Free Blue Diamonds (Book One of The Blue Diamonds Saga) by R.E. Murphy Page A

important, so don’t dilly dally,” he said. Uncle Burt loved to give orders. It reminded the old dwarf of his warrior days when he was commanding over three hundred soldiers on a daily basis.
    “Yes Sir!” Pall clicked his heels together and saluted his uncle with a half smirk, staring out into nowhere. Burt couldn’t tell if Pall was mocking him, but even so he liked being saluted and always saluted back. This time the jolly round old dwarf also clicked his heels together, half out of instinct, half out of pride.
    “Fine, just don’t dilly dally,” he repeated then wobbled away mumbling under his breath.
    “Heehee. Don’t dilly dally Pall,” said Kala
    Kala then appeared, floating down from above in front of Pall. Elves cannot levitate, contradictory to what many might claim, but they can shun the hold of gravity and balance on a falling leaf as it glides downward. This is what she was doing now, tip toeing on the falling maple leaf the same way she had on the log earlier. This time Pall was impressed.
    Kala always hid in the presence of Pall’s kin. Dwarves equally disliked elves, and though this didn’t matter to them, they agreed it would be easier to keep their friendship a secret. Despite all of this she adored Pall’s kin. Her favorite dwarf to watch of all of them was his Uncle Burt.
    “Whatever, I’ll move at me own pace,” Pall said.
    “You should have asked him how to catch a fish,” she teased. Pall felt the sting of that jibe. It had in fact been a long, long time since he caught one.
    “If ye don’t watch yer mouth I’ll make ye eat the next one I catch.” Pall smiled as Kala stuck her tongue out in disgust. She was a devout vegetarian.
    “Go an tell his highness that I’ll be there after I take care of what ever me father needs, an if ye leave without me I’ll shave yer heads in yer sleep. An tell yer big boyfriend he hits like a girl.”
    “What, are you saying I can’t hit?” Kala put her hands on her hips and started tapping her foot. She was standing on the log again.
    “No, you hit like a man,” said Pall before propping his axe over his shoulder. He then tilted his head and grinned. In a flash Kala was in front of him planting a loud kiss on his cheek before leaping straight up into the branches above.
    “That’s why I love you Pall Hammerheart!” she yelled from above. She was already skipping high into the trees, darting from branch to branch on a direct route back to Somerlund as quick as a jackrabbit on the ground.
    Pall glanced back at the lake just in time to see his fishing pole jiggle and fly out of the ground and into the water. He couldn’t help but to laugh out loud.
    “Darned fish,” he chuckled to himself as he fastened his axe onto his back, ready to begin his walk back to the mountain and the rest of his family who were hard at work.
    Pall was impressed with how fast the construction came along. He knew all about the history of his people and their marvelous megaliths, but everything he knew came from history books or visiting some of these ancient structures. It was really something else entirely to see them going up in real time. They chiseled into the entire height of the cliff that jutted out from the mountain, all two thousand feet of it, which seemed to be a single piece of granite. He imagined that it had to be enough granite to recreate the entire castle Somerlund.
    The worksite could be spotted from miles away, a scab on the mountain just above the forest canopy that blanketed its hilly base. A zigzag road ascended from the wooded foothills, straightening out just before it reached a perfectly rounded tunnel opening that was the entrance to Fort Hammerheart.
    Two giant stone hammers were carved into the cliff, which were positioned leaning into each other, framing the entrance. The hammer’s heads don’t touch, but are connected by a six-pointed star that represented the forging spark.
    "The most beautiful light in the world," any dwarf will