that it didn’t take much arguing for the situation to deteriorate into physical violence. To reach a final decision all Dwarves on the council had to be present, conscious, and able to count to ten. A fight ending in a few concussions could delay decisions for weeks.
The Dwarves calmed down and watched Lucy’s demonstration intently. As soon as the picture faded in the water, the arguing began again. Most thought the army should be stopped. Some wanted to send help. Others wanted to defend only their mountain. The innkeeper brought another round of beer. Justin and Lucy listened for a while, then stood up. Justin behaved similarly to how Lucy had dealt with Joss’s ministers.
Ravs Are Rarely Wrong: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol III Page 27
