by Hans Bezdek
“Concerned?” asked Cassandra. “About what?”
“Word of war and battle is being spread,” he said, looking around anxiously. “Don’t get me wrong, we dwarves love a fight, but… this isn’t normal. We’ve had tiffs with other towns and lands over far worse, but there wasn’t a consensus that we needed to go and massacre em over it. It worries me some.”
I shared a look with Cassandra and Dhot. I think time was starting to run out for us.
“Thanks for your help,” I said. “Keep yourself safe.”
“Plan to,” smiled the beggar, wandering off down a side street.
“What should we do now?” asked Dhot after the dwarf started chatting up some others.
“I’m good with talking to the king,” shrugged Cassandra. “I doubt we’ll have any more luck out here.”
All in agreement, we started down the road to the king’s building. Along the way, the three of us pass by a line of dwarves standing in front of a food cart. A taller figure stood at the front of the line, briefly catching my attention. I did a double take and stopped, pulling both Cassandra and Dhot back.
“What is it?” asked Cassandra.
“Another dragon for us to kill? Maha!”
“No, of course not,” I mumbled. “There’s someone at the front of that line we should talk to, though.”
They followed me up the line, where a human with a staff on his back just finished place his order.
“Erskine, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Ah, you three,” said the human, looking us over. “Retrieve Grimkell’s Mace yet?”
“Oi, no cutting!” shouted a dwarf behind Erskine.
“We aren’t ordering,” said Cassandra. The dwarf didn’t look like he believed her.
“Not yet,” I said, answering Erskine. “There’s been a few… hiccups.”
“Hiccups?” he asked. “I thought it was just down in… well, I don’t want to say the name aloud in case someone is listening in.”
We turned to all look at the dwarf behind him. The dwarf smiled, letting us know he was, in fact, listening in.
“We went there,” nodded Dhot as the four of us turned back towards the cart. “But the Mace had already been given to the blue dragons.”
“Given to the blue dragons?!” he asked in a hushed voice, raising his eyebrows. “The blues now have our legendary weapon?”
“Uh…” said Dhot, looking up at Cassandra and me again for help. He realized too late that he shouldn’t have given so much away.
“It’s a complicated story,” said Cassandra, as a dwarf working the food cart came back over and handed Erskine a lunch container.
“This is horrible news,” said Erskine, picking up the food and taking a few steps. “I don’t-”
“That’ll be ten quat,” said the dwarf loudly.
Erskine paused, looking over at the dwarf.
“Fer yer meal,” explained the dwarf.
“Do you know who I am?” he asked. “I’m an emissary from the Republic.”
“Ooo, we got a celebrity among us!” taunted the dwarf behind us in line.
“It’s no problem,” shrugged the working dwarf. “Republic quat is just as good as any other.”
Erskine let out a grunt and took off a glove, reaching into his pocket for his money. Pulling it out, he slapped ten quat onto the counter.
“There, happy?” he asked the dwarf.
I didn’t see the dwarf’s response, as I was too focused on Erskine’s hand. I expected the rune tattoos to go down to his hand, which they did. However, I wasn’t expecting the tattoo that was in the middle of the back of his hand.
A half circle with two triangles underneath, and one filled in.
The same tattoo one of Ulrich’s men had on the back of his head.
“Where did you-” I began.
Cassandra put a hand on my shoulder and quickly shook her head.
“I’m sorry?” asked Erskine, putting his glove back on and looking at me.
“Where did you… get such beautiful gloves?” I asked.
“I can’t remember,” answered the human, annoyed. “Listen, I’ve got to be off. I’m running late for a meeting with King Julfr and some outsiders. I’m sure I’ll be seeing the three of you again soon. I hope you’ll be prepared to explain to the king how such a thing happened to Grimkell’s Mace.”
He rushed off without another word.
“We’ve got a new problem,” I said, taking a few steps back from the line.
“Or we just identified the source of all our problems,” said Cassandra.
“What are you guys talking about?” asked Dhot.
“You didn’t notice the tattoo?” I asked.
“You said they were runes.”
“Not that one! The one on his hand that marked him as one of Ulrich’s men!”
“Oh…” said the goblin, trying to understand what I was saying. “Wait, WHAT?!”
Chapter 16
“I knew it!” declared Dhot.
“Knew what?” I asked.
“I knew that guy was bad news! Maha! How are we taking this guy down?”
“I’m not sure,” I said, looking around at the dwarves in line staring over at us. “Let’s walk and talk, though.”
The three of us continued towards the king’s building, which was now just a few blocks away.
“Should we run in and attack him?” asked Dhot. “I can cook something up special for him!”
“Not unless you want King Julfr and all his men attacking you,” cautioned Cassandra, keeping her voice down as we passed by a pair of dwarves.
“Although if Erskine’s a dragon, it’ll be better to fight him in a confined space,” I noted.
“Just because he has the tattoo doesn’t mean he’s a dragon,” said Cassandra. “Ulrich might’ve recruited people from other races to help him out.
“That’s true,” I nodded. “He’s at the least a spy, though. Erskine was probably never sent by the Republic at all, and was sent here to try and find the location of legendary weapons. He must be the one that told that red dragon about where to find Grimkell’s Mace.”
We pulled up to a stop in front of the building where we met the king a few days earlier. While I wanted nothing more than to storm in there and let accusations fly, I knew we had to have some sort of plan first. Worst come to worst, I’m sure we could handle ourselves. All we needed to do was take out the human. After that, we could explain ourselves to the dwarves. They’d eventually come to see we were right.
“We need to go at this tactfully,” said Cassandra. “I’d recommend we wait until we can talk with the king without Erskine being around.”
“But Erskine’s talking with the king right now,” I said. “And thanks to someone, he knows that the blue dragons have the Mace.”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” mumbled Dhot.
“We need to make sure the king knows it wasn’t the blues that stole it,” I continued. “We have to tell them the truth of how it got to Ostad.”
“You really want to sell out Braun?” she asked.
“I don’t see any other choice,” I shrugged. “I don’t want to get the guy in any trouble, either, but it’s better than the dwarves and blue dragons going at each other’s throats.”
Cassandra didn’t look very convinced, but followed as I started going up the steps.
“It’s not like they’ll find him anytime soon,” added Dhot. “The monastery was destroyed by that dragon, and Braun refuses to come to Feldarkr.”
“See?” I said, pushing the front doors open. “Braun will be fine.”
The three of us walked into the first hall, where two dwarves stood guard.
“Oi, you three again!” cheered one of them.
“Good to see you,” I smiled. These were two of the same guards that first brought us here. “Can we speak with the king?”
“He’s in a meetin right now, but I’m sure he’d be happy to hear from ye after,” smiled the dwarf.
He was probably already meeting with Erskine. We needed to interrupt it. I glanced over to Cassandra, hoping she had the same idea.
“We came back with news of Ostad,” said Cassandra. “It’s terribly urgent. If we can’t talk to the king soon, then it might be the end of Feldarkr!”
The two dwarves looked at each other in a panic.
“Y-Yer bein serious?” asked the other dwarf. “It’s that pressing?”
“It is,” nodded Dhot. “What we learned in Ostad is sensitive but… I can tell you we just killed a red dragon on the outskirts of town. I think you can connect the dots.”
I stared down hard at the goblin. Why was he so adamant about telling people about the red dragon? Still, it looked to have done the trick.
“Red dragon, eh?” said the first dwarf. “I saw it flyin around the other day, I did. Good job, you three.”
He walked over and pushed on the door.
“Ye can speak with the king, since it be urgent,” said the other dwarf.
We thanked the dwarves and hurried into the room. The hall looked the same as we left it, except now it was filled with nearly three dozen people. Most of them were seated, but two figures stood towards the front, addressing King Julfr and Erskine.
“Thank ya fer yer time, yer majesty,” bowed Anders before the king.
“It is an honor to speak before you,” added Nicole.
“What are they doing here?!” whispered Dhot, as the king and his staff looked up at us.
“No idea,” I whispered back.
“Ah, the three travelers have returned,” smiled the king. “That took a bit longer than I expected.”
“We had to take a detour,” said Cassandra, as the three of us approached the king. The Guild and the Gray Adders turned and watched as we walked to the front. Nearly everyone in The Guild wore bandages and shot hateful looks at us, while the Gray Adders just seemed confused.
“Aye, they were busy fighting alongside the wretched blue dragons!” growled Anders.
“Blue dragons?” asked the king. “Were you questioning them to see why they have stolen from and attacked me people?”
“We were, King Julfr,” said Dhot, bowing awkwardly as we stood next to Anders and Nicole. Both of the leaders were glaring at me, and only me. It made me feel special. “They told us that they were willing to reimburse you for the lost merchandise, along with interest.”
“Really!” said the king, taken aback. “I must say I’m shocked. So they are willing to resume trade with us at once?”
“Not exactly,” I said. “Their people have been struck by a bout of madness and paranoia. The few that survived the mental attack are concerned that the dwarves are responsible.”
“How dare they accuse the honorable dwarves of such a thing!” shouted Erskine.
King Julfr and all the dwarves on his staff nodded at Erskine’s words, growing in anger.
“They are just worried for their people!” explained Cassandra. “We’ve seen a lesser version of this curse in a town called Rexford in the south. No one knows how it’s happening, which is why the blues are being precautious.”
“Precautious? Ha!” laughed Anders. “Is that what you call attacking innocent passerbys?”
“They attacked you as well?” asked the king.
“The blue dragons attacked both Ander’s group and mine,” nodded Nicole.
“They only did that after you attacked them!” I said.
“They were barring The Guild from passage, which is illegal in all of Yaerna!” said Anders. “On top of that, they were harboring a known gang member and mythical weapon they had no right having!”
“Gang member?” asked Erskine before the king could respond. “What do you mean?”
“This human here is Reimar Pinespell!” shouted Anders, pointing at me. “He’s a known lieutenant of a gang called the Tumblers!”
“Is that so?” asked Erskine, doing a poor job of hiding his excitement. “The Tumblers are a very seedy group, my king.”
“Aye,” nodded King Julfr, looking at me with suspicion. “I’ve only heard bad things about em. Is what the dwarf speaks true?”
Why did Anders feel the need to share that little piece of info with everyone he met? I knew I should’ve finished him off in the Willows.
“I’m an ex-Tumbler,” I explained. “I was raised by them, and got out several years ago. It’s ancient history. They’re actually trying to kill m-”
“And what was this about a mythical weapon the blues held?” asked Erskine. “I was under the impression the only one in this region was Grimkell’s Mace.”
“That was the one!” said Nicole. “When we approached them, they said they had it!”
“WHAT?!” roared King Julfr, eyes going wild. “How is that possible?!”
“It’s all related to the madness,” said Cassandra, trying desperately to calm the situation down. “They-”
“It’s true, my king,” said Erskine, ignoring the elf. “I met these three while getting my food. They told me that the blues had the Mace.”
“Ye knew?” demanded the king.
“That’s why we came here!” I said.
“You’ve decided to go to war against the blues?” asked Erskine.
“War? What do you mean war?”
“We’ve come here to pledge our help to the wise King Julfr,” said Anders, a hint of a smirk behind his beard. “After the attack on us in Ostad, we knew it was just a matter of time before the blues would come and attack Feldarkr.”
“They aren’t going to attack Feldarkr!” Dhot insisted. “You’re making things up!”
“Your group just admitted that the blue dragons think the dwarves are responsible for their curse, did you not?” asked Nicole. “It’s plain to me that they would ultimately choose to come down here and destroy this great city.”
I looked at Erskine, who had a big smile on his face. I realized this is what he wanted, what Ulrich wanted. They wanted to sew distrust between everyone. It would be easier to conquer a splintered Yaerna, rather than a united one. The first Dragon War showed as much.
“Enough of this!” I shouted, pointing at Erskine. “He is in league with the black and reds!”
The hall fell silent, everyone looking between us.
“I don’t think this is the appropriate time…” whispered Cassandra. She might have been right, but it was too late now. I could tell the king was buying more and more into the human’s words, and we couldn’t risk Erskine riling him up into a frenzy. War would be inevitable then.
“That is quite the accusation,” mumbled Julfr. “Surely ye have substantial evidence to make such a claim.”
“His tattoo!” I said.
“All emissaries from Hur have those tattoos,” chuckled Anders. “Do ya know nothing?”
“Not those,” I said through clenched teeth. “There’s a tattoo on his right hand. It’s a half circle, with two triangles underneath it. One’s filled in.”
The king looked over to Erskine, raising an eyebrow. The human stared at me with a blank expression as he took off his glove, revealing his hand to the king.
“Aye, that he does,” said the king slowly. “What of it?”
“One of the black dragons we killed had that same tattoo on the back of his head,” I explained. “It must be connected with the Dar’Ka.”
“Black dragon?” laughed Nicole. “You three? You can’t be serious. There’s no way the three of you would find a black dragon, let alone kill one!”
“Is that all ye have?” asked the king.
“Y-Yes,” I said. Now that it was out there, I realized that the tattoo argument didn’t sound particularly convincing.
“His staff is also magical!” added Dhot.
“Aye,” nodded the king. “We already knew that. It’s casting a spell of protection on me halls whenever he be around. What say ye, Erskine?”
“These fools must’ve seen my tattoo while I paid for my food,” he explained. “I have
no idea what they are talking about concerning black and red dragons, but this has nothing to do with them. It’s a simple tattoo that my friends and I received while we were back in university. It is nothing more than an inside joke between old friends.”
“He’s lying,” I said quickly. “He-”
The king raised a hand, so I stopped talking. “Ye said ye saw it on one black dragon. Have ye seen other Dar’Ka dragons in your journeys?”
“Several,” answered Cassandra.
“And they also had the tattoo?” he asked.
“Well… no…” she answered.
“Yer really graspin at straws, eh?” asked Anders.
“Is now really the time to listen to these fools, my king?” asked Erskine. “On the eve of war? They don’t even have any serious claims they can make against me.”
The king stared hard down at the three of us, stroking his beard as he thought.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the time,” sighed Julfr. “Arrest them.”
“What?!” the three of us protested.
“Regardless of how they came to hold it, the blue dragons refusing to give us Grimkell’s Mace is an act of war on me and me people,” explained the king. “Ye three will be treated fairly, but I can’t let ye run off and warn the blues. It sounds like ye might have soft spots for them. I’ll deal with ye after this matter with the blues is solved.”
“Prison, eh?” smirked Anders at me. “That sounds like just the place ya belong.”
“Things are at play you couldn’t begin to comprehend,” I hissed at him. “You’re making a huge mistake.”
“The only mistake anyone’s made is letting the three of you live,” sneered Nicole. “I’ll have a word with the king after your execution to get the Time Shield and Shattered Sword.”
Several dwarven guards marched towards us as members of The Guild and the Gray Adders stood up and blocked our escape.
“What should we do?” whispered Dhot, reaching around into his bag. “Escape, or full force?”
“I don’t think either will work,” said Cassandra. Unfortunately, I agreed with her. The three of us weren’t going to be able to escape while being closed in from every angle.
Right when I was about to concede defeat and surrender peacefully, a black ball flew by my face.