Free Angst (Book 4) by Robert P. Hansen

many.”
    “Humphrey,” Taro said in his most patient tone. “Describe it
too me. I need to know the details.”
    Humphrey didn’t look up as he answered, “Fire is everywhere.
They’re trying to get away from it. They’re too slow.”
    “Who?” Taro prompted. “Where?”
    “Their beards burn, Master Taro,” he added as he lifted his
head. There was a deep sorrow in his eyes as he finished. “They have nowhere to
run. Their tunnels are full of fire and smoke.”
    Taro frowned. Beards? Tunnels? He hadn’t seen anything like
that, had he? The fires he saw were raging over the mountains, not underneath
them. But those mountains were volcanoes, and volcanoes belched forth fire and
ash and smoke, didn’t they?
    “Those poor little men,” Humphrey muttered.
    Little? “Are they dwarves?” Taro asked.
    “Dwarves?” Humphrey repeated, a hint of hopefulness in his
eyes as he met Taro’s stare. “Yes,” he said. “They are dwarves, aren’t they?
They aren’t men at all.”
    Did the dwarves set the fire and get caught in it
themselves? Taro wondered. Or did the wizard set the fire to defeat
them?
    “Their screams are horrible, Master Taro,” Humphrey said. “I
still hear them.”
    Taro nodded. The echoes of his recent vision had lingered
for some time before fading out of his consciousness. All but the vision of the
wizard— Angus? —surrounded by the flames. It hovered at the edge of his
thoughts, reminding him of his purpose, his destination. “They will fade,” he
assured his young friend. He squeezed Humphrey’s forearm and smiled. “In time,
it will be but a memory.”
    “Enough of this,” Clareth told her husband. “You must rest.”
    “No,” Humphrey declared with sudden conviction. “There is no
time for rest. We must try to prevent this from happening.”
    Taro shook his head. “I am sorry, Humphrey,” he said.
“Visions do not lie. What we see will happen. We cannot prevent it from
occurring.” Is that true? he wondered. “But we must try, anyway,” he
sadly added.
    “No,” Clareth said in a firm tone. “He will not go with
you.”
    “Clareth,” Humphrey began, and then fell silent. “You are
right,” he sighed, swallowing her hand in his huge paw. “I cannot leave you and
the children. But I also must help Master Taro on his quest.” He turned to
Master Taro and said, “I can go with you to the next village, but no further.”
    Before Taro could say anything, a man nearly as old as
himself came up to their table and quietly dropped a few coins down in front of
Taro. His gaze lingered on the coins for a long moment before he quietly turned
away and walked out of the common room. By the time he was gone, a second
villager was approaching with his coin purse in hand.
    The third offered him the use of an old mule cart and his second
son.
    The fourth….

 
    12
    As Hobart secured the last of his gear to Leslie’s saddle,
he considered his options. His Banner days were at an end, and he hadn’t really
considered outliving them. Perhaps with the fishmen gone from the Death Swamps,
he could return to the army? His experience would be valuable, and if he wasn’t
stationed in The Borderlands, he wouldn’t have to deal with sneezing all the
time. Would the king want him back? With the fishmen gone, he might thin down
the army—or, more like, resume the expansion of the kingdom. He would need
capable men for that, and Hobart was more than capable. But did he want to join
another extended campaign? He wasn’t too old for it, but he also wasn’t that young. Maybe he could hire himself off as a trainer? The army always needed
trainers, and he had done it before. If he could finish out his tour, he could
retire with a manor and lands and—
    “Don’t you think you’ve retied that strap enough times?” a
soft feminine voice asked from behind him. He turned quickly, but not abruptly,
and half-smiled at the diminutive little elf. She barely reached up to his
ribcage and