Neri rummaged through his baggage, but found nothing to write in. He looked around, certain one of the other dwarves had a journal of some sort, but he was hesitant to rifle through other men’s belongings. Had they been his Owls, it would not be a problem. Part of their creed was that they functioned as one, and had no possessions of their own while on maneuvers. But Neri feared the anger he’d face from a man like Buri, or the scorn of his princes. “We may be able to buy something from the inn, or inside the city’s walls.”

“Here!” Nava announced, holding a small, poorly bound book in the air. She’d looked through her bags, sure she’d brought her own journal along. When she couldn’t find it, she went through her father’s things, then hers again, and found it. “It’s half fallen apart, but there’s some empty pages. I don’t know what you plan to write in it, but you may want to use short script. I can teach you if you don’t know it.”

The boy snatched the journal eagerly and flipped through the pages till he found an empty one. He made like he was going to rip the filled pages out, then paused and stopped. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. He took the quill they’d found on a desk by the door of their room and began writing in symbols Neri had never seen.

“Well,” Nava said, “looks like you know a script I don’t. Don’t suppose you could teach it to me.”

Audun shrugged. “Only I know it, but I can show you.”

“Did you make it up?” Nava asked.

He nodded, and kept writing without saying a word. Neri moved closer to the desk and looked over Audun’s shoulder. He made the marks quickly and accurately, even though they looked extremely complex, as if each letter were a small illustration, rather than simply a letter.

“How does it work?” Neri asked. He was particularly fascinated with once character, which reminded him of three stars shining over a mountain, with a bird taking off towards the stars.

Audun pointed at another character with the tip of the quill. “Subject, then here is context, and here is the action. It doesn’t work for every word, but it helps me keep track.”

“And what do the stars and the mountain keep track of?”

“Castle Gwynd. There are four towers that make it special to me, and three of them are built onto Mount Solis, so I draw the mountain and the three stars for the towers.”

“But you said there’s four towers, boy,” Nava mussed his bushy hair.

He smiled, something he’d done often during the journey so far. “There’s two for the moon. The lower one is the Tower of the Waning Moon, then next is the Tower of the Waxing Moon. The highest tower is the Tower of Distant Stars, and the tower on top of the Heavenly Keep is called the Tower of splendor.”

“Sounds like a pretty castle,” said Nava.

“It’s the size of a city. Well, a human city. The Heavenly Keep is big, though. And the names of all the buildings tell a story.”

Neri sat in the chair next to Audun. He found the boy fascinating. He spoke of things few even knew the rumor of as if he were an aged scholar.

“I don’t know the story,” he admitted sadly. “That’s why I’m happy to go,” he lowered his voice to a mischievous whisper, “I’m going to find out.”

“Yes you are!” Nava locked Audun’s head under her arm and rubbed her knuckle into his scalp. The boy yelped, then giggled and struggled to wrestle free.

“Neri,” said Buri’s deep voice. Neri turned quickly toward him and rose. Buri spoke with as much command as his uncle, though he himself was only a soldier. He was standing in the doorway, only half leaning into the room. He nodded his head toward the door and Neri rose to follow him. Nava stayed behind with Audun.

The Green Lion was far busier in the evening than the morning they arrived. Folk from Eruhal bustled about, doing their best to give a berth to the many knights, sellswords and mercenaries that made up half the inn’s custom. Inside the common room were three hundred people at least. Every kin could be seen, though Neri did notice the few orcs there were dressed much like humans, and wore their hair shaved or closely cut. They also stayed closely together, sitting at a long table with their backs against the western wall. A little further beyond them was a room that was semi apart from the common room. A cluster of ragged knights in dented and muddy armor sat watchfully within. Each had a mug, which they sipped conservatively as they kept their vigil over the rest of the inn.

Neri whistled at the many trophies that decorated the common room. There were racks of massive antlers, pelts of dreadwolves, the jaws of mountain bears, and even a the skull of a great serpent bull above the central hearth. The tusks of the skull were longer than any spear Neri had seen, and the cavity where it’s trunk would come from was large enough for a pair of young dwarves to sit inside.

“A mastodon from the Shield Lands,” said a serving wench who evidently observed Neri gazing at the skull. He nodded without a word, as he often did when women tried to draw into conversation.

Buri led him to a table near the annexed room where the ragged band of knights sat. Neri gave them a closer look, noting the odd design of their armor. The plate was thick and grey as soot, with fur lining their collars and joints. Their helms were set in rows along the walls. Each bore a different animal cresting its top, and their visors had a strange, antiquated look to them. I’ll ask the boy if he knows anything of these knights.

Neri sat down at the table. He was in between Koll and an unknown drow. The drow wore plain garb, and her hands looked calloused and worn, with dirt crusted under her nails. Protus, Neri thought. The clinkers from the Whimsey sat at tables around them. They made no attempt to mask their purpose, as they frequently gave Neri and the others knowing looks, and occasionally raised their mugs and toasted the retaking of Thrond. “Primus crossed the line,” they would say, “and their time is comin’”.

Neri introduced himself to the woman from Protus, shouting loudly above the clamor of mugs, plates, and raucous shouting. “Arati’krya,” she said with a graceful bow. “I met your father’s hired men earlier. I know the guide you seek. I believe he may be sympathetic to your goals.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“How do you know him?” Neri felt at ease with the woman. There was a hint of shame in her voice, along with a faint twinge of contempt. That there was little love between the two drow realms was widely known, and she no doubt wanted all to know she stood by the peaceful ways of Protus in light of Primus’s attack on Thrond.

“The same way many do,” she replied curtly. “I regret what happened to Obrus. Have you many friends there?”

“Some,” Neri said. “We did a lot of business at the Grand Bazar.” She was asking all the right questions, giving Neri a chance to speak his part of their cover for any who would be listening to hear. He wondered what exactly was said between her and the princes, and how they decided they could trust her. Before he could say any more, a tall dwarf, or short human, with a long orange braid and shortly cropped beard approached the table. He bowed at everyone, then took the empty seat next to Gund. Ror and Halfur sat on either side of the half dwarf.

“Val, I presume?” Neri asked, taking advantage of his cover and speaking out of turn.

“And you must be the merchant’s boy,” said Val. He had a clean voice with a certain richness to it. “Arati tells me you’ve a lucrative proposition. You clearly don’t need protection. I assume there’s something hidden you wish to find?”

Gund leaned close to Val and spoke in a low voice. “We’ve got word the doomed escaped the attack on Thrond. We have some sensitive interests in Thrond’s deep mines that we need to look out for. We hope to get the doomed’s aid.”

“Might be I can help you find them, but you’ll have a time of it trying to get their help. If it’s true they found their way out of the underlands, then I doubt they’d be keen to go back to their prison.”

“Your reasoning is sound,” Gund replied, “and it may be our effort is wasted. But better to try and have a chance than to assure failure by sitting idle. We’ll pay you for your trouble no matter what the doomed say.”

Val looked about the table, then nodded. “Well, I don’t earn money by turning down work. And it would be my genuine delight to aid friends of the Whimsey. Especially with their boss gone missing. They tend to be a little more unruly than normal when he’s missing. It’s happened before, you know. Price to pay for being so hands on, as gang kings go. I admire him, though. Gurgu Driggz is a true leader. Any king or prince brave enough to stand at the front of his army is a man I can trust. But, the sky grows darker every night, and the hearts of men along with it. We’ve a difficult task ahead, and I’ll need to make some arrangements. When will we be away?”.

“We have business in Gwynd first,” Gund said. “We may be there for a number of days. We can compensate you for any delay, should the need arise.”

Val shook his head. “It won’t. Take all the time you need, though I suggest you don’t tarry. The doomed are famed for their elusiveness, even in times of peace. Their agents who operate above ground aren’t likely to linger in one place for long.”

“I promise you, we’ll be on our way as soon as we can,” Gund replied.

Val nodded. “We’ll be here. I won’t have to leave to get things ready.”

They parted company with Val and spoke with some of Ridzak's men, who agreed to ensure Val couldn't leave while they were away, then returned to the room. Nava and Audun were gone, with a note left in Nava’s journal that they’d gone exploring. Halfur paused to flip through the pages of the journal, then shook his head and scowled when he saw Audun’s runic script. Neri refrained from furrowing his brow. He did not feel qualified to judge the dynamic of the royal household, but he disliked the way Prince Halfur treated Audun. Neri found something familiar about the boy, something that reminded him of himself. He couldn’t quite discern what it was, but he felt a strange kinship with him.

Nava and Audun weren’t long away. They’d acquired Audun a proper book to chronicle their journey in, as they still couldn’t find his own. He was surprisingly unmoved by the loss. Neri figured he must have had its pages memorized. Nava hugged her father, then everyone settled down to discuss the meeting with Val. Buri stood by the door and kept his eyes fixed on the windows.

“Do you trust him?” Gund asked.

Ror ran a hand through his orange dyed hair. “For the most part. Something seemed off, though.”

“I agree,” said Halfur. “It may be nothing, though. Think from his point of view. He hears of Thrond’s defeat, then two of its princes and its army chief come looking for him, with armed guards and the Grim Whimsey surrounding them.”

“And we’re in disguise,” said Gund. “He may fear agents of Primus have pursued us.”

“I’d have gone in my armor, with Malgond on my back, had I known the Whimsey were patrolling the western roads,” said Ror.

“Is there anything we should fear from Val?” Koll asked. His eyes darted to Nava.

“I doubt it,” said Gund. “More likely he has things to fear from us.”

“Fear begets treachery,” Buri said. “As Salimod showed us.”

“King Salimod,” Ror said angrily.

Buri was silent, until Ror stood. “King Salimod,” he said reluctantly.

Ror sat back down. “Buri isn’t wrong. We’ll need to be careful. I’m going to ask Derrion if we can leave Audun and Nava in Eruhal, if things go well with him.”

Nava looked sad, but she nodded her agreement. It made Neri sad too, a little bit. He enjoyed both their company. Nava’s presence had evoked something in him, but that feeling seemed to settle after a day or two on the road. Now that she was likely not to continue the journey with them, Neri felt a strange emptiness, while at the same time he was relieved she would be safe from harm.

“We can find folks to travel back to Cloud Hammer from the pretty castle,” Nava said, “and I’ll make sure Audun’s safe back home. Or, well, at Cloud Hammer.”

The room was quiet for a while, and eventually it was agreed that the matter was moot until they were on the road with Val. So they all went to sleep. The morning saw Audun beaming, while Nava was quiet and gloomy. Koll looked for excuses to speak with her as best he could without undoing the disguise. Neri thought of mentioning to Gund that they may as well drop their mummer’s act, but instead he kept quiet. The Dawnwood passed by them, lush and beautiful, all the while serenaded by the constant flow of the river Sholai as it wound through the forest to the Towers of Wind, the range of mountains that walled off a third of Eruhal from the rest of the world. Inside that wall was Mount Solis, and on its slopes were the Towers of the Waxing and Waning Moon, and the Tower of Distant Stars. Their path would take them to the Heavenly Keep and the Tower of splendor. Neri wondered if Audun would learn their story. The sky was clear and blue above them, though thick clouds were rising on the horizon. The Titan’s Torch was behind them now, and Neri, thinking of the beacon that had become to him a symbol of the home they sought to reclaim, decided not to look back.