The Magical Key
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They left the yacht to the care of the Elves and unhurriedly walked away from the docks towards the city buildings. Granite blocks were carved and polished so masterfully that any joints could hardly be visible, massive houses and walls looked almost monolithic.
Facing the port, the nearest inn had a roomy pub hall on the ground floor. They plunged into the drone of voices of numerous visitors, mostly Dwarfs, though some three knights in long black cloaks were also sitting at one of the sturdy wooden tables.
"Delighted to see you, master Huges!" a human, a stout man in a white cook's garb, smiled and made a wave to the servants. Two young Dwarfs, neat aprons over dark suits, promptly brought trays with tankards, big plates and silver jugs. A broad vacant table was instantly laid for the new-comers.
"Bring me another beer!!" one of the knights, a narrow well cared-for face, small conceited eyes, roared and pursed his thin lips arrogantly.
"Please, do not make noise," the cook said politely, "we shall serve you in a moment…"
"Shut up and do what I say!!" the knight squealed fastidiously.
The cook suddenly became not a soft-hearted laggard but a strong resolute man. He promptly grabbed the offender by his cloak collar, hauled him from the chair into a standing position and gave him a violent push towards the exit. The knight flew across the hall, tumbling head over heels, the hauberk clanking, and flopped down not far from the door.
His mates shrank in fear, sidled away from the table and minced retreating, squinting at the cook apprehensively. They took their companion under his arms to lift him from the floor.
"You will be punished!" being dragged through the doorway, the knight whined before leaving the inn. "Trolls will destroy you with my machinery!"
"Hush! Don't reveal it!" his fellows got even more frightened than before, restless eyes denoted uneasiness, faces turned pale.
The Dwarfs chuckled, and the dinner went on. Rich dishes with chopped meat, pepper and stewed vegetables, beer in tankards and red wine in bowls.
"Hmm, they help trolls!" Jim murmured thoughtfully, not sharing the total merry mood, "it looks like a serious conspiracy!"
"Relax!" Huges was optimistic and life-asserting, "there have always been enough scoundrels with nefarious purposes, but we must never let them spoil our life!"
"Still, I advise you to abstain from new mining expeditions for a while," Jim tried to get focused on his plate.
"You know the situation better," Huges gave him a shrewd glance, "do you think this mess will be for long?"
"In a day or two, I believe, my friends and I shall make the uninvited guests leave this coast."
Soon distant but clear chimes sounded from the city clocktower. Jim stood up, made a ceremonious bow of goodbye with his palm on his heart and walked out into the street.
He dropped in on a jewellery shop. Two men in rich black camisoles were admiringly surveying showcases with sparkling platinum necklaces and gold rings on dark-blue velvet cushions.
"Would you exchange it for cash?" Jim put an emerald onto the counter.
"Oh!" the goldsmith, an imposing bearded Dwarf in a dark-grey suit, examined the precious stone through a magnifying glass, nodded and readily gave him a dozen of gold coins. "Excellent! Very pure! Do you have more?"
"I'll use them later. But right now you can deal with master Huges."
"Has he come back, at last?! Nice!" the goldsmith exclaimed gladly. "What could possibly delay him?"
"A horde of trolls and some greedy troll-like humans," Jim explained to the shocked goldsmith, the two customers listening to the news agape. "These days are not propitious for voyages."
"We should adjourn our evening departure!" one man said to the other.
After that Jim left the jewellery shop and went to the port. Workers kept on fussing, loading or unloading boxes and packages, doing repairs. Despite all those crowds he noticed the same three knights standing on the embankment and viewing the ships in the harbour. He stealthily came closer and hid behind a heap of some huge grey sacks to overhear the talk.
"All the Dwarfs and all the yachts are as like as two peas," the uncultured knight grumbled through gritted teeth, "how can we possibly find that very captain?"
"One more vessel has arrived lately, but it's full of Elves," his mate folded his arms haughtily, "not what we are looking for."
"We sold only two airships to trolls, let's take the last one," the third fellow uttered in a not less supercilious manner. "We shall intercept anyone who will sail towards the island!"
The knights strode away from the docks. Jim waited till their dark cloaks got out of sight, then he hurried to his yacht.
The Elves had mounted a tremendous arbalest on the deck, a construction on a wooden stand. A wide bow, a big lever of the straining mechanism, a steel trigger. There was a stack of missiles for that construction, long lances with feathering at ends. Bunches of usual small arrows had been brought and piled up too.
"Three humans co-operate with trolls," Jim worriedly informed them, "they are going to pursue us in some airship, as I heard…"
"An airship? A gigantic flying bean-pod they call a zeppelin? Well, we'll see…" the reply expressed no particular disquiet of the Elves, they looked ready for any trouble.
But all of them were quite attentive when passing the gateway channel between the watchtowers, leaving the fortified lagoon and going out into the open sea.
The troll flotilla had been awaiting for them within an easy reach from the coast line. This time the hostile boats flocked together and rushed to attack as a united pack, far outnumbering the yacht defenders.
Having deviated from several hurled javelins which flew over them and stuck into the deck, the Elves met the approaching enemies with a shower of arrows, shooting uninterruptedly and not missing.