The Long Road Ahead

It didn't take any real special effort to lock up. Why would it? If anything, moving empty boxes and such back in the way took more time, not to mention effort. If the armory hadn't been, essentially, cleared out it's unlikely anyone would have ever suspected that room existed. Not that it was something Ian cared about at this point in time. Once he was back outside it was 'homeward bound', wherever that was.

"So... Best guess, how long would you say it is to get me back home to father dearest?" the youth asked, a hint of spiteful arrogance in his voice.

There was a brief pause as the dwarves looked at each other. "If all goes well... five days there, time to mobilize, a fortnight or so to get back... Everything could be sorted before the harvest is in."

"Most excellent," the boy said cheerfully, "I look forward to sending the army to make war upon your enemies. Well, should father prove amenable, of course." He waved it off as if that were unlikely, "Is there a way to speak with those who went to the kitchens? Ah, aside from waiting for them, I mean."

"Magic is a fine thing, but it's not easy to speak mind to mind. It's something of a rare skill that, unfortunately, we don't possess."

"A pity... Well, there's no hope for it." Lapsing into silence, Ian followed along complacently. Something had become clear to him early on... these people thought he was an idiot. Well, it's nice being underestimated, but hitting him over the head with some of this... Well, whatever.

The path back to the entrance he knew was just as empty of enemies as it was when he'd left. He did hear what might have been the clash of combat but... There was grunting and shouting and the sounds of metal on metal echoing in the caves, leaving the exact number of people fighting hard to be sure of. That said, something was missing... Honestly, it felt like a play for his benefit. The other party was there waiting when they arrived... They seemed to have been beaten up a little bit, but none of them had any significant wounds. Hell, they hadn't even lost one person and they were basically unarmed.

"How'd it go?" the boy asked the grizzled looking dwarf leading that party. "Looks a bit like you ran into something, of course, but what happened?"

"Wee little fight," that worthy replied, "Weren't nothin' we couldn't handle. We've come bearin' gifts, though."

"Yay..." the boy replied, less than enthusiastically. "Well, no point sticking around here. Up past that corpse there, you can almost see the tunnel entrance, right? It's almost an optical illusion... Still, I'm surprised it wasn't found sooner."

"I'm sure it's been found a number of times," Sunny reassured the teenager, "But expecting anything from goblins is asking too much of them, not so?"

"I guess..." he said, trailing off. It was with a shrug that he started leading the way. It wasn't like someone else couldn't do so, more that he wanted to get going. He was feeling impatient and wary of his putative companions and longed once more for the light of the sun. We had collected a number of bags and satchels from the old vault, but only the two considered to be 'mine' were undamaged enough to be reliable. The food was split up for the most part, the most of it was added to the pack Sunny was carrying in my name. In addition to that, she and he had both tied a smaller 'sack' to our belts... if you could call the rope around her waist a belt.

Whatever it was, Ian gladly took the lead and led the dwarves, whom should surely have known this place better than him, back out of the cave. It was unclear to him when it happened, but two of them had picked up the body of the dead goblin and carried it along. The boy could see where it made sense, truly, but the part of him that gloried in adventures and stories was already suspicious. Seriously, did they think him daft? This all felt like some kind of setup and the poor fool following along with them knew it. Well, it was safe to say that he suspected what they wanted from him, however, the youth was still uncertain as to why they wanted it from him specifically.

The thing that scared him the most right then however... his father. In the real world, his parents were always working and even when they had time for him... Well, his mother seemed supportive but powerless to aid her favorite and only son. His father, however, criticized him and told the boy that he would have to deal with his problems sooner or later. If his father got involved it would only make things worse for the boy in the end. It might have been true, or not, but the boy would have liked a bit more support. Well, it was why he'd taken up the sword.

What he wanted more than anything was time alone somewhere, perhaps a room, to go over everything he had with him. Ian was hesitating to use the revolver, for instance, but wouldn't it be better to use it in an emergency than to die hiding that secret? His fear was that the others would try and steal it from him if he used to too soon. How annoying. He resolved himself to putting it back in his pack yet again at the first opportunity. If these dwarves were guarding him, it would surely be dishonorable to defend them, right?

While thinking such unworthy thoughts, the youth found himself once more leaving that final cave for the sunlight. His phone was turned off now, so he took the time to put it in his pack with that gun, before turning to the others. "So here we are. As you see, it's a bit of dense forest and no convenient lake or pool at the bottom of this cliff of ours. So, what now?"

Carefully removing a rope from his satchel, Rokal smiled at the youth. "Well, we climb down, of course. Look, there's even knots tied every foot or so, this will be easy for a nimble lad like you. We'll hide this rope off to the side so that your father's forces can lead a successful ambush and Deimos Hold will be restored in practically no time."

"A fair assessment," the youth agreed laconically, "Which means... well, I suppose it means we should step right along, right?"

"Well said young Ian," the dwarf agreed, heartily clapping him on the shoulder. "Rockjaw, secure the rope... there I think, do you see it?"

Ian made a point of not paying attention, his thoughts turning inwards again. He wondered what kind of man his father was in this world? It was obvious right off the bat that some things were different. To start, in the other world his dad ran a small business. Sure, he collected antique weapons, but for the most part his old man was just another guy. Should he die suddenly, his family would miss him, but little else would have changed really. Even if his business were lost, it wasn't the same as say... the death of a sitting president, or really any world leader.

And yet, in this world, Ian had the sense that his old man was important. Not necessarily a king or anything but... His 'friend' Sunny wasn't calling him 'Highness' every other word, nor did she seem overly impressed with him. It was more like they were friends of a similar status. If that was the case, the youth had to wonder why she wasn't tearing off to find her father and bring his men to clear this Dwarf-Hold.

"Hey, Ian?" Sunny was shaking him a little suddenly. "Hey! Hello? Are you coming or what?"

"Eh?" the youth asked, blinking rapidly. "Wait, what now?"

"Are you using a sight spell or something? No, I'd have felt it if you were using magic... Pay attention to me for once! It's time to get going, you know?"

"Oh! I mean, obviously." Flashing a boyish smile at her, the youth walked to the rope and took his turn. Climbing down was relatively easy, perhaps rope climbing in gym class wasn't a completely useless life skill after all. Upon reaching the bottom, he back away a few steps, then turned around to join the others in looking for the path forward.

"It's not surprising that there's no road," Rokal was telling another dwarf, "But it might be hard going at first. This might take longer than I like... Well, no help for it. Ah, Ian! You need a break or are you good to keep going?"

"I mean, taking a break would just delay the inevitable need to press on... and I'm not particularly tired just now. So what's the plan?"

"Just stick close to me, lad, and I'll see you home," the dwarf replied with a warm smile... But there was just a hint of something in his eyes for a moment. Was that contempt? It was gone almost as fast as he'd seen it, though. Ian frowned, but nodded.