The Hammer of Fire (31 page)

“To do a full reading you must show all the
cards,” said Petra.

Milli gave a little snort of air out of her
nose, “Ok, if you say so,” and turned over the final card as Brogus
peered eagerly over her shoulder. On it was a picture of a halfling
woman with a newborn baby in her arms. “Oh,” said Milli, “a
mother?”

“No,” said Petra. “The Midwife.It is a good
card though and in the good position and it does depict a halfling
so I’d say that it’s the most important one for the future.”

“What does it mean?” interjected Brogus.
“Tell us!”

“It means seeing good in things and can also
mean a new arrival,” said Petra.

“Milli, is there something you haven’t told
us?” said Brogus as he nudged the little halfling girl in the ribs.
“You were in that tent with Petra and those bare-chested nomad
guards. Did something happen we don’t know about?”

Milli blushed a bright red, “Well, if
something had happened I certainly wouldn’t be telling you about it
in any case,” she said.

“We’ll know soon enough anyway,” said Brogus
with another playful dig into her side.

“Stop poking me,” said Milli slapping at his
hand.

“Do I have to separate you children,” said
Petra with a smile and a shake of her head as she began to gather
up the cards.

“You started it,” said Brogus with yet
another poke.

“How did I start it?” said Milli and gave him
a poke right back. “It’s your turn to do the fortune anyway.”

“But what does it mean?” said Brogus. “You
asked if we were going to kill Gazadum.”

“Oh, yes,” said Milli. “What’s the final
answer, Petra?”

“It doesn’t work that way,” said the witchy
woman. “You have to interpret the cards yourself. I can only give
you their meaning in the spread. It’s up to you to decide what they
signify about the future.”

“That’s convenient,” said Dol.

“I never said I was any good at this,” said
Petra with a shrug as she began to gather up the cards and put them
back into the deck.

“Let me have a turn,” said Brogus.

Milli looked at him and grinned, “But you
can’t ask the same question I did.”

“Oh, well, I can think of something else,”
said Brogus.

“You can’t ask what’s for dinner,” said Dol
with a deep laugh.

“Still trying to be funny, Dol,” said
Brogus.

“No, I thought that might be the most complex
thought you were capable of,” replied Dol as he shook his head and
went back to the fire.

Brogus looked at Dol as he walked away and
then turned to Milli, “What did he say?”

Milli laughed in her musical little voice,
“Nothing to worry about Brogus; you just go on and have your
fortune told and ask about anything you want.”

Hours later the four sat around the low fire
and watched the stars make their nightly journey across the sky as
they lay on bedrolls and talked among themselves. “It’s a beautiful
night,” said Milli. “I can’t get used to all these stars.”

“I can’t believe all these stars,” said
Petra.

“I thought you always lived outside,” said
Brogus. “We dwarves of the mountain don’t see stars often. I mean
the caves have their crystals and what-not but I’ve only seen the
stars a dozen times in my life.”

“No,” said Petra. “I meant to say I can’t get
used to this sky. It’s so different than the northern sky. Every
star is different although I keep thinking that’s one of the
planets there. It’s a planet that is visible on summer evenings in
the north. I guess because we’re on the opposite side its visible
now. I don’t really understand but I it makes a sort of sense. When
a planet is gone from one side of the world then it must be on the
other.”

Brogus made a sort of grunting sound, “It’s
too confusing for me. I’ll stick with knowing that there are
bunnies on both sides of the world.” With this he gave off a huge
burp.

Milli and Petra stifled giggles, “Brogus,
that’s disgusting,” said the halfing girl while covering her
mouth.

“We can’t take him anywhere,” said Petra.

“Go to sleep,” said Dol from under his own
bedroll. “If we head into town in the morning we don’t know what
we’ll find. It could be dangerous. We don’t speak the
language.”

“We have the amulet Manetho gave us,” said
Milli. “Whoever wears it can understand and be understood.”

“We’ll be strangers,” said Dol. “Strangers
are never well received. There could be fighting.”

“We’ve already decided,” said the sleepy
voice of Petra into the night air. “We’re going into town one way
or the other. Get some sleep.”

“I still don’t understand my reading,” said
Brogus.

“Be quiet,” said Dol.

“It was perfectly simple,” said Milli.

“It was not,” said Brogus.

“You could have asked something more complex
than when you were going to meet a nice dwarf girl,” said
Milli.

“I didn’t say nice,” said Brogus.

“Obviously,” said Milli.

“Then why did you say I said it,” said
Brogus.

“Go to sleep,” said Petra.

“I didn’t say nice,” said Brogus with a
snort. “Who wants to meet a nice girl?”

“For the love of Davim, shut up!” shouted Dol
and rolled over so that he faced away from the rest of them.

“Can I do another fortune tomorrow?” said
Brogus. “I’ve got a better question now. I just didn’t have time to
think and I panicked.”

Petra rolled over and put her arm over her
ears.

“Did you hear me?” said Brogus.

Silence came over the little camp.

“I said, did you hear me?” said Brogus in a
louder voice.

“Oh, for Davim’s sake, answer him, Petra,”
said Milli. “He’ll go on all night.”

“No, no more fortunes,” stated Petra with
finality.

“Why not?”

Petra rolled her eyes but didn’t answer.

“I just want one more chance,” said
Brogus.

“If you don’t shut up …,” said Dol.

“It’s not fair,” mumbled Brogus. “Fine, I’m
going to sleep, but I want you to know that it’s not fair. Not one
bit.”

Silence once again came over the little camp.
Within two minutes, Brogus’s snores roared through the night.

“I don’t believe it,” said Milli and pulled
her blanket up over her head.

“It’s a nice enough place,” said the slight
dwarf as he and Uldex wandered down a cobblestone street that
seemed to bisect the town along a north-south axis. “There’s got to
be a pub around here somewhere … don’t pretend you couldn’t use a
stout, you old wanderer you.”

Uldex looked at his small friend and shrugged
his shoulders, “It’s been a while I’ll admit. I wouldn’t mind a
drink. They’ll take our gold sure enough but keep your purse
hidden. We don’t speak the language so don’t get yourself into any
fights. We’re strangers,” with this he looked around as the people
of the town went about their business without paying too much
attention to the pair, “but it looks like they’re used to such like
us around here. Nobody giving us the eye, so dwarves must be common
folk. We’ll find a place to stay first and then a drink.”

“I wouldn’t mind a bath and a whore,” said
the little dwarf and clapped Uldex on the back.

“Not necessarily in that order,” replied
Uldex as his face broke into a wide grin.

“I’ll have the bath first. There,” said the
small dwarf pointing to a placard with a bed on it and a feathered
snake, “If that’s not an inn then my names not Carus
Blackiron.”

“An inn for certain. The Feathered Snake
perhaps,” speculated Uldex and strode over to the door. It swung
open with an easy push and he walked inside the building with a
couple of steady strides. Just inside the door and to his right was
a long wooden counter, and a tall human with greasy black hair tied
back behind his head waited behind it. The man turned his head to
them and said something in a strange language.

“I don’t speak your lingo,” said Uldex and
walked over to him. He put his hands together by his face and then
tilted his head down on them. Then he made scrubbing motions along
his body and finished his pantomime with a drinking motion and the
universal glug, glug sound.

The man behind the counter smiled and said
something unintelligible but gave a reassuring nod. He tried some
other words, apparently in another language, but they still didn’t
understand him. He then went through three or four more phrases
each in different languages before he held up one finger and
shouted out something to a back room.

Uldex looked over past a set of swinging
doors across from them and saw a group of long tables with small
lamps on them. The smell of chicken wafted from what must be a
kitchen beyond, and he felt the saliva forming in his mouth. They’d
eaten nothing but game for the last few weeks as they followed the
moron Cleathelm; odd little rabbits that tasted funny and a variety
of fruits and vegetables they found along the trail. A strange
berry slightly poisoned them once but they’d avoided any mushrooms
that looked dangerous and managed all right without a major
crisis.

A moment later a smallish woman with a thick
forehead and wide jaws that spoke of orc heritage came from the
back room as she pulled a little medallion over her head, “Now
then,” she said in a deep voice for a woman, “you’ll be wanting a
room?”

“That’s right,” said Uldex and reached under
his tunic for the small purse he kept there. His larger purse,
filled with golden coins and gemstones, lay deep in his vest beyond
easy reach. “At least one night and we’ll be wanting baths and
whores if you keep those sorts here.”

“We have both,” said the woman with a smile.
“Andreaus here speaks several dwarf tongues but you don’t speak the
same?”

Uldex shrugged, “We’re from a ways off,
travelers. You haven’t seen any other dwarves that don’t speak the
local lingo by any chance?”

“I haven’t,” said the woman, “but I can ask
around. We’ll weigh your silver if you don’t have coins of the
realm.” She bent down under the counter and pulled out a little
scale. “You’ll want to see that it’s zeroed out, we’re not cheats
here at the Feathered Serpent.”

“Good enough,” said Uldex and pulled out a
small handful of large silver coins. “We’ll want one room with two
beds. Also, have you seen a tall dwarf, maybe traveling with a
pretty halfling girl?”

“No,” said the woman without hesitation and
shook her head while maintaining eye contact with Uldex. “You’re
meeting friends then?”

“Something like that,” said Uldex as the
woman took seven of his proffered coins and put them on the scale.
It dipped down almost to the top of the counter. The woman looked
surprised and took off three of the coins considerably lightening
the load. “That’s enough for two nights, baths, food, and drink;
you’ll have to pay separate for the whores, that’s between you and
them. Your silver’s pure. Where do you do your mining if you don’t
mind me asking?”

Carus gave Uldex a sidelong glance, the four
silver coins wouldn’t even purchase a meal back in Craggen Steep.
“North of here,” said Uldex with a smile. “We wanted to travel with
as few coins as possible so we brought good silver. You said there
are dwarves here in the south?”

“Oh yes,” said the woman with a nod of head,
“There’s the Highhelm clan south of here near the Five Sisters.
They’re the most prominent; iron merchants generally, but there are
other clans as well. There’s a small enclave of them to the
west.”

“The Five Sisters?” said Uldex knowing that
Carus was giving him a look but keeping his attention focused on
the woman.

“A group of five volcanoes right up against
the Southern Sea,” she answered with a smile. “I’ve never been
there myself but they say it’s the best iron in the world unless
you believe those crazy legends.”

“What legends are those,” said Carus before
Uldex could stop him.

“The Dwarven City of Gold, Craggen Steep,”
said the woman.

Carus laughed out loud and Uldex put an elbow
to his ribs, “We’ve heard of it,” said the scarred dwarf with a nod
at his companion, “My friend here always laughs when people talk
about that fairy tale land. Still, it’s a good story, right,
Carus?”

Carus busied himself rubbing the sore spot in
his ribs and gave Uldex a tight lipped little smile, “Right you
are, my friend.”

“In any case,” said Uldex, “Whereabouts can
we find our rooms? I can see the kitchen is over there but I’d like
to get settled in, take that bath, have a beer or two, you do have
dwarven stouts?”

“Oh yes,” said the woman. “We get dwarf
traders in fairly frequently from the Five Sisters. I’m sure you’ll
find there’s something on the menu to your taste.”

“How far a trip is it to the Five Sisters,”
said Carus, apparently recovered from the damage to his ribs. “My
friend and I might like to go visit our brothers from the south
sometime.”

“The caravans come through a couple of times
a year,” said the woman. “I think it takes them about a month or
so, but traveling alone without wagons I’d imagine you could cut
that time in half.”

“Good to know,” said Uldex, apparently still
focused on the more mundane topic of the conversation. “Which way
to the rooms?”

“I’ll take you up,” said the woman. “I can
see about finding you one of the translator amulets. I’m surprised
you’ve made it this far from your home without purchasing one.
They’re quite useful for caravan traders, travelers, adventurers,
or whatever.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Uldex and
scratched at his beard. He suddenly felt dirty for the first time
and a sensation of bugs crawling in his beard and hair suddenly
made him squirm. “And the baths?”

“Downstairs, past the hallway there,” said
the woman. “I’ll have them draw a couple up for you and your
friend. We can mend your clothes as well but that’ll be another
silver or two depending on how much work is required. We can tally
up your expenses as you go and charge it up when you leave.”