"Gulp." The intense fury emanating from the other side of the wagon brought me back to my days in school, when I was just a tiny two foot kid who had just destroyed something expensive with one of my experimental runes. Or singed an Elder's beard in an explosion.
"Papa, the big bearded dwarf is scary." Gerde was curled up behind her shield, her ears flattened against her head as she whimpered in fear.
Sitting across from me and Gerde, was my former teacher, Elder Thrikrondromm. He was the expert runesmith that Dak had sent along with us to make the emperor's weapons and armor.
Every hair on his giant white beard bristled and trembled in rage. He couldn't seem to make up his mind on who deserved his anger the most though, so his eyes roamed like a laser between me and Delimira, putting the unfortunate Gerde, who sat between us, in his line of fire.
We had been traveling all night like this, ever since my father had informed Elder Thrikrondromm that Delimira was my apprentice, and then promptly and conveniently fell asleep, he had been glaring at us with the bitterness and acrimony that only a grudge bound dwarf can emit. With him staring at us throughout the night, it had been impossible for me to get any sleep, so I had been stuck waiting with bated breath for the impending explosion of a lecture. Apparently I was the only one though.
"Good morning, Kvalinn." Delimira stretched and kneaded her sore muscles as she woke up. Somehow, she had been able to sleep through the night, even with Elder Thrikrondromm's dwarven furor permeating the air in the wagon like a pumpkin spice candle. "Ow, I almost wish we had spent the night on the hard ground. These human wagons are the worst!"
"Be silent, elf!" Elder Thrikrondromm snapped. "I do not know what magic you employed to beguile my beardless student. But it will not work on me."
Elder Thrikrondromm spoke in Imperial, albeit an outdated dialect of it, which surprised me. So far as I knew, he had never mentioned visiting the human lands, or even interacting with one before. But then again, he was over a thousand years old, there was probably a lot about him that I didn't know.
"How rude!" Elder Thrikrondromm's accusation peeved off Delimira. "I didn't use any magic whatsoever on Kvalinn or his family! In fact, my spells saved them multiple times back on Issanore!"
"Elven lies!" Elder Thrikrondromm roared. "I do not know what trickery or designs you are attempting to pull off, but I will see that they fail! Even if I have to beat the sense into my feckless student with my bare hands!"
"Elder Thrikrondromm-" I was immediately cut off by another bellow from the enraged dwarf.
"Not a word, Kvalinn! Your father says that you have only taught the cursed pointy ear weapon smithing, but if I find that you have taught her anything more than that, or even breathed a hint to her of rune crafting, then I will personally ensure that you are used as ammunition for the grudge throwers!"
"Elder Thrikrondromm." I tried speaking up again to defend my student, but was once again shut down.
"Kvalinn, you have no idea what that vile race is capable of. I was there when they viciously attacked the continent. I survived their attempts to crack the foundations of the mountain to get at us. Tell me, Kvalinn, have you seen a dwarven city after the roof of the caverns collapse from elven magic rocking the surface? Have you seen your friends and family vaporized by magical flames long before the enemy is in crossbow range? Have you seen an entire mountain reduced to eating stones to ease hunger pains, because scavengers and merchants were killed on sight? I have seen all that and more, and it's all thanks to the damned elves!"
"Elder Thrikrondromm!" I shouted, interrupting the start of an extended lecture. "Delimira is not one of the elves from a thousand years ago. What's more, she hates their lies and deceptions more than anyone."
"More elven lies?" He asked, with a bloodshot glare at Delimira.
She earnestly shook her head after a portent pause. "I've watched my father plot and scheme my entire life, and I've hated every time that I've had to follow his example. What my ancestors did, and what my people do every day of their lives, it's disgusting to me."
"Let's pretend that I believe you." Elder Thrikrondromm said, his red hot fury turning cold with a rapidity that would kill a goldfish. "How do I know that you won't just scurry back to your people if they ever promise to change their ways. Giving them the ancestral knowledge of our kind on a silver platter for empty words and vows."
Delimira grimaced, turning her head as painful memories surfaced. "They'll never change, and so, I'll never go back." After a pause, she looked over at me. "Kvalinn was a way out of my father's control at first, but then he showed me that there was another way to live, a way of honor and the forge. So if it were possible, I'd prefer to live out my centuries in front of a forge, and not casting magic."
"Hmmm." Elder Thrikrondromm glared at her thoughtfully, running his fingers through his beard. It was clear he still didn't trust her, but at least he wasn't shouting at her anymore. "What about her?" He said while looking at the trembling shield Gerde was hiding behind. "Have you betrayed your oath, and taught her rune crafting?"
"No, honored Elder." I replied. "My adoptive daughter is a beastkin, and even though she's nearly as big as me, she's only three. Still way too young to be taught rune crafting."
"Beastkin, eh? The memory is fuzzy, but I remember seeing some of their kind in the distant past. Long before the humans betrayed them. They were good warriors. The weapons she carries, are they just for show?"
"Nope, she's been trained by Bekhi ever since she could walk, and has stood toe to toe with every monster from goblins to dragons."
"Hmm, and since you are your father's son, I assume you've been teaching her weapon smithing from that same time."
"Did someone say weapon smithing?" My father conveniently chose that moment to wake up. Throwing off his blanket at the exact moment all the shouting was over and done with. "So, you've been training my granddaughter in the arts of our clan as well as the elf! Why didn't you say so earlier, Kvalinn? What can she make so far?"
"Well, here's a dagger we've been working on together. Gerde can work with iron relatively well, but we've been too busy to go beyond that." I passed my father a crude iron dagger, it was very plain and simple, but Gerde was very proud of it.
"Just iron? Well, she is only three after all, but let's seeā¦" He then proceeded to give it the same thorough examination that he had always done for my beginner weapons. Hearing her name mentioned, Gerde poked her head out from behind her shield.
"Unacceptable." Was my father's judgment on the dagger. He handed it back with a grimace. "It's clear that whatever talents you have in rune crafting, you definitely don't have any in teaching."
Ouch, that stung. Although to be fair, during the past year in Issanore, I had been more devoted to my own studies, rather than teaching Gerde weapon smithing. It must have stung for Gerde too, since she started whimpering again and curled up behind her shield with tears of disappointment in her eyes.
My father, realizing he had messed up with his overly harsh review, cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, Kvalinn. Maybe it's barely acceptable. As long as it's not by dwarven standards, or if you measure her years instead of her size, and the materials don't seem to be the best quality." His backtracking didn't work though, a long miserable sniff came from behind the shield.
"Is this the difference between raising a daughter versus a son?" My father muttered to himself. "Aundarord told me that it would be different if I had a girl, but I wasn't expecting this." He suddenly perked up, as if he had stumbled on an idea. "Kvalinn, have you found a forge to work at yet?"
"Not yet." I replied. "But after the battle, I'll be settling down in a small town in the empire where hopefully the emperor will forget about me."
"Unlikely." My father scoffed. "You threatened him and his army with a rune, unless the human leader is a complete imbecile, he'll keep a close eye on you."
"What's this about threatening someone with a rune?" Elder Thrikrondromm asked, glaring harshly at me.
Despite my silent pleas for him to gloss it over, my father quickly summed up the events of the previous night. Leading to an hours long lecture from the Elder on the proper use of runes, truthfulness, honesty, and how bluffing was dishonorable for a dwarf. I tuned out halfway through, and tried imaging a dwarf playing poker when they couldn't bluff.
Once the lecture had run its course, my father gave a tired sigh. "So to continue from before, once you have your own weapon smithy up and running, send me a letter. I'll come visit for a year or two and train Gerde on how to make a proper dwarven weapon."
"Ekgor, is that wise?" Elder Thrikrondromm said, peering at my father from underneath his bushy brows. "Gerde isn't a member of your clan. You could be penalized for giving the empire dwarven trade secrets. Not to mention, anything you teach Kvalinn and Gerde will inevitably be taught to the elf, are you comfortable passing centuries of experience over to a damned knife ear?"
It was now my father's turn to glare at Delimira, although this time, it wasn't in anger or hatred, he was examining her purely as if she was a new weapon. Seemingly peering into the depths of her soul, and attempting to test her edge and mettle from sight alone.
Delimira didn't flinch from the scrutinizing gaze that made me instinctively hold my breath every time it was directed at me or my work. Instead, she returned the scrutinizing look with one of her own, putting her best look forward while appraising her future teacher.
"Delimira." My father rumbled out. "What drives your hammer? As dwarves, Kvalinn and I have an instinctive celestial given drive to craft weapons, but why do you want to make weapons? What motivates you to sweat through the forge fire, and hammer at the molten steel for hours?"
She thought it over for several minutes. Like any teenager, answering tough questions about her inner thoughts was not easy for her, but she eventually looked up with a fire in her eyes. "I want to make weapons so that people can defend themselves. So that when arrogant assholes like my father try to force their will on others, he can look down his nose, and find one of my blades at his neck."
"So this is personal?"
"Not entirely." Delimira paused before continuing. "Kvalinn was able to make weapons for me back in Issanore so that I could win magic duels and keep my freedom. I want my weapons to do the same thing for other people. Help them defend their freedom from those who would take it by force."
"Hmm." My father ran his fingers through his beard in thought. I knew from experience that this was the expression he made when I crafted something useful, but too new and unusual for him to accept without taking some time to mentally digest it.
"Ekgor, teaching the adopted daughter of your son is one thing." Elder Thrikrondromm said with a hand on my father's shoulder in concern. "But teaching a damned elf? That will most certainly cause your father to expel you from the clan, and then he will force the king to exile you from the mountain. What would your wife say, if her husband was exiled from his ancestral mountain?"
"Wait, father, did you get remarried?" I asked in surprise. "When did that happen?"
"Sometime last year, but that doesn't matter." He waved the question off. I was determined to get the details from Dak later though, he had been opposed to anything that would distract him from his work for centuries, so the story would probably be very interesting.
He turned to Elder Thrikrondromm with a distant sad look in his eyes. "If Hilgi finds remaining married to a man cast out from his clan, then I will grant her a divorce. But," he smiled softly, a type loving look that I had never seen from him before in my life, "I believe if she heard the elf's words, she would be as motivated as I am to help her, and would even join me in exile."
"...You can't be serious! Ekgor, this is an elf we're talking about! The race that tried to wipe us out a thousand years ago during their cursed war of pacification."
"They humans have tried that too." My father grumbled. "The Zaihanians alone have assaulted our northern border fortresses for centuries, and until only recently, the empire did the same on our southern border."
"And the grudges against them still stand." Elder Thrikrondromm stated. "That's why we only trade with Handel."
"But we still trade with humans. The various clans and guilds even take human apprentices if paid well enough. So why not train an elven apprentice of my son, an elf who has left her race behind."
Elder Thrikrondromm heaved a heavy sigh. "A thousand years of living has taught me not to beat a dead goblin, but are you sure? She's an elf. A race that we hold countless grudges against for very good reason."
"Those grudges are against her race, not her. If she's willing to withstand the intense forge fire heat that Kvalinn uses, then she shows promise. So I'll train her, and Gerde, and Kvalinn, even if it means I'm exiled from the mountain."
Heaving another heavy sigh, Elder Thrikrondromm massaged his temples, before glaring at us one at a time, and heaving yet another sigh. "Ancestors preserve us, this century is becoming more and more tumultuous with each year that passes. First Kvalinn is able to craft magic runes as a child, then he returns with a beastkin adopted daughter, and finally, he has managed to convince his father to teach an elf. What will come next?" He then turned his piercing gaze at me. "Speaking of runes, have you let your skills degrade while out with the elves, Kvalinn?"
I shook my head and handed him a weapon I had made while in Issanore. "No, sir. I've practiced as much as possible, and I've even come across innumerable runes that you weren't able to teach me before I left."
"And apparently learned the runes I judged too risky to teach you." Elder Thrikrondromm grumbled angrily. The short sword that I had passed to my teacher had the Rune of Shredding engraved on it, so far as my experiments had determined, it would leave jagged bloody wounds that no amount of healing magic or bandages could staunch the blood flow from. "Evidently you are still too dangerous to leave alone, and just like when you were a child, you somehow are still managing to craft runes that should not be used. When you have a forge set up in the empire, send me a letter, and I'll spend a few decades training you so that you don't kill yourself or other accidentally, and I'll also prepare you to be ready for the entrance exams for the Rune Smith's Guild."
"Aww, no fair! How come everyone gets to go be with Kvalinn except me?" The loud comment caused all of us, including the wagon driver, to jump in surprise.
"Miyata?! Is that you?" I asked, my eyes opening wide in surprise.
"...No?"
"Miyata, get out here, now!" I commanded. From a sack in the corner of the wagon, that all of us had automatically assumed to merely be supplies, Miyata slowly emerged looking very embarrassed and awkward, like a kid who's been caught eavesdropping. Although technically, that was exactly what she was.
"Who's this, Kvalinn?" Elder Thrikrondromm asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "Another one of your apprentices?"
"No! Never in a million years. No." I firmly stated. "This is Miyata, she's a summoned hero who should've been left behind with the emperor."
"That's right." My father's eyes lit up in recognition. "Didn't he mention that she wasn't allowed to go with you, since she was a royal ward? What's she doing here?"
"That's what I'd like to find out." I looked at Miyata, ready to play bad cop with no good cop to save her. "Miyata." I growled out. "Why are you here?"
"Because they were gonna make stay with Baka-Taka!" She squeaked out, dashing to hide behind Delimira on the far end of my side of the wagon. "Save me,Del! Defend me, Gerde!"
The two of them responded to her pleas by cold heartedly moving to the otherside of the wagon, leaving no one between her and me.
"How many times have I told you. Stop calling me 'Del'! Only Gerde can do that." Delimira said, turning away from Miyata.
"Papa's maaad." Gerde said, moving my father's arm so that she could hide behind it. My father was taken aback by the sudden closeness, since I had never done anything like that as a kid, and was stuck puzzling over what to do.
"So this is the summoned hero that the gods have sent to save the world?" Elder Thrikrondromm scoffed. "I've seen kroliks with more courage."
A krolik was a mammal species that existed in Tochka that was similar in size and shape to a rabbit. They were often kept as pets or livestock by the commoners, and their meat was delicious when caught in the wild.
"She's one of two summoned heroes apparently." I said. "Although I'm not so sure about the other one. The emperor called him Takamori, not 'Baka-Taka', whatever that means."
"It means stupid Taka!" Miyata said with a scowl. "That's what we called him in school. He failed every single test he took, and would've been expelled years ago if our school had given a crap. He's also a big mean bully who goes after any student who tries to get ahead of him in either studies or sports. One time, I got an A on a math test, and he and his cronies threw me in an old sewage pit and locked the door."
"Are you sure you didn't just annoy him like you do for us?" I asked, thinking of all the times that Miyata had driven us to madness with her incessant chatter.
Miyata pouted a little at the accusation. "I wasn't the only one he did that to." She then told about how Takamori had terrorized the entire school with his antics, even going so far as to beat up a couple teachers who had tried to discipline him. Of course, he beat up the teachers in the dark when they were on their way home from work, and made sure there was no evidence against him, but the message got delivered through veiled threats in class. He also led a large gang of other delinquents, although most of them had been press ganged to join to keep friends or family safe. Altogether, it was not a pretty picture.
"Ancestors beard, he sounds like trouble." Elder Thrikrondromm unexpectedly commented, his eyes darkening. "My father fought alongside, and later against, the first hero, and while he was pure evil incarnate, he only became so after passing through extreme hardship and war. This summoned hero though, I don't like the sound of him. It could presage the coming of another demon lord."
I thought back on my history lessons. The first summoned hero had turned into a demon lord halfway through his liberation of the continent, and then had spent years indiscriminately killing everyone and everything that came across his path. Even though he was just one person, he had killed hundreds of thousands of people with both blade and magic, and had even threatened the gods themselves by forcefully stealing their power. His presence in the world had also caused magic to run rampant in the world, causing numerous races that the gods were either experimentally creating, or created to defeat him, to devolve into monsters such as goblins, ogres, krakens, and minotaurs.
"Will it be safe to fight alongside him in the upcoming battle?" Delimira asked. "He sounds like the type to stab you in the back while you're fighting a common foe."
Miyata shrugged in an 'I don't know and I don't care' gesture. "He's always had to be the person in charge no matter what, but I don't think he's stupid enough to pull a doublecross when a bunch of goblins are trying to kill him. If anything though, I'd bet he'll find a basement to hide in when the battle starts and if we survive, he'll backstab us then."
"So he's a coward, as well as a dishonorable wazzock." Elder Thrikrondromm grimly noted.
"I guess we can take him off the list of people we need to make weapons for." I said. Elder Thrikrondromm just shook his head solemnly.
"He's likely already received the ancient hero's armor and weapons. Crafted by the gods for the second summoned hero to defeat the first one. They are said to be far beyond what can be crafted by mortals, both in defense and offense. Not even your abilities can make anything close to what the celestials can create, so far at least."
"So is there a way we can prevent the wazzock from turning into a demon lord?" I asked, thinking back to some of the cheesier anime from my previous life where taking a sword or breaking an ancient relic stopped the demon lord. However, reality was much less pleasant.
"We could kill him now." Delimira suggested coldly, before shaking her head in frustration. "Sorry, that was my father talking. But truthfully, killing him would be the surest way of preventing him from turning into a demon lord. Not summoning a hero at all would've been better, but we can't change the past."
Delimira then proceeded to explain that according to comments dropped by the gods, every summoned hero had the potential to become a demon lord. Technically, every living being had the potential, but for natives of this world, the chances were infinitesimal. Summoned heroes, however, were given a small portion of the gods power when they were brought to this world, and if they had the strength and willpower, they could steal more.
After the lesson in celestial power and heroes, all of us glanced over at Miyata, imagining her as a very annoying demon lord.
"Wait a minute! I'm not gonna become a demon lord, am I?" Miyata exclaimed, putting her hands on her head as if checking for horns. "I don't wanna become a demon lord! Demon Lord Miyata sounds lousy! I wanna have fun with elves and beastkin, find a couple cute guys to fight over me, and then be a hero to everyone."
"Hmph." Elder Thrikrondromm grunted skeptically before turning to me. "Kvalinn, change of plans. I'll dig up an old rune forge that an old guild member used to run that's in the northern part of the empire. From there, I'll continue my lessons with you. If this Takamori becomes a demon lord, no living race that I know of has the potential to fight against him as they are, so they'll need what you used to call doomsday weapons to even have a chance of surviving."
"Are you sure, Elder Thrikrondromm?" I asked. "What about your teaching position down in Nurnwuhr? Don't you have any students that need your help?"
"No, ever since you graduated, and were subsequently booted from your clan, I haven't had a single youth enroll in my class. It's disappointing, but your grandfather's hatred for rune smithing has only become more potent in the past few years and has even reached to the depths of Nurnwuhr."
I nodded in understanding. My grandfather, the head of the Weapon Clan in the mountain, hated that rune smiths were apparently stealing the credit for powerful weapons away from the Weapon Clan, and had been using underhanded methods to rid the mountain of rune smiths for centuries. Even though his tactics were ultimately lowering the defense capabilities of the mountain as a whole.
"I'll accompany you too." My father said, causing me to look over to him in surprise. "If a demon lord is on the horizon, I trust Elder Thrikrondromm more than my father and our puppet of a king."
The king of Einangrad, King Thralgrorlum, was basically forced to dance to the Weapon Clan's tune due to their constant threats of withholding weapons that were needed for the defense against the Zaihanians. It was a constant game of chicken where the king always blinked and lost.
"I'll go too!" Miyata shot her hand up to volunteer, but I shot her down.
"No. The emperor already said you're going to the Imperial Academy, and then marrying a noble when you graduate."
"Mgrh! But I don't want to do any of that! Especially if Baka-Taka is gonna be going too. I never want to go to school with him again. One time, a new kid passed him in the yearly marathon, and he and his friends broke the kid's kneecaps! I don't want to be anywhere near him, especially if he got some kind of cheat ability like I did."
"Hmm. You may have a point." I rubbed the fuzz on my chin. "Maybe I can talk to the emperor and have him send tutors out to you in the capital. Although if the Imperial Academy is anything like the Issanorian Institute, skipping out on attending will be a massive handicap when you try to socialize with the nobility."
"I don't care about that." Miyata said bluntly. "If they try to force me to go with Takamori, then I'll just run away and join you like I did last night."
"How did you do that anyway?" I asked. "Gerde's nose can detect any monster from fifty paces, so she should have detected you in the corner."
"She can do that!? Gerde! What do I smell like to you? Do I smell like candy? Since I'm so sweet?" Miyata jumped over to the other side of the wagon, and held her hand up to Gerde's nose like you would a puppy.
Gerde wrinkled her nose and cutely sneezed. "You smell like the cookies I made without papa."
Back in Issanore, Gerde had snuck into the kitchen one time to make cookies for herself. Since she didn't know what the recipe was, she had thrown everything but the kitchen sink into a mixing bowl, mashed it all up with brute force, and then burned it to a crisp with fire magic. The end result was basically solid sugar clumps, with a hundred unusual ingredients like pepper, cocoa, rice, cheese, and sausages, all mixed in. Needless to say, they were completely inedible and had a very... unique scent.
"Back to the question." I said, putting a hand on Miyata's shoulder and forcing her back into her seat. "How did you sneak away from the emperor's guards, and get onto the wagon without anyone noticing?"
"I think it's one of the cheat abilities I got when I was summoned here. I figured out how to duck and hide at school to avoid Takamori and his gang, but now I can somehow hide in plain sight as long as people aren't looking at me directly. Watch, look over there." She then pointed away, our eyes automatically followed, and when we looked back, she was gone.
"Goblins grog!" My father swore. "Where did she go?"
Gerde closed her eyes, sniffing the air for a few minutes before pointing at the corner of the wagon. "She's back in the sack."
Sure enough, Miyata emerged from the exact same sack she had hidden in earlier, looking very disgruntled that she had been discovered so easily. "No fair! I shouldn't have let you sniff me. Now you know what I smell like and can find me."
"I could've found you too." Delimira said, smirking at Miyata. "I was able to detect your magic, Gerde just spoke up before I could."
"Elves can do that? No fair!" Miyata sat down with a huff. "Anyway, I used that skill to sneak away from the guards when I overheard them saying that they'd be rooming me with Takamori to keep us secure. I then backtracked until I saw you getting into a wagon, and hid in the sack and fell asleep until I heard big beard over there shouting at you for something."
"So the emperor doesn't know where you are?" I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Great, so for all we know, he's delaying the march to send out search parties for you."
"He better not." My father growled out. "But even if the humans don't move out today, Thane Thredak will lead the dwarves of Einangrad to the Tharkuldohr mountains with all the weapons we brought."
"How many men and weapons did he bring?" I thought back on my short geography lessons in school. Einangrad didn't have an especially large population, just barely over a hundred thousand, and considering how many of the Warrior Clan would need to be left behind to defend against the Zaihanians to the north, and the possibility of an imperial trap to the south, the king couldn't have possibly sent more than a few thousand that would have been mustered from the various clans.
"Three hundred dwarves." Came the terse reply. "That's all Thane Thredak could convince to join without the king calling for them."
According to my father, the request for aid had first been sent to King Thralgrorlum, and then forwarded to the individual Thanes, as well as the clan and guild leaders. A meeting had been scheduled to discuss the request, but Dak didn't have the patience to wait, and had brought all the volunteers from his territory and the nearby towns with him to the imperial camp.
"Thane Thredak knew better than to wait on the long beards to each have their say before the Weapon Clan shut down the proceedings." My father grumbled. "So he called on Elder Thrikrondromm to bring every last weapon of yours that was being held in storage, and after arranging transport with Aundarord, we set out to join the empire."
"Wait, every weapon?" I asked with a pale face and shaking hands. More than one of my weapons that I had made in school had been declared as disaster class by Elder Thrikrondromm, and had been locked up without even being tested due to the danger they potentially possessed.
"Every weapon." Elder Thrikrondromm confirmed with a sour grimace. "I will have to go over the weapons when we arrive to determine which ones are safe to wield, versus those that will be loaded into the catapults to be flung at the green scum."
"Are you sure it was safe to bring those out of storage? You told me multiple times that they would never see the light of day lest they bring down the mountain."
"It is most certainly not safe! But neither is a goblin horde. Besides, the Thane told me to use the first excuse to move those weapons. They were taking up too much space in his vaults."
I gave a cautious sigh as I glanced out of the back of the wagon, where the emperor's army and my weapons were located. Just a little bit thankful that we were putting some distance between us and them. But that brought my mind back to what had started the conversation.
"Miyata. You need to get back to the emperor, and we need to keep moving south, so you'll need to either walk back, or wait here for them to catch up."
"Aww!" Miyata whined. "Why can't I go with you?"
"Actually, she's gonna have to come with us." The soldier who was driving the carriage, a human named Marcus, cut in. "There's a lot of monsters, bandits, and rebels in this part of the country, and I wouldn't feel right leavin' a girl to die out here."
"Yay!" Miyata pumped her fists in victory and began talking in her usual chatterbox manner. "I don't have to go back! So what's a dwarven city like? Are there any tourist attractions? What's the food like? Do you have bean buns? I'd really like some bean buns if you have any." And so on and so on.
Elder Thrikrondromm glared at her for a few minutes, before speaking to me in Dwarven. "The summoned hero cannot speak this tongue, can she?"
"No," I answered in the same language, "the translator device only translates between her native language and Imperial."
"Good. When we arrive at the Tharkuldohr Mountains, do not tell anyone that she is a summoned hero. They are forbidden to enter our mountains by ancient law. Make sure your daughter and the elf understand this as well."
"Will the emperor have difficulty bringing Takamori to the battle if forbidden from taking him through the mountains?" My hopes of removing a potential backstabber from the fight were unfortunately dashed.
"The emperor will be bringing an army. The kings of the mountains will likely consider that ample security to restrain Takamori, if he should go rogue." He glanced over at Miyata, who was still talking like a chatterbox to an unresponsive Delimira. "To tell the truth, I don't trust the summoned hero that we have with us. If she were to become a demon lord while we are preparing to fight the goblins, it could spell disaster for every mountain kingdom."
"I don't think we have too much to worry about on that front." I said with a smirk. "Bekhi tested her fighting capabilities while we were at the camp, and they were not even at basic adventurers level. Even Gerde could take her down if it came down to it. I'm pretty sure we are safe from that blabbermouth."
"Still, keep an eye on her. A moment's hesitation could be the difference between the life and death of the dwarven race in these mountains."
I nodded in agreement. The tales of the horrors of the first demon lord were well documented in the Issanorian libraries, and I had no intention of inflicting that on my fellow dwarves.
Together, we watched Miyata blather on as the wagon continued its bumpy trip to the south.
"What? What's that?" I woke up with a start from a nap. I hadn't even realized that I had fallen asleep, but the sun was now less than an hour from setting.
"Perfect timing, Kvalinn." Elder Thrikrondromm said with a grim look on her face. "The horses are uneasy, and Gerde just smelled goblins nearby. They could've split off from the horde and come out through unknown cracks in the mountains, or it could be a native pack. Either way, get your weapons ready."
Looking around, I saw that my father and Delimira were already out of the wagon and stretching like professional athletes. Gerde and Miyata were both looking to me for direction.
"Papa, are we gonna be alright without mama with us?" Gerde asked, her eyes darting between me and the road we had traveled.
"Mr. Kvalinn, are we really gonna fight monsters? Shouldn't we run back to the army and let them deal with it? What if there are too many? What if we get hurt? What if Gerde gets hurt? What if I get hurt? Will I still be able to save the world if I get hurt?" Miyata, as usual, asked numerous questions without waiting for the answer to a single one. So I ignored her, and hugged Gerde in a fatherly manner.
"Don't worry, Gerde. Your mother is definitely strong, but so is your grandfather and Elder Thrikrondromm. As long as you listen to them, we'll all be safe." I could see Gerde's tail start to wag a little in hope, so I turned to glare at Miyata. "Just stay behind us and remember the lessons Bekhi taught you about knife work. Go for the weak points, and don't try to be flashy or a hero."
"But I am a hero!" Miyata protested. I ignored her and shook my head to wake up.
Together we exited the wagon and began preparing to fight.
"Are you two ready to fight?" Elder Thrikrondromm asked the two girls, his eyes roving the edge of the forestline.
"No!" Miyata said in a slightly panicked tone.
"Y-yes, h-honored Elder." Gerde stuttered a little as she looked back towards the north again. She was still nervous about fighting without her mother nearby, and the earlier shouting of the Elder had her on edge against him.
"Good." Elder Thrikrondromm looked at Gerde with a satisfied smile. "Just remember, the ancestors are watching us as we fight. We fight for their honor as well as ours."
"Is that why mama always shouts 'for the ancestors' when she fights the monsters?"
"Could be, you would have to ask her yourself to be sure though. But remember, a warcry is supposed to remind you of why you fight. Shout it when you feel your resolve weakening, when you need the strength to defend yourself, or when you are disheartened by loss. It's what will keep you alive through every fight."
Gerde nodded, mentally going over her warcries and hyping herself up for battle. Delimira nodded as well, having overheard the conversation, and seemed to be mulling over what her warcry should be.
"Woah, you're gonna make the girls fight too?" The wagon driver exclaimed as he strapped on his clunky helmet.
"That's what they're wearing arms and armor for." I dryly remarked.
The wagon driver shook his head in disbelief. "I just thought that was for protection, I didn't think they could actually fight with them. Are they any good?"
"Better than you are." Delimira said, eyeing the soldier's inexperienced movements. "I bet ten silver that Gerde will take down more goblins than you will."
"Gerde's the kid with the funny lookin' ears, right?" He looked Gerde up and down, noting how my father was helping her through her preparations. "Alright, you're on! You can keep score while you throw your spells around."
"What makes you think I'm a spell caster?" Delimira asked, waving her hands at her metal armor and weapons.
"Aren't you an elf? Don't all of you throw spells around like juggling balls?"
"That's just a myth. Don't believe everything you hear about elves." Delimira said while giving the soldier the stink eye.
"Sorry, but can't you at least throw a couple spells? I want to tell the folks back home that I got to see actual elf magic."
"No. Because the goblins are already here. Now get ready to hand over ten silver!" Delimira drew her two handed sword, and let magic flow through it, causing it to turn into a flaming sword that emitted a decent amount of heat.
"Ancestor's beard!" Elder Thrikrondromm loudly shouted as he glanced over at the sword. "Kvalinn! I see your runes on that sword. We will be having a long discussion about what you gave to an elf when this fight is over!"
I grimaced in pain, both in anticipation of the coming lecture, and from the Rune of Wrath on my left hand heating up. It had been so long that I had nearly forgotten, but whenever monsters get close to me, the rune on my hand activates, and they are thrown into a rabid rage and start madly attacking me.
With a chorus of grunts and growls, a large pack of diminutive green goblins emerged from the shrubbery on the side of the road and charged at our group.
"For the ancestors!" Elder Thrikrondromm shouted, banging his ax against his shield to get their attention.
"For the forge fires!" My father and I shouted at nearly the same time, readying our hammers for action.
"For sweet rolls and cookies!" Gerde called out after taking a deep breath for courage and gripping her ax.
Delimira thought for a second before fiercely grinning. "For freedom!" The flame on her blade seemed to burn brighter as she declared her reason to fight.
"For the emperor!" Was the battle cry of the soldier. He was way less equipped than the rest of us, having just a one handed sword and some cheap steel armor. But he was just a commoner who had been called to war by his liege lord, he was lucky to have that much.
Behind our line, I heard a thump as Miyata collapsed on her rear end at the sight of the writhing pack of goblins. Bekhi, or whoever ended up training her, had their work cut out for them to get her ready for the upcoming big battle against the horde.
"Stand fast, Miyata." I bellowed without turning around. "Keep a firm grip on your dagger and try not to stab yourself."
There wasn't time for me to issue further instructions since the goblins crashed into our defensive line like an ocean wave against a breakwall.
Just like always, they did their best to kill me with frantic fervor, but there were enough of the small green buggers that everyone else got some action as well.
"Graah! Die, green scum!" Elder Thrikrondromm lopped off a goblin's head, split another one in half, and took the legs off a third in a single diagonal swing of his ax. All while blocking the claws and fangs of the other monsters with his shield. He took another swing, and another three goblins were felled.
"Bang goes the steel. Crack goes the fire. And another sword is formed." My father was singing a forge song in Dwarven as he crushed goblin skulls with his hammer in time with music.
"Creepy goblins! Gooey goblins! Die, stupid goblins! Go away!" Gerde expertly swung her ax while scrunching her face in disgust as the blue goblin blood spurted out of the deadly wounds and gashes she inflicted with her ax.
I was busy fending off the mass of bony limbs, slobbering fangs, and sharp claws, but when I had a half second to myself, I glanced over at Delimira. The area around her was completely devoid of goblins, living or otherwise, all that was left every time she killed a goblin was a pile of charred ash. She was calm, but the fire in her eyes matched the blazing of her blade, as she cut down every monster that came within her reach.
As for the human soldier, he had fallen back to protect Miyata, and was taking out any goblin that tried to circle around us. It was a plain manner of fighting, but I was just glad that he was keeping calm in the skirmish. He didn't appear to be all that trained in fighting, beyond how to hold and swing a sword, but he still dispatched his fair share of goblins.
Miyata, on the other hand, was panicking. Her normally boundless energy was focused on hiding behind the human. At every splash of blood, her eyes seemed to get wider, and every time a goblin lunged at her, she squeaked in fear. It was a far cry from her previous confident outbursts that she would save the world as a summoned hero.
"Kvalinn!" Elder Thrikrondromm shouted towards me in the melee. "Have the elf move to protect the horses! The blasted buggers are trying to make a meal out of them."
I quickly translated and relayed the order, Elder Thrikrondromm had reverted to his native language in the squabble, so Delimira hadn't understood him. She nodded, and jumped over us to incinerate several goblins that were approaching the horses with ravenous looks.
"She moves well, Kvalinn." Elder Thrikrondromm noted, giving a conflicted nod of approval. "I assume the surface dwarf you were sweet on back in school is responsible?"
"You mean Bekhi?" I asked, sending a goblin flying backwards with my hammer. "Yes, she briefly trained Delimira back in Issanore. That way she could safely use my weapons."
"Did you leave any other weapons for the damned elves to use?" He asked in growing fury, cutting down a half dozen goblins in a single swing that had attempted to jump him. "Will I find myself at the receiving end of one of your blades the next time they invade, with an elven army equipped with your craftsmanship killing your kin and clan?"
"No, Elder." I grunted as my shield took a hit from a larger goblin. "Every weapon I made in Issanore is being used by someone in my party. Nothing was left behind." I neglected to mention my attempts at making 21st tech using elven magic lines that hadn't been packed. I doubted he would be interested in my microwave that somehow blackened food but didn't heat it at all.
"That had better be the truth, Kvalinn. Or I will hunt you and your descendents down to the tenth generation for lying to me!" With a roar or rage, Elder Thrikrondromm struck a goblin so hard that it splattered into pieces.
"Papa! Is the big bearded dwarf gonna hunt me?" Gerde asked, her ears flattening in fear even as she decapitated a goblin with her ax.
"No, Gerde." My father answered calmly. Using his shield to protect her from a goblin that jumped at her over its headless companion. "I'm sure that Kvalinn is telling the truth. And even if he forgot a weapon or two with the elves, he could resolve the grudge by retrieving the weapon and presenting them to Elder Thrikrondromm. No one's going to be hunting my granddaughter."
"Hey, shorties." The human soldier said. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but hold your ground, we're almost at the end of the fight. I can see the back of the pack."
"Don't call us short!" Elder Thrikrondromm boomed out, his voice alone sending a goblin flying. "And don't tell us how to fight, human! I've been fighting these blasted monsters since before your ancestors even considered rebelling against the cursed elves."
The human shrugged, unperturbed by the angry dwarf, and skewered a goblin that tried to jump him from the wagon roof.
The fight lasted for another ten minutes. Fortunately there were no wounds or injuries to take care of, but we were still tired after the adrenaline rush, and our weapons and clothes were heavily stained with goblin's blue blood.
"By the emperor." The human plopped down on his rear. "That was a hell of a fight. I thought I'd be fighting alone since I was escorting a couple kids and craftsmen, but you fought really, really well. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you." He looked over at Miyata, who was still trembling in shock. "Hrmph, summoned hero? Ha! I guess the gods sent another flop like they sent Alginall."
Miyata's only response was a whimper. She lifted a blood soaked hand in front of her eyes with a horrified look. "T-t-t-that was a l-l-lot scarier than in the anime."
"Battle is always scary, human." Elder Thrikrondromm grunted as he handed her a clean cloth he fished out from his bag. "I'm not sure what 'anime' is, but nothing can truly prepare you for the viciousness of battle with the green scum."
"But what about Gerde?" Miyata asked, pointing at the girl who was silently begging for ear scratches from her grandfather in a very cute manner. "She fought the goblins, and didn't pee their pants like I did when they tried to kill us."
"Gerde's been fighting goblins since she could walk." I said while teaching my father how to pat her on the head. "Even before that, when she adventured with us in my rucksack, she would sniff out goblins and warn us about them so that Bekhi could kill them. So technically, Gerde has been fighting goblins since she was a baby."
"Since she was a baby?" Miyata looked at Gerde in a whole new light. "Maybe I should've paid better attention when she tried to teach me."
"There's still time. When we get to the mountains, Elder Thrikrondromm and I will be isolating ourselves to add the runes to the weapons. Gerde and Delimira can teach you while we work."
"Maybe this time you'll listen to us without poking our ears." Delimra said in clipped tones, cleaning the blood off her weapon. "Maybe if we constantly remind you that goblins are coming, we can keep you concentrated for more than a minute."
As Miyata paled, and promised again and again to listen to her teachers in her usual chatterbox manner, Elder Thrikrondromm walked up to Delimira.
"Elf girl, show me your sword."
The words were given as a stern demand as he held his hand out for the weapon in the same way he had when I had made something weird as a kid. Delimira looked to me for confirmation, after I gave a subtle nod, she handed the mostly blood free sword over to the Elder.
Elder Thrikrondromm wiped off the blood from around the runes I had added to the sword, and examined it closely. "Who added these magic lines, Kvalinn?" He pointed at the flowing swirling lines that weaved in between the runes and along the entire length of the blade.
"I did, Elder." I said with a nod. "Their security over their 'secret arts' is completely laughable. So I tried experimenting a little bit with combining rune crafting and elven magic streamlining."
"And?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"And according to Delimira, the combination of the two techniques allows her to ignite the sword with a drastic reduction in the amount of magic used compared to using just one or the other. So far there have been no side effects, but she keeps a close eye on it just in case it decides to explode."
The elven manner of enchanting their weapons was to add lines and grooves into their blades, filling them with various magical materials that allowed the wielders internal magic to flow through it and produce the magical effects. Some were simple, like the fire blade Delimira had, but others could freeze blood, electrify opponents, or various other nonimaginative ways of hurting the enemy.
"Hmmm." Elder Thrikrondromm scowled at the blade. As if it was the embodiment of all the grudges he held against the elven race. He eventually handed it back to Delimira without looking directly at her. "You fought well, elf girl. May you continue to wield this blade for the honor of your ancestors, or in your case, may you pass this blade to your descendents so that they may fight in honor of their ancestor."
Delimira took her sword back with grace, and put it back in its sheath. "Thank you, Elder. But I hope to pass on much better blades than this to my descendents."
"We'll work on that later after the war." My father said, wiping off the last of the goblin blood from his weapon and beard. "A decade or two under me, and you'll be at least at Kvalinn's level, if not better. If you can avoid 'experimenting' like he did as a child, then you will likely turn out even better than him."
"Really!?" Delimira grinned in excitement.
"You will at least be less destructive than him. Hopefully." Elder Thrikrondromm grumbled, remembering my school days. He then spent the next few hours telling Delimira about some of my exploits as a kid, and she told him about several of my failed devices that I had made in Issanore. I was beginning to wish that neither of them spoke Imperial just to make the embarrassing stories stop.