Ruins of the Dominion

Chapter 12:A Warm Welcome in The Coldest Village

The convoy trekked on for hours in silence. Soon, the Criterion Mountains appeared in the distance. They were old but regal, watching over the land like giants protecting their homeland. The land around the mountains once belonged to a powerful ice warlock, who used his enchantments to cover the lands in an eternal winter, as Ms Connie had taught them the previous semester. However, they were the first from Criterion City to witness it.

  They saw a small village in the distance, right next to the mountains. It was cosy and quite cluttered, with roads that twisted and winded over the rough terrain. The houses were white with hay roofs covered in snow and timber in their walls holding them up, making the entire scenery look like it came straight out of a fairy tale.

  When they got closer to the village, they could see dozens of dwarves going about their day. They wore red clothes, blue cone-shaped hats and pointed brown boots. The largest building was in the center of town, a huge factory with the words Wiggy's Mining Enterprises written in cursive on a massive board on the roof. Smoke poured out of giant smokestacks, but it was so cold that it would freeze into solid coal within a few seconds, providing an endless reusable supply of coal. Carts filled with ore were shipped by dwarves from a mine complex at the top of the mountains into the factory, and at the other end of the building was a small jewelry shop, filled with necklaces, bracelets, earrings and more.

  As soon as they were on the outskirts of the village, a group of dwarf children stared at them in curiosity; they weren't used to seeing a crowd this big. Soon the entire village was looking at them, wondering what they were doing there.

  A dwarf that was taller than the others stepped forward. His hat and clothes were embroidered in rubies, sapphires, emeralds and silver patterns. He had a nametag on his chest with the words Wiggy v. Vanchester written on it.

  "Hello, travellers," he said. "My name is Wiggy Von Vanchester, and I am the mayor of this city and proud owner of Wiggy's Mining Enterprises. May I know the reason why such a large group of you habe arrived in our humble village?"

  Simon shook his hand. "Hi there, Wiggy. I see you've built up the business quite a bit. I can still remember the first day we met. You only had a small workshop back in those days, and you were the only worker."

  Wiggy attempted to recall that day. "Ah, yes. You were perhaps 10 years old, looking for a piece of aphrodite for a potion. What do you need this time, my friend? An emerald for a sleeping potion? Or perhaps a piece of phidite for a bottle of Bad Breath Cure?"

  "Actually, we are just stopping by for the night," he began to explain. "Our friends here are on a journey to the south of this village, and they are under pursuit of the Masters of Anak-you know, the old tale?-and we're just escorting them to their destination. As you can see, it's getting late and we would like to camp right next to you're village."

  Wiggy replied with "Yes, of course they may stay! You can camp right over there, in that clearing right next to the village. And please feel free to check out my jewelry shop-I've got a 30% discount on everything today!"

  Then, the dwarf turned to face the other dwarves. "To celebrate the success of their journey, I declare we host a feast tonight!" The crowd roared, and the gang jist guessed that it had been a long time since they've had something to celebrate or be excited about.

  A few of the teenagers ran off to look a few necklaces that were on sale that day. The children ran off to play with the dwarf children, the elderly went to a small park in the center with small benches, and the rest began to set up camp for the night. The friends just hoped that they could have a peaceful night for once.