Tom Liberman - The Hammer of Fire

“None of that matters to Dol. You don’t know him like I do, Uldex. When Dol signed his apprentice papers it meant something to him.”

“Those things don’t mean anything! Young dwarves break their apprenticeships all the time. All you have to do is pay the thing off later and nobody cares. I bet half the High Council members did it and almost every story you hear about one hero or another starts off with a dwarf abandoning his apprenticeship,” said Uldex speaking with passion, his hands waving in front of his scarred face. He also moved a few inches closer to Milli and breathed in deeply.

“He’s a quarter tree, once he sets his roots into something he won’t let go. We need to find something heroic to do once we steal the hammer and then he’ll go along. He doesn’t care about the High Council, or the malaise of Craggen Steep, or about your schemes to take over with your uncle.”

“What about Corancil? He took over in Das’von and Stav’rol. They say he’s building an army to invade the southlands and unite the entire continent as a single empire. Isn’t that reason enough to steal the hammer, to join his army? Think of the adventure, the riches. I’d do it myself if I could hold the thing. And I’d take you with me, Milli. All over the world, to see, to do, to live!”

“We thought of that,” said Milli as her cheeks reddened slightly and she flicked her head, sending her hair in a whirl around her face, “Dol doesn’t want to join an army. He wants to do something by himself. I know him, Uldex. He’ll never do it without a plan and without Dol no one can wield the thing.”

Uldex looked at Milli for a long time and they stood gazing at one another. “What ever happened with us?”

Milli rolled her eyes, “You were sleeping with every dwarf maiden of good family who couldn’t resist your bad boy charm as I recall. It wasn’t a short list.”

“Oh, there was that; what if I told you I’d reformed?”

“I wouldn’t fancy you if you turned into a good boy,” said Milli with a grin.

“Well then,” said Uldex with a smile and a wink.

“And I’ve gone off bad boys,” she replied with a frown.

“Where does that leave us?”

“Nowhere,” said Milli sharply. “Talk to your uncle or the First Edos, they’ve got to have an idea of what Dol can do with the hammer, something heroic, something for the ages, something people will talk about forever.”

Uldex pounded his fist into his hand again, “There isn’t time, you have to understand, Milli, they’re going to lock thing in the Hall of Relics after tonight. It’ll be guarded twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; you have to convince Dol tonight.”

Milli shook her head and pursed her lips, “It’s you who doesn’t understand Uldex. Dol’s mind is made up. You have to go back to your uncle, find something for Dol to do, and then we’ll steal the thing wherever they lock it up. The First Edos is on our side, that’s what you said.”

Uldex shook his head and looked at the ground, “You know that this is about more than stealing the hammer, Milli. The Firefists have had control of the High Council for too long now. It’s time for a change at the top and stealing the hammer is only the first part of the plan. Once the Blackirons take control, things will start changing around here. We’ll announce ourselves publicly to the world. Send an army of our finest soldiers to join Corancil in the invasion of the southlands, we’ll become an important nation in the new empire being forged. You have to convince Dol, Milli. You can do it; you can convince any dwarf of anything. There are probably less than a dozen girls on the whole mountain that aren’t dwarves, and you’re by far the prettiest. This is important, Milli. There is a lot more going on than I’ve told you about.”

“Keeping secrets again, Uldex?” said Milli with a shake of her head and she put her hands on her hips.

“It’s not like that, Milli,” said Uldex his voice raising on octave as he held his hands out towards her. “I don’t know for certain what my uncle has in mind but the Blackirons have stood behind the Firefists for too long. I don’t know what the plan is, I don’t know anything that my uncle doesn’t want me to know, I just hear hints, rumors, things, but the Firefists, they’re crafty and powerful.”

“So you are keeping secrets,” said Milli.

“It’s a feeling, an idea, I don’t know anything for certain, but Borrumbus, he’s up to something and I want to be part of it. I want to get in early because whoever comes out on top is going to be an important person, Milli. I could be that somebody if there’s a change at the top. You could be there with me, if you wanted,” he finished and put his hand on her shoulder. “We could be there together.”

“You’ll always be a hired thug, Uldex,” said Milli her face hardening into an expressionless mask. “They can put you in the finest gold robes and you’ll never be more than that.”

Uldex’s face dropped, he closed his mouth and stared at her for a few long seconds that seemed to take an eternity. “Well, maybe you’re right, but I’ll help you anyway, that’s how much of a thug I am. I’ll talk to Uncle Borrombus and see if they can come up with something for Dol. But you work on him too, get him hungry for the hammer; you can make men do whatever you want if you put your mind to it, Milli.”

Milli nodded her head and started to reach out with her hand to touch Uldex on the shoulder but then stopped at the last moment, “I’ll speak with Dol,” she finally said and then turned back to where Brogus waited with his face still in a grimace and his hand at the dirk on his hip. “Meet me tomorrow afternoon by the fountains on the grand deck, maybe we’ll see a dragon fly by, I’ve heard Corancil is gathering them for the assault.”

Uldex nodded and vanished into the shadows while Milli walked over to her friend with a smile on her face although her hand twitched nervously at her side.

“It’s cramped in here, Cleathelm,” said the little half-breed goblin to the raw boned dwarf chief apprentice as they sat knees to chest in a small alcove that overlooked a darkened room below. The alcove, although old and high up in the wall was as clean as a newly scrubbed floor and its marble surface reflected light from the sharp blade in the hand of the goblin creature. Above them an iron bound painting depicted a snarling dwarf warrior his axe raised high over his head. The work was of fine quality, and the frame, filigreed with gold wire and gemstones spaced at regular intervals, stood out like little stars in the night.

“Shut up, Blaggard,” replied the big dwarf and gave the other fellow a quick elbow in the ribs to drive home the point. “They’ll be along shortly and we’ll catch them in the act. Then you get to interrogate them. You’ll like that, it’s your specialty.”

The little fellow twisted his dagger so that it reflected light around the chamber below them and smiled to show numerous sharp teeth that spoke of a darkling heritage, “I like to ask questions.”

“I know you do, that’s why you’re along, my father will be well pleased when we catch Delius trying to steal the staff,” said Cleathelm and spun a short throwing axe around and around in his hand. It looked recently sharpened witha knob at the end of the handle emblazoned by a flaming fist.

The little goblin took in his breath with a sharp gasp, clenched his small dagger so hard his knuckles turned white, and turned to face the bigger dwarf with wide eyes and an open mouth, “You didn’t say it was Dol. He’s a tough one.”

“So what, and keep your voice down, they’ll be along any minute. This is the last day the hammer is out in the open like this and they’ll want to steal it. Hopefully they’ll tell on that little rotter Uldex and his uncle Borrombus as well, and that’ll be the end of any of their plans. We are the Firefists, the rightful rulers of Craggen Steep for the last five thousand years.”