Earlier when Vox had looked down from the mountain, he hadn't realized how beautiful the green plains truly were, but now, standing at the base of the mountain, the village of the Land Dwarfs stretched out before him.
What left him in awe wasn't just the pathway of neatly laid wooden planks embedded into the ground, but the towering structures that guarded the entrance.
Two massive sculptures, each standing nearly ten meters tall, faced one another: The Stone Giants.
Their eyes were sculpted large enough to stare with enough intensity, their brows furrowed in a determined fit for their size.
Each giant gripped a war-hammer with both hands, the heavy heads of the weapons resting firmly on the earth while the handles were held in a ready stance.
"What exactly is this?" Vox asked, his eyes locked on the titanic masonry as he helped Buknet pass between them.
"The one on your left is King Olkhon," she replied, her voice soft with reverence. "The one on your right is King Grkuk."
"King Grkuk?"
"The First Dwarf King," Buknet smiled. "He was chosen by the Titans when they first walked the lands. He wasn't just a leader; he was the first to speak with the Elf King without an argument breaking out. Oh, and he brought down Dragons, singlehandedly..."
"Wait... a Dragon?" Vox's mind snagged on the word, before he could say it out loud.
"Yes. My ancestors fought Dragons like it was a sport," she nodded. "Every day, a new kind of terror."
"Where did they come from?"
"The Wasteland Isle," she said. "They came through the Portal."
'This world is crazier than I imagined,' Vox thought, then asked, "There's a portal?"
"There was. Each realm has a portal for travel, but ours was deactivated when King Olkhon died," she shrugged. "There is a lot about our history that we don't fully understand."
*****
The air changed as they entered the village proper. The scent of crushed moss and burning cedar replaced the cold breeze of the mountain. The village was far larger than it appeared from above.
The houses were uniquely curved, organic structures built from thick, polished brown wood. While the windows were small and circular, the doors were massive, broad rectangles, proving the Dwarfs prioritized a grand entrance over a view.
The chimneys were the strangest part; they crooked to the left before bending back to the right, puffing out sweet-smelling woodsmoke.
The streets were filled with the heat of commerce. Merchants shouted over one another, selling black coal-rocks, refined iron, and treated timber.
Despite the loud marketing, every stall was packed with customers, their eyes sharp as they appraised the goods.
As Vox walked deeper into the village, the atmosphere shifted, and he knew instantly. The vibrant marketing died down for a moment, as eyes turned toward him.
Frowns that felt more like nightmares than expressions followed his every step.
Vox thought it was the way his back was arched as he walked, due to how short Buknet was, he tried to be at her level to help her walk. But, that definitely wasn't the reason.
He could hear sharp inaudible mumblings, suspicious, and heavy with judgment.
"Same stares I received at the Mine," Vox muttered. "Maybe a bit worse."
"Don't mind them," Buknet said, "I'm sure they've not seen someone like you—"
"They all say I'm an Elf... Do I look like an Elf?," Vox pointed to his face.
"You do have the entire detail of an elf, except you skipped the Blonde, black straight elegant hair, to something more mystical."
Vox just had to exhale, "That really helped," He said sadly.
Buknet led him toward a house structure significantly larger than the rest. As they approached, the villagers finally returned to their business, leaving Vox with a fleeting sense of peace.
"Before I left for the mountain, my father invited the elders, the strong warriors, over to discuss the Mooneater, and How to destroy it forever," she explained, signaling for him to follow her toward the back of the house.
"Is your father that important?" Vox asked, helping her pass through a massive backyard garden overflowing with vibrant red beetroot.
"He's the Overseer. The leader of the Land Dwarfs."
"So... like a King?"
"Something like that," she said, reaching the backdoor.
As she pushed the door open, a formidable Dwarfess stood waiting, her arms crossed. She had Buknet's brown eyes, but her hair was a deep, earthy brown rather than black. She wore a plain, functional brown gown with deep pockets, and a tight belt around her waist.
Pulling a stopwatch from her pocket, she held it up for Buknet to see for a tense second. "You come home at this hour?"
Her anger suddenly vanished, replaced by a flash of genuine shock. "...Bringing an ELF with you?"
Buknet exhaled quickly. "Mother, he saved me from the Corrupt—"
"Just get inside, both of you," the woman hissed, dragging them through the doorway and slamming it shut. "You have reasons to thank the gods tonight. The first being that your father didn't catch you with this Elf boy."
Vox cleared his throat, trying to find his voice. "I keep on saying it, I'm not an Elf. I'm human."
The woman raised a sharp brow, scanning his appearance. "You walk into my house with hair as white as winter and eyes like emerald stones and tell me you aren't an Elf?"
"Mother—" Buknet stepped in. "Mother, this is Vox. He saved me from being devoured by the Corrupted gnomes."
She turned to Vox. "Vox, this is my mother, Lady Bennett. She's the Healer of this village."