The Half Dwarf Prince (7 page)

Grundel and Rundo sat at a table at the Dancing Lady. They had arrived in Ambar late last night. This was the first inn they had found and they had taken six rooms. The other dwarves had stayed at the bar likely until early morning. Grundel and Rundo had been happy to sleep in. It was now close to noon, and they had just made it down to eat after washing away the dirt from the road that they had decided to hang onto as they fell into bed the night before.

The waitress brought over t
wo plates piled with potatoes, rice, and some kind of fish sprinkled with black and red seasoning. Grundel was a bit nervous. He had never had fish before. He watched as Rundo went straight for it. Grundel cut a piece off with his spoon and scooped it into his mouth. It was a completely new taste to him. It was delicious. The black stuff was pepper, and he wasn’t sure what the red stuff was but it also added a little kick. He scooped up another piece and stuffed it in his mouth. He couldn’t imagine how he had never eaten this before. Well, he knew dwarves and water didn’t really mix. Dwarves floated like rocks to begin with, and they always carried a lot of weight and armor, so they avoided water. He was so intrigued by this new experience that he almost didn’t notice the two men approaching his table. Almost.

Grundel tapped his foot against Rundo’s, but then he realized that Rundo now only had one hand above the table. That was the hand that was bringing the rice to his mouth. His other hand surely was wrapped around the hilt of one of the magical daggers he kept on his thighs. Grundel only carried one of his axes on his back. The other was still up in the room. He wasn’t expecting trouble
, and he didn’t have to worry about it being stolen because the blades were linked to each other and tied to his bloodline—he could call one to the other as long as he was touching one of them.

The two men stopped in front of
Grundel and Rundo. Just by looking at them Grundel could tell that these men were dangerous. It was obvious in the way they carried themselves, but what really gave it away was their eyes. They were the eyes of men who had killed. Rundo turned their attention to him. “Something we can help you with, gentlemen?”

They looked at Rundo as he talked, but then turned back
to Grundel. “We would like you to come with us. We have some questions.”

Grundel stood up. He didn’t want to be caught off guard if these men came at him. “What would you like to know?”

“You should really come with us,” the one on the right said.

Grundel looked at him,
but before he could answer a knife had appeared in the hand of the man on the left and was coming toward him. Grundel barely had time to get his arm up. The blade opened his forearm instead of his chest.

In a flash Rundo had thrown each of his enchanted daggers. The first stuck in the arm of the man that had just stabbed Grundel. The second man had deflected the dagger with his own dagger.
Both of Rundo’s daggers magically returned to their sheaths, and he had to draw both daggers now as fast as he could just to defend himself.

Rundo’s dagger had given Grundel space to draw his axe
, and it had also evened the playing field. Now both he and the assassin could use only one arm. Grundel had his axe out in front of him now. Just having it in his hand made him feel better, and he went on the offensive. He kicked the table that separated them. The other assassin had jumped onto it to attack Rundo, so he had given Rundo a reprieve by kicking the table and backed his own opponent up in the process. Everyone else in the room hugged the wall as the fight began in earnest.

The space
Grundel had created actually worked against him as the assassin threw his dagger. Grundel was just able to turn the blade of his axe enough to deflect the blow. It had been aimed at his other shoulder. He found it odd that someone who seemed so skilled would miss his mark twice. He didn’t have time to contemplate that, though, as the assassin was coming at him again with another knife in hand. He hadn’t even seen him draw it. Grundel was on the defensive and he knew it. The assassin was quick and able to get inside his defenses too quickly for him to use his axe. He called to his other axe. He wouldn’t be able to wield it, but he might be able to surprise this assassin. Just as he called to his other axe, he saw the assassin jerk. Then the assassin’s eyes went wide, and a look of shock came over his face. Grundel didn’t hesitate; he swung his axe in a downward stoke. It buried into the man’s shoulder and down into his chest, spraying blood and cutting into his lung. As the assassin fell to the ground Grundel saw the man behind him, who must have been the one who had helped him. He didn’t take the time to work through that.

Grundel
turned toward the assassin that Rundo was fighting. “Rundo, down!” he called out.

Rundo didn’t hesitate. He heard Grundel
yell and reacted, instantly dropping to the ground. He wasn’t able to keep up with the much more skilled opponent anyway, and he dropped under a blade that would have gone into his throat. Grundel’s axe hit the assassin in the chest as Rundo hit the ground. Then a bolt of lightning smashed into Grundel. The axe continued across the room and stuck in the wall. Rundo turned and threw both of his daggers at the wizard but they stopped as they made contact with his chest. The blades fell to the ground, then appeared back at his thighs. Rundo saw the glint of another blade as it flew through the air. That blade punched through the wizard’s protection and buried in his throat. The wizard’s hands went to his throat, and the man who threw the blades was at his side before his knees hit the ground.

“Here
, let me help you with that,” he said, as he turned the blade and then ripped it out the side of the wizard’s throat, severing his carotid artery. Blood shot out in streams in sync with his heartbeat for a few more seconds before the man finally collapsed on the floor.

Rundo ran to Grundel
, who was just getting back onto his knees. He was bleeding pretty badly from the cut on his forearm, and he his leather vest was scorched on the opposite shoulder. The shirt underneath was singed around a fist-sized hole at the pit of his arm up to his shoulder.

“He wasn’t trying to kill me. He just wanted to hurt me bad enough that he could get some kind of information
,” Grundel said.

“He was a Black Dragon assassin
,” said the man who’d helped them. “He would have killed you for sure, but he probably wanted something first. You’re a Stoneheart?” the man asked, looking at the brand on Grundel’s hand. Every dwarf born with Stoneheart blood was branded on the back of one hand with the image of a heart made of stone. It faded and became less noticeable with age, but the scar was always there for anyone to identify a Stoneheart dwarf. Grundel considered the man for a minute. He would probably be dead if it weren’t for him.

“I am Grundel Stoneheart
, son of Grizzle, King of Evermount.”

The man nodded as if he had expected that. “Do you have a room where we can talk?”

Grundel nodded toward the stairs. The man who had helped them fight off the assassins went to the bar, said something to the man behind it, and dropped a few coins on the bar. The bartender nodded and then the man followed Grundel and Rundo up the stairs.

Once they were back in the room
, the man locked the door behind him, then went to check the window. Rundo dropped Grundel’s ridiculously heavy axe, and Grundel set the other on the bed next to him. This man had saved them down there, but they still didn’t know who he was or what he wanted.

Jerrie made sure the window was secure and then pulled the
curtain to shield them. He turned back to the two who had been fighting the Black Dragons downstairs. They obviously knew something important if those assassins had attacked them in the middle of the day, and in front of all of those people like that.

“My name is Jerrie. You are Grundel Stoneheart, though I don’t understand why you are so huge. Who are you
?” he asked, turning to the halfling who still kept his hands close to the knives on his legs.

“I am Rundo. I am a friend of Grundel and his father. Why did you help us down there? Not that I don’t appreciate it, but why would you get involved?”

Jerrie couldn’t help but smile. “You actually helped me. I was going to have to fight them anyway. I have been following them all morning. When they attacked you I knew it was the best chance I was going to get to kill them. They were Black Dragon assassins. The best, actually. They are Vingaza’s own bodyguards. He is their most powerful wizard, and leader of the Black Dragons in Ambar. I don’t know why they wanted you, but you are lucky that they wanted you alive, at least initially. They were trying to wound you, not kill you. That is why you were able to gain the upper hand.”

“You said you had been following them
. Why?” Grundel asked.

“I planned to kill them. I heard that they were back in Ambar and I had been looking for them. They were evil murderers who took hundreds of innocent lives over the years. The city officials don’t go after members of the Black Dragons,
since it would mean a pitched battle against those two. So I went after them myself.”

Grundel and Rundo looked at each other. They couldn’t really argue his reasoning, and they knew whateve
r his more personal reasons were, they weren’t any of their business. The conceded the point.

“Even if our distraction only helped you carry out your plan
, you still saved our lives, so thank you for that,” Rundo said, looking back at Jerrie.

Jerrie dropped the bundle he had carried up the stairs on
to the bed and smiled at them. “If the Black Dragons are after you guys, you will need this stuff. I pulled it off the ones we killed. This,” he said, holding up a belt buckle that he had taken off one of the brothers, “will absorb any direct magical attack. For instance, if a wizard shot a bolt of lightning at you, it would be drawn into the belt buckle instead of slamming into your chest and leaving you flailing around on the ground,” he said with a smile as he tossed the buckle on the bed next to Grundel. “Obviously, if the wizard hit you with enough spells before the buckle could dissipate the magical energy, or if a really powerful wizard hit you with a spell that overpowered the magic of the enchantment, well, it can only do so much.

“This ring
,” Jerrie continued, “will actually deflect a magical blast just slightly off its path so that it misses the one wearing it.” He slipped it onto his middle finger on his right hand. “These daggers have the ability to penetrate magical shields and armor. You obviously don’t need them, Grundel, seeing as your axes are much more powerful,” he said, holding the two knives out to Rundo. “Finally, this jacket that the wizard was wearing. It will protect against minor magical attacks and most weapons. It won’t protect against the force of a blow, but it will stop it from getting through, so if a hill giant hits you with a cudgel you will still go flying through the air. It's basically just magical armor in the form of a jacket. It’s too small for the behemoth or me to wear. It should fit you all right, though. That wizard was pretty scrawny. If you use your new knife you could even hem it up.”

Grundel and Rundo were both just staring at the man in amazement. “Why are you giving us this stuff, and how do you know all this
? Are you a wizard, too?” Grundel asked.

Jerrie couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “No
, I am not a wizard of any kind. As to how I know about the items, well, a man can’t give away all his secrets. Why am I giving this stuff to you? That is easy. It seems the Black Dragons have an issue with you, and I have an issue with them, so I’m hoping I can come with you wherever you’re going. Plus, you helped me acquire these things even if you had no way of knowing it.”

Grundel stared
at the man for a minute. “If you’re looking for a fight with the Black Dragons, then you won’t want to come with us. We are just here to gather supplies for the dwarves going to Shinestone.”

Jerrie smiled. “What if I had some information about the dwarf mountain?”

Grundel couldn’t deny he was curious. Why would anyone in Ambar have any information about Shinestone? He decided one more person wouldn’t matter. “If you want to follow us to Shinestone, you’re welcome, as long as you don’t cause any trouble.”

Jerrie smiled mischievously.
“As I said before, the Black Dragons seemed to want something from you. Now I know what that is. The word in every place where Black Dragons in Ambar gather is that their leader, Vingaza, has taken up residence in Shinestone with a group of dwarves. He is apparently worried about the mage Anwar Alamira. Word is that some of the Black Dragon wizards of Ambar have already made their way to Shinestone, and some people are saying that, until Alamira is dealt with, Shinestone could become the center of operations for the Black Dragons here in the north.”

It was Grundel’s turn to smile. He thought about keeping the information he had to himself, but Anwar had destroyed the majority of the orcs, and the Black Dragons
, as powerful as they might be, didn’t have the strength to take on the dwarves. “Anwar Alamira is with the Father of Balance.”

Jerrie stared at Grundel in disbelief. “The Father isn’t real.”

Grundel and Rundo shared a look now. “We have both seen and talked with him. He came for Anwar after Anwar destroyed the orc army—and most of the Black Dragon wizards. Your information about the orcs and dragons is new to us, though. It would have cost additional lives if we had walked into the mountain unsuspecting. Your experience fighting wizards will be helpful, too. You are welcome to come with us if you want to.”