We took our leave of Eye-Gouger after promising once again to seek out Ori, the beardless dwarf. Myth was feeling overjoyed after our talk with Eye-Gouger. She had not a care in Nisse Cul Tairna just then, and she was eager to savor such a rarity. Her happiness spread to me. We chatted jovially as we weaved a path amid the bustling traivellin fowk.
“I’ve never met a beardless dwarf before,” I said. “I didn’t even know dwarves could be beardless.”
“I’ve never met a dwarf, much less a beardless one,” commented Myth.
“Really?”
“Nuh-uh. They never visit Dawn.”
That made sense. Dawn was quite a ways south of the Dwarfdwel Mountains. Dusk, on the other hand, lay in the Mountains’ foothills. One of the dwarven Research Mines, Svoldkilde, was only a four-day’s journey away from my Holding. Dwarves occasionally visited the City Proper in order to purchase supplies. Mostly, however, the dwarves never ventured far from their Research Mines, which explained why Myth had never seen one.
“I like them,” I said. “They’re so funny. The way they make up words like ‘theorem’ or ‘attenuation’ is hilarious.
“Dwarves are secretive, though. No one knows what they do in their Research Mines. And they purchase some bizarre supplies. For what purpose would you need five hundred dead frogs preserved in some foul smelling liquid? And why do they always buy so many rats? There are scarcely any rats in Dusk because the dwarves buy so many.
“One time, I asked a dwarf why he was buying so many rats. He told me to mind my own business and that if I attempted to steal his research, he would drench me with acid. Oh! I laughed so hard when he said that. What a funny little dwarf he was.”
Myth gave me a peculiar look. “You thought that was funny?”
“Well, obviously he wouldn’t have drenched me with acid. He was just teasing.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Um,” I uttered. I had always thought the dwarf was teasing me, but Myth’s skepticism was making me question this belief. “Well, yes. Maybe.”
“Right. You mayn’t want to question any more dwarves about their research until you’re certain they won’t do that.”
“Okay then, Miss Smarty Pants. Why don’t you tell me everything you know about the dwarves? Having never seen one, I’m sure you know loads about them.”
“Not really. They’re short, aren’t they?”
“Of course, they’re short. Everyone knows that.”
“Hmm,” uttered Myth as she glanced at me. Her eyes were twinkling. A grin lined her face.
“And what does ‘hmm’ mean, Miss I-Know-Everything?”
“Oh, I just… Oh, it’s nothing.” Myth began to chuckle.
“Obviously, it’s not nothing,” I said. “Clearly, you’re thinking about something that you find terribly amusing. So out with it, Missy. Or so help me, I will slap you so hard.”
Let me pause here to say that neither of us was taking this conversation seriously. We were engaging in some playful banter. Both of us understood this, and we were enjoying our sport.
“Well,” said Myth. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?”
“You’re pushing your luck, Missy,” I growled. “Either tell me what is so obvious to you or shut that big mouth of yours.”
“The reason you like the dwarves,” said Myth, laughing like a loon, “is because they’re even shorter than you are.”
“Why. You. Big. I’m not short. I’m a perfectly normal height.”
“Perfectly normal for a mouse, maybe.”
“Oh! That’s it, Missy. I’m go—”
“I wish you could see how red your face is. You look just like a strawberry—a weally, weally teeny-tiny one.”
“Urg! I am going to slap you so hard!”
“Mmm. That doesn’t worry me. You’d need a ladder in order to reach my face, and you don’t have one.”
Myth ran ahead, laughing like mad.
I raced after her, yelling, “Come back here, you giant…Giant! I am going to give you a slapping you’ll never forget.”
I chased her for a few minutes. Myth let me catch her up eventually. I could never have caught her otherwise. Those long legs of hers gave her too much of an advantage. We tussled playfully for a few minutes, both of us shrieking happily.