TRC - Lord of the Glass Desert Ch. 21

"We were told as much in our orders," Ordle replied. "We'll be getting to yer mountain as quick as we can, then come back and build the road proper with overburden." Seeing only Perra wasn't confused by the term, he explained, "The useless rock and gravel from mining."

"There is one other person who will be assisting you," Perra continued, "but you won't be meeting her until you reach the mountain and Daxas's pack has secured the area. I believe dwarves call her kind, nurlaf? I think I said that right."

Ordle's eyes narrowed, "She isn't pregnant, is she?"

"Uh, no," Perra replied, confused.

"Good, the more Duldin's woman shows, the hornier she gets. I think she's slept with half the blasted kingdom by now. My dwarves would like a little fun now and then, to be sure, but tell her to keep her legs closed. We're here to do a job, and I don't need my lads and ladies too exhausted to work."

"You don't need to worry about that from her. She's happily taken by the same man who gave the one at your kingdom her babe. Just let your men know there is to be absolutely no mention of her to anyone outside the dwarves accompanying you. Not even to the people of Telsin. I'll talk with some of the girls in town who peddle in pleasure and see if they might be interested in coming to visit now and then."

"You've human women who would sleep with a dwarf?"

"I don't know, but if the coin is right, they might. All I can do is ask."

"I'm sure my boys and a few o' me girls would appreciate it. Unless there's something else, I believe it's time for us to get to work. G'day to you and yours, Lady Perra," he said with a nod. As the ram trotted back to the caravan, he jumped up on his steed's saddle and called out, "Grab yer axes! We've got a road to build!" A cheer went up along the convoy as dwarves hefted axes and coils of rope from hooks mounted on the wagon's exterior, then tromped into the woods where Ordle pointed.

In probably the most insane display of timber felling Perra or Elta had witnessed, a group of dwarves circled the base of the tree and dropped it in what seemed like seconds. But how the dwarves dealt with the first large tree they encountered left them speechless.

An advance team chose which way they wanted the tree to fall, then marked the side to cut with notches shot a blunted arrow with a rope attached through its top branches. The rope started small enough to be carried by the arrow but got progressively wider as those who retrieved the far side began pulling it through the tree to form a loop. Once the largest section of rope made the trip through the tree's branches and back to the ground, a group of dwarves hauled on the loop, ensuring that it would fall right where they stood while those with axes began chopping away. As the tree started tipping, teams of dwarves off to either side yanked on the ropes tied around the waists of the first group, pulling them out of harm's way faster than their stubby legs could hope to run. The stocky men bounced back to their feet and gathered up their tethers before moving on to the next tree marked to come down, laying out the ropes behind them for the pullers before grabbing the next line.

"Can I take back my offer of help if they get injured?" asked Elta staring as the dwarves were once again pulled away from certain death only to jump back up tell those who just saved them their grandmothers could have pulled harder. More than one shouted back that they weren't surprised because their grandmother was tough as granite, or something to that effect.

Perra shook her head and looked over where another group of dwarves split the first stumps in two with a wedge and mallet. They then tied each half to an unhitched team of oxen, who then yanked the stump out of the ground with a series of loud pops that sent sprays of grass and dirt into the air.

If nothing else, having a bunch of dwarves in the area would make life very interesting for a while.