Quest for Silver Cleric Chapter 21: To the Dwarves we go.

This chapter is really short, sorry.

In the morning, the Elves made us one last breakfast, and then we packed and prepared to leave. We rode to the edge of the Elven lands, and then Orym gave us a blessing, saying, “May Eru, the One, the Creator of all things be with you all.”

I bowed, and said, “Thank you.” and then turned away to face the trail that would lead us to the Dwarves, and we began to ride.

I was to never set foot in that blessed land again.

We rode for several hours, and then had a short rest and a quick meal. Afterward, I went to Olwe and asked him, “Can you tell me something about the Dwarves? What are we in for here?”

“Its one of the oldest and saddest stories known to our people. My people had lived by the shore of the sea for long years, living in peace and joy with one another. Then the Dark Ones came, and at first we didn’t understand what kind of threat they were. By the time we realized, we were in serious danger, and just at that time, the Dwarves came down from the mountains for the first time. Dwarves are a .... prickly people, quick to offence and slow to forgive, but we managed to form an alliance and beat back the Dark Ones.”

He sighed, and then continued,”It was not war that ended our friendship with them, but peace. Once the threat was over, some of our people grew in arrogance, especially in their treatment of the Dwarves. Eventually, they marched back up into the mountains, and we never saw them again. When the Dark Ones came back, we realized we had committed a great wrong, and tried to send an embassy into the mountains, but it failed, and we wept for our foolishness. Then we were rescued by the Sea People. We learned from our mistakes, and vowed we would treat our human allies better than we had treated the Dwarves, but we still sing sadly of the loss of our one time friends.”

Orien remarked, ”It appears to me that our quest is all but hopeless. Good thing that’s my favorite kind.”

“Its not hopeless. I have faith we are on the path we are supposed to be,” I replied.

“And that’s good enough for us, Lady.” Tesmi said.

We started riding again, and soon we were climbing higher and higher. By sunset we were amazingly high, and had to get cold weather clothes out of our packs. We ate a short meal, and then decided to rest for the night where we were. We also decided to put all the tents together, and sleep in one large group for warmth. So I ended up sandwiched between Aeneas on one side and Aerina on the other, and slept as well as could be expected under the circumstances.

Morning came very early, and we wasted no time packing up, and getting underway. We climbed for hours, and even on horseback we had to go very slowly due to the weather. Finally, we stopped, and made camp.

Olorin said, “Let me warm us up.” He took a large stone out of his saddlebag, and put it on the ground. Then he muttered for a while, waving his hand over the stone. Finally, he took a powder from his robe and thew a pinch of it at the stone, shouting one last word as he did so.

The stone began to glow, and get very warm.

We gathered around the stone, ate waybread, and drank some warm wine. Tesmi put a small pot on the stone, and warmed up some mash for our horses, and we each fed our own mount.

Aeneas asked me, “How much further do we have to go?”

“I’m not sure. We just have to get as high as we can.”

Warmed and fed, we packed everything up and started climbing again. Our horses went a little faster for a while, warmed by the mash, but soon we were back to a plodding pace again. My mount reminded me of a horse I had ridden on as a small child. It had been a huge plow horse, more than seventeen hands high, but it was very gentle and patent with children. My Grandfather would put each of his grand-kids on, one at a time, and the old horse would plod around the farm in a patent circle until the time came for the next kid.

We continued to climb for hours, until the warmth from the wine wore off, and the chill seemed to settle in my bones. Finally, we could go no further, and set up camp under a narrow ledge. We huddled together, and I started to feel like I was failing my friends. It was clear to me they couldnt go much further, and neither could I. I cried frozen tears, curled up next to Aeneas, and fell asleep.

I woke to something sharp and pointy being jabbed into me.

I scraped off the ice off my eyes, and realized I was looking into the face of a Dwarf.

“What are you doing on our doorstep?” He growled at me.

“Looking for you. Dwarves, I mean.”

“You’re Human, aren’t you? What would you be wanting with Dwarves?” He brandished a weapon.

And suddenly, words started coming out of my mouth.

“I ask to be taken to your Parliament.”

“Speak your request.”

“I need your help., To get to the Oldest of Dragons, so I can find a way to stop the Void.”

In response, he hooted like an owl, and suddenly the little cave was full of Dwarves, who were rousing each member of our group.

Soon, we were stripped of all weapons, and being dragged out and and forced to walk up the mountain. Just before we reached the very top, we saw a large gate guarded by a couple of Dwarves.

I shook my head. I had been ready to give up, and we were less than twenty minutes away from reaching my goal.

We were ushered inside, and I was grateful to hear a command being shouted about taking care of the horses. But then I had to focus on our own situation, and it seemed a little grim to me. We were marched down into the mountain, and it seemed like every Dwarf inside took the opportunity to take a look at us as we made our way down.

A number of these spectators seemed to be wounded, and that made me wonder what had happened here. But I pushed it out of my mind, and tried to focus on what I was going to say to the King and his Parliament..

Eventually, we were ushered into a great hall, and inside it had a stone throne at one end, and a row of stone chairs on either side of the room. We were placed in the middle, and then we waited. After a while, Dwarves came in and filled the seats, and then the King came in.

“We see you, Human. What do you have you to say for yourself.”

I took a deep breath, and then began.

“In the name of Aulë, maker of Dwarves, I ask for your help.”