The Elderkin Prophet

Chapter 19

The Kalina had barely managed to dock itself at the overcrowded harbour of Brigna. There were hundreds of human ships all around her. They had the same design as the ships the gulls had located earlier that day. Uul is standing in the centre of the brig. He is giving out orders left right and centre.

“Hold the mast steady while drawing it up. The wind can loosen the knots.”

“Bring out the drawbridge and fix it.”

“Somebody check on those rescued human dolls.”

Ophinia packs some of her belongings and readies herself next to Uul. She is overwhelmed by seeing so many humans.

“Why are those ones so tiny?” She points her finger at some dwarves.

Uul breaks into laughter immediately.

“Don’t ever call them tiny again or they will break you into tiny pieces until you’re half their size. Those my dear, are dwarfs; Strong as a bull but with the brain size of a pea.”

Ophinia looked extremely excited. The crew begins to leave the ship one by one. Each crew mate had their own duties to perform.

“So, who is going to stay and look after the ship?”

“Aye, I’ll look after her.” One of the crew mates volunteered.

“The harbour master will take care of the ship Uul. Let’s not leave a man behind.” Ruuney suggested.

“I don’t trust humans.” Uul grunts.

Ruuney scratches the back of his head.

Once they left the ship and walked out from the harbour, they were stopped by the local taskmaster.

“Hold up… State your business.” He eyes the gulls for a moment before returning to his list.

“Let me do the talking.” Ruuney whispered to Uul.

“We’re here on official business on behalf of the Onyx Legion. Let us pass, we wont stay for long.”

The task master looks unimpressed. He is looking for proof. Ruuney hands him the letter and seal of the Onyx Legion.

“One more thing.”

The task master looks at him.

“Help them out.” Ruuney calls to a few gulls to help the rescued survivors off the ship.

They look barely conscious. Upon seeing the survivors, the task masters jaw drops. In fact, every other human nearby is staring at the gulls with widened eyes. As they looked in disbelief.

“You… Tha…That’s our prince…” The taskmaster rushes towards Jayyed who is wrapped in athick shaggy blanket.

“Where did you..”

“There’s a wreck not far south from here…” Ruuney finishes his sentence.

“People come help your prince!” The man yelled as several people dropped their jobs to come to his aid.

“What do you want in return for this?” He asked shyly.

Ruuney looks towards Uul. He notioned that they did not want anything.

“Nothing, we will be on our way.”

“Thank you for bringing him and the rest of the survivors to us. Go ahead with your job, we won’t disturb you no more.”

“Finally..” Uul moans.

The task master looked incredibly stunned and grateful. He couldn’t thank the gulls enough for what they did.

“I’m going to stay here and manage some things.. I’ll join you later.” Ruuney spoke to the party.

“Who here is ready to join me for a mug of ale at the nearest inn?”

All the gulls cheer and begin to walk alongside Uul and Ophinia. They were taking the path to the village. Ophinia was lost in thought. She kept looming over the humans and their activities. They were strange and new to her.

“Why do they do that?”

“Do what?”

“That!” She points to a bunch of human children playing a game of fetch.

“Oh… Those are children…Pretty much useless until they have completely grown up.”

“Are you sure? Or are you just making fun of them.” Ophinia questioned.

“Positive.”

“Anyways… What do you think happened here?”

“What do you mean?” Uul asks.

“I mean, why are there so many humans here suddenly? So many ships at the harbour… And look over there!” She points to the clearing in the forest adjacent to their path.

“I myself am shocked to see so many of them here.” One of the gulls added.

“The last thing I had expected to see… scratch that, I had never even in the wildest of my dreams expected this many humans to brood like this.” Uul spoke.

“Brigna is a dwarf settlement, not human.” Another gull added

“Doesn’t matter, let’s ask around.”

As the gulls moved through, they were only greeted with eyes of strangers staring at them as they passed. The people looked unwelcoming and cold as they stared at them move. Some of them began to whisper to one another when they saw the gulls.

The party of gulls were once again stopped at the gate by a dwarf. He held a huge crossbow in his arms, almost as big as him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the nearest inn good man.” Uul answered.

In this short period of time, a messenger ran caught up to them.

“Let them through! Captain’s orders.”

The dwarf grumbles and speaks in his own tongue.

“The inn is a few blocks to the left. Create any nuisance and there will be none to protect you then.”

Uul rolls his eyes at the arrogant dwarf.

“That was really rude.” Ophinia remarked.

Uul shook his head.

“Pea brains.”

Moogi climbed out of Ophinia’s bag and perched himself on her shoulders. The people stared at her because they had never seen a Buga before.

The party find the inn and enter.

“Roasted Potbelly inn they call this place.” One of the gulls spoke.

“An interesting choice of name.” Ophinia reacted.

They walk in and seat themselves on a large table. The atmosphere is rampant and wild. There were drums and other smaller instruments being played from one corner of the room. The bar owner was occupied with customers. Fat barrels acted as the stools for the bar. There were mostly wooden tables but some were made of cold, hard stone. Several dwarves were cheering for a brawl. The sound of mugs banging with one another every now and then coupled with lots of laughter and talking.

Uul ordered himself a flagon. Two gulls carried all the drinks and ale they desired and served them to the rest.

Uul takes a huge gulp almost as if he was parched.

He slams the mug on the table and wipes of the brew from his lips.

“Not bad. I’m impressed.”

Ophinia took a sip but spat it back into the cup. She hated the taste of ale. It tasted mouldy and bitter to her.

The other gulls seemed to gulp it like it was nothing. Time begins to wind down. The party relaxes and enjoys themselves. Uul and a few other gulls were half drunk and began to create some ruckus. Most of the dwarves enjoyed their company as they mixed well with one another.

Eventually, Uul was challenged by another dwarf to arm wrestle.

“Bring it on!” He yelled

The table is cleared of drinks but two. The two contestants sat opposite each other on barrel, separated by a flimsy table. The dwarf had huge biceps along with a band tied to his wrist that almost looked like it was about to snap. Uul was old and tall. The gulls had moved to one side of the table and rooted for Uul while the dwarves rooted for the other.

The wretle began and both sides cheered on as the two toughed it out. At first it looked like Uul had an easy win, but the dwarf was strong and started to win back ground. They were once more locked near the centre of the table. Their arms were vibrating with the force they were using. Things looked intense. More back and forth kept happening.

“Finish it! Quit playing games with the lad.” A gull shouted.

“Oi! Olmuk here ain’t going down so easy.”

Uul looked up at the dwarf and smiled. Within a short second, Uul quickly defeated Olmuk and rose from his seat. He drank the mug of ale next to him. He raised his hands as everyone cheered. Some people looked upset.

“You’re one tough cookie” Olmuk praised Uul.

“Old but still tough as nails. You’re stronger than I expected though.”

Olmuk brushes off the compliment.

“You’ve earned my respect…umm.”

“Uul.”

They shake hands and exchange a quick hug.

“What brings you here? Uul.” Olmuk asks.

“Nah.. Just some business alittle away from here. I am not one to come to places like these in the first place.”

“I can tell. Must be those stinking humans.”

“Coming to that..” Ophinia interrupted.

“What?”

“Why are they here? So many of them?”

“Urgh… They all flocked here like cowards when their city was blown to pieces.”

Ophinia looks at Uul.

“Humans and their petty wars. Bet their greed caused this.”

Gulls and dwarves were treated as lesser races by the humans. They always considered themselves to be at the top of the chain with all their advancements and achievements. They would often look down upon the other races and would poke fun at their customs. The called them unruly and savage. Most humans made a fool out of every gull or dwarf they met. They would stare at them with angry eyes. Even though dwarfs and gulls were some of the older races of Phaera and shared a lot of things common in their culture, they were still alien to one another. Even to this day.

Ruuney entered the inn and caught upto Uul.

“Things don’t look so good around here.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The humans have lost their home and have set up camp here; probably for the long run.”

 “This doesn’t bode too well for the dwarves I reckon.”

“Surprisingly not, the leaders of this bunch of humans are fairly open towards other races. They share no hostility towards us whatsoever; especially after we rescued a prince of theirs.”

“Doesn’t concern us. We are here on one goal. Let’s head out soon.”

Uul, Ophinia and the remainder of the gulls spend the afternoon at the inn. They decide to relax for one last time before the embarked on the hunt for the cave.