Riuluk was astonished; he felt like he had been carved into his own soul. It was like those eyes put a curse on him. He did not know what to say, nor what to think. He couldn't stop watching the blood on his beard and hands. He kept silent while waiting for something to shake him up. Which something, he had no idea. Did he enter something too big for him?
While in shock, he did not notice that water was actually coming into the rocket; not even the shouts of Baka and Burin made him move from that pose.
“Waaaaa! Taka chuchuu!!!” shouted one while running from one side to another of the rocket with both hands on his face, lowering his eyes like an ugly witch.
Meanwhile, the other one at the engines didn't know what to do; the rocket's power dropped, and he started pushing every button on the board.
The shouting creature lost a bit of control and tried to shake Riuluk to help them in such a situation. Nothing changed.
“Aaaah..wuku lukuu!” said to his face, then went to take a basket, fill it with water, and splashed it in Riuluk's face!
“Waaahahahaha!” laughed the creature
Riuluk regained consciousness and saw that the rocket was being carried only by the current and that the power was off. He saw the water coming in and thought immediately, if that thing was following them... at this state of things, they would be reached quickly!
He jumped to his feet, took the basket from the creature's hands, and started to throw out as much water as he could. Meanwhile, the little creature went to see his brother pushing every single button, getting nervous, punching the board when he couldn't take it anymore...
“Waaaaa...wiki chuchu!” cried the creature, losing faith
Right in that moment, the one looking started laughing and could not stop!
“Ruku shaka machu!!” said the other one, looking at him angrily
The brother put an arm around him, laughed at his face, then, with his left arm, went under the control board and turned the power on... from off. They both looked at each other, then started to laugh, both... while the rocket started to go faster.
“Hey, you two. Why don't you help me out to cover the hole we got in the rocket?” said Riuluk
One of the two came to help, put himself in the position of a dog, and started to flash the water outside. Riuluk did not know what to say; after all, that was almost more stupid than a goblin.
They finally found the hole, and the creature went to a secret drawer and got back with a hammer, nails, and a piece of metal.
“Clank, clonk, clank, cling!”
The hole was repaired, the rocket was continuing its way, and Riuluk could finally take a breath. He used the river water to clean his hands and beard of the blood, then sat back on the rocket, looking at the blue sky above.
He then shivered. What if the dark creature was around? He suddenly started looking around the river's shores, at the water and the trees nearby. Nothing seemed to be moving. He could not wait to arrive in the city, where they would be safe.
He went back, looking at the sky, and in a moment, he fell asleep. Too much stress for the day for a dwarf like Riuluk. Not that he had no experience or never had adventures, but that one was particularly much heavier than the ones he had before.
“Tuuuu..tuuuuuu!” sounded in the years of Riuluk
One of the little creatures was having fun using the rocket's horn.
“You little bothering creature!! You never know when it's time to stop playing, do you?” said Riuluk, angry with the creature. You should never wake up a dwarf like that.
Riuluk got to his feet, ready to teach the creature a lesson... he grabbed him by the clothes, then...
“Don't tell me...those are the towers of Duerth Merkath!”
In the distance in the fog, you could clearly see four towers standing up in the sky. Riuluk never saw Duerth Merkath; he had heard of such a city, but never seen it. His whole body shivered with adrenaline. It was like the pride of his kin telling him...aye, my friend, that is ours!
He left the creature falling down without caring, his eyes still on those distant shadows. He didn't want to miss a stone, a roof, a colour coming out of that fog clearer to his own eyes.
And finally, they arrived close by to see the beauty of one of the most important cities of Riuluk's kin, Duerth Merkath...the central commercial point of the Dwarves of the Air!
There it was, Duerth Merkath in all its magnificence. Riuluk was still astonished to see such beauty coming closer and closer to his own eyes. Honestly, it was not the type of city that could be addressed as beautiful, but for him, a dwarf of the air, it was. A commercial city, if not the commercial city of those lands, ruled by the dwarves of the air with all their technologies and creativity. Spheres coming and going from the 4 towers without a break, 30 hours a day. Beneath the walls of the city, hills with pear trees ready to make the new Duerth Maonkrum of the year, stables with pigs for smoked ham used for long trips and grain fields. Outside of the walls, there were also hostels and taverns for travellers. These buildings served a dual purpose: providing shelter for travellers and merchants, and also documenting anyone willing to enter the city. It is very hard to keep order in a city where goods of all kinds are sold. Burglars are the biggest problem of Duerth Merkath, not orcs. The city hasn't actually been attacked since it was completed centuries ago. One of the “Kramaz”, or at least what it seemed the orcs call them, tried to conquer the city for their own purposes, failing, of course, with very bad consequences.
In those times, the dwarves of the air were not often seen; the enemy had no idea of their strength. Next to the hills, the river Outhkaer, where our friend is, opens its mouth, getting to the docks for boats ready to land.
“Chikiii!”
“Waka chuhuu!” shouted Baka and Burin.
It was then that Riuluk lost his dreamy attitude and returned to the present. A steamboat with warriors on board was coming towards him!
“What do I do now? What do I doo now??!!” said Riuluk to himself in his head
“How do I hide these goblin-type creatures??!”
Meanwhile, Baka and Burin were laughing and playing.
Riuluk turned towards them, trying to hide them with his own body from the sight of the approaching boat.
“Stop it, you two!”
“C'on please..hide, do something!”
“aaaahh, waka buchuu!”
“Chunaaa chika!” started Baka and Burin to argue while laughing from time to time
“I'm dead, I'm very dead,” cried Riuluk to himself
“For Kloud's sake! What am I gonna do now?” shouted Riuluk
“What are you going to do?” said a voice at his back
Riuluk turned, and the boat was there. A brown beard dwarf with blue eyes looking at him, an axe with clouds sculptured on it, shiny armour and a fierce attitude.
“Ehm...hi there, I'm sorry for...the...goblins,” said Riuluk, closing his eyes as if the axe would hit him.
“The goblins? You mean those two things behind you?” said the dwarf
“Yess...I have no idea how they got on this rocket machine...please don't kill them...” said Riuluk with a sad face. He felt so dumb; he was so dreamy about one of the most important cities of his kin, he forgot to think of a way through.
The warrior looked behind Riuluk, then jumped on the rocket, went around touching some parts, knocked a bit on the material and jumped back on his boat, where at least another 4-5 warriors were on board, plus another at the engines.
“Everything in order, just a crazy inventor and his strange rocket boat...you can land at doc number 18, there they will explain to you the procedure to enter the city. Have a nice day!”
The boat left
Riuluk did not know what to say. He still did not move from that pose...they killed them? What joke was that?
He was so scared to turn that he actually took several poses before turning.
Mouth open, in front of him: two plants in their vases!
“Whohoooooo!” he shouted
“Guys, you have been such a pain, but I'm so glad you did it right! Thank you, Cloud! Bless you, my dearest and magnificent Kloud! Xxxx, let me kiss you...ahahhh, I knew you sometimes do good things too!”
Riuluk went straight to the engines...
“Oh no..how do I move this thing?”
He turned back and said to the plants again
“How do I move this thing??”
no answer
“Kloud..oww Kloud......” said Riuluk silently
He tried a button, and there he started to go faster...and faster.
“No...nononono..nooo!”
He pushed the same one, nothing happened. Tried a few others, some strange noise coming from the engines...
“What do I do now?!” thought Riuluk...
The rocket was speeding up right towards a doc...
“Hey, you!” cried a fish man with a net
“Be careful, pirate!” shouted a woman from a doc
“oooooOAAAH!” shouted Riuluk, pressing all the buttons on the panel...then he grabbed the panel from beneath, and there was a lever button...he pulled it back...engines started to slow down.
“That was close...that was so close!” said Riuluk, all sweaty from fear.
He arrived at the doc, landed and took the plants. Number 16.
“Sir, sir!” said an old man coming towards him with a long scroll touching the ground.
The man was bold in the middle with long white hair on the sides, he was half naked with only sandals and short yellow trousers with braces. He had a big pair of glasses in which his eyes seemed much bigger than they were, and among the few teeth he had, one was made of gold.
“Sir..we haven't received any information regarding your landing at this doc, which doc were supposed to land?”
“Aye...well, it was number 18,” said Riuluk, still feeling fear.
“You can't land at 16, you have to take your boat and land at 18,” said the old man
“Are you sure? Can't I just land here? What's the big deal about it?”
“You can land here if you want, lad...” said the old man, brushing his long nose
“Oh, good!”
“...but, you have to pay a fine,” said the old man
“C'onn..are you kidding me?” argued Riuluk
Meanwhile, the rocket sank.
“Let me see your boat, depending on its dimensions, the fine is different...” said the old man
They went to the place where Riuluk landed the rocket...nothing there.
“...eehmm..” looked the old man at the bubbles coming from the water
“No boat..no fine, right?” said Riuluk, laughing
“G' bye, old fellow!”
“Wait a moment! You still have to go to the doc number 18 for completing the registration...off you go!” said the old man while writing something on the scroll.
Riuluk went to doc number 18, completed his registration with the dwarf in charge, and asked for a nearby tavern to chill and relax.
