Blademage Adept (The Blademage Saga Book 3) by Chris Hollaway Page A

blindfold up and over his head. It was an hour later, and several spiral ramps, ear-popping pressure changes, and creaking stone doors lay behind them. The familiar sights and smells of the Dwarven Hold’s stable surrounded him, and he leapt down to greet the hostlers and help with the care of their horses.
    “A-Ah…” Britger-Stoun stammered. “I’m sure Uncle will want te see ye straightaway.”
    Bertus laughed. “When this is finished. We’ll not keep him waiting as long as last time.”
    Martin and Alma followed behind Bertus as they were led through the winding tunnels and passages that led to the chambers of the Dwarven King. The Warrior called out greetings to those he knew in the rudimentary Dwarven he had learned on his last visit. Work stopped as the procession passed, cheers of welcome mingled with murmurs of confusion at Mirsa’s absence, and the addition of the two newcomers.
    “Behr-toos!” Bargthar-Stoun cried out, leaping from the Seat of Earth before the group was halfway across the chamber. The overexcited ruler backhanded a guard that stumbled into him near the base of the stairs that led up to the throne, and motioned for the rest of them to stay where they were.
    “Heee-Ro.” The King stopped a few steps before Bertus, and extended his arm in a formal greeting. “Muhr-sah?” he asked, peering over Bertus’s shoulder to his companions.
    “Mirsa still journeys with Kylgren-Wode and Rhysabeth-Dane, Highness.”
    Bargthar-Stoun nodded as Britger translated. “ Anch seite? ”, he asked, pointing to the knife at the Warrior’s hip.
    “Your old sword?” the King’s nephew asked.
    “The first leg of my journey was magical, I was forced to leave it behind.”
    Bargthar-Stoun nodded at the translation and pointed to one of his guards, yelling something that Bertus could not understand. The guard bowed, then fled from the chamber.
    “ Hoo ?” Questioning eyes squinted at Martin and Alma.
    “Alma, sister to Kevon, and her husband, Martin.”
    The dwarves argued back and forth for a time, as Martin and Alma fidgeted.
    “What is it?” Bertus prodded Britger-Stoun in a lull in the squabble.
    “Yer people don’t abide the use of iron and sorcery, do they?”
    “No, they do not,” Bertus sighed. “If you are unable to help us, I understand.”
    The dwarf’s eyes widened. “Our people have been waiting fer him since before the wars. We have te help ye.”
     

Chapter 11
     
    “I still don’t like it,” Reko declared as the cabin door closed behind Kevon and the others. “We should not have to risk so much for them, when it would be so easy to turn them over to-”
    “Not your decision, I’m afraid.” Captain Yusa chuckled at his friend. “I value your counsel, but you are not always right.”
    “I’d like that to stay between us,” the Mage growled, vanishing with a gesture and a soft whoosh .
    Yusa strode to the cabin door and opened it. “Tea, now,” he told the sailor standing closest to him. He returned to his desk to wait for the herbal brew, rubbing at his neck.
    ‘Captain?” Kevon asked, poking his head through the still-open door.
    “What now?”
    “If we’re causing trouble between you and your-”
    “Nonsense. Arguing with Reko is one of my favorite things. Despite the headache it usually brings.” He kneaded at his neck a moment longer, stopping just shy of the scar at the base of his skull. “Was there something else you needed?”
    “I was hoping to speak more with Reko,” Kevon confessed. “I’m not having as much trouble so far this voyage, but was wondering how he copes with the sea so well.”
    Yusa laughed. “We don’t sail to the north! I tried once, nearly drove him mad. Never seen him so upset. No, we stay to the shallows. If the weather is calm, you can always see the bottom below us. That’s one headache I don’t need.”
    “I’m grateful for that, then,” Kevon admitted. “Our last voyage was not an easy one. It came close to