Hall.”
“Are you serious?” The idea of someone cutting their own secret route through the heart of the mountain and then keeping it for their own private use rather than opening it up to the rest of Dragon City boggled my mind. That kind of thing just didn’t happen, did it?
“I know, it seems crazy, but the Brichts have been cutting stone out of the mountain for hundreds of years. The place is so riddled with shafts and tunnels that it’s amazing it doesn’t all just come tumbling down.”
I didn’t find that reassuring.
I don’t know how we made it inside the mountain. The black veils kept me from seeing too much outside the palanquin. I reached out to pull one to the side once and peek out, but it refused to budge, as if it were made of rock rather than fabric.
“They’re bulletproof too,” Johan said. “We’re as safe inside here as anywhere in Dragon City.”
“But we can’t look outside?”
Johan shrugged. “The Brichts like their secrets.”
I pointed toward the front of the palanquin. “Is Ingo a Bricht?”
“Someone has to operate this thing. He’s a well-trusted member of the clan, but his last name’s Dunkel.”
I nodded, pretending to understand. The dwarves had their own way of doing things. Some called it underhanded — even criminal — but I had to admit it was usually effective. As long as you were on their side. If you happened to wind up facing off against them, I didn’t suspect it would seem fair.
“So what’s this all about?” The palanquin took that moment to dip forward. The light that had been filtering through the veils vanished as if night had come crashing down over us. We had to have entered the mountain.
If I’d wanted to turn back, it was too late now.
Small glowglobes that I hadn’t paid much attention to before now kept the interior of the palanquin lit with a gentle luminance. Johan fidgeted on his cushion. “They haven’t really told me. I just know they want to see you. Bad.”
I wondered if I’d made the right decision to come with him. I felt sure I hadn’t done anything to piss off the Brichts.
Lately.
That I knew of.
I eyed the veils, trying to see if they really were immovable. My wand might have something to say about that in a pinch.
Johan put up a hand to reassure me. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong, Max. They seemed eager to meet you. In a friendly way.” He tried to smile, but he was too nervous to pull it off well, and his face looked like he was wearing a rictus grin instead.
“You’re not helping.”
“No, really. It’s just that once you wound up with the dragonet attached to you like that, they suddenly got interested in you. They knew that you’d helped me out of that spot, so they leaned on me to reach out to you. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Honest.”
I believed him. I just didn’t know if I believed whatever it was his bosses had told him. Deep as we already had to be into the mountain, though, I didn’t see how I had a better option than sticking it through to find out. The palanquin moved far faster than I would have ever dared fly inside of something. Even if I’d have been able to open the veils and get out, I didn’t like the idea of trying to leap off the thing at such speeds.
Moments later, the palanquin dipped down at an even sharper angle, then righted itself and slowed. Bright lights shone through the veils once more, but they came at the wrong angles to be natural. We dropped toward the ground as if we were caught in an elevation field, and we came to a stop with a gentle bump. Ingo seemed to know his trade well.
The veils around the palanquin unstiffened. Ingo pulled aside the one that separated his seat from ours. “We’re here, sirs. And they’re waiting for you.”
Johan opened the door to the palanquin and stepped out, then held it open for me. I crawled out after him and found myself standing in a vast underground
“Are you serious?” The idea of someone cutting their own secret route through the heart of the mountain and then keeping it for their own private use rather than opening it up to the rest of Dragon City boggled my mind. That kind of thing just didn’t happen, did it?
“I know, it seems crazy, but the Brichts have been cutting stone out of the mountain for hundreds of years. The place is so riddled with shafts and tunnels that it’s amazing it doesn’t all just come tumbling down.”
I didn’t find that reassuring.
I don’t know how we made it inside the mountain. The black veils kept me from seeing too much outside the palanquin. I reached out to pull one to the side once and peek out, but it refused to budge, as if it were made of rock rather than fabric.
“They’re bulletproof too,” Johan said. “We’re as safe inside here as anywhere in Dragon City.”
“But we can’t look outside?”
Johan shrugged. “The Brichts like their secrets.”
I pointed toward the front of the palanquin. “Is Ingo a Bricht?”
“Someone has to operate this thing. He’s a well-trusted member of the clan, but his last name’s Dunkel.”
I nodded, pretending to understand. The dwarves had their own way of doing things. Some called it underhanded — even criminal — but I had to admit it was usually effective. As long as you were on their side. If you happened to wind up facing off against them, I didn’t suspect it would seem fair.
“So what’s this all about?” The palanquin took that moment to dip forward. The light that had been filtering through the veils vanished as if night had come crashing down over us. We had to have entered the mountain.
If I’d wanted to turn back, it was too late now.
Small glowglobes that I hadn’t paid much attention to before now kept the interior of the palanquin lit with a gentle luminance. Johan fidgeted on his cushion. “They haven’t really told me. I just know they want to see you. Bad.”
I wondered if I’d made the right decision to come with him. I felt sure I hadn’t done anything to piss off the Brichts.
Lately.
That I knew of.
I eyed the veils, trying to see if they really were immovable. My wand might have something to say about that in a pinch.
Johan put up a hand to reassure me. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong, Max. They seemed eager to meet you. In a friendly way.” He tried to smile, but he was too nervous to pull it off well, and his face looked like he was wearing a rictus grin instead.
“You’re not helping.”
“No, really. It’s just that once you wound up with the dragonet attached to you like that, they suddenly got interested in you. They knew that you’d helped me out of that spot, so they leaned on me to reach out to you. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Honest.”
I believed him. I just didn’t know if I believed whatever it was his bosses had told him. Deep as we already had to be into the mountain, though, I didn’t see how I had a better option than sticking it through to find out. The palanquin moved far faster than I would have ever dared fly inside of something. Even if I’d have been able to open the veils and get out, I didn’t like the idea of trying to leap off the thing at such speeds.
Moments later, the palanquin dipped down at an even sharper angle, then righted itself and slowed. Bright lights shone through the veils once more, but they came at the wrong angles to be natural. We dropped toward the ground as if we were caught in an elevation field, and we came to a stop with a gentle bump. Ingo seemed to know his trade well.
The veils around the palanquin unstiffened. Ingo pulled aside the one that separated his seat from ours. “We’re here, sirs. And they’re waiting for you.”
Johan opened the door to the palanquin and stepped out, then held it open for me. I crawled out after him and found myself standing in a vast underground
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