The Hall of Heroes

29. - The Feast

"A-a-are you afraid of him?" Duzz asked Crefar. They both knew who she was talking about.

"No. I don't think he's dangerous. But I don't like the idea of seeing him again." Crefar responded. "It's like he's got a weapon against us that no one else has. He knows."

They were walking through the hills of Humny, taking their time on the way back to fort Brňobor. Neither of them was happy about going there, so they were in no hurry. They both thought they should have already had the information they needed. But they were betrayed by the closest persons to them - their own hosts.

Crefar was thinking what was it that made Alois distrust him - he had done everything to Alois's liking. When he entered a room, his presence now commanded respect. Wasn't that what Alois had always dreamed about? His life was now full of adventures and his actions made a difference. Why would Alois not follow whereever Crefar would lead? Did he somehow lose trust in him?

Duzz was more than ever angry with her situation. Was she entirely dependant on what Tereza thought? Was it really that if Tereza decided, Duzz would never be able to reach her goal? And why would a human like Tereza ever decide favourably towards a little goblin like Duzz? That is why she was trying to block out Tereza's thoughts in the first place. She never believed a human could be empathic towards a brutish thing like herself. She felt trapped, like a little ugly bothersome creature at the feet of a disgusted master judge, deciding its fate.

"W-w-we were so close, weren't w-w-we?" Duzz said longingly.

"We are close. Just this one more job and we're through." Crefar reassured her. "Once we gain their trust, they'll tell us where to go and with any luck, it won't take that long."

"Sh-sh-should I believe that?" Duzz said distantly.

"It's like I told you long ago. There is magic for everything. It just depends how deep you have to dig to get it."

The necromancers sent them on their way, without a word, closing their gates behind them as if they couldn't care less whether they would return. It was obvious they harbored no trust towards them. Even in this next quest, they were all alone.

Sitting down by the evening fire to warm themselves, they talked about what to do when they would reach the fort. The squirrel that Duzz befriended was nearby, chewing on a nut.

"We are not taking it inside, are we?" Crefar asked.

"I d-d-don't think so. She sh-sh-should wait for me outside. So do you wan-n-na like, f-f-fight those soldiers?"

"I don't think so. All of them would just fall on us right away. We must find another way."

"I-i-if only we could scout the place wh-wh-when the soldiers are g-g-gone. If we could like, tu-tu-turn invisible."

"I don't think they keep their treasures and spoils out in the open. Even if we were invisible, we might not get through the right door and just be left out with our hands empty. But there is one thing that might show us where the spoils are and get us through the door." Crefar smiled wryly. "Words."

Duzz curled her lips. "D-D-Do you think they'll trust us? E-e-enough to tell us a-a-all their secrets right away?"

"Hmm. Maybe you're right. We need to wrench it out of them somehow. But how?"

Duzz started rummaging in her pack. Crefar sighed, when he saw her.

"You know, not all problems can be solved by scrounging." he said.

"Th-th-there is always so-so-something you can use to so-so-solve a problem. You re-re-reminded me of it when you said wrenching. Besides, y-y-you said it yourself, the-the-there is always a solution, ju-ju-just depends on how deep you have to dig."