“I’m a bit early,” said Alex, checking the clock on Mr. Clutter’s wall. “I was hoping you might have a few minutes to tell me what other adventures are getting started right now.”
“Other adventures?” Mr. Clutter questioned. “But if you’ve been asked to go on this one . . .”
“I’ve been asked, but I’m not sure I’ll be going,” said Alex. “I thought it would be a good idea to see what else is happening, just in case.”
“Ah, sound wisdom, that,” said Mr. Clutter. “I’ll fix some tea and we can have a chat. Unless, of course, you’d like something besides tea?”
“Whatever you have will be fine,” answered Alex.
Mr. Clutter hurried from the room, but was back almost immediately, carrying his large silver tea set. He started talking about adventures even before he’d seated himself behind the counter.
Alex was used to the way Mr. Clutter often carried on, and he sat back and listened to everything the adventure salesman had to say.
“Oh, now that’s odd,” Mr. Clutter said as he shuffled through some papers.
“What’s that?” Alex questioned.
“Ah, well, an adventure has been requested, but with a high level of secrecy attached to it,” said Mr. Clutter in a slightly nervous tone. “Not that being secretive is so strange.”
“No, I’m sure a lot of adventures are that way,” said Alex.
“Exactly. No, the odd thing is that the requester is asking that no one from Thraxon be told about this adventure. Now that seems very odd to me, as Thraxon is where the adventure is going to take place.”
“That isstrange,” said Alex. “But as I’m not from Thraxon, could you tell me as much as you can?”
But before Mr. Clutter could say much about the adventure, a familiar voice interrupted them.
“I’m sure you’ll like the rest of our company,” the voice said from the back of the shop. “A good group so far, and I have great hopes that our seventh member will be a wizard.”
“I’m sure the group will be fine,” answered a second voice.
Alex recognized the first voice as his friend Thrang, and he wondered why Whalen hadn’t told him that the dwarf would be leading the adventure.
“All settled, then?” asked Mr. Clutter as Thrang emerged from behind the curtains. “Anything else you need?”
“We are all set, thank you,” said Thrang, turning to look at Mr. Clutter and spotting Alex instead. “Alex! I mean, Master Taylor. So good to see you again.”
“No need to be so formal,” Alex laughed, moving forward to shake Thrang’s hand but getting a bear hug instead.
“Well now, as you’re here, allow me to introduce Mistress Katrina Dayyed,” said Thrang, nodding to the young woman who’d followed him through the curtains. “She goes by Kat, and she comes from Barkia. Kat, allow me to present my friend, Master Alexander Taylor.”
“The wizard,” Kat said, bowing to Alex.
“A pleasure,” said Alex, returning the bow. He couldn’t help but notice the faint glow of magic around her.
“Well,” said Thrang, looking quickly from Kat to Alex and back. “I suppose I should explain this adventure to Master Taylor, then.”
“As you wish,” said Alex.
“I will see you in Telous,” Kat said to Thrang. “I have much to do before this adventure begins.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” said Thrang, bowing slightly as Kat left the shop. He turned to Alex. “Now then, Alex. Shall we?”
“After you.”
Thrang led Alex to the hidden rooms at the back of the shop. They both settled into the comfortable chairs.
“So, tell me about your staff and everything that’s happened since we parted company,” Thrang said.
“The adventure first,” said Alex. “We will have time to catch up after.”
“As you wish,” Thrang said, stroking his beard. He paused to gather his thoughts. “This adventure is a quest to recover the Ring of Searching, which has been lost for almost two thousand years.”
“Two thousand years?” Alex repeated in surprise.
“I really shouldn’t say lost,” said Thrang. “The owner of the ring didn’t lose it, after all. And two thousand years sounds like a long time, but to dwarfs it’s only, oh, ten generations—more like two hundred years to humans.”
“I never thought of it like that,” said Alex. “So, why do we need to look for this ring if it isn’t really lost?”
“A good question,” said Thrang. “Albrek, the ring’s owner, is who we are really searching for. Well, the tombof Albrek would be even more correct. You see, Albrek was a great dwarf lord. In fact, because of the Ring of Searching and its ability to find new mines, Albrek was one of the richest dwarf lords.”
“Find new mines?”
“Of course,” said Thrang with a grunting laugh. “You can only mine in one place for so long before the mine runs out of whatever is in it. Albrek’s ring was used to find new mines—the bestmines. Albrek went looking for new mines about two thousand years ago and he hasn’t been seen since. Now the primary mines of Thraxon are beginning to dry up, and King Thorgood—the ruler of the dwarf realm of Thraxon—wants the ring to find new mines.”
“Surely your people can find mines without the ring,” said Alex.
“Of course we can,” said Thrang. “But it takes a lot of work and only about one in twenty mines found that way is a really good mine.”
“I see,” said Alex, considering everything Thrang had told him. “Do you have any idea where the tomb of Albrek might be?”
“Details are a bit sketchy, to be honest, but we know the three places that Albrek had planned to look for new mines. Of those three, we’ve narrowed it down to the best one. Of course, he may have looked somewhere else, but at least we have a starting point.”
“How many adventurers are going on this quest?”
“Seven,” Thrang answered. “Including our friend, Arconn. I’ve also talked King Osrik into letting young Thrain come with us. You’ve already met Kat, of course. And I believe you met Master Nellus on your last adventure.”
“It seems there is only one adventurer left for me to meet,” said Alex, laughing. “Though I don’t know Nellus very well, and I only just met Kat.”
“That may be,” laughed Thrang, “but I’m guessing you know more about her than most would even after so short a meeting.”
“Yes,” said Alex, remembering the magical aura he’d sensed around her. “Kat is a seer. I think she will be very helpful on your adventure.”
“You sound as if you’re not coming along,” said Thrang, worried.
“I haven’t decided yet. I haven’t heard about the agreement, yet, and Whalen advised me to think carefully before agreeing to anything.”
“Master Vankin is most wise,” said Thrang. “It was out of respect for him that I asked him to join our quest, but I am happy he passed the request on to you.”
“Then the agreement, if you please,” said Alex.
“Since you are a wizard anda warrior, I can offer you five shares in twenty-two,” said Thrang, sounding concerned that Alex might not agree. “The primary treasure for this quest is not set. King Thorgood has promised one-tenth of all profits from all new mines found with the ring within the first five years.”
“That could be a huge amount of treasure,” said Alex, stunned by the generous offer.
“Yes, it could,” said Thrang with a nod. “And there’s a good chance of secondary treasure as well. Anything we find along the way or in Albrek’s tomb is ours to keep. We will divide all secondary treasure equally between the company.”
“And how will the primary treasure be paid?” Alex questioned. “I mean, how will Thorgood deliver so much treasure over five years?”
“That isa bit of a problem,” Thrang admitted. “Thorgood has agreed to either deliver each member’s share to Telous on a yearly basis or to hold their shares in Thraxon for them. And, remember, the payment isn’t just for five years, it’s for a share of all the mines found in the first five years after the Ring of Searching is returned. The mines will likely produce for several hundred years, probably much longer than that, so the shares will be delivered to named heirs for as long as the mines remain active.”