To Own a Thought

There weren't always Dragons in the Valley. It was the damn Dwarves. They started to dig. They found rare gems. The Dwarves worked the stones, so the light flashed from their very hearts. Their beauty was captivating, but that was just the start. They dug deeper.

Next, they found the metals. Gold, Silver, and Mithril in huge quantities. The more they found, the deeper they went. The Dwarves put the raw metals into ingots of different sizes. The gold and silver were worked into exquisite jewelry. It was us Humans who, for ease of trade, made coins. The Mithril was only workable by the magical superheat of Elven furnaces. They made the armor and weapons that fueled the Human Blood Skirmishes. Three hundred years of Joy and Trade were transformed into a thousand years of Greed and Pain.

The Dwarves wanted to learn to work the Mithril. The Elves jealously guarded their secret. One young set of Dwarves named Banded, and his sister Gretchen Stoutframe, found by making carefully calculated cuts in certain gems from great depths of their mine, and arranging those gems just right, you could bend light. That made things disappear.

The pair were brought before the City Council.

Streaking Brightflame said, “All right, what did you two do? Meadowdale, the Elven city, was attacked by Dragons. They say two Dwarves were seen running from the center of the event.”

Banded said, “We were trying to learn the secret of the Elven furnace. We made a blind and moved it close to a furnace.”

Gretchen said, “We were about to give up thinking only Elves understand the complex fire-up sequence when we saw the secret.”

Banded said, “As we watched the furnace, the back of the blind opened like a door. From there, a great Dragon head squeezed into the blind. We were forced from where we were hiding. When I saw the great Dragon squeeze through the portal, the only thing in my mind was run.”

Tempered Fireheart said, “What of the Furnace? What did you see?”

Banded said, “They made the smelting fire burn bright by magic gas they got out of water.”

Tempered said, “Magic gas my ass, Elven trickery. If it was magic, what was the incantation?”

Gretchen said, “There was none.”

“The Elves,” Tempered said, “I have heard they have been manipulating raw materials and making things from them. They call it Technology. Now they all have talking boxes, but their trash heaps reek and have become strangely poisonous. Tell me exactly what you saw?”

Banded said, “They collected water in huge clear cylinders. There were ceramic tubes that ran from the top of five of the ten massive cylinders. It ran down the side of the front cylinder of a set of two cylinders. That tube ended pointing into the fire. At the bottom of each clear cylinder was a cord of metal braid that ran from there to a large box for a set of two cylinders. The metal braid ran to a large podium from each of the five boxes. Then, a metal braid ran to the podium to the tank in the back of the first tank with the tube. Each set of braids is attached to a thick metal blade. Each end was set in a bracket that held the blade and two braids together when a copper blade was moved. A signal was made to an Elf on the top of each of the ten cylinders to turn a wheel, and water from the river poured into the mammoth cylinders. After fifteen minutes, the cylinders were full of water, and the wheel was turned to stop the water flow. The copper blades joined the metal braids. A bright blue light flashed when they touched, and a loud pop was heard. Then the braids in the tanks started to bubble.”

Tempered said, “They are using their batteries to do something to the water. What else did you see?”

Banded said, “A fire was started in the furnace. When the fire was going well ingots of Mithril were added to the crucible. The Mithril only glowed a dull red. They added a few shovels of some shiny substance. All the water in the tanks was gone, and there was only the collected gas. A signal was made to the Elves on the top of the closest five tanks. At one time, they turned another wheel quickly. Water from the river started to flow into the bottom of the cylinders. You could hear the hiss of gas when the fire under the crucible exploded in its fury. The heat and light were so intense you could not look into the flames. Then it was over. The metal in the crucible was a bright white liquid. It was poured into waiting castings.”

Tempered said, “Only Oxygen does that to fire. Somehow, they must be making huge amounts of Oxygen from water. Did you notice anything else?”

Gretchen said, “Yes, the cylinders in the back were twice the size of the cylinders in the front. Plus, it looked like a tunnel between each pair of cylinders.”

Rose Irongriddle said, “I want to know of the Dragons.”

Gretchen said, “We heard a loud noise behind us in the blind. When we looked behind us, the back of the blind opened like a door. The first of the great Dragons squeezed its head through the portal. When we saw it, we ran from the blind. The Elves were stunned to see two Dwarves running toward the exit of their hidden furnace. They grabbed us, but the great Dragon squeezed into the room. It was pandemonium. The Dragon ate one of the Elves. The sound of the crunching of bones and the pathetic cries for help were horrific. The dragon shot flames at us, and two of the Elves ran, on fire, from the room screaming. The rest of us ran as a group towards the door. As the huge Dragon moved, it knocked over one of the larger five unused gas cylinders. There was a great explosion, and we were thrown clear of the room. As I looked back, another great Dragon came through the portal. Another of the back cylinders fell, and there was another great explosion. We ran and did not stop until we got home. As we ran, we saw many Elves put up a good fight driving off the Dragons.”

Rose said, “Just great. The Elves were forced to flee their Furnace. The only thing the Elves knew was Dwarves were seen running from the scene. Many Elves were killed, and they are pissed off with us Dwarves. They estimate some twenty Dragons were released before the Elves destroyed the portal. Say, you two look pretty young. How old are you two?”

Banded said, “I’m 56, and Gretchen is 49.”

Rose said, “Who was babysitting with you two?”

Gretchen said, “We don’t need babysitters!”

Rose said, “You are not of age until 75. You need supervision. Now, look at what you have done. The Elven furnace is destroyed. The Elves believe that we Dwarves are somehow responsible for this, and they are angry at us. You have somehow released several Dragons into the Sateavin Valley. You are to be under constant supervision. Does the council make itself clear?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” they both said.

“We will decide your punishment after we have time to discuss the situation. Now go home and don’t cause any trouble.” Rose said, “You are responsible for telling your parents what has happened.”

As the Dwarves walked home, Banded said, “The only way that the back could open a portal would be if the back facet of the gem were cut wrong. I can change it so that won’t happen, then it will lock the plane in place.”

Gretchen said, “You are no expert. You have only studied gemology for a decade or two. Are you sure you know what you are talking about?”

“I won’t know until I try,” Banded said.

“Well, you can count me out, Banded.”

“Come on, Gretchen, I need you to help align the gems in the Matrix.”

“We are in enough trouble, Banded. I don’t think so.”

“I’ve got to know if I’m right, Gretchen.”

“You mean you don’t know?”

“Yes, I know. Come on, Gretchen.”

“No!”

“Okay, Gretchen, I’ll do it myself.”

“Banded, you know you can’t do the matrix alignment yourself. Just give it up.”

“Go hide in your room, Gretchen. The real Dwarves are going to make things happen.”

“Are you sure of yourself, Banded?”

“I would not try it unless I was sure.”

The two Dwarves walked into their house.

“Hi, Mom,” Banded said.

Charity Stoutframe said, “Dinner in an hour, you two, try and stay out of trouble, hmm ….”

Gretchen said, “Sure thing Mom.”

They both headed to the work area.

Banded got eight raw gems when they got there, and he carefully rough-cut facets. Then, he made the calculated cuts to tune the light through the gem.

Charity shouted, “Dinner, wash up and come to the table.”

“Coming,” echoed from many rooms in the house.

The pair put down their work and cleaned up. They went to their places at the table and sat down. When their father, Casted Stoutframe, sat down, they joined hands and bowed their heads.

Casted said, “We are thankful for your blessing. We ask you to continue to watch over our family and our Home Land. We are grateful for your gift of Liberty. May your Grace and Enlightenment continue to guide us. Please stand by us.”

Hands were dropped and grabbed for plates of food. A portion of the food was removed, and the dish was passed to the right.

“Anything interesting happen today,” Casted said.

Gretchen and Banded looked at each other, but before they could say anything, their brother Rigid Stoutframe noted, “At the shop today, our suggested modification gem cuts were brought up for review before the Guild.”

Everybody clapped. The word “Congratulations” was repeated around the table.

Rigid said, “If accepted, we will be in line for a fat commission and a Copy Cut fee. We submitted the procedure to the Elves for recognition of ownership. I don’t understand how Ownership is such a hard concept for them. This is ours. You want a superior cut. Use us and pay the fee.”

Patience Stoutframe said, “I heard that the Council learned the secret of the Elven Furnace today.”

Mobile Stoutframe said, “Somebody is going to get rich!”

Banded said, “Ahh, Dad ….”