The Companions of the Old Tales

chapter 16

Fili took a seat in front of the dwarf kings. "In my world, Erebor has just been through a war of its own," he explained, his face darkened by the memory of that event. Dean watched him as he addressed the kings. "It would seem that our two worlds aren't all that different. We battled orcs and trolls and goblins."

"Bet ye beat the beasties back into their holes," Bruenor complimented with a proud expression. "And ye seem young, if ye don't mind me saying."

Fili shrugged. "82," he confirmed. Dean raised a brow as he regarded the blonde dwarf he had been traveling with. It never occurred to him that even aging might be different in this realm. Of course, Dean wasn't aware of the longevity of dwarves and elves.

"Aye, ye are practically still a bairn," Warcrown commented. "Now on to business, shall we?"

"I filled them in on the situation with the Duergar," Catti-brie explained. "What evidence do ye have that it's the drow that's goading them on?"

"Got me a spy in Gracklstugh," Warcrown replied. "He said that a group of drow is on its way to meet with the king. He ain't know what it's about but he thinks they've been sent by one of the drow houses to do its bidding."

Fili leaned back in his chair as he pondered that information. Dean observed him silently. He had to admit, he felt out of his element, and that was something that Dean Winchester was not used to. He was the one in charge, he was the one calling the shots. He wasn't used to letting others dictate the course of action for himself and his brother.

It bothered him that he felt like the third wheel in this conversation. He didn't even know why he was here. Fili was clearly used to leading. And although this wasn't his realm either, he was still a dwarf. He may not understand the nuances of this world and who the players were, but he knew dwarves. And from what Dean could gather, the world he had come from, Middle Earth, was not so different from Faerun, but it differed greatly from the Earth Dean and his brother had come from. Magic and creatures that seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale replaced cars and computers, and the modern technology Dean was used to.

"I think that our first priority lies in this group of drow," Fili commented. "We need to find out their purpose and who sent them. How far away is Gracklstugh?"

"I ain't keen on sending one as young as yerself off into the Underdark alone," Warcrown protested simply. "Especially if ye say ye are a prince. Might be that yer own kingdom will want ye back."

"Kili and I have already seen such things," Fili replied. "We followed our uncle, the king of Erebor, across the world to reclaim his lost kingdom from a dragon. And we fought the army of orcs as I told you before. At the moment, we can't get back to Erebor, and until we can, we are ready to help you defend your kingdom."

"And what about yerself?" Bruenor asked, turning his attention to Dean. "Ye just tagging along, or are ye ready to lend a hand?"

"My brother and I have plenty of mileage ourselves," Dean replied, eager to finally contribute. "We don't have dwarves in our world, but we have plenty of ass hats ourselves. Vampires, demons, angels, oh and of course, God himself. Also known as Chuck. Who is a complete dick, by the way. We've both taken some pretty big fish over the past few years."

"I ain't fer knowing what a Chuck is," Warcrown replied. "But if ye are willing, we can train ye up, see what ye have to offer and fill ye both in on what's what here. Either ye or yer brother know anything about magic?"

Dean shrugged as he thought about Castiel. And the memory of the angel brought back some heated feelings. The last time he had seen Castiel, he had blamed him for all the losses they had endured recently. The fight had ended in Castiel storming out of the bunker. He wondered if the angel even knew where he and Sam were. Dean felt angry and betrayed. But he shrugged.

"We know how to do spells," he replied. "Demon summons, Enochian warding, you know, the basics. It would help if we had access to our bunker and its resources, but we've been around the block. In my world, my brother and I are hunters. Hunters of monsters, demons, whatever. And we are legacies of the Men of Letters. We've saved the world from more than one apocalypse."

Dean realized that he was bragging a little about his and Sam's accomplishments. But if the dwarves knew half of what the two of them had been through all their lives, they'd know that his gloating was justified. He may not know his way around this world, but if there was one thing that Dean Winchester was good at, it was taking out the bad guy.

"We'll go to Gracklstugh, then," Fili agreed. "We'll spend a few days here while my brother heals and while we all get brought up to speed on this place, and then we'll go. Agreed?"

Warcrown and Bruenor eyed one another before nodding. "Aye," the king of Felbarr agreed. "We are certainly grateful for yer help."

Of course, Dean had no way of knowing that Castiel was closer than he thought, and getting closer by the day.