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- Herausgeber: Hunter Verlag
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Serie: Dana
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
A long time ago, a magical experiment went wrong. An ancient population, who started it, had to bear the consequences. The magical explosion ripped everyone from their time. Dana has been found and taken in by the dwarfs when she was just a baby. On her tenth birthday there, she learns about her heritage and the one of her people, who not only got very old, but also had exceptional abilities. Curious and full of enthusiasm, she now tries to find out more about herself and her people. While she's searching for her past, she comes across a ghost. The ghost is one of her people, who now instructs her and supervises her training as a magician. She learns to read the old books and how to apply magic. He tells her of what happened back in the day and she, of course, wants to search for her parents and her people – even if she has to outwit time. Of course, she also learns respect for life in general. During her training, she receives orders from the King of the dwarfs, to help out with a problem in the mountains. Following a catastrophe more than one hundred years ago, nobody can leave the mountains anymore. Anyone who's tried to take on the problem, has failed so far. The dwarfs now hope that Dana's magical abilities can solve said problem. During the hunt for a solution and for her past, Dana needs to face many adventures. She learns more about her heritage and during her investigations she meets more and more characters that have had contact to her people and who are willing to help her. Luckily, Dana is not alone. Shari, her little fairy, and Gomek, the dwarf boy, accompany and support her as best as they can. Is this kind of task even manageable for a ten-year-old and her young friends? Dana and supporters won't be deterred, at any rate, and try everything to reach their goal.
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My wife gave me the incentive to write
this book.
Dear readers, I hope you’ll have as much fun reading this novel as I had
Thomas L. Hunter
D a n a
© 2016 Thomas L. Hunter
http://thomas-l-hunter.de
Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/azraelscoverwelten/
Cover design: Azrael ap Cwanderay
Editing: Friederun Baudach Jäger
Britta Rose
Renate Lammel
Translating: Marlena S. Klöpper - Freie Literarische Übersetzungen
Publisher: Hunter Verlag
Printed in Germany by Createspace
ISBN-13: 978-3-947086-05-4
The work, including its parts, is protected by copyright. Any use is prohibited without the consent of the publisher and the author. This applies in particular to electronic or other copying, translation, distribution and public access.
Bibliographic information of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek:
Table of Contents
Kapitel 1 - THE FOUNDLING 8
Kapitel 2 - In the beginning, there’s always a question 12
Kapitel 3 - The birthday surprise 20
Kapitel 4 - The Museum 32
Kapitel 5 - Departure 38
Kapitel 6 - Dangers in the darkness 51
Kapitel 7 - Me be important 66
Kapitel 8 - Erogat 78
Kapitel 9 - The training begins 94
Kapitel 10 - A new clue 104
Kapitel 11 - The mountains are calling! 111
Kapitel 12 - The magical crystal 126
Kapitel 13 - »Rudi« 135
Kapitel 14 - The armor of obedience 154
Kapitel 15 - The first part of the armor 170
Kapitel 16 - The tree palace 191
Kapitel 17 - The Dollhouse 210
Kapitel 18 - Way too much sand 221
Kapitel 19 - The King’s secret 232
Kapitel 20 - The dwarfs’ mine 246
Kapitel 21 - Light and Shadow 254
Kapitel 22 - Wonderful new, old times 267
Important Characters: 275
Other books by the author Thomas L. Hunter: 281
The cave was sheathed in twilight and plenty of magicians had gathered for a ritual. They formed a large circle around a pentagram that was carved into the ground between them. Each corner of the pentagram was home to a larger than life pitch black monolith, behind which another magician was positioned. They all celebrated a mighty ritual that started getting out of hand.
Finally, with a gigantic silent explosion, the cave was bathed in bright light. When the light died down, one magician was standing in the middle of the pentagram, all alone, and looked around.
“Hello? Is there anybody here?”
Chapter 1
THE FOUNDLING
It was a beautiful, warm evening. Olo, a dwarf in the prime of his years, who’d only recently turned 648 years old, was on the way home together with his best friend and colleague Toben, who was only forty-two years younger than him. They were heading home from the old part of the city, or rather their favorite bar “The golden ambos”. There, they had enjoyed their after-work-beer like any other evening, and now they strolled down the streets next to each other, both in a pleasant mood. The two of them had been colleagues and friends for the longest time now. At the government agency for Science and Research they worked together closely in the directorate for metals, blacksmithing, and inventions. They were held in great esteem there by their colleagues for being excellent co-workers and tinkerers.
Now, at nightfall, the administrative agency responsible for weather, light, and environmental matters – dubbed WeLiE by the dwarfs – had turned on the lanterns. They illuminated the entire area now and bathed the surroundings in a pleasantly warm light. Deep in a stimulating conversation, they crossed the large gathering place that was situated in front of the government pyramid. On one side, bathed in darkness now, was their workplace and of course the WeLiE. On the other side, where they were just coming from, the commercial zone with the small shops, restaurants and boarding houses stretched out, brightly lit at this time of day.
They talked about some of the changes in their dwarf colony, which was a modest part of a much vaster cave system.
“Fantastic, simply fantastic.”
Toben had stopped walking and studied the ceiling above his head. Olo hadn’t noticed that Toben had not followed him and only mumbled a tired: “What?”
“The kind of stuff WeLiE gets done. Look at that cave ceiling – thousands of stars. Isn’t that always such an incredible and uplifting thing to look at? And the flickering of those little spots! Like the real night sky.”
Olo looked up in annoyance. He was exhausted and all he wanted was to get home as quickly as possible. But he had to agree with Toben. It was indeed an incredible sight. Aside from the now turned-off daylight crystals, there were eons of tiny gleaming crystals mounted to the ceiling that gave off the impressions of a real night sky.
“But that flickering…Do you think that’s normal?”
An ice-cold shiver ran down his back. Something unknown, threatening, was accumulating above their heads. He felt it down to his bones. Unsettled, he grumbled:
“Come on, let’s keep walking. Something is not right here. I can feel it. You can stare at the ceiling again tomorrow.”
Toben tore his gaze from the sight and shot a confused glance at his retreating friend. In the end, he hurried up to catch up with Olo.
“What did you say? Something is wrong? What are you talking about?”, Toben wanted to know.
“Just a feeling! Nothing else!”, Olo mumbled and started walking even faster. Deep in thought, Toben matched his friend’s pace.
The two dwarfs had almost crossed the plaza when they suddenly flinched in surprise. A bright bolt of lightning had blinded them. Confused, they stopped walking.
Once Toben had gathered himself a little, he directed his questioning glance at Olo:
“Wow! What was that? I didn’t know the WeLiE could make lightning now! You think they’ll do thunder and rain next?”
“Nonsense”, Olo mumbled and shot him a horrified glare, before he looked around to find the source of the lightning. His gaze landed on the giant monolith, a cone-shaped and pitch- black object that was located on the far end of the plaza, right opposite of the government pyramid. A strange kind of gleaming exuded from the foot of the structure that had been there for as long as any dwarf could remember. The two dwarfs exchanged stunned looks, and at that very moment they heard a deafening noise.
At first, they got scared. But when the first shock slowly subsided, they started moving towards the noise. Dwarfs are courageous, yes, but they lacked a certain caution when it was necessary. They came closer and closer to the source of the noise until – their blank astonishment left them audibly gasping for air. They had not expected this! A small basket, richly ornamented and sheathed in expensive silk, stood in front of the monolith. And they discovered something else as well: a small, golden, flying creature. It circled the basket time and again. Inside the basket there was an infant with blonde hair the color of snow, light blue eyes, and an opened mouth, where the deafening noise came from.
Well, they had found the source of the commotion that had attracted their interest.
The child, dressed in silk and velvet, was lying before them, screaming and kicking. Down at the feet of the little bundle, Olo and Toben saw the remains of a broken, golden egg that was spotted with hieroglyphs. A richly decorated locket wobbled above the head of the screaming infant.
They looked on helplessly because they didn’t know what to do. They only knew one thing – the pipsqueak needed help.
Olo cautiously approached the basket and lifted the powerful-voiced baby. Thoughtfully, he regarded the little worm while trying to calm him. Then an idea struck him. It didn’t matter. No matter where the little one had come from, he would adopt the baby and raise it as his own. Olo and his wife Tala had always wished for a baby. Sadly, their marriage had remained childless – but now fate had presented them with a little child.
And what a child it was…
Chapter 2
In the beginning, there’s always a question
It was early. Very early. Much too early. Dana, a light blonde and, as of today, ten-year-old, beautiful girl, was wrenched from her slumber. Thanks to the weight that a tiny creature was executing on her chest, and the noise that the cute little thing made, she couldn’t keep sleeping. The noise – loud, disharmonic, and presented in a squeaky voice – turned out to be a birthday song.
“All the best to you on your tenth
birthday, your big day is today – So,
come get up from the hay.
You’re the sweetest thing I know –
That’s why Shari is making a show.
If your hair turns blue or your nose grows long –
Today, Shari’s love for you is extra strong.
Shari won’t reveal today’s bling –
Now get up and do your thing.”
In the meantime, to underline the meaning of the little poem, Shari pinched Dana’s pretty nose softly. Shari was actually called Naya Shari, but she was only called that when she got into trouble. The little winged creature had practically chosen its own name. When she was found along with Dana, she had continuously whispered almost inaudible words that sounded something like Naya Shari. But since everyone liked the short version of the name better, she was only ever called Shari.
After the third repetition of the birthday song, Dana decided to end the well-meaning antics of Shari. She opened her eyes and called out dramatically:
“Ouch!”, only to then beam at Shari and laughingly say:
“Thank you for the birthday song – and Happy Birthday to you, too!” She rubbed her injured nose. “Did you come up with that all by yourself?”
“Sure…”, Shari quavered, and gleamed in a wonderful white color.
One could easily rely on the color and brightness of her glow to tell the mood of the little thing. When she was happy and in a good mood, she glowed brightly in a wonderful white. The worse she felt, the darker her glow got – all the way until it hit the color red. Once it hit dark red, it was best to not address the creature at all, but instead duck one’s head and seek shelter somewhere.
Dana let her gaze travel over the room. She looked over the edge of the bed and into the depth of the living cave, which, as she registered today, seemed sort of large. Everyone in the family had their own sleeping nook, even Shari. Of course, hers was a lot smaller, but at least she had a place of her own. Their home wasn’t anything special: a living room, or cave, with an open fireplace, and a bathroom that walked out into the backyard. And that was it. As was previously said, it wasn’t anything mind-blowing, but she loved this cave.
A large table, which was laden with copious amounts of food at the moment, took up a large portion of the space. A wonderful smell wafted over from the fireplace. Tala, her foster-mother, was cooking something delicious. She was short, had gray hair, twinkling silvery-gray eyes, and was dressed in typical dwarf-clothes: clunky shoes, leather pants, leather vest, and a plaid shirt. Dwarfs weren’t really into fashion. All they asked of clothes was that they were practical. The room ended, opposite of Dana’s sleeping nook, in a heavy wooden door, which lead out into the city of the dwarfs.
Tala had only recently celebrated her 502 birthday, and she still felt young, also taking great care of making sure that others saw her as a young woman as well. Almost ten years ago, when Olo had appeared on the doorstep with a tiny infant, they had decided to raise Dana as their own child because they had never been lucky enough to become parents.
Nobody had the faintest clue where Dana and Shari had come from or which race they belonged to. They were just absolutely sure that they were not dwarfs. Tala was in the process of setting the table for the birthday kids and preparing the breakfast. A large kettle hung over the fire, its contents smelled delicious, and slowly simmered above the heat. She was busy with the pots, plates, cups, and pans, and – like any other morning – she was quietly cursing to herself.
“Such a young thing … not even two-hundred-and-twelve years old, and already doing my job – at least four-hundred years, that’s what one should be, at least!”
Since she had been dismissed from the teaching service, she had seemed dissatisfied, and kept putting down her successor when she thought nobody was listening. But now Tala had eons of free time, which held some positive aspects as well because now this time was attributed to Dana’s educations, which resulted in lots of knowledge for her. That Tala hardly had any time left for herself didn’t matter to her, because like any dwarf-mother would do, she as well would do anything for her children – and her kids were Dana and Shari.
Olo must have left for work already because he was nowhere to be seen. Dana pushed Shari’s chest and swung her legs from the nook and onto the small step that wrapped around the room in front of the nooks. Afterwards, she gracefully balanced across the steps and over to the clothes, because she was just athletic like that. The clothes hung next to her nook like they always did. Then she kept climbing, down towards Tala, and hugged her passionately. That wasn’t all that hard, because the dwarf-woman was about the same size as Dana.
“Good morning, Mom.”
Dana had known for a while that Olo and Tala were not her parents. But that didn’t keep her from calling them mom and dad.
“What’s the specialty today?”, she questioned after her boisterous greeting, and the disappeared into the bathroom without waiting for the answer.
To call it a bathroom was possible stretching it a little. It was more of a simple washing room, with bowls, jugs, a tiny mirror, and an outhouse.
Ten minutes later, Dana was sitting at the kitchen table. Shari, who was too short to sit there, of course, had gotten a chair and table in miniature size, courtesy of Olo. The furniture fit onto the table, so that Shari had a nice view of things from up there. Both were now waiting for what was to come next.
In front of the birthday kids, a reasonably-sized, meticulously wrapped package was on the table. Shari, who was extremely curious, wanted to examine the package right away, but was shooed away by Tala again and again. “It is not a birthday present!”, she said, and Shari had to sit back down at her table.
Angry with the fact that she had been shooed away one too many times, Shari’s mood started changing drastically. Her blazing gleam from before started fading and changed into a light gray. That couldn’t mean anything good. One could practically see, how the chance of color also brought along the worsening of the little pixie’s mood.
Luckily, Tala was a wonderful cook, so that Shari’s anger was redirected. She quickly forgave Tala for shooing her away. And the meal Tala had prepared today was simply fit for kings.
She explained to the girls:
“As a starter, we’re having ranunculus soup.
Then the main course:
Potato cutlets with honey sauce,
Paired with a special beverage:
Iced cocoa with whipped cream and chives-sprinkles
And to top it off:
Carrot cake with pea-sprinkles.
Then the best part, dessert: Mint
coated caramel candy bites.”
The announcement of the dessert resulted in cheers from Dana and Shari, since that kind of treat was a rarity. After finishing breakfast and cleaning away their plates, Dana, like so many times before, asked the many important questions that had been weighing heavily on her heart for so long.
“Mom, who am I? Where do I come from? And why am I not like the others?”
Back in the day, Tala would have been able to avoid the questions, but today she was ready to give her daughter the answers she longed for. She gazed at her daughter for a long moment, silent. Finally, she cleared her throat quickly and started telling the story, all the while busying her hands with unwrapping the package.
“As you know, you were found ten years ago, under the most mysterious circumstances, by Olo and his friend Toben right next to the large monolith. You and Naya Shari, you came here together. Nobody knows how or why.
We searched the dwarf-archives for any kind of clue of where you could come from, but we never found a thing. The locket though, was a different story. Apparently, it belonged to an age-old wizards’ caste that used to live in these caves with us a couple thousand years ago. One day, they disappeared without leaving a trace. You and Shari, you seem to be a unit – but how the two of you belong together? – Nobody knows…yet! Maybe you will find out all about it one day.”
Then, she hesitated for a moment, before she kept talking. “We took you in after the Grand Council of Dwarfs gave us permission and left us in charge of you.
Anyway, the locket, and the broken golden egg with the hieroglyphs, which seems to have hatched Shari, the basket, and you all put together…You’re old enough to hear it now. Old enough to receive the utensils from your past and most likely for your future.”
After she finished speaking, Tala pushed a magnificently decorated basket, which she had previously finished unwrapping, across the table towards Dana. Right away, an almost palpable tension hovered in the air between them. Dana had known for a long time that she was something special. Shortly after her ninth birthday, the first peculiarities started showing – she could communicate with animals. It started with a quiet whisper. After a while, she began to understand better what the animals were saying, and after yet another while she could speak and understand their language as well as her own. Dana and Shari looked quietly at Tala for a while. In the end, the birthday kids started – very carefully – to unpack the contents of the basket.
The first thing Dana noticed was a beautiful piece of jewelry, which she picked up immediately. It felt warm, and consisted of a jet-black, flat stone, bordered in gold.
“It looks a lot like the monolith at the gathering plaza!”, Dana mumbled reverently.
As soon as she touched it, the locket appeared to come to life. Inside, small ‘stars’ started gleaming and blinking, then disappeared for a second, only to start up their light show again right away. Two tiny creatures made of pure gold with ruby red eyes were inwrought in the piece of jewelry. One could see a winged lion’s body with an eagle’s head and a fire-spitting dragon fighting each other. Dana shot a quizzical glance at Tala.
“May I put it on?”, Dana wanted to know, obviously excited.
“Absolutely”, Tala whispered, tears shining in her eyes. It somehow felt like her daughter’s life was about to become a lot more complicated, maybe even more dangerous. Who knew what Dana had to expect from the future. She knew her child well, and she also knew of Dana’s curiosity.
When Dana put on the locket, she felt the change immediately. It wasn’t noticeable on the outside, but she and Shari still felt it. Both could communicate now … without ever saying a word out loud. They were connected in their minds. Dana had wished for a reaction, maybe she’d even expected that she would get a new ability for her tenth birthday, like talking to flowers or something like that. But telepathy…that was much better than anything she could have hoped for.
Eager and excited, they started unpacking more from the basket. But aside from the mentioned hieroglyphs on the golden egg shells, there wasn’t much more to discover; a satiny, pink pillow with a matching blanket, that had a name woven in with golden threat.
Dana
Tala gloomily trudged over into the kitchen and left the birthday kids to themselves. Meanwhile, they excitedly examined the rest of the golden egg, all the while animatedly discussing the things they’d heard today. At some point, Dana started copying the hieroglyphs onto a piece of paper. Afterwards, she stashed the paper in a save place. In the hopes that the rest of the shards wouldn’t break or get lost, Dana deposited them in a box that was cushioned with wool.
There was a large secret surrounding her and her little flying friend, and she, Dana, would someday, somehow solve the mystery.
Chapter 3
The birthday surprise
There was a knock on the door. Before anybody could utter a word, the door was wrenched open and young, dark- haired dwarf stormed into the room. It was Gomek, the thirty- nine-year-old fine specimen of his tribe. His body was more like a human’s…like Dana’s. He was athletic and – to his utter dismay – handsome, which resulted in the other dwarfs picking on him, since for dwarfs this was widely known as a flaw. For dwarfs, beauty had always gotten mixed up with unrefined manners, heavy build, and a rough appearance. But here, in Dana’s home, nobody cared about that. After all, he was her best – and only – friend.
The dwarf children and teenagers avoided them both, since they believed them to be different, smart-alecky, and ugly. Due to dwarf-standards, Gomek was still considered a child up until his 40th birthday, and was only allowed to start school once he hit that age.
There had been plenty of tries to get the young dwarfs used to school earlier, but they were simply to jittery, lacking concentration. That’s why school started after the 40th birthday. What followed were fourteen years of education, school, and then the preparation for a job. Afterwards, they were adolescent, only to then advance to adult-contenders later in life. After 40 years of contending, which was used to extend their knowledge in their respective fields of work, they finally came of age. Thus, Gomek was still a greenhorn. He quickly greeted Tala, and then glommed Dana to congratulate her on her birthday.
Shari’s aura darkened. She didn’t think much of Gomek, instead believing him to be wacko. Thanks to their new connection, Dana realized the change in her friend right away, and called her to order. She didn’t want Shari to butt heads with anyone today, least of all Gomek, who was usually a prime target for the little pixie’s wrath.
“Happy Birthday”, Gomek greeted her. Dana beamed at him, happy about the unexpected visit.
“Thank you! But… don’t you need to be at work today? Or did you take a day off?”
Gomek wasn’t any different in that aspect than the rest of the dwarfs his age. They needed to work like they needed to breathe – they could, and happy to, work until they hit their tenth year of life and even beyond that until they hit school age. Also, they liked tinkering for the community.
“No, I’ve got to get going. But I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I’ll see you this afternoon, thought!” He quickly handed her the gift and disappeared again.
“Now I didn’t even thank him for the present. Well, I’ll see him later”, Dana quietly mumbled to herself before turning to her mom, who was already talking to her:
“Listen, Dana, your father has another surprise for you. He’s waiting for you at the ministry and will tell you all about it.”
Dana hugged Tala enthusiastically and then said her goodbyes, storming over to the front door, jerked it open, only to disappear into the twilight of the tunnel’s lamps. She was quickly followed by Shari. Unsettled, Tala looked after them. “Hopefully she’s taking good care of herself?”, she sobbed. Slowly, she closed the door again and returned to her chores.
Outside, Dana looked around. She was at the end of a narrow dead end, of course equipped with a stone ceiling. So basically, a finished tunnel that wasn’t much different from a regular alley. On both sides of the passage, more doors led to other homes, but they were all closed.
Their alley was in the oldest part of the dwarf-city. Just like the small apartments, it was artfully carved into the ancient lime sandstone. The ministry had offered Olo and his wife a new apartment plenty of times. But he had rejected the offer every time, saying that he and his family had been living in this place for the longest time now, and that it would stay that way.
Small lanterns on the walls of the houses bathed the path in a warm light. Shari was shining brightly, full of unrest, so that the lanterns seemed faint next to her. That was her way of getting excited every time she and Dana would get on their way to downtown and the large gathering plaza. It was new and exciting every single time.
From their home, “No. 7, Old Alley”, Dana and Shari only had to walk through three different alleys. They reached the plaza in fifteen minutes. Then they rounded a corner and the extensive plaza was stretching out right in front of them. They were standing at the entrance of a gigantic cave. She was at least forty meters high and extended far to the left – much further than they could see from this point.
The houses on each side of the plaza had been carved from the stone, as well as their magnificent decorations. Stately arches carried the circumferential balconies of the second floors, so that the sidewalks seemed to have roofs.
The houses all sported a façade decorated with plenty of gold and gemstones. It was widely known that dwarfs didn’t care for materialistic things, and so they used the gems and the gold that had found while digging to beautify their city.
Since everybody had a job and everyone contributed to the well-being of the society, nobody needed money, gold, or gems. Except, of course, for trade with strangers. The windows and doors were adorned with complicated wood carvings and sheathed in gold leaves. Small, beautifully polished diamonds interrupted the carvings from time to time. To the left of the plaza, behind the first row of houses with the small shops, boardinghouses, and restaurants, there was the craftsmen neighborhood. There, in the tiny alleys, several craftsmen had settled down. Everything existed, from the goldsmith to the diamond polisher, from carpenter to tailor – it was all right there. Behind that was the “developing area” – uptown.
It was a fascinating sight and Dana enjoyed it anew every single time, while Shari was more interested in the shops. Every single time, she flew over to the shop that sold several different kinds of honey, in the hopes of sponging some sweets. Dana didn’t follow her. She knew that Shari would bring a treat for her as well.
Instead, she sat down on a bench along the edge of the large plaza, and watched the goings-on in front of the government pyramid. The large monolith, jet-black and a little threatening, towered in front of the pyramid. She liked sitting here, and enjoyed studying the breathtaking sight before her. The impressive pillars of the tremendous caves majestically blended into the fairytale picture.
Dana admired the dwarfs’ handiwork – the skill with which they had carved and pounded those staves from the stone in a regular pattern. They worked together, forming large squares that supported each other as well as the ceiling. In the middle of each square, there was a large lighting crystal that exuded bright-as-day, soft, and warm light into the cave.
“The crystals are a fine substitution for the sun”, Dana whispered. “A great invention! They don’t just warm us, but they let our plants blossom and grow.”
She knew that from the stories the adults told her, even though she herself had never seen the sun. Then her gaze returned to the steps of the pyramid, which was the seat of government and home of the king. The pyramid was the stunning finish of the plaza. She rose above the neighboring buildings with ease, and just like it was common for a pyramid, she slimmed out towards the top. The structure was special. Those who had built it, the dwarfs most likely, had only erected the front and sides. The various landings of the pyramid gave the opportunity to enter the wall of stone. From each of these terraces, there was an entrance to the left and the right, which had been pounded into the stone, and from where one could reach the different administrative offices. The top of the pyramid was formed by an ornate golden arch. This was the passage to the throne room and the private rooms of the dwarf king.
Dana compared the pyramid to the other buildings in the city in her mind but there was nothing else like it.
“Where did the dwarfs get the idea for this building?”, she pondered.
The entrance to the administrative building was to the right. Yes, even dwarfs need an administration, and this was also where Olo was working. The sleepy museum with the old library were close by, only separated by a tiny alley. If you followed the alley, you reached the laboratories, the mines, and the storage area. One had to be prepared for the bed times, after all. Dana sadly regarded the museum. She wasn’t allowed to go in their yet, since she was still too young.
By now, Dana was growing bored. Shari still wasn’t back, and so she started counting the cast-iron lanterns that lined the plaza. Afterwards, she studied the mosaics that could be seen everywhere on the ground of the plaza: consistently formed of tiny, multi colored gemstones.
The pictures recounted the tales of the dwarfs – how they had found these mountains thousands of years ago, and how they had extrapolated this vast cave-system to live in. There were picture stories showing dwarfs fighting dragons, goblins, and trolls … and of course they came out victorious. Other pictures showed the dwarfs in the mines, on the fields, with the animals, and again others told the stories of the dwarfs meeting strange people from the outside world. There were also pictures of animals that solely existed outside these mountains.
“It must have been a wild time”, Dana thought. While she was still studying the pictures, she felt a slight tickle in her neck, and the locket started to warm up a little. She grabbed for the jewelry and looked around. Only the monolith was behind her, and she had been close to it the entire time. It seemed to light up for a second – or had that simply been her imagination?
Before Dana could even react, Shari returned with a handful of honey drops. She jerked from her thoughts when the tiny pixie nudged her and dropped a few drops into her hand. The strange feeling and the warmth of the locket had subsided in the meantime.
Dana only now realized what time it was. She jumped to her feet and started racing towards the office building that held her father’s office.
A golden sign at the entrance announced the building to be the administration of “sciences”. The entrance hall sported another, much larger board, that listed the various departments and their workers, to show the way to the right office. The direction to Olo’s department was, of course, also listed.
“Blacksmithery and Inventions – 2nd floor – Area 2
– Room 4.”
She knew her way around to where Olo worked, and didn’t need the map on the wall or the directions on the board. She looked around the hall quickly. The entire building had been carved from the stone in one piece, all the while with great love for details. The floor, like outside on the plaza, was made up of old pictures consisting of colorful stones. The images showed dwarfs with their achievements in science and engineering.
The walls showed pictures, separated by more gold and gemstone, of the office’s chairman. Dana and Shari climbed up the stairs; well, Shari was flying, naturally. The two of them turned right and walked down the hall until they had almost reached the end. Dana stopped plenty of times, always looking at the fantastic pieces of art on the walls. They were similar to those from the entrance hall. But these all showed dwarfs with their inventions and scientific discoveries.
There were also pictures of dwarfs whose inventions were not quite that awesome, like that of “Zeg the underprivileged” who had invented a stone plane to create sand, or his brother “Zog the dumb one” who had then filled the sand into amphorae to “save space”.
Dana reached the door to her father’s office, knocked, and waited for somebody to call for her to come in. She didn’t have to wait long until the door opened. Toben, Olo’s friend and colleague, as well as Dana’s ‘godfather’, opened and let her come inside.
At that moment, a choir of strong dwarf voices rose, presenting a birthday song that wasn’t beautiful, but very loud. Dwarfs knew how to do so many things, but singing wasn’t one of it. Dana was touched and hesitated in the doorway, patiently waiting for the song to end. She was the favorite of everyone in the department and had promoted several inventions and experiments despite her young age.
Shari was much too excited to wait, and so she flew towards one of the machines in the corner of the room that was producing large, colorful bubbles. It was one of Dana’s inventions.
Unsettled, she followed her tiny friend with her eyes.
“Hopefully, she knows how to behave herself today.”
She watched Shari and enjoyed the bubbles at the same time, mostly to distract herself from the well-meant song that was still increasing in volume.
“It looks like dad solved the problem about the stability of the bubbles. They don’t burst when you touch them, but instead take their time to disappear. Awesome!”, she thought, while the singing made for an unpleasant pain in her ears. Still, she forced a smile.
By now, the choir of employees had finished their song and were now pushing around Dana to wish her a happy birthday in person. Olo was the last one and he hugged her tightly with his strong, short arms:
“Happy Birthday and all the best to you”, he said in a pleasantly deep voice. Then he continued talking, winking at her:
“We have perfected the bubble machine, as was the wish of a little lady around here. Are you happy? It’s your invention after all.”
“It’s perfect, dad”, Dana happily agreed. “How did you know that we…?”
“Mother weaseled us.” “Ah…and where is “Miss Hurry” now?” She looked around, searching the room.
“I guess she’s wolfing down food somewhere around here!”, Olo replied.
“Miss Hurry” was a weasel and belonged to the family. Weasel, polecats, and ferrets were used as a matter of communication for the dwarfs, as they delivered the mail and private messages. Those who didn’t own an animal could use “The Rodent Post Service”, where one could borrow an animal for transmitting messages.
After clearing that up, Olo looked around as well.
“Where’s your little golden dragonfly? We have a few small presents for you two.”
In this department, Shari’s nickname was “golden dragonfly” because nobody knew what kind of race or breed she was, and because her wings were reminiscent of dragonfly wings.
Then she looked around for Shari and discovered her playing with the bubbles, chasing after them. She called Shari using her newfound ability. Stubborn as she was, Shari followed reluctantly, but in the end, she fluttered over to her. Shari sat down on Dana’s shoulder and had Dana carry her. The bubble fun had obviously exhausted her. Both followed Olo over to a nicely decorated table where a few small presents and a cake were waiting for them. Shari, who was much too excited to wait any longer, could open her gift first. It was a spider-silk combination of a silvery-white vest and a matching pair of pants.
Shari had to try it on right away and both pieces of clothing fit like a glove. Even the holes for her wings were in the correct place. Dana, who had unwrapped her own present by now, was also holding a two-piece in her hands, albeit hers was in the correct larger size and the silk was a little thicker.
Olo explained: “The secret of working with spider-silk and the production of clothes from this natural silk is only known to one dwarf woman in this whole kingdom. My colleagues and I have collected this silk in the caves for years. It’s tear-proof, flame-resistant, and dirt-repellant. And it also grows with you. This clothing is … - indestructible- so it’s ideal for the two of you. Also, Shari can’t keep fluttering around half-naked for the rest of time.”
Not many got close enough to Shari to know that she was covered in short, golden fur. The fur reached from her neck all the way down to her ankles. From afar, it really looked like she wasn’t wearing anything at all. But the only truly ‘naked parts’ were her face, hands, and the feet, which all gleamed golden as well, naturally.
After they had both put on their new clothes, everyone fawned over them. Of course, the clothes fit Dana perfectly and emphasized her athletic body. Afterwards – after the impromptu fashion show – they cut the cake and drank a sweet honey beverage. Then Dana opened the two coupons that were still on the table.
The first contained an invitation for a visit to the museum. Dana knew that a visit to the museum was usually only permitted for adult dwarfs or school trips. The second envelope contained another invitation, one to take part in the next expedition into the depth of the caves.
After she had read the invitations out loud, one of Olo’s colleagues handed her a small backpack. It contained several utensils Geologists needed. Geology was one of Dana’s favorite hobbies, everybody knew that. The backpack was large enough to make room for food and drinks, despite the necessities Geologists needed – like a magnifying glass, a brush, and a small hammer.
Dana was incredibly proud and enthusiastically thanked her father and his co-workers. She looked around for Shari, who was still flitting through the room chasing bubbles to pop. Most of the workers had returned to their stations by now. The operated glass bulbs, cogs, and compressors that were situated on various tables. They were all busy with their experiments again. Dana watched the busy going-ons for a while, before Toben addressed her:
“What do you say, are you ready for the museum? I’m your companion for today since Olo unfortunately needs to take care of a few more things before we take you out on the expedition this afternoon. … Are you excited? … For the museum, I mean?”
Dana grinned at Toben. “Of course! It’s sad that dad is so busy. But I’ll have him with me this afternoon…
What about Gomek, by the way? I promised him that he could spend the afternoon with us!”, she wanted to know. Toben chuckled:
“My nephew has gotten time off work for the expedition. He’ll tag along this afternoon.”
After that was taken care of, Dana was even more excited for what was to come. She called Shari and took Toben’s hand.
“Let’s go. You can explain everything to me.”
Chapter 4
The Museum
They left the department and went the same way back that Dana had taken only two hours earlier. Shari had reappeared by now as well. Totally exhausted, she was sitting on Dana’s shoulder and was excited for the museum as well, since, after all, she’d never been there before either. They crossed the entrance hall and walked out onto the plaza, where the crystal exuded its warm light. Toben stopped and turned to her. He politely offered her his arm. Excited, she looped her arm through his, and together they walked towards the main entrance of the neighboring building. They stopped for a minute to read the golden sign:
Museum and Library
Opened all day, save for holidays
Entrance permitted for ages 120 years and above
Schools only accompanied by adult dwarfs
And DANA
Dana read it out loud and giggled happily. Finally, she turned her anxious eyes to Toben.
“How did you manage that? The government needs to agree, doesn’t it?”
Toben grinned. “We are the best and nobody can turn us down. Come on now.”
