>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A musky odor filled his nose, and a scuffling sound filled his ears as he regained consciousness. He was laying on his stomach, and he was unable to move. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that his face was resting on something furry. Then the events of the morning rushed back to him, "where's Tessa? And what is that smell?" he thought to himself. 

He lifted his head and saw the ground moving underneath him. It was then that he realized that he had been to the back of one of the giant moles as Travis’s limp body had been. He tried to speak but the gag was back in his mouth. "How long have I been out?" he thought to himself. Then the ground under him started growing brighter.

He lifted his head again and squinted as a bright light filled the area.

They had come out of the dark tunnel into a huge cavernous chamber. Andrew could hear voices all around him and lifting his head he could see they had entered what seemed to be a city. Moving through the streets were hundreds of small men, but there were also women and children. They made their way through the streets and then up a small hill. Andrew wasn't able to see much, but he saw them pass through a large stone gate. The mole then came to a stop, and a couple of pairs of hands grasped him and pulled him off of the mole.

He landed on his feet, but his knees gave out under him. The only thing that kept him from falling were the men who had pulled him off of the mole holding him upright. He looked around and found himself in what looked like a courtyard to a medieval castle. High above him were battlements decorated with purple and black striped banners. On the walls, he could see armored men staring down at him in bewilderment. Looking up towards the sky he saw he was in a solid stone dome with a large crystal high above glowing as bright as the sun.

They pushed Andrew towards a pair of large stone doors that opened silent and had no visible hinges. They entered the building and Andrew found himself in a throne room lit with torches. Golden statues decorated in gems of every color lined the path ending at a pair of golden thrones on a stone dais. If Andrew's mouth wasn't gagged, he still would’ve been speechless, due to the vast amount of wealth in this one room. They reached the head of the room and forced Andrew to his knees in front of the golden thrones.

They cut his restraints and laid Travis's unconscious body next to him. Andrew crawled to Travis's side and checked on him relieved to find him still breathing. They forced him back into a kneeling position, and all he could do is cradle his injured arm. A door on his left opened, and a burly man with a crown on his head entered the room. The man followed by a kind-looking woman in a fine gown and wearing a golden circlet. The two stepped up onto the dais and took their places on the golden thrones.

The king’s eyes were wide with shock as he saw Andrew kneeling in front of him. He called Andrew's lead captor forward and they talked in hushed tones. The king's face turned red and he stood as he waved for the captors to leave the room. As they were leaving he clapped his hands and yelled, "Skrivehjul." A door to the right opened and two men in long flowing deep purple robes entered the hall. "Ta var gjest, behandle hans sar, og hjelpe ham a forsta," the King commanded. The men bowed again, and while one picked up Travis, the other helped Andrew to his feet and led him away. 

They took him and Travis through the door they had come from, revealing a hallway lined with doors. They entered a room and gave Andrew a stool to sit on while the other laid Travis on a bed against the far wall. Less than a minute later a couple of stout young women entered carrying a second bed and a fresh set of linens. They set up the small bed and then helped Andrew over to the other. To Andrew’s utter surprise, and in yet another first for him, the women curtsied to him before leaving.

"What are you going to do to us?" Andrew asked. He knew they couldn't understand him but either way, they didn't seem to care that he was talking to them. One of them opened up a cabinet on the far side of the room and inside Andrew could see many glowing colorful stones. The other had approached Andrew and was examining his broken arm. Andrew winced as the man lifted his arm and prodded the wound with the tip of his finger. He looked back to the man at the cabinet who nodded and gestured as if they were having a silent conversation. The man at the cabinet selected a couple of stones and handed them to the man holding Andrew's arm.

The stones seemed to glow and had what appeared to be glowing symbols shining on their surface. He put the larger of the stones on Andrew’s arm and a flash of green light lit up the room. There was a loud pop, and a burning sensation as the bones in his arm straightened and fused back together. The man then pressed the second stone against Andrew's arm causing a blue flash of light to light up the room. For a few seconds, there was a buzzing sensation that spread from the tips of his fingers to his shoulder. The man stood up admiring his work before joining his companion over by the cabinet.

The pain in Andrew's arm, which had been throbbing all day, was gone and it felt like it was back to normal. He looked at it and to his surprise saw that all the bruising and swelling were gone, and his arm seemed to be as good as new. 'How did they fix my arm so quickly? It's almost like it was magic.' He smiled to himself at the thought, 'magic? How childish to think that. There has to be a logical explanation.' The man who had fixed his arm now knelt at Travis’s side. "How did you fix my arm?" Andrew asked sitting up. The man smiled over his shoulder at him without speaking before returning his gaze to Travis.

The man laid a couple of glowing stones on Travis's forehead, and he began to stir. A second later his eyes shot open and he sat up so quick he almost head-butted the man in the purple robes. He put a calming hand on Travis's shoulder before rejoining his companion back at the cabinet.

“Travis, are you ok?" Andrew asked worriedly.

“I, think so," Travis replied looking rather bewildered, “where are we, and what happened?" 

Another flash lit the room, and before Andrew could even try and explain the men turned back towards them. They were each holding a silver chain with a glowing yellow stone attached. They stepped forward and draped the necklaces around their necks.

Andrew lifted his hand to touch the stone, but before he could there was another flash of light. The room began spinning and his ears rang as Andrew got the worst, most blinding headache he had ever had. Finally, almost as quick as it had come on the pain subsided.

There were tears in Andrew’s eyes but in a blur, he saw the open and the king enter. The robed men bowed and excused themselves leaving Andrew and Travis alone with him. The king gave them a moment to gain their senses before asking, "can you understand me, Midgardians?"

The realization that they understood what the man was saying took them both by surprise. "What?" they asked at the same time.

"Do you understand what I am saying?" the King repeated.

"I do," Travis spoke first.

"What did they do to us?" Andrew interrupted "and who took my sister."

"First, I am King Karvir of the Blackfall Clan, and I would like to apologize for the way mine men treated you. Their punishments, for mistreating persons of your status, will be most severe."

"Our status? What status is that?" Travis asked.

"You're Midgardians, are you not?" the King asked.

"Midgardi-whats?"Andrew asked.

“Midgardians," the king repeated, “you’re from the surface world, the land of Midgard?”

“Yes, we’re from the surface," Travis interjected, "but I’ve never heard of the land of Midgard." 

"Who took my sister?" Andrew blurted out again.

"Midgardians, I'm sure you have many questions and I promise, in time, I will answer them all. Yet, you must let me answer the ones you have already asked before you pile more on. But alas that was going to be mine next answer." The King continued, "I'm sure that her well being is of paramount importance to the two of you. The men who stole your sister were from the Kingdom of Svartalheim."

"Kingdom of what?" Travis broke in.

"Svartalheim," he continued, "mine clan and our sister-clan, the Deeprock Clan, used to be part of their nation. However, over the centuries disagreements and wars have separated us into two nations. We now are independent, but there will be time later to discuss our histories. Take comfort in knowing that while I regret that your sister has fallen into their hands. I can assure you that they will not harm her, for she holds the same elevated status as you."

"You're sure she's safe?" Andrew warily asked.

"As sure as mine beard is long," he replied, stroking his beard. "Rest assured young Midgardians, envoys are being dispatched to petition for her return to mine custody."

Andrew felt slightly reassured and was in shock at all that the king had revealed.

"Now, back to your original questions. What was it?" the King thought to himself, "ah yes, what did they do to you? It was by the grace of the gods were you healed and given the ability to speak the language of mine people."

"I see that they healed us," Andrew said impatiently, "but how did they heal me, and who were they?"

“Their names are Vidar and Vikar of the Deeprock Clan," the King replied. "They are twins who have taken vows of silence, and they are mine most powerful runeweavers."

"Runeweavers?" Andrew broke in again.

"M’boy," the King said chuckling, "if you keep piling on questions, I won't be able to answer any to a satisfactory level. As I was saying, they're our most powerful runeweavers, and as such the gods empowered them to return your health and grant mine language. Those pendants that they put around your necks are some of our purest gemstones. In them, is woven Austri's Gift, which is the ability to understand and speak our language. Austri's Gift is the rarest of our rituals and to mine, knowledge hasn't happened in almost a millennia."

"But how did they heal us and 'grant us knowledge’?" Andrew asked in disbelief. "They didn't have any medical equipment, computers, or anything besides these stones." Andrew fingered the gemstone on his chest.

"As I said, it was by the gods. The power of healing comes from our God Norori and our Goddess Suori." The King continued, "and it was the Goddess Austri who granted you the gift of the language of mine people."

"Gods and goddesses?" Andrew said with a chuckle, "as in all-mighty, all-knowing, all-powerful, and omnipotent beings?"

"You mock mine beliefs?" the King asked incredulously. "Through the power that you mock, they healed your arm and your companion was brought back from near death. Furthermore, it was through their power, you can be speaking to me, and yet you still doubt?"

"I'm sorry," Andrew apologized, "I've never put much stock in the 
concepts of religions or gods, because I've never had any proof of one."

"The gods do not offer such help to those on Midgard?" the King asked, astonished.

"No," Andrew replied, "our society doesn't have many 'gods'. Most cultures where we're from have only one 'god' that everyone is expected to just believe in based on blind faith. Things happen that people say are 'acts of god', but they are usually explainable with a bit of rational thinking."

"One god?" The King asked bewildered, "Just Odin? No Thor, Loki, Frigg, Freya, nor any of the others?"

"Each culture has different names for 'God', but where we come from, they just call them ‘God’.”

“Wait, Odin? Thor? Those are the Viking gods," Travis interjected in surprise, "how do you know anything about them?"

"M'boy, they are the gods of mine race too, we have honored them since our creation many millennia ago. It is through them and their power that mine race has been able to achieve so much."

"But how do you even know who those gods are?" Travis continued. “The Vikings haven't been around in over a thousand years and were across the ocean."

"Aye," the King replied, "we have many tales from generations past of our journey across the great sea. It was the midgardians Erik the Red, and Leif Son of Erik who were the last to receive the gift of tongues from."

"Leif son of Erik," Andrew muttered to himself, remembering a similar name from history class. Then it dawned on him and he asked, "Leif Erik'son is who brought your people over here from Europe?"

"I don't know about this 'Europe' of which you speak, but aye it was Leif Son of Erik who brought mine people across the sea. It was he who discovered the land of Vineland where we settled and built all that you see before you.”

"None of our history books say that Leif Erickson ever made it this far south," Andrew said in disbelief. "They've found Viking settlements in far northeastern Canada, but not this far south. And they don't mention him bringing a group of little men with him either."

"Little men?" the King asked with anger in his voice, "We, young Midgardian, are the proud Dwarfs of Nidavellir. I know that it was out of ignorance that you said that, so this one time you will be forgiven. However, do not dare besmirch nor tread on mine race, nor what we hold dear again. If you do, there will be severe punishment for treading upon mine races and mine ancestors honor."

Andrew stared down at the floor, “I’m sorry," he apologized, “it wasn’t my intent to be disrespectful. You see, where I come from, the race of dwarfs is only in fantasies and legends; it didn’t register to me that is what you are. Thank you for the generosity and kindness you have shown us in treating our injuries."

"I accept your apology," the King said in a gentler tone, "now the time has come to rest. You have had a hard day, and I'm sure you're both tired and hungry."

With a loud clap of his hands, the door swung open and the two dwarf women came back into the room. One was carrying a tray of mushrooms, bread, and meat along with a jug of water and two cups. The other a small table that she set up in the center of the room between the two beds. After setting up the meal and curtsying to Andrew, Travis, and King Karvir they left the room. "Eat, young Midgardians, and sleep here in this room tonight," the King said standing up. "And on the morrow, more appropriate accommodations will have been prepared for you." Without another word the King strode out of the room and shut the door allowing Andrew to fill in Travis on all of the events of the day.