The Traveler's Road

Andrea had nowhere to hide, so she merely stepped back off the road and squatted down. The carriage screeched to a halt as it neared her, however, and the dwarf tipped his hat. "Well hello there, stranger!" he said cheerfully, his mouth full of jagged broken teeth. Andrea stood up, smelling a sickly sweet odor. She could not whether it came from him or the carriage or both. "Why do you travel on the Traveler's road today?"

Andrea opened her mouth to reply, but her gaze kept being drawn to the black carriage, its windows darkened. She felt as if she was being stared at and through by whatever was inside. "I.."

"New here, eh?" said the dwarf, who then chortled to himself, a dark wet nasty sound. He began looking around and speaking to himself. "Oh, we have ourselves a lost one, yes we do Nekarb. Nekarb hasn't seen a lost one on the traveler's road for some time." he turned his eyes back to Andrea. "Where are ye from, lass?"

Andrea had a sense of terror creeping up her spine, the kind of terror you have as a child, when you are in the dark in your room, and you are absolutely certain that personified evil is about to jump out and grab you. But this was outside, in the daylight, and such terrors had no place. She could not take her eyes off the carriage door. She wanted to run, she wanted to scream, but she could not move.

"Ach," said the dwarf, "don't pay the carriage any mind. Not your business, is it? In any case, like I said," and then he pulled a strange device out of a bag, a cymbal with attached little hammer on a string. He used the hammer to hit the cymbal, it made a sickly warbling note.

Andrea wanted to scream, she wanted to run, but- and then the note rang out from the dwarf's device, bringing her back to the moment. She could not remember what she was afraid of. She fixed her eyes on the dwarf, deciding to be as truthful as possible. "I don't know how I got here," she said, feeling more sure of herself. What had she been afraid of? It is just a carriage. she thought to herself, reassuringly.

The dwarf stood up from his seat, and with an agility quite the opposite of his short stout frame did a leap to the ground by the horses. Andrea felt a bit nervous as he stood there, grinning at her. "But that doesn't quite answer the question, does it lass? I said, where are ye from. That's the key."

Andrea was feeling quite vulnerable, alone there on the road by the carriage, with not another creature in sight. "Tell me where I am, and I will tell you where I am from, how about that?" she asked, prompting a little jig of joy from the disturbing creature.

"Tit for tat!" he said exuberantly, dancing around merrily. "The old ways, the old customs, the old magic is best! Yes! Tit for tat, this for that, beware the curse of the old black cat!"

"You first," said Andrea. This dwarf and his carriage were both disturbing, and she just wanted to get the conversation over with and head in the opposite direction as they were going.

"Why, you are in Naebolg, young lass!" the dwarf said, and then proceeded to let loose a hooting laugh, loud and piercing. "Naebolg, the nether-lands, the forgotten world! Few who seek it find it, but many who are lost are cast ashore! The broken realms, the shadow kingdoms. When you are here, in time you'll see, never again will you be free! Hahahaa!" and then he did another jig.

Andrea swallowed heavily. Either he was completely insane or, far more terrifyingly, he wasn't. She had heard of Naebolg, it was old mythology, not even circulated any more. She had only heard of it mentioned by a very old wise woman, spouting various nonsense. She wished now that she had looked it up.

"Your turn," said the dwarf in a very serious tone. He had climbed back on the carriage, and was packing a pipe with a tar-like substance.

"Allaria," she said, prompting the dwarf to stare at her and drop his pipe. It fell off the carriage and onto the ground, where it was promptly stomped on and smashed by one of the horses.

"Oh, my, my, my," he said. "I am afraid you will need to come with us."

1. Andrea runs for her life. She finds that the dwarf is unwilling (or unable) to leave the road to pursue her.
2. Andrea runs for her life. She is pursued by the dwarf, though the carriage stays on the road.
3. "Why?" Andrea asks. She waits to hear the nasty dwarf's answer.
4. Interlude: Naebolg Lore

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