Chapter 17
In the Belly of the Darkness
It was pitch-dark in the corners of the cave, only the arches over the forge bellows were illuminated by the flickering flame. The embers glowed, lighting up the figures of two dirty-faced gnomes stooped over the anvil. One of them was squeezing a crooked golden strap with a pair of blacksmith’s tongs, the other – hitting it with a sledgehammer. Sparks sprinkled everywhere; the gnomes spat and talked smut.
“A-a-ah, brother Rafaka!” one of them suddenly yelled, dropping the tongs and squatting.
“What’s the matter, Mahnet?” the other one stopped the sledgehammer at a backswing. “Have you remembered anything?”
“No-o-o-o!” the gnome was writhing with pain. “But you’ve bumped me on the hand!”
Limping, he walked backward to a bucket with cold water.
