The Hunter Victorious by Rose Estes Page B

outright lies. He was told alternately that no such personexisted, that the dwarf had died of a contagious disease, and finally that he had died. At each encounter, Brion found himself
     drawn out as to his purpose in seeking the dwarf thief,, to which he replied cryptically that he had been sent by a friend
     in need.
    As before, despite his resolutions, Brion encountered nothing but evasive and misleading information that in the end brought
     him back to the first person he had spoken to. As he-leaned against a stone parapet and sighed at the thought of returning
     empty-handed yet again, he felt a sharp tug on his tunic. Looking down, he discovered a small, grimy, tousle-headed child
     with four teeth missing in the front of her mouth. The gamine lisped out that she had a message from Septua, but refused to
     divulge it until Brion pressed a bronze kroner into her palm. The child grinned with delight, confirming Brion’s suspicions
     that she had already been paid for the task, and directed Brion to a nearby pub with instructions to wait.
    Brion did as he was told, collapsing wearily into one of the high-backed booths, and ordered a cup of hot herbal tea from
     a handsome young woman who was still too sleepy to exhibit any of the exuberant good nature that she would display later in
     the day. Brion grimaced as he swallowed the hot brew, feeling, as always, somehow unsatisfied with its thin, pallid taste.
    As he was mulling over the depressing lack of coffee, wondering how many people remembered it and mourned its loss as he did,
     he suddenly became aware of the fact that he was no longer alone. Startled, he looked around and saw, much to his amazement,
     the strangest person he had ever seen sitting quietly at his side and regarding him with obvious amusement.
    “S’prized you, huh? Never even ‘eard me comin’!”
    “Why, yes, that’s true,” Brion stammered. “Where… how…?”
    “Like the wind,” said the dwarf. “Septua moves like the wind, like a shadow I am… never seen, never heard, then gone.” He
     waved his short, stubby fingers through the air, then closed them in a fist in dramatic fashion.
    “Yes. Well, um…” Brion struggled to keep his expression serious. Did Braldt really think that this odd little fellow could
     help them? Brion doubted that he could aid them in anything as serious as this life-and-death struggle. But he had his orders
     and, while he might doubt, he would do as he had been told.
    “Now, ’ow does you wants me to ’elp you?” the dwarf asked. “Does you need a key fetched or a lock opened, or be it a weightier
     matter? An’ ’ho be this ‘friend,’ what sent you, eh? Won’t do you no good, ‘hoever it be, if you be lookin’ for a job on the
     cheap. I be the best an’ I be paid accordin’ly!”
    “Braldt sent me,” said Brion, and watched as the most amazing array of emotions played across the broad face. Beams of pleasure
     gave way to confusion, concern, and then fear and outright suspicion. “Braldt, eh? Don’t know no Braldt,” said the dwarf as
     he began to sidle from the booth, his short legs not even reaching the floor.
    And this is a master thief,
Brion thought with an inward groan.
I hope the fellow knows enough to stay out of card games!
“That’s too bad. Braldt was certain that you’d be able to handle the job,” Brion said as he stared down at his cup, making
     no attempt whatsoever to stop the dwarf’s exit. “I guess he was wrong about you. He seemed to think you were the best man
     for the job.”
    Septua hesitated. “’E said that? What ’xactly did ’e say?” Curiosity and vanity fought with the desire to flee as the dwarf
     hovered at the edge of the booth.
    “Well, it’s a difficult job, with some danger involved, as well as a good deal of honor and gratitude, and, well, whatcan I say? Even though some of us disagreed with him, Braldt insisted that you were the only one who could get the job done.
     He wouldn’t