We rode on for several days, not coming within sight of the town yet, but I can't say it wasn't a fun ride. Every day, Traggs would stop the cart for a couple of hours, and Himora and I would go out to hunt or fish for our next meal. The dwarf was a great cook and could fix up almost anything that we brought to him from the deep woods surrounding the trail that we were on.
I remember once, we came across an irate Basomist (a small beast that resembles an ox, but with large horns, and very short legs), and just as it had turned and charged at us, Himora had sliced it in two. That was a rather disturbing sight. I don't eat much, so we took only what we needed and left the rest for a hungry-looking bear.
When we returned to the camp we had set up, we offered Traggs a helping of the meat and fruit we had picked up in our hunting, but he simply said:
"No yungin's, ya take it for yerselves. Meself don't need ta be kept up like ye men o' flesh do."
We looked at each other with a shrug and left it at that. More for us when the need came.
That day was pretty interesting, what with the Basomist and all, but it was soon to get even more entertaining than we wanted it to be.
SWIssssss...TWAK!
A little arrow about seven inches long came from the woods and stuck itself into the tree that I was standing next to. Within seconds, Himora and I were on the defensive with our weapons drawn, blocking the sudden rain of tiny projectiles that threatened our lives.
"What the hell is this!? Where are these coming from!?"
Himora panted to the dwarf, who was also in the fray with a large axe and battle shield.
"T'is da pixzys little 'uns! We 'ave ta get outta deir territory!
I couldn't help but to laugh to myself at the way the little man spoke, but at the same time, I knew he was serious and we had to get moving right away. The donkey was hit on its rear leg, so it started to run at full speed, but not before we could both catch up to it and jump in. I must admit, it was quite the sight watching the little dwarf run, but to my surprise, he was pretty fast.
"Damn pixzys! Dat good-for-nothing Kerina is always givin' me da troubles!"
I guess this "Kerina" was their leader, or something. But you never know.
"Who's Kerina?"
Himora asked before I could.
"She be da leader of da blasted pixzys! She be always on me rump, and causin' as much trouble as she can get her little hands on!"
That made me laugh. Traggs himself made me laugh. It was funny to see him so mad, but I guess I should have taken him more seriously. As we rode on, the arrows stopped, and we slowed our pace.
"Me dinks we should be stoppin' for a moment to let me donkey rest."
Traggs said in his broken and gravely common tongue.
It was a good idea, for the animal was bleeding from the wound pretty badly. As we pulled over to the side of the trail, Traggs hopped down and walked over to his nervous beast of burden. He wrapped his arms around the creature's neck and held tight to him as I quickly and carefully pulled the arrow out. It kicked and moaned, but soon it was calm enough for Himora to get near enough to it and administer first aid with his water-healing techniques.
"The wound isn't very deep. About an inch, I'd say. The arrow wasn't poisonous, nor was it aimed to kill...I think that if it were, it would have hit its mark rather accurately."
It seemed as if the Pixies had let us off with a warning, but I didn't think they would let us go next time. We made sure the donkey was fine and were preparing to leave when I heard the most beautiful sound I could ever hear.
The song of a Pixie.
In an instant, I was on my feet.
Spear in hand, I ran at full speed toward the sound and song that had, within seconds, captured my heart.
Traggs realized what was going on right away, but it was too late for him or even Himora to stop me on foot, so he turned and expertly launched his shield at me.
"OH, NO YE DON'T!"
I was so entranced that I didn't hear him or even think to block the attack.
WHAM!
I fell to the ground, landing hard on my back as the steel shield slammed into the back of my knees, taking my legs from beneath me.
"Look boy, ye don't go runnin' off into dees woods inna hurry like dat! Da pixzys will kill ye dead inna instant!"
I didn't know what was going on when my head finally cleared, but the dwarf was pretty angry.
"Wha...what happened?"
I said feeling groggy.
My legs felt like they were broken, and my head pounded like a hammer on stone.
"Foolish boy! Ye coulda got'n yerself killed just now! Dat beautiful sound ya heared was da song of the pixzys! Ye can't let it take ye in like dat!"
It took a while, but it struck me after a moment. He was right. It all could have been over then and there if he hadn't stopped me. But the weird thing is, I didn't even sense the trance when it crept over me.
"I...I'm sorry, Mr. Traggs. It wasn't...I wasn't thinking."
Within the past two days that we had been traveling together, the dwarf had been more like a teacher to us than anything else.
"T'is okey lad. Just be more wary if whatcha doin' boy. OH! And call me Smith! I don't like all dat first name crap. It makes me feel...like a hummmbemmemm!
The last part of what he said trailed off into a mumble.
"A what?"
I said with a hint of confusion.
"A...human. Dere, me said it!"
At that, he turned and walked over to his cart rather quickly, but not before he retrieved his shield. Himora came over and put his hand on my shoulder.
"Dwarves don't like being called by their first names, unless it's by a family member. When coming from anyone else, it makes them feel...human. That's the worst accusation you can give to a dwarf. The absolute worst."
Wow.
You learn something new every day. I hadn't a clue that dwarves were so sensitive about their names. Himora said I was lucky, and that he could have gotten a lot madder at me than he did. In fact, he hadn't shown any anger at all.
After a moment of silence, Himora began to heal my knees. They weren't broken, but both were very bruised, and Smith made sure he apologized.
"It's okay, sir...Smith. I was in the wrong, and you saved my life. I should be thanking you and apologizing."
He did naught but shake his head and give a slight smile.
"Ye're a good lad."
And that's all he said for the remainder of the evening into the night.