Ch. 11. Fleeing to the surface.

"That will be all for today. Next year will be your final year, so prepare your best work for our inspection. At the end of next year, you will be presenting your work to the Thane himself. Do not bring dishonor upon your teachers or this school by displaying inferior work." Elder Rongrim sat down wearily at his desk and began working on paperwork.

"Yet another year over, and another year where you barely stay out of trouble." Zikruk put away his school supplies with a sigh. "I was sure that you'd be exiled over that last rune you made. The rune of sleeplessness that kept everyone awake for three days straight had both the Elders, and the rest of the town calling for your blood."

"I don't know. It may have been torture, but at least it was productive torture." Bekhi weakly defended me.

"True, since both myself and my father couldn't sleep, we spent the entire time between sleeping and waking hour working on the books. Although we were exhausted for weeks afterwards."

"Everyone was. Even I was affected." I thought back to those lousy weeks where most of the town had been cursed with sluggishness and exhaustion after three days of non stop activity. "Don't worry though, I'm never making that rune ever again. Not while I still live here anyway."

"Don't even think about it!" I ducked as a throwing hammer flew towards my head. "If you ever make that cursed rune again then the Scholar Clan will add you to our book of grudges!"

I looked at the student who had thrown the hammer, he was glaring at me angrily from across the classroom, surrounded by his friends who were equally irritated with me. Glancing around the room, I could see that his sentiments were mirrored by everyone. Aside from Bekhi and Zikruk of course.

"Maybe you need to get out of town for a bit." Bekhi said as she followed my gaze. "My family would be glad to host you again. Since we couldn't go last year, all their requests have piled up."

I nodded thoughtfully. It had been nearly two years since I had visited the surface with Bekhi and I really wanted some fresh butter and milk.

"That might be a good idea, Kvalinn." Zikruk said. "If you don't have the funds then I can lend you the money."

I looked at him skeptically, usually getting money from Zikruk was like trying to coax water from a rock, and took twice as long. He just shrugged dismissively.

"If you are entered in the book of grudges of any clan then it will negatively affect future sales. Better to lose a little money now than lose a lot of money later. Just don't do anything that will get you in trouble up there."

"I guess I'll be going up to Vesturhildrun then." I smiled at Bekhi. "I'll see you tomorrow at the trade convoy gathering place?"

"See you there, Kvalinn. Now com'n, Elder Dworhick's class is starting soon and I want to make sure you are ready to fight my dad this year."

I was dragged off to Advanced Combat class by Bekhi, who put me through the wringer harder than usual. After several years of this self inflicted torture, I was now a lot better at fighting, but Bekhi was still leagues above me somehow. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get better than her.

At the end of the lesson, Bekhi nodded approvingly. "Not bad, Kvalinn. You might last a full minute against my dad in the matches this year. You just need to avoid giving him a runed weapon, or even a regular weapon."

"A full minute, what an accomplishment." I would have laughed in self deprecation if my every muscle wasn't bruised and sore.

After Advanced Combat, it was time for Engineering class with Elder Voghigg. I had managed to master making steam engines of moderate pressure. These devices were relatively efficient, and were about as powerful as a first generation steam train. But since I was not allowed to use runes to heat the water, and all other fuel sources were invariably sent to power the forge fires and home hearths, my steam engines sat in a corner after its initial test. Never to be used again.

Eventually it was time for Rune Theory class with Elder Thrikrondromm. By this time, the class rarely occurred in the actual classroom, it mostly occurred in the rune forge, or in the testing room.

"You're late, Kvalinn Ekgorsson." Elder Thrikrondromm growled. "Just because the surface dwarf is better than you in combat class doesn't give you an excuse to waste my time. Now get up there and craft runes of fire, water, earth, and wind. Move!"

Elder Thrikrondromm hated being kept away from his own rune forge, but since I was worth teaching in his eyes, he grudgingly let me use his rune forge during our lessons. But he worked me to within an inch of my life to make sure I learned the runes though.

"Can I stay late to make some additional weapons?" I asked hesitantly. When Elder Thrikrondromm glared questioningly at me, I rushed to explain myself. "I need to leave town for the new year's celebration so that I am not written into any books of grudges."

"Hmph, people are still angry over that rune of sleeplessness? I don't blame them. It was with great difficulty that I convinced Thane Throdhengrun to not banish you from the city. If you didn't have just one last year to go until your graduation, then I'd have suggested that you leave the mountain for a time to let things cool down. You may use my forge today to make the weapons for the Elders. But nothing experimental! Only use what I've taught you this year."

After verifying that I understood. Elder Thrikrondromm returned to his paperwork at the desk that he had set up in the rune forge. While I got to work on making the weapons, and the runes that would be engraved on them.

It wasn't until well past the sleeping hour that I finished the last weapon and made my way home. I was greeted at the door by my father. He had made it his habit to stay up at his forge whenever I stayed late at school, it was to mostly make sure I made it home safe, but he would also chew me out if I was late due to getting in trouble.

"It's late, Kvalinn. It was only a few weeks ago that you crafted that cursed rune of sleeplessness. If you made another rune so destructive to the mental health of our neighbors so soon, then you may need to stay with relatives in a human town for a decade or two to prevent their calling for your blood."

"Nothing that bad, Father." I started eating the gruel that had been left to warm by the forge fire. It had absorbed the taste of steel and charcoal somehow, but it was the taste of home for me now. "Bekhi invited me to join her on a trip to the surface for New Year's, so I was working late to prepare the presents for the Elders. Both she and Zikruk think it would be a good idea for me to leave town for a bit. Apparently the other students are on the verge of holding grudges against me."

"I see. Hopefully the ancestors will smile on me and keep Aundarord from giving me a large order while you are gone. Do you have any more weapons in your secret stash that you can use on the journey?"

"Just a hammer with the rune of travel on it. I'm not sure what it does though." That rune was the result of me translating a song about country roads in West Virginia, it didn't sound the same in dwarven, and without a guitar it just sounded sad.

"How is that different from most of your experimental runes?" Father gave a sigh before nodding. "I'll cover the cost of the trip tomorrow. Just be safe up there, and try to avoid any blizzards."

"Good morning, Kvalinn!" Bekhi waved to me cheerily from the wagon train. "Do you have any more fun weapons for me? Maybe something with a little more heft than last time."

I handed her the hammer with the rune of travel on it. "Not sure what it does, but it's at least heavier than the hammer of strength."

Bekhi gave the hammer a few experimental swings before strapping it to her side. "It doesn't explode or burst into fire, so that's a point in its favor. Can't wait to see what it does!"

"Hopefully we will not find out on this trip." Kholgaik, the boss of the expedition again, strode up with his usually dour and fearful face. "The goblins have been especially active lately, and several trade caravans have been attacked recently."

Bekhi grinned in anticipation while Father glanced at me in concern. Father then began bargaining with Kholgaik over the price of the round trip. It was a little higher than last time due to the goblin attacks, but father was able to lower the price in exchange for me and Bekhi acting as guards.

Eventually the trade caravan left Nurnwuhr, and started making its way through the long and dark tunnels. The roads were just as smooth and dark as last time, so it was more than a little boring. Soon Bekhi and I were chatting near the front of the wagon train.

"So do you have any other weapons for my family? My dad got to test each of the weapons you gave him last time and aside from the rune of love, each of them had really awesome effects!"

"Wait, what did the rune of love do?" I asked in curiosity. Bekhi shuddered as she recalled the letter her family had sent.

"They used the sword on a goblin, and the blasted bugger started trying frantically to kiss my dad. According to my brother, it was both scary and hilarious. Mom killed the goblin quite savagely with a creepy smile on her face."

"That does sound horrible." I said while picturing a disgusting and horrible goblin trying to kiss me. "But what about the other runes? Were they too destructive? Not destructive enough?"

"It was a mixed bag." Bekhi said with a wry look on her face. "The rune of dancing made the goblins dance, or at least we think it was dancing. My dad said he'd show me the dance when we see each other. The rune of laws made a drunk clean up after themselves but had no effect on monsters. The runes of sunshine and starlight temporarily blinded the opponents. After all that, the assembly made the landmark decision to ban any weapons made by you from matches and games of shieldwall."

"Wait! So are they going to just be locked up like most of my weapons are!?" Even though I was more invested in making steam engines than weapons, I still hated the thought of my hard work just rusting in a box.

"Hardly. Most of them are going into the town's armory so that they can be used during monster attacks. The only one getting locked up is the rune of love, that one would have been tossed to the bottom of a well if my mom had her way. So do you have any more weapons for them? My family said they'll give you a good deal on them!"

"Unfortunately all I had is the one I just gave you." I gestured at the hammer that was hanging among the myriad of other weapons at her waist. "After the rune of sleeplessness debacle, Elder Thrikrondromm confiscated all my weapons, runed or not, and I've only had time to make one since then."

"Aww. Well my family will try to convince you to make some weapons for them while you're up there, so be prepared for some top tier bribes and gifts." Bekhi grinned as she nudged me in the ribs. I chuckled to myself, what bribes could they possibly give me that they hadn't already shown me last time I was here. But as long as they were willing to pay the material costs and give me fresh food, then I'd gladly make some weapons for them.

Just as I felt my enthusiasm rising at the thought of getting to work with someone else paying the tab, Bekhi spoke up again.

"My dad also said that if you make anything else besides weapons, he will turn whatever it is into a weapon, and then use it on you. Apparently the only one who's managed to figure out whatever it was you made last time is Humbart. He's been using them in his kitchen and wants you to make more so that he can send them to his family in The Shire."

"Well at least he appreciates good technology." I grumbled to myself. "Maybe I should visit the shire and sell some of my gadgets there."

"I wouldn't go there, lad." One of the guards who was just behind us said. "The shire is a protectorate of the empire, and anything the empire takes a fancy to they take from the halflings, that includes master craftsmen." The guard looked at me meaningfully, implying that I'd be forced to work for the empire if I tried to live among the hobbits. I took the point and made a mental note to strike off The Shire from places I could live when I grew up.

The Empire of Thrond was one of the biggest power players on this continent, and while it technically was multiracial, hosting halflings, dwarves, elves, and other species, it was always teetering on the edge of human racial purity. They had already lost half their empire when the western half split to make itself into The Human Domain of Alginall, and several minor rebellions had plagued the few hundred year history of the empire over the issue. So working for the empire was near the bottom of my bucket list.

Bekhi and I moved away from talking about weapons, and started talking about her family. As always, with such a big family, there was a lot to talk about. So the next day or so was spent listening to her tell family tales and mini dramas.

On the second day of travel, when we were halfway to Vesturhildrun, we were attacked by goblins. If there had been any landmarks on the featureless gray walls, I would have suspected that it was the exact same place we had been attacked last time.

"Goblin attack!" Came the loud cry from the guard who was tasked with listening for their scratching claws. "Goblin attack! Ready your weapons! Protect the mole-mules and Kholgaik, we don't get paid if the cargo doesn't make it!"

There was a loud clattering as the twenty guards prepared their shields and weapons and got the wagons into a defensive position. I had a short sword this year, but this time there was no magical rune on it so I'd have to depend on my training. Bekhi expertly twirled the hammer I had given her and grinned in anticipation at the upcoming conflict.

"C'mon you cursed buggers! Give me a good warm up!" Bekhi shouted into the blackness of the tunnel.

When I could hear the goblins myself, the rune of wrath started burning on my left hand. This time it was much more intense, as if a burning poker was being applied to the rune lines, and to my horror, I saw the rune being reflected in hundreds of goblin eyes.

"Shit, it's a horde!" One of the guards yelled out. "Use the wagons as a wall, it's about survival now! Gold means nothing if you are dead!"

The shieldwall that had been forming in front of the wagons vanished in an instant as all the guards took their places behind the wagons, evidently they were planning on using the gaps between the wagons as chokepoints. Unfortunately, nobody told us about this plan, and I was too distracted by the pain on my left hand to notice. As for Bekhi, she was too lost in her eagerness for the fight to pay attention to anything else.

"Kvalinn! Get your shield up! The goblins are charging! Don't make me tell Elder Dworhick you need more of his special training." Bekhi's prompts made me forget about the pain, putting it aside to deal with later, as I raised my shield against the hundreds of slobbering goblins.

Just as they had in the previous attack, they charged towards me exclusively and completely ignored Bekhi. It was then that I found out what the rune of protection on my back did. Apparently it prevented anything from piercing my skin, but it delivered the same pain that would have accompanied the bites and scratches directly to the rune lines. Sending fresh waves of agony every time a goblin got past my shield and sword.

"Kvalinn!" Bekhi's panicked yells made it through to my pain fogged brain. I saw her ditch her shield and swing with a hammer and short sword. Despite being slaughtered by her, the goblins kept their entire focus on me. Biting, gnashing, clawing, spitting, it was a horrific sea of green skin and black blood as I swung my sword through them.

I lost track of time, as I dealt with the stinging pain on my hand and back, and killed goblin after goblin as they tried to kill me with no regard to their own safety. Every second seemed to last for eternity as the black blood the goblins gushed around me.

All of a sudden, it stopped. The last goblin glared at me with spittle and blood escaping from its lips alongside incomprehensible guttural sounds as it fell dead off my sword. The instant of silence was deafening, until I was shaken by a hug that would have felt more at home in football.

"Kvalinn! Are you alright!? Are you wounded? Are you gonna die!? Please tell me you aren't gonna die! You are gonna be alright! You can't die yet! You can't!" Bekhi was softly crying as she crushed my bones in a fierce bear hug.

"Get off him, lass. We need to check for wounds or poison. Some of the blasted buggers that wander in from the surface sometimes smear their weapons with poisonous berries." One of the guards forced Bekhi off of me, while another went over the rips and tears in my clothes with a fine toothed comb to check for wounds.

"Ancestors beard." The guard who was checking me over said while sucking air through his teeth. "Based on the bite marks in the clothes and armor, you should be dead several times over, but there's not a scratch on you. Either the ancestors have blocked your admittance to their halls, or the gods themselves protected you." Stepping back, he nodded at the guard who was holding Bekhi back, who released her to resume crushing my bones.

"Kvalinn! I was so scared when I saw you disappear in that mass of green! I thought you were gonna die for sure!"

"I'm definitely going to die if you don't let go!" I tried escaping, or at least getting Bekhi to loosen her grip, but it was all in vain. She somehow tightened her grip, causing several joints to creak ominously.

"If no one is wounded, we need to keep moving. We are already behind schedule thanks to this attack." Kholgaik said with just a bit more tremor in his voice than usual. Even in the flickering light of the torches, everyone could see that his face was paler than a sheet of paper.

But he was right, the carriage masters flicked their reigns and got the wagons moving again, while the guards followed close behind. Bekhi and I supported each other since we were both exhausted from the rush of adrenaline and the fight.

"How are you not wounded, Kvalinn?" Bekhi asked me. "I saw dozens of goblins bite you at once, but you aren't bleeding at all."

I contemplated telling her about the runes on my body that gave me my extraordinary powers, but then I remembered my father warning me to never tell anyone about them. Since they might cause dwarven society at large to exile me due to paranoia over the gods. So I did my best to bluff.

"It's a secret." That was all I could come up with, so I tried to elaborate. "Both my father and Elder Thrikrondromm told me I can't tell anyone."

"I… see. Well, I'm just glad you are safe." Bekhi tried to make her voice more cheerful than it had been. "After all, you make the best weapons for me, although I have to say that this rune of travel was worthless in the fight."

"Agreed." I coughed and realized that one of my ribs was bruised, but whether it was from the fight or the hug I couldn't say. "Maybe it's one of the runes that does nothing when attached to a weapon. Elder Thrikrondromm was teaching me the other day about runes that only function on a weapon or armor, but not both. I'll try adding the rune to some armor when I get home."

"Please don't make any more experimental runes when you get home. That's why you're coming with me in the first place." Bekhi's stern reminder of the angry town behind me was all I needed to forget about making any more runes at home. For a little while anyway.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, although Kholgaik kept us going from before the waking hour to past the sleeping hour to make up for the time we had lost to the fight. But we made it to the surface door when we were supposed to.

"Dad!" Bekhi rushed to give Dak a hug. After experiencing the same enthusiasm the other day, I winced in sympathy.

"Bekhi? What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay in Nurnwuhr until your graduation at the end of next year. Did something happen?" Dak took the hug like a stone pillar, and even though he was confused as to why she was there, he still returned the hug.

"It's a bit of a long story, but Kvalinn needed to get out of town for a bit." Dak noticed me for the first time and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Sensing that it was not the time for formal greetings, I gave a quick summation that I had crafted a rune that made everyone back home annoyed with me, and I had to leave town to let things cool down a little.

"I see." Dak eyed me with a look that said that he had a lot more questions for me later, but for now, he sighed before turning back to Bekhi. "I'll be here for a while, so go surprise your mom at home. Let her know to prep the guest room for Kvalinn."

"Ok, dad. Com'n, Kvalinn, let's go!" Bekhi was a little less energetic than usual after the long trip, but she still had enough to grab my hand and run through the town with me in tow.

Bekhi's mother was just as surprised and happy to see us as Dak had been. She immediately sent one of her children to prepare the guest room for me and set another place at the table. It didn't take long until I was laughing and chatting relaxedly with the rest of the family.

Dinner was a large roast of venison, one of Bekhi's brothers, Kredak, was a hunter and had just bagged the deer the other day so it was extremely fresh. Not even smoked or salted, so I greatly enjoyed the roasted meat. A few minutes into dinner though, the bargaining for my weapons started.

"So, Kvalinn." Dak said while putting another slice of venison on my plate. "Bekhi says in her letters that you have grown considerably better at making runes, I don't suppose you could make a few more for us? Although traditional runes would be more appreciated than those experimental ones."

"Are you sure, dad?" Kredak said. "That rune of heat that got them through the blizzard would be useful on hunting trips."

"Yeah! We could use it to get to The Halfling's Haven even in the harshest winter!" Another brother said enthusiastically. "Or we could just use it to keep from having to shovel the snow! Our snow shovels can rust in storage."

"We could also use them in the barn." Vinga, the youngest girl, said. "Ruki Egglayer and Gron Featherfall would lay a lot more eggs if they were warm all year round."

The ideas on my rune of heat kept coming and coming and unfortunately I had to put an end to all of it. When there was a lul in the conversation, I spoke up.

"Unfortunately, the rune I made last time I was here was faulty and stopped working after we reached the surface door. It was only made for short term use anyway, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to put out that level of heat. A normal rune of heat is only just warmer than a kitchen fire, not enough to melt snow or heat a barn. Not unless I made a lot of them."

There was a chorus of boos and sighs of disappointment from around the table. From the mutterings I overheard, apparently the whole town had talked about the rune of heat that had allowed me to 'walk fearlessly through a blizzard' and everyone wanted one. Eventually, Dak banged his empty tankard against the table a few times to get everyone's attention.

"I told you that runes didn't work that way. Kvalinn is a weaponsmith anyway, not a rune smith. So if any of you have weapon requests, now's the time to ask and bargain."

I was then flooded with requests for weapons, some sensible and possible, while others were outlandish and overly destructive. After getting writing materials from my bag, I began bargaining for sausages, smoked meat, jerky, fruit preserves and jam, in exchange for the magical runed weapons. Dak said he'd pay for the materials so everyone in the family got a discount, although technically, getting a rare magical runed weapon in exchange for food supplies was practically a steal.

We spent the rest of the day, and well into the night, feasting, drinking and telling tales of life and bravery that occurred during the year. It was much more chaotic than my father's and my usual New Year's celebration, but it was much more fun.