Lindon, thinking to help, spoke up. “Would you like a hand moving that, sir?”
The old Dwarf looked to the door, and seeing Lindon standing there, said, “What do you think? Of course I could use a hand get over here, and put your back into it.”
When Lindon entered the room, he noticed a large forge beside the table he was trying to move. Wasting no time, he grabbed hold of it and started pushing the corner. At first, it didn't budge. Lindon, not wanting to admit he couldn't do it, pushed again. This time, he gave it his all, and little by little, it slid closer to the forge.
When it was where the old Dwarf wanted it, he said, “That’s enough there. Good thing you came along. I am not as strong as I used to be.” He chuckled as he looked up at Lindon. “You’re a tall one, aren't you? What clan you from?” the old Dwarf asked.
“Clan, sir? I am not sure what you mean,” Lindon answered.
“Dwarf clan; which one are you?”
Realization dawned on Lindon. “I’m not a Dwarf; I am a Human.”
“Human? Well, what’s a Human doing here with Dwarfs then, smarty-pants?”
“I am a friend of Prince Donovan; I came here with him.”
“I see, and why, O tall one, are you wearing my swords across your back—in that useless scabbard, I might add? It looks like you tried to make it yourself.”
“I did make it myself. I didn't have much to work with, and I couldn't just carry them everywhere. What do you mean, your swords?”
“I mean I made those; they were my masterpiece.”
“How could you have made these? I was told they were hundreds of years old.”
“Yes, that's about right. Actually, it will be three hundred and fifty years in one month and two days, to be exact.”
“That's impossible,” Lindon said in disbelief.
“What's impossible?”
“How can you be over three hundred and fifty years old?”
“Actually, I am closer to eight hundred years old. Seven hundred and ninety six to be exact,” the old Dwarf said somewhat smugly.
Lindon was stunned. How he could possibly be that old? “No one can be that old.”
“Well, I hate to be the one to tell you, but we Dwarfs live much longer than Humans—and not only am I that old, but I am the one that forged those blades you wear in those terrible scabbards, and I will not allow you to wear them like that a moment longer. Wait here and don't move.”
The old Dwarf left Lindon standing there, stunned at the possibility that he could be telling the truth. He would ask Donovan when he saw him next; for now, he would humor the old one.
When he came back he was holding two scabbards. When he handed them to Lindon, the boy was shocked at the quality of them. They were made of the softest and smoothest leather he had ever felt.
“I couldn't accept these for free; they are beautifully made. The stitching is almost invisible. They must cost a fortune. At least let me pay you for them.”
“Nonsense; I will not have my master pieces being carried around in those any longer.”
“Are you sure? I am more than happy to pay you for them,” Lindon insisted.
“Listen carefully, I will only tell you this once, and it will do you well to follow my advice. I know you’re not a Dwarf, but you are a Dwarf friend, and when a Dwarf offers to give you a gift, you must accept it with gratitude. If they wanted you to pay for it, they will tell you how much it costs at the beginning, understand.”
Lindon looked into the old Dwarfs eyes, seeing the honesty in them. “Yes, I understand, and thank you for this precious gift; I will wear them and your great swords with honor.” With that, Lindon took off his makeshift scabbards and removed the swords from them. Putting the new ones in and fastening them to his back, Lindon was amazed at how well they fit.
Moving into the open area, Lindon pulled the swords faster than the eye could follow. He did a quick little practice exercise with them and almost as fast as when he drew them, they were back in the scabbards.
Amazed at the speed and the accuracy that the young Human showed when drawing and sheathing the swords, the Dwarf said, “Yes, I think they are where they are supposed to be.”
“I don't know how to thank you for your gifts,” Lindon said.
“No need,” the Dwarf answered.
Lindon wanted to stay and talk more, but the old Dwarf said, “Take good care of those blades, and they will take good care of you.”
Hearing the dismissal in his voice, Lindon made his way to the door. Looking back into the room, he saw the old man just standing there looking at nothing, lost in thought. Giving the kind old Dwarf his privacy, he closed the door.
Lindon continued his exploration of the Dwarven castle. While walking down a corridor that clearly wasn’t used very often (there was a layer of dust on the floor without any tracks through it), he noticed a carving that was different from the others he had seen. This one didn't have any Dwarfs in it, only a group of mountains with one particular mountain that towered far over the surrounding peaks.
Lindon stood mesmerized in front of the carving, not understanding why, but he had a feeling that this was important. He didn't know how long he stood in front of the carving, studying every detail of it.
“Lindon.” Aina's voice came directly into his mind. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Aina, yes, I am okay; I couldn't sleep anymore, so I went exploring,” he sent back to her.
“We have been looking for you for several hours.”
“Really? I didn't think I was gone for that long. Sorry if I worried you, but why didn't you mindspeak with me sooner than now?”
“Well, to tell the truth, we didn't think of it until now.” Lindon could hear the embarrassment in her voice.
“No harm done; I will start making my way back now.”
“Okay, you can meet us just outside the throne room.”
“I will meet you there,” Lindon said as he gave one last look at the carving.
When Lindon arrived at the huge double doors of the throne room, he was surprised at the number of people that were milling about. Spotting Aina and Donovan, he made his way over to them.
“What's going on? Why are there so many people here?” he asked as he came up behind them.
“Lindon, what happened to you? We have been looking for you everywhere.”
“I woke up early and decided to go exploring.” He didn't mention meeting the old Dwarf.
“Well it was a hell of a time to go missing. We thought that whatever has been kidnapping Dwarfs had gotten you too,” Donovan said worriedly.
“Wait a second, what do you mean kidnapping Dwarfs?! What's going on?”
“We are not exactly sure ourselves, all we do know is that there are at least five missing not including the two that we left at the cave entrance with orders to collapse the tunnel if anyone followed.”
“Where are the others missing from?”
Donovan went completely still. “From inside the city.”
Lindon looked at Donovan, not understanding what the Dwarf was saying. “Are you trying to say someone followed us in and is kidnapping Dwarfs?”
“Think about it; we were followed to Naphara. When we left there, we thought we couldn't be followed, but we still left two men behind just in case. Now those two didn't make it back and five more are missing. Coincidence? I don't think so.”
Lindon was thinking about what Donovan said when Kailid walked up to them. “The dogs are ready; they should be able to follow the trail.”
“Good,” Donovan said.
Lindon decided it important to involve himself on the mission. “I am going with them.”
“Its too dangerous, Lindon, we have trained warriors ready to go,” Kailid thought the Human would just slow the search party. Lindon didn't say anything as Kailid left to go.
Both Donovan and Aina just stared at Lindon; they had come to know the young man and just because he didn't argue with Kailid about going didn't
mean that he wouldn't just do what he thought was right.
“Donovan, I won't ask you to go—we don't know what is happening—but after your experience in Kornas, you should stay here,” Lindon quietly said.
“Like hell I will. These are my people, and I will be damned if I will stay here while you risk your life for them,” he stated with anger. Donovan was terrified that he could be captured but there was no way he would let that stop him from going.
“That's about what I thought you were going to say,” Lindon said. He turned to Aina. “I don't suppose you're going to stay behind either.”
“Do you really have to ask?” she said tartly.
“No, but it was worth a shot.”
“So what is your plan?” she asked.
“No real plan; I was just going to follow them and see what happens.” Lindon had no idea where to go in the tunnels and knew that if he tried to strike out on his own, he would be lost in no time.
“I will catch up to you before you get to the city; I have to pick up a few things from my room,” Donovan said.
Lindon asked Aina, “Is there anything you need before we go?”
“No I have everything I need,” she answered.
They left the castle and started walking toward the city. When they were nearing it, they stopped and waited for Donovan to catch up. He approached minutes later carrying a large pack on his back, and a nasty looking hammer attached to his belt. The hammer was unlike any Lindon had seen. On one end it was a normal hammer, but the other looked more like a pick that tapered to a point about ten inches long and had carvings all over it. Lindon was curious, but didn’t bother Donovan to get a better look. Seeing the Dwarf with a weapon was different enough, and he didn't want to make the Dwarf uncomfortable mentioning his unusual one.
“Let’s go, we have to catch up to the search party. They're the ones with the dogs, and without them; we have no idea where to go,” Donovan stated.
As they were hurrying to catch up, a thought occurred to Lindon. “You do know that this could be a trap, don't you?” He said to Donovan.
“That thought has crossed my mind,” he said with a little shudder.
“And you still want to go?”
“It’s not really a matter of wanting to go; it's that I have to go. If I don't, then I let the people who captured me the first time win, and there is no way I will let them. Besides, I have something this time I didn't have then: both of you. Let's just hope that we find everyone still alive when we spring the trap.”
When they caught up to Kailid and the search party, Lindon braced for the argument that he knew was coming. He could see Kailid was about to demand to know what he was doing here when Donovan stepped forward and stopped him. “Don’t bother, we are coming with you, and I am in no mood to listen to complaints about it.”
Lindon could tell that he wanted to argue but all he said was, “Yes, my lord.”
“Just go on with what you were doing and don't worry about us.”
Again, all he said was, “Yes, my lord.”
“Alright!” Kailid shouted over the noise of the dogs barking. “Let’s move out, handlers in the lead. Let’s go.”
The five dogs that were leading the search party took off with a rush, almost dragging their handlers along. For every dog, there were two Dwarfs holding the leashes. Lindon was amazed at the size of the animals. The dogs were chest height on the Dwarfs holding them; their massive heads were facing toward the ground, and their large noses were sniffing for the traces of the missing Dwarfs.
In total, there were twenty-five Dwarfs in the search party not including Donovan. They were all heavily armed with mostly hammers and picks; some of them carried small crossbows. Aina wore her usual weapons: a beautiful slim short sword with her throwing knives sticking out of her boots. He was also sure that she carried others hidden on her body.
Lindon, Donovan, and Aina had been trailing the group for almost four hours. Lindon's stomach started to rumble, so when Kailid finally called a halt for dinner, Lindon was more than happy to stop. When the Dwarfs started to pull out food from their packs, he realized that they were each getting food only for themselves.
Lindon was feeling stupid for not thinking about bringing his own food when Donovan handed him some dried meat and hard bread. Looking up at the Dwarf from his seated position, he said, “Thank you, I didn't even think of bringing food for the trip.”
“No worries; you're my guest here and as such, what’s mine is yours.” He smiled.
Lindon turned a little red from embarrassment. As much as he wanted to be competent in the things he did, he was still new to traveling and was grateful that Donovan thought of the important things, such as food. Realizing he didn't even bring a skin of water and had nothing to drink, Aina on his other side handed him hers to drink from. “Thank you,” he said, accepting the offering. Lindon ate in silence, grateful for having friends who would think of his needs as well as their own.
Lindon finished eating and was sitting there lost in thought when Donovan's voice came to his mind. “Lindon, something is wrong. I can't move.”
“Neither can I,” said Aina.
Lindon looked up and noticed the Dwarfs and even the dogs were also not moving. He reached out to his friends to pull them back out of the dim light. When he grabbed them, his hands touched their skin, and he could feel power leave their bodies and flow into him, and they were able to move.
“Stay here and don't move.” He moved forward, not waiting for them to say anything. He moved quickly to the other Dwarfs. Before he freed them with his touch, he told each one, “Don't move when you’re free, just stay as you are.” He had just gotten the last one free of the paralysis when he could hear people coming. Leaving the dogs because they couldn't stay still or be quiet, he stood beside Kailid as whoever had done the spell came to them.
The magus who had cast the paralysis on the group was smiling when he entered the cavern where the Dwarfs had been stopped in. “See, these pathetic creatures are no match for me; I have no need of warriors. Steel is no match for magic.”
Lindon was closest to the magus when he entered; there were five others with him, ugly creatures with two tusks jutting out of their jawbones. They looked like boars that somehow could walk and talk. Lindon recalled the carving in the city and noted that they were the same ones the Dwarfs and the Elves battled.
“Tie them up; we will bring them back with us to the others, and we will see if our target is among them.” The magus walked up to Lindon. “This must be the Human that was seen with him; he should be here. It shouldn't be too hard to flush him out. We will just start peeling the skin from this one, and he should pop his ugly little head up.” He laughed evilly.
The magus, laughing at his own little joke, was not prepared in the slightest for Lindon's attack and in a blink of an eye was lying unconscious. The creatures that were moving to tie up the Dwarfs were caught completely unaware, as the Dwarfs who had been pretending to be frozen in place suddenly attacked. The fight was over almost as soon as it started.
They quickly tied up the magus so he wouldn't be able to cast any spells. They also gagged and blindfolded him. Once he was secured, Lindon went to the animals and released them from their paralysis.
Lindon took the lead and started down the tunnel the would-be attackers came from. They left the dogs behind with men to guard the prisoners, hoping to surprise anyone guarding the missing Dwarfs if they were still alive.
This time Kailid didn't argue that Lindon took the lead, knowing that if he hadn't been there, they would all have been captured or dead. As silently as they could, they made their way down the tunnel. They walked for ten minutes when they could see a light ahead. Lindon stopped; telling the others to wait here, he slowly crept toward the light.
Seeing the camp of the abductors, Lindon crouched low. The missing Dwarfs were all there, including the two that went missing from the entrance of the tunnels by Naphara. There were another fifteen guards
and another man in robes. Lindon backtracked to where he had left the rescue party to tell them what he had seen. “I don't know how we can possibly get to the Dwarfs before they have a chance to kill them,” he whispered to Kailid.
They were trying to come up with a plan when Aina walked up with the robe of the unconscious magus. Handing the robe to Lindon, she said, “Put this on, you should be able to get close to the Dwarfs before they notice you're not their man. Protect them until we can get to you.”
Kailid stared at her, thinking, She's crazy, how could this Human stand up to the attackers for more than a few seconds? He would be dead as well as the Dwarfs who were already bound.
Lindon took the robe from her, putting it on. It was such a simple plan but one that had the only chance of saving the captured Dwarfs. He could see the face of Kailid and knew that the surly Dwarf would love to argue about it, but he could think of no other way. None of the Dwarfs were tall enough for the ruse to work, and Lindon was the only choice.
“Are you sure of this? These are not your people, why would you risk your life for them?” he quietly asked Lindon.
Lindon looked him in the eye. “Because it’s right, and besides, do you have a better idea?”
Kailid just shook his head, not having an answer. He didn't think there was a Dwarf alive that would risk their life for one not of their own, and here was a Human about to do just that.
Lindon turned away. “When you hear them, come running, I don't know how long I can keep them from the Dwarfs.”
Donovan walked past Kailid and whispered, “Don't worry about it too much; you may be surprised.”
Kailid just shrugged his shoulders. If the Human wanted to risk his life for them, who was he to try and stop him? Once everyone was ready, Lindon boldly strode out toward where the Dwarfs were being held.
Lindon was expecting someone to notice he wasn't the magus, but for the most part, he was ignored. When he was nearing the captive Dwarfs, one of the creatures moved to intercept him. “Hey, you not boss!” he shouted.
“You are correct.” Flinging the robe off, Lindon pulled his swords and attacked.
Shaping Magic (Mistakes Return) Page 12