“Halbrek, please, tell the truth,” said Haymar, a look of concern on his face.
“You should talk about truth,” Halbrek spat back. “It’s obvious to me that you’re the one who’s done the bribing around here. You’ve cheated me out of my inheritance, just as you’ve tried to cheat me out of everything else.”
“You cheat yourself,” said Alex calmly. “You will take back what you’ve said about bribes, or I might take offense.”
“Take what offense you like,” Halbrek sneered. “You’ve taken my honor this day, so offending you is of little concern to me.”
“Forgive him, Master Taylor,” Haymar pleaded. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
“Because of the day and because Haymar asks it, I will take no action against Halbrek for his insults,” said Alex, fixing Halbrek with a glare. “However, if you ever even suggest that I would accept a bribe again, I will track you down and claim my revenge on you. And I promise you, Halbrek Glynn, that my revenge will be far worse than the loss of honor you’ve suffered this day.”
Halbrek paled. He seemed to be frozen in place. Once Alex had finished speaking, Halbrek tried to say something, but no words came out of his mouth. His face twisted with rage and fear.
“Go now,” Alex commanded. “You have no place among these honorable people.”
Halbrek turned and rushed out of the room. Alex and Haymar watched him go, as did everyone else in the hall. The guests looked stunned and surprised, and everything was quiet until Thorson spoke once more.
“Well, let the ceremony of returning the lost bag begin,” said Thorson nervously.
With Thorson’s words, the tension was broken and the dwarfs in the hall began to whisper. Thorson moved to where Alex and Haymar were still standing, and, speaking over the whispers, he started the ceremony.
Haymar managed a weak smile and offered Alex one-half of all that the bag contained. Alex thought Haymar was being overly generous and in the end accepted only one-third of the treasure in Hathnord’s bag. He would have asked for less, but he knew only too well that asking for too little would be an insult to Haymar.
With the bag returned to the rightful heir, the feast began and the noise in the room increased. Alex returned to his seat next to his friends. Thrang was upset about Halbrek’s outburst and his insults to Alex, and he insisted that Halbrek be punished in some way.
“I think he will be punished enough,” said Alex. “Everyone here knows what he has done, and the news will spread through Kazad-Syn quickly.”
“Still, he has insulted you,” said Thrang. “Something more than public shame is called for.”
“He will make his own punishment,” said Alex. “Everyone in the city will know what he’s done, though I think he will continue to deny it. Yet, the more he denies the truth, the easier it will be for others to see what he truly is.”
Thrang didn’t respond but it was clear that he thought some other punishment should be given to Halbrek. The feast, however, was very good, and soon the conversation turned from punishment to more pleasant topics.
It took several days for Alex’s payment to be arranged; Hathnord had been on many adventures and had collected a huge amount of treasure. Alex didn’t mind waiting because Kazad-Syn was a wonderful city to be in, and he spent his days meeting people and wandering the streets. Thorson took great pleasure in introducing Alex and his companions to all of his friends, and every night there was another feast to attend. It seemed that after the return of the lost adventurer’s bag most of the city knew who Alex was, and all of them greeted him wherever he went.
After a few days, Thrang began talking about leaving Kazad-Syn to continue their quest, but Alex reminded him that they still needed a place to sort and divide the treasure they had collected on the Isle of Bones. Thrang asked Thorson if he had a place large enough to put the treasure.
“We won’t be in the city long enough to sort and divide it all,” Thrang told Thorson. “Still, it would be good to make a start.”
“You can use the lower chambers,” said Thorson. “They have been empty for some time. And, if you like, you can leave the treasure here, and I’ll have some of our cousins do the sorting for you.”
“That would save time,” said Thrang. “If the rest of the company agrees, we’ll leave the treasure here to be sorted and divided.”
That night at dinner Thrang asked the rest of the company what they thought about his plan, and they were all in favor of leaving the treasure with Thorson. Thrang was pleased by their willingness to trust his family with so much treasure, and he accepted Thorson’s offer at once. Thorson thanked them all for their trust, rising from his seat and bowing several times to the company.
“Well, with that settled, I have some other news for you,” said Thorson, his smile changing to a serious look as he returned to his chair. “I’ve learned a few things about the Lost Mountains, though I’m not too happy about what I’ve found.”
“Trouble?” Thrang questioned quickly.
“Possibly,” said Thorson. “You should know that there are a few dwarf villages in the mountains, mostly on the western edges. There might even be a few cities, but I can’t confirm that. The dwarfs who live in the Lost Mountains seem to be prosperous, though they try to hide that fact as much as possible.”
“Don’t want thousands of dwarfs rushing in on them, most likely,” said Thrang.
“True, that would explain their secrecy,” Thorson allowed. “Still, there are rumors of trouble. Nothing solid, of course—just rumors.”
“What kind of trouble?” Arconn asked, leaning back in his chair.
“Rumors about an ancient evil reborn,” said Thorson as he nervously looked around at his guests. “An evil that is killing people, and the dwarfs in the villages seem unable to stop it.”
“An ancient evil?” Alex prompted, seeing Thorson’s hesitation.
“The stories say there are packs of wolflike creatures in the area,” said Thorson, glancing quickly at Thrang. “Vicious creatures that show no fear.”
“Wolflike creatures,” Thrang repeated, stroking his beard. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“The rumors—and mind you, these are just rumors—sound like . . . Well, they sound like the hellerash,” said Thorson, his eyes dropping to his plate.
Alex quickly glanced around the table at his friends, but it was obvious that none of them had the slightest idea what a hellerash was either. Whatever they were, both Thorson and Thrang were afraid of them.
“It can’t be,” said Thrang, a stunned expression on his face. “There hasn’t been a hellerash seen in almost a thousand years.”
“Well, they are only rumors,” said Thorson hopefully. “I’ve had a hard time getting any information about the Lost Mountains, and it’s possible this rumor was started by the dwarfs of the area to keep others away.”
“Yes, that must be what it is,” said Thrang, looking only slightly happier.
“What in the world is a hellerash?” Nellus asked, voicing the question they all wanted answered.
“The hellerash were vicious creatures, like giant wolves,” said Thrang slowly. “They killed just for the sake of killing, and they almost always traveled in packs.”
“The dwarfs used to hunt them down and kill them,” Thorson added. “They were dangerous and clever creatures, so never fewer than thirty dwarfs would go in a hunting party.”
“But the last hellerash was killed almost a thousand years ago,” said Thrang, more to himself than the others.
“Then perhaps this is just a rumor,” said Barnabus.
“It must be,” said Thrang, shaking off the fearful look that had been on his face. “These rumors must be false, but we will stay alert along the road, just in case.”
“A wise plan, considering what happened the last time we heard rumors of trouble,” Arconn said.
Chapter Sixteen
The Hellerash