07

Notes: 1) If you see this story anywhere but Literotica it isn't supposed to be there. 2) Because of shorter chapters, this is being posted in chunks.

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*One*

"That's too broad." Syreilla shook her head at the plans being laid out in front of her.

"The gentle sun warms the king and the wretch just the same, and the punishing sun withers the vine and the weed with the same indifference." Atos leaned back on his golden seat with a broad gesture and Isca shrugged.

Syr scowled at both of them. "Rielle is the one who needs to be punished. You may not care how many you hurt when you act, Grandfather, but I do."

"I thought you didn't like elves," Isca smirked at her and Syreilla wanted to throttle the woman.

"As a rule, I don't. But there are two I'm fond of and I'm not stupid. If you go to war with all of the elves, half-elves are going to be lumped in with them. I have siblings who'll get hurt by this."

Atos leaned forward again. "I will protect them."

"What you'll do, Grandfather, is let me look at things and come up with a plan. I'm good at this."

"You're young, Syreilla." Isca shook her head, "You're strong, but too soft-hearted if you won't spread the pain a little."

"I'm the goddess of righteous vengeance, Isca, and the protector of gentle souls. I can dole out the pain and destruction but I'm not going to let innocents suffer if I can help it. Think before you work."

"The builders always said, measure twice, cut once, but it's bows and axes, my girl." Isca grinned, "In my experience when you see where the blow should land you hit your mark hard. If you do it right you don't need a second strike."

"If you're hitting the elves, all of the elves, you aren't hitting the right mark. You need to take some time and think-"

"I've been toying with ways to crush them since before you were born, girl."

"And you spent how long on that temple of yours? I looked, I thought, and I took your temple out at the knees. Call me 'girl' again, Isca, I fucking dare you."

Atos laughed quietly. "We will do some thinking, as should you, Syreilla. Consider the benefit of our experience and greater power." He folded his hands and smiled at Isca before glancing back at her, "Visit the chamber I've made for you before you return to my brother." A doorway opened next to him.

The memory of the last chamber he'd sent her into was at the forefront of her mind and she could see clearly that he and Isca were being devious. There was something murky hanging around them like dirty water.

"I have some other plans for the day. I need to visit Orsas. I'll come back later, Grandfather."

"I want you to see it." Atos kept the door open.

"Grandfather..." She took a breath, "You do remember about my eye?"

"Yes." He frowned.

"You and Isca are both murky looking, you're being devious."

Isca blinked and sat back in surprise.

"I remember the last chamber you dropped me into when you weren't entirely happy with me and I would prefer not to be dropped into another when I have plans for the day."

Her grandfather gave her a rueful smile, "I didn't build it to hold you, sweet child."

"I'll come back when you're in a better, less devious mood, and see it. You can show it to me." She smiled at him and he laughed, closing the door.

Syr gave them a curt nod and stepped out of the room, opening a door to the foot of the mountain first to collect her waiting raven since Atos hadn't allowed him to come inside with her for the discussion.

"Come on then, my friend."

The bird looked at her curiously from its perch and she could see the question in his eyes as if he'd asked it.

"No, it didn't go well. I have a bad feeling about all of it. I want to talk to Vezar about it but we need to go see Orsas, he's expecting us."

Opening another door, she let the bird fly through first. He was doing a lap around the immense forges as she stepped in.

"Are you bringing my bird back to me, Syreilla?" Orsas grinned as he made his way toward her.

"Never, I love that bird."

"Have you given him a name?"

"I was going to ask if he had one. I don't want to call him something he doesn't like."

The dwarf laughed and shook his head, "Name him, Rook. Give him a good dwarvish name."

Syreilla held out her hand and the bird came to perch on it. "A good dwarvish name? Baduil."

"A whole name, he's not a babe." Orsas folded his arms grinning.

"Baduil Rookfriend."

"Badwill Rookfriend." He shook his head.

"Ba-du-il. Not Badwill. After Batran and Kaduil." She narrowed her eyes as she gave him an annoyed frown.

"It's a good name, and I doubt anyone will be brave enough to tease him when they see your face."

"I've been trying to think of a gift I can give you in return. There's nothing that leaps to mind. Nothing I can find or make out of steel or gold can equal what a dwarf could make and..." she tilted her head and looked at him carefully with both eyes, one after the other, as he broke into a mischievous grin. He had something in mind already.

Baduil changed perch, moving to her shoulder.

"If you didn't have that dragon at home I know what I'd ask for Syreilla. Has he made his way back into your good graces?"

"He has. Uncle has made him a god of purification and punishment." She grinned impishly as Orsas eyed her with reddening ears, falling in to walk next to him as he turned away. "It suits him and he's happier now. We both are."

"None of the Fellwives enjoy that part of me."

"They don't know what they're missing. There's no pleasure quite like when he brings those teeth and claws to bear. But then Syreilla Hammersworn and I always did enjoy it when Kaduil would-" Syr jumped and laughed as the dwarf gave her a firm slap on the ass, the bird on her shoulder took flight in startlement. "You are such a flirt, Orsas!"

The black-haired dwarf grinned. "Dragons always take the best treasure for themselves. If you want to give me a gift, bless a dwarf and let me have a wife who will appreciate me in the same way."

"You mean like my father does? Or is there another way to do it?"

Orsas grinned and shook his head again, "There's another way, Syreilla. I'm not asking for your daughter. Share your heart and claim one, it'll be enough."

Baduil returned to his perch on her shoulder and they entered a door the dwarf opened. The hall was peculiar, it was as if they walked among the dwarves there but unseen and untouched. A hum, like conversations at the edge of perception filled the air. The dwarves moving around them almost seemed blurred and indistinct with her normal eye, but with her better eye, they looked sharp and vibrant.

"See if anyone stands out to you." Orsas eyed the moving dwarves with something like satisfaction. "We can iron out details with the others later."

"Orsas Fellforger!" A red-haired dwarf woman came storming through the crowd. "What are you doing here? And with an elf?!"

"Half-elf." Syr offered a bow and Baduil took flight. "Syreilla the Rook."

"The Rook!" The dwarf woman rounded on Orsas, "Why is she here? You said she wasn't going to become one of us."

Orsas made a shooing motion at Syreilla and she stepped away as the two dwarves began to argue. Baduil called to her from a distance off to one side and she made her way toward him. In a quieter, less crowded part of the hall, a small dwarf girl sat alone looking angry and tearful, her arms around her knees in a dirty dress. Syr stepped close to the girl and crouched, and as she did she realized she must have stepped out of the hall and into a mine. It was pitch dark.

"Hello?"

The child's voice wavered.

"Little one, why are you alone here in the dark?" Syreilla brought her flame to hand, giving a little light and the dwarf girl flinched back, her eyes wide. "I'm not going to harm you. I'm Syreilla the Rook, the goddess of righteous vengeance and protector of gentle souls."

The girl drew a deep breath and relaxed. "You're an elf. Why are you in a mine?"

"Half-elf, and the first real home I ever had was a dwarf mine. Dwarves have always been good to me, even when no one else was." Glancing around in the light, she realized they were at the base of a shaft with no ladder.

"They haven't been good to me."

"What happened? Tell me, little one. Do I need to go breathe dragon's fire on someone?"

Baduil somehow managed to join her, flapping furiously and looking ruffled as he came to rest next to the child who broke into nervous laughter.

"Is he yours?"

"He is, this is Baduil Rookfriend."

"I'm Nali of Clan Flinthewn."

"I don't know that clan. Clan Hammersworn usually vouches for me. I have family among them, a niece and two nephews."

"I don't know Clan Hammersworn." Nali nodded. "They must be in a different mine."

"Delver's Deep."

"This is Half Shaft Mine but they call it Draft Shaft."

Syr nodded and waited as Nali picked up a feather that had fallen loose from Baduil and stroked it.

"I ran away. They... I always get blamed and punished even when it wasn't me. I get punished for the things my brother does and I just wanted to go away for a while so they could see. My light went out and I-I fell."

"Ah. If you weren't there to blame things on, they'd see you weren't the one causing trouble. It's not how I would have done it but it makes sense."

Nali looked at her curiously, "How would you have done it?"

"If I'm going to be punished I'll give them a reason to do it. When my brother started to get into something, I'd go cause some trouble somewhere that no one could miss it. I can't be in two places at once, they'd have to pick one thing to blame on me. I'd still get punished but it'd be for something I did and he'd get his own."

The dwarf girl grinned. "Maybe getting lost in the mine counts."

"Maybe, but only if they know to look for you." Syr held out her hand and the raven hopped onto it. "Baduil, my dear one, will you go find Sirruil and make certain someone is looking for Nali?" She opened a small door just big enough to fly through with the intention that the other side would open into wherever Sirruil was.

There was a moment of quiet after the raven vanished.

"If you can send him somewhere, can you take me home?"

"Maybe, but I'm not technically a dwarf god and no one likes it when I open doors and start strolling around wherever I like. They don't mind Baduil so much, Orsas Fellforger gave him to me."

"Really?" The girl leaned forward. "You've met him? Was he terrifying?"

"No! I like him! He's a good dwarf and good company. There's something to be said for punishment given fairly and taking punishment you've earned is good for the soul. Of course, getting into trouble and avoiding punishment altogether is a hobby of mine but I don't think anyone has told him yet." She tried to put on an innocent expression and Nali laughed.

"What about the Nightforged? Are they real? The stories say he smelted the meanness out of the worst dwarves and put it into steel and forged an army to protect the mines."

"I've seen two of them and I was impressed. Malevolence and viciousness have their uses, Nali of Clan Flinthewn. If you put them to a purpose they can serve you well. Nothing is ever truly good or truly bad in and of itself. It's all in how you use it."

The dwarf girl nodded slowly. "You're friends with Orsas Fellforger and they let you into this mine?"

"I was walking with him in his hall and I saw you. While he was getting fussed at by one of the Fellwives for letting me visit, I think I stepped to the side a little too far to make certain you were alright. If you don't mind I'll sit with you until someone comes. Once Sirruil gets to your mine it shouldn't take him long to find you."

Nali looked at the ground and shook her head, "No one is supposed to go down those tunnels, it's dangerous. The hole is small. He won't find it."

"He will. He has Syreilla's Eye. It lights the darkest rooms, there are very few wards that can hide from it, it can find a way into or out of any place that has an entrance or an exit, little one. Though, I don't always need them. I've been known to break through walls if no one was thoughtful enough to leave me a door." She grinned and the girl giggled. "It'll show him danger before he steps into it and how to get around it. Syreilla's Eye is very useful."

"Why did you give him your Eye?"

"He inherited it from his mother, Syreilla Hammersworn. It was part of a stone of great power that had belonged to one of my uncles. It was stolen from him, carved, and set to purpose in the Glan Minrhia. I paid for it, and it became mine, because I won't let anyone take away Sirruil's inheritance, and I can't let my family be stolen from. Sirruil needs it to keep himself and all those he loves safe. He uses it to secure the mines and I'm very proud of him."

"Dwarves aren't supposed to steal." Nali frowned, giving her a stern look.

"They used to think it wasn't so bad to take things from dragons." Syr sighed and then shrugged. "Then my uncles destroyed the mine trying to get that stone back and they changed their minds."

"Your uncles are dragons?"

Syr put on a wide grin and nodded. "I have a large, complicated family. Humans, elves, dragons, dwarves, gods... I'd be more surprised if you showed me someone I wasn't related to than if you and I were cousins."

Nali laughed. "Can you really breathe dragon's fire?"

Stepping so that she was beneath the shaft, Syreilla looked up it, steepled her fingers with the fire still burning between them, and blew through the hole. A brilliant, hungry, tongue of flame roared up the shaft and caught the very edge, burning and casting flickering light and shadow above them.

"Dragon's fire can even eat stone. Not for too long. There isn't enough on it to make a good meal, but it'll burn for a bit. This fire will burn until I tell it to stop. It may help attract attention."

"But..." the girl swallowed nervously, "but what if they can't get past it?"

"I'll put it out once Baduil comes back. It comes when I call and goes when I tell it to." She came to crouch near the girl again, "Sirruil likes to call me the Lady of smoke and flame."

There was a strange sound above them and Nali tried to get comfortable on the stone floor. Syr was looking up curiously and the dwarf girl beckoned her over.

"It's alright, Syreilla, that's why they call it Draft Shaft. There's drafts now and then from some caverns that the miners ran into."

"Ahhh, that means there's always ways in and out of here. If they take too long we can try to climb out and find our own way."

"You're not supposed to move if you get lost without a light. That's how I ended up in this hole." Nali shook her head.

"But you have me. I have a light and I can always find my way out of anywhere. There isn't a prison or a treasure room that can keep me in or out if I set my mind to it."

The dwarf girl giggled and Syr settled in to cuddle with her.

"This is a mine, not a prison."

"Mines are easy to get in and out of. I helped them find ways in and out of Delver's." She let the fire in her hand go out and the only light came from above where the dragon's fire clung to the stone's edge.

°°°°°°°°°°

Syreilla got bored of waiting. She'd kept the girl asleep for perhaps a day or more hoping to keep her from being too hungry and after she'd woken the dwarf child, Syr started working on burning handholds into the stone mostly to entertain herself, and partly to send more smoke out where someone would notice it. Nali watched with amazement, fanning herself with the hem of her dirty skirt.

"It's so hot, how can you stand it?"

"It's part of me, it doesn't burn me. But I've never minded the heat either. Do you ever go watch the dwarves who work the forges? It was one of my favorite things to do."

"The forges are dangerous."

"Yes, but fascinating. They take a lump of metal and turn it into something useful or beautiful or deadly using a flame and strength of will, dwarves do it better than anyone. I can sit and watch for hours."

She glanced at the girl as she let the holds she'd made cool, they only went as high up as she could reach. "I liked trying my hand at it. I wasn't too bad. Batran said the trick was knowing what you wanted and beating the metal until it gave in and saw things your way."

Nali broke into laughter.

There was a flutter of wings from above and Baduil joined them.

"Nali?" Sirruil's voice wafted down as if he were calling from a distance and Syreilla made the flames above flare before putting them out.

"Call out to him."

"I'm here! I'm-I'm here!"

Baduil let out a series of loud calls and the sound of activity above was unmistakable. Someone was cursing the hot stone and there was an argument about pouring water on it or using a blanket. Something began to hiss above them.

"I think it's time for me to go, but I'll give you a gift if you'll let me, Nali of Clan Flinthewn."

The girl beamed as a torch dropped down. "Yes!"

Grinning, Syreilla picked up the feather next to the girl and ran her hand up it. It turned from inky black to solid gold. Pressing her face to the dwarf girl's she spoke softly, "Call on me if you ever need me. Speak my name and hold this. I promise you, I'll come." Giving her a kiss on the head she whispered, "Tell Sirruil that if you want to leave, or if they keep punishing you for your brother's bad behavior, he's supposed to take you with him. I wouldn't mind if you inherited Syreilla's Eye and my nephew will be good to you."

Nali laughed and Syr stepped back just as Sirruil came down on a rope.

"Is she laughing?"

Someone sounded angry.

Sirruil's face broke into a grin as he bowed to the place Syreilla was standing even though she was back in Fellforger's hall. She couldn't hear them anymore but Nali was speaking animatedly, waving the feather.

"You picked a troublemaker." The red-haired dwarf woman from before was giving her an annoyed look.

"I

am

a troublemaker! We're the most fun to have around!" She offered the woman a wide smile and allowed herself to be shooed out to the forges again.

Orsas was grinning as he came toward her. "I have a long time to wait but she has promise."

"I gave her a feather and I told her that she can call me if she needs me. What do we need to arrange so that I can keep my word?"

He laughed. "She's yours, Syreilla. No one will interfere if she calls on you."

"Why is Sirruil talking about adopting a little girl from some two-man clan?" Orefinder came storming into the forges.

"I told her to tell him that if they won't stop punishing her for her brother's misdeeds he should take her with him. I don't mind if she inherits-"

"I mind, Rook! He's mine!"

"And Syreilla's Eye belongs to Syreilla." Orsas grinned, "As does Nali Rookfriend."

Baduil preened on her shoulder before croaking out, "Nali."

"Would it be too much to ask if I let Baduil look in on her from time to time?" Syr opened her hands, putting on as innocent and hopeful an expression as she could manage.

"Who is Badwill?" Orefinder narrowed his eyes, "The bird?"

"Ba-du-il." She dropped the innocent face to give him a sour look and he took a half-step back.

"Baduil Rookfriend may look in on her but not too often." Orsas folded his arms, his dark eyes glittered.

"Thank you, Orsas."

"She'll get into enough trouble without your help." The black-haired dwarf grinned at her.

"I'll help her get back out of trouble! That's the part I'm best at!"

He laughed and Orefinder muttered something in dwarvish that made Fellforger laugh harder.

"Say that again? I didn't quite catch it."

"The part you're best at is being difficult, Rook."

She straightened her cloak proudly and Orefinder broke into a grin, "You look like that bird when you preen."