The Hammer of Fire (32 page)

“That sounds fine,” said Uldex as they
followed the woman down a long corridor and passed a number of
doors each neatly marked with strange lettering. “Oh, and what is
the name of this town? Do the amulets let you read as well as
understand?”

“You’re in the city of Relm in the kingdom of
Shandoria,” said the woman with a smile. “Just in case you didn’t
know that. As far as I know the amulets only work with sound but
I’ve heard that there are more powerful ones for reading and
writing. If you’re heading south the five volcanoes are up against
the Southern Sea. If you’re a fisherman you might think about
chartering a ship and heading out to sea. Most dwarves don’t much
take to the water as I remember.”

“No fishing for me,” said Carus with a shake
of his square head, “I’m not a swimmer, more a sinker as I recall
when I fell into that stream chasing darklings.”

Uldex laughed, “No, not much of that where
we’re from. Still, it’s something to consider.”

“Where are you from?” said the woman as she
arrived at an oak door banded with a lighter pine and pushed it
open to reveal a large room with two comfortable beds covered by
thick blankets and soft sheets.

Carus’s eyes opened wide as he saw the room,
“All this?”

“It’s not our best suite but it’s not bad,”
said the woman as she laughed and gave the wood door a little smack
with the palm of her hand. “We have good clean rooms here at the
Feathered Serpent. You said you were from the north? I don’t know
any dwarf realms up that way but I’m sure where there are mountains
there must be dwarves.”

“It’s pretty far away,” said Uldex as Carus
walked into the room and began to run his hand over the wooden
dresser on the far wall. It was at least six feet high with half a
dozen heavy drawers made entirely of wood. Even the handles were of
the same material and Carus caressed them gently.

“I’ve never seen this much wood before,” he
said while shaking his head. “I bet this is what the First Edos
chamber is like.”

“Shut up, Carus,” said Uldex and smiled at
the woman. “Call us when the baths are ready please.”

The woman nodded her head and left the room,
closing the door behind her without a further word. Her hand went
to the pure silver coins in her pocket and she smiled broadly.
Hopefully they dwarves would be in town for a while before they
headed south.

Uldex walked across the room in two quick
strides and smacked Carus on the head, “Don’t be an idiot.”

“You’ve never seen this much wood before
either, Uldex. So don’t go trying to pretend you aren’t
impressed.”

“We just walked through a forest. What do you
mean you’ve never seen so much wood?”

“I mean, all carved into doors and such,”
said Carus with a shrug of his shoulders. “It doesn’t count when
it’s just a tree.”

“Why wouldn’t that count?” asked Uldex and
then immediately shook his head, “Never mind, just get ready for
your bath and stop talking. I need to think. We need to keep out a
watch for Cleathelm and Blaggard and there’s always the possibility
that we’ll meet up with Milli and Dol. We are much closer to the
Five Volcanoes than I could have hoped. That means all the others
are likely nearby and they could be in this town, Relm, as well. We
need to keep a low profile and that means not talking too much
about where we’re from.”

The other dwarf stopped talking and began to
unpack his gear into the wooden drawers, “Cleathelm’s too stupid to
ask if there are any other dwarves around. Anyway, they have no
reason to suspect that we’re following them, the same for Dol,
Brogus, and Milli.

At that very moment downstairs, at the front
desk, Milli, Dol, Petra, and Brogus stood in front of the woman
asking about accommodations as she looked strangely at the silver
coins they gave her.

“Is anything wrong,” said Milli with a little
frown.

“No, nothing,” said the woman and looked
first at Milli and then at Dol who wore a hood over his head as the
apple growth seemed to be accelerating and the color of the little
fruits brightening. “They’re just unusual looking coins is all.
Where are you from?”

“The far north,” said Milli a pleasant smile
returning to her face. “We’re just travelers in the region. You
don’t know a place with five volcanoes nearby by any chance?”

The woman looked up with a startled
expression on her face but then smiled broadly, “As a matter of
fact, I do.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” said Milli putting on
her best smile and looking over to Dol, Brogus, and Petra. Even Dol
looked up from under the hood he wore tightly over his head. “Can
you give us directions or maybe even tell us how to hire a
guide?”

“They’re not hard to find,” said the woman
with a laugh. “Just head due south and you’ll get to the Southern
Sea in a few weeks if you’re on foot and faster if you have horses.
From there anyone can guide you to the Five Sisters.”

“Do you know anything about the people who
live in that region,” said Dol as he pulled back his hood to reveal
a wild forest of hair interspersed with noticeable little reddish
tinted apples.

“Dol,” said Milli as her eyes opened wide.
“It’s grown since yesterday and the apples are getting bigger!”

“What are you?” said the woman at the counter
with her mouth agape, and she took a step back from the
counter.

Dol looked up at her slowly and he glared
through eyes narrowed to slits, “A dwarf,” he finally said and
continued to stare at her.

“She didn’t mean anything, Dol,” said Milli
noting the simmering rage and taking him by the arm.

“Then why did she say it,” said Dol putting
his hand on the haft of his hammer and glaring at her. “People
shouldn’t say things they don’t mean.”

The woman’s eyes were wide open now as she
began to stammer out apologies, “I’m quite sorry, sir. I was just
surprised by your appearance. You must admit that it is somewhat
unusual. My apologies of course.”

“See, Dol,” interrupted Brogus as he put his
hand on the shoulder of his friend. “It’s nothing, my friend. Let’s
take a room and get some rest. We’re all a little cranky from such
traveling about.”

“I won’t stay here,” said Dol as he spun
around and walked out of the inn without a further word.

Petra shook her head and looked at Milli who
in turn looked at Brogus. “I’m so sorry,” said Milli to the woman.
“We’ve been traveling for a long time; he’s upset a lot
lately.”

The woman nodded her head although her hands
trembled and her face was quite white as she tried to wave it off
with a little motion of her hands, “I understand. I didn’t mean
anything, it’s just you don’t often see someone with apples growing
in their hair.”

“He’s a little sensitive about them,” said
Brogus with a deep chuckle.

“Can you recommend somewhere else for us to
stay,” said Petra with a kindly smile as she patted the trembling
woman on the hand.

An hour later the four travelers were in a
room filled with wooden furniture and were admiring their
accommodations. “I’ve never seen the like,” said Brogus, his hand
running over the wooden bed frame. “Wood support, wood frame, wood
dresser, wood handles, it’s richer than even a High Council member
could afford and for less silver than I’d pay for a good stout in
Craggen Steep.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t mention that place too
often,” said Milli as she too admired the wooden fixtures around
the room. “Petra’s and mine is even nicer.”

“Yeah,” said Brogus with a grin as he
continued to move his hand over the wood grain. “Girls always get
better rooms. It’s not fair.”

“We ladies of refinement need more space,”
said Milli and let loose with a girlish giggle.

Dol sat in the corner and ran his fingers
through his hair pulling out the occasional little red apple and
tossing it into a waste bin, but he remained silent.

“Oh, Dol,” said Milli. “Stop moping around.
We know you didn’t want to come to town but we’ve found out where
the Five Volcanoes are and it’s only a couple of weeks of travel
from here.”

“It’s probably shorter than that,” said
Petra. “That woman at the first inn didn’t know about the quality
of our horses.”

“That’s true,” said Milli smiling brightly.
“See, Dol. Now we know exactly where to go and how long it’s going
to take us. So coming to town saved us time. We’ll be there before
you know it and your quest fulfilled.” She walked over to Dol and
patted him on the shoulder.

He looked up at her with a glare for a
moment, then his eyes suddenly softened, and he lowered his head so
that his chin all but rested on his chest. “I don’t know what comes
over me,” he said in a quiet voice. “I get so angry now and I can’t
seem to make myself stop.”

“It’s okay, Dol,” said Milli and rubbed her
hand along his shoulders. “We’re under a lot of strain and we’re
getting close to the end of the quest. Once we finish then things
will go back to normal. We’ll go back to Craggen Steep as heroes.
Maybe we’ll meet up with Corancil and his messenger friend.”

“It’s not just the stress of the quest,
Milli, you can’t or don’t want to understand,” said Dol in a
snappish way and then he shook his head and smiled. “See, I just
started to get angry again, for nothing, for no reason at all. For
some reason I want to look at everything like it’s an insult.”

Everyone sat silently for a while before
Petra broke the lull, “The sooner we get to the Five Sisters the
better,” she said and walked over to give Dol a pat on the back.
“The question we haven’t answered is what do we do afterwards?”

“If we’re alive,” interjected Brogus with a
laugh.

“If we’re dead that question won’t concern
us,” said Dol with a smile.

“See,” said Milli. “Maybe you do get angry
more quickly but you tell jokes and smile too. You used to be a bit
of a party poop, admit it.”

Dol shrugged his shoulders and glanced down
at his blackened hand, the darkness now spread partially up his
wrist and onto his arm, “I suppose it’s partially the strain of the
quest. Once we finish maybe things will go back to normal.”

“I’m sure you’re right, Dol,” said Milli
although she glanced at his discolored hand and arm. She thought
about saying something but decided against it. “Only a couple of
more weeks at the most. There’s nothing to stop us now.”

“But what about after?” repeated Petra
looking over at the two dwarves and the halfling girl. “Milli, you
say we head back to Craggen Steep but without the portals that
could take years and years. We have plenty of gold to stay here in
the south and settle.”

“There’s nothing much for us back at Craggen
Steep,” said Brogus with a shrug. “I’m with Petra.”

Milli shook her head, “It would be different
once we defeat Gazadum. We’d be heroes and things might change with
Corancil and the invasion. The High Council might agree to allow
dwarves to take part in the invasion. It would be a whole new
world.”

“We’d be heroes here as well,” said Dol
looking up with a light in his eyes. “With the hammer, people would
follow me and with the northern invasion they’d need a leader.”

“What are you saying, Dol?” said Milli
turning towards her companion. “What do you know about being a
leader, a general of armies?”

Dol shrugged, “You have to start somewhere
and people will follow me. Once I slay Gazadum I’ll be able to
stake a claim. Why go back to Craggen Steep? Why join Corancil? We
could create our own kingdom here in the south.”

Petra shrugged her shoulders, “He might be
right, Milli. The north is years away for us.”

“But we promised to report back to the
messenger,” said Milli with her hands on her hips. “A promise is a
promise.”

“Isn’t an Apprenticeship Contract a promise,”
said Brogus with a wan little smile. “We broke that, didn’t
we?”

“That’s different,” said Milli but offered no
explanation as to why.

“My mind is settled,” said Dol with a faraway
look in his eyes. “You can do as you will. As I’ve said before it
might be best to let me go on alone. It’s dangerous and if I
succeed then we all benefit. If I die then you can continue
on.”

“No, Dol,” said Milli defiantly putting her
hands on her hips and turning to face him directly. “We’re together
to the end, not matter what. We can talk about all this after we
get to the Five Sisters or whatever they’re called.”

Back at the Feathered Serpent Cleathelm and
Blaggard approached the desk only a few minutes after Dol and his
friends left in a huff. The woman behind the counter spotted the
dwarf with the strange look to him and immediately shook her head,
“Don’t tell me, you’re looking for Five Volcanoes?”

Braggard stopped suddenly, his mouth opened
wide, and Cleathelm looked at her with a puzzled expression on his
face, “What do you mean?”

“Shut up,” said Blaggard and poked him in the
side.

“Don’t poke me, miserable cur,” said
Cleathelm and backhanded him across the jaw with a quick motion
that sent the half-breed goblin reeling across the room where he
stared at Cleathelm with lowered eyes and a grimace.

The woman behind the counter raised her
eyebrows but remained silent.

“We need a room,” said Cleathelm and pulled
out his purse and tossed a couple of large gold coins onto the
counter.

The woman’s eyes opened wide as she stared at
the coins before she regained her composure, “Let me put that on
the scale,” she said and put the coins onto the little scale that
remained on the counter from the previous guests. The scale
immediately plummeted to the bottom of the counter with a thunk.
“Is this real gold?”

“What other kind is there,” said Cleathelm
with a sneer at the woman. “Haven’t seen the like before down here,
eh?” He turned to Blaggard who still gazed at the dwarf with a
snarl on his face. “Heathens and barbarians in the south. They
don’t even know what real gold looks like.”