A Dwarf's Tale: Will of a Silver Coin
Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The house was crowded for the next couple of days, but it was a good kind of crowded. Steve had bunked in with David so that Janice could have a room, and Pauline bunked with Stella. I took to the common room, so that Jason could have a chance to recover. He still had not wakened from his wounds. Old man Kosser came by, and produced several tonics and herbs for the family. One set of herbs was to help the women sleep. Several times during the night, I still woke up with either Janice or Pauling letting out a scream or to sobbing. That was to be expected. Kosser also examined the women, and found no traces of orc filth within their bodies. That alone, was a relief.

I also showed Calvin and Talma the two weapons I recovered. Calvin hefted each weapon, testing them for viability. The moment that Talma touched either weapon, she recoiled. She said the weapons hurt her hands. That was very interesting to me, since I and Calvin had no such reactions. I had Kosser examine the weapons as well. He said they had an evil tinge of magic to them. We consulted each other as to the best course of action. Kosser offered to take the weapons and dispose of them. We agreed that this would be the best course of action. Weapons such as these, should not have the option of falling back into hands of those who would cause evil and destruction.

On this morning, I looked up in the sky. The sun had come back, but the air was as cold as the night I went after Janice and Pauline. It seems winter had placed her hand on the land, and she wasn’t going to let go. In the distance, I could see a flying form. Griff was indeed patrolling the area. It doesn’t surprise me. Food, predators, her eggs, all gave her reason to patrol. In many ways, she gave us all another measure of comfort. On a whim, I entered the barn and went to Griff’s nest. I looked at the eggs, thought for a second, rubbed my eyes, and looked again. Was it my imagination, or were the eggs getting a bit bigger? The shell of the eggs were rigid, so, I concluded it was just my mind playing tricks on me. I turned from the barn, and went back to the house.

Upon entering, I saw that everyone was excited. I found that Jason had finally become conscious. He was in the common room nursing a cup of warm tea. Seeing me, he set the cup down. “Tor is it? I hear I have you to thank for rescuing my family.”

“Not at all Jason. The immediate danger has passed. It is still a time for healing and recovery-for all of you.”

“Yes. I blame myself for it all.”

“No need. Sometimes in life, there is reason. Sometimes, there is just chaos. Whatever the reason, we just have to recover and move on.”

“Tor, your words are kind, and they say the same thing. But, if I had not gotten us lost in returning back home, none of this would of happened. I cannot forgive myself.”

“Then, you are simply being foolish in building your own prison. Your family does not have any ill will towards you. It was dark and snowing. Anyone could of gotten lost.”

Janice hugged her husband. “We will get through it Jason.”

“If you say so. I still cannot help feeling this way.”

I sat down with a drink as well. “Where is your home Jason?”

“A few miles outside of Stalvinport. We were late leaving the city. I thought I could navigate us back. But the farther we went, the more lost I became.”

“Well then, another day or two of recovery, and you will be off on your way. Umm, your wagon is here, and I recovered all that I could find. But your ox was killed and eaten by orcs. Calvin, when they are ready to travel, I would recommend that fine filly again. We can hitch her to the wagon, take them home, and bring back the filly.”

“Of course. That sounds like a good plan.”

I went to my armor, and pulled out a small sack of coins. “Compliments of dead orcs. It should be enough to get another mount from Stalvinport and any items that were missed.”

Jason took the bag. He gasped. It was full with 100 gold coins. Of course, I didn’t tell him that I added a few coins to the bag. He does not need to know.

“I would like to leave tomorrow morning if that is all right?”

“Should be, as long as the weather doesn’t foul. Tell you what. We’ll travel to Stalvinport, buy a mount, and you all can be off on your way.”

We all agreed. The rest of the day went mundane. Jason, now that he was awake, recovered his strength very quickly. I told Calvin I would escort them back. I also told him that I would like to check with progress in Stalvinport with the fighters, with Torid, and pick up a couple of things. I also said I would likely stay the night, and return the day after. It was all agreed to. I took the rest of the day to clean my worg armor. The blood, the snowy grim, and most important, the stench of orc was annoying. I finally restored the armor back to the condition that Talma presented it to me. That evening, we all sat in the common room. I also had another purpose that I wished to stay for a day and a night in Stalvinport. Kosser’s tale had not escaped my mind. This was a great opportunity to find out more.

The next morning came. The little chestnut filly, was hitched to Jason’s wagon. We made our goodbyes, and took off at a trot to Stalvinport. The ride was uneventful, not that I was expecting anything, but it was good that it remained that way. Jason and his family asked of me and what I was doing with the former captain of Stalvinport. I told them some things, but, I kept the fact away that my brethren were killed and that I still had no memory of who I was. I told them rest though. Jason nodded, he saw me there the day I defeated Pox. I asked of them what they did. They were also farmers, but of a different sort. They provided herbs and spice for Stalvinport. They routinely went to the city to trade for goods that they grow and produce. Janice was an apothecary of sorts as well, making different oils, lotions, and balms.

We reached Stalvinport, and there was Tomas at the south gate. “Tor, aren’t you a sight for bored eyes. What’cha doing back here so soon?”

“Greetings Tomas. Jason and his family had some mishap fall on them. They need a new mount for their wagon. Me, I’m going to spend the day and the eve here.”

“Will ya be needin a place to stay?”

“I thank you Tomas. I think I’m going to check out the city. My last visit, was of business. This time, it is more of a social call.”

“I understand. If you need anything, I live at the fourth house on Birch.”

“Thank you Tomas. Good day to you sir.”

“And good day to you!”

I helped Jason purchase a new mount, another ox. This one, was huge, with horns so large it could impale a giant. But it was a gentle animal. We switched mounts. Janice and Pauline hugged me in good bye. Jason did as well. I told them I wished them well, and saw them off going to the south gate. I turned my attention to the city.

And it seems like the city residents turned their attention to me. I was constantly greeted as I walked through the streets. My first place of interest was Woodard’s church. Tying off the filly outside, I entered this place again. Inside were a dozen men, all in beds, sleeping and recovering. Some of the initiates of the church was there, but Woodard was nowhere to be seen. Just as well. I was assuming these men are the fighters brought to Stalvinport and treated for their injuries sustained by Torid. Leaving the church, I went to the town hall. Entering the town hall, Almeria spotted me and waved at me. She was dealing with several of the residents issues at the moment, I pointed back to Goper’s direction. She nodded and went back to the issues at hand. If anyone was going to have additional information for me, it would be the records keeper Goper. I came upon his door and knocked. “Come in come in.” I entered Goper’s office.

“Tor! Great to see you again. Please please, sit down!”

I took at seat at Goper’s insistence. “Good day to you gentle gnome Goper. I have a small amount of business and I was wondering if you could help me.”

“Sure sure. You want to know if your request is being carried out. So far, fourteen men have been treated, another twenty are on their way, and sent out messengers for more of them.”

This was good news to hear. However, it isn’t the business I wanted to hear. “Great to hear Goper. But, I have different business. This business, requires information in the past. I was wondering if you could help me?”

“Of course! What do you need to know.”

“Fifty years ago, there were violent murders here in Stalvinport involving vampires. Know anything about it?”

Goper blanched. “Jus….just a moment.” He got down off of his desk, opened the door, and flipped a sign around saying “Closed.” Odd, or maybe, I was in for more than I wanted. He went back to his desk, pulled out a gnomish flask, and poured two glasses. He offered me a glass. I sniffed the drink. Gnomish mushroom spirits. I tasted it. It was a little bitter, but, it was of good quality. “I take it Goper, you do know what happened fifty years ago.”

He sat back into his office chair, and drained half of the glass before answering. “Yes, I do know of those days. Those were dark and terrible days. Why do you ask of those days?”

“Sage Kosser told me his tale. I came to find out more about it.”

A look of pure horror came across his ruddy face. “Don’t tell me they are back!”

“I do not think so Goper. There are just missing pieces of this puzzle and I was hoping you could give me a couple of those pieces.”

Goper relaxed some, but he was still shaken. “I see. Nasty business fifty years ago. Horrific business. Ok, so you know what happened in connection with Kosser. I won’t go and repeat that. I think you want to know what happened before that incident and what happened after?”

I nodded. Seemed like a good place to start.

“Right then. Yes, for weeks prior to that bloody night, we were investigating piracy. I was a scout here. We had reports coming in that there was piracy on the river. But, it was of a different sort. Each week, we would find a ship or two adrift in the river. And every time we investigated, expecting to find a dead crew and the ship raided, there was nothing of the sort. There was no crew on any of the ships. The holds of the ships, still had all of their wealth and goods. We would take those ships and put them in harbor under guard. We sent messengers to those lands where the ships came from. The ship manifests were still present-nothing was taken or disturbed. We informed those towns and cities where the ships came from that they had goods and wealth to be recovered. Some came for them, showed their credentials, and took the ships back. Others, were left. Of course, after a time the contents of the ships was then our property. And we took care of the distributions. We even sold several of the ships, as our harbor was too small to have that many. There were few clues as to what happened, but too many questions. Yes, too many questions. We gathered the following. One: The ships were always unharmed. Two, there were no people and no weapons on board the ships. Three, always had goods that were never spirited away. Other than that, there was nothing else. It didn’t matter what land or town the ships came from. So, there was no war or wars known.”

“Then, came that frightful night. I was first at the scene. I entered Kosser’s shop, saw and smelled what happened. The first thing I did was go back outside and threw up. I am not proud of that. I have seen death. Death doesn’t bother me. But what was there wasn’t death. It was total abandonment for all things decent. The young men were ripped apart like they were animals. Barely anything was left of them that resembled they were once men. And there were no weapons involved. Most importantly, there was nothing that I or anyone else could recognize whatever killed them. There were no prints, nothing to identify the marks, not anything. It was inhuman. Heck, it was unearthly. When Kosser told me about the vampire attack several days before, it made sense to me. But I was scared. I didn’t know how to handle them. I didn’t want to know. Bad guys, pirates, marauders, those were things I could handle. This, it was beyond me. When Kosser left to go after the vampires, I scoured the city. I didn’t want any vampires, heck, any undead presence. There wasn’t any further indications of this. I went to the small house where the vampire attack first took place. I looked at the mess of it all. While I picked apart the wreckage, I found something. It was a map. This map, was made from human skin with blood for ink. I gingerly looked at the map. It was nothing I could recognize. Only paths weaving in and out, back and forth. Some lines were a deeper red than others. I had no idea what this meant. I took the map, and hid it in my small house. I waited for Kosser to get back. When he returned a couple of weeks later, he changed. He had no life in his eyes. Oh, I don’t mean he was an undead. His body was very much alive. He had no spirit left though. That’s when I found out that his mate Kristine had been spirited away, out of his reach. He lost the will to live Tor!”

While Goper was talking, I was sipping the gnomish spirits. A map. That is probably the map when Kosser was trailing the vampires that lead to what he called the Valley of the Dead. I could easily understand that Kosser came back changed. Trauma like that, is very hard to get past. “You said you were once a scout. What is the condition and status of the current scout guilds?”

“Oh they are harmless. Actually, we employ them constantly. One of their jobs, is to actually steal from the businesses in Stalvinport. If they get caught, we ‘arrest’ them, they spend a day here, and then, they are released to the guilds. If they manage to succeed, we get a report from the guild. We ‘investigate’ what happened, we get a report from the guilds, the guilds return back the goods stolen, we return the stolen goods, and ‘inform’ the people what they need to do to prevent future theft. There is no real crime here in Stalvinport. But, we are a trade and port town. It is best to be as prepared as possible against real criminal elements.”

I nodded to Goper. This was extremely prudent and wise. Mitigates and minimizes risk, damage, and harm. “So, Stalvinport is at peace.”

Goper nodded. “The lands are not at peace though. Recently, we heard from scouts, that the towns to the east, have been ravaged. A huge band of marauders exist there. Bram has been trying to get an army together. He isn’t having much luck though. He wants to venture out to the east and see if he can provide aid. I asked Bram if this was a good idea. He said if we do not put an end to these attacks, then how long do you think it would take for these marauders to organize and attack Stalvinport. I have to admit, there is truth and wisdom for this. I just don’t like to feel vulnerable. Stalvinport, as you noticed, is a fortress city. It has been here for several hundred years-and I would like to have it around for some more years to come.

“Well Goper, no army has come from the east. But, there was a band of twenty orcs a few nights ago. They are dead now, I saw to that. A family was rescued too.”

“Orcs? Hmm. We have been getting reports of goblins and hobgoblins. But no orc activity.”

“That means there are three possibilities. One, your scouts are not as good as what anyone may think. Two, the orcs could have been in the area by chance. Three, the band is growing bigger and they were a part of it now.”

“Yes, that makes sense. We’ll have to go out and reconnoiter. Where was this band of orcs?”

I drew Goper a rough map and handed it to him. He took it and stuffed it away in his desk.

“Thanks. I’ll have the scouts check this out. We do not need any surprises or troubles coming this way.”

“Glad to have helped. You have given some information to think upon too. Are there any other residents in Stalvinport that would know anything about the vampires fifty years ago?”

Goper thought a moment. “There is one, but I do not know if she would talk. An old woman. She was a girlfriend to one of the apprentices slain long ago. Valice was her name I think. Yes, Valice. She used to be a seamstress, but age has caught up to her. She teaches new seamstresses at a shop in the butcher’s district. The shop is called the Weaving Needle.”

I noted that, nodded, and got up. “Goper, thank you for your time and information. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other shortly.”

“Righto Tor.”

I opened the door and left the records hall. The Weaving Needle and Valice was my next destination. I headed to that district. After a few minutes, I found the seamstress shop Weaving Needle and entered. Inside, was a kindly old woman who was teaching some young girls how to sew. “Pardon me, I am looking for Valice.”

“I am she. But, I do not think you would be liking to learn how to sew warrior dwarf.”

I chuckled. “You are correct ma’am. I am not here to learn how to sew. I was wondering if I could speak to you for a few minutes. On your time of course.”

“No time like the present. Girls, continue on with your work.” She got up, grabbed her cane, and beckoned to me. “Follow me warrior. It has been quite a while since a man had pursued me.”

I smiled. The woman had a keen mind and a sharp wit still. “Would you care for something to drink? What was your name again?”

“My name is Tor ma’am.”

“Oh! So you are the one who beat down that big brute. Well, this is my lucky day indeed.”

“It may not be so lucky for you ma’am. And no, I do not want anything to drink. What I am looking for, is information of the past. I am here wanting to know what happened to your boyfriend the night the vampires attacked.”

She stood still for a moment, a very sad look coming over her face. “Not a day goes by when I don’t think about Greg and the life we could of had together. After that night, I had not ever wanted to be in another relationship again. Our love, our bond was forever. What is it that you want to know?”

I leaned forward, and held her hand. “Tell me about Greg. Share with me your story if it doesn’t bring too much pain.”

“The pain is always there Tor. Greg and I were in love. He wanted to go to another town after learning his mage arts with Kosser. And, we were going to marry after we moved. We were engaged. He was my first love, and my only love. I despaired for many years. I lost my mind, my nerve, my will. I did not even have a proper body to bury. I could not even said goodbye to him.”

I nodded. I know this is painful. She was kind in sharing with me her thoughts and feelings. I didn’t want to press her.

“He always brought to me new trinkets that they made. A wooden bird that chirped, a music box that always played whatever song I wanted to hear. It was silly childish items, but these items brought smiles and laughter. And that is what he always wanted: smiles and laughter. Kosser never taught his students any combative arts, as he was a peaceful man. And that was fine with Greg. I only wish that there would have been some defensive magic taught and learned. Maybe then, my Greg would still be alive, and we would of grown old together. Alas, that was not to be. And, I grow sick. Soon, I hope to be with my Greg in the afterlife. I intend to turn over the sewing guild to several of the girls that I’m teaching. Maybe this place, can help those like it helped me. Other than my grief, and I’m sure you have the details what happened on that horrible night, I do not know what else I can say.”

I helped Valice into a chair, and made her comfortable. She remained a maid for the rest of her life. She could not bear to look at another, much less be with another. This was an example of true love unfulfilled. I didn’t take pity on her. I truly felt sorry for her. “That is ok Valice. Perhaps you can recall anything that Greg shared with you that was said or done at Kosser’s shop?”

“Let’s see. There were many things. There was research of having fires burning. There was research on having light and darkness on command.” She became quiet, thinking back to those days, searching her mind and heart for anything that resembled my question.

“Take your time Valice. I know this isn’t easy.”

She smiled a bit. “Memories such as those Tor, are worth treasuring. Let’s see. There was a needle made. This was to help those healers to bind wounds and stop bleeding.”

“Wait, a needle? That soaks up blood?”

“Why yes. There were always mishaps just in the city. Kosser wanted to find a way to help the healers. Also, travelers too.”

“Was a needle ever made successfully?”

“No, not to my knowledge.”

“There was another apprentice there. A woman named Kristine.”

“Ah yes, Kristine. She was a darling. Always full of joy and life. I met her quite a few times. At first, I had to admit, I was jealous. She was so pretty and vibrant. But when I found out she had eyes for Kosser and not my Greg, I relaxed with her. There were several times she had me sew intricate garments for her.”

“Was there anything special she had you make for her?”

“Oh there were a couple. She had my sew a robe that was made of pure white silk. That was easy enough to do, but then, there were several jewels she had me put into the sleeves, and one at her chest. I thought she was having me make her bridal outfit. It was so pretty. I remember this robe well. Several jade jewels were on each sleeve. At the chest level, there was a large red ruby there. It was very very pretty.”

“I see. Whatever happened to this robe. Any idea?”

“Why no, I do not know. I assumed that Kosser or the town took all items that was not destroyed that horrible night. In fact, it may still exist. Who has it or where it is, I have no idea.”

“Valice, you have been kind to share with me these things. Is there anything I could do for you?”

“Maybe, to just tell me why you ask me these things?”

I nodded. “There have been some recent things happening that is making me wonder. I want to make sure, the past, however horrible, remains in the past.”

“Well, that’s nice of you. Maybe you can do for me one more thing.”

“Sure Valice. What is it?”

“I always wanted to go to the town hall to settle my final affairs. But, I am weak and ill. I do not expect to survive this winter. If I do, I will be surprised. Perhaps you can help me settle my affairs?”

“I know almost nothing of business like that ma’am. But I do know someone who does know. His name is Goper. I’ll make sure he comes by and converses with you. He will do that as a favor to me.”

“You are kind to an old woman Tor.”

I took her hand, and kissed it gently. “I cannot heal your past. But, I can try to make sure, you rest well forever.”

She patted my hand. “You will do great things Tor. With a body the size of an ox, and with a heart to match, you will do great things.”

I smiled, turned and left her sewing shop. I knew this investigation would find little other than pain. But, I was not expecting love unfulfilled. I went back to the town hall, Almeria was getting ready to leave for the day.

“Almeria, a moment if you please.”

“Oh, sure Tor. What can I help you with.”

I relayed what Valice had wanted. Almeria nodded, and said that was the least she could do. She was the seamstress who prepared her wedding dress and her baby’s first clothes upon birth. It was the least she could do. I nodded, knowing that the matter was in capable hands. I left the town hall.

“Well now where?” I sat on the stairs and thought about everything I have learned. I thought about the city too. All things, seem to be happening in the river and east of Stalvinport. There was the ruins of Cloverdale too to consider. I do not know anything about these ruins. Perhaps it is time to see if Stalvinport had any sort of a library. After asking several people, and getting lost a couple of times, I did find the library of Stalvinport. A modest building to be sure. When I entered inside, it was really no bigger than Calvin’s home. Also, there was no one that monitored the library. Looks like knowledge was public, but you would think there would be someone here to make sure nothing happens.

“Wow, a dwarf visits in my library. This is new!”

I looked around, but could not find who said that. “Um, hello?”

“Hello to you too.”

“A ghost is in the library?”

“A ghost? Where? I’ve never seen one.”

“I’m talking to a ghost.”

“Oh, not me silly. I am no ghost. Look up”

I did. Flying around, was a small winged human. Maybe a foot tall with a silent rapid fluttering of wings. “A pixie?”

She landed on a desk. “Hi there. My name is Tyna.”

“Hi Tyna, I’m Tor.”

“Pleased to meet ya. So, what are ya looking for in my library?”

“I really do not know what specifically I’m looking for. But, I would like to find maps of the area from long ago to start with.”

“Maps? Oh, that’s over here. Come along.” She flew towards a corner, where there were many parchments rolled up. “Long ago, how long ago?”

“Hmm, maybe over five hundred years ago?”

“Oh, the ancient maps. Let’s see. Oh, maybe this one?” She pointed to a dusty parchment. I sneezed when I brought it out. I carefully unrolled this parchment. “Interesting. So, what am I looking at.”

“A map.”

“Thank you for the revelation. A map of what?”

“A map of this place silly. See, here, this is Cloverdale. This was the fishing village of Brosk.”

I took the parchment, and laid it out on the table. “Do you have a recent map of the area Tyna?”

“Sure do, it’s right here. Ugn” With difficulty, she pulled out another parchment. This one wasn’t dusty. It was nearly the size of this old parchment. The distances between places were almost identical. Excellent.

“Looking for something aren’t ya?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

“What’cha looking for?”

“Answers. I am hoping that these maps will show me an answer or two.”

“Answers to what?”

I decided to play her earlier game. “Answers to questions.”

“Obviously silly. What kind of questions?’

“Well, here is one question. Why is Cloverdale now in ruin?”

“Oh, that’s an easy one. The Great War.”

“Great war?”

“You really don’t know much do you?”

“You are closer to the truth than you realize Tyna.”

“Ok, so you are an ignorant dwarf, but not a stupid one.”

“I am not from around here Tyna.”

“A visitor? Why didn’t you say so silly? What do you want to know?”

“Well, for first Tyna, what was this great war?”

“Not a great war, but the Great War.” It was a war that had thousands of soldiers on each side. Two large kingdoms: Cloverdale, and Alifax. Alifax was an evil place, a very evil place. They wanted to conquer all. But they couldn’t conquer Cloverdale. A lot of mages running around. The mages kept the forces of Alifax at bay. The Great War lasted years. The mages always beat back the hordes of Alifax. And their losses were great. As time went on though, less and less people wanted to be mages and Cloverdale started getting weaker. But they still held their own. That is, until the dragons came.”

“Story has it that the sky filled with dragons of all types. Rains of fire, cold, acid and gas came down from the skies. It blackened the land. Many mages and many dragons died, filling the land. The mountains here,” she pointed to the mountains at the ruins, “are said to be large tombs filled with the dead. I don’t think that is right. But the mountains did appear only after Cloverdale was destroyed. The mages, desperate to end the Great War, did some sort of spells. The dragons died, but so did Cloverdale. The magics were so great, that mountains rose from the ground. The hordes of Alifax, also died in great numbers. Thousands upon thousands, some say millions, laid dead on the land. Hard to tell really. Anyways, Cloverdale died. The survivors, didn’t want any more wars. So, they moved. They moved to Brosk. In time, Stalvinport was founded, in honor of the one surviving general from the army of mages, Archmage Stalvin. The rest, is as they say, is history.”

This pixie just told me a lot within these few minutes. She may be annoying, but already, she filled in a couple of answers to questions that I had. “I see. And where was Alifax?”

“Many miles to the southeast. Hundreds of miles in fact.”

“And what were these hordes of Alifax?”

“Tribes of the most brutal and nasty forms of life. All evil. All wanting to do bad things to people.” Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNøvel.ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“I see. So, if I wanted to travel to Alifax, how would I get there?”

“Why would you want to go to that nasty place?”

“I have my reasons Tyna. I have my reasons.”

“No good reasons I bet. Well, this map,” she pulls out another parchment, equally old to the first one,” is the only map I know that exists that shows where Alifax is.”

I looked over this map. Yes, in the upper left hand corner, is the mountains, and from there, is a series of roads and several points of location along the way. I could see there were towns of some sort along the way. I could also see a large black castle in the southeast. I pointed to it. “Alifax?”

“Yup. Like I said, long ways away. And good riddance to that lot. I still hear stories from my elders of how forests and fields burned.”

“Does anyone travel to the east?”

“Gosh no I hope not. Nothing out there good. Oh, sure, there are some port towns. But beyond the port towns, nothing good at all.”

The port towns. The ones that Goper said Bram was trying to raise an army to try to help. Was that where my brethren were going too? Were we going to war by helping the towns? Too many question still. But, at least I had an idea what was out east. Hordes, an ancient kingdom called Alifax. Could be worth venturing out there.

“Tyna, you have been most helpful. You provided me some answers to questions that I had.”

“Good. Now, I have a question for you. Why do you want to know about these places?”

“I heard from Bram, that he was raising an army to help the port towns. I wanted to know what those areas were about before I offered my services to help.” It wasn’t the pure truth, but, it was truth good enough.

“Well, you are a big and strong guy. I guess you could help. But, why? You are a dwarf. You are not a human.”

“When people are hurting, does it matter what race they are?”

“I suppose not. And you are probably doing it for the money too. Dwarves are crazy about money.”

“I’m not crazy about money. But money is needed to live if you are going to be in a city.”

“Whew, thought you were going to say that money is needed to live. I was about to argue you for that. Glad to see you didn’t say it.”

“Heh, no. Money is not needed to live. But if you are going to be in a town or city, you do need it. Like with all tools, best you have enough of it.”

“Now, that sounds like a dwarf talking.”

“Tell me Tyna. Is there anything strange happening in Stalvinport.”

“Define strange.”

“Anything out of the ordinary. Like something happening in one of the districts that normally doesn’t happen.”

“Well, there is something. But I don’t know if it answers your definition of strange. It is at the fisheries.”

“Go on. What has been happening there?”

“Well, the fisheries have always been busy. But lately, they have been getting lots of fish. And you would think that fish would be cheap here. But there is hardly any fish. Most of it is shipped out. Along with a bunch of grain too. Ships are constantly coming in, and getting fish and grain from here. I know I know, trading. But there is enough trading going on to fuel wars. Two ships come here every day, one for grain, the other fish. I know trading is good, but is it supposed to be that good? What happens when you fish all of the fish out of the river? And what happens when all of the grain is gone? It is winter now. You would think that trading would be more prudent.”

“Maybe whoever is buying up the fish and grain, they didn’t stock up like Stalvinport has? Or maybe they have hard times?”

“Maybe. But hey, like you said, you need money to live in a city. I only get five gold a month for being a librarian here. I’m a librarian here, but even I need to make sure there is enough food for me!”

I smiled. For all of her quirkiness, there is a certain pragmatism. Also, with her being a pixie, what would be common for humans, or dwarves for that matter, may seem strange for a pixie. From my pouch, I pulled out twenty gold pieces and left it on the table.

“What’s this for? Are you trying to buy me?”

“What? No little Tyna. I’m making sure you have enough food for the winter. Also, do you mind if I take these maps?”

“Course I mind. But, I can do this for you though!” She waved her little hands, and the drawings on the three parchments, were copied and placed on an empty parchment. Each one was in its own corner, with an empty corner in the lower right. “There, now you have maps. You can take that one with you and keep it.”

I took this parchment and folded up carefully, putting it away in my pouch. I pulled out another ten pieces of gold and put it on the table. “Thank you Tyna. Now, you should have enough so you don’t have to worry about food.”

“Hey thanks. Anytime you want to come here and be a less ignorant dwarf, feel free.”

“I may just do that Tyna, I may just do that.”

“I hope you do. If nothing else, you broke up the boringness of the day. Not many people come to this library anymore, and the ones that do, do not want to chat with me. Gets kinda lonely ya know?”

“I’m sure Tyna, I’m sure.”

“So, what’cha gonna do now? Where you gonna go?”

“I think I’m going to have some fish. Maybe go down to the fisheries and see for myself what the prices of fish are.”

“Good. And tell them to stop raising the prices. Maybe if you beat them up like you did with that lug Pox, it’ll be better for all of us.”

I chuckled, leaving the pixie in her library.

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