When Callie was awakened , she woke us all, which surprised the girl sent to get us. King Gorval and the scribe from yesterday, Lanara, met us for breakfast. The older staff woman, who said to call her Nana, laid out a respectable meal. Gorval and Lanara were both sad and distracted. The situation was laying heavily on their minds. As we ate, we talked about it. They explained how thousands of years of separation had made them nearly separate races. Over all of this time, the Duergar had become angrier, more violent, highly territorial, and more convinced that they were the "pure" race. A key event that turned the two groups against each other was ages ago when humans, gnomes, and other non-dwarfs began working in their mines. When they learned these races were not slaves, the Duergar went deeper into the mines, sealed the tunnels between the two groups, and they did not see each other for about a century. At their reunion, the difference was physical and the gray ones were calling for the expulsion of all non-dwarfs from "their" mountain. They tried to reconcile, but the gray ones eventually told them that any people other than Duergar were "inferior" and everyone was to leave "their" territory. Such it has been for generations. It has finally come to this point. The gray ones were vandalizing equipment, attacking workers, and, as we discovered, planning to invade Stahendring. We asked Gorval if he would permit us to tour the tunnels, see if there was anything we could sense to determine how close the gray ones were to actual invasion. Gorval permitted, but only with armed guards. Lanara was to go with us as well.
As we waited for the guards, I sat on a bench outside Callie's home. Set stood guard as Vanity and I felt deep into the mountain. It was amazing, the sheer number of inhabitants one mountain could hold. Deeper and deeper we felt. Around level thirty, we felt no living energies. This emptiness went on until level thirty-six or thirty-seven. That is when we started feeling the hate, anger, and hostility of the gray ones. No Foot was detected. Level forty-eight was the limit of our senses without straining. Set let us know it was time to go. We returned our perceptions to our current location as everyone assembled. We did not share our information with the guards, but told my sisters and Lanara. She quickly wrote it down, surprised at how far we reached into the mountain.
The first dozen levels were uneventful save for the spots we crossed where the Duergar had been seen. The deeper levels, thirteen through twenty-five, had far more incursions as no sunlight penetrated this far. Here, without so much other "noise" from Gorval's people, we learned of actual instructions: what to look for, how large of an item to take, when to stop and wait for the guards, what the alarm bells sounded like, etc.
As we passed level twenty-seven, our guards and Lanara began to grow nervous. We paused to rest and asked her about their nerves.
"These levels are said to be haunted. Equipment moves or disappears. Food and water vanish. We can find no cause or reason, thus most of this area is avoided."
We pondered such strangeness. Set sniffed, trying to not be bored. We continued with our nervous guards.
Level thirty-one felt rather strange. Devoid of any dwarf or like energy, I felt like someone was hiding, repeating, "Can't see me, can't see me," over and over. We stopped. As Set, Bo, and Dawn broke away to do their own investigating, I felt the hiders grow curious. Not actual words, I "heard" them speculating on our companions. Set took some deep breaths and launched into the darkness of the cave ceiling. The guards raised weapons, but we told them to stand down. Odd noises echoed from the darkness. From some of their reactions, I knew the guards and Lanara had heard them before. We seven heard Set ask Dawn to "light up". Dawn soared into the darkness then began to glow. As she got brighter, tiny eyes reflected the light. High above us, dozens of miniature dragons were revealed by Dawn's growing glow. Set was in the middle of them, hovering just below the ceiling. Our guards were dumbstruck. Lanara was writing furiously. Set, Dawn, and three of the little dragons descended. The little ones, nearly the same color as the stone that surrounded us, blinked wildly as they adjusted to the lights we carried. Set told me and I explained to the dwarfs.
"Their real name is difficult for non-dragons to pronounce, but they playfully refer to themselves as 'bat-dragons'. These three are fully grown. The middle one is an elder, meaning she is one of the oldest here. This is their winter home. The rest of the year, they live in the surrounding woods. This is also when they have babies.They can tell the difference between your people and the gray ones. Those things you told us about, stuff moving or vanishing, were their doing. They were playing games with you, a type of hide-and-seek. In spite of their size, they are very intelligent. The gray ones shoot them. They hate the Duergar."
The three bat-dragons chattered loudly, emphasizing their feelings on the matter.
"They want to help. Just like riding dragons can speak to each other over long distances, they can, too. If a few were in the higher levels, the ones down here could tell them when Duergar are passing through."
"What a grand idea!" Lanara exclaimed, causing nearly everyone to jump, "Will they come up with us to speak with the King?"
Set translated. The elder stayed while the other two returned to the darkness of the tunnel ceiling.
"She volunteers," I told them.
We went up much faster than we went down, since we were not searching. Set and the tiny elder conversed in dragon nearly the entire trip.When we reached heavily populated areas, she hid under Set's wing as all the noises frightened her. The guards, sometimes roughly, parted the way for us to King Gorval's palace. Lanara took the lead inside the palace, stating she knew the most likely places to find him.
He and a few others were in the third place we tried.
"That was quick," King Gorval began as he motioned for us to find seats, "We expected you to be gone a couple of days."
Lanara went next to him, "Sire, we have discovered a great boon and a welcomed ally."
"Really? Tell me," he requested eagerly.
"Set, can you coax her out?" This is the King we mentioned," she said softly.
Set moved his wing and the small elder flew out and landed on his head. Gorval looked confused.
"A baby dragon? How can it help?"
"Sire," I began, "she is not a baby. She is an elder of her kind. This is full grown."
Gorval looked shocked. He examined the little one from his seat.
"How many of her kind did you uncover?"
The tiny elder peeped and chirped. Set translated and told me a number that was astounding and that surprised the rest when I told them. This peaked Gorval's interest.
"And how may this boon aid us?" he asked, leaning towards us.
"As with riding dragons, these are linked mentally. She can hear her fellows below, who can tell her when Duergar are moving through their levels," I explained.
"Which levels do they occupy? Will it give us a warning far enough ahead to prepare?"
"They live in levels thirty-one through thirty-three, Your Majesty," Lanara informed him.
Gorval sat back, "The haunted levels? But, Kayla, you said you felt nothing on those levels."
The elder replied for me. She flew up above our heads and vanished. A few seconds later, she reappeared in the same place.
"They can avoid detection, Your Majesty, by many means. Only the keen senses of dragons can detect them even if they are so hidden. Also, those levels are not haunted, it was these little ones playing tricks," I told him.
He visibly relaxed, a lot of confusion lifted and new ideas came to him. He asked us to begin negotiations with the little ones to become their hidden sentries. Gorval left to speak with his council about this new turn of events.
We stayed and talked with the little elder, who said to call her Echo, which was the closest human word to her actual name. She remembered old tales of her kind partnering with dwarfs and other "two-legs" to investigate tunnels and caves. She looked at all of us and went to Callie. On Callie's lap, Echo shook and removed a tiny scale. Seeing her ring, she tucked the scale between metal and skin. Lifting both scale and ring, she lightly scratched Callie's finger and quickly pressed the scale over the thin line of blood. She held the ring and scale to the wound for several seconds.
"Is the bond made?" we seven heard a small female voice ask in our heads. Callie looked at the being in her lap.
"Yes, I hear you," Callie whispered.
"Good, the old tales spoke true. Let the rest know that this can be done and the plan will work."
It took a bit to explain to Lanara what had taken place. By the time she understood, it was late evening. We returned to Callie's home for dinner. The staff took to our new addition as she became familiar with her new home. As we suspected, Echo ate very little, but it was all meat. In Callie's room, Echo found "my place", a dark corner not far from Callie's bed. As we prepared to go to sleep, I warned Callie to expect strange dreams as Echo's dreams might seep into her sleeping mind. She thanked me for the warning and we all went to our rooms to sleep.
We pondered such strangeness. Set sniffed, trying to not be bored. We continued with our nervous guards.
Level thirty-one felt rather strange. Devoid of any dwarf or like energy, I felt like someone was hiding, repeating, "Can't see me, can't see me," over and over. We stopped. As Set, Bo, and Dawn broke away to do their own investigating, I felt the hiders grow curious. Not actual words, I "heard" them speculating on our companions. Set took some deep breaths and launched into the darkness of the cave ceiling. The guards raised weapons, but we told them to stand down. Odd noises echoed from the darkness. From some of their reactions, I knew the guards and Lanara had heard them before. We seven heard Set ask Dawn to "light up". Dawn soared into the darkness then began to glow. As she got brighter, tiny eyes reflected the light. High above us, dozens of miniature dragons were revealed by Dawn's growing glow. Set was in the middle of them, hovering just below the ceiling. Our guards were dumbstruck. Lanara was writing furiously. Set, Dawn, and three of the little dragons descended. The little ones, nearly the same color as the stone that surrounded us, blinked wildly as they adjusted to the lights we carried. Set told me and I explained to the dwarfs.
"Their real name is difficult for non-dragons to pronounce, but they playfully refer to themselves as 'bat-dragons'. These three are fully grown. The middle one is an elder, meaning she is one of the oldest here. This is their winter home. The rest of the year, they live in the surrounding woods. This is also when they have babies.They can tell the difference between your people and the gray ones. Those things you told us about, stuff moving or vanishing, were their doing. They were playing games with you, a type of hide-and-seek. In spite of their size, they are very intelligent. The gray ones shoot them. They hate the Duergar."
The three bat-dragons chattered loudly, emphasizing their feelings on the matter.
"They want to help. Just like riding dragons can speak to each other over long distances, they can, too. If a few were in the higher levels, the ones down here could tell them when Duergar are passing through."
"What a grand idea!" Lanara exclaimed, causing nearly everyone to jump, "Will they come up with us to speak with the King?"
Set translated. The elder stayed while the other two returned to the darkness of the tunnel ceiling.
"She volunteers," I told them.
We went up much faster than we went down, since we were not searching. Set and the tiny elder conversed in dragon nearly the entire trip.When we reached heavily populated areas, she hid under Set's wing as all the noises frightened her. The guards, sometimes roughly, parted the way for us to King Gorval's palace. Lanara took the lead inside the palace, stating she knew the most likely places to find him.
He and a few others were in the third place we tried.
"That was quick," King Gorval began as he motioned for us to find seats, "We expected you to be gone a couple of days."
Lanara went next to him, "Sire, we have discovered a great boon and a welcomed ally."
"Really? Tell me," he requested eagerly.
"Set, can you coax her out?" This is the King we mentioned," she said softly.
Set moved his wing and the small elder flew out and landed on his head. Gorval looked confused.
"A baby dragon? How can it help?"
"Sire," I began, "she is not a baby. She is an elder of her kind. This is full grown."
Gorval looked shocked. He examined the little one from his seat.
"How many of her kind did you uncover?"
The tiny elder peeped and chirped. Set translated and told me a number that was astounding and that surprised the rest when I told them. This peaked Gorval's interest.
"And how may this boon aid us?" he asked, leaning towards us.
"As with riding dragons, these are linked mentally. She can hear her fellows below, who can tell her when Duergar are moving through their levels," I explained.
"Which levels do they occupy? Will it give us a warning far enough ahead to prepare?"
"They live in levels thirty-one through thirty-three, Your Majesty," Lanara informed him.
Gorval sat back, "The haunted levels? But, Kayla, you said you felt nothing on those levels."
The elder replied for me. She flew up above our heads and vanished. A few seconds later, she reappeared in the same place.
"They can avoid detection, Your Majesty, by many means. Only the keen senses of dragons can detect them even if they are so hidden. Also, those levels are not haunted, it was these little ones playing tricks," I told him.
He visibly relaxed, a lot of confusion lifted and new ideas came to him. He asked us to begin negotiations with the little ones to become their hidden sentries. Gorval left to speak with his council about this new turn of events.
We stayed and talked with the little elder, who said to call her Echo, which was the closest human word to her actual name. She remembered old tales of her kind partnering with dwarfs and other "two-legs" to investigate tunnels and caves. She looked at all of us and went to Callie. On Callie's lap, Echo shook and removed a tiny scale. Seeing her ring, she tucked the scale between metal and skin. Lifting both scale and ring, she lightly scratched Callie's finger and quickly pressed the scale over the thin line of blood. She held the ring and scale to the wound for several seconds.
"Is the bond made?" we seven heard a small female voice ask in our heads. Callie looked at the being in her lap.
"Yes, I hear you," Callie whispered.
"Good, the old tales spoke true. Let the rest know that this can be done and the plan will work."
It took a bit to explain to Lanara what had taken place. By the time she understood, it was late evening. We returned to Callie's home for dinner. The staff took to our new addition as she became familiar with her new home. As we suspected, Echo ate very little, but it was all meat. In Callie's room, Echo found "my place", a dark corner not far from Callie's bed. As we prepared to go to sleep, I warned Callie to expect strange dreams as Echo's dreams might seep into her sleeping mind. She thanked me for the warning and we all went to our rooms to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment