Dwarven Ruby (19 page)

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” quizzed Rax.

“No,” admitted Adan after meeting Rax’s gaze. “I guess I don’t want to believe that he is a danger to us. I guess I have grown fond of him myself.”

“As have I,” smiled Rax. “There is much to like in the lad, but our hearts belong to the tribe first. I think we should discuss forcing him to leave before it goes too far.”

“Let me dwell upon it,” stated Adan as he rose. “Your thoughts are valid as always. Let’s discuss it again in the morning.”

Adan turned and walked past his wagon. He continued on into the woods, moving silently until he heard the sound of his sister’s voice. He berated himself for sneaking up on Natia, but he also knew that he held the burden of her actions where the tribe was concerned. He slowly closed in on her position by the sounds of the voices. He felt foolish as he slid behind a large tree and watched in secrecy.

“You are pretty good at this,” laughed Natia.

“It seems quite easy,” replied Tedi as he hurled another knife towards the distant tree.

The knife sliced into the tree and vibrated. Natia stared at the tight grouping of knives and whistled appreciatively.

“You are more than just good,” congratulated Natia. “I think you have a real talent for this.”

“Or just a good teacher,” smiled Tedi. “You make everything seem so easy. I will get the knives. It is my turn.”

Tedi scampered off to retrieve the knives, and Natia raced after him stealthily. While Tedi was pulling the knives out of the tree, Natia snuck up behind him and playfully wrapped her arms around him. Tedi laughed and turned around in her arms. As he stared into her eyes, Tedi dropped the knives to the ground. He wrapped his arms around Natia and hugged her. They stood there silently for several minutes and then Tedi kissed her.

Adan watched as the kiss seemed to last indefinitely. Finally, he silently moved back towards the campsite. When he had gone far enough, he turned back towards the spot where Natia and Tedi were. He shouted loudly for Natia and waited for her answer. When she answered him, Adan strode nosily back to where he had been watching. Natia and Tedi were standing idle in the clearing several paces apart.

“What is it?” asked Natia when Adan came into view.

“Oh I am glad that Tedi is with you,” replied Adan. “I was hoping that he could help me with the wagon. I want to remove the wheel and trim it. It felt slightly out of round the last time we moved.”

“I would be happy to help,” offered Tedi. “Tell me what to do.”

“Gather some wood,” instructed Adan. “We need to prop up the right front of the wagon so I can remove the wheel. Can you handle that?”

“Certainly,” nodded Tedi. “I will get right to it.”

“Good,” smiled Adan. “You go on ahead. I will escort Natia back to camp.”

Tedi nodded and trotted towards the camp while Natia stood with her arms crossed and a frown upon her face.

“The wheel is not out of round,” accused Natia. “Why did you really want Tedi back in camp?”

“He is a stranger, Natia,” explained Adan. “We know nothing about him. You have an obligation to your people, and that obligation does not involve training a stranger to be a gypsy warrior. I think you should confine your time with him to the campsite.”

“You are not my father,” Natia blurted out. “I am quite capable of taking care of myself. I am better with knives than anyone else in the tribe.”

“You are at that,” nodded Adan. “Still there will come a time when Tedi must leave us. That time is swiftly approaching. Our concerns now must be the security of our people.”

“You talk as if I was not aware of our position,” retorted Natia, “but it is you who must handle the tribe. Why are you taking it out on me?”

“These are dangerous times, Natia,” sighed Adan. “We will be meeting up with the other three tribes soon. We will be much larger and more visible to the Lanoirians. That means increased danger. Do not be so foolish to think that I will always be here for the people. When I die, you must step up and guide them.”

“Do not talk about dying,” frowned Natia. “I do not want to think about it.”

“I do not wish to dwell upon it either,” admitted Adan, “but there are people who depend upon us.”

“This is impossible,” sighed Wylan as he sat down on a bench in the Lanto library. “How can we possibly determine where some ancient dwarf king went thousands of years ago? We have been searching for days and have only found a handful of mentions of the Shield of Oykara. This is an impossible task.”

“It is the only path we have to restore the Sword of Heavens,” countered Arik. “No matter how long it takes, we have to find that shield.”

“Patience, Wylan,” encouraged Tanya as she examined another journal. “It is not an impossible task. It is hard and tedious, but the answer must lie within these old records. I am used to days of pouring over books. Why don’t you take a break and do something that you will enjoy? You will feel better about it after you are refreshed.”

“Actually,” interrupted Sayrak, one of Queen Lywen’s advisors, “we have been through all of the information from the time of King Astel. I really do not think you will find what you are looking for. If the dwarves had any idea regarding where to find the Shield of Oykara, we would have found it a long time ago.”

“I haven’t even found any mention of King Astel, or any of his followers, after the time he left Lanto,” interjected Jenneva. “There are no writings of anyone finding an old battlefield, or any mention of straggling survivors finding their way back to Lanto. Nothing at all. It is as if his army just vanished.”

“Just like the dwarves of Talman,” mused Alex. “Here one day; gone the next.”

“You think they might have stumbled through a Junction?” queried Jenneva as her eyebrows rose. “I hadn’t thought of that, but it might explain the disappearance.”

“What are you saying?” questioned Wylan. “What is a Junction?”

“It is a portal to another Universe,” explained Jenneva. “The Universes were joined by Junctions before the Collapse. It was possible to unwittingly travel between Universes without even knowing you had done so. Unless you retraced your steps exactly, you would never find your way back home.”

“But all of the Universes have been collapsed,” argued Tanya. “If King Astel did survive and come back home, even in a different Universe, the Shield of Oykara would still be here. Wouldn’t it?”

“If he managed to get back home,” nodded Arik, “but maybe he didn’t make it. Going into a different Universe would explain why no trace of his army was ever found. That theory does make our task impossible.”

Sayrak placed the scroll he was reading back on the shelf and turned to stare at Arik. His dwarfish face was covered with a frown, and his mouth hung open as if he were about to speak, but his eyes were glazed over as if staring at some distant vision.

“What is it, Sayrak?” asked Alex. “Are you feeling ill?”

“Ill?” echoed Sayrak as he excitedly broke out of his trance. “No, not ill. Your conversation has struck a chord in my memory.”

“About the shield?” inquired Jenneva.

“I don’t know about the shield,” answered Sayrak, “but your talk about the Universes and the Collapse reminded me of an old task that has not been completed. When the Collapse occurred, panic raced through Lanto. Some of our tunnels were no longer accessible, and some new tunnels appeared. Nobody knew at the time what was happening. There were also goblins living in some of the new tunnels. It was quite a time of surprises and danger.”

“Do you mean the goblins sought refuge underground?” asked Tanya.

“No,” Sayrak shook his head. “I mean they were living in the tunnels and had been for some time. That is what caused the panic. It is only after we met the dwarves of Dorgun that we understood what had happened. Those goblins had been living in the tunnels in a different Universe. During the battles that occurred, we ended up sealing off some of the new tunnels so that we could fight the goblins on our grounds instead of theirs. It was a clever move that saved many dwarf lives.”

“How does that affect this discussion?” queried Jenneva. “Do you think they were descended from the goblins that King Astel was pursuing?”

“I had never really thought about it,” admitted Sayrak as he waved a dwarf guard over and whispered in his ear. “Frankly, so much is going on at the moment that most of our efforts are devoted to fending off the goblins and completing the tunnel to Dorgun.”

“Perhaps it is worth opening up those old tunnels,” suggested Alex. “Maybe the Shield of Oykara is already here.”

“The tunnels were just recently reopened,” replied Sayrak. “Our construction towards Dorgun required the reopening. In fact, it has saved us quite a bit of work, although most of the sealed area runs in the wrong direction.”

“Have you searched the tunnels for the shield?” asked Tanya.

“The tunnels have all been searched and mapped,” nodded Sayrak. “I am sure that if the Shield of Oykara was there, we would have found it.”

“Then how does any of this make any difference?” Wylan shook his head in frustration.

“Because we did find something that might help in the search,” smiled Sayrak. “It is a long shot, but I am sure that there is nothing to help you in this library.”

“What did you find?” asked Arik.

“There is a small library in the old tunnels,” replied Sayrak. “It has not been considered something of importance to us. In fact, only one student has been assigned to catalog the scrolls, but your theory about King Astel returning here in another Universe might make that library more important to us.”

“Can we go there and search the scrolls?” Jenneva asked excitedly.

“Certainly,” nodded Sayrak. “In fact, I have sent for the student. His name is Kail and he should be here shortly. Perhaps he can tell us what he has found so far.”

The dwarf guard returned with a young dwarf. The new arrival was tall and lean for a dwarf. His large eyes opened even wider as he viewed the humans in the library.

“Ah, here he is now,” smiled Sayrak. “Kail, our friends here have questions about the scrolls you are cataloging. What can you tell us about them?”

“I have barely begun my work,” Kail said nervously. “I must keep most of the scrolls covered while I work. The construction of the new tunnel causes dirt to constantly fall from the ceiling.”

“That is understandable,” nodded Sayrak, “but what is the general nature of the content of the scrolls. Have you determined who wrote them? Do you know the timeframe that they were written?”

“They are ancient,” answered Kail. “There is no doubt about that, but I think they are not actual historic scrolls. I think they are children’s stories.”

“What makes you think that, Kail?” asked Jenneva.

“The contents,” answered Kail after getting a nod from Sayrak to answer. “The scrolls talk of mythical things. The type of things that only a child would believe.”

Tanya saw that Kail was trembling and felt sorry for him. “What type of mythical things?” she asked.

“Dragons mostly,” croaked Kail. “And humans.”

“I can assure you that humans are real,” chuckled Jenneva as she tried to put Kail at ease. “And dragons too. We do not bite, Kail. Tell us what you have read.”

“I apologize for Kail,” interrupted Sayrak. “The world has changed much since the Collapse, but our people have never known humans before. Those of us privileged to travel to Dorgun know that humans exist, but many of the young have never made the journey.”

“There is no need to apologize for Kail,” smiled Tanya. “The Collapse has brought many changes to all of the Universes. Perhaps we are better to just go to this library and read for ourselves.”

“No, I am sorry,” Kail offered. “My ignorance should not reflect poorly on my people. If anything, your being here has changed my thoughts about the scrolls. Perhaps they are historical. If so, the dwarves that wrote them lived in horror until they died. What I have read so far tells a tale of constant danger, a danger that was much worse than the goblins we face today.”

“Sit, Kail,” smiled Jenneva. “Tell us of the world those dwarves lived in.”

“The worst danger was the dragons,” nodded Kail as he sat on the bench. “They were everywhere and they would swoop out of the sky and snatch dwarves without warning. Even in the tunnels the dwarves were not safe. The dragons would breathe fire and smoke into the tunnels, forcing the dwarves to leave or die. When they fled, there were dragons waiting for them. It is a wonder that any survived to write the tales.”

“The Universe of Estara,” murmured Jenneva. “And you say there were humans there too?”

“Yes,” nodded Kail nervously as if he did not wish to continue.

“Tell us about them,” prodded Sayrak.

“The humans were almost as bad,” Kail continued as he bit his lower lip. “They hunted the dwarves and took many captive. Whole families were taken from the dwarves. None of them survived.”

“Why would the humans want dwarf prisoners?” asked Arik.

“The humans offered them as sacrifices to the dragons,” shivered Kail. “The humans had built a monstrous castle in the northern mountains. It was supposed to be their protection against the dragons, but they must not have felt so secure. They hunted dwarves and offered them up to the dragons from the highest tower of the great castle. As long as they continued to offer dwarves, the dragons would not attack the castle.”

“That is horrible,” shuddered Tanya. “I am sorry that my species would act so horribly.”

“That must be where the castle near Tor came from,” nodded Alex. “I always wondered who built that. It is an immense fortification, greater than any castle built in our Universe. It just appeared during the Collapse.”

“I think that would also explain why the goblins chose to live in the dwarven tunnels,” suggested Jenneva. “It sounds like living on the surface in a Universe filled with dragons would not be conducive to long life.”

“Is there any mention of King Astel in the scrolls you have read so far?” asked Sayrak.

“Yes,” nodded Kail. “There are many mentions of him. That was another reason that I thought it was just stories. Our own histories say that he left and never returned. I could not imagine a true history talking about his death.”