The Kingdom under the Mountains

“What brings three humans, an elf, and… a dire boar… up so much north? I don’t know what’s more unusual… Your group constellation, or your destination…”, asked the grumpy looking old dwarven guard captain.

They were currently right behind the massive gate in the foot of a mountain, leading deep into it.

“My name is Violet, this is Alex, Caleb, Cera and this is Rudy. We hope to find a master of jewelry-making here.”, introduced Violet them

“And beer! Don’t forget about the beer!”, added Alex vividly.

Violet gave him a surprised look. The grumpy old guard captain looked at Alex and began to laugh.

“I see you have taste! I like you, boy! We do have the best beer here! Hm… a master of jewelry-making are you seeking? We do have a bunch here… Do you have a name?”, asked the now less grumpy looking old guard captain.

“Herrman Juwelgriff’l is the name.”, specified Violet.

“Juwelgriff’l huh?”, said the captain and scratched his long beard.

“RECRUIT JUWELGRIFF’L!”, he shouted with a booming voice.

They heard movement in the guardhouse behind the captain. Someone rushed down a staircase. Next was a loud curse word, followed by a splashing and rattling. This gave the hint that the person rushing down the stairs now did so in a different body position. The door opened and a dwarven woman appeared, with a bucket on her head. The other guards began to chuckle. The old captain shook his head in disappointment. The Woman in the doorway looked different than the others, and not only because of the unusual choice of helmet. She was in normal linen clothes instead of chainmail, which were partly soaked and clinging to her body, giving away her gender. Then instead of a halberd, she had a mop. The dwarven woman additionally had two one-handed axes on her belt. A very big red braid came out from under the bucket and clung wet on her back. Somehow, even with the bucket in her face, she knew where the captain stood, faced him and saluted.

“Yes, Captain, Sir?”, said the woman with the bucket on her head.

“Recruit Juwelgriff’l… what is this on your head?”, asked the captain with a sigh.

“A bucket, Sir!”

“I can see that! But why is it there?”

“Because I tripped over it and it landed on my head, Sir!”

“Why haven’t you taken it off?”

“I don’t know, Sir!”

“Take the damn thing off Recruit Juwelgriff’l…”

“Affirmative, Sir!”

She took the bucket and a freckled face appeared. The dwarven woman had her eyes covered with a black cloth band.

“What is that over your eyes, Recruit?”, asked the captain furrowing his brows.

“A cloth band, Sir!”, answered the dwarven woman.

The captain sighed heavily.

“…Why is it there?”, he asked.

“Because Recruit Kraftbein betted that I could not beat him if I had my eyes bound, Sir!”, she answered.

“Did you beat him?”

“He is currently on his way to get his cracked ribcage checked… so I would say so… Sir!”, said the woman with a big grin.

“Wipe that grin of you face… and while you’re at that cloth too, Recruit!”

She took off the cloth band and bright green eyes appeared.

“Your Grandfather came back a while ago, right Recruit?”, asked the captain.

“Grandpa Herrman? Yeah, why?

“These fine travelers are looking for him. You will be their guide and show them the way. You can show them around the city too, if they want”

“We would love to have a local guide.”, said Alex

The dwarven woman looked up at them in the cart. Her gaze lingered a bit longer on Alex than the rest.

“Affirmative, Sir!”

“And don’t do something stupid again… they are still fixing the statues after your last… stunt… Understood?”

“Understood, Sir!”

“Then off you go!”

The dwarven woman, leaned the mop on the wall and moved in front of the cart.

“Follow me, please.”, she said.

Violet and drove the cart behind her. Their guide turned around and looked past the cart after they followed the street through the tunnel for a short while. Alex turned around too and noticed that the guardhouse wasn’t in view anymore.

“Could you scooch over?”, asked the dwarven woman, now standing next to the cart.

Alex did and she jumped up, half landing in his lap.

“Hi, my name is Yona, by the way. Yona Juwelgriff’l, but everybody just calls me Yona.”, she said, only a few centimeters away from him.

Alex looked at the green eyes staring at him. They were brighter than Violet, and the color of the iris glowed and shifted a bit, giving it the image as if a fire burned behind it.

“I… am Alex.”

Yona tilted her head a bit.

“You have nice eyes and a very beautiful beard, Alex. I like it.”

“Oh, uhm… Thank you… You have very nice hair… I… ehm… like the color.”

Violet cleared her throat and turned to face Yona.

“So, you are Herrman’s Granddaughter.”, she said staring her in the eyes.

Alex scooched a bit more over.

“Jep. What do you need from my grandpa?”, asked Yona and pulled away from Alex.

“Oh, we just want to have him look at something and ask a few questions.”, answered Violet.

“Ah, okay… That’s all why you came here?”

“And we want to drink some beer!”, added Alex.

He noticed that some of Violet’s hair were on top of his shoulder. Alex pulled his arm down a bit to release it, before it got caught, if he or she moved.

“And eat something delicious! I haven’t had tunnel boar in a while, I would love to have some in whiskey pepper sauce.”, added Cera drooling a bit.

“And get to know the locals.”, said Caleb grinning devilish.

“So, you plan to stay for longer?”, asked Yona.

“Well, it’s Winter soon anyway, so we thought we might stay over the winter months.”, said Violet.

“Know a good place to stay?”, asked Alex.

He noticed a bit of Violet’s hair was back and shook it off again.

“I know the perfect one. It has the best beer and the best Tunnelboar in the city. Plus, there is a natural hot spring bath.”

“Sound perfect.”, said Violet.

“And it’s where I live, since it’s run by my parents.”

Suddenly Violet thought the opposite.

“Anything else you want to have a look at while you’re here?”, asked Yona.

“Hm… Well, do you know any Berserker?”, asked Alex.

And brushed a strand of Violet’s off again.

Yona looked at Alex again with very curious eyes.

“Now that is an interesting question. Why do you ask?”

“Because I… uhm…”

“Because you are one, right?”. Said Yona with a big grin.

“How did you know?”, asked Alex surprised.

“I don’t know, I just had this feeling… and you have this look in your eyes…”

“So, you know one?”, asked Violet.

“Well, you have two sitting on this cart with you now.”

Yona smiled even bigger.

“You are one?”, asked Alex astonished.

She looked him in the eyes. The fire seemed to burn more intensely. Heat began radiating from her body

“Sure am!”, said Yona.

She shook herself and the heat was gone and the fire in her eyes back to normal.

“A human Berserker… that’s really interesting… My master would be very interested in seeing you, and I would love to spar with you.”, said Yona with a very interested look in her eyes.

“Sure, we can do that.”, agreed Alex.

He noticed Violet’s hair on his shoulder again. Alex wondered how it keeps appearing there again and again, while brushing it to the side.

“Well, then first of all… let me welcome you in Stahal, the Kingdom under the Mountains!”, said Yona and timed her words exactly as they came out of the tunnel. Alex, Violet and Caleb opened their mouths in wonder.

“Ah, I see miss elf has been here before.”, said Yona with a smile.

“Yes a few times, but it always amazes me.”, said Cera.

They were on one side of a huge chasm. Countless bridges connected across. Streets and houses had been built into the walls. Alex looked left and right but could not see the end of the chasm on either side.

“How big is it?”, he asked.

“Well, the outer ring is about two hundred meters high and goes around four hundred twenty kilometers. There are two more rings further in and then the Royal Palace in the middle.”, explained Yona.

“Holy shit…”, gasped Alex at the dimensions, not the red hair he casually shook of his shoulder.

Yona laughed and enjoyed Alex and Caleb's amazement, as well as Violet's slightly annoyed expression.