Sineater

The Dwarves barely paid attention to us.

With the mining operation happening underground, there was no way to tell what time it was without a magical device. I was always too close to Vin to keep one of those on me, but I was sure the Dwarves had one around the mining somewhere. The lack of the ability to tell whether it was night or day allowed the mining operation to continue round the clock, so I wasn’t surprised to see a new crew descending one of the elevators to swap out with one of the old ones.

“We stagger the levels.” Tharkun saw my interest and explained. “That way we don’t have a flood of miners hit the city all at once.”

“Makes sense.” I looked towards the direction my brother had gone. I had no doubt that he’d be fine on his own. My main concern was that he’d have too much fun and lose track of time, then we’d have to go look for him.

We were almost to the top of the elevator, though that wasn’t the top of the mountain. The mining elevator didn’t go all the way up to the city. Which was probably a precaution in case they uncovered a monster down below that decided a shaft was the perfect means to escape.

Gaelun had seemed a little happier once my brother had run off, though that wasn’t saying much. He was still standing in the corner sulking. I had a feeling that he didn’t enjoy having his role as our guide being taken from him even if he hadn’t enjoyed having the role.

The mining hub was bustling with Dwarves moving around. There were piles of metal bars that were being stacked and sorted to one side, while the opposite side had piles of uncut gems that were being cleaned by the craftsmen that were working there. The other two sides had one reserved for miners and workers to leave and the other for them to exit.

“Most of our crafting happens in the forge.” Tharkun jabbed his thumb downward as we got off the elevator. “What you see here is our fulfillment center where we package the requests of our clients and get the metal ready for shipping.” He nodded at the gems. “Keeping the valuables up here ensures that an ambitious craftsman doesn’t decide to add a little flair to one of their creations.

“Ah…” I was momentarily confused as he walked over to the pile of cut gemstones and began rooting around.

“Elder…” Gaelun began, but was silenced by a wave of the older Dwarf’s hand.

I thought it was interesting how none of the other Dwarves even bothered to try to stop our new guide as he kept moving such precious gems like he was digging through the dirt.

Tharkun looked back at us for a moment and I realized that he was studying Starna. After a moment he resumed his digging, then pulled out a blue and white stone the size of a small egg and tossed it at the mage.

“You’re ice?” He grinned like he already knew the answer.

Starna nodded slowly as she held up the gem. I could feel the chill it was giving off from where I was standing beside her.

“This is…” She offered the gem back to the Dwarf. “Incredible. I’ve never seen one so large.”

“They usually get loaded down with enchantments to help protect buildings or ships.” Tharkun grinned as he held up his hands. “Consider it an apology for having to leave your friend behind.”

My Elf companion straightened her shoulders and smiled. “I very much appreciate your hospitality.”

A smile spread out from under the braids of white hair as the Dwarf motioned for us to head towards the exit.

We were still underground, but the city was so large that I couldn’t tell just how far it went in any direction. It seemed like the mining headquarters was in the center of the city. Which I could believe given how much mining was a central part of Dwarf culture.

“If ya don’ mind.” Gaelun rubbed his hands together, then blew into them like he was trying to get warm. “Is been a long day…”

“I’ll get our guests situated, then give a report to the king.” Tharkun motioned for us to follow him as he turned his back to my cousin.

I watched the younger Dwarf move so fast away from us that he was almost running.

“He didn’t even say goodbye.” I shook my head. I was going to have to ask Garm about what had happened between him and the rest of his family.

“Let him go.” Starna grabbed my arm and led me down the street after our new guide. “We don’t want to get lost.”

There wasn’t much risk of that considering Tharkun was the only white haired Dwarf I could see. There also weren’t many people out with how late it was, but we did need to hurry if we were going to catch up to him.

I walked arm-in-arm with Starna down the street after the Dwarf. She felt like her skin was buzzing with excitement and I had a feeling that her present had something to do with her mood.

“How relevant was the gift he gave you?”

“Moonstones can be attuned to cryomancy, hydromancy, or telemancy.” Starna pulled the gem out of her pocket and began rolling it slowly in her palm. “This is almost too big to be used as a focus, but I have some ideas about how to turn it into a battery. With this I’ll be able to store a lot of magic that could be used to power a master level spell.”

“So it’s pretty significant.” I watched her put the gem back in her pocket.

She nodded. “Like he said, most gems of this size are used to power big enchantments. You could buy an entire ship for what this would cost once it's attuned and charged.”

I swallowed. That was a very expensive gift that we’d just been given and Tharkun had treated it like he’d just handed her a piece of fish. My opinion of just how connected the old Dwarf was rose by magnitudes.

Speaking of which, Tharkun had stopped in front of a two story stone building. I wasn’t surprised that GLADSTONE was on the sign over the glass windows that covered most of the front of the building. It seemed like he was going to put us up in his own shop.

“Welcome to my home!” Tharkun threw open the door and motioned for us to go inside. “Let’s get you to your room.”