I was walking to the bakery to buy a loaf of fresh bread for our breakfast, when Beldrak found me.

“Here you are, boy! I was searching for you!”

I rubbed my eyes.

“Are my poor senses deceiving me? Am I indeed graced with the presence of the mighty and all-important Beldrak Trueanvil?”

“Yes, yes, I am very sorry that we have ditched you, but as I heard you were doing nicely without us. Take this!”

He put a bracer into my hands. It was made from steel, and white scales were worked into the metal.

“Protection against cold?”

“Not perfect protection, but better than nothing. We made three in the end, one for each of us. We will make good use of these bracers as we are heading north, and the days are getting colder.”

“We? As in you, Jim and me? When was that decided?”

“Yesterday. You remember that sword-hilt?”

“The one made by that Durgeddin fellow?”

“The very same. I was asking around, trying to find a buyer for it. Turns out there is a wealthy noble in Templetown, some baron Alton. The man is collecting the relics of bygone ages, especially those made by famous craftsmen. He has been known to search for weapons made by Durgeddin for years.”

“Let me guess. The man travelled to the North, and you think we should follow him. Why not just wait for him until he comes back, and sell the hilt then?”

“Because he was searching for hirelings who would go to the North with him, shortly before he left. I think he found out where Durgeddin's fort was. The last one, where the orks besieged and ultimately killed him. And I think Alton has good reason to suspect that the some of the weapons Durgeddin forged are still there.”

“And you think that is reason enough for us to go north.”

“You don't agree?”

“One can hire mercenaries anywhere. If this baron Alton haven't found enough soldiers of fortune for his wild-goose chase, he will soon. By the time we catch up with him, he will have no need of our services.”

“Oh, don't worry, he will take us into his service. Otherwise he won't get the hilt, and we won't tell him where we found it.”

“And then there is the problem that I don't really want to leave.” There. I said it.

“Not even for two thousand coins of gold?”

“What?”

“That's a moderate estimate. Baron Alton is wealthy, as I said. Last year he paid eight thousand gold for a group of mercenaries who brought him the shield and the spear made by Fraien Liromag, the famous elf woodcarver. If we find just one of the better works of Durgeddin, we can get at least six thousand gold.”

In the last days I have been thinking what could I do if I stayed in Golden Grove. I was a passable carpenter, a not too lousy mason, and I could also become a guard in the employment of the city. But the payment was laughable in these lines of work compared to what I have earned in the sunken citadel of Oakhurst in just a few days.

“Come on, Arnold! Weren't you the one who was raving about the good payment mercenaries get? And there is more to it than money! There is a mystery too! We will find out what Durgeddin was working on in the far North! Dwarves were searching for his secret holdout for two centuries in vain, and we will get to walk its corridors in a month or two!”

“Unless the orks who killed your great smith-warrior do away with us too,” I remarked. But I was hooked. Appealing to my greed and curiosity at the same time... He knows me too well.

“The numbers of the orks have greatly diminished since the days of Durgeddin. I told you: we have won the war, and since then they have been licking their wounds in the far North. I say again: we stand to make an incredible amount of money on this, and we will find a piece of history that has been missing for two centuries. Would you seriously miss out on that to stay with a girl you have known for a tenday? I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Right.” I made up my mind. “When do you plan to go?”

“As soon as Rhodarr is out of the prison. He will be released tomorrow at sunrise. I have paid him my part for the whole month, so he owes me twenty days of teaching still!”

“All right. I will be at the High Gate by sunrise.”

“You better be son, you better be!”

Lora was already awake when I got back, but still in bed, and still looking drowsy.

“Have you ever fancied making a long journey to the North?” I asked as I put down the still warm bread in the kitchen.

She sat up and stretched her arms.

“I don't like the cold,” she yawned. Then she looked at me sharply, suddenly awake. “You are leaving.”

“I am.”

“I hoped you would stay a little longer,” she smiled sadly.

“I wanted to.”

“But adventure is calling?” she teased.

“That's right, money and fame awaits!” I declared pompously.

“Well, if you do strike rich, I will be right here, ready to be spoiled. When do you have to go?”

“Tomorrow, before sunrise.”

“In that case,” she said, “I happen to still have some free days. I might take one out. What do you think?”

“I think,” I said as I leaned over her, “that this is an excellent idea.”