'Looks like there's more moving between worlds than we thought.'
'How long was it used in Maras-Dantia?' Pepperdyne asked.
'Forever,' Coilla told him. 'Nobody knows who first thought of it.'
'So maybe it didn't start there. If the worlds have bled into each other more than we know, it could have originated anywhere.'
'Possible, I suppose.' Coilla knew that the elder races weren't native to Maras-Dantia; it was the humans' world by birthright. It seemed logical to her that when the various races were inadvertently deposited there, long ago, they might well have brought something like Mutual with them. But she didn't mention any of that. Instead, she said, 'From what we heard, it seems humans aren't too well liked in these parts, Jode.'
'We gathered that much.'
'Yeah, well, I think it goes a bit deeper than a tiff. Take care.'
'Ahhh, ain't it cute?' Haskeer mocked. 'She's worried about her little pet.'
'You'll be worried about the one between your legs if you don't pipe down,' she promised him.
Nobody spoke for a moment until Wheam wondered, 'How do you think they're getting on in Acurial?'
'Just fine, I should think,' Stryke reckoned.
'You can't help thinking what they made of us, can you?' Dallog speculated.
'Maybe we'll go down in their history books,' Coilla said, only half seriously.
'Yeah!' Wheam enthused. 'As a band of legendary heroes who — '
He was drowned out by the catcalls of the rest of the band.
'I think you're right about the resistance winning out there,' Pepperdyne said when it quietened. 'I'm more puzzled by who that bunch were who wanted your stars, Stryke.'
That put a damper on the band.
'Damned if we can figure it out,' Stryke confessed. 'But if they really did come from somewhere other than Acurial, like that elf said, they could turn up here. We're going to have to be alert for that.'
'Not much of a furlough then,' Coilla came back dryly.
'If these dwarfs don't try to stop us we'll find ourselves a good defensible holdout first thing. We'll be better prepared if they come again.'
'Against the magic they have?' She paused a moment before braving the next thing she wanted to say. 'Stryke, about the stars…'
'What about them?'
'Given they're precious, and now we might have this new bunch trying to get their hands on them, why don't you divide them up between five of us and — '
'No.'
'Don't just dismiss it, Stryke. It could be a good way of protecting the things.'
'If we lost just one, that's enough to make the others useless.'
'This isn't just about you, you know. The stars are our only way home too.'
' No, Coilla. Not after what happened last time.'
'You're blaming me for that, are you?'
'You know I'm not. How could I when I lost four of them to Jennesta myself?'
'So you won't consider it?'
'It's better my way.'
'You can be such a stubborn pig sometimes!' she flared. 'When are you going to get it through your head that — '
There was a commotion outside. They heard shouts and screams.
Rushing to the door, they saw dozens of dwarfs running in all directions in panic.
The band flooded out of the longhouse. At sea, a flotilla of small boats was heading for the shore. In the distance, a ship was at anchor.
The Wolverines headed for the beach. There were more dwarfs there, desperate to get away from the advancing boats. They stopped a few to ask what was going on, but got no sense out of them.
'Look!' Coilla yelled, pointing at the nearest boats.
They were manned by humans.
'I'm guessing it's not a social visit either,' Stryke observed.
'Now we know why the dwarfs aren't keen on Jode and Standeven.'
A number of male dwarfs were now running onto the beach as opposed to away from it. They were armed with their spears.
'What do we do?' Dallog asked.
'We make a stand with them,' Stryke replied, 'what else?'
'Pity they've got nobody operating those trebuchets.' The corporal pointed to the ledge on the volcano.
'No time. They've been caught unawares.'
'Yeah,' Coilla agreed, 'probably because they were too concerned with us.'
'Here they come!' Haskeer bellowed.
The first of the humans were wading ashore.
'So let's get to it,' Stryke ordered, drawing his sword. 'Come on!' He lead them into the surf. Only Standeven held back, skulking far up the beach.
They met the invaders in knee-deep water and laid into them. The humans were shocked to be facing an unknown race, and one so ferocious, and were equally dismayed to find Pepperdyne among their attackers. That gave the band an initial edge. Soon the surf was stained red.
But it didn't take long for Stryke to realise he'd made an error. This wasn't the incomers' main or only force. Further along the shoreline more boats had come round the island's curve. Humans had already got well inland in that direction. They were fighting dwarfs on the beach, and the dwarfs weren't coming off best.
Stryke ordered some of the band to stay where they were and finish off the dwindling number of humans still exchanging blows. He took the rest up the beach to confront the bigger influx happening there. Spurral, who had proved a good runner, had seen what was happening and streaked off even before he issued the order. She was well to the fore and not far short of a group of humans wading ashore.
Running abreast with Haskeer, Jup and Coilla, and with the other band members on their heels, Stryke yelled a warning. A party of humans who must already have penetrated the island's interior were returning to the beach, and their path crossed the Wolverines'. The humans, perhaps twenty strong, were dragging and carrying screaming dwarfs towards the waves.
Stryke's band and the kidnappers all but collided. Startled by the sudden appearance of a group of creatures they were unlikely to have encountered before, the humans let go of their captives to defend themselves. The freed dwarfs, most of them young, began fleeing back into the jungle.
The warband tore into the boatmen, savagely hacking them down. Pepperdyne, taking a great swipe with his blade, parted one of them from his head. Haskeer, employing both hatchet and knife, hurtled into a duo simultaneously, stabbing one and braining the other. Dallog plunged his spear into a foe with such force it lifted the man off his feet. Even Wheam gave a good account of himself, in Wheam terms. He managed no fatalities, but attacked with gusto and inflicted mean wounds on a couple of opponents.
They worked as fast as they could to get through the obstruction and reach the greater number of humans beyond, where more struggling dwarfs were being hurled into the humans' bobbing craft.
As the last man in their path was downed and dispatched, several of the grunts started raising a clamour. Stryke and the others looked to where they were frantically pointing.
Out in deep water, Spurral was grappling with three men. As the band watched, they pummelled her senseless and flung her into a boat, then hauled themselves aboard.
' Shit! ' Jup cried. He began running.
The band took off in his wake, arms pumping, heads down.
A burly human tried blocking Jup's way. He cracked the man's skull open with his staff while barely breaking step. He ran on, splashing into the water.
'Spurral!' he shouted. 'Spurral!'
The boat she was in had begun moving away, four men pulling mightily on the oars.
Jup was wading now, finding the going harder the farther he got. Breakers battered him and he almost lost
