Limbeck went limp in relief. He was reminded of the time one of the ‘lectric zingers on the Kicksey-winsey had gone amok, spit out great bolts of lightning, before the dwarves managed to get it under control. One of those bolts had whizzed right past Limbeck’s ear. Had he been standing six inches to his left, he would have been sizzled. Had the dwarf been standing six inches in front of himself, the elf would have spotted him.
As it was, the elf was satisfied that he was unobserved. But then he hadn’t seemed all that worried about it to begin with. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, the elf turned and knocked on a door.
It opened. Light streamed out. Limbeck blinked, his eyes adjusting to the sudden brilliance.
“Give me a hand here,” said the elf.*
*Limbeck learned to speak the elven language from Captain Bothar’el.
Expecting another elf to come to the aid of the first, Limbeck was astonished beyond measure to see a dwarf emerge from the doorway.
A dwarf!
Fortunately for Limbeck, his shock at seeing a dwarf assisting an elf to carry the reviving Haplo into this secret, subterranean room was so great that it paralyzed his tongue and all his other faculties into the bargain. Otherwise, he might have cried out “Hey!” “Hullo!” or “What in the name of Great-aunt Sally’s side whiskers do you think you’re doing?” and given himself away.
As it was, by the time Limbeck’s brain had reestablished communication with the rest of Limbeck, the elf and the dwarf had dragged a groggy Haplo into the room. They closed the door behind them, and Limbeck’s heart traveled down to where his boots had once been. Then he noticed a crack of light, and his heart jumped, though it didn’t quite manage to make it back up to its proper place, for it still seemed to be beating somewhere around the level of his knees. The door had been left slightly ajar.
It wasn’t courage that urged Limbeck forward. It was: What? Why? How?
Curiosity, the driving force in his life, drew him toward that room as the ‘lectrical iron-tuggers on the Kicksey-winsey tugged iron. Limbeck was standing at the door, one bespectacled eye to the crack, before he realized what he was doing or gave a thought to his peril.
Dwarves in collusion with the enemy! How could such a thing be? He’d find out who the traitors were and he’d… well, he’d … or maybe he’d…
Limbeck stared, blinked. He drew back, then brought two eyes to the crack, thinking that one had been playing tricks on him. It hadn’t. He took off his spectacles, rubbed his eyes, looked again.
Humans were in the room! Humans and elves and dwarves. All standing around as peaceful as can be. All getting along together. All, apparently, united in brotherhood.
With the exception that their eyes glowed red and that they filled Limbeck with a cold, nameless terror, he couldn’t remember having seen a more wonderful sight.
Humans, elves, dwarves—one.
Haplo stood in the room, staring around him. The horrible sensation of alternately freezing and burning had ceased, but now he was weak, wrung out. He longed to sleep, recognized this as his body’s desire to heal itself, reestablish the circle of his being, his magic.
And I’ll be dead long before that can happen.
The room was large and dimly lit by a few flickering lanterns hanging from pegs on the walls. Haplo was at first confused by what he saw. But men, on second thought, it made sense. It was logical, brilliant. He sank into a chair that Sang-drax shoved beneath his limp legs.
Yes, it made perfect sense.
The room was filled with mensch: elves like Sang-drax, humans like Bane, dwarves like Limbeck and Jarre. An elven soldier was tapping the toe of his boot with the point of his sword. An elven nobleman smoothed the feathers of a hawk he held on his wrist. A human female, clad in a tattered skirt and a deliberately provocative blouse, lounged in a bored manner against a wall. Beside her, a human wizard was amusing himself by tossing a coin in the air, making it disappear. A male dwarf, in the dress of the Gegs, grinned through a thick tangle of beard. All mensch, all completely different in looks and appearance except for one thing. Each gazed at Haplo with gleaming red eyes.