do it.”
Uldex stared back his dark eyes glowing with intensity, “You’ll do what I tell you to do and nothing more.”
“I’ve got orders from Borrombus that you don’t know anything about,” said the stout dwarf not backing down an inch from the baleful glare.
“You’ll do what I say, when I say it,” said Uldex as the two glared at each other nose to nose.
“Not necessarily,” said the dwarf with a little shake of his head.
“Cross me if you dare,” said Uldex and put his hand on the long knife at his side.
The big dwarf tilted his head down so that his eyes looked at Uldex from under his heavy brow and gave a low snort, “You think I won’t?”
“I hope you will,” replied Uldex.
They stared at each for a long moment before the big dwarf made as to turn around but then grabbed at his axe and spun towards Uldex with the blade whistling towards his head.
Uldex took a step forward and bumped heavily into the chest of his opponent which forced the axe to swing behind his head and his opponent’s wrist to smash into his skull.
“Aaghh,” said the big dwarf and took half a step backwards and prepared to swing again. That’s when he noticed Uldex’s fist under his chin and felt the searing pain of the dagger that had just penetrated his lower jaw and pierced his brain pan from below. Uldex raised his left hand to control the weapon hand of his opponent which began to spasm rhythmically and then lowered the big dwarf slowly to the ground.
“You’ll remember I didn’t intervene, Uldex,” said the small dwarf as he stood behind Uldex, his own axe in his hand.
“I’ll remember, Carus” said Uldex. “And you’ll remember that my orders are to be followed precisely.”
“I never thought anything else,” said the little dwarf with his wicked grin in place. “Shall we head to town then?”
Uldex nodded his head and looked at the fresh corpse. “We need to get rid of the body first. That idiot Cleathelm might get lost and end up doubling back on his tracks. We don’t want him to find it.”
The little dwarf looked at the body and then the ground, “We don’t have anything to dig with.”
“Drag him into the bushes and gets some rocks from the creek back there, that’s the best we can do. Then we’ll go to town and resupply. Remember to keep your jewelry and coin purse well hidden, these yokels will cut your throat for even one of your smallest rings.”
The little dwarf nodded his head and went over to grab the big dwarf by the ankles.
Chapter 19
“We have to stop here, Dol!” said Milli as she stamped her foot and pointed to the little village spread out in the valley below them. She stood next to her horse and held onto his reins gently as she stared up at the tall dwarf still on his horse. “This map that Brogus
… acquired… is useless. We’re totally lost.”
Dol sat on his stallion and looked to the south with a grimace on his face but said nothing.
“We need to get supplies,” said Milli.
“We can see volcanoes,” said Dol. “Right over there, and there,” he continued and pointed towards the high mountains in the distance. “If we keep looking we’re sure to find a group of five and then I kill Gazadum and get my reward.”
“The ones with Gazadum could be hundreds of miles to the south or the west or the east,” said Milli. “You’re being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. We’ll get there faster if we get directions. No one is going to try and stop us. Who could possibly know us down here?”
Brogus dismounted with an awkward movement although he managed to stay on his feet, walked over to Milli, and stood next to the girl, “She’s right, Dol. How could anyone from Craggen Steep have followed us down here? No one knows us or what we’re doing. We go to town, get some directions, some good food and drinks, a nice nights rest in a bed, and then leave. What can go wrong?”
“I don’t like stopping,” said Dol with a grimace.
“It will speed us up in the end,” argued Milli. “We’ll have a better idea where we are, right, Petra?”
The old woman had been heretofore silent on the issue as she watched the argument between the three from the safety of the back of her horse, “I’m not completely opposed to Dol’s point of view,” she finally said with a sage nod of her head.
“What?” said Milli turning sharply to the woman and glaring at her through eyes narrowed into slits. “Why?”
Petra sat on the horse for long seconds saying nothing before she finally replied, “I can’t say. I just don’t like going into town, it’s a feeling.”
Milli stood silently looking at the older woman on the horse, “I suppose if you have a feeling…”
“No!” said Brogus his face red and his hands waving back and forth, “A feeling? A feeling? That’s nothing. I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, and I wouldn’t mind staying in a comfortable bed for the night either. Come on, Petra, be reasonable. How strong a feeling?”
“It’s difficult to judge these things,” said the woman. My family has a history of foretelling but I’ve never been much good at it.”
“We can have a seance!” shouted Milli and clapped her hands while jumping up and down. “It’ll be fun and then we’ll know if going into town is a good idea or not.”
“I’m really not much good…,” started Petra but Milli was already unpacking her horse and chattering excitedly to Dol and Brogus. “You two probably don’t know much about it being dwarves and all,” she said with a toss of her long hair. “I read about it in books. A couple of times old dwarf ladies came in and tried to get me to read the cards because we halflings supposedly have the gift.”
“Did you?” asked Brogus with an eager smile on his face. “I’ve heard of fortune tellers before but there aren’t any in Craggen Steep. At least not that I know about. We met a band of gypsies once on a trade mission but I got stuck on kitchen duty and couldn’t get my fortune read.”
Dol sighed, rolled his eyes, finally dismounted in a desultory fashion, and kicked at a few rocks on the ground while ignoring the excited Milli and Brogus.
“I didn’t say I was good at it,” interjected Petra as she watched Brogus and Milli making preparations to set up the camp, although they ignored her as they jabbered back and forth about who would get their reading done first. “My sister was much better than me,” Petra tried one last time before turning to Dol who continued to kick little rocks and mutter to himself. “Not much for fortune telling are you?” she asked him.
Dol paused at his rock kicking exercise, looked up at Petra, and shook his head, “I’ve never been one to pray or ask the Gods for guidance.”
Petra nodded her head, “I’ve known a few like that over the years, but mostly it’s the other way around. People are looking for answers as to why their lives are the way they are. It seems in the nature of people to want a reason for what happen to them.”
“What happens happens,” said Dol with a little frown and a shrug of his shoulders. “I was born, I live for a while, and then I’ll die.”
“That’s a rather fatalistic view, my friend,” said Petra coming over and putting her arm over the dwarf’s shoulder. Even though she was a relatively short woman she still stood more than six inches taller than the dwarf although he was quite a bit broader at the shoulder than she. “The gods are up there causing things to happen. They know the future which makes the future knowable. You just have to tap into the right lines of energy.”
“I suppose that’s true,” said Dol. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. If the future is determined then nothing I do makes any difference. I have no free will.”
“Just because the Gods know the future doesn’t mean you don’t have free will,” said Milli stopping her activity around the camp fire to join the discussion. “You have free will to make any decision you want. If you go home right now then that’s your decision, right?”
Dol looked at her, licked his lips, grimaced, and then shrugged his shoulders, “I guess, but if the Gods
