The Hammer of Fire (37 page)

Dol immediately did as asked and she promptly
slammed the door closed. Dol shook his head, rolled his eyes,
turned around, and wandered in little circles around the front yard
of the tidy little home. Two small flower beds decorated the
approach to the front door with little yellow and red blooms while
a vegetable garden was just off to the side of the house and Dol
could make out strange little green things growing there. He walked
over to the vegetables and stared down with pursed lips. In Craggen
Steep the food was largely mushrooms and the meat of the darkling
goats that flourished underground. Fruits and vegetables were a
rare commodity for only the wealthiest of dwarves in Craggen Steep
but they were readily available for all here on the surface. Since
they came out into the world those many months ago he had acquired
a taste for the tangy things.

He leaned down to touch a strange green fruit
with narrow yellow stripes oblong in shape and about as thick as
the width of his foot when he heard the sounds of approaching hoof
beats. He turned in time to see the lead rider with long, yellow
hair streaming out behind her. “Damn,” he said. Within a few
seconds he was able to confirm Milli as the first rider and assumed
it must be Petra right behind. They thundered up to the front door
and Milli yelled out, “Hello, in the house. Have you seen a dwarf
pass by recently.”

Dol stood for a moment without saying
anything but then dropped his shoulders and started to walk back to
the door. “Hello, Milli.”

“Dol,” shouted Milli with a broad smile on
her face as she leapt off the horse, stumbled and had to put her
hand on the ground, and then stood and ran over to him. “What are
you doing here? We thought we’d never catch you after our last
report. We were more than a day behind you. What happened?”

Dol reached up and gave one of the apples in
his hair a flick and the thing exploded with a bang.

“Oh,” said Milli and reached forward to touch
his hair.

“It frightened the horse and I fell off,”
said Dol with a shake of his head and a wry smile. “I’ve been on
foot ever since and I lost track of what direction I was headed. I
tried to do what Petra taught us with the sun but it’s confounding
trying to determine direction here on the surface.”

Milli laughed and so did Petra.

“Does this mean you’ll be wanting your gold
back?” said the attractive young woman who stood at the now opened
door with a small child clutching her leg.

Dol smiled at the woman, “Keep the coin but
tell me in what direction lie the Five Sisters?”

The woman smiled in relief, slipped the coin
into a pocket of the floral dress she wore, and pointed over her
right shoulder towards the distance. “They’re about a week’s travel
south,” she said but then took a closer look at the powerful steeds
that Milli and Petra brought with them and her eyes opened widely
“On desert horses like that it shouldn’t take you near that
long.”

“Are there any towns between here and there?”
asked Milli, staring up at Dol with a bemused smile on her
face.

“At the foot of the mountains there are a
several towns, Shandoria is the biggest city but it’s west up the
coast a ways on the Southern Sea,” said the woman. “What are you
going to do at the volcanoes?”

Dol smiled, “I am to become famous. In a few
days you’ll tell people you met me.”

“Are you going to kill the fire in the
mountain?” asked the woman, her mouth slightly ajar.

“The fire in the mountain?” asked Petra
suddenly turning sharply to the woman. “Do you know about the
elemental living there?”

“Everyone knows,” said the woman. “It’s been
there for thousands of years or maybe since the dawn of time. They
sacrifice to the great beast so that it doesn’t spew fire on
them.”

“That will no longer be necessary,” said Dol
with a smile as his hand went to the hammer at his side. “You’re an
attractive woman,” he continued and took a step towards her.

“Dol!” said Milli. “Get a hold of
yourself.”

Dol turned and looked at Milli with a broad
smile on his face and reached forward with his blackened hand and
arm, “You’re pretty good looking yourself, Milli.”

“By Davim,” said Milli and took a step back.
“Are you going to be like a randy darkling goat all the rest of the
trip?”

Dol shrugged, “A dwarf has certain needs and
we’ve been on the road a long time.”

“The sooner you kill Gazadum and we get that
hammer back to Craggen Steep the better,” said Milli.

“I’m never giving up the hammer,” said Dol
his smile suddenly replaced with a grim look of determination. The
weapon crackled with energy the metal hammerhead seemed to throb
and glow with a deep red. The runes etched deep into it radiated a
burning intensity and Milli and Petra had to look away. “With this
hammer nothing can stop me, I’m invincible. Together we’ll conquer
the world,” said Dol. “Bring on Corancil, bring on his armies.
We’ll establish our own empire here in the south. I’ll subjugate
the horsemen of The Sands and they’ll be my cavalry. We’ll return
to Craggen Steep as conquerors of the world!” shouted Dol, his
voice rising to a crescendo.

Petra looked at Milli who stared at Dol with
her mouth wide open and her eyes wide, “Dol, you don’t mean that.
That’s … that’s … insane.”

“Is it,” said Dol with a cackling laugh as he
stared at the horizon. “Then you just watch it happen and then
you’ll see. You don’t understand, Milli. This hammer is power,
unlimited power. No one can stand against me, and there are many
who would follow. Corancil will be in the south in a few years with
his armies and they’ll need a leader to unite the defense against
him.”

“I sort of liked the messenger and what he
said about Corancil,” said Milli and stared at Dol defiantly with
her yellow eyes ablaze. “I’m not sure I like what you’re saying at
all. I came after you. You abandoned Brogus and me.”

“Brogus is dead, what was the point in
delaying my mission,” said Dol with a shrug. “There are always
going to be casualties along the way.”

Milli turned away from Dol and went back to
her horse. “I’ve already said my peace,” she said without turning
around. She reached up, grabbed the saddle-horn, and pulled herself
up onto the horse. “I’ll travel with you all the way until we kill
Gazadum because that was what we set out to do together,” she said
after she mounted and turned back to him. “But, after that, you’re
on your own. I’ll head back to the north to join Corancil maybe; or
make my own way, but I don’t like you anymore.”

Dol shook his head and laughed, “Do you think
whether or not you like me makes any difference? When I slay
Gazadum the people will flock to me. I’ll be a champion and when I
tell them Corancil is coming the rest will fall into place. I don’t
need you, I don’t need Petra, and I certainly don’t need anyone’s
help.”

Mill stared down at him, “Do you need help
climbing up on my horse so I can give you a ride or would you
prefer to walk?”

Dol looked at her and sneered, “I’ll take
that mule after all,” he said to the woman who still stood in the
doorway, her mouth hanging open.

“He’s in the barn, over there,” she said,
pointing to a small frame structure fifty or so paces away along a
dirt track with a number of wagon ruts.

Dol immediately put the hammer in the loop at
his side and strode over to the barn without looking back.

Petra turned to Milli with no expression at
all on her face, “Are you still going with him?”

Milli nodded, her face a blank mask, “I’m in
this until the end,” she said with a flat voice. “Once he finishes
maybe he’ll change back into the Dol I know.”

Petra shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe.”

“Are you going to stay with us or not?” asked
Milli of the older woman and looked over her shoulder towards the
barn from which Dol had yet to emerge.

“I’ll stay with you until we get to the
volcanoes. I didn’t realize people knew there was an ancient
elemental living inside. They worship it around here, probably like
a God. They’re not going to take kindly to Dol showing up with the
intention of killing their lord.”

“Dol won’t listen to anything we tell him
anymore,” said Milli, her gaze still on the barn. “He’s mad with
the power of the hammer.”

“We can still tell him what we think,” said
Petra. “And it’s up to him if he wants to listen to us or not. We
can’t just march up to the volcanoes claiming we’re going to kill
Gazadum anymore. It might be too late anyway. That woman,” with
this Petra nodded her head towards the woman at the house, “heard
everything Dol said and word spreads quickly.”

“What can we do?” said Milli with a shrug of
her shoulders. “He won’t listen to reason. He’ll just want to ride
straight there and kill anyone that stands in his way.”

“He might listen to reason,” said Petra and
her first two fingers went to her chin.

Milli snorted, “You heard him, Petra. He’s
beyond reason.”

“No,” said Petra with a smile. “You just have
to reason with him for who he is now not who he was before.”

Milli blinked rapidly a few times and
squinted, “I think … you mean talk to him like he’s a power crazed
maniac and he’ll listen to us?”

“Exactly!” said Petra and her smile
broadened. “I’ve found those with large egos are actually far
easier to manipulate than people who have a more realistic view of
themselves.”

Milli turned her head slightly to the left
and bobbed it up and down with her lips pursed and a far off look
in her eyes, “You have a point there. You do indeed. Are all
witches so smart?”

“Smart and ugly,” said Petra with a shrug of
her shoulders. “The two don’t exactly go sheath and sword just like
pretty and dumb aren’t always paired but there does seem to be
correlation.”

“You’re not ugly,” said Milli.

“And you’re not dumb,” replied the witch with
a smile and then pointed to the barn door. “There, he’s coming out
now with a pony. What’s the plan?”

Milli put bit her lower lip with her upper
teeth and moved her jaw from side to side for a moment and then
spoke, “Ok, I’ve got it. Just go with whatever I start, right?”

Petra nodded but remained silent.

Dol led the little mule over to Milli and
Petra and smiled broadly, “Now, to kill Gazadum. Nothing stands in
our way.”

“The townsfolk worship him as a god,” said
Milli. “They might not want us to go and kill him, and news spreads
quickly.”

“Who is going to stand in my way?” asked Dol
with a grin and put his hand on the hilt of the great hammer at his
side. “I cannot be stopped.”

“Yes,” said Milli, “that’s true. However, do
you want to kill all those townspeople? If you are going to raise
an army it will have to start with the people around here. Killing
them all can’t be a good first step.”

Dol stopped and looked at Milli with his
brown eyes and finally nodded his head, “That does make sense.
Those who witness my great triumph will want to join me, but if
I’ve killed most of them first that is a problem.”

“Not to mention their wives and sons,” said
Petra as she moved over to him. “You’ll want as many allies as you
can get as quickly as possible. There will be those currently in
power who will move against you. While you are nigh on invincible
with the hammer in your hands a few hundred soldiers and
crossbowmen might prove troublesome, no?”

Dol nodded again and took his hand off the
hammer hilt. “There is some truth there,” he said with a shrug of
his shoulders. “I’m sure I could handle it in the end but all those
dead people doesn’t make a lot of sense. So what should we do?”

“It won’t be easy,” said Petra with her hand
on her chin. “Milli is pretty distinctive and so are you, Dol. I’m
the only one who people might not recognize right away. Witchy
women are everywhere.”

“So, we send you in first?” said Milli. “I
don’t like that idea.”

“What else do you suggest?” said Petra with a
tilt of her head and a twinkle in her eyes.

Milli shrugged and looked at Dol with wide
eyes and a blank expression as her tone became more girlish, “I
don’t know. What do you think?”

Dol shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, send in
Petra to see what’s going on.” Then he turned to the older woman
and put his hand on her shoulder. “Just go into town and figure out
the way to Gazadum. After that I’ll take care of the rest.”

Petra nodded her head, “That sounds
reasonable, Dol. But there might be more trouble if they know you
are coming. They’ll set up guards around the entrance. We might
need to make a distraction or something.”

“It’s possible,” said Dol with a shrug and he
rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t really matter in the end but we’ll
deal with that problem if it happens. For now, get on your horses
and let’s ride to glory!”

Twenty armed soldiers stood in front of the
large campfire and guffawed as one of their number capered in a
strange little dance punctuated by sharp upward jabs of his arms.
Other soldiers played makeshift instruments in a tune apparently
known to all of them. The dancer was dressed in an ill-fitting
leather tunic and nearby, leaning against a tree, stood a small
wooden shield with two of its slats badly warped. At his side he
wore a short sword or perhaps a long dirk and the men providing
musical accompaniment and cheers were equally ill-equipped.

“We’re farmers,” said one of two men off to
the side as they watched the dancer near the fire go through his
routine once again. There wasn’t much to the dance and it seemed to
repeat itself regularly which gave those other members of the group
plenty of opportunity to drink from small flasks as they shouted
out encouragement.

“Somebody has to do it,” said another man as
he took a swig from his skin and grimaced. “The damn baron is off
chasing his son again and there aren’t any soldiers.”