Jastillian stroked his bushy beard. “Despite what some of you humans think, we're not just diggers and blood-thirsty warriors. We're also builders, lad. While a lot of the things we create are for warfare, some things aren't. This” –he swept his arms out— “is one of them. We've used the knowledge we've acquired over the centuries to refine and perfect how we build things. Some of our engineers used their expertise to make these mountains habitable.”
“That's incredible.”
“Aye,” Jastillian said. “In my travels, I’ve learned that magic was used to help with the original beams, joints, columns, and frames, but I wasn't able to find any evidence of it in our own records. We lack a wizard's expertise.” He twiddled his beard and stared upwards. “Still, if magic were involved even a little bit, it would be a great find.”
“If I'm ever back this way, I'll check for you,” I said, looking up to see what he saw. Even now, I could make out dwarves working among the buildings. No wonder everything was so clean and in such perfect repair. I wished I was just visiting Erlam, and could sight-see.
But I wasn't.
I couldn’t get the princess out of my mind. Had Premier already brought his forces to Alexandria? Had she gambled—moved against Premier and failed? If only there was a way to know what was happening. I wasn’t leaving here without securing the dwarves’ help. If I had come all this way here for nothing, and abandoned the princess in her time of need, I would never be able to forgive myself.
I looked over my shoulder and whispered, “Krystal. Please be safe.”
Jastillian led me to a flat, rectangular building, which he said was the largest building in the mountain. We walked up a long staircase, between polished dark gray columns. There were no windows. It was far too deep in the mountains for windows to be of any use.
“Jastillian,” one of the guards said, blocking the open archway.
“Greetings.”
“I see you’ve brought a visitor, yet I’ve not been notified, which means the human doesn’t have clearance. I know it’s been a while since you’ve last been here, but there are no outsiders currently allowed into Erlam.” The dwarf shook his head wearily. “Tell me why I should admit you, instead of having your friend locked up.”
“It’s urgent. We’re going to see my mother.”
“You may see her. The human stays.”
“He’s coming too.”
The guard shook his head. “He can’t. I don’t care—”
“He’s a wizard.”
The guard stared at me, dumbfounded, before looking back to Jastillian. Then he broke into a chuckle. “He tell you that, to get you to bring him to Erlam? Not likely. Everyone knows there are no more wizards in Northern Shala.” He shared a smirk with the other guards.
“Hellsfire,” Jastillian said.
I nodded in understanding. I released my anger and frustration at being barred at every turn while people’s lives were in danger. This was taking far too long. The torch flame in my hand exploded into a fireball twice as big as my head. I dropped the torch, keeping the flame hovering in front of me. It flew towards the guards and stopped, spinning faster and faster. The guards backed away, eyes wide, hands on their weapons.
Jastillian coughed, catching my attention. He shook his head slightly.
I reached out to the fire. My hand reabsorbed it. The warmth flowed through my body as the fire disappeared from view.
The guards moved aside, still stunned.
“It's good to be home.” Jastillian smiled and clapped the guard on his shoulder as we passed through the archway and into the building.
He looked satisfied, but I had an uneasy feeling that getting the dwarves to help was going to be a lot harder than entering their city.
CHAPTER 18
“Let’s go get cleaned up before I take you to meet my mother,” Jastillian said.
“Who is your mother?” I asked.
“She leads Erlam.”
My eyes widened. That was great news. Hope rose within me. Maybe coming here wasn’t a waste of time.
“Think she will help?” I asked.
“I’ll do my best, lad.”
Jastillian led me through the narrow halls. Banners hung all over the place, many depicting a muscular arm wielding an axe. It was the dwarves’ symbol for strength and power, intimidating people in battle. Jastillian said that even though they were now more than just a warrior people, they kept the symbol to remind themselves of their past.
Although I was accustomed to living inside a cave, the inside of the castle was far darker than I was used to. Torches burned sporadically along the halls, but didn’t provide enough light for me. The hallways and rooms were shorter and more compact than in either of the castles in Sharald or Alexandria, or the inside of the White Mountain, making it far more crowded than I was used to. I also had to duck beneath the arches, because everything was sized for dwarves.