The Misadventures of Ka-Ron the Knight (44 page)

Keeth couldn't wait. He rushed over to his row of levers, pulling down four and raising three.

"Wizard?" Ka-Ron asked.

"Dear knight, you did not think that I had no solution to all of this?"

Ka-Ron placed her hands upon her waist and shook her head with admiration.

"I should think not!" the wizard huffed.

The
Argo
stopped in her waterlogged tracks. The entire ship began to rumble.

"What the devil?" Dorian huffed.

The commotion even brought En-Don and Molly out onto the deck.

"Mother? What is all of this?" En-Don asked.

Ka-Ron tried not to stare. At morning light, En-Don had aged even more. He was fast taking on the appearance of a man in his sixtieth season. He looked so old next to Molly, that if a stranger were to observe the couple, Molly clearly would have been confused for En-Don's grand-daughter.

"Keeth has another surprise for us, dear."

The masts of the ship folded, clanked, and dove under the wooden deck. Huge trap doors opened and closed, giving the
Argo
means to hide her sails. The engines used to enable her to be airborne popped out the sides of the hull and lowered themselves into the dark waters.

Keeth clapped his hands with a child's excitement.

"Damn! I know my stuff," he was heard whispering.

Huge clamshells rose from the stern of the ship, unfolding over and closing at the bow. As they expanded, the viewers saw picture-glass windows transverse the entire main deck. The
Argo
was now encased in a huge glass bubble.

"Wizard, this is fantastic!" Rohan stated. Momentarily forgetting his place, he kissed Dorian's check with great excitement.

The dwarf, flashing a look of terror, slapped at the elf. Rohan, queerly enough, corrected himself and kept his distance.

Keeth merely smiled at the incident.

Huge lanterns filled with a luminous fluid clicked to life, providing the crew with a means of seeing.

"This is wondrous, wizard," Ka-Ron said, feeling the warmth of the strange lanterns.

Both Rohan and Dorian joined their friend in amazement. Keeth, upon strapping down a hatch nearby, noticed something odd about his friend's clothing. Rohan's buttons on the front of his pants were buttoned wrong. Dorian's leather vest was on inside out.

"Curious," the wizard said to himself.

"This is amazing," Rohan stated. "What do you call it?"

Keeth took in some air, satisfied with the reactions he was getting.

"I call it an Underwater Transverse Vehicle."

Keeth tried to ignore all the blank stares he was getting.

"It is a boat that can swim under the water like a fish," the wizard explained. He walked over to his wheel and row of levers. "While underwater, we will all be safe and dry under this observation dome."

"You could almost call this a submarine." Dorian stated, taking his vest off and correcting it.

"Too technical a name," said Keeth as he let two more levers pull downward. "Besides, no one would remember that name. It has no ring to it."

"I liked it." Bending over, Rohan whispered into the dwarf's ear.

"Sounded good to me," Dorian reassured him.

In the lowering of two more levers, everyone observed certain vents opening up at the front and back of the ship. The sound of rushing water dominated the
Argo's
encased world, and Keeth had to calm both Molly and Jatel - both feared that the ship was in danger of sinking.

The
Argo
did sink, but her world remained intact.

Disappearing below the ocean's waves, the
Argo
became as graceful under the surface of the water as it had when it flew over the world. The luminous lanterns made the main deck glow an unearthly green as the dark wetness of the deep engulfed the giant clamshells. Fish of all sorts cleared a path as the tiny engines pushed the wooden vessel deep below Highpoint Mountain.

"Where to now, my friend?" Keeth asked Dorian.

The dwarf tried his best to contain his fear. Dorian had placed his hands in his pockets in the hopes that no one would notice that they were shaking wildly. Although he loved secretly to take baths, his fear of drowning was paramount.

"This is not natural, dear friend," the dwarf barked.

"Of course not. This is science."

Rohan calmed his love down as much as he could, trying his best to contain their shared secret. It was going to be a hard life for him, and he was willing to accept it. Still, Dorian was quite cute when he was terrified - when SHE was terrified.

"Follow the silver creek to the under hill, and then turn right at the two towers."

Keeth gave the dwarf a blank stare.

"Yeah. Sure. Like I've done this before."

"Give me the wheel, then."

"Mind that you use the see-all lens, Dorian." Keeth instructed.

The wizard explained to the dwarf in detail how to use the viewing screen that lowered before him. It was a sleek device, which was attached to a viewing lens that poked out the top of the clamshell. Underwater, one had to rely more on line of sight than on a general direction.

It did not take too long for the dwarf to learn the basics.

"How did you create such a thing?" Ka-Ron asked the wizard privately.

Keeth could only shrug his shoulders and laugh. "Child, I was inside that dragon for a long time. All I had to keep me company were my thoughts."

Dorian steered the
Argo
as she continued to dive and swim in the mysteries of the ancient deep.

Dorian stayed at his post while others in the crew decided that it was time for a meal. The little man did his best not to break the wizard's fantastic machine. He only had to change course twice, in order to avoid scraping a few reefs.

Dorian enjoyed himself profoundly.

"Have dwarfs visited the city lately?"

The dwarf had been startled. He thought that he was alone.

"Upon my nose, wizard," Dorian huffed, catching his breath. "You frightened me out of ten season's of growth."

"I apologize, sir."

Dorian bowed, briefly, turning the ship's wheel to the right.

"We don't." He stated. "Dwarfs nowadays consider visitation the highest of taboos."

"Is the taboo based upon political or religious beliefs?"

"No," Dorian stopped turning the wheel. It was quite a sight to see the dwarf steering the ship, even if he had to stand on his tiptoes. "Because of the many deaths involved."

"Oh?"

"We ventured here on a regular basis once." Dorian explained. "In fact, it used to be celebrated as a right of passage. Then, Baphomet arrived. Too many brave dwarfs tried to have him evicted. Too many died."

The dwarf was close to tears. He found he could no longer concentrate.

"Dorian?" Keeth asked, his hand comforting the dwarf.

"My father died here."

"Oh, son, I am so sorry."

"Don't be," Dorian cheered up, forcefully. "If we succeed, my father's honor will be restored."

"Then, my friend, we must succeed."

"Yes."

Rohan was seen, off in the distance, sharpening up his arrows. He seemed to glance up toward the Dwarf. Doing all that he could not to show excitement, Dorian returned to his duties.

"Wizard!" the dwarf said, his voice trembling. "Behold!"

The
Argo
had passed a cliff of mines, called The Silver Creek by the dwarfs. After they passed the cliffs, they focused all their attention on a gigantic gate. The ancient doors had long since rotted away. Dorian had explained that the gates themselves were made from the finest teak available upon the planet. It took the craftsmen twenty seasons to create them. Each piece of wood was blessed and dedicated to the gods. Each door was engraved with sagas and dwarfish songs long since forgotten by even the oldest historians. These were the things of legend.

"Look, there! Closely, wizard," Dorian whispered.

At each stone framing, there were rusted piles of iron. Nothing spectacular.

"What am I seeing, Dorian?"

"The frames of the legendary gates." Dorian was trying his best to hold back his own excitement. "They are still there."

Keeth had called out all of his friends. Ka-Ron and Jatel were mildly interested. Both cared more about their son. Rohan approved of what he was seeing. It was said by Dorian that the mighty hinges were too technical for dwarfs to consider. Elfish craftsmen had to create the iron hangers and bolts. Rohan shared in the dwarf's pride - this was his forgotten heritage too.

Then, as they passed the gate, they saw The Guardians.

"Oh, dear," Dorian gulped. Frantically, he stared up at Rohan. There was an apologetic sense of panic between the two. "I forgot about The Guardians."

"What's the panic?" Jatel asked. "They appear to be statues."

Dorian turned to face the huge figures.

"They are."

Towering high above the great mountain city below, the
Argo
floated between two figures carved from the same obsidian rock as Highpoint Mountain.

The first figure was a dwarf. In one hand he held his pick. In the other he proudly held out a crystal of some kind. The dwarf's face held a proud stare, and it was obvious that at one time, it was considered quite an honor to work in the mines here. The crystal itself was not carved. It was genuine. It added beauty to the otherwise typical carving.

It was the second figure that created confusion.

The second figure was that of another dwarf lifting its arms up toward the heavens, offering a sacrifice of silver and gold. Huge rocks of both rare metals were lodged in the dwarf's hands, and if taken, could build an empire with their material worth.

"Dorian?" all on board seemed to ask.

The second figure was female.

"What is that?" the wizard asked, pointing at the female figure.

Dorian wiped sweat from his forehead.

"It looks like a woman," Rohan stated, eager for the curiosity to end. "Perhaps it is a visiting villager, offering a peace offering to the miners."

"That would make sense if she were facing the mountain city below."

Rohan turned to the wizard and gave him a blank stare.

"I have no other explanation, sir."

"Quite," Keeth acknowledged. The wizard turned back to the dwarf. "Dorian?"

"It is nothing," Dorian tried to say. "An artist's dream, perhaps."

"Perhaps&but, it is quite lovely."

The beauty of the dwarfish woman was lovely. Dorian knew the figure well. Her name had been Lorelei. She was the last dwarf queen.

All questions were put on hold as the ship glided past the two figures, over the city below, and towards the entrance of the mine. It had long been an established fact that dwarfs were not known for their artistic accomplishments. By their very natures, Dwarfs were practical beings. Buildings were built to house. Walls were built to protect and to halt. Bridges were built to cross.

Everything they were seeing destroyed those myths.

Jah-Bul-Onwas a wonder. Each and every brick, stone, and mound of earth were art beyond mortal accomplishments&great carvings of forgotten legends, ivory pylons creating fantastic bridges, and spectacular walls towering above humble homes that were not so humble. In ancient days, the dwarfs were an artistic people who felt with both mind and heart.

"Wonderful," Keeth whispered. "Wonderful."

Dorian was doing all that he could to keep from crying. He was that proud.

At the center of the city was the entrance to the mine. Several whales bellowed their songs as the tiny wooden vessel plotted a course into the heart of the mountain. Curious, one of the whales decided to follow the
Argo
. Its eyes admired the hypnotizing green glow coming from inside the ship. After a while the creature's curiosity dimmed, and he left the
Argo
, looking to breach for air.

"How far now?" Ka-Ron asked, joining the dwarf at the wheel.

"We keep at it until we see the lights."

"Lights," Jatel asked. "What lights?"

"Baphomet's lights. The demon advertises his domain."

"Why?" Rohan inquired, uneasy.

"He lives for conflict. He wants us to visit."

"Then we will not disappoint."

"Take heed, my friends," Dorian warned. "This will not be easy."

The
Argo
had entered a deep tunnel. Even as ancient as the carvings into the mountain were, it looked as if they had been done recently. The skills of the dwarves were incredible. After digging into the mountain, they reinforced their tunnels with a seamless glass-like lining. Whatever it was, it became lost to time. No such invention existed in this age with which to compare it.

In the distance, a dim light was seen.

"There it is," Dorian insisted, turning the ship's wheel to compensate. He looked up at the wizard, smiling. "I feel you should pilot from here, wizard."

"A pleasure," Keeth stated, taking the wheel.

"I have to get my ax." Dorian looked longingly up at Rohan.

"And I, my bow."

Both left the main deck.

"Is it just me, or have they been acting kind of weird, as of late?" Ka-Ron asked.

"Perhaps." Keeth gave his friends a knowing smile.

Upon closing the door leading to the cabins, Dorian paused. He concentrated, making sure that both he and the elf were alone. He could not explain how he did it; it was just a part of who he was in the universe.

They were alone.

And, so, she changed.

"Rohan, I'm terrified," Dorian cried, her true female voice ringing through. "I forgot about the statues."

"There's nothing to fear." Rohan took hold of Dorian. He was still shaken up by her transformation. It would take a long time to get used to that.

"They will see the bodies," the dwarf whispered.

"Bodies?"

"When Baphomet took over the fountain, he killed all the remaining dwarfs&male and female."

Rohan started to understand.

"Everyone knows that there are no dwarf women," the elf stated, as if rattling the thought around in his head. "Our secret will be out."