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Bror paced the end of the large chamber that he was to meet Skald in. His hands thrust in his pocket, and his boots clumping softly as he went from one entrance to another and back again. After several minutes, Skald appeared at the far end and came towards him. Bror looked up expectantly, but Skald showed no signs of having had nearly half a gallon of water dumped on him less than an hour ago. There was not even the shadow of any anger or intended revenge on his face. It did not truly fool Bor, though, and the younger brother just smiled broadly, knowing for a fact that Skald hadn’t forgotten and was just putting up a mask of disguise.
‘I’m going to see the Grimsteel’s first,’ Skald said when he reached him. ‘I’m sure Bildr and Bisi will want to lend their hammers to our company. And I know they’ve just finished the project the King had set for them, so they will be at loose ends and ready for a bit of action.’ He paused to think a moment and Bror waited patiently. ‘Meet you down the way where path dips down toward the King’s bridge. You have some fellows near here you’re going to round up, yes?’ Skald glanced at him and Bror nodded. ‘I won’t call on any others until we reach the eastern chambers . . . the Brassbeards and the Hardhammers have a few strong arms they can send with us, I’m sure.’
‘Sounds like a good plan to me,’ Bror replied. ‘It shouldn’t take longer than today to get down there, so I’ll see you later on.’ They both nodded and turned away from each other to take different roads in their own direction.
Bror set off at a rather swift clip down the passage way. He greeted the dwarves around his age with a merry ‘Good morning!’ and gave a more sober bow of the head as he passed the older, respectable dwarves.
After a time he turned off of the main road he had been following. The sound of several hammers filled the air around him and he went on into a smaller room with high, vaulting roofs. Four dwarves worked at two anvils and one, large furnace. Bror walked towards them and waited silently until he was noticed. One of the dwarves, the oldest one and father of the other three, soon caught sight of him from the corner of his eye as he set the iron that he was working into the coals.
‘Why it’s Bror Stonecut!’ he bellowed. ‘What are you doing here, sir?’ he asked, burrowing the thick metal into the red, glowing coals with his tongs.
‘I’m here to gather recruits, Master Ironfoot,’ Bror replied, ‘and if you can spare Fundin, Fori, and Tori for a few days, we’d certainly appreciate them.’
Master Ironfoot walked away from the fire and stroked his beard thoughtfully. He looked down at Bror in consideration for a moment. The other hammers fell still and the three sons listened expectantly. ‘What are you going off to do?’
‘There are elves coming through the mines and my brothers and I have been given the job of escorting them through. We’re meeting them out beyond the East Gate. But Riv figures we may have trouble with orcs on the way and so we need more dwarves.’
Ironfoot grunted and turned back to the fire. He removed the iron with his tongs and studied the heated metal and returned it back again.
‘I can spare them. Things are not too busy here at the forge.’
‘Thank you, sir!” Bror said, a grin breaking out immediately on his face. “All you fellows need is your armor and weapons and enough stuff to munch on until we reach the East Gate. Riv’ll have provisions after that.’
The four of them were off and on their way in another ten minutes. They made a jolly group and talked much. Bror was the youngest of them, but no one seemed to mind at all. They were all less than a hundred, though Fundin was almost there, and were all still quite merry.
Along their road they gathered two others. By the time the dwarven smiths were leaving their work and heading for home, Bror and his five companions reached the King’s bridge. Skald was already there waiting for him with the dwarves he had recruited.
‘Hollo!’ cried Bror from the top of the dip. Skald looked up and merely waved. In another moment, the two groups were together and greeting each other. Bror clapped Skald on the shoulder.
‘Well, here we are, big brother, right on time and ready to go. They’ve got their axes and hammers and we’re all in high spirits. May as well walk more tonight. You lead.’
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