“I can’t believe how good this ale is!” Sly exclaimed, taking a long drink from his tankard. “I just can’t seem to get enough of it!”
“I’ve noticed.” Damion laughed, watching with amusement as the scruffy little man drained the contents of his tankard.
“I deserve to indulge myself a little after everything I’ve been through!” Sly said defensively.
It had taken weeks of slow progress to lead the refugees as far as the caverns of the dwarves, and the journey had been rather hard on everyone. They were forced to ration all the food to prevent running out of supplies, and their journey through the Dead Swamp and across the Misty Lake had been quite harrowing. The journey through the swamp had been very unpleasant, though thankfully, the undead no longer rose to haunt the darkness. But the trip across the lake was a nightmare. It took nearly two weeks to ferry everyone across since only a dozen or so people could fit inside of the covered raft at one time.
Many of the refugees decided to remain behind when they reached the Walled City of Kainpre and stopped to replenish their supplies, but nearly a hundred of the former slaves opted to continue the journey toward the mountains, where the companions planned to rebuild the village of Sevria.
Once they finally reached the dwarven caverns, Garth, Gretta, and the dozen or so other dwarves that they had rescued from the slave pens, confidently led them through the maze of tunnels, leaving the refugees behind to make camp. The dwarven king was overjoyed by his son’s return, and immediately ordered a great celebration to be prepared.
Damion arranged to have a number of the refugees to be brought down to purchase supplies and essentials from the many dwarven vendors, and many of the other dwarven merchants gathered together their wares and took them to the surface, seeing a chance to make a fast profit.
After several days of celebration, Damion, Sly, and Dar said their farewells, then carefully made their way to the surface. It was nearly midnight when they emerged into the camp of refugees. Most were sleeping beneath tattered blankets, or curled up near cooking fires in an effort to keep warm, although a few were still up and about.
After a short discussion, they had decided to start fresh in the morning, and quickly settled in for the night. Dar cooked up a savory stew, seasoned with the strange spices and fungi that the dwarves provided, and they all enjoyed a good hot meal.
Once they had finished eating, Sly broke open one of the many casks of ale he had acquired from the king’s brewers, and passed each of his companions a large tankard. “A toast!” The little man exclaimed happily. “To the end of a long journey!”
“It isn’t over yet.” Damion murmured, finishing off his tankard in one long drink. He handed it back to Sly for a refill, then sat back in his bedroll wearily “We still have a long way to go until we reach the mountains, then we have to begin the process of rebuilding Sevria.”
“It’ll be wintertime before we finally reach the mountains.” Dar told them in a knowing tone. “It’s probably already snowing there already. We should winter in one of the villages in the foothills until nearly be spring. That should give us time to rebuild most of the village. A new castle may take years to build, however.”
“Not to mention the fact that it’s going to cost a fortune.” Sly pointed out as he took another drink of his tankard. His eyes were rapidly becoming unfocused, and he was slurring slightly when he spoke. “Where are we going to get the funds to rebuild the castle?”
“We’ll worry about the castle later.” Damion replied, watching in amusement as the scruffy little man began to sway back and forth unsteadily. “Right now, we need to focus on rebuilding the village. Luckily, many of the refugees were formerly merchants of one trade or another, and there is even an experienced metal smith who is planning to help us rebuild. With a little hard work, we’ll have the village rebuilt by winter.”
“Supplies are going to be a bit short for a while,” Sly murmured, swaying back and forth. “at least until we get reestablished.”
“The dwarves have already agreed to start sending caravans of supplies and merchandise to help us reestablish ourselves.”
The little man grunted, then emptied his tankard and refilled it once again.
“You had better take it easy on that ale.” Dar warned him. “You don’t want to run out before we’re even a mile away.”
Sly snorted in amusement. “No chance of that.” He gestured over to a wagon that was covered with a heavy tarp. “I made sure to get a large supply prepared days ago. The king was even kind enough to provide the wagon."
Damion and Dar both burst out laughing, then settled back in their bedrolls to get some sleep.