Chapter 6

Our new members were spinning around the front room in their new clothing and there was a big pile of clothing that looked to span a wide range of needs. “Ok everyone let’s get things going. Now that the farm has such great women to work and maintain it I need to get my butt to the dwarven nation. We have a town to build and people to get out of the human nations.” The girls all looked at me with huge smiles.

We worked out who was staying in Felton with the farm and Amanda asked to be the human in charge. Once we had that worked out we got started. I went to the guild to see Janice and I told her I was on the march, but if she needed me to talk to either the ladies at the farm or Freming and she wished me well. I then ported to the capital and headed to Grafton which was the closest city to the dwarven border.

When I got there I registered at the guild as usual and asked if there were any dwarven forges. They actually gave me a list and let me know I was on the right track. Since the human nations didn’t allow gates leading to the dwarven lands, I had to start walking. When there was a nice area to open a gate, I went home and found Jewel had already gotten my horse ready to go.

The ride to the border wasn’t too bad, but the town sure as hell was. It was basically a military post and it seemed like they saw anyone who wanted to go to the Dwarven nation as a traitor to the race. I was taken to what felt like a court and was interrogated as to the reason I wanted to head to the dwarven nation. As a guild diver of high rank and history of two completed dives, my story of going there to dive was more acceptable, so I was given a token that allowed free passage between the nations.

When I rode out of that testosterone powered fort, I rode about a half a mile to enter a city that seemed more of a necessity than a planned thing. There was nothing more than a usual gate check in entering and I found a different world than before. Rather than seeing humans everywhere; all I saw were dwarves. The down side was they looked at me with dismissive glares.

I asked where there was a guild hall and when I headed there I dang near took the top of my head off on the low doorway. It seemed in a nation of five foot people the building reflected their bodies and not all bodies. I went to the counter to see a pretty dwarven lady standing there trying to smile at me. “Can I help you?” I nodded. “Yes, the guild master of Felton asked me to bring a letter to the guild master here.” She nodded and held her hand out I passed it to her and she went to deliver it.

I waited nearby and soon a dwarf that reminded me of Grendel came out with a smile on his face. He shook my hand and welcomed me. “Janice speaks highly of you boy. In a land where humans are rarely seen, and even less welcomed, that makes a big difference. Why don’t we go to my office and we can talk.” I followed him and entered his office. As we sat down together he handed me the letter back. “So Janice says you have plans to try and settle down in this nation with your family. Have any idea where you want to live?”

“Well I am hoping to found a town over a dungeon. I would of course allow the guild to have a hall there. I have a few possible places marked out but would like any help you might have.” He gave me a speculative look. “And just what makes you think you would be granted the land?” I told him I may have something along the lines of a national treasure to gift to the nation if granted the title to the lands. “A national treasure?” I nodded and didn’t say anything more.

“And what makes you think you will be able to found a town? Who will live there: divers?” I shook my head and smiled. “No, I already have a great smith to help me and I will be bringing in free slaves to help.” The dwarf shook his head and sighed. “You may not know this but you can’t bring slaves here from the human nation. There is a reason there is no travel by magical or physical means from those accursed lands. You can’t even use a portal spell across the border.”

I frowned and looked at him. “You can’t? Oh no. Would you mind if I try?” He gave a heavy sigh and nodded. I opened a gate and out stepped Jewel and Grendel. “Hey did you know that you aren’t able to open a gate between the human lands and the dwarven nation?” Jewel came over and sat next to me while Grendel smiled at the guild master whose mouth seemed stuck in an open position.

“Well don’t just sit there with flies gathering on your tongue, got something to say?” The guild master stood up, walked over, and belted Grendel in the gut. “You old son of a bitch. What the hell are you doing back?” The hit didn’t even phase the elder dwarf. “Well I guess that is the kind of welcome I should expect from a nephew, Velton. Is the guild now letting useless turds gain position?” The guild master took a deep breath and returned to his seat and tried to get back his calm.

“Are these people traveling companions?” Grendel shook his head. “Take a close look at the cat woman, see something that anyone who isn’t a spoiled brat could see?” The guild master’s eye twitched and then he gasped. “She’s a slave?” he said in a loud voice. “Good job, now let’s think this out for you. Slaves can’t come into this nation can they? Then how is this slave sitting across from you and cuddling up to a human? Would the humans at the post allow a slave to just walk across the border? No I don’t think so, then how in the world could a human open a portal and have a slave walk through? A real puzzle for a brat isn’t it?”

“Still the same bastard you’ve always been aren’t you uncle?” Grendel shook his head. “If I had been greeted with politeness I would be treating you with the same. Instead I get a weak punch and curses, so expect the same in return.” The dwarf took a deep breath and then glared at Grendel. “I gave you the welcome you deserve. If you had given one shit about your family you would know mother has needed your help, but you never come home and you never answered her petitions to return.”

Grendel looked at him and glared back. “What petitions? What happened?” The guild master looked at him. “Mother, your sister, caught Bilson’s disease. She’s been sending letters to you for fifty years hoping you would come home.” Grendel dropped to his knees and his face collapsed. “Never a word arrived to me. I thought she had cut ties with me after our last meeting.” The guild master seemed torn all of a sudden, the deserting uncle wasn’t who he thought he was. “Where is she? Is she back home?” The dwarf shook his head. “No I brought her here to at least provide her with family to support her.”

Grendel looked at me. “Son, maybe you can help her. You can do a lot, maybe you can save my sister.” I nodded and the guild master seemed looked at us. “A human able to save mother? Are you serious?” Grendel rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t have asked him if I didn’t think there was a chance you idiot, take us to her.” The guild master looked at me, then Grendel, and we all ran out of the room, through the hall, and out the door.

We came to a very large house and then we were guided to a large room with a large bed where a small body lay in a pile of pillows. A very pretty dwarven lady sat there looking very tired and when she saw Grendel she opened her arms. “Big Brother, you finally came.” Grendel buried his face in her lap and began sobbing. “I’m sorry I didn’t know. You have to know I would come to you in need if I had only known.” The lady stroked his head and smiled through her tears. “I know big brother. You have always spoiled me and I knew you would come to me.”

I walked over to her and felt something was desperately wrong with her. She was wasting away from within. Something was draining her life away and aging her at a high rate. She looked up at me and tried to look dignified. “Brother, are you going to introduce me to your friends?” Grendel gathered himself up and wiped away his tears. “I’m sorry, this is a young mage I have a great debt to and am honored to call him a friend. This is Samael.” I bowed to the lady and smiled at her.

“I am very honored to meet the young sister of someone who has been such a help to me in my life.” She beamed at me with all she had. “I am Jissel, it’s very nice to meet you even under these strained circumstances.” Grendel looked at his sister. “Jissel, Sam may be able to help you. He has abilities that make even me feel like a beardless child. Would you allow him to treat you?” She smiled and looked at me. “If you are even close to what my brother describes, then please do what you can.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. I went through my healing arts and realized they were blocked by her affliction. I looked into her carefully and saw that this was an unnatural cause, a curse rather than a disease. The closer I looked the more I understood what it was. “This isn’t a disease, it’s a curse.” I looked at Grendel and everyone was looking at me.

“She was diagnosed with Bilson’s disease. It’s a malady that strikes rarely, but seems to suck the life from a person and drains them till they die.” I nodded. “It’s like the elven drain life spell.” I pointed to her chest. “You can’t see it but a mark has been written on her. It’s like a slave mark, but it carries something akin to the drain life spell.” Everyone looked at me. “Maybe if you can get a slave marker to come in they can remove it from her.” Grendel and the guild master looked devastated. “There are no such people in the dwarven lands.” They both said.

Jewel touched my arm. “Master, will you do it?” Everyone gasped and I looked down. “If we have no other options I will.” I said wondering why Jewel revealed a family secret. “Wait you can mark slaves?” the guild master said with scorn. “Velton, please don’t act that way. A person’s ability doesn’t make them good or bad, it’s what they do with them that determine that.” He blushed and bowed to his mother. She looked at me and smiled. “Please Samael, if you can help I would greatly ask that you do so.” I nodded and placed my hand over the mark. When I tried to remove it there was a flash and she whimpered. “Mother!” Velton cried and tried to push me away. Grendel knocked him to the ground and held him there. “Are you ok?” I asked and she nodded. “It hurt, but I could feel the shape of the mark. I have to wonder who could do something like this to me.”

I nodded and tried to think of what to do. “It was made so it can’t be dispelled. I’m at a loss since I am not a trained slave marker.” Grendel sighed heavily. “If a mark is put on a slave that can’t be removed, then a new mark has to take its place.” He looked at me and he knew this was going to make me squirm, but he had to say it. “The only way to save my sister is for you to permanently mark her as your own. If you take it off the old mark will return.”

Velton screamed. “No, you can’t do it. You can’t make her some human’s slave!” Grendel smacked his head. “You would rather see your mother die a slow painful death, than owe this man her life?” Velton fell to his knees and sobbed. “Do it, boy.” Grendel asked and I shook my head. “No, you know I won’t do it that way.” I felt her hand squeeze mine. “Samael, would you please mark me as yours?” I nodded.

I placed my hand on her chest. “Jissel, do you willingly and freely ask to join my family?” She nodded and then I began to overwrite the mark. Her hand squeezed mine to the point I worried about my hand, but the pain was shared. The mark on my shoulder felt like it was on fire and was burning its way into my soul. Then suddenly we felt it break and my mark was written on her.

Velton was looking at us both and when his mother sighed he scrambled to hold her hand. “Mother, are you healed?” Jissel took a very deep breath and let it out. “My son, you can’t imagine what I am feeling right now.” He looked at her, and not only was she looking better, it was like all the damage to her body was being erased. Her eyes seemed to glow and she looked at me with a smile I knew well. Jewel stood behind me. “Welcome to the family sister.” Jissel looked at her and beamed.

Velton looked at her and then me. “What is going on?” Grendel put his hand on his shoulder. “Samael is not like other humans nephew. In fact he’s not like any race you have ever seen. Maybe, if you are kind to him and help him he will reveal things you didn’t even know were possible.” Velton looked at him. “What about mother?” Grendel smiled at him. “She is in the best hands in the world. Not even you could support and defend her like this young man.”

“Master, I thank you for giving me such gifts. I feel like a child again, as if all my life was a dream and I am only now waking up.” I gave her hand a squeeze. “Jissel, you bear my mark but you are in no way my slave. I will not hold you to anything because of it. If you want to serve me, then live your life as you always have. If you have need of me I will always be here for you.” She smiled at me and then reached out to her son who fell into her arms sobbing like a child.

I got up and stumbled into Jewels arms. “Master you’re weak, let me.” I nodded and sighed. “Sorry everyone, but I need to go home. Grendel I’ll leave you to explain things here.” He nodded and I opened a gate home. When we walked in everyone was looking worried as I was guided to the couch to lie down. Talia came over with a glass of soda with ice and I all the others were trying not to crowd me, but also trying to at least touch me. “Sorry girls I didn’t think doing that would affect me, and you, like that.”

I didn’t say anything in the room afterwards, but I knew that at the critical moment I felt all my women pour their support into their marks and into me, to break that mark. When that mark was written into her she felt the love and support of thirty women pour into her and heal her. It’s no wonder she was so emotionally overwhelmed afterwards.

An hour later my phone went off and it was Grendel. “Samael, there are two people who would like to come visit if you are up to it. I also had Velton swear on the hammer to keep all of this secret, so I think it’s safe to let him come in.” I told the ladies we were going to have visitors and they got ready. I opened a gate and they all came in and let me tell you the look on Velton’s face was priceless. Jewel came over and took Jissel’s hand in hers. “Welcome home sister.” They hugged before coming over to the couch to sit.

Grendel put his hand on his nephews back and pushed him along. “Hey son, do you have any of those new ales in? I think someone needs a drink.” I nodded and Kara ran to the kitchen. When they had been seated she handed cold beers to the guests. “Oh, I don’t care for ale thank you.” Jissel said, but Grendel held out his hand. “Try this sister, I think you will quickly fall in love with it.” She took a sip and then let out a sigh. “Oh my, that is refreshing. It’s so light and the grains are so well treated.” She took another sip. “The cold makes it so tasty and there is none of the sourness I hate.”

Grendel looked at Kara. “Sweet girl, would you bring my sister a bowl of the salty green nuts?” Kara smiled at the compliment and then ran off. She came back and offered her a small bowl of pistachios. Jissel took one looked at it and then munched on it. “Oh, that is wonderful. It’s like a tasty buttery nut.” She held them out to Velton who took a few and when he ate them looked like he was in heaven.

“So, welcome to my personal plane and my home.” Velton chocked on a nut and Grendel pounded on his back. “Your plane?!” I nodded. Jissel smiled at me and Jewel leaned into her. “We say “master is master” to explain things. He is so far beyond normal that after a while it is the only way to deal with the things he takes for granted.” Jissel slowly nodded. “Master can bring things from other worlds that don’t exist in ours. Right now we have an orchard outside of Felton that will bear fruits that are nothing like the fruits we know. Flavors new and so exciting he will no doubt make the people of the region wealthy beyond measure from the trade.”

Cassandra came over to Jissel and held out her arm. “Feel this fabric.” Jissel did and then squeaked. “Master bought this for me from his other place.” Velton looked at the elf and saw she bore a red mark. “So he owns an elf?” That earned him twenty glares. “Master doesn’t own anyone. We are all his family and bear his crest as such. At our slightest wish he would erase these marks, but we choose to stand by him. We are not slaves, we are sisters.” Moira said as she stormed over to stand before him. “My parents sold me, a dwarven family took their youngest daughter and sold her. I was in a stinking hole for months waiting to be sold again, when this man came in and paid thousands of gold in order to save me and ask me to be in his family.” She leaned down and looked in his eyes. “So think before spouting such things about my master.”

He had the good graces to at least look ashamed. “Nephew, do you think the hammer of the elders would be passed to a human of low morals? Would a human pass the great artifact of Dwarven legend to a dwarf without cost? The power he held, the money he could have extorted from the dwarven nation, were nothing to him. He instead passed the honor of it to a dwarf.”

Velton looked at me and tilted his head. “Is the hammer the national treasure you said you would sell to be granted land?” Grendel chuckled. “No, he has a magic stone that would easily buy that and more.” Velton looked at him. “A magic stone? How could that be of such value?” Grendel looked at me and smiled. I asked the ladies to make room and when they were out of the way I pulled the stone out of my ring. “That boy is the magic stone he harvested after conquering an ancient salamander. It was a beast that once dwelled at the bottom of a dungeon since its creation no less. Think that might buy the land he’s looking for?”

Velton looked at the stone and then me. “Sir, that will by you almost any town or city in the dwarven nation. I am sure the council of elders will allow most anything to get such a treasure in their vault.” I shrugged. “All we want is to build a home where we can live as we want. It will be a place where anyone, of any race, can find and build a home in freedom.” Velton bowed his head. “Then you can count on me for support. I swore by the hammer to keep all your secrets, but I swear to you that I would do that freely and pledge to support such a great goal.”

I looked at Jissel and something occurred to me. When I met her she looked like an older dwarven lady, but now she didn’t look old enough to be Velton’s sister let alone his mother. Jissel looked at me, blushed a little, and then looked away as Moira began talking to her. I compared the two and it was easy to see that she looked the same age as Moira. I wondered how this was possible.

I ordered up a mountain of good steaks from the shop and lit the grill. That led to the feeling of an old home-style back yard get together. The girls gave Jissel a suit and soon she was playing in the pool with all the other women and having fun. Grendel came over with Velton as I cooked and we chatted. “Well Velton, what do you think of this place?” Velton pulled up a chair and sighed. “I think it is the perfect place for mother. Even before she got sick, she didn’t have many to call friend anymore. Father is on his third wife now, so she was free already.” He frowned. “But if Bilson’s disease is actually a curse then she isn’t safe on her own.” He looked at me. “If you can protect her by letting her live here with the rest of your family please do so. All I ask is to be able to talk and visit her on occasion.” I nodded and told him she was free to so as she wished. If she wanted to be here, or with him, or whatever, she was free to do so.

After we were all fed and relaxed I found Jissel sitting with me. “Samael, would it offend you if I called you master?” I shook my head. “It might drive your son mad, but not me.” She giggled softly. “My brother was right, I really did let that boy get away with too much. He was my first child by my first and only husband, so I wanted him to have more love than Grendel and I had growing up.” She gave a soft sigh. “I saw you looking at me earlier master, was there a reason?” I nodded. “I’m trying to figure out what happened when I removed that spell. To break it my family had to pour out their strength. When I first saw you there were the signs of age and affliction on you. I can understand that the mark could heal you, but it also seems to have returned your youth.”

She bit her lip and nodded. “I find that odd as well. When I was changing to play in the pool, I looked in a mirror and didn’t recognize myself. I looked all over my body and I am just as I was when I was a young girl rather than an old woman. The marks of pregnancy are gone, the pains in my joints as well. My face, while never remarkable, has not a wrinkle and I seem even a bit better looking.” She ran her hands over her body. “Certain parts are standing proud again, and things I never liked about my body are gone. You not only saved my life, but gave me a new one it seems.”

I shook my head. “That infers I meant to give you something. I only tried to give you freedom from whatever that mark was. Anything that came along with it seems more to be a gift from my family. They are the ones who gave a part of themselves to you. Maybe that is why there is a change. Maybe what you are now is their support and desire to succeed.”

She looked at the stars starting to emerge in the night sky. “Maybe you are right. When I saw them, talked to them, I felt like I already know them. Every voice and mannerism seemed natural and nothing seemed new. I was finally home with the family I never had.” I shrugged and smiled at her. “If that is so then you are more than welcome to stay here with all of us.”

I went inside and bought a few things. One was a new choker for Jissel, and the others were three crystals. Two would go into her choker and the other was in a ring for Velton so he could speak to his mother any time anywhere. I went back outside to let her know what the chokers were and she happily put it on. I then went to her son and gave him his ring. Not only would it let him talk to her, he could contact me as well. I took him home after that, and after a quick call to his mom to make sure it was working we parted ways, and I went back.

The next day, I called him to make sure it was safe to gate into his office and he said yes. When I emerged he had a smile and thanked me again for doing what I did for him and his family. “I can’t believe all these years I hated my uncle for abandoning us when they truth was our letters probably never left the fortress. Now that we are together again I am going to try and work on healing those wounds in my heart.” I nodded and thought about it. “Well Grendel can be a bit of a bastard, but his heart is always in the right place.”

We then talked about the hurdles facing us in getting started. “It’s not like just anyone can walk in and see the grand council. I have a little pull through the guild, but this is far more than I can do.” I nodded. “Can you give me some ideas about what could be done to get me in to see them?” It seemed the council was a political body that rarely met. Each of the members lived in different areas. Maybe by going to one, and getting their attention, could be a way to be heard by the whole council.

Using my phone I brought Grendel into the conversation and it seemed he knew two of them. “I don’t know how much it will help though. It’s been a long time since I had any contact with them.” I looked to see, and found one of them lived at a dungeon town. “What do you know of this dungeon?” He looked at me and shrugged. He had a file brought to him and I learned that at last point it was forty levels, was populated by standard dungeon monsters, and was not all that different than most. The only big news was that no one had been past level thirty in over two hundred years.

The town was five days away by carriage and there were no transport points closer than where we already were. I asked about the councilor and found out she was a bit of a collector of enchanted items and artifacts. I thought maybe a pendant with a shield enchantment might be a fun item to attract her attention. With this I made a call and then headed out of town. There I mounted my horse and rode at a brisk pace towards a new dungeon and a new opportunity.

As was my new methodology I rode all day, went home with the horse, rested the night, and then rode the following day. At home I talked to Jissel and found out she also knew the person in question. “Oh, Catharine? That girl is as is vain as she is powerful. Feed her ego and you will get your foot in the door quickly.” I thought about making a piece of jewelry for me to enchant, but then I had the idea to just shop a little with Jissel to find something that would be tempting.

Before I went into town I brought out our large carriage, had our main team hop in, and then Kim drove us into town. We pulled up in front of the guild, unloaded to many strange looks, and went in. We all registered and I passed on a letter from Velton. We then saw the guild master and I introduced him to my team. He was a little pissed that they were all slaves, but that got straightened out that it was the only way they could dive in the human nations and that the slave mark was their own choice.

We went through the usual scan of our belongings before entering and then we began our march to the bottom. There were people all over the place for the first ten levels, so we just avoided everything but the boss rooms. At level twenty we roamed around the floor to hit all the treasure rooms for loot. At thirty we called in support and did the same shoot and loot scenario. At forty it was a little challenging, because of traps, but eventually we stood before the last door. We put on our game face and entered.

The room was actually a huge chamber reminiscent of the Roman arena. The only feature was a large black mound in the middle that gave me the willies. We stepped into the ring and the mound moved. Soon it showed itself to be a very large dragon. It looked at us with a malevolent sense of boredom, like we had interrupted a good nap. The beast took in a deep breath and then released a dark cloud. I threw up a shield around us and waited for it to clear.

“So you can deflect my miasma breath?” I looked at the dragon and nodded. “We sure can. Any other tricks?” The dragon shouted at us causing the floor to rumble and dust to fall. “Are you done yet?” I asked and that just pissed it off more. “Is there any way we can not do this? I was friends with an ancient salamander in Felton and that person meant a lot to me. If we can talk this out...” It laughed. “So you killed that weak excuse for a dungeon monster?” That one made the ladies even angrier.

I pulled my new bow out and readied it. The dragon looked at me and I knew it didn’t like this. “You know I came in here hoping that maybe other dungeon beasts were more than just animated puppets for the dungeon. I guess the ancient salamander was something special after all.” The dragon opened its mouth for another roar and I sent an arrow through the roof of its mouth causing it to choke. The ninjas weren’t in my shield so when I attacked, they did too.

They had closed in and when the dragon insulted my friend, and they felt my rage grow, they decided to hit the bastard in a dragon’s only really vulnerable spot. They all struck in the only part where a dragon doesn’t grow thick scales. When they did that, the dragon scream rose in a much higher octave. When it did I did something I had been worried doing before. “Get back!” I shouted and then I launched a small fireball straight down the dragon’s throat.

The ball shot straight and true, it plowed through the monsters tongue and then released its energy deep inside. I reveled in the way its eyes bulged out as it felt its insides begin to boil and turn to steam just before he exploded. The shockwave rolled over us. I opened a gate and three ninjas came trotting out. “Thank you for the gate master.” They said in unison as a shower of glitter began to fall. “Thank you for your perfectly times strike. Between the weakening, and the pain in its ass, we were able to end this quick and easy.”

A chest spawned and to be honest I almost wanted to walk away from the damn thing. I took a deep breath, walked over and opened it. “Ladies, can we just deal with this quickly? They all began dumping the gold into their rings and as they did we pulled out a pair of adamant swords that were triple enchanted. “Anyone want these?” I asked and everyone looked and shook their heads. “Well looks like we can just dump these on the guild for gold then.” I tossed them back in the chest, dumped a few bags of gold on top of them, and picked it up. “Alright, everyone that needs to go home hop in.” The back-up left and then I opened a gate to the first level. We stepped out of the gate we walked out of the entrance there was the guild master waiting for us.

“You stayed in overnight and then cleared the dungeon?” I nodded. “Most of the upper levels were nearly empty and the dragon seemed slow and weakened. We’ve never seen anything like this before. It almost felt like the place was sick if that makes sense. Then again, we have been going from one dungeon going berserk to another so maybe it’s that we expect more.” The guild master nodded and we opened the chest before him. He looked in, pulled out the weapons and smiled at me. “I know, these are the guilds and we will be paid handsomely for them.” He nodded but reluctantly.