Without warning, Bragden whirled on Krazzik.

“I done told ye we should have waited until later to offer the bond!” He railed. “But no, ye had to move forward because of what yer gut was telling ye. Honor can only go so far ye know, afore it kills us!”

“I told ye, there be no reward without taking risk!” Krazzik shot right back. “Not only has Glade proved to be honorable, but he commands a slagging royal and a celestial!”

“A treeless celestial!” Bragden countered, but Krazzik ignored him.

“Ye said it yerself when ye got the bonus experience from his tactician skill that he would be good for the clan!” Krazzik yelled back, face going red with anger. “Or did ye happen to miss that these three took out an entire rake o’ Gnolls, its Alpha, and the abyss’s own Black Robe on their own!? An entire Rake, ye gnome haired slagging half-wit! They saved our clan from certain death!”

“Ye can barely call what we have left a clan at all thanks to you and yer risks! And don’t ye dare be callin me beard gnomish, ye sorry excuse for a horn warted goblin! And where be our rewards? Half o’ the clan be dead and rebirthed back at the Crag thanks to you. At least they’re with their families while the rest o’ us be wearing the collars! And now we’re bound to protect the only livin Bei because o’ some half smelted, pig-ironed, plan from the Eight? Just kill me now and get it over and done with!” Bragden yelled back, spittle flying from his mouth.

“I just might, ye ungrateful bellows rat!” Krazzik yelled back, matching spray for spray. “And ye know as much as I, that we were set up from the start! The King’s council never wanted our clan to be formed. There be no other explanation as to how we were taken by the Gnolls! We have a chance now! A real chance to make our clan somethin great! Sure it was a risk to bond the man, but we now have the attention of the bleedin Adjudicators themselves! Besides, we have an astral mage that can bypass slave collars! That alone be worth more than most o’ the clans put together!”

“Aye, but his mana channels be ruptured, remember? He is slaggin useless!” Bragden said, crossing his arms with a dark look.

“Who’s paired with a celestial!” Krazzik continued, ignoring the interruption.

“Who happens to be a treeless first born of the entire treeless house!” Bragden raised his voice a notch. “And its rightful heir, ye chipped moron! A slagging TREELESS!!”

Glade’s anger finally stirred. There was a great deal going on, and if he were being honest, the argument between the two dwarves was beyond confusing, but he had made it absolutely clear from the beginning that he did not like that term.

Before he could step forward, Riya placed a restraining hand on his arm.

“Don’t interrupt,” she whispered, an odd look of excitement in her eyes. “From what I’ve read, this is the first stage of dwarvish politics. To interject now would only indicate you wish to participate in their argument.”

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“He’s bonded to a royal elf!” Krazzik yelled. “There be all sorts o’ benefits for that alone!”

“A Bei, Krazzik! A declared first born by the Eight themselves! Who just happens to be an unregistered Pyro to boot! If word gets out, the tree lovers will stop at nothin to see any and all that had contact with him dead! That includes us now!”

“For cryin out loud, Bragden! The human has all eight brands! There be only one other being in all o’ history to have ever gained all eight!”

“Three, not one!” the bald dwarf yelled back, his face turning a dark purple. “If yer goin to use facts, use the right ones, ye dim witted troll! But even if he has all eight brands, that just means he has the eyes of every last one o’ the Adjudicators! We’d need an army just to protect all o’ us from what they might send at him!”

“Yer as blind as a mole bear and twice as stupid if’n ye can’t see this be a gift from the Mother!” Krazzik yelled, closing the distance between them until they were nose to nose.

“At least I don’t have troll dung for brains, ye kobold loving half breed!”

“I’ve read about this,” Riya hissed, staring intently at the scene unfolding before her. “I think they're about to move onto stage two, brute force.”

“This is normal?” Glade asked. By the look on Kedryn’s face he was just as skeptical.

“Oh yes,” Riya said, eyes never leaving the argument. “Political Machinations of the Crag, by Scho’Fen covers the various stages of dwarven politics. This is a simple confrontation, nothing more than an internal clan debate to clarify the chief’s and his second’s level of commitment.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Glade said, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all.

“It be too late anyhow!” Krazzik roared, bumping his chest into Bragden’s. “The bond be complete! Ye even witnessed as me Second!”

“I know!” Bragden screamed, body checking his chief right back.

“Then why are we arguing ye toe haired halfling!”

“Because, I want ye to know that if’n ye don’t stop to think at least every third moon, you’ll doom the clan!” Bragden yelled back, ramming his head against Krazzik’s.

Krazzik stumbled back from the head strike, which seemed to be the agreed upon signal to enter stage two.

First Krazzik, followed quickly by Bragden, began throwing punches with wild abandon, screaming at each other as they tumbled to the ground.

“This can’t be normal,” Kedryn said, sidling up to Riya.

“From what I’ve read, it happens all the time,” She responded, her attention riveted on the two dwarves grappling. “I wouldn’t worry too much, these things rarely ever get to stage three.”

“What’s stage three?” Glade asked.

“That’s when they pull weapons. It happens, but rarely.”

“Is there a stage four?” Kedryn asked.

“Yes, but a full-fledged clan civil war rarely happens. Now stage five, a full-on blood feud with another clan happens more frequently, but only when there are inter-clan political arguments.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Glade growled, stepping toward the fight.

“No, wait!” Riya cried, barely missing Glade as he passed by.

“Get yourselves under control!” Glade yelled, grabbing both dwarves by their shoulders and hauling them apart.

Pain erupted from Glade’s gut as Krazzik drove an elbow into his side, shortly followed by Bragden stomping on his foot.

Glade staggered from the blows, Krazzik following up with a full on tackle.

Years of marital training took over as Glade went with the momentum. On his way down, he grabbed Krazzik by the collar with both hands, pulling the dwarf with him before launching his assailant into the opposite wall.

Completing his roll, Glade got to his feet, sidestepping Bragden’s attempt to bring him to the ground.

“STOP!” Glade yelled, grabbing Bragden by the back of his shirt as the bald dwarf passed him, yanking him to the ground with a large crash.

Air blasted from Bragden’s lungs into Glade’s face, the sour stench making him gag.

“Hah!” Krazzik wheezed, smiling as he climbed to his feet, a crazed expression reflected back at Glade. “I knew ye were one o’ us!”

Then Krazzik charged.