shouldn’t say things they don’t mean.”
The woman’s eyes were wide open now as she began to stammer out apologies, “I’m quite sorry, sir. I was just surprised by your appearance. You must admit that it is somewhat unusual. My apologies of course.”
“See, Dol,” interrupted Brogus as he put his hand on the shoulder of his friend. “It’s nothing, my friend. Let’s take a room and get some rest. We’re all a little cranky from such traveling about.”
“I won’t stay here,” said Dol as he spun around and walked out of the inn without a further word.
Petra shook her head and looked at Milli who in turn looked at Brogus. “I’m so sorry,” said Milli to the woman. “We’ve been traveling for a long time; he’s upset a lot lately.”
The woman nodded her head although her hands trembled and her face was quite white as she tried to wave it off with a little motion of her hands, “I understand. I didn’t mean anything, it’s just you don’t often see someone with apples growing in their hair.”
“He’s a little sensitive about them,” said Brogus with a deep chuckle.
“Can you recommend somewhere else for us to stay,” said Petra with a kindly smile as she patted the trembling woman on the hand.
An hour later the four travelers were in a room filled with wooden furniture and were admiring their accommodations. “I’ve never seen the like,” said Brogus, his hand running over the wooden bed frame. “Wood support, wood frame, wood dresser, wood handles, it’s richer than even a High Council member could afford and for less silver than I’d pay for a good stout in Craggen Steep.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t mention that place too often,” said Milli as she too admired the wooden fixtures around the room. “Petra’s and mine is even nicer.”
“Yeah,” said Brogus with a grin as he continued to move his hand over the wood grain. “Girls always get better rooms. It’s not fair.”
“We ladies of refinement need more space,” said Milli and let loose with a girlish giggle.
Dol sat in the corner and ran his fingers through his hair pulling out the occasional little red apple and tossing it into a waste bin, but he remained silent.
“Oh, Dol,” said Milli. “Stop moping around. We know you didn’t want to come to town but we’ve found out where the Five Volcanoes are and it’s only a couple of weeks of travel from here.”
“It’s probably shorter than that,” said Petra. “That woman at the first inn didn’t know about the quality of our horses.”
“That’s true,” said Milli smiling brightly. “See, Dol. Now we know exactly where to go and how long it’s going to take us. So coming to town saved us time. We’ll be there before you know it and your quest fulfilled.” She walked over to Dol and patted him on the shoulder.
He looked up at her with a glare for a moment, then his eyes suddenly softened, and he lowered his head so that his chin all but rested on his chest. “I don’t know what comes over me,” he said in a quiet voice. “I get so angry now and I can’t seem to make myself stop.”
“It’s okay, Dol,” said Milli and rubbed her hand along his shoulders. “We’re under a lot of strain and we’re getting close to the end of the quest. Once we finish then things will go back to normal. We’ll go back to Craggen Steep as heroes. Maybe we’ll meet up with Corancil and his messenger friend.”
“It’s not just the stress of the quest, Milli, you can’t or don’t want to understand,” said Dol in a snappish way and then he shook his head and smiled. “See, I just started to get angry again, for nothing, for no reason at all. For some reason I want to look at everything like it’s an insult.”
Everyone sat silently for a while before Petra broke the lull, “The sooner we get to the Five Sisters the better,” she said and walked over to give Dol a pat on the back. “The question we haven’t answered is what do we do afterwards?”
“If we’re alive,” interjected Brogus with a laugh.
“If we’re dead that question won’t concern us,” said Dol with a smile.
“See,” said Milli. “Maybe you do get angry more quickly but you tell jokes and smile too. You used to be a bit of a party poop, admit it.”
Dol shrugged his shoulders and glanced down at his blackened hand, the darkness now spread partially up his wrist and onto his arm, “I suppose it’s partially the strain of the quest. Once we finish maybe things will go back to normal.”
“I’m sure you’re right, Dol,” said Milli although she glanced at his discolored hand and arm. She thought about saying something but decided against it. “Only a couple of more weeks at the most. There’s nothing to stop us now.”
“But what about after?” repeated Petra looking over at the two dwarves and the halfling girl. “Milli, you say we head back to Craggen Steep but without the portals that could take years and years. We have plenty of gold to stay here in the south and settle.”
“There’s nothing much for us back at Craggen Steep,” said Brogus with a shrug. “I’m with Petra.”
Milli shook her head, “It would be different once we defeat Gazadum. We’d be heroes and things might change with Corancil and the invasion. The High Council might agree to allow dwarves to take part in the invasion. It would be a whole new world.”
“We’d be heroes here as well,” said Dol looking up with a light in his eyes. “With the hammer, people would follow me and with the northern invasion they’d need a leader.”
“What are you saying, Dol?” said Milli turning towards her companion. “What do you know about being a leader, a general of armies?”
Dol shrugged, “You have to start somewhere and people will follow me. Once I slay Gazadum I’ll be able to stake a claim. Why go back to Craggen Steep? Why join Corancil? We could create our own kingdom here in the south.”
Petra shrugged her shoulders, “He might be right, Milli. The north is years away for us.”
“But we promised to report back to the messenger,” said Milli with her hands on her hips. “A promise is a promise.”
“Isn’t an Apprenticeship Contract a promise,” said Brogus with a wan little smile. “We broke that, didn’t we?”
“That’s different,” said Milli but offered no explanation as to why.
“My mind is settled,” said Dol with a faraway look in his eyes. “You can do as you will. As I’ve said before it might be best to let me go on alone. It’s dangerous and if I succeed then we all benefit. If I die then you can continue on.”
“No, Dol,” said Milli defiantly putting her hands on her hips and turning to face him directly. “We’re together to the end, not matter what. We can talk about all this after we get to the Five Sisters or whatever they’re called.”
Back at the Feathered Serpent Cleathelm and Blaggard approached the desk only a few minutes after Dol and his friends left in a huff. The woman behind the counter spotted the dwarf with the strange look to him and immediately shook her head, “Don’t tell me, you’re looking for Five Volcanoes?”
Braggard stopped suddenly, his mouth opened wide, and Cleathelm looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face, “What do you mean?”
“Shut up,” said Blaggard and poked him in the side.
“Don’t poke me, miserable cur,” said Cleathelm and backhanded him across the jaw with a quick motion that sent the half-breed goblin reeling across the room where he stared at Cleathelm with lowered eyes and a grimace.
The woman behind the counter raised her eyebrows but remained silent.
“We need a room,” said Cleathelm and pulled out his purse and tossed a couple of large gold coins onto the counter.
The woman’s eyes opened wide as she stared at the coins before she regained her composure, “Let me put that on the scale,” she said and put the coins onto the little scale that remained on the counter from the previous guests. The scale immediately plummeted to the bottom of the counter with a thunk. “Is this real gold?”
“What other kind is there,” said Cleathelm with a sneer at the woman. “Haven’t seen the like before down here, eh?” He turned to Blaggard who still gazed at the dwarf with a snarl on his face. “Heathens and barbarians in the south. They don’t even know what real gold looks like.”
She shrugged her shoulders, took the coin in her mouth, bit down on it hard, and then looked at the slight
