Also waiting off to the side and apart from my new dwarven guards was yet another person I had missed with all the hustle and bustle. Grandmaster Doric Copperheart was waiting patiently to speak with me. He held a medium-sized chest in his hands. It was intricately designed, and I recognized it from the room I stayed in. He had explained to me that the chest was a gift from Sundance to his former master upon his rising to master rank. Dwarves gave gifts upward at these celebrations, while humans tended to give in the opposite direction.

  The King motioned the grandmaster over. The King turned to me and said, “The Master Council and Grandmaster Conclave wished to express our gratitude and have a parting gift to share with you.”

  He motioned to the chest, “You may open it.”

  The grandmaster held it up slightly so I could more easily reach it without bending down. I whispered, “Thank you, grandmaster. My back still aches from the hours at the forge.”

  “You did well, son. I am proud of you.” After a pause. “And so would Sundance be if he were here.”

  I opened the chest and saw a book on the left and a giant faceted emerald on the right. I turned to the King, “Is this?” I said, pointing to the gem.

  “Yes, it is the gemstone brought up from the depths of the Hold. No dwarf should be far from home without an emerald to remind him of family. It is a 49pt gem crafted by master Druella herself.”

  It was worth a small fortune and represented considerable power. In my hands, even more so. Which, of course, they knew.

  “Please extend my thanks to Master Druella and the entire Masters Council and Grandmaster Conclave. I do not have words to honor them appropriately.”

  The king smiled. “I shall convey your intentions. Go ahead and pick up the book.”

  I did. It was old, but not more than a hundred years or so. It was bound in leather that was dark green, most likely aged iglar hide. I opened it.

  My eyes misted. It was a textbook written by Archmaster Norsil Copperthane entitled Dwarven Lore & Dwarven Magic.

  I turned to my king. “Majesty, I-”

  He raised a hand. “It is a true copy, painstakingly inked by a grandmaster sage a century ago and checked for absolute accuracy by three dwarven masters. Each signed the inside cover and dated their review against the original. It is a gift from me to you. Use it well.”

  The King turned back to the Duke and motioned for him to proceed. The Duke began introducing the King to a variety of important nobles and guild leaders. He started with his own heirs and moved to the Baron and his two sons. Davon was not present, not that I expected the sage to be here.

  The grandmaster whispered to me, “There is a secret compartment below the surface space.” And then he handed me the chest, bowed, and returned to the portal. He passed through without looking back as soon as the current cart finished rolling by.

  Biff walked over and took the chest from me. He waved over two yellow-hooded Irregulars who together carried it toward our shoppe, escorted by a brawler, Watchman, Inquisitor, and dwarf. I would need to get used to this kind of treatment.

  Looking around, still a little dazed, I saw Red walking toward us with his Uncle Sam, guildmaster of the Warriors guild at his side. Sam had a grim expression.

  When they reached me, Red stopped, and Sam gave me a polite nod. But he kept walking.

  “Sam,” Red began, “I thought you said you wanted to see Gwydion.”

  He called back without turning. “I saw him. Thank you.”

  Sam walked by the Duke and King, both of whom he gave a slightly deeper nod, but kept moving. The burly giant of a guildmaster stopped before the even more muscle-bound dwarf that was only a little over half his height.

  “Goblin Smasher, I do believe,” Sam said in a voice as grim as his expression. He stared intensely at the dwarf.

  The dwarf general looked up with equal intensity and replied, “Bear Wrestler, I do believe.”

  One of the human soldiers nearby spoke up in pride, “Sam is the Bearslayer!”

  The dwarf tilted his head to one side without changing the intense stare he was sharing. “The way I heard the story, this human wrestled a bear with no weapon. He had no sword, no spear, no bow, not even a dagger. He wrestled the bear as it mauled him, finally ending it with a choke hold that no human should have been capable of holding. Was that a true telling?” He asked Sam.

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  Sam did not nod, blink, or otherwise move, but he replied, “It is a true telling.”

  The general said, “My soldiers kill bears in the mountains. Not often, but consistently. Some bears are large, some less so. But they always use crossbows, spears, and, if desperate and rushed by the beast, their swords. Never has one wrestled a bear. At least, not and lived to walk away from it. The way we tell your story, you are the bear wrestler, not the bear slayer. Many slay bears. Only one has wrestled one to its death.”

  Sam stared at him for another few seconds and then thrust out his arm. The dwarf clasped it firmly, two enormously strong men squeezing each other's arms with vise-like grips.

  “The Double Dragon has passable dwarven ale. Drinks are on me.” Sam stated seriously.

  The general replied, “Only the first. After that, we alternate. I want to hear about the bear. It was larger than a cub, was it not?”

  Sam threw back his head and bellowed out a laugh. “Aye. It was.”

  And the two walked past the King, Duke, and all the notables in the city toward the Double D.

  Everyone around just stared in awe at what had taken place.

  The King and Duke had stopped and turned, both fearing a confrontation between these two fiery warriors. The King asked the Duke, “Do you think they trust each other?”

  The Duke replied. “Not a chance.”

  The King nodded. “As I believe.”

  The Duke put his hand on the king’s shoulder, “But each would sacrifice his life protecting the other.”

  The King nodded again. “As I too believe.”

  The AL whispered into my ear. Enchanter Gwydion earns a spell or skill point for completing the Dwarven Alliance quest. Spell and skill points must be reclaimed at a guild hall or sanctuary. Human Prestige changes from level six estimable to level seven celebrated. You have unused spell or skill points remaining. Additions and notes have been added to your Book of Quests that remain unread.

  I appreciated the reminder about my unused points. I just need to find time to gain new spells or skills. I am running out of time until the goblins get here, and I need some firepower.

  After all the official greetings ended, and in respect for the mages holding open the portal, the king and his escort returned to the Hold, and we all went about our business. Others were handling the distribution of weapons, shields, and food, but all the remaining objects were sent to the shoppe. I would catalog them and then figure out the best use for their distribution and also tap into my enchanter masters who could add sockets and enchantments. I just needed to draw up a plan for them.

  But first, I returned with the king, alone. I needed to retrieve the magical staff and return here by way of the bank.

  Wilma was the last to hold the staff, and she had four human and four dwarven guards protecting her. I sent her back with the human guards and then coordinated shutting it down through Bella and Isaac.

  The king sent along half his guards to escort me to the bank, but not before I handed him something and asked for a favor. His eyes lit up, and he assured me that something could be done once I shared the story and what I had in mind. I made it clear that I would repay favor with favor to the chosen masters.

  “As is only appropriate.” He remarked.

  Biff and the entire honor guard waited for me at the Keelwell bank. It was more like a parade than an escort when I returned, but I got back safely.

  I retired to my private rooms. The transfer of goods back and forth took nearly ninety minutes, and that meant ninety casting points, not counting the twenty I expended to open the initial portal. My journeymen were tired, but some returned to their scheduled duties while others went back to their shortened rest periods before their own shifts would begin.

  I was eager to search for the secret compartment that grandfather had whispered to me about. Elves were probably the best wooden puzzle box makers in the realm, but dwarven ingenuity was a close second, with their engineering unrivaled across the realm.

  An hour of fun yet frustrating effort ended with me asking Bella for help in opening the secret compartment in the box.

  She showed me, taking her solid form, and I was stunned at what I saw inside. This whole chest was a treasure chest. The top level, as I knew, had a true copy of a rare dwarven text that would be priceless to sages, scholars, and many other mages alike, along with the 49pt emerald.

  The lower half was filled with gems and stones cushioned to be silent with wads of yellow cotton cloth. A note sat on top. It read:

  I told him that when I used the term “grandmaster” when I addressed him, the word I was really saying was grandfather. His response told me he felt the same. My eyes teared up, and I let them. I was alone, and nobody would see,

  You are never alone. Bella said gently in my mind, and I sensed a shared sad joyfulness within her, too.

  When I settled down and explored the fifteen stones, I found that they had gifted me some of the ones that I had already prepared for them during our time together. In particular, they chose the stones that seemed to be the most useful to keep me safe and to defend the city.

  I needed to figure out what to do with them. I might replace some of the five socket rings with these, or better yet. I would just use three of the five socket rings to pull them together into offense, defense, and miscellaneous. I would weigh it against the stones gifted by the grandmaster sage. The numbers seemed to fit, however, and as I thought about it, the masters would have known I used five socketed rings.

  After replacing the gems in my bracers and sorting a few of the stones into rings (I always have blanks on me), I took a quick shower to wash the past twenty-four hours of grime and troll smell off my body. Afterward, I went to the lower level and began organizing the Dwarven gifts to speed up our ever-improving defenses.

  I decided that I would also replace one of the 14pt emeralds in my necklace with the 49pt casting rich emerald. If I didn’t insert it into a socket, it would remain the size of my fist, and that was just too large to carry around. I would leave the other four sockets filled with emeralds for now, but consider replacing them with magical stones. The prize emerald was placed in the center slot.

  As it should be.

  I would never be far from my Dwarven home with a part of it over my heart.

  Necklaces were within my professional range, of course, as a master jeweler, but rings were really my strength. But for some reason, I wanted to keep this more private and under my robes. Maybe it was my new dwarven nature, wanting to keep the powerful emerald secret and close to my heart at the same time.

  At least, that is how I looked at it.