A Gnomish Invention, Page 2

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  A few minutes later Durban, Rognar and Foggle trudged slowly through the snow heading out of the village, trying to stick to the road as best as possible considering the weather. Foggle was sporting a strange metal tube on his back that looked like a small elongated cannon with a trigger near the end.

  “What the bloody hell have you got there Foggle?” Durban asked, eyeing off the tube suspiciously as if it might explode any second.

  “This is what I was telling you about earlier! It is my patented Portable Cannon Blaster! Point it at anything you like, pull the trigger and BAM. Bear in mind that it does have a few problems with accuracy at the moment so try not to be too far away.” Foggle said.

  “How close then?” Asked Rognar from the other side of the gnome.

  “Oh a couple of feet should be fine. Also there is a slight chance it may explode. Slight though, only one in ten which isn’t too bad” Foggle said with a smile and a nod.

  Both dwarves sighed in unison.

  “Just don’t use it near us.” Durban said.

  Slowly the trio made their way through the snowy path in silence as they trudged along. Luckily the weather had let up somewhat although clouds still blocked the sun and snow was gently drifting down from the sky. The road was hard going for the three companions, their short legs meaning even a little snow was hard work. After an hour of walking, and sometimes wading, through the snow, Durban saw the oak tree Liliana had mentioned in the distance.

  “Alright here we are lads. Be ready, that human could be round here somewhere waiting in ambush.” Durban said glancing around. Rognar took his small crossbow out that he had lashed over his back and looked around cautiously, Durban drew his battleaxe which had started to see some use of late and Foggle pulled out his Portable Cannon Blaster. The two dwarves both sidestepped away from the gnome.

  “I’ll go first lads, you watch my back. Foggle don’t even think about pointing that contraption anywhere near me.” Durban said, frowning at the gnome.

  “Don’t worry Durban I’ll protect you!” Foggle said, ignoring his comment.

  Durban grunted.

  Carefully Durban walked towards the tree, looking around him as he made his way over for any signs of movement while keeping an eye out for the elves companions.

  As he drew closer he saw a couple of swords sticking out of the snow and heard some muffled noises. Frowning in confusion he trudged forward a little quicker and found two elves trussed up behind the tree, hands tied behind their back and a rag stuffed in each mouth.

  The two were shivering furiously, tiny icicles forming around their eyebrows and nose.

  “What the bloody hell is going on here then.” Durban said to the pair, slinging his battleaxe back over his shoulder.

  The two elves moaned at him in reply.

  Durban reached down and yanked the gags out of their mouths.

  “Thank you friend Dwarf, we were waylaid while chasing a human from our forests. We are not used to this area or the cold and were taken unawares.” The elf on the right said shakily.

  Durban waved Rognar and Foggle over then began sawing through their ropes with a dagger from his belt.

  “We heard from your friend already, she sent us out here to rescue you. Don’t worry she is safe at my Inn. No sign of that human though.” Durban said as he worked.

  “What? What companion? It was a woman who did this to us. She came to our village pretending to be an elf but had some fake ears on. We caught on to it pretty quickly, but she escaped before we could catch her.” The other elf said as Durban finished untying them.

  “Oh bugger.” Durban sighed.

  Durban turned to Rognar and Foggle as they reached the tree. “Looks like we have been had lads. The elves here are telling me that ‘Liliana’ is actually the human criminal.”

  “Bah, knew she couldn’t be trusted!” Rognar said.

  “Oh dear!” Foggle exclaimed.

  “If you can assist us back to your village we would be happy to help you capture the woman.” The elf on the right said. “My name is Ferelyn and this is my companion Aradorn.”

  “Fancy names. I’m Durban, this is Rognar and the little fella here is Foggle.” Durban said in introduction, the five all exchanging hand shakes. “Well don’t we make a motley bloody gang. Alright Aradorn you put your arm round Rognar, I”ll take you Ferelyn and we’ll begin the walk back. Will take a little more than an hour but the moving should warm your bones a bit.”

  The group of five slowly began the walk back to Durban’s Inn.

  “So what did this woman want with you lot anyway?” Durban asked as they slowly made their way back.

  “She was looking for anything valuable to steal really. We knew she would head this way as she was asking about some famous weapon that was used to destroy an entire army of trolls that were attacking a village nearby.” Ferelyn replied.

  “Oh bugger.” Durban sighed again.

  “You know of this weapon?” Ferelyn asked in surprise.

  Foggle piped up next to the pair. “Oh that must be my cannon. I will have to show you it when you are better. It is under repair at the moment, I made some improvements that unfortunately caused it to malfunction.”

  “Explode.” Durban corrected.

  “Well … yes, but it can be repaired!” Foggle said.

  Ferelyn looked at the gnome wide eyed and then glanced at the Portable Cannon Blaster slung over his shoulder.

  “Is that …?” Ferelyn asked, trailing off.

  “Oh yes, this is a more personal version. My patented Portable Cannon Blaster. I will give you a demonstration if you like.” Foggle said beginning to unsling the weapon.

  “No.” Durban said flatly.

  “But..”

  “No.”

  “Perhaps once I am fully recovered.” Ferelyn said in an attempt to appease the gnome.

  “Oh alright then, plenty of time I guess.” Foggle said with a smile, slinging the weapon back over his shoulder.

  Slowly the five made their way back to Stolten, the five making casual conversation on the way about the differences between elf villages and dwarf villages. Even Rognar seemed to be warming to the pair by the time they reached the Inn a little over an hour later.

  The street was quiet, everyone else in the dwarf village seemed to be inside.

  “The others are probably still out hunting the human that isn’t going to be there.” Rognar said with a grunt.

  “Hmm. Alright I think we can handle one little woman can’t we lads.” Durban said.

  Ferelyn and Aradorn nodded in reply, drawing their swords, hands still shaking from the cold.

  “You two stick to the rear. Appreciate your courage but you’re shaking so much you’re more liable to stab yourself than anything else.” Durban said, readying his battleaxe. Foggle had his Portable Cannon Blaster drawn and ready.

  “Foggle, only if you really need it okay?” Durban said.

  Foggle nodded, his expression steely. The look on the gnome’s face reminded Durban of the last time he had seen the gnome in battle when the trolls and yeti attacked a couple of months earlier.

  “Alright then lets go.” Durban said.

  Heading in first Durban made his way carefully into the front bar. He immediately noticed that Liliana was no longer lying on the floor and the Mayor was in her place, tied up just like the elves had been with a rag in his mouth.

  Durban reached down and pulled the rag out.

  “She isn’t an elf!” The Mayor shouted immediately.

  “Yeah, we gathered.” Durban said, gesturing at Ferolyn and Aradorn who had just entered the Inn.

  “We found her ‘friends’ near the tree, trussed up like you. Where is she now?” Durban asked.

  “Well before she turned nasty she was asking about the gnomes and their inventions. I told her that Foggle's latest weapon of destruction had just been finished in your back room. Then she clobbered me and tied me up. Her bloody ears fell off while
she was doing it!” The Mayor said.

  “My Fantastic Water Solidification Cubification Machine!” Foggle shouted, running towards Durban's storeroom as fast as his little legs could carry him.

  “Wait. She thought that Foggle’s ice cube maker is a weapon?” Durban asked the Mayor, ignoring the gnome.

  “Well I was joking when I said it. Don’t think she realised that though.”

  A smile spread across Durban’s face.

  “You alright to free the Mayor, Rognar? I think I know what I am going to find out the back.” Durban said with a grin.

  Rognar nodded with a smile and a glance at the door Foggle ran through. “Yeah I am getting an idea what you’ll find too.”

  “Come on you two, I think you will enjoy this.” Durban said, gesturing at the elves.

  Still smiling Durban opened the door to his back room and burst out laughing at the vision in front of him.

  A layer of ice covered the entire room as well as the machine. Liliana stood in front of the contraption, frozen solid with a look of shock on her face. Foggle had squeezed in front of her and was frantically looking over his invention for signs of damage.

  “Don’t worry Durban I will have it working again by tomorrow!” Foggle shouted.

  “No hurry.” Durban said, still chuckling. “Well my friends, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about her going anywhere.”

  A faint squeak could be heard coming from the frozen woman.

  Durban walked over to the gnome carefully and clapped him on the shoulder.

  “Looks like we owe you one again my friend.” Durban said.

  “Oh really? I always have ideas to improve the place.” Foggle said turning around, his face lighting up.

  Durban sighed then chuckled to himself.

  “She's all yours boys.” Durban said to his new elven friends.

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