Jeff Inlo - Chain of Bargains

"Ryson Acumen, it is an honor to welcome you to the Oachets."

"You know who I am?"

"You are the delver with the glowing sword and a friend to all dwarves, no?"

The delver agreed with the sentiment. Though his relations with the dwarves of Dunop had been at one time strained by certain circumstances, any hostilities had been settled. Still, he was not at all familiar with the dwarf before him, and Dunop was a great distance to the west.

The dwarves of the Oachets were of another city, another region. He realized tales of a delver carrying the Sword of Decree were spreading, but he remained uneasy over such fame-and uncertain on how to react to his growing prominence among strangers.

"I guess so."

"You guess? Are you not the delver who destroyed Ingar's sphere? Though we dwarves are not thrilled with the return of magic, we understand how you saved all the land. Did you also not save the dwarves of Dunop from the shadow trees? And did you not work with those same dwarves to save the humans of Connel and build growing relations between the two races?"

"There are others that had a lot to do with all of that."

The dwarf released a hearty chuckle.

"Ryson Acumen, now is not the time for modesty. You're in a strange land, greeting a dwarf warrior you have never met. Are you a friend of the dwarves or not?"

"I've always thought so, well, at least for as long as I knew dwarves existed."

"We have always existed," the dwarf laughed a bit harder, "but I understand. The time before magic remains in most of our memories, even if it now seems a distant thought. My name is Ulet Bulharp. I am a battle commander in the dwarf brigade of Sterling."

"Pleased to meet you," Ryson responded.

The smile remained on the dwarf warrior as she turned to the elf, but it diminished a degree or two.

"And may I ask the name of the elf who accompanies you?"

Holli introduced herself, but stood firm and made no other acknowledgement.

"I am Holli Brances. My original camp was of Dark Spruce Forest-among the elves that oversaw the region below Sanctum Mountain. I am now in the service of the wizard Enin of Burbon… and Connel as well."

The dwarf's smile drifted away, but she responded with respect.

"Holli Brances. You also entered Sanctum in service of the land. Now you work side-by-side with the great wizard, and the deeds of Enin are almost as legendary as that of Ryson Acumen."

The dwarf warrior then placed her hands together and rubbed them strenuously as she announced her intentions. "I wish to speak with both of you, but not here. There is a cave entrance to Sterling just to the southeast… near the base of the neighboring hill. I would ask that you follow me there. It is a more secure area. Agreed?"

Holli would have preferred to stay in their current location. The trees remained in reach and there were only eight dwarves before them. Moving into a tunnel that served as the entrance to a dwarf city would definitely alter the advantage and limit her options, but she had to accept the fact that she and Ryson were the ones traveling through dwarf territory. She did her best to appear congenial but also acted in a fashion to mitigate the potential hazards.

"I would ask that we do not move far into any tunnel. I am uncomfortable in confined areas."

Ryson appeared somewhat surprised, but the dwarf appeared unfazed by the request.

"I understand. We shall stay at the entrance. I'm going to leave six of my party here to keep watch over the pass."

"Can you have them take that sack with them?" Ryson asked, as he pointed to a large bag that exuded an overpowering scent of goblin. His delver curiosity almost made him inquire as to the contents of the bag, but then he feared they might open it to show him, and he believed the stench might render him unconscious. He never asked.

The dwarf warrior agreed and gave her orders to the surrounding dwarves. A half dozen moved off to the north with the foul smelling sack in tow. Only one other dwarf accompanied Ulet, Holli and Ryson, and the dwarf commander bade that sentry to guard their flank.

Ulet Bulharp led the delver and elf across the clearing and into the woods of the adjoining hill to the south. Once past the thick brush that filled the border between the pass and the trees, they stepped upon clearer grounds that were deep in the shadows of the thick canopy of leaves overhead. The dwarf turned west and followed the lower base of the hill. After several paces, she made one last turn back to face the hillside. With but a few steps, they came across an opening that broke through a massive chunk of limestone.

The dwarf at the rear remained just outside the opening as Ulet guided Ryson and Holli several steps into the tunnel entrance. The path widened slightly after the initial opening and then angled into a fairly steep downward grade.

Ryson's vision immediately adjusted to the lower light, but he realized it remained brighter than it should have been. He quickly noted the angled position of several reflective rocks at the cave opening that sent beams of light down the tunnel. He also recognized several scents coming up from the passage. He wondered how far below ground the dwarf city of Sterling rested and what it might look like.

He had only seen one dwarf city in his lifetime, Dunop, and it remained one of the grandest spectacles he had ever witnessed. The thought of exploring another dwarf city was almost intoxicating. It took tremendous strength of will to douse his delver curiosity and keep from racing down the tunnel path.

The dwarf warrior pulled to a halt and turned to the elf.

"Is this acceptable?"

"Yes, thank you."

Ulet took a moment to review both the elf and the delver before her. She smiled broadly again at Ryson.

"You wish to see our city?"

"I would love it," but then Ryson saw the stern expression on his companion's face. "Unfortunately, this isn't the best time."

"It is a strange time, indeed," Ulet confirmed and then focused on the point of the meeting. "I assume you were headed into the Great Valleys?"

Holli saw no danger in admitting that fact.

"Yes,"

"May I ask why you are heading into the valleys through this pass?"

"We thought it would be the least conspicuous," Holli admitted without hesitation. "It seems we attracted more interest than we expected. Cahltofs trailing us, inferns watching the pass ahead, and a dwarf scouting party crossing our path."

"We were not on a scout. We were there to intercept you." Ulet saw the questioning expressions on both her guests faces and did not hesitate to explain. "We did not want you to charge unwittingly into the inferns, but then again, we did not know that a delver was among you. I had known you were an elf, but from a distance, I guessed your partner was half-elf. A miscalculation that was corrected when we saw the glowing sword he held as you retreated back down the path."

"If you weren't out scouting," Ryson wondered aloud, "how did you know we were there?"

"Listening posts below ground across the Oachet range," Ulet revealed. "We have been monitoring the pass for some time. We picked you up, as well as the cahltofs behind you, and followed your progress. When it became clear you were heading into the valleys, we hoped to persuade you to take a different path. That is why we used the goblin scent. We believed two elves would take to the south in hopes of avoiding a large group of the monsters. You surprised us when you turned back on the cahltofs. A cunning move, if not somewhat foolhardy."

"I thought there was only one," Holli replied. "I believed they were solitary creatures and did not hunt in packs. I also did not think they spoke."

Holli watched Ulet closely at this point and the dwarf could not hide her surprise.