Dwarven Steel Read online

  Dwarven Steel

  A Katrina Baker novel 04

  Author: D. L. Harrison

  Copyright 2018. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Afterword:

  About the Author

  Other books by D. L. Harrison:

  Book Description

  Chapter One

  The din of emotions and sounds filled the room as I ate dinner that night. I mostly ignored it, except I was sensitive for anything that didn’t fit. That was easier said than done, paladins and even the castle staff could have surges of unpredictable emotions, but even those were expected to a certain extent, and fit the expected emotional pattern. It hadn’t been too long since I’d gotten a dagger in the stomach, and I was keen to avoid repeating the event. As far as we all knew, the Jendas king still wanted me dead. Worse, the paranoid ambitious man in charge up in the northern kingdom wanted to reunite the human kingdoms, by the sword.

  The final battle in Chilik was just yesterday morning, and I hoped that peace would last for a while. One day, another strong fugitive would head south, but I had faith that my mother and father could handle it.

  The conversation around me was mostly ignored as well, since all they could talk about was the visiting dwarves, and what would come out of it. There were some rumors, there always were, but right now they were all just wild speculation.

  Gerard, my husband, the love of my life, and paladin of Ictia, the goddess of battle, sat next to me. He had some rough edges, but he was a strong and faithful man, and loved me enough to put up with the craziness of my life. Like my mom being the goblin queen, and new ruler of Chilik and overlord of the evil races. Or would it be overlady? Either way, she had just about every goblin, orc, and ogre implanted with mind control technology, and she had the demons confined to their cave system since electronics wouldn’t survive their inborn chaos magic.

  Point was, my husband was a saint, who else would put up with a supervillain mother in law who ran the entire evil kingdom on this continent? Our week-long honeymoon was over now, almost two days ago, but the king either didn’t have anything for Gerard to do, or was simply so focused on whatever the dwarves were here for, that we might as well still be on vacation. I was sure that would end soon, but I was enjoying it while it lasted. It was about time my new life on this world slowed down a bit so I could take a breath.

  Across from us sat Gerard’s old friends, and my new ones, Randall and Karen, another married couple. Randall was a paladin as well, of the goddess of Ictia, while Karen worked in the government as a head tax accountant. I got good vibes from them both, but I didn’t know them all that well yet.

  I caught my left hand touching the symbol of the goddess Arella again, which was around my neck, and lowered it as I continued to shovel in enough food into my mouth to feed four normal people. It was a comforting habit, touching my holy symbol I mean. A habit that I’d gotten into without realizing it. It helped calm me when I stressed over things, like a whole kingdom that wanted me dead. I was a paladin as well, one of the few female ones to exist. I’d only met one other so far, and Cynthia was off somewhere on assignment. It’d been a few days since the last time I’d spoken to my goddess, and I decided I should stop by the temple tonight if I could. Things always seemed better after I spent time with the goddess, not so overwhelming, and clearer.

  “Where do you put it all?” Karen asked.

  I did eat a lot, and my body was willowy, and if it wasn’t for my five foot eight height, I’d be petite.

  “My brain,” I replied with a shrug, as I refilled my ale cup with telekinesis to make the point. The power for my abilities, including my super healing, had to come from somewhere. Like most other supers, mine came from massive amounts of food intake. There were exceptions to that of course, some back on my world had absorbed electricity, sunlight, or other energy sources, and hadn’t had to eat as much as the rest of us, but not many. In a way, it was my major weakness, except as a paladin of Arella I had a neat little spell called create food and water. Not to mention teleportation, it would be very difficult to imprison me long enough for lack of food to matter.

  Karen sighed, and muttered bitch under her breath in a teasing way. She was trying to be cute about it, and wasn’t truly mad, but I could tell she was jealous as she ate her small portions in an attempt to manage her weight. Karen was a curvy woman, but far from fat, and I was actually a little a jealous of her fuller figure. So, I supposed it was fair.

  Gerard asked, “What do you think that’s about?” and he nodded his head toward the other end of the table.

  I frowned, “Typical paladin posturing, they’re arguing about something. I’m not sure, except going by the emotions one of them will challenge the other before meal end.”

  I could have peeked, but I tried not to do that kind of thing for petty reasons. If I wasn’t going to cheat to read the dwarves which I was very tempted and curious to do, I wasn’t going to invade minds about a simple argument, that was probably mostly fake anyway. Paladins loved to argue about who had a better god or goddess, and why, but I thought it was simply just an excuse to hold a test of arms and bragging rights for the winner. They were paladins, warriors of the gods and goddesses of this world, but in the end, they were still just men who had to measure their sizes against each other.

  On my old world, men bonded by watching sports, on this one they did it by hacking at each other with swords and shields, while wearing heavy armor. At least, the paladins did. I wasn’t sure what the commoners on the streets did.

  Not that I was judging, I’d both done it myself, and cheered on my husband once. Of course, in the latter case I’d been stabbed by an assassin, only turning my body at the last moment had prevented it from being a killing stroke. I’d felt the emotions of the assassin that day, and knew they were wrong for the crowd and situation, but had a difficult time pinpointing where they were coming from in the large crowd.

  Anyway, on my old world they’d be charged with assault, but here it was just an evening’s entertainment, and something for all the other paladins to bet on and watch. Not to mention the government functionaries like Karen. The nobles were the only ones to remain aloof from the contests of strength between the paladins, and it looked like we were going to have another one tonight.

  Gerard grunted and sounded slightly regretful as he said, “Maybe we should avoid it, getting into the middle of a crowd with emotions running high seems like a bad idea for you.”

  I thought I’d be able to handle it, now that I knew it was coming I could watch even better for it, but why take the chance? I’d made a promise to myself to join this world fully, and not to remain aloof. That meant watching and even betting on these events, what better way to bond with other paladins? But that didn’t mean I should be stupid about it and take foolish chances.

  “How about we go do
wn to the temple district after dinner instead, I want to visit Arella.”

  Gerard agreed, “Good idea, I should pay my respects to Ictia as well.”

  Inevitably, the challenge was cast, and as all the paladins flowed toward the back of the castle to the training courtyard, Gerard and I went the other way, out the front doors, and headed toward the temple district…

  Gerard walked me up to the entrance of Arella’s temple, and said, “Wait for me to get back?”

  Gerard normally wasn’t this overprotective, and respected my ability to fight, as I did his. I would have gotten angry at his comment, but he’d asked and hadn’t tried to command, and I knew I’d be insanely protective if his life had a contract out on it so to speak.

  So, I just nodded, and gave him a chaste kiss. Mostly chaste that is, the man curled my toes.

  “See you soon,” I said and walked into the temple, through the short entry corridor, and straight into the sanctuary. Usually, I just found a seat, felt a little dizzy, and found myself somewhere else, in the awe inducing presence of the goddess that I’d chosen, and in turn she’d chosen me. I wasn’t exactly sure what that place was, if it was just a construct in my mind she visited, or if it was a real place.

  Regardless, I didn’t immediately sit down this time, as the High Priestess Danielle, or high cleric, was smiling and waving me up front. Despite her age, her hair was still a bright blonde, and she was still an attractive woman. I hoped I’d age as well as she had. She was up by the altar and in front of the large statue of our goddess. The statue was of a beautiful woman in a flowing nightgown, with her head bowed and eyes closed. There was a third eye above on the forehead, open and watching.

  Arella didn’t really have three eyes, the third eye was just symbolism for the dreams of the future, and the warnings she’d send her worshippers as the goddess of dreams. The real Arella had her eyes open each time I’d seen her, and they seemed to glow white with their own light. Otherwise, the statue was a perfect representation of her form, if not the sense and power of her presence.

  “Hi Danielle,” I said as I returned her smile. I tried to call her by title once, and she’d insisted I never do it again. She asserted that she wasn’t in charge, the goddess was. She was just an example, a guide, and would offer advice if asked. She could also be a bit goofy at times, which I liked.

  Danielle said, “Katrina, you need to be careful.”

  I nodded, “I know, I am already. Why? Did Arella say something?”

  Danielle shook her head, “She stays out of human politics, and we try to as well, but it was my counterpart in Jendas. Things are going to break very soon, unless something drastic changes there will be war.”

  I frowned, “Is that something we get involved in?”

  She answered, “That’s a personal choice, what do you think?”

  I hesitantly replied, “I think that I’m a part of Trelin, and I’m also personally at odds with Jendas.”

  “But?”

  I sighed, “I don’t think I could fight, if I ran into a paladin of Arella from the other side. I’m guessing the followers of Ictia wouldn’t care all that much but…”

  The thought was too much, how could I do that? The followers of the goddess of battle would be different, this world was far more black and white in regard to good and evil that it made the gray areas stand out that much more, and it seemed like every time I turned around there was an impossible choice.

  War was different, it wouldn’t just be a fear of fighting other paladins that were my brothers and sisters, but the men. They weren’t evil races, or even evil bandits and murders, they would just be normal men, farmers and other upstanding men that were conscripted and ordered to fight for the glory of their kingdom by selfish power-hungry nobles. They didn’t get a choice.

  Danielle said, “The king can’t conscript you, and you don’t work for him. You could choose to heal instead, or completely stay out of it.”

  I sighed, “Except Gerard will fight. If I don’t go and he dies…”

  If that happened my high-minded ideals would wind up destroying me, but that still wouldn’t make them wrong. Of course, if I didn’t fight, how many men on Trelin’s side would die without my help? Sure, I wouldn’t be doing any of the killing, but would that really leave my hands clean, or would those I would have killed simply die anyway, with a larger death toll on both sides? That was assuming we won of course.

  Danielle surprised me and pulled me into a hug, and I hugged her back.

  “There are no easy answers, but don’t forget to embrace and enjoy life.”

  I grinned, “Don’t worry about that, Gerard and I are doing a lot of embracing and enjoying of life, on multiples levels. I’ll try not to worry so much. I think in the end, I’ll fight to protect those I love, that’s the only reason that makes sense to me anyway. I’ll have to, I just worry in the end killing those conscripted farmers will destroy me.”

  Danielle nodded, “Then don’t, let the regular soldiers handle the regular soldiers. Go after the mages, nobles, and officers who are the ones driving the war. Arella waits, and I’ve kept you long enough.”

  “Alright, but I’ve been wondering, is the goddess in our heads like a dream construct, or is that place real?”

  Danielle grinned, “Yes. Have a good evening Katrina.”

  Yes? So both were right? I sat down on the bench, and a wave of dizziness hit me. The strong aura of gentle power, love, and regard as always awed me. It still felt a little weird to be having casual conversations with a goddess, but for some reason that’s what she wanted with her chosen followers.

  As always, that awe and her aura were also calming, I felt loved, protected, and safe. I could truly let my guard down in this place.

  “Hello Arella.”

  It felt a little weird calling her by name, but in a goddess’s case, her name was a formal mode of address. She’d also made it clear she didn’t want empty obeisance, bowing, or scraping. The way I lived my life and dreamed of improving things was the way I worshipped her. That, and praying for my magic.

  “Katrina. I’m happy to see you. Heed Danielle’s warning, and follow your heart over the next week. Actually, do that all the time, but it’s rather important in the coming days ahead.”

  Danielle warned me to be careful, because things were about to get messy. I would be careful, but they weren’t helping me to avoid paranoia. But what did the second part mean? Follow my heart?

  Arella chuckled, “Paranoia in small doses can be healthy, especially when people really are after you. The second part will become clear in time. I’d have sent you a dream, but you’re already caught up in events.”

  “A dream would show me what I should do though, wouldn’t it?”

  Arella grinned, “Yes, but so should me telling you to follow your heart. Sometimes even small glimpses of the future can just make things worse.”

  I gave up trying to figure it out, I must’ve been missing a lot of pieces in this puzzle. I tucked the advice into the back of my mind. I was sure it would make sense sooner or later.

  “You’re the boss.”

  She replied, “Am I? I don’t recall ever telling you do anything.”

  “What about the visions?”

  She shrugged, “Simple information, not orders. What you did with it was done with your will, drive, and morality. That it aligned with my aims is because of who we both are. Our relationship is more complicated than master and servant, and you already know that.”

  That was true. I resisted thinking about this new conundrum, I had enough in my life right now. I’d work it out later. For a long while I just relaxed and basked in her presence, until it was time to face the world again.

  She said, “Your husband is outside waiting, until next time Katrina Baker.”

  Chapter Two

  Gerard squeezed me tightly and grunted in his sleep when I jerked awake. I was warm and spooned with my husband beneath the blankets, his arms wrapped around me, but somethi
ng had woken me up. I picked up the emotions of anxiety and anticipation from near the suite’s outer hallway door.

  When Danielle and Arella told me to be careful, I had no idea something would happen this soon. He had no magical shield as far as I could tell, and I bit my lip and dove into his mind. He had a dagger coated with a deadly poison, and was planning on using it, on me while I slept, but he was terrified I’d wake up which accounted for the anxiety.

  Two walls and a locked door that the idiot was trying to pick between us, or not, I had no trouble with my telekinesis scan of identifying and then grasping the bastards own dagger, and then I buried it in his chest. I wasn’t sure if it was the poison or pierced heart that killed him first, but either way he was dead. Assassins don’t get fair fights in my opinion.

  I was debating going back to sleep, but decided that leaving a dead body in the corridor all night wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had. But I was so comfortable and warm I didn’t want to move. I was about to wake up Gerard, when I got a surprise. That wasn’t the only Jendas assassin in the castle tonight, and I wasn’t the only target.

  I felt a mind scream out in fear and horror, and it took me a minute to identify the person as Queen Caroline. She was usually shielded, and although she was a mage I knew it was Andrew the mage advisor that kept the king and queen shielded, which meant Andrew was probably already dead and time for explanations were impossible.

  I pulled myself out of Gerard’s arms, and reached for my outfit, I knew I had to put it on fast, I couldn’t save the day naked after all, and I was in my birthday suit. To my surprise, my newer power interpreted that need as me willing it done, and I saw the riding outfit my mom gave me disappear, and then it was on me. I’d just teleported clothes on myself, and not only that, when I checked it was all buttoned up.

  That was new, and quite handy.

  I felt the queen and traced her emotions, they weren’t in their private wing and suite, which was good because I’d never been there. They were still up working and with the dwarves, and I found the king’s mind as well, which was in a lot of pain.