17: The City in the Mountain

Dwarves have always had a solid reputation among the mortal races, one that I’m sure even you are aware of. Stalwart and solid as the mountains they call home. Renowned craftsmen and builders. Honest and honorable beings. When you head to the mountain homes of the dwarves and meet them for the first time, you would think that all the great stories told about them were true.

Then you meet a greedy, scheming hill dwarf for the first time and wonder if they are even the same species.

Luckily for Thane, the dwarves that carved their homes out of the Crown Mountains were the former. Although he had very little interaction with them during his visit, it could at least be said that they weren't trying to relieve him of every coin in his possession like the latter would.

His visit to the city of the Dwarves would be defined by a series of encounters. An encounter with an old friend would lead to a few meetings that would affect his life greatly. One meeting in particular would have a far greater impact on the boy's future than anyone could have ever predicted.

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-Thane-

“So what did he say?” Thane asked.

Gavin thought about it for a moment before replying, “He said if we surrender and give them everything we have, he will keep us as slaves instead of killing us, and even share some of the meat from our horses.”

Thane sighed, “I’m really not in the mood for this right now.”

The last few days had been miserable. After spending a day resting and recovering in a stable with nothing to do but watch the large mansion burn down, they continued their journey to the deep road. Normally the trip would take a little over a day, if they pushed themselves they could make it a few hours after sundown. But that was before the snow.

For the most part the snow came up below the knees, but due to the winds there were several areas where the snow had blown and piled up over their heads. Either way, having to push through the snow with every step was a slow and exhausting process. Gavin, who was now homeless, was forced to travel with them and was actually quite useful. His unusual magic allowed him to hum or whistle a tune, or even just tell a story and their fatigue seemed to melt away.

The snow however, remained unmelted.

Their one day trip became two, and now as the sun was setting on the second day they encountered a group of Malkin. They were surprised to see them so close to a dwarven settlement, but with all the snow, it was unlikely that the Dwarves would venture out very far to hunt them.

There were a few orcs but they didn’t seem difficult to deal with. The threat came from the ogre that led them...or enslaved them...or kept them as pets?

Whatever the case was, the ogre was large. It was more than a head taller than Stone and twice as wide. Worse, these things were supposed to be extremely tough with very thick hides. What surprised Thane was that rather than immediately attacking him and his companions, it tried to talk to them first using some broken basic words in the common tongue.

Gavin revealed that he could speak Malkin and volunteered to parley, but the parley went about as well as Thane expected it to. He reached over his shoulder to grab the handle of the greatsword strapped to his back and began to channel mana into it. The sheath managed to hide the light the sword normally produced and the ogre looked at him and scoffed. “Listen to me you giant ugly drecca, I know you can understand at least some of what I’m saying. I’m not in a good mood. My best friend died, my favorite bow broke, and I have been cold, tired and miserable for three days now. I’m not going to be your slave and I’m not giving you anything.”

“Thane…” Gavin was nervous, “That's an ogre…”

The ogre laughed and reached down to grab his weapon. With a single move Thane pulled out his greatsword and slashed down. The mana formed into a blade of force that shot forward from his swing and slammed into the ogre across it’s torso. A fountain of blood flew from its chest as the giant was cut from shoulder to waist. He staggered forward a single step before falling face first into the snow.

Given the signal to attack Sarah appeared from hiding and Evelyn charged the standing orcs. “Shit!” said Gavin before shouting at the orcs. “Look out! They are all around you~” the last word extended into a crescendo until he was out of breath. While he held the note the orcs were turning back and forth trying to chase shadows they caught out of the corner of their eyes that only they could see. The distraction was more than enough for the others to finish off the 6 orcs that remained.

Thane walked up to the ogre that was now face first in the snow. It was breathing ragged and clenching it’s fist as it tried to push itself off the ground. “Hm, their skin really is tough, the blow just cracked his ribs a bit.” If the ogre would have had any armor on it didn’t look like his sword would have been able to take it out. He channeled mana into the blade once again and brought it down on the ogre’s neck, finishing it off.

“Hey,” Sarah shouted from a group of trees up ahead, “they cleared out a campsite over here. It should be a good place for us to set up for the night.” The group walked up to the clearing that the Malkin had dug out of the snow and began to set up camp. They managed to get some feed and hay from Troya's stables that allowed them to keep feeding the horses even without grazable land but they were almost out.

While Thane was getting a fire started, most of the others were digging through the Ogre's spoils. It looked like they had been attacking travelers until winter hit. Gavin found a spot to sit and bega talking to Thane. “So that sword, what does it do exactly? You asked me about Seren before, does that sword have anything to do with him?”

“Evidently the sword used to belong to him. I know of two things it can do. If you put your mana into the sword, it can release the mana into a thin wall of force, or blade of force if you turn it to the side. It can also project my voice like your song magic. It makes my words hard to ignore. I don’t know how often I can do it or how much mana it takes, I've only ever used it once.”

“That's all?”

“Well, it is a magical mithril, or...what did she call it? Omnitic mithril? There is no enchantment that makes the weapon itself stronger, but it takes my mana very easily.”

“Osmotic mithril? I suppose that makes sense. If Seren was as powerful as the stories say, it would be hard to find someone who could enchant it strong enough to be more effective than his own mana, and it would allow him to keep recharging the force casting.”

“Do you know how many he could fire off in a row?”

“You’re talking about someone who walked off the stage of history 300 years ago. There is no way to be certain.”

Thane rubbed his chin, “It would be interesting to get a comparison. I can probably only use it 6 times before passing out.” The wood was set up and a few sparks flew from his fingers to ignite the tinder and get the campfire burning.

“Did you guys find anything?”

“No survivors or prisoners,” replied Kisha, “Just a few bones picked clean and smashed scrap. The only thing we found intact was some sort of badge and a hammer-axe thing. It’s heavy, I can barely lift it without magical help.”

Gavin took a look, “That badge is someone's name, Furin. It’s a mark given by the dwarven krigille. It’s a gathering place that gives out jobs to freelance mercenaries. They wear tags with their names on them in case the bodies can’t be identified.”

“This might be his too then.” She pulled the hammer out of the pile and dragged it towards the middle of the camp until Stone walked by and picked it up with one hand. It was a battle axe that had a curved axe blade on one end and a wide blunt hammer on the other. There was quite a bit of iron used in making the weapon and it looked quite heavy.

“I suppose we should bring them to the krigille then. I’m sure someone would want to know what happened to him. How much further until we reach the city?”

“At the rate we are going we should arrive at Ironstad before midday tomorrow.”

“Once we get a solid roof over our heads we can decide what we are going to do next. If we want to keep on with this delivery or not.”

“The rest of the journey won’t be difficult,” said Evelyn, “Most of it will be under the cover of the mountain in the deep road.”

“It’s not the journey I’m worried about, it’s the cargo. Are you telling the truth when you say that you have no idea what it is that we are transporting?”

She shook her head, “All that I know is that it is important.”

“I think it’s more dangerous than important. We’ll talk about it later.”

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They set out early the next morning. Without the proper resources to dispose of the bodies, they left the Malkin corpses in the snow for the scavengers. Towards the end of the morning they finally crested the last hill and saw the dwarven city off in the distance. It was quite a bit smaller than Verda, at least the part that was above ground. The main difference was that most of the buildings that weren’t part of the keep or city defence in Verda were constructed out of wood. Here the buildings were almost exclusively made out of stone. Once you reached the back of the city some of the buildings were carved directly out of the mountainside with stone stairs and trails leading up to their entrances. These buildings went up the mountain by a few hundred meters. There was a large gate leading to the second part of the city which was on the inside of the mountain itself.

To the relief of Thane and his companions, they soon found themselves walking on cleared roads surrounded by snow piled up on either side. They soon reached the gate of the dwarven city, which was a mix of human guards bearing the symbol of Reolve and Dwarven guards with the symbol of the dwarven country.

Thane whispered to Gavin, “What is their country named anyway? I know you said the city was Ironstad.

“Well it's not much of a country. Really it is just three cities and the mines, but they call it Riksten.”

When they reached the gate Evelyn pulled out a series of documents to show the guards and Gavin went to talk to one of the dwarves. He tried to listen in but soon realized they were speaking another language, likely the dwarven language.

When they entered the city, Thane asked. “Malkin and now Dwarven, how many languages do you speak?”

“Um, Common of course, Old Kingdom, both classic and common Elvish, Malkin, Dwarven, Draconic, Infernal and Celestial. Oh and northern Tian. That would be ten.”

Everyone paused for a moment and stared at him in disbelief. “How...why did you learn so many?”

“I like to read and sometimes a few meanings in stories get lost when being translated. So I learned to read them in their native language.”

“Just for that?”

“Yeah, is that strange?”

“A little bit, yes. What were you talking to him about?”

“Oh, I was asking for the location of the krigille. We can go there now if you want.”

“We should stable the horses and find some lodgings first. We should probably take a few days to rest.”

“I agree,” said Evelyn, “we can take care of business tomorrow, lets use the rest of today to rest. We've been traveling for a month now, and since we lost our race against the winter snow I think we can afford to spend some time in an actual city.”

It didn’t take them long to find a decent wayfarers inn with an attached stable and Evelyn brought up another point that Thane had nearly forgotten. “We should sell the horses while we are here as well. We won’t be able to take them with us on the return trip.”

“What do you mean?” asked Kisha.

“We’re going to let the mage Jarrod teleport us back, remember? The more things to teleport, the costlier the spell and the more mana it takes. I doubt he will want to teleport four horses.”

“How much further to our destination?”

“Two days underground then three days above ground. We should probably sell the horses here since we don’t know how well they will handle the deep road.”

“We can worry about it later. We’ll be here for a while so right now I just want to rest somewhere warm.”

Even though it was just past midday, Thane just wanted to rest. The last few days were more exhausting than the previous month so he simply walked into his room and collapsed on the bed. He barely managed to close his eyes when he heard a knock on the door, and the person on the other side was not who he expected.

“Ruby? Lady Astley? What are you doing here? How did you arrive so quickly?”

“Just Ruby, I’m not using the Astley name for now, remember?”

“Yes, but why are you here? I thought you were…” Thane paused for a moment. Now that he thought about it he had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. Was she still being protected? “Well, I’m surprised to see you. Especially since you arrived before us.”

“Yes, I came via magic. I have a message to deliver to you from Castor. He came shortly after we returned to the fortress and it seemed like an important message.” She reached into a pouch and pulled out a sealed letter. “He is the one who raised you right? He said you needed to see this as soon as possible.”

Thane took the letter and used a knife to break the wax seal to open it. The first part of the letter was a simple greeting and letting him know that things were going well and that He and their teacher Maria would be leaving this spring. The important message was soon after:

Thane, I have done some research about that technique you have been using.

When your father called it a forbidden technique I assumed he was referring to

how dangerous the technique was. We have done some research and found

that it is not only a forbidden technique but one of the five forbidden magics that

were named by the council of Attica.

I do not know why the technique was declared forbidden but I need you to realize

how serious this is. Attica is a place where anything is allowed as long as it is

a benefit to the advancement of magic. They create spells that wipe out cities,

create new forms of undead, consume and corrupt souls, and create new and

inventive ways to summon and control demons. I want you to think for a moment

what would cause a place like that to declare a form of magic “forbidden”.

I ask that you come back to Omeric for the midwinter celebration. We can

discuss this and other things further if you wish. I also hear that you have met

with the young Amara. I don’t know how much she has told you so far, but when

you arrive, Maria and I will tell you everything. We also have some gifts prepared

for you that should help you face the troubles ahead.

The contents of the letter were concerning, but not entirely unexpected. He knew what he was doing was dangerous, but he had never heard of the five forbidden magics before. “So what are you going to do now, Miss Ruby?”

Well, the dwarves aren’t well known for having powerful mages, so there is nobody within this entire kingdom that can help me get back. So since the Stone Fox Brigade is currently in charge of protecting me I figured I could follow you around.”

“Are you sure? We have a habit of finding trouble. Deadly trouble. And our current delivery mission is dangerous. I know it isn't supposed to be but I have a feeling something bad is going to happen.”

“Then you should be glad to have a skilled Theurge. I won’t be a burden, I learned how to defend myself, I even had Liam test me before he left.”

“Did you pass?”

“I think so? He isn’t very clear on things. He just kind of knocks you around a bit then tells you why you’re not as good as he is.”

After they parted, Thane spent the rest of the day resting and reading one of Mahs’ old books before falling asleep.

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When morning came Thane had Gavin guide him to the krigille. He also brought Evelyn along to carry that hammer they recovered in her storage space. Even though the hammer-axe hybrid was meant to be carried with one hand, it weighed as much as a heavy maul.

“Just the three of us?” asked Evelyn, “where are the others?”

“Sarah went to the temples to perform a sending ceremony for her brother, Amara, Stone, and Kisha are in the marketplace selling the horses and restocking on supplies.”

“And we get to go to that place?” she said, nodding at the building carved into the cliffside. “I can smell the odor of spilled beer and unwashed dwarves from here.”

“Uh, yeah,” said Gavin, “Dwarven sellswords are some of the rowdiest you will meet, are you certain you want to come in with us?”

“Please, you’re in more danger than I am. You’re not even armed.”

Once she heard where they were going she insisted that the three of them go fully armed. Thane grabbed his armor, bracers and his swords. Evelyn was wearing her cuir bouilli armor despite the damage and had her two swords as well. Gavin however had no weapons or armor. Thane knew he was an apprentice to a powerful mage, but hadn't had a chance to see any magic other than a few minor song mage tricks that made it easier to travel. In fact, he was pretty much knocked out of the fight as soon as it started in the basement.

They walked into the krigille and were immediately assaulted by the smell. Evelyn was right, the smell of this place, while not foul, was fairly strong and a bit unpleasant. Many of the dwarves were seated around the edges talking or gambling. A few were having contests of strength or making plans for missions, and almost all of them were drinking.

“Getting drunk before noon, oddly enough it reminds me of Mersine.” They walked up to the counter that served as both a bar and job posting site. There were several documents tacked to the countertop and piled in a small bin.

“You younguns lookin’ for work? Might have something for ya if you ain’t afraid of spiders.”

“Spiders?” said Gavin.

“Big ‘uns. About one to two meters wide. Like to eat travelers so we get requests to clear them out.”

Gavin looked pale and seemed like he was about to vomit so Thane stepped in. “No, I’m here to return something to you. We found an ogre and orcs camped up by the road. They had a tag with them.” The bartender's face looked grim as Thane pulled out the metal plate.

“That would be Furin. Insisted he could take out the beast by himself, looks like it didn’t go too well for him. Thank you, human. Did you get the beast that got him?”

“Yeah we got him. The ogre is dead.”

“If you and your friends took out an ogre, you’re no slouches. Are you sure you don’t want to take a few jobs while you are here?”

Thane shook his head no and Evelyn pulled out the hammer-axe and set it on the counter, “It wasn’t him and his friends, it was just him. We took care of the orcs.” Thane looked at her confused as to why she needed to make that distinction and she just winked at him in reply.

“Truly?” the dwarf looked suspicious as if he didn’t quite believe her.

“It’s true, I-”

Thane was interrupted by Gavin giving a much more animated response to the question. He couldn’t understand a word of what was being said in the Dwarven language but it looked like he was reenacting the ogre killing for the dwarf behind the counter. The dwarf’s eyes went to the sword on his back before he gave a grunt of approval. “Are you just giving us the axe then?”

“Yes, I am assuming it belonged to the man who owned the tag.”

“That's true, I’ll make sure it gets to his brother as well. I suppose we can at least give you a little something. Can I borrow one of your bracers for a moment?”

Confused, Thane handed over the bracer and the Dwarf took it into the back room. After around ten minutes he returned, and a small golden rune had been added to the metal. “By Forstas you could have told me that this thing was enchanted. Almost blew the stamp outta my hands. This is what we give anyone of our lads who manages to kill an ogre by himself. You ain’t one of us, but consider this repayment for giving us Furin’s axe back.”

Thane reached for the bracer but the dwarf pulled it back out of reach, “Ahh, don’t be so impatient boy, there is one more thing to do.” The dwarf jumped up on the counter and shouted to get the attention of the rest of the krigille. He gave a brief, loud speech to those in attendance in dwarven and finished with an extremely loud shout, “Skaal Thane, jaet slaktar!”

The dwarves all cheered in unison in some sort of toast and drank down their mugs. He handed Thane the bracer, “You didn’t really need to do all that.”

“Ah don’t worry about it. Besides, the faster they empty their mugs, the faster they order more.” He laughed and slipped Thane across the shoulder, “Let me know if you change your mind about taking a job, we’ll be here.”

Thane started to leave when he heard a familiar voice. “Congratulations young Thane, it is good to see you getting praise even if it is from unwashed clumps of body hair half my height.”

Thane looked over to the source of the comment and sighed, “I don’t know if an ugly oversized lizard has the right to comment on another race's appearance. How are you doing Krasus?”

“I’m doing quite well, and I will have you know I am quite attractive among my species.”

Thane was a bit surprised to see the strangely well spoken lizard man here, but if Krasus was here that means that his employer Mersine had to be here as well. He remembered that she mentioned she had ‘one last business deal’ to close before winter, but he didn’t expect it to be with Dwarves. “So what are you doing here?”

“Actually I am pleased to see you here, I was told to gather a few intimidating looking fellows and I think you might be able to help with that. As an added bonus, due to her own rules of business, having you take the request will annoy her to no end!”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about but I’ll come along. I need to thank her for all the help she gave me last time.”

“Um, I’ll meet you back at the inn,” said Gavin, “I need to go to the temples as well. I should do the sending ceremony for my master.”

The lizard man guided Thane and Evelyn to another part of town. There seemed to be more humans than Dwarves here and things started to seem a bit more...at first Thane thought it was more well kept, but he decided the word “superficial” seemed more fitting.

“So who are we going to meet?” asked Evelyn.

“An old friend I’ve known since I was a child. She is a high elf.”

“A what!? Why is... no, how do you know a high elf? Aren’t there only a handful of them left? I thought they were all living in ivory towers or something like that.”

Thane laughed, it looks like Mersine is about to shatter the expectations of another one. “She is a travelling merchant, I wouldn’t get your hopes up. I don’t know what you are expecting, but I guarantee you Mersine is not it.”

“Oh why spoil the surprise young Thane? I quite enjoy the reactions of people whose first encounter with a ‘legendary high elf’ is my employer. She is having a midday meal here. Normally she wouldn’t appreciate an interruption but I think she will make an exception.” They walked into a fine restaurant that seemed like it charged more for a single meal than Thane spends in a month.

He walked them over to a table where Mersine was sitting with another woman. She was a human that looked to be in her late twenties, perhaps thirty. She looked quite attractive for her age and had the same deep auburn hair color that Thane had. She even had blue eyes but instead of the pale blue that Thane and his father shared, hers were a vibrant almost shining blue color. She carried herself with a nobe air, her posture was flawless and straight and she kept her chin high, a stark contrast to the slouching elf she sat across from. Although when it came to comparing beauty, Thane doubted that there was anyone that could match Mersine, even if her personality was left woefully lacking.

When Thane approached, Mersine smiled and beckoned him over. He walked towards the table and it seemed like all the noise around him disappeared, he was in some sort of barrier that prevented sound from passing through. “Thane, come over and sit down! How did you get here?” She smiled slyly, “Did you reconsider my offer?”

Thane chose to match the demeanor of the woman sitting across from Mersine rather than the elf herself. He bowed, “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting. I will return at a later time if I am inconveniencing you or your companion.”

“Not at all, why are you still standing? Sit down, sit down.”

He hesitated and the woman across from her spoke up, “You look like a mercenary but you seem far too polite to be one of Mersine’s acquaintances. Did you have an etiquette teacher by chance?”

“Yes, my teacher Maria was quite insistent that I learn the basics.”

“And what are the basics, pray tell?”

He thought for a moment and wondered why this was so important. He remembered her teachings: Etiquette was the practice of virtues such as truthfulness, self-control, and kindness towards others. And he should always remember, “The core of etiquette is to think of those around you before speaking or acting.”

“A fine answer, I hope you were paying attention, Mersine, he could teach you a thing or two. He’s not sitting because I haven’t assented yet.” She paused to watch Mersine pout for a moment. “Of course I do assent, you can join us. Is he the bekisa you told me about before?”

Mersine smiled and was about to speak before Krasus interrupted, “Yes, she does like to call him that, but now he is here because of the job that Mersine was seeking help with.”

She suddenly frowned and whispered to him, “Again, you are the worst employee ever.”

“Ah, dear lady, if you compliment me too much I will get embarrassed.”

They introduced themselves, the older woman first introduced herself as Serras, who was heading under the mountain to pick up her daughter who had completed a magical apprenticeship on the other side of the deep road. If she had a daughter that was finishing an apprenticeship then she was obviously older than Thane originally thought. Evelyn introduced herself to the two women next, and then when Thane introduced himself the older woman looked at him as if she noticed him for the first time. Her expression was difficult to read, she was studying him intently with a complicated expression.

“It looks like Thane caught another one. I know he's handsome but you are married with three children now. He was lucky enough to get his good looks from his mother. Speaking of which, the new girl is quite attractive, she is quite the improvement. Definitely a sight better than the two village girls that usually follow you around. She’s more ‘bountiful’ too, but I still have her beat there.” She cupped under her own breasts to emphasize it.

“Those are quite impressive, but a bit strange for an elf, are you certain they are entirely natural?”

Serras was trying to control her laughter and managed to compose herself enough to intervene, “Please ladies, could we avoid such crass talk in public?”

Mersine leaned back in her chair, “Again with the etiquette. See Thane, this is why you should be satisfied with just money and fame, never go for noble titles. You’ll have to put up with boring people like her all day. Besides, I took care of the sound, only people sitting at this table can hear what we say.”

Evelyn was, as expected, stunned into silence, and this was a toned down version of Mersine. She hasn’t yet experienced the clingy, uncontrollable, drunk-before-noon High Elf that Bartholemew got introduced to. She managed to get off one quip but then went back to being quiet.

After a few minutes of idle conversation and uncomfortable scrutinization the noble woman excused herself and left the three of them alone. “So,” said Mersine, “I asked Krasus to bring me some intimidating looking guards to hire and he sends me you. I suppose it isn’t too bad, is that Brun still following you around?”

“Stone? Yes he’s in the city somewhere, I could probably grab him and some of the others if you need bodyguards.”

“I don’t need bodyguards, I need people that look intimidating so we don’t have to fight. Three at the most. Sarah has that scary look in her eye that might help, but I think this black haired beauty might do as well. Especially with that scarred cuir bouilli, not only do you look good in it, but the way it is shredded looks like you got in a fight with something big and came out on top. Just bring along the big guy and keep that ogre slayer rune on your bracer turned outward and it should discourage anyone from picking a fight. It’s also good that you don’t have your bow, dwarves see a longbow and they think you’re too scared for an up close fight.”

“Ah I didn’t forget it, it broke.”

She paused, “You ‘broke’ a Davion recurve bow? Do you know how many elves would be horrified if they heard that?”

“Actually it kind of shattered, by the same thing that tore into my armor. We fought and killed a death knight. A chained knight from the old era.”

Mersine looked visibly shocked, “I...guess you’re full of surprises. To kill a death knight and get away with only a broken weapon and scarred armor is an amazing feat.”

“That wasn’t all we lost, Mahs didn’t survive.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, he was cocky, but a good kid. How is his sister handling it?”

“Surprisingly well, on the surface anyway. She’s been very quiet the past few days.”

“Sorry to sour the mood, I suppose I should tell you about what I need you to do. I’m going to a meeting with some people who don’t often do work in public. They have a-”

“Criminals.”

She sighed, “Black market dealers, not criminals. Ok, so that might technically make them criminals. What I'm selling isn’t exactly something that can be transported and sold publicly. The goods aren’t illegal but people tend to-”

“You’re smuggling and trying to find a buyer.”

“You were so polite and careful with your words when Serras was here. Should I be flattered that you are so comfortable around me?”

“So what exactly are you smuggling?” asked Evelyn, suddenly interested.

“Ah, of course, I forgot, you were a Syphus. You know, before you judge me about working with a black market dealer, you should ask your new girlfriend where most of her family's money comes from.”

“I’m not his girlfriend.”

“Harem member then.”

“I don’t have a harem.”

“Of course you don’t”

“Are you going to answer my question? What are you smuggling?”

“It’s not anything that is technically illegal or dangerous, but I’m not going to wave it around in public. If you are really interested I can show you in private later. Anyway, can you do it? I just need three guards and I can pay you well.”

“So you want us to protect you from some criminal thugs?”

“No, I want you to intimidate some criminal thugs to prevent them from trying something. If anything, you will be protecting the criminal thugs from me. I have a few centuries of combat experience, so I can protect myself.”

“Fine, I’ll keep you out of trouble, Krasus should have just told me he needed help babysitting. I’ll track down Stone and be back. Finding a three meter tall man shouldn’t be too difficult in a city of dwarves.”

“Good,” she handed over a small bit of parchment, “meet me here tonight before sunset. Do you mind if Krasus comes with you back to where you are lodging? I’d like to know where you are if we need to change plans.”

“Not a problem,” Thane stood up and Evelyn followed, “I’ll see you tonight.”

Once he was a few steps away from the table he could hear the noise of the city again. “She was interesting,” said Evelyn. “Not quite what I expected.”

“She is usually a bit wilder than that, I’m not sure why she was so restrained. She also seemed upset with you Krasus, what happened?”

“Ah, the reason for her restraint and the reason she was upset with me are one and the same. She has an ironclad rule to keep business relations strictly business. As long as you work for her she will refrain from her usual behavior.”

Evelyn had to ask, “What is her usual behavior?”

“She is usually quite flirtatious with young Thane, partially out of genuine interest and partially to vex the young ladies that usually accompany him. I’m afraid the young man’s chastity is in quite the precarious situation.”

“I see...and he actually turned her down? I’m not certain I would if I were in his position.”

“Indeed.”

“You are surprisingly well spoken for a Bayawak. Usually the lizard men of Teros don’t bother with formalities or learning much of mainland culture.”

“I had an unusual upbringing apart from my more barbaric brethren. I find it quite entertaining to keep playing the role of the well educated savage. I find it confuses most races and I do delight in a bit of confusion and chaos. Don’t let it confuse you into thinking I am not what I appear to be. Believe me when I say that when things get dangerous and I have to perform my duty as a bodyguard, I do enjoy biting into someone's neck as much as the next Bayawak.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

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Later that day Thane left to meet up with Mersine again. Stone had agreed and was following behind them. Sarah hadn’t returned yet, leaving Evelyn to take the role of the tough woman with the ‘scary look in her eye’ as Mersine put it.

“I just realized,” she said, “she never said how much she was paying you and you never asked.”

“Ah, I trust her and owe her a lot. I’m sure it will be fair without asking. Why are you coming though? I don’t think you need the money.”

“Curiosity. She has some goods that are valuable and secret. I want to know what they are.”

They found Mersine fairly easily since Krasus and his large green-scaled head tend to stand out in a crowd. This was the first time Thane had actually seen her dressed for battle. If she was armed as well Thane started to doubt that things would go smoothly. Her armor was of similar construction to Thane’s, with a solid metal breastplate and metal plates placed over various points of the body to protect while keeping movement relatively unhindered. The main difference was that her armor was far more expensive, made of mithril, and strongly enchanted.

She gave a nod as the three approached and looked to Stone first, “Good to see you big guy. I’m not sure how much these two lovebirds told you but I just need you to look intimidating. The only way there will be a fight is if we look weak or vulnerable.”

“Why do I doubt that?” asked Thane, and Stone gave a scoff in agreement.

“The three boys can stand back, let the black haired beauty stay with me. Now that I look at it, it does shine a lovely purple color when it catches the light. Is that common in the Cyphied family?”

“Syphus, please don't get the names confused.”

“Of course dear, now let's get going, we are headed to the inner city.”

The ‘inner city’ was the part of the city that resided on the inside of the mountain. They passed through a large open gate and were soon in a massive cave. Most of it was carved out and there was some sort of faint luminescence on the ceiling. By itself it looked like it was twilight, but a series of torches, lanterns, and light emitting stones that lined the buildings kept the road fairly well lit. They walked up to a plain door that was just attached to the side of a stone wall with no other markings. When they opened it, stairs descended into a hidden tavern below and a second door leading to the back room.

It was there that the meeting would take place. Thane was already a bit nervous. There were many people in the tavern, and they were underground with nothing but a single entrance and exit surrounded by a mountain on all sides.

The back room was surprisingly well lit, more so than the tavern in the front room and was surrounded by ornate carvings on the walls and fine furniture. In the middle of the room was a dwarf sitting behind a mahogany desk and behind him were five armed dwarves. Their equipment and posture reminded Thane of human knights, they wore thick shining plate armor and open faced helmets lined with intricate runes. Each of them stood straight and motionless, with a wide shield resting on the ground in front of them and their hands resting on the top of their shields.

He had to duck slightly to enter the room, and felt a bit bad for Stone who came up behind him. The massive man almost had to crawl to get inside, but Thane was grateful that the dwarves were fond of high vaulted ceilings and Stone was able to stand up straight with just a few inches to spare. Once everyone was in, the door was barred behind them by two more dwarves at the entrance so that nobody could come in and intrude.

The dwarf at the desk was the first to speak, “I am told you have something for me, Elf. I hope you are not wasting my time.”

“Of course not, I have a supplier that wishes to do business with you, I am just an intermediary and will handle the transport of the goods if you are interested.” She beckoned over to Krasus who provided her with the chest he had been carrying. She brushed her fingers against the latch and Thane heard a small pop as the magical lock undid itself. She turned the chest around to face the dwarf and set it on the desk. “The man who discovered the source said he wanted to keep as much of it in Dwarven hands as possible.”

The dwarf opened up the chest and his eyes widened. He pulled out a single ingot and held it up to the light. “It’s...red?” Thane recognized the metal immediately, he had become quite familiar with it in the past month. It was the same red mithril that composed his sword. “Was it found like this? Already infused?”

“Yes, from what I was told it came from the ground like that.”

The dwarf flipped it over and looked at the stamp on the ingot, “This is Arngrim’s seal. So you bring it from the south, the Varlane mines? Where the hell did they find osmotic mithril and what was it exposed to?”

“I couldn’t say.”

He scoffed and set the ingot back in the chest, “Does that mean you don’t know or that you aren’t telling me?”

“Does it matter? Arngrim found a large supply of it and wants to keep it in Dwarven hands. The ingots in the chest are yours, his demands are written in a sealed note inside. If you decide the terms are acceptable I will begin transporting the goods once the roads open up in spring. Obviously that gives you plenty of time to make your decision.”

The Dwarf moved a few ingots out of the chest and found the letter underneath. Just as he was about to break the seal, he was interrupted by a knock at the door. He paused and motioned the guards at the door to check it out.

“Who goes there?” he yelled at the barred door.

“Flower delivery.” was the only response from a sweet sounding voice on the other side.

Confused, Thane looked around the room, most of the others had the same befuddled look on their faces as he did, except for Mersine. She was visibly shaking. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she was breaking into a sweat.

“What sort of nonsense is this?” the dwarf at the door began to curse under his breath and reached for the bar pinning the door closed.

“Stop!” Mersine gathered enough composure to shout a warning at the dwarf by the door. “If you remove that bar, someone in here is going to die. Perhaps even all of us.”