Cheers went up through the hall. Every mug went bottom up. Jabaal had to smile. This is what Grizzle would have wanted, he knew. “This is what a funeral should be like, not all the somber tears we humans share,” he said to no one in particular.
“Grindel would have loved this,” Rundo said.
“No, he would have loved that the dwarves were enjoying themselves, but he hated attention. I think that was part of why he was such a good king.” When they turned around Grundel was standing there.
Before any of them found the words to comfort him, they heard a commotion. When they turned back to the dais there was a man standing there.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The Father of Mortals – The Keeper of Balance
“That is him. That is the Father. I will never forget that face. The eyes are too old for it,” Jabaal said.
Dwarves were jumping to their feet and binging out whatever weapons they had. The man who had suddenly appeared looked at Grizzle. “You know who I am and why I have come. I am not your enemy.”
Grizzle pushed through the other kings who had stepped between him and the man who had somehow magically appeared in the room. “Calm yourselves! This is the Father. He is our friend. He has come to see Anwar. Everyone, sit down and finish your food. Drink some more ale. Celebrate, the oldest mortal in history has come to pay his respects to Grindel son of Hindel.”
Not for the last time that night ,every cup in the hall was tipped up and drained in honor of Grindel Stoneheart, the dwarf who had killed the giant orc with only his hands.
The Father had been around a long time. He understood the dwarves. He waited for cups to be refilled and even took one himself. He raised the mug. “To Grindel Stoneheart. Born from the stone and made of steel. A king who will bring even the gods to heel. Let him not be forgot by friend or foe, cause there’s still other Stonehearts to remind them, you know. I had the great pleasure of knowing the king, and even the Father came bending his knee,” with that he turned up his mug and drained the dark ale.
The dwarves cheered louder then they had all night. Dwarves loved rhymes almost as much as they loved hearing the Father admit to bending a knee to a dwarf king.
Grizzle walked with the Father over to the table where Anwar stood. “Anwar Alamira, may I have a moment of your time?” the Father asked.
“You may, but first I would like to know how you were able to travel through the wards of Evermount,” Anwar asked.
“Yes, I was curious about that myself,” Grizzle said.
The Father just smiled and looked at both of them with those old eyes. Anwar had taken hold and challenged one of the gods, but the Father stood here smiling at him, and he felt like a child. “I am older then the wards on this mountain. I am also the one who set most of them in place. Do you have any other questions?”
“I do,” Jabaal said.
“Yes, I knew you would be the hardest to convince. You are, after all, a child of Kalime. Naturally you will be the most protective of your friend. What can I do to put you at ease, Jabaal Cavallo?”
It was weird hearing his birth name like that. He hadn’t heard it used in years. He wasn’t surprised that the Father knew it, though. “What do you want with Anwar?”
The Father gave Jabaal a smile that said he was amused. It was the smile a parent gives to a child when she does something clever. “Straight to the point. Very well, then, in the immediate future all I want with Anwar is to give him the opportunity to control his power. If he does not learn to control it then he will become a threat to the world. I do not mean to allow him to lose control and put me in a position where I must make a decision about what to do with him.”
“What decision would that be?” Jabaal asked.
Anwar cut him off before the Father could answer. “We all know what that decision would be. Eventually if I lose control enough times and do not look to one of the gods or to the Father for help I will become too dangerous. At some point he will have to decide when the threat I pose is greater than the value of allowing me to live. None of us are fools. We all understand what is at stake here. The real question that was hidden in your statement was the "for now." I would like to know what your plan for me is after the immediate future?”
The smile he received was not that of the entertained parent of a toddler, but of a parent who was actually proud. “I am happy you saw through the threat. Too often men look too hard at the bear in the distance, and they don’t see the snake at their feet. What becomes of you in the future will be your choice. I can help guide you to control your magic. I have been the Father and many other names for millennia and more.
“I was once a very powerful wizard like you. It was a god who took me into his care and guided me so that I could control my power. Eventually he wanted more from me than I was willing to give. The gods all have their motives. Even the good ones use their disciples to push them above others. The abilities of mortals as powerful as we are should not be used in the politics of gods. It is just too dangerous for the mortal plane. I could have gone to the immortal plane as a god long ago. I would not leave this plane unprotected, though.
“You are the first man to come along who has both power to challenge the gods, as well as a respect for life. You are the first man who may one day be able to take over the care of the mortal plane. That would allow me to move on. I felt it was only fair for you to see my potential gain in all of this. This burden I might one day ask you to take from me. I will help you regardless of what you choose. None of this would happen for years and years, and it is too early to even discuss.”
“I appreciate your attempt at giving me a choice,” Anwar replied, “but I am not a complete fool. I know I need help controlling this power. Without help I will eventually lose control. The only real choice I have is you or one of the gods. They will not use me. I don’t doubt that you might try to use me to do what you see as right, but I believe your views are the closest to my own. I will go with you, but I’m sure you knew I would. That is, after all, why you left the message that you would be coming for me, and then gave me this time with my friends. You were giving me the time to say goodbye,” Anwar said, never looking at his friends.
“Wait, what?” Rundo asked. “You are leaving for good? We will never see you again?”
The Father put a hand on Rundo’s shoulder. “Calm yourself, little one. It will be sometime before your friend will be able to return to the world, but not so long that you will all be gone. You will very likely see him again one day.”
“Everyone, relax. I knew what I needed to do the minute I heard what he had said to Jabaal and Rundo. I am going to go with him. You are all very important to me, but it is too hard for me to control all of this. I will not submit myself to the gods. They all have their own agendas. I cannot let my power be used to raise one god above another. The only option left to me is to go with the only man who knows how to help me. I will come back to see you all when I believe it is safe for me to do so. Until then, I must say goodbye.” Anwar had been preparing himself for this ever sinc e he found out about the F ather coming to stop him as he raged on with his magic during the battle. He had mentally prepared for leaving his friends , even if they hadn’t. He took the time to hug each one of them, to tell each of them goodbye individually. After he had said his goodbyes , he turned man who was his only hope. “I’m ready.”
The Father turned and faced the dwarves. “Thank you all for your hospitality. Let me return it now.” A hundred barrels of ale appeared on the dais behind the head table. “That ale was a gift to me from the original dwarves of Evermount. I will let you decide how yours compares.” The dwarves cheered and began making their way to the dais. The Father held out his hand to Anwar.
Anwar looked to his friends. He had no idea what lay ahead of him, but he knew he could not stay here. He had to learn to control his power anyway so that he could challenge Delvidge. He would have his revenge. He nodded to his friends and took the Father’s hand. Then they w
ere gone.
Jabaal looked from Hellen to Grizzle. “I have something to tell you all also. I am going to leave with Hellen, and go to Freeman. I don’t know what I am going to do, but I am not a fighter anymore. Hellen and I have started something and I can’t let that go. I have to see where it leads. Grizzle, you will always be my best friend, and if you should ever need me, all you have to do is send word.”
Grizzle hugged his friend. “Give me a couple more days. Let me give you your new leg before you leave. It is a flattened piece of metal. With a bow in it so it will have a little more bounce and act more like a real leg. The bottom of it will be flat so it won’t slip or stick in the ground like that peg.”
Jabaal looked at Hellen, who smiled. He turned back to Grizzle and nodded his agreement.
Grizzle looked to Rundo. “What about you? What is the halfling druid going to do now that our merry little band is all broken up?”
“I was hoping to go with Grundel and take back Shinestone,” Rundo said with a smile to Grundel.
Grizzle looked at Grundel accusingly. “Who says Grundel will be going to Shinestone? The war council hasn’t even convened yet!”
“Well, you are the new king of Evermount, so I only assumed you would have to stay and establish yourself as king. Grundel isn’t the king, and I don’t see anyone stopping him from going no matter who leads the war party. Seeing as Grundel is the only friend I really have left who is still going to be around and not cooped up in a mountain, I figure I will stick with him. That is if you don’t mind, Grundel?”
Jabaal just started laughing.
“What are you laughing at, then?” Grizzle asked.
“A giant dwarf and a halfling druid going to take back a dwarven kingdom while the great Grizzle Stoneheart gets stuck on a throne? The gods really do have a sense of humor,” Jabaal said before he started laughing again.
“Ah, it ain't like it’s going to be exciting anyway. Whoever goes is just going to clear whatever riffraff snuck in there thinking the place was deserted. It’s not like they’re gonna get a fight out of it,” Grizzle answered angrily.
Jabaal just laughed again. “As you say, Your Highness.”
Grizzle just turned and stomped back up to the head table, where he filled his mug again.
Epilogue
Fredin walked through the tunnel that was the entrance to Shinestone. The mountain wasn’t nearly as fortified as Evermount. It was a small mountain. The entrance was a simple twenty-foot-wide opening at the base of the mountain.
Gescheit walked along next to him. “The demon of the chaos god ruined a lot, they are saying. They have cleared out the goblins and kobolds. Shinestone is yours. But there is still the issue of the other clan chief. We are only twelve thousand. The Narren claims five thousand of the twelve. It would be best if we were all Dungins. With the word of your son falling, your position is less safe. You will need another son. It would be good if we could get your grandson here as well. He is young, but he should be big enough to dissuade any challengers by the time you are old enough to have to worry.”
Fredin thought about that. He did need to get his grandson. They needed the women as well. Now that they had a home they needed to send for the women and children. Boys would not grow into fighters if women raised them. They needed the women anyway. They had lost too many numbers. They needed to start repopulating. They would send word to the other clans. Some of them would be taken up as weaker clans, but a lot of them would come to be part of the stronger clan that could protect them. Some would come just because they had taken one of the dwarven kingdoms. It wasn’t what he had hoped for, but it would work for now. His numbers would continue to grow.
“Send for the women and children. Tell them all to send to their old clan holds. I want these tunnels filled with the screams of babies by the end of the year. We will have many and more women. Each male will take two or three. The biggest from each group that comes will come to me,” Fredin told his advisor.
“I will have orcs running to each of the holds before the night falls. Where do you want the humans?” Gescheit asked.
“They will stay near me. We will find the old dwarf king’s chambers. If they are not destroyed I will take them. If they are I will find one of the halls and make it mine.”
Gescheit nodded and took off down the tunnels to relay his orders to the orcs.
Vingaza was impressed. Fredin had taken a huge hit at Evermount. No one could have predicted that Anwar had become so strong. The orcs who had escaped had been gathered up, and Fredin had organized them. There was still one other clan, but from the sound of it Fredin had plans to unite all the orcs under himself. Vingaza wasn’t excited about the prospect of staying with the orcs, but he didn’t have much of a choice.
All of the strongest Black Dragons were dead or running scared. He wouldn’t be able to show himself openly until he got a feel for things. He didn’t want to leave himself unprotected but he also needed to know what was going on. He would have to send Malvagio and Cattivo back to Ambar to find out what was happening. The orcs around him really weren’t a threat. Even Fredin couldn’t do anything to him. This was the safest place for him until he knew how the dwarves planned to retaliate, and what Anwar was going to do. That was the biggest question. He had killed Anwar’s brother. Vingaza couldn’t fight Anwar and hope to survive, so his only option was to run. Being here in the mountain would allow him to escape if Anwar came. He would make his escape while Anwar was distracted with the orcs. If Anwar didn’t come, then Vingaza would help the orcs as best he could until he could come up with a plan to accomplish his goal: Vingaza was going to reestablish the Black Dragons.
Rising of a Mage: Book 03 - A Mage Risen Page 21