The Hammer of Fire (7 page)

After a bit more staring she went over to a
little cherry wood table in the corner of the room that was at just
the right height for her to sit and write. It was a gift from a
dwarf for her tenth birthday and she ran her finger over the
initials carved into the top surface. Wood was a rarity here in
Craggen Steep where metal or stone furniture was the norm. She
opened a leather bound booklet and flipped through the pages,
stopping now and again to read a passage, as a little smile came to
her face and the hint of a tear to her eye. “I don’t want to leave
but I can’t stand to stay anymore,” she said out-loud just as a
firm thump came from the heavy stone door to her right. “Who is
it?” she said wearily without looking up from the diary. It was
certainly one of the dozen of higher class dwarf suitors that
plagued her these days in ever increasing numbers. Of course, they
didn’t want wives, no, that would be scandalous as their children
would be half-breeds. Pretty mistresses they could shower with
gifts and affection was more to their taste.

“The First Edos,” said a gruff voice and
Milli’s eyes suddenly opened wide and she scanned the room quickly,
her head moving back and forth.

“I’ll be right there,” she said, and
immediately darted over to her bed, grabbed some of her
underthings, looked around, and then stashed them under the
mattress. She glanced around the room a second time, took a step
towards the door, then went back over to the desk and shut the
dairy, before finally moving to the heavy stone door and opening it
with only the slightest pull. “Hello?” she said to the elderly
dwarf who stood at the door. Her eyes bulged when she saw the
platinum bands, gem encrusted, that served as beard holders and she
couldn’t help but give out a little gasp and unconsciously
curtseyed. “I … I wasn’t expecting anyone and especially not you,
First Edos.”

“I know, I know, dear,” said the dwarf,
bowing down just a little so his long beard gently grazed the
ground. “Might I come in and talk for a bit?”

Milli’s eyes opened wide and she bobbed her
head up and down, “Of course, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to be
rude, please, come in,” she said with a wave of her arms as she
stood back from the door. “It’s not very roomy, I’m sure you’re
used to better, um, would you like some coffee?”

“That would be very nice,” said Fierfelm as
he shuffled into the room and took a seat on a small chair in the
corner, “you don’t have any pastries by chance? I’ve taken to
eating them more and more over the years and I know how you little
halflings love to bake.”

Milli shook her head, “I … no, sir, First
Edos, I … I can run out and get some, there’s a pastry shop not far
from here.”

“No, no, that’s all right dear, it’s just
that I’ve grown fond of sweets in my old age, and now, with things
the way they are, you never know where your last meal is coming
from,” he uttered this last proclamation and sat down with a thump
on the sofa near the kitchen. It was made of solid rock although
thick cotton stuffed cushions softened the blow and a number of
throw pillows, embroidered with pink and yellow hammers, tongs, and
bellows, made it more comfortable. “Ahh,” he said, “this is quite
nice indeed. So, where is the hidden door to the rest of it?” he
asked as he peered around the room with a quizzical expression on
his face.

Milli looked around the room, at least three
times the size of the quarters of her friends and shook her head,
“No hidden doors, I’m afraid this is all there is.”

“Oh, I see, I see,” said Fierfelm as he shook
his head sadly. “I was an apprentice metal smith once you know, but
that was fifty years ago and it’s hard to remember what that sort
of life was like after you’ve been away from it for so long. I
didn’t mean any harm; you know how we dwarves love hidden chambers,
secret doors, puzzle rooms, and the like. I hope you don’t think me
rude?”

“Oh no, not at all, First Edos, please, I’m
quite honored to have you visit me,” she continued and then hustled
over to her little stove, put a kettle on it with an easy motion,
and fumbled through several cabinets before she found a tin filled
with coffee beans, “It’s only local grade, from the foothills of
the mountain,” she said with a small shrug of her shoulders. “I’m
sure you’re used to better.”

“It’ll be fine, that’s very sweet of you.
I’ve heard good things about you over the years you know, and now
you’re friends with young Delius, yes?”

“You’ve heard of me?” said Milli and stopped
her preparations for a moment as she turned to face the old gray
beard. “Really? Me?”

“My friend Borrombus speaks quite highly of
you,” said Fierfelm as looked closely around the small chamber for
the first time. “It’s all coming back to me, yes, when I was a
young apprentice my room was much smaller than this, but I suspect
you’ve seen an apprentice’s chambers. It’s good for them to suffer
a bit, now isn’t it? Although I’ve had my differences with the High
Council over the matter, suffering is one thing but brutalization
is another. We’ve had discussions we have.”

“Oh, I …,” said Milli with a blush and her
hand came to her cheeks which flushed red, “what does he say?”

“Oh dear, I’ve embarrassed you,” said
Fierfelm, stood up, walked over to the girl, and gave her a little
pat on the shoulder. “I’m an old fellow and I forget how what other
people think is important to you young folk. In any case, we’re all
very fond of young Delius but I’m afraid his future with us is
rather limited, his breeding you know.”

“It’s not fair,” started Milli and turned to
look at the old dwarf, her yellow eyes now glistening with tears
but her voice hard and sparking with anger. “He can’t help who his
grandparents were. You’re not from one of the three families, you
should know better than anyone.”

“Oh, I agree completely, it will be the
downfall of Craggen Steep in the end,” said Fierfelm as he looked
around the little room. “Now, where do you keep the cups and
saucers?”

“Over there,” said the halfling girl pointing
to a cupboard near the sink, “but I’m afraid they won’t be the
fancy kind you’re used to.”

“Quite all right, quite all right indeed.
Frankly, all that gold doesn’t make for a hot cup of coffee, I
prefer a clay mug anytime and not near as heavy. The older I get
the more I treasure the simple things. Did you know as a boy, me
and the other apprentices used to roast the crusty ends of week old
bread for our coffee and drink it from tin water cups.”

“No!” said Milli her eyes somehow gettingeven
wider yet, “you?”

“Indeed, indeed, that was before old Udor
picked me out as the most promising apprentice. I didn’t realize it
at the time but he was taking a big risk. There were plenty of
Blackirons and Firefists who wanted their sons and nephews for the
position but Udor wasn’t one for ceremony, he was a metal-smith of
the best sort.”

“Udor made the Hammer of Fire,” said Milli in
a whisper as she looked around the room at the embroidery on the
couch, the paintings on the wall, all pink and yellow but not of
flowers; they showed hammers, anvils, weapons of war; that was the
life of a dwarf in Craggen Steep and that was her life. She’d first
heard of the great Hammer of Fire long before she ever got to see
the First Edos’s workshop. It was only later, when she became a
young woman that handsome young dwarves on the fast path to success
in Craggen Steep began to call and take her to places like
that.

“Oh yes, yes indeed, he put it together from
the Staff of Faelom and the great hammer head Kanoner. Now all of
those traditionalists say he didn’t make the thing because he
merely wedded the two parts but don’t you listen to them. He made
the hammer and I watched him do it. He wouldn’t let anyone else
into the Deep Forge for a year, he used the Silk Anvil of Rowena,
indeed he did. It was the last thing he forged before they removed
him from power, just like they’re going to remove me.”

“The Silk Anvil, what’s that?”

“Oh dear, yes, well, I travel in such lofty
circles I forget that some things are secret. Never you mind
dearie, it’s just something from a long time ago.”

“Oh,” said Milli just as the kettle began to
boil. “Oh no, that’s the water, here, sit down and I’ll get
everything ready. Do you take sugar, cream?”

“You don’t have any peppermint by any chance,
do you?”

Milli’s green eyes again grew wide at the
mention of the incredibly costly treat, “Oh, I’m sorry, no, I’ve
never had … that is to say I’ve heard of it … is it good with
coffee?”

“An acquired taste, but don’t let it bother
you, just let’s you and I have a little talk, yes, cream is fine, a
little sugar as well, not quite peppermint. One does get used to
the trappings of power, doesn’t one?”

Milli blinked rapidly for a moment and said
under her breath, “I guess?”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” said the girl as she finished with
the kettle and sat down next to the gaudily bedecked dwarf. One of
his beard bands alone contained more wealth than the girl could
possibly hope to attain in a lifetime. His robes were made of the
finest silk imported from some far off lands, even his rings glowed
with magical energy and sported gemstones the size of her thumb,
“First Edos, why are you here?”

“Please, call me Fierfelm, I’m only First
Edos in name now that that the Firefists have taken control. I’ll
be eased out with awards and ceremonies but they’ll never let me
back into the Deep Forge to pursue my craft,” this last he said as
he eyes took on a faraway look and he sighed. “I’ll miss that forge
more than anything else. I remember the first day I saw it with old
Udor. It was, it still is, the most beautiful thing in all of
Craggen Steep. The seat of power for old Gazadum, where Hovslaag
himself forged the tools used to craft the world.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Milli and patted the old
fellow on the hand. “It must be terrible to have known such beauty
and lose it.”

Fierfelm smiled and nodded his head, “That’s
very kind of you to say. I’ve trusted Borrombus and his nephew to
handle things up until now but the Firefists knew my plans all
along, so I’ve come to you personally this time. I was followed,
you can be sure of that, but they know everything in any case so
all I can do is try to fulfill my promise personally. I’ll not rely
on others anymore.”

“I’m not sure I really understand,” said
Milli and took a sip from the steaming cup.

“The Hammer of Fire, old Udor wanted it to be
used, but the Firefist family won’t allow it and frankly, until
your friend Delius came along there wasn’t really anyone who could
effectively wield it in any case.”

“Dol won’t do it,” said Milli. “We tried to
convince him but he’s stubborn, he won’t listen to reason.”

“Borrombus explained everything to me,” said
the old dwarf with a nod of his head as he took a sip of his coffee
and forced it down his throat with an expression as if he just
swallowed an iron ingot. “This coffee is just atrocious; I suppose
once I’ve been removed as First Edos I’ll have nothing to look
forward to except death and bad coffee.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Milli and looked down at
her cup without a further word.

“Never you mind,” said Fierfelm, “never you
mind. I’m here for something far more important than coffee. It’s a
good thing that young man of yours is stubborn because last night
was a trap. They knew you would try and steal the hammer and had
agents there to prevent it.”

“He’s not really my young man,” said Milli
with a little blush, “we’re more just friends.”

“That’s nice, in any case, I’ve come to you
with a plan, something that Delius will like, it’s something I’d
like myself but I’m not young anymore, and frankly, even when I was
young I wasn’t much the adventuring sort. I’m a fair blacksmith, no
false modesty there, I know my way around the hammer and anvil, but
as for killing and rescuing fair maids, it’s not really my forte.
Where was I?”

“A plan,” suggested Milli with a hopeful look
in her eyes as she gazed up at the old dwarf.

“That’s right; now, I can’t tell you how to
get to the hammer anymore and any suggestion I make is based on
information fed to me by the Firefists. It’s been nothing but lies
and spying for years now. That miserable apprentice they’ve saddled
me with is nothing but a lying filthy little spy with no character
whatsoever. I’ve tried with him, tried to instill some discipline,
some pride of work, but he’s grown up spoiled, entitled, rich,
there’s nothing I can do with him. But young Delius, I can give him
something to do with the hammer.”

“What?” said Milli her coffee cup poised
half-way between the saucer and her flush lips.

“What do you know about Craggen Steep?” said
Fierfelm as he carefully set down his coffee cup in the chipped
saucer and turned his old eyes to the girl. “What do you really
know?”

“Well, it’s a secret citadel, hidden from the
rest of the world, that it is endless miles of caverns tunneled
through the mountains, that … that … that’s it’s ruled by a council
of elders but the blacksmiths, the master blacksmith’s, the Edos’s,
they are the other power.”

“Yes, but what do you know of its
origins?”

“I don’t really know very much. They brought
me here as a little girl but I’m still an outsider, they won’t tell
me anything.”

“What do you make of the great passages, the
grand halls?”

“Oh, they’re magnificent, the stone work is
so beautiful, the gems, the precious metals, the artisan work, it’s
the most beautiful place there could ever be,” said Milli her eyes
glowing and a wide smile on her face as she gazed towards the
corner of the room and saw not the faded paint, the cracked trim,
but something else, something far grander.

“What do you think of their size?”
Interrupted the old dwarf, breaking her from her reverie.