"And yet you still ask my father's clan for all the steel needed to armor your troops," Brahgen commented with a grin.
"You learned more lip than I remember. I guess that's what comes from traveling with an overgrown troglodyte."
Before the barbarian could counter the offense, his companion had already stepped closer and threw a hard punch to knock Fas back a few steps before he stumbled and finally landed on his rear.
"If that's how you react to a half-pint giving you what will surely be a black eye, you might want to reconsider insulting Skharr DeathEater." Brahgen approached his uncle and helped him up.
The whole troop behind him erupted in laughter, and while the older dwarf looked like he was about to vent his anger for a moment, he began to laugh as well. He took his nephew’s hand and grunted as he rose to his feet and rubbed the place where the blow had met his eye.
"I don't know who you are, but where is Brahgen AnvilForged and what have you done with him?"
Skharr smirked as the others laughed.
"We'll escort you to the city walls," Fas stated, mounted his battle ram, and gestured for his troops to turn. "After that, we will continue our patrols."
That seemed reasonable and the group continued toward the mountains that towered against the sky.
Oddly enough, the city that rose above them was practically invisible from a distance, yet as they approached, Skharr wasn't sure why he hadn't seen it before. The walls were built high and into the mountain face, with massive statues of mighty dwarves of the past holding the gates that were lowered slowly when one of Fas' men blew a horn to announce their arrival.
Most of the dwarven cities the barbarian had been in before were the types that were built deep into the mountains and mostly isolated from the world, but this one was half out in the open. He could see that the city had been carved into the mountain itself like it was in one massive cave, and as the sun was setting, it cast light within to reveal that it was supported by hundreds of columns across the city.
These pillars provided housing for the dwarves inside.
This was a city to almost rival Verenvan in sheer size and scope, and all the more impressive due to how much work had gone into creating it from a barren mountain face.
The forests growing into the sides of the mountain extended beyond the walls as well and even into the city, which explained why it was so difficult to see it from afar.
"Your mouth is hanging open."
Skharr coughed and snapped his jaw shut as he glared at Brahgen and tried to ignore the arrogant grin on the boy's lips.
"Have you been here before?" he asked, desperate to change the subject.
"In my younger years. I suppose it is less impressive if you've been here when you were a child. In the end, you see most other cities as inferior and this as the median standard."
"What standard?"
"The…well, the average."
"Ah." He couldn't understand that. A city like this seemed like it was practically the stuff of myths and legends, like the City in the Clouds that he'd heard tell of so many years ago. "So why did you leave?"
"I'd acquired a few… bad habits," Brahgen admitted and raised his hand to reveal a hefty, viciously curved dagger—one he hadn't seen him with before.
It took the barbarian a few moments to realize where he'd taken it from.
"You truly cannot control yourself, can you?"
"I've never needed to."
"Have you thought about the fact that if you had, you wouldn't have been sent away from your home? And then sent away again?"
"And I would never have met you and gone on our adventures together."
That was a fair point, although he would have thought that anyone would prefer to have a nice, safe home to live in rather than travel the world and run face-first into a myriad of dangers, almost without pause.
The gates were open and as they crossed the bridge to reach them, the group on the battle rams rode away in the direction they'd come from, likely to continue their patrols.
"How long do you think until Fas realizes that his dagger is missing?" Brahgen asked as they passed through the gates and immediately headed through the city like he knew every inch of it.
"I would say he already knows and didn't want to make a scene about it in front of his men and subject himself to more mockery. Which means he'll approach you about it later if he knows where you are going. Which—do you know where you are going?"
The dwarf smirked. "My family has a large house in which almost every section is filled by the various branches breaking away from it. In fact, it is said that they created a new section whenever a new family was joined to ours. I think we might have run out of space eventually, but you can see the house. A city inside a city, my mother used to call it."
Skharr looked at where his companion pointed and had to concede that he was right. The house was built into the inside of the mountain. He'd almost missed it, thinking the mansion was merely the wall of the cave the city was in.
A wall had been built around its entrance as well, with a handful of guards already waiting for them, along with a tall dwarf woman.
She approached as soon as she saw them and led the guards forward before she stopped in front of Brahgen.
Her stern look softened as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Welcome home, Brahgie."
The interesting nickname made Skharr immediately raise an eyebrow.
"I've missed you too, Mother," the youth whispered and returned her embrace.
She moved back, held him at arm's length, and brushed her fingers through his beard. "You've changed, my boy."
"I suppose I have."
The smile on her face vanished when she looked at Skharr who stood in silence nearby. "I see you've been messing with barbarians of late as well."
"He is my friend," Brahgen interrupted. "I love and respect you but you won't speak ill of a friend who has saved my life already."
The woman walked to the warrior and stood at a distance that allowed her to scrutinize him carefully without having to strain her neck.
"Do you have a name?" she asked finally after she’d completed her inspection.
"Aye," he answered.
"AnvilForged has a high opinion of you if he tasked you with protecting my son. Perhaps he's merely impressed by any human who is taller than average. Do you know how to use that sword you carry?"
Skharr narrowed his eyes. "I might do."
He could see Brahgen trying to hold his laughter in check when his mother started to display signs of frustration.
"Do you know how to speak in proper sentences, or do you merely grunt through any conversation and hope no one notices?"
"Perhaps."
Finally, she turned to face her son instead. "Please tell me he can speak better than this. Or are you so desperate for companionship that any old shit with nothing between his ears will do?"
"That's going too far, mother," Brahgen stated firmly and his tone took on a slightly arrogant edge. "This is Skharr DeathEater, Barbarian of Theros and respected client of Throk AnvilForged who recently completed the Ax of Skharr DeathEater and has been tasked with delivering it to the DeathEater Clan."