The first one to taste the food was Viyetral, then and only then, did the other party members proceed. A precaution that was necessary in an unfamiliar land.

  After everyone was stuffed, Tolborf asked the guests:

  "Did you like the dwarven cuisine?”

  “It was great, my comrades here, agree as well —apparent from their empty dishes. I am glad to once again be hosted by the dwarves.”

  It was not Harwin who spoke this time, but Viyetral, who spoke perfect dwarfish as if he was a native himself, this even caught Harwin off-guard.

  “Oh, so you can also speak our language. I see that you are a cautious one, there is a tinge of northern dialect that I detect, where exactly did you pick it up from.” Tolborf stared suspiciously.

  “It was a small dwarven village near the northern end of the continent, they helped me learn the language, but unfortunately, it was destroyed in the Great-Demon ambush; not a single one of my friends survived. It is a regret that I will carry for the rest of my life.”

  Viyetral’s expression were that of sorrow and pain.

  “I see, that is quite unfortunate. The northern dwarves were tough but they were also conservatives, they never liked the idea of joining others; their settlements were small so they were an easy target, it was because of their fate that the other dwarves decided to form a confederation.”

  “Do forgive me for being so straight-forward but I noticed that there was a slave mark on your wife's neck. As a traveller, I have come to notice things that are not visible to many.” Viyetral questioned Tolborf.

  “I do mind. You should not pry in other people's business.”

  Tolborf outright rejected to answer, he also smashed the mug he was holding on the table — breaking it in the process.

  “Come on, son, there is no shame in that — I think it is a heroic tale, you should tell the story; their kind have known slavery as well.” Tolborf’s father tried to calm him down.

  “I do not think it is appropriate to share it with someone, who we have just met.”

  “Forgive me, I may have crossed the boundary. Please do forget that I ever questioned this.” Viyetral bowed ever so slightly.

  Tolborf nodded, the room remained silent for a while before Harwin interjected:

  “I forgot to mention, while we were making our way to the capital, an outpost had been raided by someone or something; this made us change our original route — do you have any idea of what happened there?

  “A caravan did come here directly from the Royal capital — they informed me that a rouge group of beastmen had attacked various outposts throughout the capital’s roads. Silfordan has issued a bounty for them but for now, there have been no captures.”

  “That is very interesting. Has anyone seen or confirmed that they were indeed beastmen.”

  “The perpetrator attacked at night, so none have seen them clearly, but it has been reported that the creatures had huge statures and beastly features thus it only points to that race. The road has been closed for now; there are search parties everywhere.”

  “That is quite unfortunate, that road is very convienient for anyone travelling to the capital. I wonder who was behind all this and what benefit could they possible achieve from attacking the outposts that have limited supply or loot. Maybe a politicial scheme.”

  “I am not fond of poilitics, it is based on lies. That is the only reason my great-grandfather had left the city as well — his loved ones were caught in the midst of a power-grab. My grandfather and grand-mother tragically passed away; only my father and his sister were the ones who had survived and were taken by my Great-grandfather to establish this settlment. As far as my oppinon is concerned, I believe this to be the work of someone who wants instigate a war.”

  “I appreciate you for sharing all of this information with us. I also want you to excuse us now, we will try to get back on the road.” Viyetral said.

  “None-sense, the sun has already sunk, you will stay here tonight. You can leave tomorrow. You are quite fortunate, a caravan will be passing through our settlement in the morrow. It will be making its way to the First town so you can join them and have a safe passage to your destination.”

  Tolborf insisted for the guests to stay. Tiara, the wife of Tolborf, also emphasized for them to stay for a day or two.

  “You are most kind. We shall accept your offer but we will stay only till tomorrow. We have a long journey ahead of us and can not waste anymore time than necessary.” Harwin agreed after discussing with the others.

  “Great! The girls can stay in their own room while we men can sleep in the guesthouse. I am itching to here your adventurous tales.”

  “I am sorry, but this here is the uncle of Alisa,” Viyetral pointed towards Farelen, then stated:

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  “She is an orphan and this man has been protecting her in their absence; it was already very difficult for him to bring her on this journey. He does not like it when she is away from his sight — having no children of his own, he holds her in the highest of regards. It will be better if she can stay in the same room as the rest of the party members, otherwise he might not agree to stay all together. I am sure, you can understand.”

  Viyetral lied so easily that even Harwin mixed up the facts.

  Tiara whispered something to Tolborf who then stated the following:

  “That is not an issue, I understand. We will prepare the guest-house for all you, we can just seperate the room by something; you see my wife insists to spend the night with Alisa considering you will be leaving tomorrow.”

  The fierce dwarf even bowed his head, showing further, of how much he cared for his wife.

  Harwin had been translating for Farelen in-between who was annoyed by this whole situation — especially now that they had made this request but Viyetral handled it on his own:

  “Very well, we shall do as you said. After-all we are your guests and certainly owe you something for the fair treatment you have given us.”

  With all of that settled, they sat in the great-hall for a while.

  When everything was ready, they moved to the guest-house. It was at the back of the main one — a spacious hall, not as luxuriously decorated as the main house but there were some decors none the less.

  There were beds prepared for each of them, in the right most edge of the room, a curtain was placed which created the perfect separation for the ladies — it was a thick curtain and one could not see it from the other-side. It was a source of concern for Harwin and others alike but Viyetral stayed calm.

  They spoke till the late hours of night, giggles from the other side of the curtain were heard as well. It made Landel and Harwin a little less worried but Farelen remained alarmed.

  Viyetral was the one who told all the tales of their adventures albiet most of the things he spoke of were twisted lies that Harwin had never heard of before but his natural charmisa was enough to make anyone believe.

  When it was finally the time to sleep — Landel and Kraft were ordered to keep guard whilst pretending to sleep.

  Viyetral, however, slept peacefully without giving any instruction which frustrated the other party members. Tolborf's snoring were loud enough to be heard throughout the guesthouse.

  The night was long for the ones, who stayed awake.

  In the end, nothing eventful happened; Viyetral was the first one to get up, he told the others, who did not catch of wink of sleep last night, to rest for a while.

  Tolborf also woke up later and left on the note that he was going to the mines and also to stroll through the village for a while.

  Tiara woke up soon, followed by Alisa, they were on their way to freshen up and then prepare breakfast.

  Alisa had certainly opened up alot to a woman who she had just met yesterday.

  Harwin could not sleep even now, as there was alot going through his mind so he also made his way out; he went to check on Grantal — the strange priest or mage, Zoic, was giving him some tonics.

  Zoic assured that the lad would wake up soon.

  With nothing else to do, he went for a walk around the village. He soon came across Tolborf who was speaking to black-smith.

  "GOR, WAS IT?"

  Harwin nodded.

  "TAKE A LOOK AROUND THIS SHOP, IT HAS QUITE THE INTERESTING EQUIPMENT FOR A TRAVELLER LIKE YOURSELF. HE WILL GIVE YOU A GOOD BARGAIN. NOW WOULD YOU NOT, GERAL?"

  Though slightly annoyed, the smith reluctantly agreed. Harwin browsed the items, mostly there were weapons of all kinds in the shop.

  The one thing that caught Harwin's eyes was a short-sword — obsidian colored blade, golden hilt; it was much better than his current one, Garel noticed and guided the young lad:

  "YOU HAVE QUITE THE PECULIAR TASTE, THIS SWORD HAS REMAINED UNSOLD FOR A WHOLE YEAR NOW. IT IS MADE WITH STEEL AND REINFORCED WITH OBSIDIAN AS WELL — MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT IS ENCHANTED; IT AMPLIFIES THE STRENGTH OF THE USER TO ONE-HALF OR EVEN TWICE. PICK IT UP AND TEST IT."

  After much insistence from the smith, he finally picked it up — the sword was extremely light-weight, to the point that it felt hollow but Harwin tested it out on a nearby wood-plank and it cut through without much effort. The smith wore a smug smile.

  Still Harwin was not sure if the weapon was indeed enchanted or not; Viyetral was passing by so he requested the experienced captain for some guidance.

  After a little inspection, the captain agreed with the smith as well, he left after that.

  "It is good, but what is it up for?" Harwin asked.

  "One gold empyrean."

  One gold empyrean was enough for their party to last months; The lad had expected that much considering it was enhanted but he was also not an idiot to take it at the listed price.

  After much bargaining, he finally acquired the sword for seventy silver empyreans — he had saved up a great amount till now so he was still comfortable after spending this much on a single equipment.

  "YOU BETTER CHERISH IT, LAD! IT IS ONE OF MY FINEST WORKS, YET NONE OF THE VILLAGERS UNDERSTAND."

  Harwin bowed a little and left. He had gotten quite the bargain, considering only a small enchanted ring in Neilwisk costed fifty silver.

  He purchased an accessory from another shop and then made his back home, Landel and Kraft were ecstatic upon seeing such a fine sword — not jealous at all as these young bloods did not require a piece of equipment due to their immense talent.

  Once everyone had woken up and taken breakfast, it was finally time to move ahead in their journey, the caravan was expected to be here by noon so in the mean-time, the group began to prepare.

  Tolborf and his wife insisted them to stay a little longer but much time was wasted already; Harwin's party felt a bit ashamed as they had nothing to offer in return for the kind hospitality of their hosts so they gifted them the Wyvern's horn — Tolborf rejected it at first, but after much argument, finally accepted.

  Harwin and Alisa were the ones, incharge of checking whether or not the carriage was ready, so they made their way to it.

  There was silence in the air for somtime, but then Harwin gave an amulet to Alisa, it was a golden bracelet; a bold move by someone with such a low self-esteem, his thoughts at the moment were:

  "I should just throw myself off a cliff..."

  She was a bit flustered to accept it at first, but after seeing the embarrassed yet stern expression of Harwin, she finally accepted — only bashfully nodding instead of any words of gratitude.

  Both of them did not even glance at each-other for a while much less speak. Finally Harwin took the initiative:

  “I see, that you have grown close to Lady Tiara.”

  “Huh......Oh, She is very kind, she told me about her childhood and also showed me how to prepare some of the dwarven dishes, it just felt as if I knew her already.” Alisa did not stop with the compliments for a while.

  “That is great that you found a new friend, this might be a out of context question but why did she have a slave’s mark on her neck? I did not notice it but Viyetral asked about it from her husband who, for lack of better words, wanted to bash his head-in.”

  Alisa remained silent for a-while — she was reluctant to share the dark, dreadful truth.....