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expected, apparently not having spent his entire life behind a forge.
    I smiled slightly and patted the side of Somnus’s strong neck. “Nope, sorry. There are only two of them in the world, and we plan on keeping both.”
    He brushed away my comment. “No matter. Can’t blame a man for trying in these troubled times. My name’s Logen Amberdriller; I’m the owner of this inn.” He sighed resignedly. “And stable boy, dishwasher and, well, everything else, too.”
    “You have no other help?”
    “As I said, these are troubled times. With no trade open, this level is mostly unused so there is no need to have to pay a full staff. And with the food shortage, the kitchen doesn’t serve many lavish meals either.”
    I was surprised. “You have a food shortage? I didn’t know the undead were hitting you so badly.”
    He shook his head. “I guess the word ‘shortage’ would be the wrong one. No one is going to starve down here or anything; it’s just that every meal now is of mushrooms or other underground roots. We have some farmland on the surface that we have walled off from the undead, but that is completely used up on grains and such for the ale.” He chuckled a little. “We will give up food before we give up our ale; it’s what makes us dwarves.” He carried over a small ladder, climbed it, and removed Somnus’s halter, reins, and saddle with strong deft motions. Getting down quickly and stowing the gear, Logen quartered Somnus in a paddock that was probably meant for an entire team of regular horses. Then he pulled over a large bucket filled to the brim with odd-looking white carrots and dumped it into the food trough. “I know they look strange, but long ago a human druid came by and told us to plant them. Personally, I think they taste disgusting, even when I’m living off mostly mushrooms, but the animals seem to absolutely love and thrive on them. And so do the farmers, stupid things grow anywhere. Now please follow me inside, I’m sure your friend Darroth will be happy you’re finally here.”
    I tucked my gauntlets into my saddlebags and left my shield and helm in the paddock for Somnus to guard. I trailed the bar owner through the stables and into the dimly lit main room. Based on the size of this place, I would say that this must have been a pretty popular place long ago. Still, it remained sturdy and apparently well taken care of with lots of hand-polished wooden furniture, and an actual mirror behind the bar; which Nia found immediately irresistible and flew off to admire herself in a dozen different poses. Off to the side, Darroth was sitting alone at a table waving excitedly for me to join him. I found that rather ironic, really; who else was I going to sit with? Counting Nia and me, there were only four of us in the place. I sat down in the incredible short chair across from Darroth as he downed a big slug from his large tankard of ale, a few drips running off his ragged beard and staining his shirt below.
    “Ah, good to see you again, lad! But wait, where is that pretty lass Maya and everyone else?”
    My head dropped to the table. “We had some…complications with the dark elves. They will, hopefully, be joining up with us later.”
    He frowned and took another swig. “Girl troubles, huh?”
    “No, more like political troubles that led to girl troubles.”
    He nodded. “Ah well, if you were looking to get away from that sort of thing, then I hate to say it, but today definitely isn’t your day.”
    “What do you mean?” Nia whispered softly as her wings fluttered lazily across my shoulder.
    “I don’t suppose you heard that the old King is dead, have you?” We nodded. “It was a good death to be sure; the man was getting very feeble. But with our laws…” He stopped talking, rose up in his seat, and was now peering excitedly out a window at the front of the inn. Suddenly, inexplicably, Darroth sank back down and quickly shook the crumbs out of his beard. He licked his