Wild cards
Chapter 19
…
Trails of smoke rose from the burned out remains of the once green field. Cinder and ash. A light rain had begun to fall as the massive sky dragon departed and the two wayward humans deemed it safe to come out of their hole.
"What is that smell?" wondered Harry of the pungent odor all around them.
"Ozone" said Andrew surveying the damage.
"Sure did make a mess" said Harry.
Andrew just smiled, "You shouldn't judge things by how they look" he said, "you see all this, ash and smoke."
Harry nodded.
"You think this place is ruined because if looks like this?"
"Isn't it?"
"No" said the older man, "Give it a couple weeks, maybe a month and you'll see new growth all over, fed by those ashes."
"So, this is good?" seemed odd to Harry.
"Nature is all about cycles. The old must be destroyed to make way for the new. Fires like this will happen even without giant dragons, though they do expedite the process."
"I'll say" he said, pretending he knew what expedite meant.
"Come on, let's find that portal gate" said Andrew.
Harry was all in favor of that idea. He was about adventured out at this point. He'd nearly been killed numerous times. Had barely anything to eat in almost two days. It was a small miracle he was still on his feet.
He wasn't sure what he'd do if they were attacked again. He was running on fumes and even adrenaline could only hope to keep him going so long.
He wasn't sure if he should have been pleased when the next fight they came across didn't involve them at all.
A pair of rock trolls were assaulting a group of dwarves. The seven dwarves were armed and working to beat back the trolls, but they were hopelessly outmatched.
The trolls fought with surprising coordination and had backed the dwarves against a high ledge where Harry and Andrew happened to be walking. Harry's first instinct was to help, but he was tired, almost beyond his limit.
Andrew stood next to him waving his wand. His face was blank. Harry had no idea what he might be thinking which left him to consider his own thoughts. A yelp of pain sounded form one of the dwarves and every muscle in his body tensed. He knew that noise. He'd made that noise. He stopped thinking, he'd made up his mind.
The troll raised its massive fist to strike and was shocked when a black stone hound latched onto it. The other moved to assist but found itself assailed by a screeching white monkey and a bipedal gopher with a spear.
The dwarves were momentarily stunned till it dawned on them, these interlopers were on their side.
"Get some boys!"
The dwarves surged forward joining the battle and pushing the trolls back. The sudden arrival of the new combatants out of nowhere had the trolls fumbling about in confusion. A suit of armor without a head appeared, attacking from the right and that was it. They weren't about to wait around for anymore. The two rocky brutes turned tail and ran. A loud cheer followed behind them till they were out of sight.
The dwarves looked at the motley group unsure what to say.
"I suppose a thank you is in order" said the leader.
The monkey waved him off and pointed to the top of the ledge. The seven dwarves looked up to see a young boy standing on the edge looking down over them. The sun chose that moment to break through the clouds and illuminate the little wizard.
The seven dwarves stared then fell to their knees. Harry looked down at this perplexed.
"What are they doing?" he asked.
Andrew stifled a snicker, "Why don't we go ask them."
In a show of stupid bravado, they slid down the steep ledge. By some miracle neither was injured in this stunt and Harry only stumbled a little at the bottom.
"Uh, hi" he greeted.
The dwarves looked up at him but once again seemed at a loss for words.
"Are you all okay?" he asked.
"Thanks to you young master" said the old one.
"Indeed, we owe you our lives" said the leader.
"Just glad we could help" said Harry bashfully.
"You did, truly. If there's anything we can do to repay you?"
"You wouldn't happen to have seen a portal gate around here?" Andrew cut in.
The old one and the leader exchanged a look, "We came to this place some months back through the portal gate."
"Really?" Harry said excitedly.
"Regretfully, the gate has ceased to function. The portal collapsed shortly after we arrived. We know not the sorceries to open it again."
"Take us to it."
The portal gate was in a small glen not far from there. Andrew wasted no time in examining it while Harry, his summons, and the seven dwarves waited anxiously.
"Looks to be in working condition" he mused, pulling out the D Jack and inserting it into the gate.
The coin lit up and a hologram screen appeared, filled with images and strange symbols.
"Huh, looks like a minor dimensional shift broke the portal."
"You understand that?" the old dwarf asked Harry.
Harry shook his head, "I only learned I was a wizard last week."
"So, bad news" Andrew announced, "I cannot reactivate this portal gate."
The dwarves looked resigned, but Andrew kept going.
"Good news, once I finish downloading all the location data I can use the anchor from the other gate and open a temporary portal with the D jack."
"You mean, you can get us home?"
"That's what I mean."
There was a moment of stunned silence then as one the seven dwarves began to cry. They cried, they laughed, the whooped and hollered. They were going home.
Harry smiled as he watched the small men then cast a questioning look at Andrew. The older man smiled and nodded, and Harry felt like he might cry and laugh and holler himself.