“No. That’s not possible,” the dwarf frowned. “That is simply not possible. Condoran is as far as you can get from the empire. If they were here, that would mean-”
“Well they are here,” Cillian cut him off. “I was there in Tassel when they came.”
“And you’re sure that it was them?” The elder moved away from the fire and sat closer to Cillian.
“Yes. All of their army was in black armor. There was even someone who announced that they were coming to take over this land.” Cillian tried to adjust himself into a better position by sitting on his knees, the cold stone of the floor made any adjustment futile.
“You’re not pulling my leg, boy? You are certain?” The gray bearded dwarf asked.
“Yes, I’m sure. Why is it so hard for you to believe this?” asked Cillian.
“Have you ever been to the Empire before? Asides from yesterday, boy, have you ever met anyone from the Empire?” The dwarf asked.
Cillian shook his head.
“Ah, so you only know the stories,” the dwarf said with a sad smile.
“I have had…some experience with them. But even in that small amount I learned more than I needed to know.” The dwarf now had his face close to Cillian’s. “They are ruthless, bloodthirsty, and have not a shred of compassion or feeling down to their black bones. They will not stop at anything till they get what they want. They will do whatever it takes for them, they won’t hesitate for a moment to suck you in, use you, and spit you up like a mangled piece of tobacco. Boy, if they are here, that means this entire realm is in deep trouble.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Cillian whispered.
“Pardon me, boy?” The dwarf said puzzled.
“It doesn’t matter what they are, or how strong they are, or how many of them there are, I am going to destroy them,” Cillian growled.
The dwarf was silent for a moment, not even moving to fiddle with his snow white beard. “You must have hit your head real bad, lad.”
“I’m fine,” Cillian replied.
“Let me see your head, maybe I missed it,” the dwarf tried to peer over Cillian’s head.
“I said I’m fine,” Cillian pushed the elder back.
“Or, maybe the potion I gave you wasn’t as pure as I thought it was,” the dwarf picked up the empty glass bottle to examine it.
Cillian grabbed the bottle out of his hand and threw it into the reaches of the cavern where it shattered.
“I said I’m fine!” he shouted. The dwarf put his hand on Cillian’s shoulder, waiting for him to calm down before he spoke.
“Tell me what happened. What would rattle your head so bad that it would make you even think this nonsense?” The dwarf was talking in a much quieter tone now.
“They took my sister,” Cillian gasped the words out.
“Your sister? Why did they want your sister?” asked the dwarf.
“I don’t know. I saw smoke coming from the direction of my house. I ran because I left Amalea there. When I got there, everything was on fire and they were dragging her away. They said that it was orders from the Emperor. I tried to stop them, but I wasn’t strong enough.” Cillian spoke as he rubbed the burn scar on his wrist.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“Ah, I see now. I’m so sorry, boy,” the dwarf tried to console. “But, there is nothing you can do. If the Empire took her, especially if it was the direct orders of the Emperor, she might as well be as good as dead to you.”
“You don’t understand,” Cillian said. “She’s all I have. She’s the only family I have left. I do everything for her,” Cillian struggled to choke back tears. “I would do anything to trade places with her.”
“How old are you?” The dwarf asked in a somber tone.
“19,” Cillian replied.
“And your parents?”
Cillian was surprised by the question. He hesitated, then answered, “gone.”
The two sat in silence for some time, neither looking at each other. The dwarf broke the silence with a light chuckle.
“Pardon me, I never introduced myself. I have manners worse than a lump of coal,” The dwarf extended his right hand to Cillian. “I’m Tygus Dronbar,” he said smiling.
“Cillian Norwood,” he said while shaking Tygus’ hand. Cillian was surprised as to how thick the dwarf’s hand was. He struggled to get a firm grip on it.
“Well Norwood, now that we are friends, you’re going to listen to my advice, right?”
Cillian didn’t answer and only looked on with his head cocked in suspicion.
“My advice, boy, is to stay as far away as you can from the Empire. If you even look at them the wrong way, let alone fighting them, it’ll be your death sentence”
“Thank you for all your help,” Cillian said, getting up off the cold stone floor. “But, I am going to fight them. Whether I live or die, I am going to fight them.”
Tygus let out a growl in frustration. “Do you know how hard it is to get your hands on a potion that isn’t level locked? Did you really make me waste it? Do you even know the first thing about using a sword? Magic? You’re not even level 1 and that’s just the start. You really think you can take on the greatest military force in the realm, the damned Black Emperor, as a backwater nobody from Condoron?”
Cillian stopped his rising motion and sat back down. His eyes were fully locked on the angry dwarf. “You were an adventurer,” he said matter of factly.
“No,” Tygus blurted out.
“Yes you were. That’s how you know all of that,” Cillian’s eyes had a glimmer of excitement now.
“Okay, so what. I used to be an adventurer, but that doesn’t change anything. You’re still going to get yourself killed as soon as you walk out of here,” Tygus growled.
“Maybe not anymore,” Cillian said confidently.
“What do you mean?”
“You can teach me,” As soon as Cillian spoke those words Tygus rolled his eyes and turned away while crossing his arms.
“Absolutely not,” the dwarf said.
“Listen, I am going to go out and fight them either way. At least this way I’ll have a chance,” Tygus was still facing away from the boy. Cillian reached over to the other bottle of red liquid to his side. “Then you wouldn’t have wasted one of these potions.”
“You’re too weak, boy,” Tygus said, turning back. “You wouldn’t even survive reaching level 1.”
“But you did,” Cillian said while inching himself closer to Tygus. “Please, just give me a chance. I’ll do whatever you say. I’ll be your servant for a week. No, a month. Okay fine, a year. I’ll scrub your floors-”
“Okay, okay, be quiet boy,” Tygus said while pushing Cillian back. “Give me a second to think,”
The two of them were again in silence, but the aura was different. Cillian was nearly shaking with excitement. A chance to be stronger and exact his revenge made his insides burn with energy.
“One week,” Tygus said, interrupting Cillian’s racing mind. “You’ll have a test. If you can do it in one week I’ll train you. If you fail, then you’re not my problem.”
Cillian jumped up and cheered. He ran around the cave with his arms raised triumphantly. Tygus shouted at him, trying to reign him back.
“Hey, you didn’t win anything yet,” Tygus grabbed Cillian and held him still. “My test is going to be very difficult. Even if you somehow miraculously pass that, you still have to survive my training. Then you have to survive getting level 1. And then you will have taken your first, first step to crawling on your way to fighting the Empire.”
Cillian nodded at him and tried his best to stifle his ear to ear grin. Tygus sighed and let his body relax.
“Okay Norwood, pick up my pack and let's get moving,” he said while pointing at a large backpack in the corner of the cave. Cillian was surprised that he hadn’t noticed it earlier. It was almost half his size, packed till it was plump, and adorned with tools, pots, knives, hammers, bed rolls, and more things he didn’t recognize. He attempted to pick it up but found he didn’t offer nearly enough force to lift it.
Tygus let out a hearty laugh. “Come on boy, your training is just getting started.”
The dwarf laughed the entire time Cillian struggled to get the pack on his back. Cillian tried to move with it on but every step felt like he was moving solid lead legs. He looked up to see Tygus already moving swiftly out of the cave. This was not going to be easy.
----------------------------------------
Image [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/990816866618470440/1007339450117935256/ELIANAILOVEUSOMUCH_dwarf_fantasy_white_beard_snow_032e33a9-bc47-4b79-aa46-73c07d1d4feb.png]
Tygus Dronbar