Esveldza: 'The Lonely Child of Fire'

Chapter XXVIII- Dwarven Meal Times

Chapter XXVIII

Meal Times

We told the dwarves’ council of our decision and they were very happy to hear this. Salvator went with the leader of Greystone to contact Tivess and Daarken, Sarben, the dragons and I were given the tour of Hearstone.

Heartstone only received light from the holes in the mountain so it was not very bright and so had a lot of lights and torches around the city. The houses were all different, block shaped stone structures. None seemed to be similar as each dwarf built his or her own house to match their likes. They had such knowledge of stone that they had such a wide variety of statues and structures.

However, it was quite crowded; most houses only had a metre or so from the house next to, in front or behind them. I stuck closely to our guide; I knew it would be easy for me to get lost in the city. The dwarves still stared at us but when some had the nerve to insult elves by acting like a satirical elf one of the guards threatened to throw them in jail, they had to respect us because we would help them.

We were right about the dwarves wanting our help, they may have acted like they do not need or want it but deep down both of our races wanted to come together as friends.

After our tour we were thrown a massive feast. By the door of the dining hall was hundreds of holds, it was culture for dwarves to hang up and tools or weapons before entering because when dwarves eat a meal it is purely a time to enjoy the meal and socialise. So I rested my bow and a few of my daggers by the door. There was no cutlery and we ate with our hands, the dwarves belched and farted as loud as they could, eating as much as their stomach would allow them. The dwarves allowed the dragons to eat in the same room as us, unlike at Tivess castle, and they were given a large amount of food. It was a wonder how they even managed to feed so many of us and two dragons.

Sarben ended up in a seat next to a particularly drunk and smelly old dwarf and Daarken and I laughed at his reactions.

Suddenly cutting off our laughing Daarken raised his finger, taking a deep breath and belching louder than I had ever heard any elf do. Salvator stared at him with wide eyes, Sarben cringed and I laughed. The dwarf sitting next to him had heard and pulled him into a headlock, scratching his hair and congratulating him.

Belching and farting was definitely not common in the castle of Tivess so I seized this moment. I tried to breathe in like Daarken had done when suddenly Salvator kicked me from under the table. I looked at him with a hurt expression. He slowly shook his head, as if he could not bare to see me belch.

“Did you not say that we have to embrace the culture of the dwarves?” I teased Salvator and his eyes widened again, I belched loudly.

The dwarf next to Daarken had engaged in a conversation with him and they both heard, they roared with laughter, the dwarf rising in his seat and throwing his fists into the air. Salvator wiped his hand down his face, defeated.

After hours of consuming food and laughing the dwarves began to disperse for the night. Salvator excused us and we collected our weapons from the hooks and we were shown to our rooms which were very small, only enough room for a stone bed and bench. They were compacted next to others, the room that held these bedrooms stretched on above us, a stone pathway spiralling above us.

I left my door open so Noomkiara could stick her head in. There was a mattress between the stone and the bed but as I climbed on top of it, although comfy at first, I soon began to squirm uncomfortably from the solid base. Noomkiara placed her head next to mine and I stroked her scales softly, she looked as uncomfortable as I.

This will be our first battle together, when I was waiting to hatch I lived through battles but I never expected I would experience one so soon with my rider. Noomkiara commented, her round blue eyes looking into mine. She blinked slowly, sleep slowly drawing her in.

“I am happy that we can help and I would want it to be no other way,” I said, my own true feelings that hung at the back of my mind came through, “But it would be a lie to say that I am not afraid. After all, we are still children…” Sleep was also tempting me into its depths.

It is a merciless place but together we will survive. Noomkiara’s eyes closed as she spoke and my own eyes followed suit, my head pressed against hers, I fell asleep.

 ++++++++++++

The next morning, with aching muscles we enjoyed another eventful breakfast and then waited amongst the house leaders at the teleporter. The teleporter had been invented 200 years ago, it was a relatively new invention made by the people from the land of Prinpri. It had four large columns at its border, a detailed summoning spell written across the ground. It followed a similar spell structure as that of our messengers that allowed us to speak face-to-face with someone else anywhere at any time. These inventions allowed even a simpleton to use master level spells without actually casting them.

The teleporter started to vibrate, the spell on the floor glowing, the brightness swimming through the symbols and climbing up the columns. I felt the air grow heavy with incredible power and for a split second I thought I saw a combustion of colour and light in the centre when suddenly 12 guards from Tivess were standing before us.

The teleporter was a miraculous device but even the best of the teleporters could only hold at max 50 people and the one the dwarves of Heartstone owned was small. The guards greeted Salvator and the leaders, stepping away from the teleporter so that the next few lots could come through.

“I want to be master the teleportation spell…” Sarben whispered and I turned my head to him.

“Then you can teleport me to the nearest chocolate supply.” I said, cutting off the vision that he had been picturing before his eyes, he turned to glare at me.

“You can learn it yourself then!” He hissed.

Daarken joined in, slapping Sarben on the shoulder, “It sounds like a good plan!” Sarben only rolled his eyes.

Some of the guards had spotted us and they walked to greet us, bowing to us formally, they walked away from us to ready themselves for a meeting but one of them stopped before us.

Her name was Solonya (soh-loan-ya), she was tall and musclier with short white hair and big brown eyes. She had only become a guard to Tivess castle in the last decade and despite her intimidating figure she loved to play with us and any chance she got she would join in with our games, often helping Daarken or I with a prank.

I grinned, jumping with excitement at the sight of her. She smiled in return and picked me up, lifting me a metre off the floor and swinging me in her arms, “Look at you! How the sun has coloured your skin!” Her voice was deep, fitting her figure but her smile was sweet and gentle. No other guard would have the bravery to treat a princess in such a way and I loved her for it.

She messed up Sarben’s wavy hair and Daarken jumped on her, hugging her too. “I have missed you at the castle! It is so boring just standing around for hours on end, it is time I had some real action and show you children my skills.” Solonya laughed, releasing Daarken from the hug and placing her hands on our shoulders, smiling fondly at us.

Salvator chose this moment to walk over, Solonya saw him coming and rose, stiffing her posture and bowing to him. He nodded to her, “We should go to the strategy room.”

We followed after Salvator towards the strategy room. Solonya was in front of us and she turned to smile at us before we entered the room.

Salvator let us stay, saying that we could learn from a real strategic meeting but it was hard for me to keep up. Sarben was nodding along with the conversation, his eyebrows knotted together as if he understood everything but I doubted that. Daarken was watching silently, a firm look on his face, I believed he understood it well enough but then he caught me looking at him and he pulled a face at me, reminding me of his idiocy.

After hours of discussion we had lunch and then returned to the room, our lunch was not as exciting as the previous meals had been; the discussion had left us weary and frustrated.

By the end of the day Kaylend announced the final decision, we would take more direct action tomorrow, demanding by the gates of Soulstone for answers. At least that was how it was meant to go but the way the dwarves grumbled after we left for dinner made me think that when we arrived with intimidating forces tomorrow, it would turn into something worse.