Thordr pushed his chair away from the table and stood, rubbed his full stomach, and turned and walked toward the right wall. The others stood and followed, with Caleb in the lead as usual. They left the loud and raucous celebration hall and entered one of several tunnels in the wall. The arched tunnel was only seven feet high and four feet wide. The floor was smooth and mostly flat, as were the walls and ceiling. Spence couldn’t determine whether the passage was hewn out of the mountain or was a natural lava tunnel.

The tunnel had torches spaced on each side at thirty-foot intervals. The flames danced as they passed, causing shadows to leap wildly. The tunnel led downhill on a gradual slope. After a couple of hundred feet, they came to a thick, locked wooden door. It had an old worn bronze handle with a lock underneath. Thordr fished inside his breastplate and brought forth a chain of keys. He chose the correct one on the first try and unlocked the lock. They all walked through, Thordr grabbing a torch off the wall on the near side and then locking the door behind them.

This tunnel didn’t have any torches, and the grade was much steeper. Thordr’s torch barely illuminated the entire party. Another door blocked the tunnel after a hundred feet. Thordr chose another key on the chain and unlocked it. Once again, he allowed them all to pass through, and then he entered and locked the door behind him.

On this side of the door was a smooth, circular room twenty feet in diameter and with a ten-foot-high ceiling. There were no other entrances or exits. The walls, floor, and ceiling were so smooth they shone like obsidian in the torchlight. A chain with a sconce attached hung from the middle of the roof, six feet off the floor, where Thordr placed the torch. A half a dozen solid wooden chairs sat in a circle beneath it. Thordr sat in one and beckoned the others to do the same.

“This is the heart of the mountain?” Caleb asked.

“As far as the gods are concerned, this is a place where dwarves can meet without fear of being heard or seen. Or at least we assume so since the gods have not struck us down for what we discuss here.”

The room reminded Spence of Titus’s river cave. That encounter seemed months ago.

“We do not have much time. Tell me everything you know of this world and the other races. Did they have similar safe places?” Thordr said.

Caleb glanced at the other three and received a combination of shrugs and nods. He told the entire story, including their secret meetings with Titus and Illexya. Spence and the others inserted comments here and there. Thordr leaned forward and listened attentively, stroking his thick beard absently.

Thordr finally leaned back in his chair when they finished. He stared up at the torch in silence for a moment. “Well, as you can see, we too are the gods' creations—abominations if you ask me. We also cannot reproduce, and new dwarves just show up on our doorstep to replace our dead. There are one thousand of us.”

Spence thought the tunnels must go deep inside the mountain to house a thousand dwarves. “What is the point of it all?” he asked.

“I do not know. Although Odin has appeared to me in dreams and mentioned we too would receive a leader who would lead us into a great battle for control of our world.”

“When did Odin mention the leader and battle?” Spence asked, leaning forward.

“Very recently. But I think it is only another game of the gods. Perhaps they are bored with our world or the quests and just want to have the races fight and kill each other for entertainment,” Thordr replied somberly.

Spence exchanged glances with the others at the mention of ‘entertainment.’

“What does Odin look like?” Trey asked.

“He is stocky and muscular like us but much taller. He wears armor similar to yours, with a horned helmet, and has long blond hair and a blond beard,” Thordr said.

“So, you think the gods are real?” Caleb asked.

Thordr laughed half-heartedly. “Unfortunately, yes. Like the Nephilim you mentioned, we have had our share struck down for speaking out against them. Odin also placed the special helmets in my chambers last night while I slept. They are real, like it or not.”

“What will you do if this leader appears?” Trey asked.

Thordr tugged on his beard in a way that appeared painful. “We will not have much choice. We will have to follow him into battle.”

“Why, if it’s all just for the gods’ entertainment?” Caleb asked.

“It might be their entertainment, but it is our lives and deaths. If a leader comes to us, chances are the other races will have one too. There will be a war. We will have to either fight or surrender. Dwarves do not surrender. We will win or die fighting,” Thordr said.

Spence made a mental note of Thordr’s words. He didn’t doubt the sincerity or that all his people probably felt the same. He didn’t sense the same resolve in the Nephilim of Argos. The elves had been harder to read.

“What do you think about the Medusa?” Morgan asked.

“I do not know,” Thordr replied. “There is bound to be something in that cave. It is strange the gods want to aid you. No party has made it this far, and other than the initial equipment, the gods have never seemed interested in the welfare of the questers. In fact, it seems they make it impossible to succeed. I would just say to keep your eyes and minds open. You cannot trust the motives or intentions of a god; that much I know for sure.”

“Do you know what weapons or other abilities it might have?” Spence asked.

“No. It does not sound like anyone has made it past getting turned to stone.”

“What do we do after we defeat the Medusa?” Caleb asked.

“Continue south out of the mountains and into the Forsaken Swamp. Seek out Qishti in the town of Abzu. I do not know them well, but they are a strange bunch—stranger even than the elves.”

“And then?” Spence asked.

“You will have to defeat some type of beast when you reach the Forsaken Swamp. But after that, if you survive, you should have completed the gods’ quest.”

“And we’ll get to go home?” Morgan asked, a tinge of excitement in her voice.

“As I said, I would not trust the gods. Just keep your eyes open and try to stay alive.” Thordr stood and removed the torch from the hanging sconce. “I will lead you to your sleeping chambers. In the morning, I will ensure your packs are full of food and drink and give you the helmets.”