The mountains loomed ahead of them as Brian, Grisha and Karen walked down the road. It had been a week since they had last been in a town, though they had found a couple of villages to stay in along their route. They hadn’t stayed for longer than a day each time, though, usually completing the hardest Quest in the area that they could for the local Adventurer’s Guild, before sleeping and moving on the next morning. Now they had finally reached the borders of the Dwarf Lands.
“Names and reason for visiting?” the dwarven guards at the small gate house alongside the road hummed, looking over their group suspiciously.
“I’m Brian, and these are Grisha and Karen,” Brian said, pointing to each woman in turn, “We’re Adventurers.”
“I see,” the guard huffed, “Well, you can’t enter without a good reason. What is it?”
“Oh, I have a letter of introduction,” Brian said, pulling the folded paper from his bracer and handing it to the guard, who inspected it quickly, before cracking the seal and scanning over the document.
“Ah, right,” the dwarf blinked, handing the letter back and bowing, “I apologize for keeping you three, I hadn’t realized you were Steel Ranks on a Quest from a Guild Master. You can go right through.”
“Thank you,” Brian smiled as they walked through the simple gate, a chill wind immediately blowing on them as they passed, “Well, I didn’t expect that.”
“The apparent Quest we are on, or the ease with which we passed the gate?” Karen asked, Brian nodding.
“I figured the Guild Master would do something like that,” he said, “But yeah, that was maybe a little too easy to get through. I wonder what kind of Quest it is?”
“Then why not read the letter?” Grisha hummed, “It is opened already, so there can be no harm in it.”
“True,” Brian sighed, pulling the letter from his bracer again and reading over it, “Oh, that sneaky son of a bitch.”
“What?” the two women asked, looking at Brian as he slapped a hand to his face in exasperation.
“We’re to report directly to the Adventurer’s Guild in the capital city of Vashklehom for the next part of our Quest,” Brian sighed, “No other information, just that and a number of passes to get through gates and stuff.”
“Vashklehom?” Grisha hummed, “That will likely be a week’s journey through the tunnels, at least. Seems we still have a lot of walking to do.”
“You know the place?” Brian asked, Grisha nodding.
“I know of it, at the least,” she explained, “From the books I had to study as a child. As the one and only capital city of the dwarves, it is a grand and expansive underground settlement, carved into the very stone of an active volcano.”
“And they somehow use the lava in their smithing, or something, right?” Brian muttered, the girl nodding again, “Right, well, let’s just get going. There’s probably a place to enter at the end of this road.”
------
“And we’ve made it,” Brian said as the party arrived at the gates to what looked like a fortress built into the side of the mountain, various tents and shacks set up around it as numerous people milled about, “Livelier than I thought it would be.”
“These people are probably travellers and Merchants waiting for permission to enter the Dwarf Lands proper,” Grisha nodded, looking around at the eclectic mix of fashions, some basic and ragged, others fancy and well-kept, “We should head straight for the gate, though. With the entry permissions the Guild Master gave us, we should be able to enter right away.”
“Good point,” Brian nodded, already walking towards the large iron portcullis set into the stone fortress.
“Well, blow me down,” the familiar old voice called out, Brian pausing as he turned to its source, spotting the Merchants as they walked up to him, “If it isn’t our old Mage friend from all that time ago!”
“Gustus?” Brian blinked in surprise, “What are you doing here?”
“Trading, what else?” the old man chuckled as his apprentice stood behind him, looking at Karen in awe, “There’s good deals to be made outside these gates, and even better ones inside. Though I doubt they’d ever let us in.”
“Why is that?” Brian asked, the old man chuckling as he explained.
“Not enough money,” he shrugged, “Our cart is pretty worn down, and the dwarves are a frugal lot. To even get a trading license for inside the tunnels, you have to fork over an entire plate! And that doesn’t even cover the entrance fee!”
“I see,” Brian nodded, about to turn away before he got an idea, “Maybe I can help you with that?”
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“You, help us?” Gustus laughed, “I knew it was a smart choice to help you out all those weeks ago! What can we do for you in exchange?”
“Master,” Lucas said, dragging his eyes away from Karen long enough to speak, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I am sure the Sir Brian has his own ways of getting into the underground. Perhaps we shouldn’t impose?”
“Nonsense, he offered,” Gustus chuckled, slapping the younger man on the shoulder, “And I’m never one to turn down a descent offer! So? What’ll it be?”
“I’ll give you some money,” Brian said, pulling a single gold plate from his bracer, the two Merchants staring at it in shock and more than a little greed, “Call it an investment. I want as much magical material as you can get your hands on, particularly metals.”
“Why?” Lucas asked, looking at Brian suspiciously.
“I want to try something with them,” Brian shrugged, “It’s an idea I’ve had for a while, but I want to see if it will work.”
“Well then,” Gustus hummed, wiping the drool leaking from the corner his mouth off on a sleeve, “We can certainly do that. May have to buy a new wagon to carry it all, though. Ours won’t stand the weight.”
“Fine by me,” Brian nodded, handing over the gold plate to the elderly Merchant, “I’ll give you the money inside. Get your things together, we’ll meet you at the gate in an hour.”
“An hour? Done!” Gustus hummed happily as he slipped the plate into his own storage ring, “Pleasure doing business with you, as always, Brian!”
“Why do you want metal?” Grisha asked, Brian smiling as he explained.
“Do you know what a wand is?” he asked, the girl nodding.
“It is a practice tool for magic users,” she said, “They are like simple staffs that have an enchantment that assists in casting magic for those who struggle with their Abilities.”
“Right…wait, really?” Brian blinked, Grisha nodding again, “Huh, didn’t know that. Well anyway, my plan is to try creating a wand that acts like a scroll but doesn’t get used up immediately.”
“Acts like a scroll?” Karen asked, “Certainly an interesting concept. But why?”
“Because I haven’t seen anything like that at all since I’ve been here,” Brian shrugged, “And if I can do it, then it could become really popular, and it would save people money and space on having to buy and carry multiple scrolls of the same type.”
“You say it as though it will be easy,” Karen shook her head, “But that sounds more like the purview of an Artificer than a Scribe. Are you sure you will even be able to do it?”
“I have a pretty powerful Ability, remember?” Brian grinned, “And if worst comes to worst, I’m sure we can find an Artificer in the Dwarf Lands to help us out. Now, let’s take a look around at what’s here before we head to the gates.”
------
Amelia scowled as she walked out of the hearing. It had been several weeks since she and her squad had escorted the Dark Mage to Astera, but the kingdom was clamping down on any and everyone who had had anything to do with him or the false Heroes. This, of course, included her and her squad of Valkyries, who were now being accused of aiding in a spy entering the capital.
“Ridiculous,” she muttered, thinking back on the man, still mostly unable to believe that he was actually a spy for the Demons, “Though maybe that is what he wanted? Dammit, did I actually get tricked?”
“I doubt it,” Cynthia sighed from beside her, the rest of her squad just behind the other woman, “You may be young for a captain, but you’re an excellent judge of character. Though I’m not too sure how much that’s going to help us here.”
“What do you mean?” Amelia asked, looking at her friend and comrade in confusion.
“They seemed pretty adamant that he was a spy of some sort,” the other woman shrugged, “Even after the Arch Mage himself testified that he helped kill the Demon Lord, or whatever that was about a living Curse. I think we’re still going to get in trouble.”
“Probably,” Amelia sighed, shaking her head, “And there is only so much my father will be able to do to help us. I simply pray that we can avoid execution.”
“Hopefully,” Cynthia nodded, “I mean, they’ve already executed half a dozen people related to this whole thing, but maybe they’ll spare us, considering we’re a specialized squad led by a noble’s daughter.”
“Even if they do want to execute us, we’ll all gladly follow you, captain, whatever you choose,” one of the other women said, the rest all nodding in agreement.
“You can’t be suggesting abandoning our duties, can you?” Amelia gasped, the rest all looking between each other before nodding, “No, I can’t allow that! Even if they want to execute us, I will make sure that all the blame is placed on me. If anyone is to die for this, then it will only be me!”
“Not happening, captain,” another of the Valkyries chuckled, “If you go, we all do. We swore our allegiance to you, not the kingdom, after all.”
“Yeah!” the rest cheered, laughing and smiling at each other as Amelia watched, frozen in place as her sense of duty to the kingdom, and responsibility for the lives of her squad fought in the back of her mind.
------
“You ready?” Brian asked the old man, Gustus nodding happily as the three of them sat in the back of the old wagon, his eyes sparkling excitedly, “Okay, let’s go.”
“Halt,” the gate guard said as they drew near, approaching the wagon, the large war hammer on his back glinting in the afternoon sun, “Entry fee is twenty gold a head. That’ll be a plate for the lot of you.”
“We have a letter of introduction,” Brian said, taking out the paper and handing it to the guard, who read over it for a moment, before handing it back.
“Right then,” he grunted, “You three can go in, but the Merchants still have to pay.”
“Of course,” Brian nodded, pulling the purse of coins from his bracer, and handing it to the guard, who opened it and quickly counted the coins.
“You have forty-five coins in here,” they said, pulling five out and trying to hand them back.
“That’s for you,” Brian shook his head, pushing the hand away, “As thanks for your service.”
“Are you trying to bribe me?” the guard snarled, already reaching for their weapon, “That’s not allowed brat!”
“Of course not,” Brian shook his head quickly, “I was simply giving you a gift! I am sorry if I offended you. I’ll take the money back if you don’t want it!”
“You sure?” the guard growled, slowly lowering their hand.
“Absolutely,” Brian nodded, “Think of it as me paying for you and your friends’ drinks tonight.”
“Five gold will buy a lot of drinks,” the dwarf hummed, scratching their bearded cheek for a moment, “Fine then. But watch yourself, bribes are punishable by death in the Dwarf Lands, either giving or receiving them, Mancer.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Brian nodded as he let out a relieved sigh, watching the guard as they walked over to the portcullis and banged on it, the metal gate slowly rising until it was high enough to allow them though.
The cart rattled as it made its way from the dirt path to the smooth stones inside, the portcullis falling quickly behind them as they travelled into the underground network of tunnels that connected the world of the dwarves.