“Next we have Omer,” Corin said, throwing an affectionate arm around the youngest dwarf. “After he was tortured by a mad Theiwar wizard, he killed twelve armed dwarves in a tavern brawl with just his bare hands. Ten or twelve, it depends on who’s telling the tale.”
“Twelve,” murmured Omer, beaming.
Bradok could believe that. He’d never seen anyone move so fast or possess such strength.
“But his mind nowadays is that of a child,” Corin said. “Just treat him nice and kindly, and he’s docile as a lamb.”
Omer leaned his head forward so Corin could tousle his hair.
“That just leaves dear Jeni,” Corin said, gesturing toward the sole female. “Put your hands over your ears, dear,” he said.
As strange as the request sounded, Jeni complied, putting her hands over her ears and humming loudly.
“She can’t bear to hear her crimes recited,” Corin explained. “Her husband beat her and tortured her mercilessly, you see. And in the end, poor dear, she went mad and killed her children.”
“That’s monstrous,” Rose said, her voice choked with emotion.
Corin nodded sagely. “Monstrous it was,” he said. “She’s much better now, away from her husband. She thinks the murders were just a dream and as long as no one tells her otherwise, she’s fine and dandy. You just have to treat her with kindness and she’ll be all right too.”
“That’s quite a collection of misfits you’ve got,” Chisul said skeptically. “You don’t make a very attractive addition to our plight.”
“Let me assure you, oh dubious one, that I personally will guarantee the conduct of my people,” Corin said. “You have all stuck together. We are sticking together. I help them. They listen to me. None of them will give you any trouble.”
“The word of a con man,” Jenner scoffed.
“You can have my word,” the scarred Thurl said. “If any of us revert to our old ways, I’ll kill them myself.”
“Kill them yourself! That’s not very reassuring,” Jenner said.
Thurl snorted angrily, adopting a frightening expression of rage on his face. Jenner edged back.
Corin spoke up. “You wouldn’t know this, of course, but a professional assassin can only make a living if he’s as good as his word,” he said. “For Thurl to tell you that he would kill someone on your behalf is a vow of honor that would be worth plenty of steel to others.”
“I was a very well-paid assassin,” Thurl said, cooling his anger. “My word is as good as cash in the vault.”
“Enough of this,” Bradok said. He didn’t like the idea of bringing the dark dwarves into their group, and he didn’t like all their talk of killing and assassinating for pay. Corin seemed a likable enough dwarf, but not only were they Daergar, the ancient enemies of the mountain dwarves, but they were the scum of their society. “As much as I hate to admit it, Chisul may be right. We should have some evidence, first, of your value to us.”
Corin reached into his ragged cloak and searched around, pulling out something smallish and round from an inside pocket. When he turned it over, Bradok immediately recognized the device.
“My compass!”
“Is it yours? Well, I picked it up for you,” Corin said, polishing the purple stone on his dirty shirt. “And I’ll be happy to return it to you,” he added. “Provided you take us with you.”
“That’s ours to begin with,” Jenner said angrily.
“Give it back,” Chisul said in a voice edged with threat. “Or we’ll take it ourselves. Don’t forget, we outnumber you.”
“Hang on a minute,” Bradok said, stepping in front of Chisul.
The stocky son of the cooper showed white knuckles gripping his sword, and the sweat shone on his face. Bradok didn’t doubt Chisul was ready to try and make good on his threat. But again, Bradok felt as though Corin was being honest and fair, in his way.
“I think we need to talk,” he said in a low voice, leaning close to Chisul and signaling the others. “In private.”
“That’s a good idea,” Much said. “Why don’t we temporarily adjourn back to the cavern to discuss this matter?”
“You do that,” Corin said easily. “We’ll wait here.”
“What if they disappear while we’re gone?” Chisul said.
Corin laughed and looked around. “Now where, exactly, would we disappear to?” he said. “Besides, we don’t want to go, we want to stay and join up with you. That’s my offer, fair enough.”
“He’s right,” Bradok said, eyeing Corin. “He’s made us an offer. Let’s talk it over and decide.”
The survivors of Ironroot filed back up the passage, into the main cavern. Some of the older dwarves and the women and children huddled together, while Bradok gathered Chisul, Much, Tal, and others in a circle.
“I don’t like Daergar,” Jenner muttered darkly. “I don’t like the idea of them joining.”
Bradok turned to face him. Jenner had close-cropped black hair and a short beard over a shirt marred by burns; his large, bare forearms were also burned from working with metal. He had the kind of face that made Bradok want to hold on to his coin purse.
“If we turn them down,” Bradok said with exaggerated patience, “they can still follow us at will from a distance. They have already proven they have that ability. The Daergar have talent at tracking in the deep and dark.”
“He’s got a point,” Rose said.
“It’s on top of his head!” Chisul said exasperatedly. “We can’t trust these Daergar, and we can’t let them straggle along behind us.” He held up his sword for emphasis. “That only leaves us one option. We can pretend to go back peacefully then attack ‘em by surprise.”
Much spat in disgust. “It’s true they’re not the most trustworthy bunch,” Much said. “But you don’t sound very trustworthy yourself, pretending and attacking. They’ve got as much at stake in terms of survival as we do. If they don’t get out of here or find help, sooner or later they’re goners.”
“Just like us,” Kellik added.
“Besides,” Much went on. “They’re familiar with this deep underground. They know things that are strange and foreign to us.”
“That’s right,” Rose agreed. “They clearly knew something about those mushroom people.”
“This is madness!” Chisul exclaimed. “These are Daergar we’re talking about. Their people kill ours on principle, and this lot is so bad that the other Daergar threw them in prison!” He looked around at the group of dwarves, taking care to stare hard into each person’s face. “We can’t let a bunch of murderers travel along with our women and our children. They’d be a constant threat to us. They’re a threat now. A threat we have to eliminate.”
“So you propose to deal with murderers by becoming one yourself?” Much asked.
An abashed look crossed Chisul’s face, and no one spoke for a long minute.
“Much is right,” Bradok said at last. “If we kill them because we fear them, does that make us any better than the dark dwarves?”
“No, but it would make us smart and alive,” Chisul said stubbornly. “As long as they live, I say, they’re a danger to us.”
“No, they aren’t,” Rose said. “They’ve got no weapons. They can’t go back to their own people, and they wouldn’t know how to survive on the surface without us. They need us, and they know it. They aren’t going to do anything to jeopardize our help.”
“She’s right,” Much said.
“She’s crazy,” Chisul said.
“This is too important. It involves all of us,” Bradok interjected. “I say we put it to a vote.”
He looked around and found most of the dwarves nodding. Chisul looked stone-faced but said nothing, while Jenner scowled in obvious resentment.
“All right,” Bradok said. “All in favor of letting Corin and his companions come with us?”
Most of the dwarves raised their hands. Noticeably refusing to do so were Chisul, Jenner, and Vulnar. Surprisingly Tal, Dallon, and Lyra also kept their hands down.
“Clearly the ayes have it,” Bradok said after a moment.
“This is a mistake,” Chisul said.