Broken Wings
N.W. 187
The Dwarven City of Vraelheim
"You know I wouldn't have asked you to—"
"Lloyd, if I was truly opposed to hauling this cart, I would never have offered to do so," Tenebrae cut him off.
Dirk chuckled. "I think yer outspoken, lad. Might as well give it a rest."
Lloyd sighed, eyeing up the cart Tenebrae was hauling once again, but not speaking up. If Tenebrae was sure he was fine... But that harness had been made for Noishe, who was a lot bulkier than Tenebrae was, and taller, and...
"Lloyd..."
He sighed, shook his head, and refocused on Dirk. Tenebrae was going to start smacking him with his tail if he didn't stop worrying about the cart, and Dirk had said they were getting close to the entrance to the city...
He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but as they rounded what Dirk had grunted should be the final bend, he had to admit that a massive stone door wasn't it.
Dirk stopped and looked over the door, then the floor. Which was when Lloyd started to noticed the designs and runes that seemed to cover most of the cavern.
"Damn. How long did all this take to carve?" he muttered, impressed.
"If it'd been done all at once, maybe a decade," Dirk replied. "But the work was spread out over millennia, generations and generations of stonemasons leaving their marks and improving the magic that protects the city. Dwarf magic don't work like elf magic, see?"
"It's what made the key crests work properly, wasn't it?"
"Aye. I never tried ta teach yeh, but I think yeh may have picked up some o' that magic on yer own. How, I've no idea, but it's the only thing that could explain... well. No better way ta find out." Lloyd tilted his head to the side in confusion. It had been a while since Dirk had successfully baffled him over something. "Over here, lad. An' I really hope the gate guards are doin' what they're supposed to an' stayin' out o' it until the doors open."
Lloyd glanced at an equally bemused Tenebrae before stepping across the rather intricately-carved floor to stand next to his adoptive father. "So..."
Dirk bent over and pointed. "Yeh see that circle there? An' the runes around it?"
Lloyd looked, staring at it blankly for a few moments before his somewhat distracted mind managed to translate the sentence around the circle.
'A craftsman's greatest gift lies upon the stone before our city.'
"It's a riddle."
"Aye."
And...
A craftsman's greatest gift was his hands.
Lloyd pulled his glove off and placed his hand on the stone, within the circle of runes.
The light started from the first rune, followed its way around the sentence until the entire circle was lit, and then with a great rumble that hurt Lloyd's unprepared ears and made the ground beneath them tremble, the massive stone doors of Vraelheim opened.
"'at's what I thought."
Lloyd looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Prob'ly somethin' along the lines o' 'no human should be able ta open the gates', eh Dirk?"
The new voice startled him, but really, he shouldn't have been surprised. Dirk had mentioned something about gate guards.
Aside from build, the dwarf now standing in the doorway looked nothing like Dirk. Black hair where his father's had faded from orange to gray, pale skin...
"Andven! What're yeh doin' all the way up here? I thought yeh were in Hviturlind?"
The younger dwarf chuckled. "Oh, aye, but my lass wanted ta come home, so who am I ta keep her away?" Bright eyes shifted back to Lloyd. "A'right, come on lad. Best get in, then we can figure out how yeh opened the door."
Lloyd nodded, glanced back at Tenebrae, and stood, walking forward with Dirk even as the doors slowly closed again behind them.
"Where've yeh been all this time, anyway? Didn' think anyone'd be able ta stay aboveground for two centuries, but damn if it didn' start the rumors flyin'..."
Dirk snorted. "Flyin' is appropriate," he muttered, shooting Lloyd a familiar, teasing grin.
An exchange that did not go unnoticed by Andven.
Though they made it another hundred yards down the tunnel before the dwarf simply stopped, and stared.
Lloyd knew that look. That was the look of anyone who finally recognized the name 'Lloyd Irving' as the companion of the Chosen of Regeneration.
"Irving."
"Aye, that's our name. Don't wear it out."
Lloyd snorted. "Couple centuries late for that, Dad."
"Eh, a man can hope."
"Lloyd Irving is your son?!"
"Adoptive. That he still calls me 'Dad' after all these years, an' after meeting his birth father... Well. It's an honor I'm not goin' ta squander," Dirk replied.
Another long few moments passed, Andven looking over Lloyd in what was clearly a new light.
Suddenly, Lloyd had the feeling he was missing something. Though, he'd have to save asking about it for later, when they weren't under scrutiny by a stranger.
Well, stranger to him. Seemed Dirk at least knew Andven, even if they weren't extremely familiar.
Speaking of Andven, the younger dwarf finally managed to shake off the shock. "Right. Well, that explains a lot. Anyway, not far now ta the city." He turned and continued down the tunnel... and down was correct, if Lloyd was reading this gentle slope correctly.
Andven hadn't been lying. It was but a few minutes' walk until the tunnel suddenly expanded outward, the lighting shifting from simple torchlight to something that was definitely... else.
They were deep inside the mountain range, Lloyd realized. Had to be, because the city sprawled out below and around them, while not the size of Meltokio, matched at least Palmacosta.
And Palmacosta had been big the first time he'd visited as a teenager.
"That way," Andven said, pointing off to their left along the path. A path each to the left and right, and more paths a ways down that branched up and down.
Vraelheim was a maze, Lloyd mused as he, Tenebrae, and Dirk followed the black-haired dwarf. And yet...
"Would I get in trouble if I got myself lost in here?" he asked as they neared what looked distinctly like a residential sector.
Andven hummed. "Best not do that jus' yet, lad..." A pause, and a confused look. "Though, for all that yeh look younger than me, yer older, aren't yeh?"
Lloyd shrugged. "Just shy of two-twenty."
"Aye, definitely older."
Dirk chuckled. "He could put the younger metalsmiths ta shame, too. Lad's got a touch fer metals. Not so much for wood. Never did try to teach him any stonework, either."
Lloyd sighed. "Not that I was ever that interested. Let's be honest, the main reason I took up the blacksmithing was to help support Lilia."
"Yeh got a lass?"
"Had. She passed over a century ago."
"That probably should've been my first hint, too," Dirk piped up. "Dwarves don't marry. What yeh had with her was the same sort of agreement a dwarven couple would enter."
"So, let me get this straight."
"Balkor's hammer! That thing talks?!"
Lloyd blinked, glanced at Dirk, and then promptly busted up laughing along with his adoptive father.
"Well, excuse me," Tenebrae muttered crossly. Lloyd couldn't help it, he reached over to pat Tenebrae's head.
"That was perfect."
"I hate all three of you."
"Nah, you're just annoyed at not getting the last laugh."
"I beg to differ..."
"Denied."
Dirk coughed a couple times. "Lads. 'at's enough. Now where were yeh goin' with that, Tenebrae?"
The Centurion shook himself. "Right. So then, you're implying that many of the mannerisms that set Lloyd apart are actually dwarven in nature?"
"A number of them, yes. There's a few I know he picked up from his birth father while they traveled, but..."
"Those, I noticed some time ago. Relics of an older age, I fear."
"Not as old as your habits, though," Lloyd pointed out.
"Yes, yes, I'm an old man, we established that centuries ago. Now then, can we get moving?"
He couldn't help but smirk. "So now you admit that the cart's annoying."
"I'm not..." Tenebrae stopped, huffed, and shook his head. "I think I'm quite done with this conversation, thank you."
Andven chuckled a bit, clearly amused by the Centurion's antics. "We're not far. Just this way, and tucked in the back a little. Guess Darria figured yeh'd like yer privacy."
"Aye. Even aboveground, I still lived a ways off from the rest o' the town."
"And then we take the lad up ta Morag, see if he can shed a little light on his dwarven mana," Andven added.
Lloyd nodded. That would be nice. But, first things first—he needed to see Dirk settled in.