“What’s wrong? You look like someone stole your cupcake,” Lyreen said.

“I didn’t want to leave,” Anna replied.

“The festival was over. There wasn’t any reason to stay, lass,” Bralla added.

“I know that,” Anna replied.

“Look on the bright side. You don’t have to look at any more babies,” Elaine said.

“It was only really bad that one time. Bolhild chased them away and told them just to visit the midwives if they were worried,” Anna replied.

“That was one formidable woman,” Barika said.

“You know, she was over a thousand years old!” Anna added.

“I didn’t think dwarves lived that long,” Lyreen said.

“Neither did she,” Anna replied.

“It’s not uncommon for people to live longer than their race’s norm, child. I’ve met humans who are well over a hundred before,” Barika said.

“I have met elders who were older than two thousand,” Lyreen replied.

“My father is older than time,” Anna added, causing everyone to give her a look.

“What?” she asked.

“That doesn’t count!” Lyreen replied.

“Why doesn’t it count?” Anna asked.

“It just doesn’t!” Lyreen replied.

“That doesn’t make any sense. We were talking about how old people are, so I said how old the dreamer is. I mean, you talk about how old your parents are, why can’t I?!” Anna said.

“I only told you how old my parents are so that you would know it was a mistake I was born… OWWW! FUCK! WHY DID YOU PINCH ME?!” Lyreen shrieked holding her side.

“Because you’re not a mistake, and if you call yourself one, I’ll pinch you!” Anna replied.

“They didn’t mean to have me, so what else would you call it?” Lyreen asked, rubbing her side.

“A happy surprise!” Anna replied.

“Fine, I won’t say it. Just don’t pinch me anymore. That fucking hurt!” Lyreen said.

“I won’t,” Anna replied.

“You sound like Barika, you know,” Lyreen added.

“Yeah, so,” Anna replied.

“She told me the same thing,” Lyreen said.

“See what happens when you don’t listen to me, child?” Barika asked.

“You sic your monster on me?” Lyreen asked.

“I did no such thing, child. She did that on her own, and she’s not my monster. She’s our monster,” Barika replied.

“Nobody owns me. I do what I want,” Anna added.

“I didn’t mean it like that, child. I meant that you’re all our friend, that’s all,” Barika replied.

“Oh, yeah, of course I am,” Anna added.

Barika ruffled her hair and then placed her hand on Lyreen’s side, healing the elf who sighed in relief.

“So, what else do you lasses have planned?” Bralla asked.

“Nothing really. We just need to pick up our equipment from the forge, and I believe your husband intends to visit his parents, but after that, I think we’ll be heading out,” Barika replied.

“What about afterwards?” Gilira asked.

“Well, it will take us a year to get home if everything goes well, and then back to work I suppose,” Barika replied.

“Take care of him for us, will you?” Bralla asked.

“We will,” Barika replied.

After walking for a few more hours and talking about mostly nothing, as people tended to do when they liked each other or were nervous, they reached the house and went inside. The men were lounging around and drinking while the children chased each other around the room. Trays of food sat on the long table with dirty plates and mugs lined up at the end.

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Voekeer jumped up and rushed over to Lyreen who met him halfway. They started to kiss immediately. Elaine sighed and headed to the back of the house without saying a word. Anna, not wanting to watch her friends suck each other’s faces, followed the necromancer.

She went to her room and emptied her pack, putting her things away, slowly giving the couples enough time to finish before she went back out to join them. She carried the blessed mug, wanting to show it off to Thokri.

When she reached the main room, she realized that she’d misjudged the amount of time she needed to stay in her room, though it hadn’t been too short, but too long. Everyone else was already there and drinking. She went to the barrels and filled her mug with dwarven whiskey before joining them by the long table for a snack.

“Look what I got!” she said, holding the mug out for Thokri to look at.

He took it and looked it over with a confused look on his face.

“It’s a mug, lass,” he replied.

“Yeah, but I drank the stone one’s own from it, and now it’s been blessed!” Anna said.

Thokri’s eyes went wide, and he just stared at the mug for a moment before looking up at her.

“We don’t know what the blessing does yet, but it’s still glowing brightly with god power,” Anna added.

He looked at the mug for a moment longer before taking a drink from it and then passing it to Lobar. The mug was passed from dwarf to dwarf, each one taking a drink before they returned it to Thokri who went to refill it. Lobar clapped her on the shoulder and grinned at her.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone drinking a whole mug of that shit!” he said.

“I didn’t think you could,” Eriben added.

“I’m not exactly normal, so I don’t think I was supposed to be able to,” Anna replied.

Thokri returned with the mug, and everyone took turns drinking from it and chatting about what they had done during the festival. The men had just sat around watching the children and drinking, treating the whole thing like a break for themselves as well.

They all went to bed after a good bath and fell into a routine for the next few weeks. A messenger arrived, informing them their equipment was ready, and much to everyone’s surprise, no adjustments were needed.

After they returned to the house, Thokri left to visit his parents, leaving the party behind. They spent that time lazing around, doing a bunch of nothing, so much so that when Thokri returned, they were nearly shoved out the door by his family. Bralla joined them on their trip to the gate, stopping just before they walked though.

“Don’t wait so long next time, lad,” she said.

“I won’t,” Thokri replied.

They kissed and then she whispered something in his ear. He stiffened at the news and started to say something, but Bralla just kissed him again and then put her hands on his shoulders and touched her forehead to his.

“Go on, lad. We’ll be fine,” she said.

Thokri sighed. Clearly, whatever she said had upset him, but he didn’t argue with his wife. He just pulled her into a hug again and said aye. They hugged for a while before letting each other go. She turned and walked away. He watched until she disappeared into the crowd before turning back around and heading though the gate without a word.

They scurried after him, rushing through the gate to catch up with their friend. They headed for the warehouse, having decided to skip the foreign market. The goods sold in the market in the city proper were far superior anyway, so they had stocked up there.

They entered the same gate at the warehouse they had when they had arrived all those months ago, and Thokri handed the receipt to one of the dwarves who looked it over and then waved down another dwarf who then led them back to the storage area that contained their wagon.

The door was unlocked, and a swarm of dwarves showed up to prep the wagon and get it loaded. The horses were brought over. They looked well taken care of and even had new shoes. They were harnessed and attached to the wagon soon after.

Thokri signed the paperwork after looking everything over one more time. Anna climbed onto the driver’s bench and took the reins. When Thokri joined her, she gently flicked the reins, and they were off.

When they rode through the main gates and into a hot summer day, a warm breeze blew across her face, and she smiled.

Oh, I missed this.

She looked over at Thokri and noticed that he was just staring off into the distance. Something was clearly weighing heavily on the man.

“Wanna talk about it?” she asked.

“Not yet, lass,” he replied.

“That’s alright,” Anna said.

They rode on in silence. When the sun started to set, she pulled into an inn and parked the wagon next to the stables. They went into the inn once the horses were taken care of and found a place to sit at one of the long tables. The barmaid brought them drinks and took their coin for the meal and their rooms for the night.

The moment she left, her friends started to stare at Thokri. She could almost see their gazes hitting the side of his head. He sighed and then took a long drink of the foamy mug before setting it down on the table and folding his hands near his face.

“I’m going to be a Da again,” he said.

“That’s wonderful news!” Barika replied.

“Congratulations man!” Voekeer said.

The rest of the party chimed in, patting him on the arms and head and telling them how happy they were for him. He smiled and thanked them, but she could tell that something was wrong by the look on his face.

Why is he so sad?

She took a drink and kept watching him. He looked up at her after a few moments.

“So, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just don’t know if I want to be leaving, that’s all,” he replied.

“If you want to stay, then we can go back to the mountain,” Voekeer said.

“No one would blame you for wanting to be with your family,” Barika added.

Thokri sighed.

“Aye, and I thank all of you, but I’m not going back. Bralla told me because she wants me to come home more often, not because she wants me to stay. My life’s out on the road now, and they all know that, so don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright,” he replied.

After a moment, Voekeer grinned.

“You know what this means, right?” he asked.

“What’s that, lad?” Thokri asked.

“We need to buy one of those huge barrels of ale and try and drink it dry!” Voekeer replied.

Thokri let out one of his deep belly laughs.

“I like the way you think, lad!” he said.

Voekeer grinned and patted the dwarf on the shoulder.

“BRING US A BARREL, LASS!” Anna shouted.

The dwarves around them all started to cheer, assuming they were being included in the festivities.

Looks like we’ll need two barrels!