We weaved our way through the city. We all sat quietly in the cart, enraptured, and even Calk seemed impressed by the gnomen city. Some were connected by arching bridges, and I could see gnomes traveling across them. As I looked behind us, I realized we were moving down, and it was then that I realized that the city was built on a downward slope, which drove deep into the mountain.

The road we traveled on was impressively smooth, and it was odd not to have the cart buck and jump as it did on the poorly built roads we had traveled on before. The road was made of smoothed and flattened stones, and the slant was small and gradual.

Everywhere I looked, it seemed as though gnomes were building or working on something. Hammers chimed all around us, and sawing grated in the air. But there was also cooking, sewing, and various other industries mixed among the people. Huge pots bubbled, and the smell of strange scents, which reminded me of garlic and herbs, made my mouth water as we passed by.

Every once in a while, a gnome would look up, catch my eye, and stare, but the crowd never returned, and life within the city seemed too busy to be concerned with us for too long. It seemed as though there was simply too much work to do.

As we moved down the slope, we entered a cavern, but the size of it was like nothing I had imagined. It was as if some immensely large creature had reached a hand into the mountain and scooped out the inside. The space within the mountain was nearly as large as the city behind us, but the buildings within were nothing like the outside.

The cavern was dark, lit only by strange stones hanging from tall sticks that illuminated the road and other points before us. Hundreds of these stick posts were spread around the cavern, creating a strange field of light.

We all got off the wagon and looked around. At first, I could not tell what I was looking at, but once my eyes adjusted to the dim lights spread about the cavern, I realized I was staring at the remains of a city. Huge walls sat amidst the ground with sections crumbled and caved in. The stone buildings that still stood seemed blackened and scorched.

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Calk looked around with an air of curiosity. He walked forward a few paces and picked up a piece of stone from the ground. He rubbed at it.

“Why have you not rebuilt it?” Calk asked.

“It is a reminder,” said King Feer. He dismounted from his small horse, and then he walked forward, putting his small arms behind his back. His bright red robe trailed in the dusty ground of the cavern as he walked forward. Then he turned. To my surprise, he was looking at me.

The king moved towards me, and I stepped back involuntarily. The king didn’t reach my waist, but his presence seemed to fill the room. I also remembered the easy way he had rested his hand on the battle axe. “Who is the child?” asked Feer.

“I made a promise to you, did I not?” Calk turned and gestured back to where we had come from. “The ice wall would protect you. It would be your shield. But when the time came, I would bring you a weapon.” He now looked down at Feer, with a feverish intensity in his eyes. “And I have been looking for this weapon for a very long time.”

“So again, I ask you why you have brought—” Feer interrupted, but Calk held up his hand impatiently and continued.

“Inside this child, Feer, is the power to destroy the Chantry.”

The king stared at me for a moment. I could not tell if he was bored or mildly interested. Then he turned to Calk and narrowed his eyes.

“And what do you want in return?”

Calk smiled, and the grin reached up to his bright eyes. “I want the sword.”

It was then that I remembered why we had started the journey in the first place. Rebert had told me we needed a weapon. And now, the pieces started to fall together, but not how I suspected.

I turned to Rebert to see if he had made the connection. His eyes flicked over to look at me, but he quickly looked away with no sign of emotion on his face.

“And what makes this child so dangerous?” The gnomen king looked up at me with his cold grey eyes, and I could tell he was not impressed.

“He’s an elf. He can wield high magic.”

King Feer frowned, and his queen stiffened. There was suddenly a nervous tension in the air. “I thought the elder elves were dead. You told me as much yourself.”

“They are. This was the last one.” Calk put a hand on my shoulder, and I could feel the strange icy coldness of the man’s bony hand through my coat.

“But I’ve brought you one that is alive, and you can have him.”