where he put it down just a moment before. He reached over to grasp it by the handle and maneuvered it carefully to his chest where he set it down for a moment. He breathed deeply, sighed and smiled, and then carefully brought it to his lips and poured a generous swallow down his throat, although he failed to keep some from spilling out onto the fur. “Stop your pacing Dol,” he said as he tried to move the mug back to the side table. “You’re making me nervous. We’re home or at least in a place as close to being home as we can find. After the desert I’d think you’d be happy to sit down and rest.”
“We are wasting time here,” said Dol and continued his pacing with his fingers tapping at the sides of his legs. “I don’t trust these dwarves. They’ll try to take the hammer. I see them looking at it.”
Brogus rolled his eyes. “Nobody wants the hammer. They can’t even hold the thing.”
“They don’t know that,” said Dol and turned to face Brogus with fiery eyes. “They’re dwarves, you’re a dwarf, you know how we covet pretty things. They’ll take it from us. Why do you think they haven’t sent us south yet?”
“And we’ll never see those horses again,” said Milli suddenly appearing at the door with Petra. She wore a floral patterned cotton skirt that came to just above her knees and a lightweight blouse made of a gauzy material that showed a hint of the slender frame below. Her lips turned down as she thought of the magnificent horse that she rode across the desert and to the mountains. “I won’t let them take him or the hammer either, Dol. Trust me on that.”
Petra, who wore a thick, wool jerkin with more dwarf-like blacksmith patterns, peered over Milli’s shoulder, “Hello all.”
“Hi, Petra,” said Brogus barely able to lift his head from the comfortable pillow. “Did you find out when they’re going to let us head south?”
“I asked you to find that out, you didn’t ask me,” said Petra with a shake of her head. “Do you even listen anymore?”
“Wait a second,” said Brogus as he sat up in his bed and looked at the old witch. “I was supposed to find out when they’ll let us leave? When did we start relying on me for anything?”
Milli snorted out a laugh, “Good point.”
Petra rolled her eyes, “You’re the dwarf. You can talk to these people.”
“I don’t speak their language any more than you,” said Brogus. “They don’t even have those stupid spell stones or whatever. It’s all hand signs and pointing at things. It’s impossible. Why don’t we just find the horses and leave?”
“How do you propose to get out of the mountains?” said Petra and looked up at the ceiling, an expression of exasperation on her face. “This place is a maze, it’s worse than the tent city of the Black Horsemen.”
“It’s not so bad,” said Brogus and looked back at his mug of beer. “We head down the main corridor and find the down shafts. Take them for a bit and then meander around. We’ll find an exit eventually.”
“Yes, but on what side of the mountain? We need to head south. That’s what Manetho told us,” said Petra. “If we come out on the desert side of the mountain then we’re back where we started.”
“Why can’t Milli find out,” said Brogus with a shrug. “She’s good at getting boys to give her things.”
“I’ve tried,” said Milli. “I don’t understand what they tell me. I can’t get answers to questions if I don’t understand the language. Why didn’t we get one of those translator stones from Manetho? Why don’t I ever think of anything? What’s wrong with me?”
Petra put her arm around the young girl, “I should have thought of that stone as well. We all figured if they were dwarves that you could speak to each other. I suppose everyone in the world speaks a different language. When we get to Shandoria, that is what Manetho called it, when we get to Shandoria we’ll run into the same problem again.”
“At least they feed us good,” said Brogus and looked around for the plate of food he left somewhere in the room.
“Brogus,” said Milli with a sharp voice. She walked over to him on the bed and slapped him on the top of the head. “You start walking around and figure out this place. Find a map or something. I’ll find the horses and then we’ll make a break for it.”
“Ok,” said Brogus with a little wobble of his head. “I can do that.”
“Can do what?” said Milli.
“What you said,” said Brogus.
“What was that?” said Milli.
“What was what?” said Brogus.
Milli closed her eyes, “What I just told you to do.”
“When?” said Brogus.
“Just now, what did I tell you to do that you agreed to do?”
“Oh,” said Brogus, “that. About finding a map so we can get out of here.”
“Good,” said Milli. “I thought maybe you didn’t hear me.”
“Why did you think that?” said Brogus.
“By Davim, shut up!” said Dol glaring at the three of them. “I can’t think with all this noise. I’ll see you later,” he finished and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
“Do you notice he’s a little… angry lately?” said Milli to Brogus and Petra.
“I don’t know how he was before,” said Petra and shrugged but also looked at the floor.
“Cool, calm, he always thought things through, right, Brogus?” said Milli as she looked at the closed door that Dol slammed behind him. The dwarves of this mountain built in much the same manner as those of Craggen Steep although not as grandly. In the hidden citadel the ancient hallways, built by elementals, were far more glorious than any she had thus far seen here but perhaps there was even more to the place than had already been revealed.
“Slow moving,” said Brogus. “He always thought things through; too much I used to tell him, he’s like a tree that way.”
“But he’s not anymore,” said Milli. “That’s my point. Right, Petra? You’ve seen him. He’s rash now, angry, in a hurry to get to the five volcanoes. He wasn’t like this before.”
Petra shrugged her shoulders, “He has a quest now, what did Manetho call it, a See. In the past, once he made up his mind, did he move quickly then?”
Milli thought about it for a little while and then shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head, “I suppose so. Once he gets moving he’s active enough. But he still doesn’t seem the same. I’ve never seen him get angry before. Not really angry like this.”
“He’s out of Craggen Steep,” said Petra and patted the girl on the back. “He’s in a new place. It’s bound to make anyone a little a different. I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s still steady enough.”
“I suppose,” said Milli with a little sigh. “Now, Brogus, we’re relying on you to figure this place out, to get us out of here. I’ll find the horses. They have to be somewhere outside right? They need grass to eat and that doesn’t grow underground.”
“They could feed them mushrooms,” said Brogus and blinked lazily twice.
“These aren’t stupid mules,” said Milli with a starry look in her eyes. “These are desert stallions. They don’t eat mushrooms.”
Brogus shrugged, “Did you get any more beer?”
Milli put her hands on her hips and stared at him, “Weren’t you supposed to be doing something?”
Brogus looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face, “Like what?”
“Like finding us a way out of this place. You can’t be this stupid.”
“How long have you known me?” said Brogus and squinted at her.
“Okay, you can be this stupid but here’s something for you. If you don’t figure a way to get out of this place and back on the road then Dol will start to get very upset and he’s not going to take it out on me or Petra!”
“That’s true,” said Brogus pursing his lips and looking keenly at the halfling girl. He rolled on his side, back and forth, gaining momentum and then finally fell out of the bed and landed on the stone floor with a thump. “Aha!” he shouted, sprang to his feet, and looked eagerly around the room. “Now,” he lifted the bottom edge of a dark painting on the wall that depicted a massive rat-like creature with a bunch of baby rats scattered around at its feet and looked behind it, “any map here?”
Milli shook her head, rolled her eyes, and turned to Petra. “We’ll be here forever.”
