According to Olivia

The Story According to Olivia …slightly:

The days of travel and plenty of water had flushed the drug out of Iehron. He had full control of his body again, and his magic had returned. One morning he tested his restored abilities by gathering magic to his hand in the form of a glowing dark purple spike. He then struck a large boulder with the spike, and cracks spread from the spike through the boulder until it crumbled into chunks and dust.

“Feeling better?” asked Lumberjack.

“Yes,” said Iehron, stretching his arms. “I’m ready for Harry.”

“Good. We’ll find him soon.”

Harry’s camp was somewhere down in Grumpiness Gulch, but the exact location was unknown. Iehron proposed they scout along the ridge of the gulch where they could remain unseen but possibly spot the camp. Lumberjack agreed to the idea, and they hid the horses and prepared to go on foot.

Lumberjack was leading the way and giving an informal lecture on how to do an ambush. “Surprise is key. Even an experienced soldier can be easily be unsettled by the unexpected suddenly–”

His lectured was cut off by the sound of him crashing into something. His body stood upright, flattened vertically against it, and he angrily groaned from the abrupt and most likely painful collision. However, no one could see what he was pressed against. By sight, nothing was there. He stood on dirt, and in front of him was empty air.

“What in the name of magic is going on?!” Lumberjack shouted. He took a step back and drew his ax.

“That might not be a good idea,” Iehron started to warn.

The warning was too late. Lumberjack swung the ax with all of his burly strength at the invisible obstruction. The ax traveled no further than Lumberjack had, and it bounced back with so much energy, Lumberjack nearly fell over.

“Step back,” said Iehron. “Magic is clearly at work. Let me have a try.”

Lumberjack moved behind Iehron. It was a good move because Iehron had formed an enormous fireball in his hand and then flung it where Lumberjack had been blocked. The fireball crackled, flattened, and spurted out in different directions as it was repelled. But then various colors and ripples like a pebble breaking the surface of a pond spread into view as though traveling across a large wall before them.

“It’s a magical barrier,” said Iehron.

“That’s a huge barrier,” added Lumberjack. “And it’s invisible.”

“Yeah. That’s new to me. I’ve never seen an invisible barrier before,” said Iehron.

“You still haven’t,” said Riplash. He laughed to himself and thought his joke was very clever, but no one paid him any attention.

Iehron walked up to the barrier and placed his hand on it. “If I can follow the flow of magic, I might be able to learn… something… useful. Over there.” Iehron pointed to right.

They walked in the direction Iehron indicated, and Iehron walked with his hand dragging along the barrier. After walking for a few minutes, Iehron stopped.

“What is it?” asked Lumberjack.

“Something changed,” said Iehron. He felt the barrier back and forth with his hand. “The barrier felt formless like pushing against smooth glass. But here it feels… like wood.”

“Wood? Could it be a door?”

“Maybe? I’ll search for a handle."

“There’s a faster way.” Lumberjack knocked with his fist. It made the sound of knocking on a thick door.

A small rectangle appeared at about eye level. It appeared to hover with nothing behind it, and it revealed two eyes staring at them.

A high pitched, irritating voice called out, “What do you want?”

Iehron knew that voice. He had heard far, far too much of it. Even when the source was gone, that voice echoed in his brain when he tried to sleep at night. It was Dinky, that little singing terror!

Iehron moved behind Lumberjack to avoid being seen. The Giant Slayers had stayed in the trees during their attack on the dwarves, therefore Dinky wouldn’t recognize them. However, Dinky knew Iehron’s face.

“We would… like to enter,” said Lumberjack. He didn’t know what was behind the barrier, so he kept his answer very simple.

“You have to pay the toll,” said Dinky’s voice.

“What toll?”

“The toll to enter the city.”

“Pay him whatever he wants,” whispered Iehron. “I’ll deal with him inside.”

Lumberjack passed a coin pouch through the eye slot. Sounds of a wooden door on rusty hinges creaked into everyone’s ears, and as it opened, they saw through a doorway to a city hidden by the barrier.

Once inside, Lumberjack picked up Dinky by the back of his shirt.

The annoying dwarf started kicking and wriggling about, shouting, "Put me down, you, you great, clumsy, stupid, ugly-faced, warty nosed-”

Numerous people were walking around in the city. No one had noticed Lumberjack grabbing the gatekeeper, and Lumberjack wanted to keep it that way. He moved to the corner of a wall to get out of sight, and he covered Dinky mouth with his free hand, causing Dinky to thrashing around even more. Lumberjack’s face grew red as he tried very hard not to laugh at the pitiful dwarf.

Dinky then became very still, and his eyes widened. Iehron was in front of him.

“Hello Dinky,” said Iehron. His voice was calm. He needed info from the failure of a bard, but he was considering how he could dispose of Dinky when they were done. He most liked the idea of throwing him off the edge of the cliff into the gulch.

Lumberjack removed his hand, and Dinky quietly replied, “Hello.”

“What is this place, and why are you the gatekeeper here?” asked Iehron.

“This is Harry’s city. After Bobette was attacked, I came here and asked for a job. They made me the gatekeeper. They said something about I could do the job by myself and I wasn’t allowed to sing for fear of exposing the city.”

“The city belongs to Harry? Is Harry here?”

“Of course. He lives in the castle.”

Dinky pointed to the heart of the city where a large castle towered several stories high. It was protected by a tall stone wall with a steel gate and dozens of patrolling soldiers.

“What else do you know?” asked Iehron.

“Not much. I’ve only been here two days. Oh, Bobette is here also.”

“Why? Harry is an Ohtar. Why would she be in an Ohtar’s city?”

“I don’t know. She’s at the Crusty Hag tavern. Talk to her if you need an answer.”

Iehron chanted a few words under his breath, and a tiny green vortex of energy swirled about in his palm. He then slammed his palm into Dinky’s face as hard as he could. Dinky’s head snapped back, and he was out could. The spell would have knocked Dinky out without the forceful blow, but Iehron really wanted to punch Dinky.

“We need to get rid of him,” said Iehron.

“No problem,” said Riplash. “I’ll take care of it.”

Riplash took Dinky from Lumberjack and exited the city.

“This is bad,” Iehron said to Lumberjack. “Harry isn’t camping in the gulch; he has a secret city here. You only have a handful of soldiers. If we were ambushing a camp, a hit and run had a chance of eliminating Harry. But here, he has his own castle.”

“Harry must have some very powerful magicians with him,” said Trailblazer. “He couldn’t maintain an invisible barrier around an entire city on his own.”

“You’re right,” said Lumberjack. “We need more information about Harry’s forces and if there is a way into the castle.”

“Let’s talk to Bobette first,” said Iehron. “Dwarves should not be on friendly terms with Harry.”

“Everyone, hide your Giant Slayer emblems and try to blend in,” said Lumberjack.

While walking down the street in the direction of the Crusty Hag tavern, a young boy who was running in a hurry bumped into Lumberjack.

“Out of my way, old man!” the boy yelled as he continued running on his way.

“Old?! I’m not old!” Lumberjack shouted back. “Impudent brat.”

“Well, you’re certainly not a kid anymore,” Iehron chuckled. “How old are you? 40?”

“40? Ha! I’m 65.”

Iehron was shocked. “65? You do not look that old.”

“That’s right,” said Lumberjack. “We keep young by eating the hearts of giants.”

Iehron grimaced. “You do what?”

“No! No! Stop,” Trailblazer interrupted. “Don’t believe him. He’s lying. He thinks it’s amusing to tell people we eat the hearts of giants. But it’s not amusing, it’s just gross. We don’t eat the hearts of anything and certainly not of sentient beings.”

“Then why does he look younger than his age?” asked Iehron.

“It’s a unique trait of his family bloodline,” said Trailblazer. “People in his family age slowly and will live to be about 150.”

“Bah, you’re no fun, Trailblazer,” said Lumberjack.

“You need to stop spreading that rumor,” Trailblazer insisted. “I lost a girlfriend because of you. She believed it was true and said I sickened her.”

“I did you a favor. She was far too needy.”