by deSouza, Leo
“Ye saw inside my mind? What?” Olaf asked.
The little one semmed concerned to answer. “Darkness… A deep darkness that could not come from inside a dwarf like you, such an evil could not emanate from you. You are a good fellow.” He said.
“We all know it.” Torag said slapping Olaf’s back. “Now, where this darkness came from then?” He asked.
“I don’t know, maybe Olaf himself could tell.” Kalish said.
“Who are ye really?” Thuor asked.
The little one now looked directly into Thuor’s eyes. “The name I gave you is legitimate, I’m Kalish, from the little folk, as I said. But I suppose you are now more interested in knowing my occupation… And my interests.”
“That is the point.” Torag spoke.
“That is fair. Well where do I begin? One could say I’m an observer, a directed observer, looking for very specific things.” Kalish continued.
Torag twisted his mouth making a very strange expression. “Do ye work for yourself or for someone else?”
“I’m part of a brotherhood, the Brotherhood of the East.” Kalish replied.
“That seems interesting, what is this brotherhood about?” Torag insisted.
Kalish smiled to reply: “It is a brotherhood that has interests in many areas. As an example I could cite the wandering of folks among the eastern lands.”
“Could ye describe better what ye saw in Olaf’s mind?” Thuor insisted.
“As I said, I saw something that is not of his own. He took it from somewhere else.” Kalish spoke.
“Oh stop with this! Why don’t ye tell us without all these riddles and puzzles?” Torag exclaimed.
“He is right.” Olaf broke in, making everyone else look at him. “The Dark Rider… When I first met him, I touched his cloth, and since then I’m having strange nightmares.”
There was a moment of silence, then Torag asked: “What kind of nightmares?”
“The most terrible ones, including death and doom.” Olaf replied.
“So there was more than what ye were telling me.” Rurur said.
“Yes.” Olaf replied, looking down.
“From now and then, my friend. I would advise you to pay attention to your dreams… For they can reveal many things” Kalish spoke.
“Things that will happen?” Torag asked.
“Maybe! Maybe things that already happened. But the most important of all is to not ignore what is being revealed to you.” Kalish replied.
Thuor approached Kalish imposing himself, the little guy seemed embarrassed and intimidated. “Why did ye want to know about this?” The captain asked.
Kalish looked up to Thuor’s face with a fragile smile. Rurur someway how felt sympathy for the little guy who looked so harmless. “Hey why don’t we stop with all these half answers and mutual distrust?” He asked. “We are trading here. I will tell ye what, do ye have any interest in one of our goods, Kalish? Because I’m quite interested in some of yours.” He then crouched to take one of the items from the ground.
But Thuor spoke again. “Stop it, Rurur. I want to know more about this little one. There was a group sneaking up on us right now, are ye with them?”
“No! My dear dwarf! I travel alone!” Kalish spoke.
“So ye are like some kind of, investigator…” Torag said.
Kalish nodded and shook his head at the same time. “That’s almost right. But I’m not exactly a bounty hunter, nor do I exactly work for anyone, we are a brotherhood, not a guild. And yes, I can say that if you are so eager to know. I came on the trail of a stranger who entered these lands.”
“He knows about the rider.” Torag broke in.
“Yes I do, well many people know about him now. He flies in the skies on a gigantic beast, it is not very discreet, if you know what I mean.” Kalish added.
“Ye are tracking him. Why?” Thuor asked.
“There are many interests in this world, aren’t there? The Brotherhood has its council of sages, which takes decisions on many issues, it cares about the things that happen, and wants to know what's going on.” Kalish replied.
“The plot gets more complicated…” Rurur said.
“Or perhaps the Dark Rider and this one here work together!” Torag exclaimed.
Kalish was now clearly intimidated, he smiled nervously and spoke as he motioned. “Oh… Nothing of this, my friends. It is just that the ones who sent me pointed me the right way to follow, and Nanuk was given something before to smell so he could track.”
“Listen little one. Ye saw inside of one of us mind’s, would be fair the reveal your own one to us.” Thuor argued.
“Fine, if you insist.” Kalish replied. “I’m a simple little one, I could not deal with four dwarfs at the same time, even if this dealing would be just about arguing. But you must understand that the things involved in this go far beyond. Death being defied… The natural course of things being changed... Life coming after death, and not the opposite. The evilness of someone mean, but it seems that there is one evil still bigger. You are probably dealing with something you don’t understand completely, nor me, to be honest.” He gathered the goods again in the bag and took it as he walked towards his mount and jumped into the saddle. The dog rose from the ground and twisted his head, slapping his ears against his cheeks.
“This is all ye can tell?” Thuor asked.
“Yes it is. The thing I would like to tell you more is that you should be watchful on the path you are taking. You are dealing with forces bigger than you, and getting involved in matters that you don’t dare mess with.” Kalish added.
“Where are ye going?” Olaf asked.
The dog moved, leaving, Kalish turned his torso to look at the dwarfs. “I’m going to meet a friend and tell him about what I found here.” He said.
“Do ye think it is prudent to spread it around?” Thuor asked.
Kalish smiled. “I’m not going to spread it, Thuor. It’s the opposite of that, I’m going to tell this to someone who will turn this rumor into a secret. As for you, Olaf, do as I said, don’t ignore your dreams…” He flogged the dog, the animal jumped ahead and ran away very fast.
Torag approached Thuor. “The crap just happened here, captain? Why did we let him go?” He asked.
“He seemed very honest to me, and it is clear that he would tell us only what he wanted to. Even if I wanted to learn more.” Replied the captain.
“It is true, somehow I felt he was the most honest of all fellows!” Olaf added.
“I also found him genuine.” Rurur said.
Torag shrugged and stepped away. “Well it seems the little one has a strong magnetism. I don’t liked him, but I must confess that he did not woke any angry in me, and that is already a lot for a stranger who comes with tricky deals. Anyway, I think we could get more from him.”
“And how we would do it?” Rurur asked.
“We have our means, ye bet. I just think that this conversation could be more useful.” Torag replied.
“I actually don’t like the way we treated the little one. He came to us and seemed very legitimate. And for a moment I thought we were about to punch him and say some rudeness. Which would be very cowardly.” Rurur spoke.
“It seems that dialoguing is not our strong point. But I think that is acceptable at all, we are nothing but a bunch of surly dwarfs.” Torag said hanging his bag on his back.
Thuor turned to Olaf. “Do ye know why I’ve let Kalish talk? Because I had the sensation he would reveal something that was being hidden. Friends hid things from me, while strangers reveals it. Think twice before doing this again, I’m the leader of this company, and responsible for everyone here’s safety. But in order to assure safety, I must be informed about what is happening around, not to be fooled by anyone else.”
Olaf lowered his head.
“So ye touched the Dark Rider’s cloth” Thuor continued.
“Yes.” Olaf replied. “A piece of it, but he was not there anymore.”
“And since then ye are having strange dreams about him.” Thuor said.
“That is it.” Olaf replied.
“Well then, be sure to tell me what happens in your mind, Olaf, it could be of big interest for us all. And let’s hope that this Dark Rider is not somehow dreaming about ye too.” The captain spoke.
Rurur gathered the items from the ground and arranged them inside the bags again, then the dwarfs took the road and left. Olaf glanced a last time in the direction where Kalish had gone and saw from afar the little one riding his dog, very quickly through the field.They advanced along the road, passing by a small hill where there were some gnarled trees and rocks. The day was ending, and the sun began to set behind the horizon, a cold wind blew as the first stars showed up in the sky. Small cliffs were beside the road and Torag remembered the landscape from the last time he was there, long ago, he pointed at his hawk, far away in the skies. “Look. Balfour found something again.”
The other dwarfs looked out, the bird suddenly dove into the air, going down fast as an arrow, the company could see the moment when it reached close to the ground and disappeared among the grass.
“What do ye think it is?” Olaf asked.
“Let’s hope it is not a rat.” Rurur said.
“A rat? Balfour does not hunt rats.” Torag replied. “I would bet a quail, a rabbit maybe.”
Then they saw the bird take off from behind the grass again and come flying towards them. When it approached enough they could see it bringing something in its claws, the bird came and dropped a rabbit right at Torag’s feet, then circled in the air and landed on his shoulder, the dwarf crouched and took the dead rabbit. “What I told ye?” He asked.
“What do ye say, captain? I believe it is a good time for a meal.” Olaf spoke.
“Fine. Besides, a fresh rabbit is better than a cold one.” Thuor replied.
Rurur smiled, he took things from the ram’s saddle and started to arrange them on the ground. Firewood was gathered and a bonfire was set, the dwarfs sat around it as Rurur prepared the rabbit. “Firstly, skinning. Then disemboweling, and only then chopping.” He said as he held a knife.
There the dwarfs ate and rested under the shadow of a tree, there was no talking, but inside their minds everyone was thinking about what Kalish revealed, and what fate was waiting for them.
Scuffle in the Boulder Village.
On the road again, the dwarfs went around some curves and finally after circling a small mount they sighted in the distance their destination, the Boulder Village, it took some more time for them to get close enough to contemplate the place in all its details. A rustic village in a small rocky valley, its buildings were not made of bricks or wood but carved directly into the many rocks and boulders there, small wooden doors with metal hinges gave access to the building’s interiors. There were round holes also sealed by wooden windows and rock chimneys throwing smoke in the air. The only green that the dwarfs could see came from small bushes and very small portions of soil covered by green grass. There was no wall and low rock fences circled the place. All the ground was solid rock, and among the many houses and buildings there were paths of rocky paving, so that the whole place had a primitive appearance with its dark brown color tone, but was strangely warm and welcoming. There were also a considerable number of people walking around.
“Death! Pain! Distrust and displeasure! Shouted someone nearby.
The company looked out and saw a man standing on a big rock, he was shouting as he gestured firmly in the air. “Yes it is, my brothers! A curse afflicts our homes!” He continued. “Dead people, dead animals, devastated harvests! What is it? A plague? A drought?”
“Who is this scoundrel who talks so much?” Torag asked as the company passed by.
The man continued: “The answer, my friends, none of this! But an even greater distress! A tormentor who came to us bringing doom! He flies over our heads! And he chooses his victims, like a hawk chooses his prey.”
“Guess what he is talking about.” Olaf said.
“Maybe the rumors are spreading…” Thuor replied. “Anyway… I know a good place.”
They passed through a fence line entering the village and went along a paved path, many villagers were there, some announcing farming goods to sell and many others just passing by, adults and children, the biggest majority of them were dwarfs, but there were also men. Thuor and the others reached a large building, there was a sign outside and on it the inn’s symbol, a symbol that did justice to the name of the place, a cracked stone.
“Here it is, Cracked Stone Inn.” Thuor spoke. “Take the ram to the stalls, there is someone there to watch it. They are right behind the inn.” Thuor spoke to Rurur.
“What about our belongings?” Olaf asked.
“Don’t worry, I know the man who owns this place, I can trust him for sure, and the ones who work for him can surely be trusted too.” Thuor replied.
“Well… If ye say so, captain. Give me Balfour here.” Rurur said taking the hawk from Torag and leaving towards the stalls as he pulled the ram.
Then someone approached, a man under a cloak, his face was half hidden, and a long red-haired beard could be seen coming from his hood, he was propped on an old staff. “Hello strangers. May I ask you for a little help?”
“What do ye want, old one?” Torag replied. “Don’t waste my time I’m about to enter a place of hot food and good drinking.”
“Nothing that could take much time from you, noble dwarf. I just would like to ask you for a little help, I’m hungry for much time, and have nothing to pay for food.” The man said.
“Get back, beggar.” Torag replied in a harsh tone.
The man stepped back, seeming threatened. “Oh wait! What about a deal? A coin, for a fortune-telling.”
“Right. Let’s make a deal. I’m going to ask ye something. If ye give me the right answer, then I will pay ye well. If you fail, I will cut your beard close to your chin.” Said Torag taking his axe from his belt.
“It seems quite fair.” Replied the old man, surprising Torag, the dwarf was not waiting for an answer.
“Right on! Tell me, old man. Where is my father right now?” Asked Torag, disinterested.
The old man closed his eyes and crossed his hands, he made some strange expressions and furrowed his brow emitting some strange growls, and stood like this for a moment. Torag looked at the other dwarfs and gave them a mischievous smile. The old man opened his eyes and looked at him smiling. “Your father is right now drinking a beer in a tavern, near the Thick Beards Stronghold.” He said.
“Ha!” Exclaimed Torag slapping his own thigh. “I knew you were a trickster. My father died long ago. Ye failed.”
The old man shook his head. “No. The one who died was the husband of your mom. Your father is right now drinking a beer in a tavern, near the Thick Beards stronghold.”
Torag reached out to the old man. “Give me here this dirty beard and…” He said before suddenly stopping. “Wait! What did ye mean?”
“Hehe! That was a good one!” Olaf said, he took a coin from a pocket and gave it to the old man.
“Thank you my noble dwarf!” Replied the man. He left with a smile on his mouth, and the dwarfs entered the tavern, Torag was still seeming confused. The interior of the place was a surprisingly clean and well organized place, though a little bit dark. There were many tables and seats, the tables made by a stone pillar under a stone plate, and the seats were simply boulders arranged around it, moreover, everything around was made of stone, with exception of some wood and metal pieces, and there were many people inside, most of them sitting as they ate and drank. In a corner was a small band composed by three dwarf musicians, each one of them playing a different instrument, so music was heard all around. A smell of something cooking came from inside the kitchen, and spread among the customers where there were some waitresses serving drink and meals.
“Ye see? I told ye it was a good place.” Thuor spoke.
They found an empty tabl
e and sat there, and in no time came a waitress, a dwarf woman wearing an apron and a cap on her head, she cleaned her hands on the apron and asked: “What do ye want?”
“Heerm… Wine. Do ye have a good one?” Olaf asked.
“Oh yes, from the harvest of last year, from the high Angur vineyards.” She replied.
“This seems suitable. Bring us a bottle, and four chalices.” Olaf said looking at the other dwarfs around the table, everyone nodded. Then he looked back to the waitress and motioned.
“What for eating?” The woman asked.
“What do ye have?” Torag replied.
“Cold meat, cheese and stuffed bread. Or hot meat, roasted quail.” She replied as she put her hand on the table, leaning.
“Quail for sure.” Olaf said.
The woman nodded and left. The music played while the dwarfs sat waiting for the meal, Rurur came from outside the inn, he sat among them and slapped the table. “So, did ye already ask for something?”
“Ye should wash your hands.” Olaf said.
“Oh! It is true.” Rurur replied looking at his own hands.
He rose from his chair and walked around looking for something, then finally found in a corner a water bowl, there he washed his hands and then came back to the table and sat. He was about to ask again about food when the waitress came with four chalices and a bottle of wine, she placed the chalices on the table and filled them with the drink, the dwarfs hurried to take the chalices and drink as the woman left.
“The stalls keeper told me they are about to start a work there, they will enlarge the place to get more customers. Business must be doing well.” Rurur spoke.
“It is a good place, its owner is a good man, he is responsible and honest.” Thuor added.
Olaf was looking somewhere inside the inn with a suspicious expression. “Ye don’t look out now, but there is someone here who seems pretty interested in us.”
The dwarfs, one after another discreetly looked out and checked. Sitting on a table on the other side of the room, there were five suspicious figures, they looked like adventurers and as Thuor and his company could see, they held weapons and packs. There was even an elf among them, and a bald dwarf.