Chapter 55 – Dwarfs

"Ikarus, they're already dead"

"I know, I'm making sure they can't revive in the afterlife"

I've done what I previously said, these wolfs cease to exist and now are just a tiny pile of ash. I'm making sure to burn them even more so, Petra is standing by my side while I'm doing such an important task.

"They're only wolfs Ikarus, no need for such a thing"

"They dared to get involved while you and me were swimming, that's more than enough justification to obliterate them"

She smiled to my response, I'm just a little pissed since I was trying to make Petra feel better and they provided a dumb distraction. I guess it did help distract us both but still, they still deserve no mercy.

(Charlotte) "Are you two okay?"

(Nathan) "We rushed over as fast as we could"

Both of the other two-party members have now just decided to join us, damn slow idiots. I'm still in a bit of a mood it seems.

It was at this moment, I only just realized what I'm wearing. Shit, both of them can see me wearing this dumb thing as well.

Petra at the very least decided to put her robe back on before coming over here, I literally ran out to flamethrower these wolfs wearing this stupid bikini, sighhh.

Wait, I'll just change form, it's enchanted and that'll make this whole process quicker...

__________

(Petra) "Should be just over there"

"Is this the right location though?"

I'm a little confused on something now, the dwarven mountains are supposed to be further north than these, we seem to be not at the right location. We're looking at a large cave entrance from up in the sky above the howling forest right now, this cave entrance sits at a base of one of these mountains.

"This cave system leads to a large bridge that traverses the gap, have been here before Ikarus"

"I'm not doubting you; it just seems like we're on the wrong island"

I mean, we technically are, the elven continent is made up of three massive landmasses. The first part is connected to my parents' mountain range and the empire, the second is the large land that has the howling forest on and is split by a huge river, the third is an island in the far northwest which has the volcano and the mountains that the dwarfs apparently live in.

There's also a load of little islands scattered around the outside of the continent's north and west coast but they're not really relevant.

We land anyway next to the large cave looking entrance and everyone gets off my back.

"Have to change form as well Ikarus otherwise it might get a little tight in the caves"

Probably a good idea, meeting a bunch of dwarfs as a big orange chicken might be risky. No idea what the dwarfs in this world are like but for some reason, I'm getting the idea they might be grumpy people who'd like the idea of frying a big chicken.

I'm actually making myself hungry now, why is fried chicken so good? All those secret herbs and spices, urghhh...

I change form and do the same old routine, only this time having the enchanted clothing on. Forgot to take it off last time so that's the reason why it's still on, it's also still on under my dress right now. I guess I have unfortunately been convinced that wearing this isn't the end of world, stupid Aesa.

All four of us enter the large cave entrance, this one already seems to be endless just from the little amount we've already seen. Not the height or width, just that it seems to go long and far.

"Be warned Ikarus, we may have to take a break or two"

"Why's that?"

"This cave is a very long, this'll take a couple of days before we get to the entrance itself"

Couldn't she have told me this beforehand? It wouldn't have made any difference I guess, the thought of getting enchanted clothing that actually is clothing is too important to turn down. I guess spending a couple of days in a cave isn't the worst thing in the world.

"Hmph, I have gotten a lot better with my impatience I'll have you know"

"I know, just giving you a heads up"

"We'll help you get through Ikarus-sama"

(Nathan) "Yeah, we've got your back"

I swear these two are subconsciously annoying at time, is it really that hard to believe I've actually mentally developed? Petra's concern was just giving me a heads up for God's sake.

Well anyway, it's time to head into the dwarven kingdom, very slowly.

__________

"Are we finally here?"

(Petra) "Yes Ikarus, that's the door"

(Charlotte) "That journey wasn't all that easy"

(Nathan) "I agree Lotte, that was a difficult trip"

Those two do have a point, that wasn't an easy trip, mostly because of how much walking through narrow parts and down to the winding of the caves. These caves don't seem natural though, at least I think they aren't. There only seems to be one way in and out so getting lost is nearly impossible thankfully, it still doesn't help how long it was travelling these narrow and windy caves.

Petra was right, it took two days to get to this point, a large metal door stands in our way now, probably the entrance to the kingdom itself. Petra seems to have a slight smile on her face now though.

"Heh, fancy doing something funny Ikarus?"

"Always"

Petra then whispers something in my ear, I'm a little unsure why she thinks it'll be funny but I'll do it nonetheless.

I go up to the large metal door and bang on it hard, then instantly after the first bang before I have the chance to do it again, a small letterbox slit opens at my eyesight level and a pair of eyes as well as bushy eyebrows greet me.

"Who's wants entry?"

"Your mother Nickolas, she wants her gold back"

"Fuck"

Immediately, the slit closes and a small thump hits the back of the door.

'Did he just punch the door or something? I'm a bit confused on why that's supposed to be funny'

Then the guy behind it slowly opens up the door. As it's opening, I notice a dwarf standing on a large metal box, this guy was the guy I saw in the slit.

'Wow, this guy is freaking tiny though'

Because I'm not purposely obnoxious, I controlled myself not to say that out loud, this little bearded man might've taken offence from that. He doesn't seem to look angry at the comment Petra told me to say, not sure why though.

As for the doorman dwarf, he literally looks like what anyone would imagine a male dwarf to look like, long hair, long beard, old and very small, his head would've been lower than my breasts, that's how small a dwarf is.

"Is that... you Petra? You demonic ol'witch, you've actually returned!?"

He's obviously just noticed Petra standing behind me, calling her a witch seems slightly harsh even though it sounded friendly, should I do something?

"Nice to see you again, you old dumbass"

"Ha, your eyes are as ugly as ever it seems"

"Heh, how's life like being the height of an ant?"

Damn, their insults are pretty harsh, well they're not but this is slightly confusing, what's going on right now? Both priestess and the knight look confused as well. Both of the two insulting each other seem to have smiles though.

"Ah, should probably explain, dwarfs love to insult people they're close or allies with, this old guy wasn't even a hundred when we last met so we're just catching up"

"You're damn right, you blind idiot!"

That's literally what I used to do back on Earth with my drinking buddies! We may have used language that would've offended all people back then though, let's forget those memories since they aren't all that great.

I myself was conservative in what I said, the others weren't though, really should forget about this since I'm just digging a grave for me to get cancelled in.

In all honesty, if he was being seriously nasty to Petra, I would've kicked him in the groin. Thankfully, it was easy enough to tell there was no hostility.

"Let's get serious for a second though, what brings you back around to these ol'mountains?"

"Is it that bad to just pay a visit every now and then? There is something my wi-, no friend needs, I'm guessing Garry is still working?"

Wait, was she about to say wife? Was that intentional or accidental? She looks slightly embarrassed now though, think that might've been an accident, we did spend six months in that irritating place together anyway, definitely a slip of the tongue.

"Garry the gnome? That grumpy bastard will be working till the day he drops dead or his wife smothers him in his sleep, he's still working the usual forge. Head on across the bridge"

"Thanks Nickolas, been a pleasure like always"

"Same. As for the rest of you, enjoy the dwarven kingdom. Don't cause any problems otherwise we'll make you work till you payback every dime of damage you caused. Also, drink and smoke as much as you possibly can!"

Okay, I think I'm going to enjoy this place if this is the guard that guards the doorway, these people seem nuts! If insults are used to be friendly, this could be a fun experience.

All four of us head slightly further through the cave past the door and come across a gigantic bridge, something like this looks similar to a modern steel bridge travelling over a mile. This thing is absurd! Even priestess and the knight look impressed and such a feat.

There is something I'm noticing off in the distance though.

"Hey Petra... this looks a lot safer than you described"

"We're not close to the volcano yet, no need for ventilation this far north. We'll have to head over that way if Garry is still about"

While we're walking across the gigantic bridge, I can just about see loads of buildings scattered on and all around the mountains ahead of us, there are clearly paths and steps around the place so it's a little unexpected from what Petra was saying. This just looks like a city carved in the mountains.

The architecture is really impressive, everything is basically carved into the mountainside and the building designs look out of this world. It's clear these lot value high quality craftmanship, I guess the stereotype fits for these then. Dwarfs be builders.

Now that we've gotten halfway across this stupidly large dwarven style bridge, Petra seems to want to say something.

"Priestess and knight, you don't have to travel with us if you'd rather leave once we get into the kingdom proper"

"Why's that Petra-sama?"

"Have we worn out our welcome?"

Is Petra trying to get rid of them or something? I doubt that's what she's doing, it's probably something else.

"Nothing like that, just that there are temples scattered all about the place and was thinking if you two would like to be alone for a little while to do something, we're just heading to a grumpy old dwarf far in the north..."

The way Petra says that, it makes it sound like this guy we're heading to is an annoyance. Maybe not everyone is nice with their insults in this kingdom, I guess she's already thinking about my enchanted clothing so the quicker we get that sorted, the better, then we can relax.

We can also spend some more time alone for a bit, unsure if that's a good or bad thing...

"... There is another reason as well, it's a long trip over there. We'll have to take the train"

"Train!? There's a freaking train!"

I can't help but get excited, I don't even like trains that much but knowing something like that exists in this fantasy world is something else.

"It's a steam powered thing that operates in the tunnels running on its own line, think it's similar to the ones we know Ikarus, but not too sure how it works"

In this medieval world, there is a species that knows such things. She makes it out to not be that big of a deal though.

"Next you're going to tell me they know how to make guns and everything?"

"They know how to make muskets at least, it's just a protected secret reserved for dwarfs only and they don't really hold very well against magic, the reloading speed is too slow"

So, the dwarfs are basically hundreds of years more advanced than every other species, it's probably a good thing they're happy to sit in these mountains and not plan to invade the world then.

Seriously though, Petra makes this out not to be a big deal. If they know how to make muskets, then they probably know how to make explosives or dynamite as well then, cause of the gunpowder and all that. It would help them out with their mining as well, makes sense why they would use gunpowder thinking about it.

Anyway, back onto the conversation on getting rid of those two.

"So... what do you two want to do then? You're still welcome to join me and Petra if you'd rather join us"

"Maybe it could be good to spend some more time with Nat"

"We can visit some temples as well if you want Lotte, doesn't sound like a bad idea"

Good, those two might do more than just hold hands if you catch my meaning, I really can't help myself at times.

(Petra) "Give it a week and we'll meet you two back here, that should be more than enough time to do some stuff together. There's map boards scattered all around the place as well, getting lost here should be impossible"

We've just arrived in the dwarven city proper now while walking and talking, the bridge ends right here so it seems like this would be the ideal spot to meet back up. A week though? Seems a little long but I'm not complaining, this is basically a slight holiday anyway.

The city really is impressive even while looking up close to it now, there seems to be even more buildings scattered around than first seen and is fully populated with dwarfs, little dwarven men and woman everywhere, even children are about.

It's kinda odd, the female dwarfs look nearly identical to the males other than the beards and even some of the children look to have slight beards as well. Their species really do be a bit odd but I'm a talking bird that basically was fully grown in months so the irony isn't lost on me.

It's quite odd, we don't actually get many looks despite us towering over them, they clearly don't seem to hold much dislike of humans, or human looking phoenixes. They're definitely better than the racist beastmen we came across.

(Charlotte) "We'll meet you back here in a week then"

(Nathan) "Yeah, sounds like a plan"

Those two actually look slightly happy from getting more solitude, it's really proving difficult to not tease them. Thanks Zeki for making me less obnoxious, feel like I've lost a bit of my personality.

Still need to decide how to handle priestess and the knight when the royals die, that's not worth thinking about right now though. I'm hoping they don't have to die but if it comes down to it, then it might have to happen. If we plan this out well enough though, then we might be able to get around it but we're still a ways away from that.

Now that those two have left us, Petra seems a little happy about something. Did she really want some alone time then?

"Heh, there is another reason why it's good those two are gone Ikarus"

She has a slight coy smile as well, what is going on inside her brain right now?

__________

"Bloody hell! This is strong!"

"Heh, it does hold a kick"

Before we got on the train heading towards the northern part of the mountainous island, Petra suggested we had to get a drink somewhere, I of course would never say no to such an opportunity.

This bar is packed full of dwarves all drinking similar drinks to what we're having, don't have a clue what it is since dwarfs have weird names for alcoholic drinks. I guess it's similar to a beer but it also tastes a little similar to a cider, odd choice but it's still nice, it is bloody strong though.

Oh, they have their own language but loads of them speak the same language spoken in the empire, makes no difference to me and Petra, language translators for the win.

The dwarfs might have an alcohol problem, I've had just a couple of drinks and can already feel a slight effect kicking in. This would be pure poison to a species that can't handle alcohol, absolutely love it but we should probably start heading off, we are basically day drinking after all.

"We should probably head to the north now though otherwise we'll end up spending hours in this bar"

That might be the first time I've suggested leaving while having a drink, this stuff will kick my arse if I drink more of it. It really is that strong, even I should be careful.

"One more won't hurt"

"Erm... fine then"

She's a bad influence on me at times.

Petra heads up to the bar and gets some looks from the dwarfs around the place, she almost seems to be a slight celebrity around here.

She did tell me slightly the reason why during the first drink here, it sounds like they owe her a lot. Not in money, just in favours, it almost sounds like she's helped out every dwarf who holds an important role in this city, she does get around a lot I guess. Six-hundred years would do that for you.

"Heya lass, want to share a drink with us two?"

"We won't bite, honest!"

While Petra has gone to get us another drink, two dwarven men have come over to the table we are sitting on and have taken a seat next to me. Am I seriously getting hit on by a couple of dwarfs? Unsure how to respond to this, this type of thing hasn't happened yet surprisingly enough.

"Erm, I'm really not alo-"

It was just then, I noticed an aura more deadly and serious than anything I've ever experienced, except once before. Then it left in a split second when I looked where it was coming from.

"Sorry for making you wait too long Ikarus, there was a slight line"

It was at this moment, sweat appeared on the two dwarfs faces and they quickly tried to rush away, the smiling Petra has now put the fear of God in those two.

"S-Sorry, we'll be leaving!"

"We'll s-screw off now!"

I don't think I've seen people try to run away faster than that, she's basically a celebrity so no one's even batting an eyelid at what just happened, she probably could get away with murder if she wanted too here.

"Got these drinks to go since you wanted to leave, we can enjoy them on the train"

'Is she seriously trying to pretend I didn't see that?'

Urgh, let's just head off then.

__________

While we're heading to the train station tunnel heading down some mountain stairs, I can't help myself but ask what just happened? My curiosity sometimes cannot help itself.

"Oi, what was that?"

"What was what?"

She just gives me a smile while responding as well, is she seriously trying to play dumb, her aura was similar to how my mother was when she burnt down the city. Does she seriously get that jealous or something?

"Was that jealously? I've never felt your aura go like that"

She takes a second before answering, then does her laughing heh thing basically shrugging it off.

"Heh, you noticed that then?"

No no no, I know what you're doing Petra, stop playing dumb.

"You know, if we ended up together, you'd have to control yourself in situations like that"

Feel a little wrong giving her a lecture but damn, she really had the aura of a psycho killer then. Heh, wasn't that a song? Ah forget it, getting distracted.

"Those two have tried the same type of thing with me before, it isn't what you think Ikarus"

You know what? I don't believe her, maybe they tried it on with her but that slight anger was clearly out of jealously, at least she can still control herself in that situation then I guess. Killing someone who approaches me to flirt is something that should be very much avoided, it's a good thing this was the first time. So weird that it was two dwarfs who did such a thing as well.

"Whether it's that or not, still might want to be careful"

"Ikarus, it's not that but promise I will be"

I'll just forget about it then; we should be near the station now so it's time to head to the northern part of this mountain kingdom.

For some reason though, I think I'm irritated at myself more than her, kinda liked Petra getting jealous over me like that...