Chapter 8
Getting lost in the shuffle
The weather wasn't keen on cooperating with us, and it was approaching mid-afternoon so it would be dark in a few hours. We needed to decide on a course of action fairly soon.
"If we did want to go out there, I do have a spell to help. Remember waaaaay back when we first started out and took some valuables from the cultists? I got a spell, one of the only ones I've found on this whole quest, actually." Which is somewhat depressing. Oh, boots I can't wear? Sure, have some. Illegal, dragon-scale boots I can't wear? Obviously. Magical items with charges that are basically worthless? Got a couple of them. Something useful like spells? Nope! Sorry, you lose out. I've had to buy all but two. The shrink spell I never used, and the weather one- I never used. Yeah, great track record there. "I never memorized it, but I can cast it from my book directly. It'll protect us from the cold and such, and we can carry on looking."
"We've roughed it before," Malachite reminded me. "We could camp here the night."
"Yeah, and it sucked. Plus we're in a cult location, more could show up at any time. In fact may show up, at least one draig got away, remember. He could be back with a dozen people at any time."
"So we can get rid of a dozen cult members at once!"
I rolled my eyes. "Not the point. Especially if they take a page from our playbook..." And you're hard to wake up. If they attack us when you're asleep...
"Oh, yeah."
"My vote would be that we head out again. If we don't find anything in a few hours we'll head back home and try again tomorrow."
There we no objections, so I found myself picked up again and carried into the snows. He started flying again, trying to follow the path to wind up where the captain of the guard had said the sightings had taken place. We saw some nesting creatures below us, but nothing bothered us, and soon enough Malachite called to us. "I'll be, there is a dragon! Let's go say hello!" He pointed, and sitting on a rock ahead of us was a rocky, gray colored dragon. He landed near it, clearly stealth was not an option the thing was looking right at us as we approached. The dragon right away raised a hand.
"There's only room on this mountain for one dragon, I suggest you turn back. I am not in the mood to squabble over territory."
"I'm magically enlarged," Malachite assured them.
"And magically delicious!" Hanz singsonged.
"They're just kidding around, I'm sure we all taste terrible," Malachite told them with a pointed look at Hanz. "I mean this one is mostly made of rock!" He pointed to me.
"I see that. So why are you here, then?"
"We're here to see about your intentions for the area. You've been scaring a lot of people, you know?"
"It was not my intent. But after those dwarves, I have been a bit standoffish, I admit that. Hard not to be intimidating, when you're my size. I'm sure you understand."
"Oh, completely. So you're not going to start demanding tributes or anything like that?"
"Perish the thought. I just want to be left alone. Maybe you can post a sign or something?"
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons because you are crunchy and good with ketchup?" Hanz suggested.
"Not exactly what I was thinking. Don't bother the dragon and he won't bother you, sort of deal."
"I could probably do that."
"Go back to thothe dwarveth?" Snarly asked.
"Yes, annoying little cowards. Attacked me in my sleep, some time ago." He rubbed his neck. "Actually managed to steal one of my frost glands, right out from inside me. The cheek!"
Hanz looked to me but I just shrugged. I had no idea.
"Maybe we can get it back fer ya?"
And then do what? Healing magic can't just put it back inside him you know, Snarly. What would you even do with such a thing? Can it be so valuable to risk crossing a dragon for it?
"Snarly!" growled Malachite.
"I really haven't felt quite right without it, it's true," he agreed. "And it would be a good show of faith on your part."
"Show of faith?" Malachite repeated.
"Exactly. Yes. You get me the gland back, I'll make an appearance in the town and issue a formal proclamation that yes, I'm remaining nearby but mean no harm. You can add your testimony that the dwarves started it, making me irritable when I saw others lurking around, but that the situation has been dealt with. I'll promise to be more courteous to those passing by and no one needs to fear me."
If I had a few days I could probably get some shelter put up around here, I thought, looking around. The dragon could actually charge a fee, turn his 'home' into a resting point. They would be safe from animals, what predator would approach a dragon? Yeah, I could see it, a big stone building, right there, with a stable there, actually the dragon could have a "stable" to keep the wind and the snow off… With this spell on me, the cold wouldn't bother me anyway. I could get stone here all day and reshape it to be anything I wanted.
"We've actually got a lot on our plate right now," he hedged. "Some kind of captured wind spirit a few mountains over sent us to look for stuff. And there's all this cult activity we need to look out for. And we wanted to break a curse, my rocky companion got some news recently about that, it just goes on and on, really."
"It would be a shame, if I got irritated enough to fly over to the dwarven village myself and take a look around, so to speak. Anything could happen in that case. Castle walls, you know, they get old and someone like me just sits on them and they end up falling right over."
Yeah, the whole area would arm up against you. Isn't that the opposite of what you want? Empty threat really. We were sent to figure out if you really were a dragon. You are. We report back you're making threats and they'll start planning to deal with you. I doubt they would kill you, retaliation from other dragons in the area- we're not that far from Malachite's grandpappy- is an issue. But they could make your life here miserable with magic, I bet. Is there a spell to just make someone itchy from a distance? That would be an annoying one. What about making them thirsty all the time, or hear a random whistle in their ears?
"I'm not saying it would take us weeks," Malachite clarified. "Just that we might not be able to rush out to do it tomorrow. We need to discuss our next moves among the group."
"Of course. We dragons are fairly patient. As long as I have your word it'll be done fairly soon."
"Do you even know where the place is?"
"Naturally!"
He sighed. "Fine, you have my word."
"Excellent! Now, if you were to fly straight that way..." He gave directions to the place, and Hanz took them down, getting some ink and paper out of my backpack. "Very good," he said at last. "If you kill any of those stinking dwarves, be sure to shout 'Ax'rejj the dragon sent me' as you deal the killing blow. Yeah, that'll be good stuff. Let them know they shouldn't mess with dragons. Ketchup, and all that."
"We'll keep it in mind." He looked at me.
I looked back, with a look that said "You know full well we're not killing any dwarves, right?"
His look replied "Yes I know that well, my love."
With that we headed back to town, for a well deserved dinner (for some) and some planning of our next move. It sounded like the wind spirit or whatever it was needed several keys for their freedom, and who knew how long my curse breaking would take? So it was decided to do the gland thing right away, then my thing, then hunt down the keys. The tricky part was how to go about it.
"So we have three choices, but two realistically," I began.
"Simply 'storming the castle' as it were," Hanz put in, "is right out."
"That's correct," I agreed. "Not only would it be killing a bunch of dwarves, who are people, but any investigation will lead back to us. A squad of dwarves in battle gear spoiling for a fight show up at the town gate and how fast do you think the guard will hand us over to them to make that problem go away?"
"Tho fast our headth will thpin!" Snarly announced.
"Exactly," I said with a nod. "So while technically an option, let's discuss our real options. The sneaking way, and the diplomacy way. I have a certain member of our team in mind for either of those jobs." I looked over to Snarly.
"I'm the one you want for both thoth planth?" Snarly asked. "Nice of you to finally recognith my skillth."
"That's right. For the sneaking plan we simply write a letter to the head dwarf, whoever they are. Snarly goes in with my magic making him invisible and phased. We watch from the astral as best we can, maybe he can leave little dabs of paint on the floor or something so we, who know what to look for, can track where he goes? We can work that out. Anyway, he waits for an opportune time, drops phase, picks up the gland, puts down the letter, and activates a spell token with phase in it again. No one is the wiser and the letter says something like 'we'll overlook it this time but if you try a stunt like that again etc.' They freak out because the thing just vanished and life goes on for everybody."
"And the other way?" Malachite asked.
"The other way we two," I indicated Hanz and myself, "disguise ourselves as draig. We march up to the place, demand to speak to the head dwarf, and say Snarly is our ambassador. We draig are followers of the dragon, we're all furious, and we've hired Snarly to speak for us as a neutral third party. Naturally, I've got magic going that enhances his skill at negotiating-"
"Not that I would need it," Snarly hastened to add. "Everyone lovth me!"
"Of course not. But everyone can always be better. You talk them into giving us the thing back in exchange for the dragon not getting everyone they know together and smashing the place into the ground. Which I'll need you to emphasize, over and over again, the dragon is seconds from doing should we come back without the gland."
"Dragons are pretty solitary though," Malachite warned us. "Would they buy that?"
I waved that off. "We can come up with some excuse. Something like he's weighing the ridicule he'll get from other dragons against them agreeing to put some dwarves in their place. That's why he sent us to begin with, to see if he had to escalate or not."
"It could work," he admitted.
"I suggest we learn more about our reception at the armory before making further plans," Hanz decided. "We do have the means, after all." They looked at me.
"You have a question or two in mind? I won't charge you," I kidded.
"I do. For my first question I would ask 'Are the dwarves in the Savvaas armory reasonable with outsiders?' This would effectively negate the second plan if the answer is no. If they are going to turn us away at the gate regardless we should know about it."
"Just a minute and I'll ask."
I did, and got back a "yes" answer.
"So that's a good sign, they won't just rain arrows down on us or whatever," Malachite mused.
"I have a quethion!" Snarly pipped up. "What ith the beth way to get on a dwarths' good thide?"
"Shower them with gold," Malachite muttered. "You're not getting any of mine!"
"That may be too complex, but I'll ask," I told him. "The answer can be a few words, it's just typically used for yes/no questions."
The answer came back "depends on the dwarf."
"Thoot."
"Sorry."
"Actually, there may be a way to better answer that question," Hanz spoke up after a moment of thought. "There must be dwarves in town somewhere. Perhaps we can buy them some drinks and get their take on the situation. Perhaps gifting them a stone statue of some famous dwarf would go a long way to opening doors. Perhaps offering stone shaping magic, or something else we can do that's not just gold would get them to trust us better. We don't know their customs, some kind of gift may be appropriate in their culture even in this situation, as we are coming unannounced to talk to them."
No sense antagonizing them before we've even gotten inside the place, if we're there to talk. No harm in asking around.
"I'd love to talk to thom dwarvth!" Snarly agreed.
"Perhaps further planning should be paused until we have that opportunity," Hanz suggested. "I put the motion to a vote."
"Sounds about right," I agreed, when Malachite shrugged. "Motion seconded."
"Whatever," Malachite said.
"Whath going on?" Snarly asked.
"Motion passes, discussion is tabled," Hanz announced.
We all got up, Malachite with a strange gleam in his eye. He shuffled over to me and grabbed me up.
"A ha!" he announced, "I have you now, helpless peasant girl!"
"Eeeeeee!" I squealed, playing along. "The dragon has me in his power!"
"That's right. Come quietly and your village will be spared. For now."
I put the back of my hand to my forehead. "If only I wasn't the most beautiful, most virginal girl in my village I would never have been put in this situation. Oh woe is me!"
Hanz cocked their head to the side. "You mean purist? How can you be the most virg-"
"Silence!" Malachite mock roared. "Do not disturb the mighty dragon after he has claimed his prize and is heading back to his lair to enjoy her. Company. Enjoy her company." He glanced at Snarly.
"Be gentle, oh mighty one!"
"I'll consider it. Please me and perhaps it will cause me to 'forget' your village even exists."
"I'll do my absolute best!" I promised, clenching my fists. "I'll show those others girls in my dragon pleasing class!"
"See that you do, maiden! Now, to my lair!"
And maybe if trolls or whatever don't attack the place I can actually stay the whole night.
The night passed uneventfully, at least outside the house, and the group headed out after sunrise. I was disguised as a tortugan, a humanoid turtle race, and we asked around for any large gathering of dwarves. The best place, we were told, was down at the docks where dwarven miners delivered ore for shipment. There was a small office there staffed by dwarves so we headed that way to see what we could find out. We did find a few grumpy looking dwarves loading sacks into a box, and we caught a conversation about how little ore there was to actually load. At least, I did, they were speaking their native language and I only had a basic grasp of it.
It's a problem I'm hearing more and more about, mines going dry. Thankfully I work mostly in stone so it's not really a problem, but thousands of years of mining and then available land being narrowed after the moon's arrival really did a job on finding new sources of metals. Magical material doesn't last, and there's no elemental spell to summon iron from 'nowhere' like there is for summoning stone. Still, that's a problem for governments, not people on the street like me. "Let's go inside," I decided. "These don't look like they're in any mood to talk." Unless you want to hear them complaining about their trade being gone sometime soon as there's no more metal to find underground.
We headed in and the dwarf at the desk looked up at us. "Can I help you?" he asked. I think that's a he. Do both genders have beards? I'm actually not sure.
Everyone sort of looked at everyone else, we hadn't discussed who exactly would 'take point' on this as Hanz would say, so I stepped up.
"Good morning," I told them. "We're here for some advice, if you have a moment. I know it's probably not your usual line of work but at least we're not dwarves complaining about mines."
"Don't even get me started," he agreed. "Wouldn't mind a break from that, honestly. I'm listening."
"Okay. So a few days ago the city guard hired us to look into reports of a dragon hanging around the nearby mountains. Bad for business, right?"
"Could be, could be. Go on."
"We found the dragon, and he told us he had been attacked by dwarves, who somehow put him to sleep and cut him open. Some sort of gland was taken from him. He is hesitant to retaliate, though he of course feels within his rights to, because he does simply want to be left alone at the end of the day. But at the same time to do nothing invites further attack by others and makes dragons look weak. Can't have that. We've offered to look into some other solution for him and wonder, within dwarven culture, if there is a better or worse way to approach the situation. Is some kind of gift appropriate? A ceremony we could request that holds weight with you, related to grievances? Anything you can tell us would be appreciated."
"Don't suppose the dragon knows who attacked him?"
"He's fingered the dwarves that live in the Savvass armory. I have no idea how he's come up with that but he did give us directions to the place."
The dwarf nodded and leaned back in his chair. "That tracks, actually. Guy that took that place over is some self styled 'alchemist.' Kind of an odd profession for a dwarf but hey, I'm not going to tell him how to live his life. Pretty ballsy to mess with a dragon though, what was he thinking?"
"We wondered that ourselves," I admitted. How do you know him? I suppose there's a dwarven rumor mill the same way there's any other. They probably have an ear to the ground about others of their race. I never paid attention because I never felt I fit in anywhere, once I left home. "It's hard to wrap our heads around."
"And you want advice for approaching the place?"
"If you have any, yes, that would be wonderful."
He shook his head. "Hard to tell with that sort. I mean maybe rolling a keg of ale into the place would grease the wheels but with a dwarf that chooses to exist so far outside of normal society? It's hard to say. I can tell you some things though."
"Go on," I prompted.
"He's seemingly brought this on himself. I doubt the dragon did something to start all this. If he did have some kind of 'accident' over it we dwarves wouldn't rush to his defense or anything. As far as I know he took the place over legitimately, he's not squatting there. Still- this sort of thing gives the rest of us a bad name. We make deals, we don't just go stealing… what did you say it was? A gland?"
"A gland, yes."
"Unbelievable. Go over there and tell him to cut it out. We don't need trouble with dragons, after all. If the dragon retaliated then we dwarves would all have to do something about that, and the town would get involved, and then the kingdom gets involved… It's not good for anybody."
"Would just knocking and asking nicely… work?"
"He'll give you a hard time over it, but dwarves aren't dumb. Tell him the dragon is pissed and he better watch his step. He'll get it. We're not one for flowery talk."
"Okay. Thank you very much for your time."
"Thank you for actually caring enough to ask about our culture. Not many would have, you know. Probably just storm the place, especially if they had a dragon at their back."
We sort of do anyway… "I like to reduce friction wherever possible."
"For your troubleth," Snarly told him, sliding some coins across the desk.
"You understand us perfectly!" he announced with a grin, scooping them up. "You'll do fine. Good day!"