Moving Mountains

2

.^^ Lord Makanin ^^

— Karen Arcbrand —

Just my luck, that Leopold was on duty when we arrived. The only Dwarf on the Town Guard for the Upper City, he liked to show off and abuse his authority, extorting the other dwarves who came past the checkpoint on his watch. The other guards were just as prejudiced, so they let him do it, even cheering him on, oddly enough: conveniently forgetting that he was a dwarf as well.

He leveled his flintlock at the Giantkin, who barely even flinched, beyond growling something under his breath about bad habits. "You! Giantkin! D-Drop the weapon!" Leopold snapped shakily.

The giant raised an eyebrow slowly. "What weapon?" He asked calmly.

"That, in your hand!" Leopold growled.

"The torch? Or the dead wolves? Neither are weapons." He hummed.

"What? Dead wolves? Let me see..." he kept the rifle pointed at him, and climbed down out of the hidden nest of the checkpoint.

The giant looked at me, and raised that scarred eyebrow again, his golden eyes glowing softly. I shook my head firmly, and he hummed, seeming to relax a bit.

Leopold poked at the wolf corpses, then gasped. "Are these-... you killed Dire Wolves? With what? There's no sword marks... perfect pelts..." he muttered, and I recognized the sight of him thinking of how much they could be sold for.

I cleared my throat. "Leopold, you know that Spoils Rights go to him. He killed them."

He snorted derisively. "So? I'm not stealing his kills... Oi, Giantkin!!! Toll to enter the city is two gold pieces! You have that much?" He asked casually, grinning evilly.

I glared at him. "Two gold?!? You've never seen gold in your life you lying little shit!!!" I snapped.

He glared at me, and the butt of the rifle lashed out, towards the side of my temple. Then he gasped, as I watched the giant grab the rifle casually, just before it hit me.

The metal deformed visibly, and he hummed. "Such weak metal..." he sighed audibly.

Leopold's face went ghost white, and he released the rifle slowly. "Re-... Reinforcements..." He squeaked weakly.

"Now now... that's not necessary!" The giant smiled lightly, and the entire rifle slowly bent into a pretzel shape in his hands, like soft taffy. "I'm sure we can bargain down that toll, yeah? Sayyyyy..." he dropped the mangled metal and glanced at me.

"A copper piece." I stated the proper toll, glaring at the disgraceful dwarf.

"That sounds right. How about it?" He asked kindly, still smiling.

I took out two copper pieces, and tossed them into the mud in front of Leopold. "Fine. But don't ever try to toll me again, Leopold, or I'll bring your mother up here, and we'll see how that goes for you!" I threatened.

He drew himself up, then exhaled as the giant leaned close, picking up the copper and tucking them into the much smaller person's palm. "Now now, no need for nastiness... we're all on the same side, here, yeah? Why don't we all get along, and show respect for the Guards who keep this fine city safe?" He grinned companionably, and patted Leopold on the shoulder a little, making him lurch to the side.

Leopold squeaked out something that might've been an affirmative.

The giant nodded, and grabbed his wolf corpses, long-frozen from the freezing temperature, (which he didn't notice at all, even half-naked, further proof he was a Giantkin,) then looked at me. "Off we go to complete your delivery, hmm?" He grinned.