The closer they approached the venue slated for the ceremony, the more audible the sound of celebration and merriment reached both Uncas and Rey's ears.
Uncas giggled and hastened up. "Come on, friend. Looks like the party already started even without the guest of honour."
The young dwarf was not willing to miss even a minute of merriment because of the young elf despite being his guide to the venue.
Noticing how quickly Uncas was moving, Rey hastened his footsteps as well to catch up.
If he loses sight of Uncas, he will be lost here and probably miss the entire thing. That would not be nice of him to his host.
"Hey, wait up," he pleaded with Uncas, who halted and turned to him, gesturing to him to hurry up.
Rey clicked his tongue and jogged toward his companion as he muttered something. "Try being in my shoes for a minute."
The pair hurried up to the venue of the ceremony until they started to catch sight of colourful paper ribbons that hung on the rocky walls that surrounded them.
These designs were nothing exceptional anyway, but the diversity in the colour of the ribbons helped optimise its beauty.
Uncas led Rey until they reached what seemed like the edge and end of their journey.
Rey looked onward and saw nothing in front, but he could still hear the jolly sounds emanating from a party scene. He heard it at its loudest even, and then he realised that it was below them.
"Come on!" Uncas encouraged him as he proceeded to a makeshift stony lift that hung to their side.
The two climbed on it and began to descend to the ceremony venue.
*********
Just as Uncas deduced, the dwarves did not wait for either of them before starting the ceremony, and from the looks of it and how many barrels of ale that had been emptied, Uncas and Rey could tell that they started celebrating a while back.
Uncas looked at Rey and shot the elf a scowled face, causing the young elf to shrug and slightly raise his hand in surrender.
"Sorry…?" he apologised, followed with a wry chuckle.
Uncas scoffed and immediately relaxed his face, his mouth spread into a happy one as he dragged Rey by the wrist and led him into the event.
"Come on, let's hop into this party!"
The sounds of music blared and several dwarves were dancing and singing out loudly; whether it matched the tone and melody of the music, they did not care.
What was important was how happy they were at the moment.
Some were dancing, both in pairs and singly. Some others sat or stood in corners chatting, laughing and generally having the time of their lives.
Uncas dragged his partner to where the ale was stacked and being served. While he was trying to get an order through for the both of them, Rey was dazed by the scene in front of him.
He had experienced events in his village but there were never as big as this one right now. Perhaps, due to the small size of his home, he never got to attend a grander celebration.
"Hey, Malindar!" Uncas called out, waving as he tried to gain the attention of someone. "Malindar…!"
He turned to his dazzled friend. Seeing how distracted Rey was caused him to laugh as he tapped the elf's shoulders, jolting him back to the moment.
"We throw the best parties, don't we?" Uncas bragged as he climbed onto a stone stool, Rey following suit.
Rey turned back to the ceremonial scene of people dancing, singing and laughing and then smiled before looking at Uncas.
"I guess so."
Uncas immediately slapped Rey's shoulder and laughed boisterously.
"You guess so? Guess…?" the dwarf put his palm over the corner of his mouth to hide his words.
"Psst! Here is a secret that might save your life. Don't let Papa hear that from you."
"Why—"
"Shhh!" Uncas immediately hushed him, almost moving to cover his mouth.
The dwarf shook his head and sighed as he massaged his forehead. "...And he still wants to talk. Didn't figure you for a stubborn person, my friend."
While they conversed, the lady called Malindar approached with six large mugs of foamy drink that was filled to the brim and spilling.
Being able to carry six large mugs at the same time spoke volumes of Malindar's grip strength as well as her experience in this business.
Well, her size was an added advantage. She was plus-sized with big hands, enough to wrap around the handle of four mugs, even if she put her mind to it.
Thud-!
The dull impact of the mugs hitting the table resonated around them as Malindar wiped liquor from her hands with a towel.
Uncas' eyes sparkled with ethereal light as he saw the mugs. He rubbed his hands together, not being able to hold himself as he swatted the one nearest to him from the table.
In a few seconds, he was already almost a quarter of the way through the content of his mug, shocking Rey since he didn't expect that Uncas loved ale that much.
In fact, Uncas had surprised him of late since he had a false impression of the dwarf as being a quiet and meek person. He didn't expect that Uncas was far from being an introverted person.
And now, his dwarven friend loved ale this much.
'What a drunk.' Rey thought as he reached for his own mug, yet to take even a sip.
All the while, Malindar observed the two men as she cleaned her hands.
"Not much of a drinker, huh, elf?"
Rey, who had his mug halfway to his mouth, halted and glanced at the barmaid.
He smiled and answered. "I domy best."
"Aaahhhh!!!" Uncas exclaimed excitedly with shut eyes and a satisfied grin plastered on his youthful face.
He wiped his mouth and praised Malindar's skills. "That's some good stuff, Malindar. Rey, here, doesn't know what he is miss— huh?"
Uncas, who had opened his eyes to address Rey, blinked a few times.
He was instantly awestruck much like Malindar before him.
The barmaid was already staring at Rey with dropped jaws and popping eyes before Uncas saw what she saw as well.
Uncas' hands trembled ever so slightly as they clutched around his second mug.
"Oi, do you have a bottomless pit for a belly?!" he exclaimed out of confusion.
Rey did not answer until every drop of ale had entered his throat.
"Aahh!" he exclaimed, dropping the mug beside the rest.
Rey laughed nervously and scratched his head as he noticed Malindar and Uncas staring at him.
"I did say that I do my best, didn't I? Kekeke."
Rey had finished his third mug before Uncas was done with his first.