by Tom Liberman
“Do you think I should?” asked Milli.
“That’s not my decision,” said Petra. “Your life is your own to lead.”
“We started this together,” said Milli and sniffled again. “I’d like to see it through, one way or the other.”
Petra patted her on the back and smiled, “It’s a good idea, I think, to see things through and to finish what you start. Would you be better off if you were still back in Craggen Steep, still a prisoner, still safe?”
Milli paused for a long time and thought about it, “Brogus would be alive but he’d be stuck in one of those cubbies they have for the apprentices, working twelve hours a day down in the mines, his teeth rotting out, he’d probably only live to be thirty-five or so, most of the dwarves in the lower tunnels die so young. There are always collapses they don’t tell people about.”
“It doesn’t sound like much of a life,” said Petra.
“He would have never seen Das’von, traveled through the portal, the desert, that was so beautiful, and never ridden a horse,” said Milli.
“He’d be alive,” said Petra.
“Which side are you arguing?” said Milli with a suddenly playful smile and a light in her eyes.
“I’m an old woman,” said Petra. “I’ve seen a lot of the world traveling around as a witchy woman. I’ve met a lot of people. I’ve been in love or lust more than my share as well. It’s the only life I’ve known; traveling from here to there and selling potions to town-dwellers. I’ve seen a lot of them over the years also. People who grow up in one place, marry their neighbor, have kids, farm the land, and then die. It’s not all bad. Maybe a little dull but there is happiness as well. I’m not sure what the answers are.”
“Why aren’t there easy answer?” asked Milli.
“There are easy answers … to easy question,” replied Petra with a smile, and suddenly she had a far-off look in her eyes. “When you’re a young girl in love sometimes the answers are easy even if usually wrong.”
“I won’t go back to Craggen Steep,” said Milli. “No matter what. I don’t want a gilded prison. I’ve seen the world. I’ve met so many people, done so many things; I can’t go back, not now. I’d be miserable.”
“You don’t have to go back to Craggen Steep,” said Petra. “You don’t have to follow after Dol. You can stay here or travel back to the desert. They are a handsome people and that Black Horseman had some worthwhile ideas I think. You could go north to Das’von and join up with Corancil and his armies or stay here and wait to see if he conquers the world. You have many options in this life although you may think there are only a few choices. I think too many people settle on the obvious choices that life gives us. Look around and see all the possibilities.”
“I don’t want to leave Dol. He’s not a bad person. It’s the influence of the hammer. He’s changed. I want to be there when this finishes one way or the other.”
“Then you have to get on your horse and go,” said Petra, “instead of sitting around here talking with an old lady.”
“You won’t come with me?” asked Milli and took hold of Petra’s wrinkled hands with her own smooth, soft ones. “At least as far as the Five Sisters. You don’t have to come in with me and Dol to face Gazadum but you could at least travel with us. They say the Southern Sea is beautiful and you can have all of Brogus’ gold. That would buy you a house and keep you safe for the rest of your life.”
“Hmm,” said Petra. “All of Brogus’ gold you say?”
Milli laughed out loud, “That was your plan all along wasn’t it. To play on my sympathy to get you to come along?”
“Of course not,” said Petra and began to laugh as well, although tears came from her eyes to intermingle with the joy. “I would never do such a thing!”
Chapter 26
Dol stood outside the little farmhouse and pounded on the heavy wood door with his blackened right hand, “Let me in!”
Judging by the smoke pouring from the chimney there were occupants in the house, but long seconds went by before Dol again beat at the door, “I just want directions. Don’t make me kick down the door! I’ll do it.”
Again there was silence; Dol scratched his head and one of the bright red apples in his hair suddenly burst with a loud pop and threw seeds in all directions. “Damn!” said Dol and snatched his hand away. “I’ll steal your horses if you don’t come out and sell me one. I have gold!”
Time again passed in silence and Dol looked down at his heavy boot and then at the thick wooden door frame. He then leaned in and gave the door a little shove with his shoulder. “I’ll break it down,” he started to say just a pot-full of water came splashing down on him. “Do you think water will stop me?” he said as he stood back and looked at window frame from whence the water came. A woman peered from inside the house and over the windowsill. She held a cooking pot in a gloved right hand.
Dol shook his head and water sprayed, “Come down, I just want directions to the Five Sisters and to purchase a horse.” He reached into jerkin with his left hand, pulled out a little sack, and emptied a few gold coins into his palm, “Come on now, I have real gold. I don’t mean to harm you or your family. I need a horse.”
“What are you?” shrieked the woman and touched the pot with her right forefinger and immediately pulled it away with a shriek as she shook her hand.
“I’m a dwarf,” said Dol looking up at her with his eyebrows raised and then suddenly fingered the little amulet given to him at the last town and smiled. “You can understand me, right? Why do you ask?”
“That was boiling water,” said the woman with wide eyes and a death grip on her little pot. “Are you a demon?”
“No, I’m not a demon,” said Dol with a shake of his head which caused two more of the little apples to explode with popping sounds that accompanied the spreading of their seeds.
“Are you sure?” asked the woman.
Dol laughed, “I’m pretty sure. I’ve always had these apples in my hair since I was a boy. My grandfather was a tree shepherd.”
“Have you always been able to ignore boiling water?” said the woman.
“It probably mostly evaporated by the time it hit me,” said Dol with a shake of his head. “Please come down. I’ll pay you good gold for a horse. I don’t mean you any harm, I promise.”
The woman looked at him from the window again and shook her head, “I’ve got children here, and my husband is due to arrive home any minute. We don’t have any horses to anyway. Just a couple of mules and we need those to get in the crops.”
“With my gold you’ll be able to by ten mules,” said Dol holding up one of his gold coins to the sky.
“I can’t trust you,” shouted the woman from the upstairs window.
“I can kick in the door,” said Dol. “Or just go over to the barn and steal one of your mules. Be reasonable.”
The woman seemed to consider this for a few seconds and then ducked her head back down and away from the window. Another little bit of time passed and then the sound of a drawing bolt came from inside the door, and it opened enough for the woman to peer out, “Pass one of those gold coins to me.”
Dol immediately did as asked and she promptly slammed the door closed. Dol shook his head, rolled his eyes, turned around, and wandered in little circles around the front yard of the tidy little home. Two small flower beds decorated the approach to the front door with little yellow and red blooms while a vegetable garden was just off to the side of the house and Dol could make out strange little green things growing there. He walked over to the vegetables and stared down with pursed lips. In Craggen Steep the food was largely mushrooms and the meat of the darkling goats that flourished underground. Fruits and vegetables were a rare commodity for only the wealthiest of dwarves in Craggen Steep but they were readily available for all here on the surface. Since they came out into the world those many months ago he had acquired a taste for the tangy things.
He leaned down to touch a strange green fruit with na
rrow yellow stripes oblong in shape and about as thick as the width of his foot when he heard the sounds of approaching hoof beats. He turned in time to see the lead rider with long, yellow hair streaming out behind her. “Damn,” he said. Within a few seconds he was able to confirm Milli as the first rider and assumed it must be Petra right behind. They thundered up to the front door and Milli yelled out, “Hello, in the house. Have you seen a dwarf pass by recently.”
Dol stood for a moment without saying anything but then dropped his shoulders and started to walk back to the door. “Hello, Milli.”
“Dol,” shouted Milli with a broad smile on her face as she leapt off the horse, stumbled and had to put her hand on the ground, and then stood and ran over to him. “What are you doing here? We thought we’d never catch you after our last report. We were more than a day behind you. What happened?”
Dol reached up and gave one of the apples in his hair a flick and the thing exploded with a bang.
“Oh,” said Milli and reached forward to touch his hair.
“It frightened the horse and I fell off,” said Dol with a shake of his head and a wry smile. “I’ve been on foot ever since and I lost track of what direction I was headed. I tried to do what Petra taught us with the sun but it’s confounding trying to determine direction here on the surface.”
Milli laughed and so did Petra.
“Does this mean you’ll be wanting your gold back?” said the attractive young woman who stood at the now opened door with a small child clutching her leg.
Dol smiled at the woman, “Keep the coin but tell me in what direction lie the Five Sisters?”
The woman smiled in relief, slipped the coin into a pocket of the floral dress she wore, and pointed over her right shoulder towards the distance. “They’re about a week’s travel south,” she said but then took a closer look at the powerful steeds that Milli and Petra brought with them and her eyes opened widely “On desert horses like that it shouldn’t take you near that long.”
“Are there any towns between here and there?” asked Milli, staring up at Dol with a bemused smile on her face.
“At the foot of the mountains there are a several towns, Shandoria is the biggest city but it’s west up the coast a ways on the Southern Sea,” said the woman. “What are you going to do at the volcanoes?”
Dol smiled, “I am to become famous. In a few days you’ll tell people you met me.”
“Are you going to kill the fire in the mountain?” asked the woman, her mouth slightly ajar.
“The fire in the mountain?” asked Petra suddenly turning sharply to the woman. “Do you know about the elemental living there?”
“Everyone knows,” said the woman. “It’s been there for thousands of years or maybe since the dawn of time. They sacrifice to the great beast so that it doesn’t spew fire on them.”
“That will no longer be necessary,” said Dol with a smile as his hand went to the hammer at his side. “You’re an attractive woman,” he continued and took a step towards her.
“Dol!” said Milli. “Get a hold of yourself.”
Dol turned and looked at Milli with a broad smile on his face and reached forward with his blackened hand and arm, “You’re pretty good looking yourself, Milli.”
“By Davim,” said Milli and took a step back. “Are you going to be like a randy darkling goat all the rest of the trip?”
Dol shrugged, “A dwarf has certain needs and we’ve been on the road a long time.”
“The sooner you kill Gazadum and we get that hammer back to Craggen Steep the better,” said Milli.
“I’m never giving up the hammer,” said Dol his smile suddenly replaced with a grim look of determination. The weapon crackled with energy the metal hammerhead seemed to throb and glow with a deep red. The runes etched deep into it radiated a burning intensity and Milli and Petra had to look away. “With this hammer nothing can stop me, I’m invincible. Together we’ll conquer the world,” said Dol. “Bring on Corancil, bring on his armies. We’ll establish our own empire here in the south. I’ll subjugate the horsemen of The Sands and they’ll be my cavalry. We’ll return to Craggen Steep as conquerors of the world!” shouted Dol, his voice rising to a crescendo.
Petra looked at Milli who stared at Dol with her mouth wide open and her eyes wide, “Dol, you don’t mean that. That’s … that’s … insane.”
“Is it,” said Dol with a cackling laugh as he stared at the horizon. “Then you just watch it happen and then you’ll see. You don’t understand, Milli. This hammer is power, unlimited power. No one can stand against me, and there are many who would follow. Corancil will be in the south in a few years with his armies and they’ll need a leader to unite the defense against him.”
“I sort of liked the messenger and what he said about Corancil,” said Milli and stared at Dol defiantly with her yellow eyes ablaze. “I’m not sure I like what you’re saying at all. I came after you. You abandoned Brogus and me.”
“Brogus is dead, what was the point in delaying my mission,” said Dol with a shrug. “There are always going to be casualties along the way.”
Milli turned away from Dol and went back to her horse. “I’ve already said my peace,” she said without turning around. She reached up, grabbed the saddle-horn, and pulled herself up onto the horse. “I’ll travel with you all the way until we kill Gazadum because that was what we set out to do together,” she said after she mounted and turned back to him. “But, after that, you’re on your own. I’ll head back to the north to join Corancil maybe; or make my own way, but I don’t like you anymore.”
Dol shook his head and laughed, “Do you think whether or not you like me makes any difference? When I slay Gazadum the people will flock to me. I’ll be a champion and when I tell them Corancil is coming the rest will fall into place. I don’t need you, I don’t need Petra, and I certainly don’t need anyone’s help.”
Mill stared down at him, “Do you need help climbing up on my horse so I can give you a ride or would you prefer to walk?”
Dol looked at her and sneered, “I’ll take that mule after all,” he said to the woman who still stood in the doorway, her mouth hanging open.
“He’s in the barn, over there,” she said, pointing to a small frame structure fifty or so paces away along a dirt track with a number of wagon ruts.
Dol immediately put the hammer in the loop at his side and strode over to the barn without looking back.
Petra turned to Milli with no expression at all on her face, “Are you still going with him?”
Milli nodded, her face a blank mask, “I’m in this until the end,” she said with a flat voice. “Once he finishes maybe he’ll change back into the Dol I know.”
Petra shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe.”
“Are you going to stay with us or not?” asked Milli of the older woman and looked over her shoulder towards the barn from which Dol had yet to emerge.
“I’ll stay with you until we get to the volcanoes. I didn’t realize people knew there was an ancient elemental living inside. They worship it around here, probably like a God. They’re not going to take kindly to Dol showing up with the intention of killing their lord.”
“Dol won’t listen to anything we tell him anymore,” said Milli, her gaze still on the barn. “He’s mad with the power of the hammer.”
“We can still tell him what we think,” said Petra. “And it’s up to him if he wants to listen to us or not. We can’t just march up to the volcanoes claiming we’re going to kill Gazadum anymore. It might be too late anyway. That woman,” with this Petra nodded her head towards the woman at the house, “heard everything Dol said and word spreads quickly.”
“What can we do?” said Milli with a shrug of her shoulders. “He won’t listen to reason. He’ll just want to ride straight there and kill anyone that stands in his way.”
“He might listen to reason,” said Petra and her first two fingers went to her chin.
Milli snorted, “You heard him, Petra. He�
��s beyond reason.”
“No,” said Petra with a smile. “You just have to reason with him for who he is now not who he was before.”
Milli blinked rapidly a few times and squinted, “I think … you mean talk to him like he’s a power crazed maniac and he’ll listen to us?”
“Exactly!” said Petra and her smile broadened. “I’ve found those with large egos are actually far easier to manipulate than people who have a more realistic view of themselves.”
Milli turned her head slightly to the left and bobbed it up and down with her lips pursed and a far off look in her eyes, “You have a point there. You do indeed. Are all witches so smart?”
“Smart and ugly,” said Petra with a shrug of her shoulders. “The two don’t exactly go sheath and sword just like pretty and dumb aren’t always paired but there does seem to be correlation.”
“You’re not ugly,” said Milli.
“And you’re not dumb,” replied the witch with a smile and then pointed to the barn door. “There, he’s coming out now with a pony. What’s the plan?”
Milli put bit her lower lip with her upper teeth and moved her jaw from side to side for a moment and then spoke, “Ok, I’ve got it. Just go with whatever I start, right?”
Petra nodded but remained silent.
Dol led the little mule over to Milli and Petra and smiled broadly, “Now, to kill Gazadum. Nothing stands in our way.”
“The townsfolk worship him as a god,” said Milli. “They might not want us to go and kill him, and news spreads quickly.”
“Who is going to stand in my way?” asked Dol with a grin and put his hand on the hilt of the great hammer at his side. “I cannot be stopped.”
“Yes,” said Milli, “that’s true. However, do you want to kill all those townspeople? If you are going to raise an army it will have to start with the people around here. Killing them all can’t be a good first step.”
Dol stopped and looked at Milli with his brown eyes and finally nodded his head, “That does make sense. Those who witness my great triumph will want to join me, but if I’ve killed most of them first that is a problem.”