Realms of Valen - Dragon in the Dark (War of the Gods Book 1)

by Rickk Berry III

  The city of Black Sand was built into the side of, and on top of, a massive hill in many tiers and levels. It looked as though it would all slide down the slope, and crash into the waters of the gulf at any moment. The city flowed right down to the docks where several ships were moored. It looked almost graceful in the way it spread down the slope of the hill from the very top of it. Unlike Sarkos, there weren't any real divisions between the poor, the wealthy, and those in between. Shacks could be seen in the valleys between opulent homes and the moderate homes of those who were better off. Homes of all classes were found scattered between businesses and store fronts. The only real center of business was the marketplace. Stairs were everywhere, leading up and down to different streets and rows of shops, inns, taverns, and the homes of the city's citizens. The streets throughout the city were interesting. Some were dirt, others were cobblestone, and yet others were flagstone. The city had started as a town and had grown and been added onto in a haphazard fashion for decades.

  Looking to the west from nearly anywhere in town, one could see the vastness of Merchant's Gulf. Far across the water to the west lay Niercess. To the southern edge of the gulf was the city of Priosk. Merchant's Gulf opened to the north into the imaginatively named Blue Sea.

  Priosk, Niercess, and Black Sand were the port cities that served as export and import points for the northern half of the continent of Haelstross. Smaller ports dotted the coast all around Haelstross, of course, and there were a few more major port cities around the continent to serve everyone's needs. In a port city, one could find almost anything they could desire from exotic fruits, cloth, and ale to rare jewels, slaves, and only the gods knew what else.

  One such god eyed the city from a distance, her stormy blue eyes gazing upon the city with a fondness she hadn't realized she possessed. The sun was starting downward, shadows were growing long, while the very first twinkles of light were starting to shine in the city.

  "Shall we find the Drunken Dwarf?" Kai asked as she turned those blue eyes to Rykar.

  "Aye. The inn and the owner," the man replied with a chuckle. Nadia was too busy marveling at the city to make any addition to the conversation. She only barely noticed that her sister and Rykar had started riding off and urged her own horse to follow. Together, the companions made their way into the city. Finding the Drunken Dwarf didn't take them long, given that Kaidia and Rykar had been there before. On the way there, both the mercenary and the lord noticed that the city seemed to have become classier since the last time they'd been here, and more people were out and about. A few new shops had sprung up as well.

  The Drunken Dwarf sat on a tier midway up the hill. The tiers of the city were like a giant set of steps built into the hill and the buildings sat on these steps until they reached the landing at the top of the hill where the rest of the city spread out across the land.

  After stabling their horses at a stable nearby, the trio made their way to the Drunken Dwarf and pushed their way inside. The inn was fairly large. It had a large tavern area downstairs as the establishment served meals as well as drinks. A staircase in the far right-hand corner of the dining area led to the rooms for rent. Looking around, both Kaidia and Rykar noticed that the inn had followed the suit of most of the city. The place had been refurbished. It looked much nicer even though everything seemed to be in the same place. It was a mixture of comfortable familiarity and the taste of wealth that Kai and Rykar were used to. Nadia knew no different, considering that this was her first visit to the Drunken Dwarf.

  The companions headed to the bar that ran alongside the entire left-hand side of the place. Nadia took a seat first, with Kai sitting down beside her, and Rykar taking the bar stool next to Kaidia. The three of them glanced around. The place had a few customers scattered about, but was largely empty. Aside from a few murmurs of conversation, it was rather quiet as well.

  The door to the kitchen opened and out stepped a dwarf. He was fairly young for a dwarf, merely seventy years old. His hair and beard were a dark brown. Though, if one were to peer close enough, they'd spot a grey hair or two in there. He was dressed in leather breeches, boots, and a cloth tunic with a chainmail tunic thrown on over the cloth one. He would've been just barely taller than the bar itself, if not for the fact that the floor behind the bar was two feet higher than the floor in the rest of the building. That raised flooring made it so he could look patrons in the eye when talking with them. The dwarf walked along behind the bar, clearly lost in his own thoughts when he paused, just in front of the companions, glanced up, and blinked. It was as if he were seeing something he couldn't quite comprehend. That something was Kaidia gazing at him with a knowing smirk on her lips.

  "Kaidia!" the dwarf exclaimed in a gruff voice. Nadia jumped, startled by the outburst. She had been too busy eyeing the bottles that lined shelves behind the bar. Various bottles of wine, beer, mead, ale, rum, and other drinks were on display.

  "Thorgrimm. Looking as good as ever, I see," Kaidia greeted the dwarf.

  "Bah. Don't give me compliments like that, girl," Thorgrimm admonished lightly.

  "Why not?" Kai asked.

  "Because a compliment like that, from a pretty thing like you, is wasted on an old dwarf like me - when we both know you'd rather bed her than I!" Thorgrimm explained as he pointed to Nadia. Nadia's face screwed up in a expression of confused distaste, Rykar burst out into a fit of hysterical laughter, and Kaidia just stared at Thorgrimm blankly. The dwarf appeared mildly confused at the variety of reactions to his statement.

  "She is my sister." Kaidia said flatly, though inwardly she was fighting the urge to grin.

  "She's what?!" the dwarf shouted. Rykar's laughter was renewed at Thorgrimm's embarrassed exclamation.

  "Sister," the warrior replied.

  "Oh," the dwarf muttered.

  "She is cute though," Kai said and tickled her sibling under the chin. Nadia batted away Kaidia's hand and huffed. Rykar's laughter died down and he straightened himself up, grinning.

  "No greeting for me, small man?" Rykar asked with a grin.

  "You can go to the pit, you cackling bastard," Thorgrimm replied, his grin almost lost in his beard. The dwarf then turned to Nadia.

  "Thorgrimm, Nadia. Nadia, Thorgrimm Holkenhammer," Kaidia made quick introductions.

  "Pleased to meet you, Nadia. Sorry about the uh..." he gestured between Nadia and Kaidia, not sure how to continue.

  "Pleased to meet you, too. And don't worry about it," she said with a dismissive gesture. Thorgrimm let out a sigh of relief.

  "Seems kind of dead in here," Kai remarked.

  "For now. The dinner and late night crowds really fill the place," the dwarf said with a hint of pride.

  "Good to know you do good business. Which reminds me, we need a couple of rooms," Kaidia said with a tilt of her head. Thorgrimm nodded and ducked under the counter, only to come back up a moment later with a key that he dropped on the bar top.

  "Just have the one room. Two beds though. I'm sure you can figure out how to share," Thorgrimm said with a bit of an apologetic smile.

  "Kai and I can share a bed," Nadia piped up.

  "Or I can sleep on the floor," Rykar suggested with a faint grumble.

  "Such a gentleman," Kai said as she patted the nobleman on the shoulder. Rykar gave her a bit of a glare in return.

  "See? All settled. I don't suppose you three would want any food, hm?" the dwarf asked.

  "That'd be great. Better than the stuff left in our packs," Nadia said with nod.

  "I second that," Kaidia chuckled. Rykar gave a grunt of agreement.

  "Ah, good. We've got the best food in the city," Thorgrimm stated proudly.

  "Don't all the inns and taverns say that?" Rykar questioned.

  "They're liars," Thorgrimm replied flatly.

  "Duly noted, short one," the long haired man said with a grin.

  "Spit. Right in your food, Rykar," the dwarf threatened, pointing at the lord.

  "Thorgrimm's special sauce;
delightful," Rykar grinned all the broader.

  "To hell with you, scorpion boy!" Thorgrimm declared before stomping off back to the kitchen with a flurry of muttered curses.

  "He's probably going to poison your food now," Kai predicted playfully, a smirk curving one side of her mouth upward.

  "Eh, not too much. He likes me," Rykar replied, smiling. Nadia just shook her head and went back to studying the bottles behind the bar.

  * * *

  After a meal that was, indeed, quite fine and also free of dwarf spit, Nadia had found herself enthralled by Thorgrimm's tales of various adventures of his past. Rykar and Kaidia had heard them all before so they were only half listening. All of them were drinking. Mugs of ale sat in front of them. The business, as predicted, had picked up. Citizens, merchants, and city guard were all sitting around drinking and eating. The place was full, with serving girls bustling about and two pretty bartenders behind the bar with Thorgrimm. Luckily, the ceiling was tall enough that the girls didn't crack their heads when they stood up straight. They did have to bend down further to place drinks and plates on the bar. Not that the male patrons (or certain female patrons) minded the cleavage on display during said bending down… though that was, of course, all on purpose. Such displays earned better tips, generally.

  As one of Thorgrimm's stories came to its conclusion, Kaidia cleared her throat to gain the dwarf's attention. Upon hearing the noise, Thorgrimm turned his eyes to Kai in silent question.

  "Is Eris Cain in town?" she asked.

  "What do you want with her?" Thorgrimm returned with a question of his own.

  "We need a ship," Kai stated.

  "And why do you want her ship?" the dwarf queried.

  "She and I have a history is all," Kaidia answered.

  "Oh, I'll bet you do," Thorgrimm said with a smirk. Rykar snickered.

  "Shut up. I'm just saying that I trust her," the mercenary growled.

  "Of course. Right, well, I thought I saw her walk in awhile ago. I'll get her attention," the dwarf assured Kai, then walked over to one of the bartenders and tugged gently on her shirt to gain her attention. The woman leaned down to listen as Thorgrimm spoke in her ear and made a few gestures. Kaidia watched, confused, as the girl nodded, slipped out from behind the bar, and walked into the crowd of people occupying the room. The mercenary turned back to the bar as Thorgrimm walked back over in front of her.

  "What was that about?" she asked.

  "What? You don't know? Aren't you a god?" the dwarf questioned with an innocent expression that was immediately ruined by a smirk.

  "You know about that too?" Kai groaned.

  "Yes. Not many people who don't, I imagine," Thorgrimm speculated, giving the woman a bit of an odd look.

  "She just found out about it three days ago," Rykar informed the dwarf with a smirk.

  "Three days ago?! How did you not know about it for nearly four years?!" Thorgrimm asked, incredulous. Kai opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by her sister.

  "She has been living in a tomb and keeping to herself," Nadia supplied.

  "Not that it matters. I've been living in Mehroth, a huge city, and I didn't know until Kaidia knew. Beyond that, I'm the Lord of the Third District. All sorts of news and information crosses my desk and none of it mentioned a new god, let alone a new one named Kaidia," Rykar added.

  "I didn't know either. But then again, I've never been one for religious news or events. Which reminds me, mother and father are going to be so proud," Nadia chimed in, smirking.

  "Damn. I hadn't even thought about telling them," Kaidia grumbled, her head thumping down on the bar top.

  "Oh my, you look rather glum," a smooth, sultry voice said behind Kai. The mercenary whipped around, sitting up straight on the bar stool, eyes falling on the owner of the voice. Rykar and Nadia both turned a bit to look as well.

  Standing there was a half elf. She was beautiful as the sun was bright, perhaps not the unearthly beauty of a pure-blooded elf, but a more realistic beauty. She wasn't as lithe as a pure-blood, her features weren't quite as sharp, but one could certainly tell the difference between her and either a pure human or a pure elf. She had shoulder-length, metallic red hair that looked utterly unnatural despite the fact that it was just the opposite. Her eyes were an exotic bright blue that looked almost white and her skin was pale and smooth. She was dressed in snug fitting leather pants and boots, along with a tunic that had short sleeves and a low neckline. Her name was Eris Cain, Captain of the Blade Maiden, and she was smiling at Kai.

  "There's a lot on my mind, sea elf," Kai said, smiling faintly.

  "Those live under the water... and I'm only a half-breed," Eris said matter-of-factly, though she wore a smile that was a twin to Kai's.

  "Yes yes, technicalities ruin all the fun," Kaidia said, waving a hand dismissively.

  "Sometimes. Now, I was told you were looking for a ship. For mine, specifically," the half elf said, fishing for Kai's reason why.

  "Yes, yours. I figured, considering our history, you deserved first crack at the job," Kai responded.

  "Aw, nice of you. What's the job?" Eris questioned, raising a brow.

  "My companions and I need to get across Merchant's Gulf to Niercess," Kaidia answered, gesturing to Rykar and Nadia as she did.

  "Well that's easy. I have a shipment that I need to drop off there anyway. There will just be a price for you three, of course," Eris said, smiling.

  "Of course. Thanks. That's one less thing on my mind," Kai spoke with a mild sigh.

  "Hm, you have more on your mind?" the half elf asked.

  "A lot." Kai answered.

  Eris looked thoughtful for a moment, concerned over her friend's stress. The redhead then decided she had the perfect cure and proceeded to straddle Kaidia's lap and settle her weight there. Her arms wrapped around the mercenary's neck and she gave Kai a smirk.

  "Now you have a choice, Kaidia. Focus on that which is on your mind... or on your lap," Eris said with a purr to her voice. Kai's hands automatically settled on the half-breed's hips and gave an appreciative squeeze.

  "You give me the easiest choices," she chuckled.

  "It's because I like you, of course," Eris responded before leaning in and pressing her lips to Kaidia's in a rather deep, affectionate kiss, her fingers tangling in Kai's hair.

  The kiss caused a cacophony of whistles and cat calls. Nadia rolled her eyes and looked at the bottles behind the bar. Rykar and Thorgrimm glanced at one another and grinned before Rykar looked back to the half elf and Kaidia. The dwarf, meanwhile, ducked under the bar, only to come up with two bottles of the finest wine the establishment sold and set them on the bar top.

  "On the house," Thorgrimm said with a smirk and then crossed his arms, quite delighted by the show. The word of mouth would give his inn a nice little surge of business for a few days, at least. The kiss broke and both Eris and Kai glanced down at the wine.

  "Aw, thanks, Thorgrimm," the half elf said sweetly.

  "Not a problem," the dwarf said with a wink. Eris reached out and plucked up both bottles with the fingers of one hand and then returned her attention to Kaidia.

  "How about we go back to my ship and discuss the price for your companions and you, as well as what's preoccupying that beautiful mind of yours?" the half elf asked suggestively.

  "Sounds like a good idea, Eris," Kai answered with a smirk. Nadia rolled her eyes, though no one saw it. Eris slipped off of Kaidia's lap and took the woman's hand in her free one. Kai stood and stretched, before picking up her pack and saddle bags, then tossing a couple of gold coins onto the bar top to pay for her meal and ale.

  "You two be careful. I know a couple that got wild in the bedroom, knocked over a lamp, and burned their house down," Thorgrimm said with a firm nod. Nadia's eyes went a bit wide at that, Rykar snickered.

  "Such dirty thoughts about an innocent pair like Kai and me, dwarf," Eris said, an innocent look on her face.

  "Innocent?!" the dwarf snorted.
<
br />   "About as innocent as a pair of wolves who just ate a farmer's sheep," Rykar added. Nadia smirked lightly. Kaidia leaned over to Rykar.

  "You get to not sleep on the floor tonight, so shut up," she said in his ear.

  "Hm. Good point," the lord chuckled.

  "I suppose I'll wake you two up in the morning," Kaidia said.

  "If you'd be so kind," Rykar nodded.

  Kai stepped over to her sister and tickled under her chin, which promptly made Nadia swat at the offending hand.

  "Behave," was all the elder sibling said before she nudged Eris and the pair sauntered out of the inn, a few sets of eyes following them until the door had shut behind them.

  "Told you they had a history," Thorgrimm chuckled.

  "Looks more like a herstory, no doubt. However, Eris' ship did carry a lot of our supplies and troops near the end of the war. She was personally picked out by Kaidia. They've been pretty loyal to one another since," Rykar expounded.

  "Fair enough," the dwarf said with a nod.

  "Hey, Thorgrimm?" Nadia asked, out of the blue.

  "Yes?" the dwarf responded, looking up.

  "What do you think of the followers of Adathir?" she inquired, eyeing him.

  "Bah. They're a bunch of rattlebrained doorknobs if you ask me," Thorgrimm answered.

  "Yes, that's pretty much my take on them as well," Nadia replied.

  "Why do you ask?" the dwarf questioned. Nadia paused and glanced to Rykar.

  "Kai was attacked by them. Assassination order and everything," the long-haired man answered, a rare expression of seriousness on his features.

  "What?!" Thorgrimm's face registered both anger and disbelief.

  "Yep," Nadia confirmed.

  "Are they stupid?!" the dwarf asked, mustache bristling.

  "Apparently," Rykar answered.

  "They attacked her again in the temple in Sarkos," Nadia supplied.

  "So they're just trying to get themselves killed?" Thorgrimm asked, bewildered.

  "They're baiting her, that's for sure. But since she already killed their god, we're not sure what the hell is going on," Nadia replied.

  "I decided to come along just in case. If they're intentionally trying to get her to come to them, something is up and I wouldn't feel right letting her go without as much back up as possible," Rykar explained.