I see Mother and Father to the Golden Veil and send them on their way to the Human Realm to take up the continuing cause of reuniting the Humans and the Elves. Mother, once again Queen…but, now, as Queen of the Humans…alongside Father. Dike Goblinbreaker accompanies them as an emissary of the Dwarves.

I return to the castle and prepare a small pack. Miri, Mori, and I are going to accompany the Dwarves to their realm. It is part of our pact…

I lift the light travel pack onto my shoulders and join the others, already waiting for me. We set off at a slow pace for Elves, but fairly quick for the smaller Dwarves.

After a little less than a day, we cross the Golden Veil into the Dwarves’ Realm…close to where I gathered the moonfruit several months ago. I smile as I look up at the bushes…

We follow a path to the base of the mountains and make camp for the night. We are close to the Dark Realm at this point, only about a fifteen minute walk (at Elven Speed)…and there is no Golden Veil to protect the Dwarf Realm. As such, the Dwarves set up a guard rotation, and Miri and Mori volunteer to be a part of it. The Dwarves will not hear of me participating…

We settle down and I am about an hour into my sleep cycle when I hear Miri shout a warning. I am instantly awake and pulling out my bow…

There is a small pack of werewolves sniffing our perimeter… Further back, I sense three vampires… Even further back, still in the Dark Realm, a band of Zombies—there must be a hundred of them…

Kir lets out a yell and runs at the werewolves with his battle axe raised above his head, closely followed by the other Dwarves. Miri lets loose a volley of arrows at the same time I do. Mori starts volleying blue balls of energy at the vampires further back and gently reminds me to strengthen my wards…

An hour later, the werewolves, vampires, and about fifty zombies are disintegrating into dust on the Dwarves’ side of the line. Even though Miri, Mori, and I stay back out of the pack of nasties, we kill dozens of the creatures and save the Dwarves from certain death numerous times. Finally, the other Zombies abandon the attack…

We sit by the fire and take a breather, with Mori still very much on guard. I walk to a nearby moonfruit bush and pick a handful of the fruit for myself and another for Mori…

Since we are already all awake, we just strike camp and move on… Dawn is not far off anyway…

I look at the entrance to the cavern system. I expected something grand, I guess. It is a small opening… Barely big enough for the Dwarves… The rest of us will actually have to crawl through the opening. I can only hope the tunnels are larger… The opening is secured with a strange metal door…it is silvery and shiny…but, seems to be eerily strong…

We crawl into the tunnels behind the Dwarves who are merrily walking. We have to crawl for about ten minutes until we reach a cavern of HUGE proportions. There is a strangely glowing lichen growing on the tunnel walls that provides a dim but steady glow for us to see by. The cavern is well lit with lanterns. There are at least a hundred different doors in the cavern walls—made of the same strange metal as on the outside. Thankfully, they are taller… we can walk through them, but will still have to stoop a bit…

Kir leads us to one of the doors. It looks no more important the others. He pushes on the ornaments on the door in what must be a special sequence and it pops open. He beckons us in…

I look around the large ‘room’… It is ornately decorated with various metals, gems, and precious stones. I have to stifle a gasp…it is strangely beautiful.

He smiles at my reaction and says, “Welcome to Grimhold. I am the Clan Leader, here. I am also the Head of the Clan Council. That is something akin to a King in your Realm… But, I know you are weary from the fight and the travel. I will have you escorted to your chambers where you can freshen up and rest before we eat.”

I look around my ‘chamber’. It is a smaller cavern with a bed that will be a bit short for me. There is also a steaming pool of water in the floor. I go to it and gaze into it. It has a yellowish tint, but is clear and clean-looking. I dip a finger into it and smile… It is a bit warmer than I would usually want—used to bathing in cold streams, or tubs where the water must be heated. This water is heated by the Earth…and a quick scan shows no dangerous energies… To the contrary…it seems to have healing properties.

I strip and step into the pool. It is shaped to be comfortable to relax in; again, more for someone the size of Dwarf, but I find a comfortable position, none-the-less. After a few minutes, I am used to the heat of the water and smiling as sore muscles relax.

I nearly fall asleep, but Miri comes in and giggles, “I see you found the wonderful pool, Your Highness. My chamber has one, too. I nearly fell asleep, myself. We are expected for dinner in fifteen minutes…”

I sigh and get out. Ten minutes later, Miri and I walk to what we are told is the dining chamber. The Dwarves have done an admirable job of securing food that is palatable to an Elf and we enjoy the dinner.

Once we are done, Kir says, “Queen Nelle, we have set up a small ceremony to thank you and your court for saving us today. It is true that we have a pact, but no one would have known if you had let us perish… You did not have to honor it…”

He escorts us to another chamber. There is an ancient looking Dwarf woman waiting in the chamber. I say ancient-looking… Having never seen a Dwarf woman before, I have nothing to gauge it by…

She beckons me to follow her. Miri starts to rise, but I shake my head for her to sit and follow the woman into a side chamber. She does not tell me her name, but asks me to disrobe. I give her a look, but she just asks, “Is it too cold? I know you are not used to the caverns.”

In fact, it is rather HOT in the cavern, so I shake my head and say, “No, I am fine, but why do you need me to disrobe?”

She smiles… At least, I THINK that is what she does... She says, “You are unique, My Elven Queen. You possess Human magic from your Human heritage. Human magic is unique, in that it stems from the universe as a whole…it is fairly new magic. You also possess Elven magic from your Elven heritage. Elven magic stems from the Earth—but the organic side of the Earth. I want to demonstrate the power of Dwarf magic, which also stems from the Earth—but from the INorganic side… Both Elven and Dwarf magic are OLD magic.”

Not really knowing where this is going I do as she asks, but put my senses on heightened alert. I sense no Darkness about…

She smiles and says, “Good! Trust no one. I sense you scanning me… Tell me, did you have strange dreams the other night—after you received the Blood Stone?” She is mixing up some mud in a small bowl…

I gasp and say, “Yes! How…? The STONE made me have those nightmares?”

She nods and says, “They were not actually nightmares, but visions of possible futures… Nothing will EVER let you sense the REAL future—it can always change. Your consort, Miri, possesses some innate abilities to do this, as well—they are just not fully developed, yet. As for the stone, it only works if it is in close proximity to you, as you sleep…”

She takes a small paintbrush and starts painting a design on my naked back…up my spine—from my bottom, all the way up to my neck.

When she is done, she gestures to a highly polished metal shield. I look at my reflection in the mirror. I have something that look like a mix of Elven (Celtic) and Dwarf runes and floral designs going up and down my spine.

She takes a sponge and dips it into the pool of water in the chamber and squeezes it out. She dabs it up and down my spine and the mud tingles…

When she is done, she escorts me, still naked into the main chamber. She asks me to lie down on a lichen-covered stone slab…that is oddly warm.

I shrug and do as she asks. She takes a small ruby, one that looks a lot like a miniature version of the Blood Stone, out of a golden case. This smaller stone is encased in an intricate web of what appears to be finely spun gold. She places the gem into my naval and starts chanting…

I scream in searing pain and pray to the Goddesses that I will pass out…