The General's Questions

The legions and the dwarves had a standoff outside the dwarves' camp. Archers on top of the guard tower aimed their arrows towards the goblins. The dwarf with a large pin head helmet stood in front of his troops and draw his sword, pointing it towards the brothers. "Turn back," he said, "Before I order my,"

Suddenly the earth shook. Everyone was startled, but they did not waver. Then the earth shook for the second time, then third, and then the fourth. The goblins started to quiver in fear and slowly took a few steps back. Shuja noticed the legions backing away and yelled at them, "Stay in your place, you cowards,"

Sun was thinking of a way to get pass through the dwarves. He experienced this before, numerous times in his dreams about his past life. Any sort of altercation with the guards in charge of the checkpoints he was forced to go through resulted in meaningless violence. He saw many people arrested on the spot for not abiding with the officer's demands.

Then the earth shook for the final time. The brothers entered their fighting stance. "Mace, what's going on?" A loud low voice blasted behind the dwarves. "General Andrik!" The dwarf with the pinhead helmet turned around and returned his sword in his sheath. "A large number of goblins are trying to migrate through the tunnel. And they are being led by some weird looking orc."

An old dwarf with a short puffy beard and wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, revealing his stiff muscles, appeared out of the dwarves' formation. He seemed tall enough to look down on his soldiers. "Weird looking orc? What do you mean by that? Oh!" General Andrik was surprised to see Sun, "This is no orc. Mace, tell your guards to lower their weapons."

"But General Andrik, we can't just" Mace stopped mid-sentence when the general turned to look at him. The air around the old general suddenly felt heavier, and the ground beneath their feet began to sway. "Guards lowers your weapons. At ease, archers!" The archers on top of the guard tower put away their bows, and the guards took a guarding stance behind the general.

"So, you trying to go through the tunnel." The general walked forward. The brothers raised their clubs, but Sun waved his hand in front of them, telling them to back down. "The name is General Andrik Hejna. But you can just call Andrik. And you are?" He extended his hand for a handshake. Sun hesitated to shake his hand.

"My name is Sun. I'm the chief of this tribe. We are known as Lev."

Andrik pulled Sun's hand towards his chest, bringing Sun closer to him, then eased his control once again. At a closer look, the general was as tall as Sun, and his puffy beard looked as white and soft as fresh snow. And beneath that soft fluffy beard, Sun could see a scar running down his left cheek to his chin. "You're a tall one. And who are those human women in the back?" He looked passed Sun on to the crowd of goblins hiding behind their wooden shields.

Mari and the other women were hiding behind the caretakers far away from the front, but Andrik raised his voice so they could hear him loud and clear. Mari realized there was no way they could hide, so she took the initiative and stood up. Her height seemed to tower over the short goblins around her, "I'm his mother!" Mari yelled with a determined look.

"Interesting."

Meanwhile, Sun realized the handshake was to show general Andrik's strength. Sun was struggling to remove his hand off Andrik's grasp. Sun could punch the general off of him, but that was obviously the wrong action to take. But he can't let this awkward exchange last for too long. He has to be clever when dealing with someone like Andrik. "You have strong hands, general."

General Andrik followed Sun's gaze down at their hands, which were still clutched together. "Rararara!" The general laughed, "You have strong hands too, Chief." Andrik freed Sun's hand, "And is it true that human woman is your mom."

"Yes. Is that a problem?" Finally, he was free from his grasp. Sun straightened his back to appear taller than the old general.

"No problems there. It seems like your mother is a strong one." The other women stood up except for Cryus, who was shaking in fear. Sam tried to comfort her to no avail. The old dwarf's dominating presence was a lot to take in for Cyrus, and even more so for Mari and the brothers. They could feel the overwhelming mana seeping out of the general. "In fact, I am delighted. I thought I would never see another one like you, and even better, you seem to have a more amicable relationship with your mother." Andrik gazed at the sky, "Unlike the last one."

"Last one? What do you mean?" Sun raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't mind that now. I bet you have a lot more pressing questions you need answers for, and I am also quite intrigued about you as well. How about you come with me to my tent and. I will your goblins settle outside our camp."

"I'll only go with you if you let my tribe go through the tunnel. And I'd like to keep it short."

"Very well."

"But General!" Mace protested, but the general waved his hand. It was enough to keep him and his guards at bay. Mace sighed, "Understood."

Sun and General Andrik walked through the courtyard towards a small green tent. Inside the tent was a small table and two wooden chairs. On the table was a map of the entire eastern half of Raiden Forest. The inside of the tent was clean and pristine. The dirty ground was replaced with planks of smooth oak wood with no dust on its surface to be found. Despite being a military outpost, the smell of blood and sweat could not be detected in the air.

The sat on the same side of the table. "Alright, let's make this quick. I only want to ask three questions, and in return, you get to ask three yourself. That way, it will be fair. I'll start first. Did anything strange happen near your tribe that is possibly connected to the earth like earthquakes, or earthworms rising from the ground?"

"There have been more horny toads popping out on the surface recently." Sun could not help but wonder if this was the reason for the dwarves' occupation of the cave entrance. "Can you tell me why you want to know?"

"We need to know how severe the impact of the civil war is having on the surface. Especially on the surface of the Raiden Forest. Honestly, a pain in the ass if you ask me."

"Civil war. What can kind of civil war is affecting the ground?"

"You should have already guessed by now that this civil war is taking place underground. There is a whole different world down there with glowing mushrooms, glowing grass, and probably glowing cows. And there is a kingdom underneath our feet fighting in a succession war—a country of dark elves. Now, we don't know much about the kingdom since they rarely interact with us surface dwellers. Have you guys seen any perytons flying around? I hope you haven't."

"No. And even if we did, we wouldn't know since we probably never seen it."

"That's true. I guess I should show you." The general reached for his pocket. He took out a worn-out piece of paper folded in half. He unfolded the paper in front of Sun, revealing a grotesque illustration of a strange bird. "This is a peryton." The creature had large antlers and a head resembling a deer and a mouth that resembles a wolf. It even had the same canine as a wolf. "This creature can only be found underground. But the civil war is pushing this and many other dark animals closer to the surface. However, perytons are our top priority. They not only eat livestock, but they are not afraid to hunt men. In fact, they are very aggressive."

"Is that why you are guarding the cave entrance?"

"Yes, in case any of them comes out. We haven't had any escaping to the surface, so it's safe to say that the perytons are still deeper. But just in case, how long are you going to remain inside the tunnel? Any estimates."

"We are hoping to get to the other side by two days."

"I see. Well, that's questions for today. Let's get you back to your tribe and resume your journey." Andrik stood up from his chair and walked towards a coat hanging rack and wore a thick brown fur coat.

"What? Hold on. I still have one more question."

"No, you don't."

"Yes I do." Sun jumped off his seat.

"You asked me why I want to know, followed by your question about the civil war, and your final question was about our purpose for being here."

"You counted the first one as a question!" Sun shouted in frustration. "I just wanted an explanation."

The general sighed, "Fine, I'll ask one more question, and in return, you can ask one more as well. I'll start. Knowing what you know now, are you sure you want to go through the tunnel?"

"Yes" Sun did not hesitate to answer the question.

"Alright. Now, what's your question?"

Sun hesitated to ask. He wanted to know more about the status of the tunnel, other effects of the civil war underground, and who was the previous one he mentioned earlier. But he knew these questions can be answered later, and maybe they won't even affect his journey. But there is one question he wanted to ask the most, "Do you know of a wizard named Pagasa?"

"No, I don't. But knowing you goblins and the circumstance surrounding your race I have a feeling I know who you are referring to. If the name he gave you is Pagasa, that might be a code word for something else. I will ask the king about it before directly heading towards the wizard once I finish here. So if you come across any dwarves later on, just tell them the word Pagasa, and they should guide you of where to go. Now, then," Andrik lifted the curtains of the tent's front entrance. "You got no time to spare. Don't you agree?"

"That's the fifth question."

"Rararara! Now you're getting it. Strength is great, but shrewdness can be even better."