The Orc thought for a moment; his Gnomish was rusty as well. “Tongrai kan amtore suk”
“Amtore suk?”[6] Grimbledung stuck out his tongue. “That’s disturbing. I think I’ll stick with S’Am.” Grimbledung shuddered. “So where did you find this wand?” He peered close at it again
“Found it on dead Human.”
“You sure you’re not amtore tan suk?”
The Orc shook his head “That gross. Was past the dead walkers going to the Salty Ocean. Near that loud lake. Found Human dead at mouth of small cave hidden by bushes. Human had bag of wands. Look like one go off. This only one in sack in one piece.”
“A whole sack of wands?”
“Only this in one piece.” S’Am pointed at the wand. “Guy say it from a mine full of wands. Was afraid to carry more. Got in sunlight, then BOOM!” He raised his hands towards the ceiling. “End of story.”
“Well, here’s two copper for it. Thanks,” Grimbledung remarked, already ignoring the no-longer-a-customer Orc.
With a curt nod, the Orc stomped out of the shoppe.
Grimbledung picked up the wand. It felt heavier than it should have been for its size. Much heavier. “Bag full of wands,” he mumbled. “Hidden entrance.” He shrugged. “I’ll have to tell Drim about that. Might be worth checking out.” He put the wand under the counter. “Definitely worth checking out. Investigating even.” Within moments, Grimbledung sighed. “Bored.” He began to doodle a human walking with a bag full of wands. “This won’t turn out well.” He sketched a dragon in hot pursuit. “Not at all.”
A gnarled looking, weather beaten husk of a human entered the store. He walked with a slight limp and his left sleeve was tied in a knot just above where his elbow should have been. “Need a wand.”
“GRRR!” Said Grimbledung as the dragon gained on the hapless adventurer. He looked up at the man. “That and more, I should think.”
The man wobbled his way to the counter. Grimbledung wasn’t sure what was keeping the man moving, or even living at that point. He was sure he had never seen a more ancient looking human. Or one who was so battered and still moving under their own power.
“What sort of wand?” Asked Grimbledung. Do NOT mention the missing arm or hand!! “Are you looking to get your hands on?” Gah!
“Something that’ll cook small critters that I snare. Nothing too lethal.”
“Sure, we can take care of that and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.” Stop it!
“Good to hear.”
“You can still hear?”
“Pretty well. My eyes are sharp as they ever were too.”
“Well, that’s a relief. It’s the best news I’ve had all day. Hand’s down.” Stop doing that!
The ancient man looked around the store. “Nice place here. Lots of room.”
“Yep. When we rebuilt, I wanted to make sure there was plenty of elbow room for customers.” Yaaaa! Don’t mention elbows; he’s not got one of those either!
“So you’re gonna do that until I’m pissed off then?”
“No! No, sir!” Grimbledung crossed his arms. “I’m through, really I am. He held up his left hand. “Promise!”
The antique man stared at him. “Get me a cookin’ wand.”
“Right away, Sir. Got them here within arm’s reach.” That was an honest mistake, really! Grimbledung nodded as he pulled a wand from the glass counter in front of him. “This is a nice quality Incinerator wand. It’ll do the trick.” He held it out for the olden man to take.
“Just put her on the counter. I need to get out my coins.”
“Sure, sure. I understand completely.” Grimbledung put the wand on the counter. “It’s a mere two copper, this high quality Incinerator.” He said amicably. “Senior Citizen’s special, that is.”
The man eyed Grimbledung again. “Huh,” he said. Finally, after digging in his money pouch, he produced a gold coin. He tossed it on the counter.
Rolton Chips! I gotta make change. Making change, while not impossible for Grimbledung, was always a challenge. “From a gold coin then.” He took a deep breath and pulled open the drawer beside him. It had a random sampling of coins in it. He concentrated and searched for copper coins. He would need several of those. “So from two copper to a gold coin then.”
“I’d prefer that.”
Grimbledung nodded at the man. “Right.” He reached into the drawer pulling copper coins one at a time. “So two copper for the wand. Then this makes three, four five, six…” He smiled at the old man as he dug for more copper coins. “and we finish off with six, seven, eight, nine” he said as he dropped each coin onto the counter, “and this makes ten which is a silver.” He smiled at the hoary man.
The man stared back.
“So that’s one silver.” He looked back in the drawer. There were a few silver in the drawer, and one gold coin. He made sure he stayed away from picking that one. “So one silver, then this makes two, three, four, five.” He smiled. Drimblerod will be so proud! He continued to drop coins on the counter “Five, six, seven, and eight, and nine, and this one makes ten. Which means that this is one gold coin.” Whoo hoo! “How’s that?”
“That’s about as close to right as I’d expect.”
“Thanks!”
Grimbledung slid the pile of coins across the counter with one hand and pulled the gold coin into the drawer with the other. He used his belly to push the drawer shut as he stacked the coins he had just placed on the counter. As was his custom, he would stack and restack the coins to make sure they were nice and neat, then drag them all into the drawer with the rest.
“Them are my coins, sonny.”
Grimbledung’s hands flinched. “Oh right! Sorry. It’s habit. I like stacking coins.” He pushed the pile toward the decrepit man.
The primeval man took the coins one at a time and put them in an equally-aged belt pouch.
Grimbledung waited patiently.
As the man slid the last coin to the edge of the counter, he fumbled it with his fingers and it fell to the floor. Before Grimbledung could say anything, the man smiled -his first since entering the store- at him. “Be right back.”
“I’ll wait here.”
The man took a deep breath and ducked down slowly. Grimbledung could hear his bones creak and joints pop.
“You OK down there?”
“Yep. Got my coin. Coming back up.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
Old man slowly appeared above the counter, all bent and stooped. And holding a mini-crossbow. A loaded mini-crossbow.
“That seems familiar.”
“What?”
“Never mind. Find that down there did ya?”
“Something like that.”
“Nice little weapon ya got there.”
“Works good too.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
There was a long *uncomfortable* pause as the man pointed it at Grimbledung.
“Well. I suppose I’ll see you around if you need another wand then?”
“Find a sack.”
“Well, I suppose I could help you find a sack. We’re a full service wand shoppe, you know. Try the Haberdashery down the street. It’s called Everything In Between.” He pointed to be helpful. “They’re full of service too.”
“Sonny. If you don’t find a sack right now. You’re going to need a full service mortician.”
“Someone who builds walls?” Grimbledung stalled.
“Your life is just about over. I just thought I’d let you know. This conversation weren’t any more enjoyable the first time.” He raised the miniature crossbow to point at Grimbledung’s chest.
“I got a sack right here!” Grimbledung pulled a sack from under the counter. “On the house.”
“On the counter.”
“On the counter” corrected Grimbledung. “Whatever you say. Doesn’t seem as grand that way, though.”
“Put it on the counter.”
Grimbledung put the sack on the counte
r. “Well, you have a nice day, Sir. Enjoy your sack.”
“Put the coins in the sack.”
“But you put the coins in your own sack. Do you want me to take off your little coin sack and put it in this sack?” He asked, still stalling. Where was Drimblerod? Or Rat? “Or do you want me to take them out of your little sack and put them in the big sack?” Or Nulu? Or any other principle?? Most annoying! Even a minor character would do now. “Stupid Edward.”
“That’s not my name.”
“Someone else I know.”
The man pointed the crossbow at Grimbledung’s chest. “Just about out of time, you are.”
“So want me to come around and put your coin sack into this larger sack then? Doubled sacked as it were?”
“I want you to empty the drawer beside you into that sack. And I want it to be the next sound I hear. Or the next sound you hear is going to be you getting this bolt stuck in your chest. Again. And this time I won’t miss your heart.”
Grimbledung gulped. He opened his mouth then looked at the man’s eyes. Something told him that the best course of action - the only course of action - that had any chance of keeping him attached to his life, was to put the coins in the sack. He pulled open the drawer.
Something itched at the back of his neck. He dared not scratch it...
Luckily Drimblerod had made a deposit at the bank just yesterday so there wasn’t more than around three gold worth of coins in the drawer. He began to scoop the coins out and dropped them into the sack.
“GRRRRR!” He said for no reason he could think of. His fingers began to feel numb. The coins became difficult to grab.
“Hurry it up.”
“GRRRRR!!”
“Stop doin’ that.”
Grimbledung took his time to pull out the edges of the sack, hoping that someone anyone would come in. No such luck. Finally, when the drawer was empty, he shrugged at the man. “Well, that’s all there is to say about that.” He said. Because that was.
The man nodded. “Those were good.”
The itching seemed to have made its way all the way down his back, past his butt and down both legs. His feet felt as if they were on fire. He tried wiggling his toes. It didn’t help. “Whaaaat? Grrrrr!”
“Last words.” The man pulled the trigger on the mini-crossbow. The string thrummed as the sharp, six-inch steel bolt sprang forward almost too fast to see. At such a close range and wearing only a tunic, the bolt stuck almost the entire way into Grimbledung’s chest. The man hung the weapon on his belt, took the sack and turned towards the door. “That about does it.”
Door latched shut.
“Ya sure about that, are ya?”
Door clattered its latch. It was sure.
Grimbledung looked down at the very last little bit of the bolt sticking out of the very center of the chest. I don’t think that hit anything vital. That’s amazing! He thought. Again! Suddenly the world became fuzzy on the edges. “Drimblerod?” he said to no one in particular. The fuzziness took on a red tint.
“Rrrrrrat?” Grimbledung growled.
Something in the way he said it made the old man turn around.
“GRRRRR!! RRRRRat!” he said again. “YAAAAA!” he screamed. It felt as if the fire in his feet had suddenly covered his entire body.
The old man’s eyes got large.
Grimbledung’s eyes swirled from their normal green to a dark brown, then black, as if someone had stepped into a puddle and kicked up the sediment at the bottom. Hair sprung from every inch of his body as claws snaked from the ends of his fingers. He tilted his head back and let out a high-pitched howl. GrimbledungWolf looked down at his clawed hands and panted.
“Delberger’s Hand!” said someone in the room.
GrimbledungWolf looked up. He had no idea who the man was or why he was in the store. He didn’t really care, either. All he knew was that he really didn’t want the man inside anymore. He took a step forward, clawed feet clicking on the wood flooring. A tendril of drool started to form on the side of his mouth. He let it.
Frantically, the old man tried to reload the crossbow. Having only one hand, he was unable to. He dropped the sack and put the small loading stirrup of the weapon between his knees, pulling back the string to cock it. It made a ‘Ka’ sound as it dropped into the catch. He grabbed a bolt from a loop on his belt and looked up to see how much time he had.
None, apparently.
GrimbledungWolf stood right in front of the old man, panting, watching him try to load the weapon with an interested look. A growl started in the back of his throat and worked its way forward, through sharp fangs. He let it out with no impediment. “RRROOWWWRRRrrrrrr!” he growled.
Just as the old man took a step back, GrimbledungWolf reached out and grabbed the man by the shoulders, bunching up his shirt. He easily picked him up off the floor. He opened his mouth wide and leaned in.
The old man tried in vain to get his one hand up to try and protect himself, but the beast seemed to have him in an iron grip.
Door clattered open.
“Grimbledung! Let go of that old man!”
GrimbledungWolf looked at the new figure that was now in the store. He seemed vaguely familiar. Or maybe not. Just in case, he snarled at him. The tendril of drool dropped from his mouth and joined the puddle made by the old man on the floor. “GRRRRRR!” he said. Nothing else seemed to come out.
“Grimbledung?”
“RRROOWWWRRR?” That also seemed to work. He raised the old man up high off the floor. As he leaned back, he repositioned his feet in a wider stance. Preparing to...
“No! Do NOT throw him through that window! We just got it replaced. Put that old man down, Grim.”
“Yeah, put me down you...”
GrimbledungWolf turned to look at the decrepit man. Grimbledung’s eyes seemed to have a red glow to them now. A red glow of anger. He opened his mouth wide. He was sure the man deserved something to happen to him but for the moment, tossing him out the window or biting his head off seemed to be the only two options available. Another tendril of drool started to form. “GRRRR!” he snarled.
The door to the shop opened and Akita walked in. “I thought I heard a howl come outta...” Akita stopped to assess the situation. Drimblerod seemed safe. For the moment at least. Grimbledung seemed to be a WereGnome. For the moment, anyway. And the ancient man he was holding seemed to be alive. For only a moment longer, unfortunately. “Grrrrimbledung!” Akita growled at the WereGnome. “Put that man down and let’s rrrresolve this.” He hunched over and bared his fangs.
“RRROOWWWRRRR!” said GrimbledungWolf. That didn’t seem like a viable option. He looked back at the window, wondering if he could actually throw the old man all the way across the street. He leaned back to make the attempt.
“I don’t think that’s going to work, Akita. Grim seems pretty upset with this fellow.” Drimblerod looked at the man. “What’d you do?”
“Nuthin...”
Grimbledung let go of the man with one hand and pulled the bolt from his chest. He let it clatter to the floor then resumed his two-handed grip. The man had stayed in the same position the entire time.
“Nothing, huh?”
“Well, I mighta shot him in the chest with a crossbow.”
“And?” Coaxed Akita.
“Maybe tried robbing the place.”
“GRRRR!” Agreed Grimbledung as he opened his mouth wide. Biting the man’s head off was now the best option around.
“Hey! You’re the guy who robbed us once before!” Drimblerod clenched his fists. “Why you...”
Akita’s ears perked up. “Wanna go for a run?”
“What?” Drimblerod looked at the Constable. “Who me?”
“Wanna run? Huh? Wanna go for a rrrrrrun?” Akita ran in place. “Rrrrruun!”
GrimbledungWolf looked from the rickety man to the large hairy beast that seemed to be trying to get his attention. He concentrated on what it was saying because it seemed interesting in an odd way
.
“Let’s go for a rrrrrun. Rrrrrunnin’s grrrrreat! We’ll chase rrrrabbits!”
GrimbledungWolf panted. “Rrrrabbits?” He licked his lips.
“Let’s go! Rrrrunnin!” Akita turned and moved toward the door. “Gonna go without ya.” He put his hand on the catch. “Gonna go without ya!” He opened the door.
“Naaaaaa!” GrimbledungWolf dropped the man and moved beside the strange, yet familiar looking creature by the door. “Rrrruun!!” He hopped up and down as well. He waggled his butt back and forth. “Rrrrrun!”
“We’ll be back, Drim. Take care of that guy.” He pointed at the old man who was slowly getting up.
“Yeah, I got him.” Drimblerod glowered at the old man. “You two go and...”
Akita bolted out of the door with GrimbledungWolf close behind. The two made it to the center of the street together. “Thataway!” Akita pointed as he took off again. GrimbledungWolf caught up almost immediately. Two ran upright in long strides. “Wanna go faster? Rrrrrun faster?”
“Yaaaaa!”
Akita dropped to all-fours and immediately went into an energy-conserving, yet terrain gobbling, lope.
“Yaaaaa?” GrimbledungWolf also dropped to all fours. Not being accustomed to running in this manner, he lost his balance and staggered to the side. After a mere fifty yards, it seemed to be the most natural thing he had ever done. “Rrrruunnn!” He said as he moved ahead of Akita.
“Well, it beats constabulary responsibilities,” Akita said to no one in particular as he caught up to GrimbledungWolf. Since he was twice the size of the Gnome, he was able to keep up easily.
The pair ran straight down the middle of the street as wagons and pedestrians moved quickly to give them a very wide berth.
Big Julie and Pinky walked down the sidewalk, hand in hand. Content with each other’s company. “Love these quiet days.”
Julie nodded at the man. “Me too, Pinky. Me too.”
A commotion made them look into the street. Just as Akita and GrimbledungWolf bounded past.
“And that, my good lady,” said Pinky without missing a beat, “is something you do not see in any other town. You must be such a proud Mayoress.”
Big Julie let go of Pinky’s hand and punched him in the shoulder. Really, really hard.
A New Hope (Tales From a Second-Hand Wand Shop Book 4) Page 10