After we've teleported safely back to the house, Harrn says, "They were prepared for us."

I reply, "Aye." Directing a rhetorical question at him, "Did you think we would outsmart them at every turn?" Pretty good for us actually. Another failure for the empire. Another reason for Iffir to start doubting his people.

Harrn grows out in anger, "You put my family there, Belhir!"

Nilla tries to placate him, "He can't know everything, Dad." Maybe. But I did know this.

Harrn regards her, his expression much more mellow, but still angry. "Bullshit." Harrn turns to me again. "The truth."

A simple statement, deserving of a simple answer.

"I knew."

Harrn backhands me, breaking my jaw and sending me to the floor. I laboriously sit up and spit out some blood, including a couple of teeth.

Tiff rushes for me. "Are you okay?" he asks, and then places a glowing hand near my head, beginning to mend the shattered bone.

I try my best to sigh and answer with a nod.

Nilla is ready to restrain the currently unmoving Harrn, standing in front of him with her hands raised. The dwarf himself is staring down at me, his eyes filled with rage.

Tiff's quick work allows me to say, "I had my reasons." Before Harrn can explode again, I continue, "Would you have done what was required if I told you the truth? What are you going to do when we have to confront Iffir himself?" I start to rise. My eyes shift to his. "You know my purpose here, Harrn. If you are not ready, I will find someone who is. Someone that has what it takes."

Some of his rage starts to trickle away. His voice holds a twinge of hesitation. "Who do you think you are talking to?" His eyes are wide, still filled with anger, but regret starts mixing in.

Nilla temporarily shifts her de-escalation attempts to me, "Belhir, take it easy. We are all wound up from what happened. Let's calm down first."

I take a step toward the angered dwarf. "I am talking to you, Harrn Gittirsson." I take another step forward. "A dwarf fed up with the empire's oppression. A husband that lost his wife in a pointless conflict. A father that is terrified of the future that awaits his children, nothing more than slaves for hundreds of years." I take another step, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. I whisper, "I have seen this world burn."

My vision darkens. My network comes alive with activity. An Old God class ship prepares to break the fragile barrier between reality and not, to emerge in orbit of the planet, to announce my arrival to all.

Harrn takes a step back. The flash of fear on his face hurts incomparably more than the little love tap he gave me. ...I fucked up.

The darkness subsides. A digital breath disperses it fully. Safety protocols I put in place wouldn't have let me do anything anyway. Not without Elisa's final input.

How can I tell him I had accounted for everything. Every fighter. Every second. Every possibility. How can I tell him every single thing we do increases our chances further and further, saves more and more lives. We haven't won. We are so far away from a victory, I can hardly even picture it in my mind.

The sight of an ancient dwarf crying like a baby appears to be too much for Harrn. With the anger now fully gone, thoroughly replaced with regret, he embraces me in a tight hug.

I hear him softly say, "I am so sorry, my friend."

"I am sorry, too." Someday, I'll give you my reasons. Will you still accept me... I hope you do.

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We let go of each other.

Harrn averts his gaze. "I need time."

He starts walking out of the room. Nilla follows after him. Before she leaves, she turns around, giving me a fragile yet reassuring smile. One out of three ain't so bad.

Tiff is looking at me with an unreadable expression.

I wipe the tears off my face and ask, "You mad at me too, lad?"

"No. I'm thankful. You've helped dad pass the hardest hurdle." Huh, I did not expect that. Two out of three. Maybe I didn't fuck up that much. "I can regrow your teeth, but it will take some time. I guess you can..."

I start walking over to the aftermath of Harrn's strike. Bending down, I pick up the two pearly whites and promptly stick them back in place, eliciting a wince from Tiff.

I take a seat and motion for him to proceed. With my hand still in my mouth, holding the teeth from falling out again, I mumble out, "Is my pain that satisfying."

Tiff shakes his head but keeps on smiling. "He shouldn't have hit you. Does it hurt?"

I feel that the teeth probably won't come loose at this point and take out my hand out of my mouth, wiping my fingers on my shirt. "No. I've had more painful splinters."

He laughs. "Of course you have. You weren't testing just him, were you?" I give him a cheeky grin of my own. "I noticed you didn't react when Kadan appeared." Iffir's entourage has a... reputation. "Did you know he was going to be there?" As the healing completes, Tiff takes a seat next to me.

"I might have pulled some strings. Too bad I couldn't ask for an autograph."

Tiff shakes his head in amusement. "You wanted to see if I could counter him."

"Aye."

"What if I couldn't?"

"The plan would have needed adjusting."

"You are not going to elaborate on that, are you?"

"No."

"Figures." Tiff briefly glances at the door and then back at me. "Did you expect that from Nilla? I can't believe how far she brought us."

I smile. "I am not here just for Harrn, laddy. This only works with you three together."

"And you too, right?"

I laugh, taking a while to get back under control. "What could an old man like me do?"

It's his turn to laugh. "Don't sell yourself short. That was the first time I've seen my dad scared. And I have to admit, just for a moment, you seemed... bigger."

"Bigger?" Hmm... That's strange. Even if I lost control of my emotions, I was careful of my magic. It seems he took my comment about attention to detail seriously.

"I don't know. It's hard to explain. Must be your charming personality manifesting." Tiff exhales a large breath. "Do we have a chance?"

"We've already won, lad. We are fighting for the consequences of our victory."

"I suppose we are." He sighs again, and I feel like he's satisfied with my answers, ready to move on. "Nilla got to request a meal. Could you make pancakes for breakfast again?"

"Anything you want."

He smiles thankfully at me. "Goodnight, Belhir." I nod.

Tiff leaves to check on his family.

With that settled, it's time for an uncomfortable but necessary check in.

***

A few hours later, I've somehow managed to dissuade Elisa from coming over and folding Harrn into an elaborate art piece. I feel like she is reluctant to stop our chat, so I forego sleep for tonight, the time difference between us making it not such a big inconvenience for the elf. Not like I would have had a healthy amount anyway.

The sun starts to slowly rise, breaking up the gray sky with its first rays. Elisa finally acquiesced and went to sleep a few hours ago. After I promised her a downright dangerous amount of cotton candy and a personal recommendation for something to watch while I am away. I'm sure she'll enjoy my pick.

Some time later, I fake an awakening and head over to the kitchen. My promise to Tiff is kept, as I start stacking a tower of pancakes, preparing an impressive variety of toppings as well.

The two younger dwarves soon appear and start tearing into the food like a couple of starving hyenas. I should probably introduce protein powder sooner rather than later. On a scale of bodybuilder to sumo wrestler, it looks like mages are somewhere in the stratosphere, looking down on conventional Earth athletes with smug superiority wafting off of them.

Harrn arrives a few minutes after the two, entering the kitchen with some caution. He and I clear our throats a few times, studying the intricacies of the room.

Right when we find a supreme curiosity each, conveniently located in completely opposite directions, Nilla speaks up, "Stop acting like you have a crush on each other and just talk."

Harrn nearly chokes on nothing. He clears his throat for real this time and turns to his daughter. "Nilla, that was really inappropriate." She just rolls her eyes at him and redirects her attention to the shrinking pancake tower, commencing her scuffle with Tiff anew.

I gather my courage. "Again, I'm sorry about last night," I say.

Harrn replies immediately, "Apology accepted. I'm sorry for hitting you."

I wave him off. "I deserved it."

"Still..."

"The rockslide is already down the mountain. Or whatever the saying was."

We both fiddle with our hands, still embarrassed. Tiff and Nilla start laughing at us. After a few seconds we join them.

Once we've calmed down, Harrn addresses me again, "Are you going to join us today, Belhir?"

I answer with enthusiasm, "I've never said no to a delve in my life. I ain't starting now."

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