Bomrek awoke at almost sundown and still felt exhausted. His arms and legs ached, protesting against every movement. He could not really convince himself to eat much, his mouth was as if filled with ash and salt.

They sat in the central entrance hallway for now, basically squatting in the way of anyone who would want to go to the storage rooms, the spiral ramp to the mines or the former guardroom.

"We should have reinforced the ceiling!" said Asen. "And I should have known that. We should have done that after the expedition!"

Bomrek spoke out. "Horseshite! This is something no one could have foreseen. You stop blaming yourself right now! We ae NOT going down this road." It came out a bit louder than he wanted, the others were looking at him for a moment, but then agreed, Endok especially "Yeah, we lived here for years and the ceiling was always fine, we needed no pillars! This was unexpected and YOU of all people assume too much responsibility for yourself, you can't do everything on your own."

Asen got up, wanted to protest, but then stopped and sat back down

Bomrek left through the door to the former guardroom, where snow piled still higher than ten feet in most places. The weather had cleared and the sun was shining warmly on his face. One of the shovels was still left outside. He grabbed it, walked to the front gate and began clearing a way to the wall's gate. Umel, Stikus and Sigun soon joined him.

As the sun set, they had reached the ground before the main door and a few feet in front. Asen, Lushrir and Endok had made dinner. The two injured were not able to do any hard labour and so they were delegated to small tasks instead. Bomrek had some stew and stew-soaked hardtack before nodding off at the fire, but after Asen gently slapped him awake, he dragged himself to his sleep stead and fell into a tight slumber.

Nobody awoke Bomrek the next morning. The sun was obviously up. Only Asen was sitting in the entrance hall, chewing half interested on a strip of dried meat. Announcement and acknowledgement of arrival were exchanged and then they continued as usual. Most of the other people had been delegated to their tasks already, most of it was just shovelling snow for now. She had set up a specific plan: clear a pathway to the brook, make sure the bridge is still standing, shovel a grave for Urist and finally start clearing the last rubble of the guardroom. Also, since Urist could neither read nor write, she never left any plans or lists of their supplies, of which she had been in charge. Asen ordered that everyone had to make sure their plans and estimates were written down from now on. For Bomrek, this meant keeping track of all routes they walked and all sightings of game, tracks or potential enemies, should they ever get to do that again. As for now, he was busy shovelling snow and helping others in their tasks.

The next day, they set out to dig a grave for Urist. The soil was hard as rock, but with pooled efforts, they managed to dig out a shaft of sufficient depth. Into it they lowered Urist’s body, wrapped in pelts, and a solid board of oak was inscribed with her name. Sigun promised he would carve proper rock coffins for all the dead and for those to come. They might be short on resources and workforce, but they should not be short on dignity.

Another day of shovelling snow followed, at the end of which, they had confirmed that the bridge was still standing and that the brook was still frozen. They had no need for water, with all the snow around. The occasional snowfall meant that the work was never truly done, but for now, there was little other work to do. Umel, Stikus and Bomrek were tasked with looking for the ox, but all of Bomrek’s experience in tracking was for naught. The ox was gone as far as they knew, probably panicked after the avalanche. Bomrek helped Sigun some more with breaking rock from the quarry, sometimes he helped Stikus in the mine.

A dozen days passed and the last snow fell. The sun had even melted a few piles of snow and soon, fresh green poked through the white. Nobody wanted to believe that spring had arrived so soon. Soon the river would swell into an enormous torrent and traversing the planes could become difficult. Endok and Lushrir had told of several branches of the river reaching out and driving many animals on the further slopes. And while that meant that the hunt would maybe be easier, it also meant wolves and bears following prey closer to the colony. Also, the river could shift away from the settlement, meaning longer treks to fish. For now, their supplies would last them well.

The first lumber teams went out again. They now cut down trees specifically on the path they took to Eslettad, to make the terrain close to the colony a bit easier to traverse. Without the ox, pulling larger logs back to camp was hard and so the endeavour went ahead slowly.

Since Endok was injured, he had to instruct Bomrek and others on how to use the sawmill. He had constructed it out of an old grindstone. The pedal and the stone were still there, and one person would have to spin the stone up to high speeds. So far, something Bomrek was experienced in. This grindstone, with its heavy mass, would then drive a horizontal sawblade moving left and right. Then a second person would push a log on a rail onto the sawblade, sawing a board off the top of the log. After lowering the sawblade’s frame, they were ready for another go. Bomrek needed to build up much speed on the grindstone so the saw would not get stuck and even then, it was a long and tiring process. It payed off, in the end, they had many perfectly cut boards without needing a steady hand.

With the others instructed on using the sawmill, Lushrir and Endok retreated into the mine, to rest but also to dig through old records, so they could engrave their names onto the tombs they deserved to get hopefully soon. An entire month went by with lots of stone breaking, board cutting and an occasional hunt in the forest, and nothing much changed on the daily routine. But with stockpiles of materials piling up, it started to itch Bomrek, he finally wanted to see them put to good use. The rubble of the former guard room had been cleared and Bomrek wanted to put a proper guard tower there. The flat area on the mere rock of the mountain was prime space for a proper structure. But for now, the materials waited for hands to work them.

Bomrek was one day sitting high up on the quarry, picturing his dream of a guard tower: with the door next to mine entrance, nobody could enter or leave without the guards noticing. Then, from the spot next to the mine entrance, a short bridge could lead from the upper floors of the tower – Bomrek would be happy with just three floors altogether – to a carved-out path on the quarry. From there, such a path could go south along the slope, all the way to the other side of their tiny valley as well as north, clinging to the Shinerock’s steep cliffs and ending in a lookout post high up, granting them sight all the way to the sea. He decided to carefully climb around just to give his imagination stronger wings, and actually look northward.

There he saw them, moving between the trees. Row after row, between them six wagons. But while the front three were guarded by humans, the ones behind were guarded by smaller creatures. Dwarves. And next to them, even a few larger animals that almost looked like bears.

Bomrek tried, but he could not contain this news under any pretends of level-headedness. “TRADERS! SETTLERS! NEW ARRIVALS!”

Quickly the dwarves brought out the remaining trade goods. A few piles of crusty and dirty snow remained and were quickly removed so that at least a small lot for the traders to park and unload their wagons would be free. Asen set up a desk and chair in front of the gate to take record of the new settlers and everyone else prepared in their own way. Umel braied her and Asen’s hair to look proper and diligent. Sigun remained on the quarry, Rigoth and Endok sat on the scaffolding behind the wall with a piece of drawing coal and polishing cloth made from coarse dwarven hair, Stikus got all the bars of silver and the coins they had and Bomrek, he decided to put on his hardened leather vest and helmet, as well as string and shoulder his crossbow. Everyone was trying to look their best, imposing, worthy of authority, inviting.

After they had arrived, the humans explained that two ships full of settlers arrived and they invited them to wait in Eslettad until the snow would clear. For the occasion, secretary of trade Borlean decided to send a caravan as well, allowing the dwarves to focus their limited workforce on making more stone and silver.

Lushrir took the humans to the side and showed them the wares they still had while Asen and Rigoth took names and inventory of the new arrivals. It was indeed the group of two dozen dwarves that had signed onto Aden’s mission, but some others had signed on as well, not all from the north. All in all, around four to five dozen dwarves, Bomrek estimated. Kast, Rigoth and Asen had a loud and joyous reunion.

Bomrek looked closer at the large crowd of people that amassed. They smiled and waved. He knew none of them, due to coming on late in the planning phase of the expedition. Children were among them, but most were old enough to probably have learned a craft.

He also recognized large, bearlike creatures and the dwarves who kept them. Dwarven hounds. Their shoulders reached almost five feet high and their massive bodies and thick fur gave them the stature of small bears from afar. The men holding them on long chains looked well equipped for battle, although not like an organized unit, too many inconsistencies, no matching colours. The tone of the dogs' fur made Bomrek suspicious. The ones that military units of the great bay bred were brighter, but these were dark and had few spots.

He approached one of the armed men. He made a gesture, half saluting, half greeting.

"Greetings. I am Bomrek, tasked with military and hunting endeavours. Where do you hail from?" He realized it would have been more polite to first ask their name.

The man looked at him. His face showed a few scars, his hair had greyed into an even shale, his eyes looked tired. "Mishmost." he said with a thick accent.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

A city in the almost heartland of the long line of the east, just as Bomrek had expected.

"What of it?"

Bomrek waited for a second. "Nothing, good to have you here. Your hound looks terrific."

The man seemed to take it as a compliment.

The process of taking names took all day. In the end it were forty-five settlers that newly arrived. All who had signed onto Asen's expedition were accounted for. And it seemed that the message to the dwarves of the east had paid off; for now. Lushrir haggled with the traders over every bar of silver and block of stone. They were left with quite some more supplies, bars of tin, tools and even some more drinks.

Bomrek had meanwhile helped Stikus and Sigun to erect a few new circles of stone blocks and logs to sit around a fire. Umel and Rigoth had started the fires, gotten pots and supplies to cook a stew for everyone who was done having their name, land of origin and learned trade noted down by Asen. The migrants unloaded the wagons, barrels, crates, bags, tents, cages and baskets with chicken and geese, pots, tools, and much more. Bomrek could hear several different accents and dialects, of the dwarven common tongue. The migrants were already helping along, one young woman brought a large cask and a few cups made of horn to the fire. She started pouring a frothing dwarven ale into the cups and handed them out, Bomrek could not remember the last time he had a proper dwarven ale. After months of only drinking water and occasionally river spirits, a whole mouthful of it was a reason for celebration on its own.

For now, he decided to leave it be at one cup and observed the action. A few people had brought spears, he saw a few crossbows, even. It instilled Bomrek with hope. With Lushrir’s and Endok’s past experiences, they would have to prepare for solid defensive actions sooner. And better. More and more people gathered around the fires, Umel started to hand out the stew, the migrants lined up with their bowls ready.

It did not take long to an argument to break out. Some young drunkster was having issues with another drunkster. When Bomrek arrived, they started to scream at each other.

“Ya’re all a buncha liars an’ cheaters!” The younger one screamed.

The other one seemed all too eager to join into the trouble “Come ‘ere an’ find out wha’ else we can do!” and raised his fists.

Bomrek decided to get between the two. “No one is throwing any fists tonight. Calm down!”

The younger one raised his fists as well. “His kind took my father’s legs, he was a cripple because of them! We should have never ended the war!”

Before Bomrek could assuage him, the older one taunted another time. “I’ll take yars too, then ‘ey can be with daddy’s!”

The young one stepped forward, past Bomrek and almost landed a hit, but Bomrek foresaw the movement. With his shoulder, her deflected the young one’s punch upwards, following it up with an armlock over his shoulder, twisting the young one’s joints until he screamed, all the way close to the breaking point. Bomrek had disciplined enough drunk troublemakers and this one was not even trained in combat.

“Are you going to behave, you little shitspeck?”

Only screaming and cursing followed again. People started to gather around to look at the spectacle, Bomrek could even hear the hounds’ bellowing barks. With a twist in the opposite direction, he brought the young troublemaker to fall on his face. He quickly picked him up by his arms and pulled him up.

“Do you have enough?” The young one merely rubbed his shoulder and groaned in pain. His eyes were slurry, his movements were washed. He had enough to drink for one night. “You’ll be the first occupant of our drunk tank!”

Bomrek dragged the guy by his shoulder to the storage rooms in the mines. He knew of a way to lock someone inside in one of them. He found an empty one and tossed the drunkard in. Then he slammed the door shut and shot a bolt in the floorboards just where the door swung outwards, blocking any attempt at opening the door from the inside.

“Sorry, Endok.” he said, imagining how furious Endok would be if he saw Bomrek abusing the precious floorboards. Then he turned to the drunkard behind the door. “We’ll let you out as soon as you’re sober enough to stand and talk properly.” Which elicited no answer but banging and yelled threats. Bomrek ignored both and walked back outside. He looked to the sun. “How can anyone be this drunk at this early hour?”

He went back to the older drunkster and shook him by the shoulder. “Will you at least behave?”

The old man seemed uninterested and wanted to turn away, but Bomrke held him by his shoulder. “I am talking to you!”

Finally, he shook his head, annoyed and brought forth a mumbled. “No, sir!” then stumbled away. Bomrek made sure to tell the woman handing out the drinks that the two drunkster had had enough for one day. She agreed with a joyous “Understood.” and a smile Bomrek hadn’t seen ona woman in a long time. Everyone around him had been so darn serious the last few months, even when they were having fun.

He sat back down at the fire, only to notice someone else sitting next to him: the old man with the hounds. Bomrek decided to right his faux-pas from earlier. “Hello, I failed to ask your name earlier, sorry if that there was a bit rude there."

Rorung made a reassuring gesture. "All fine, friend. I won't dig up ancient quarrel like that boy. I came here to leave it behind. And my name is Rorung, by the way."

Bomrek raised his mug. “I’ll drink to that!”

Rorung nodded, then they put their mugs together.

The sun was nearing the horizon, the traders had already set up camp for the night when Asen stepped to Bomrek.

“I have an announcement to make, please come with!”

Bomrek followed Asen to the steps of the quarry. Rigoth, Lushrir and Endok were already standing there, as well as two other dwarves he did not know. He lined up with the five, on a step above and behind Asen.

Asen held her hands up to her mouth, forming a cup, and yelled over the crowd. "OOOOOOY!" The crowd calmed down only slowly, but eventually, Asen has the attention she needed. "As most of you might now, I am Asen Ginovuz, main financier and leader of this expedition. On behalf of the first colonists and all after them, I welcome you to this Almôsh-Ód, the gleaming tunnels, mine and settlement of dwarves below Ônam-Id, the Shinerock. All of you have agreed to be a member of this settlement and thereby have been granted shelter for one year. After this year, you will be fully initiated as a citizen. We are all glad you arrived here safely, but urgent matters are at hand. For this purpose, I have assigned six temporary leaders of work groups that will take over from here on. They are individuals that I trust greatly. You will all be assigned according to the needs of the colony and your skills.”

Asen turned to the seven waiting behind her, then she introduced the people in charge in order.

Rigoth was put in charge of all architecture and construction. Expanded storage, short-term and long-term housings would be his main efforts.

An older woman named Kenis, with white hair tied into a braid that wrapped around her waist, was in charge of all matters farming- and food-related. Bomrek figured that Asen already knew her from the long preparations that Bomrek never witnessed, due to him jumping on board at the very last moment.

Lushrir was responsible for any sick or otherwise inconvenienced. He would most likely employ very few people and generally make sure everyone was healthy enough to work.

Bomrek himself was put in charge of security, militia and every endeavour that wanted to walk beyond the wall, including hunting.

A man named Tekkud would handle all things quarry and mine. His task would be to keep the production of stone and metal up. Sigun and Stikus felt rebuffed at first, but they came to understand that Tekkud had a far richer experience.

Lastly, Endok would take care of all furniture and carpenter requirements, so that rooms could be made comfortable as soon as possible. He had won out over the one Asen had already planned for the fact that he knew the current projects, as well as the woods that grew in this part of the continent.

"And I will be overseeing everything else and be open for any questions!"

A man suddenly stood up. He had well kempt hair all braided into fine lines over his scalp. “I am a bone carver, who do I speak with?”

“We currently have pressing matters at hand; you will be put into a workforce according to our most dire needs. Once we have everything up and running, we can assign people into more fitting roles.”

A woman stood up as well. “I am a cheese maker, what should I do?”

Asen rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw to show her annoyance. Bomrek decided to step in. “I will take them. They’ll make good recruits.”

A moment of silence settled in, then Asen grasped the opportunity. “You will answer to Bomrek, you’re recruits now.”

The woman tried to object. “But I’m a cheese mak-”

“You wanted to know who you report to, now you know. You report to Bomrek!”

The two sat down again, obviously lost for words but unwilling to speak out any further. Asen swelled her chest. "Well then, let these festivities continue! We are so happy to see you here. Now we can start building a great settlement."

Someone played a flute and a drummer joined in. Asen went inside. The other six decided to follow. Plans again were made. Asen's orders were simple: estimate the workforce and capabilities and what projects can be realized by what time. Asen also handed out a list with names to each, telling them who they were in charge of. Bomrek tried to listen to her, but the songs and chants and laughter from beckoned him like sirens. After Asen had not said anything important in a while he just stood up and left.

"Where are you going? We need to discuss this!" she tried to stop him.

"I know how to keep a village safe; I need no introduction course. Do you?"

He stepped outside. Lushrir followed close, under his arms a cask Bomrek already knew.

They mixed under the people neither of them knew very well and Lushrir told stories of the gleaming tunnels. People gathered around as he told of the siege. And when the two together told of the avalanche even the songs stopped. One woman started to play a soft and low tune on her flute. Someone kept pouring him glasses and cups, of river spirits, beer, ale, it all started to taste alike, it all tasted like home. He didn't stop there and told a story of one of his past missions where he and his troop followed a group of goblins for days through the caves. He missed the glowing moss and fungi on the pillars of stone and the constant sound of dripping stalactites, but he could see himself grow used to the topside world. Before he shuffled to his bed that night and fell asleep, he remembered a pair of wide blue open eyes, that soothed him into a welcoming slumber.