| When night fell they made camp in the trees above the road. Watch was
kept in turns by Fred and the two dwarves. But except for the howling of
wolves in the far distance, nothing was seen or heard. The next day they
made good time as they headed northeast along the dirt road that led to
the Shreken. Rowena was on the constant look out for anything strange or
untoward, but nothing seemed amiss except perhaps for the stillness in
the air. Over their shoulders hovered the peaks of the Goth like a waiting
storm, dark and foreboding. Rowena wondered if it were the hills which
made her feel so ill-at-ease, or if it was instead her brother for within
his face lay a different kind of storm.
As the sun began to dip in the west, the dirt road came to an end. They
were nearly at their destination. Before them stretched out a valley. On
one side was the Goth, on the other the Shreken. At the further end of
the valley Tumbar's Road reached up into the mountains. A little higher
in the hills was the first of the forts that guarded the way. Fred turned
to the dwarves, their mission being now at an end. They had brought him
from one end of the Goth to the other. Now they would part their ways.
The dwarves said nothing, no farewell or wish for good fortune. Fred wasn't
surprised; what else did one expect from a dwarf?
He looked from one to the other and his eyes grew hard. "There is no
fondness between us," he said to them, "but if a day comes when the evil
that lives within these hills raises its ugly head, call on me. If the
gods do not bar my way then I shall ride to your side without a moment's
thought." And then Fred addressed Dokken directly. "I too wish to avenge
Baren's death. And Astra's as well. If not for the Dragon, if not for these
foul peaks, she would be alive as would be your friend. In the matter of
vengeance Dwarf Dokken we share a common cause." Fred turned without another
word and rode down into the valley. A startled Rowena followed after him.
The two dwarves simply stood there, watching them.
-
 And
the soft embrace of dusk slowly settled upon the sky.
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