Festivities

The aftermath of the fight with the slavers turned out to be quite anticlimactic, and when Kurai asked the king about the forest of whispering voices, he was promptly informed that it had already burned down to the ground a few years ago because none of the slavers dared to enter it.

The king called for a feast and the dwarves eagerly went out to hunt while the women scrounged up any other foods that they could find. Luckily the slavers had kept an entire store of food and the smell of fresh bread soon sailed through the air, alerting Kurai and the rest that they hadn't eaten in quite some time.

Nila jumped from his shoulders as soon as it was determined that the fiery beast was friendly and the two chatted up a storm while the beast proceeded to light fires for the people.

Nila told Kurai that the beast was actually a salamander and that it delighted in helping the people who took care of it in return.