A distance Gerig thought might take weeks only took a little over eight days to accomplish. He traveled down the roads and paths that Marrec had instructed him to follow. According to the dwarf, they need to travel a specific way to prevent people from following them to what was a secret and very private place. Gerig was beginning to question when or if they would ever make it to their destination. They needed to get there soon, as the supply of food he had packed ran out two days before, and both of them had been living off of black berries and water since then. Gerig has just crossed a small creek when he came up to what looked like a rather large hill that looked steep. Gerig took a deep breath and dropped his cart with a thud as he couldn't imagine nor wanted to scale any kind of mountain with his cart. Once the cart was set down, Marrec stuck his head out, "Where are we?" he asked wondering why he was set down so roughly.

     "We're at a mountain!" Gerig growled as his frustration evident, "You never said anything about traveling over a mountain!"

     "That's because we don't have to lad." Marrec chucked, "What we are looking for now is a cave."

     "I thought you said you didn't live in caves?" Gerig quickly said.

     "We don't." Marrec replied, "The cave is like a door that protects our home from the outside world. Yes, it is a cave but we live on the other side of it, not in it. And if I'm not mistaken, it's somewhere to the left of us."

     Gerig picked the cart and started to walk down the side of the hill, looking for this cave. As he started to pass by a rather large part of the mountain that was covered by moss and trees, several dwarfs suddenly all jumped out of nowhere. They were armed with spears and shields and surrounded the cart rather quickly. They all didn't look too friendly as they started to poke Gerig with their tiny spears, trying to scare him off. Gerig took a spear away from one of the dwarfs who was poking him in the side and pushed him away. He didn't appreciate the little guys bothering him like that, but since he was at least three and half feet taller than all of them, he could only imagine how intimidating he looked to them all.

     One the dwarfs spoke after he rudely poked Gerig in the leg. "What are you doing here, you filthy grump?" the dwarf snapped at him in perfect English.

     "What the hell is a grump?" Gerig asked as he looked around as the number of troops that surrounded him had swelled to a full dozen.

     "You are, Gerig." Marrec said as he tossed aside the blanket and finally revealed himself to the other dwarfs. "Tell your men to put those things away, Taran. This grump is with me." he said to the dwarfs in a language that Gerig was not able to understand. Since he could not make out the words that any of the dwarfs were spitting out in grunts and hums, Gerig decided to stand there and wait for them to talk things out.

     "Marrec!" the other dwarfs said shocked, "We were beginning to worry about you. What the hell are you doing here with this grump?"

     "This grump saved my life, Taran." Marrec replied, "So the least we could do is to stop poking him with your spears. He's my friend." 

     Upon hearing that statement, the other dwarfs dropped their spears, which was something Gerig took that as a good sign.

     "What are you doing up there? Get down here and tell us where you've been!" Taran said as he extended a hand out to his friend.

     "I can't." Marrec said as he declined, "My foot is broken and I can't walk. Let this man in so he can carry me home."

     "You know the rules, Marrec." Taran said in a harsh tone, "You could be fined for letting a grump in the cave, and he will never be allowed to leave."

     "I know that and so does he." Marrec replied angrily, "Just let us in."

     "Alright." Taran said as he barked a command to the other dwarfs. They stepped aside and revealed the cave Gerig had been looking for.

     Gerig picked the cart back up and slowly walked into the small cave, taking his time to make sure he didn't trip up on his way in. As he was slowly pulling to cart through the dark cave, he couldn't resist the urge to ask a few questions, "Marrec?"

     "Yes lad." The dwarf replied.

     "I am not going to get you in trouble, am I?" Gerig asked.

     "Not really," Merric answered, "I had some schillings saved up to fix me roof, but I think the kids and wife can put up with the fine rather than have me away from home forever. Besides, you won't be the first grump to ever enter our homeland."

     "Really? How many are there?" he excitedly asked.

     "Only three," Merrec replied, "They've been here for a long time though. The old man and his wife are at least fifty."

     "Is that the normal natural life around here?" Gerig asked, somewhat intrigued by the idea of living that long.

     "No lad. Our average lifespan is close to a hundred years. If you take care of yourself, I have no doubt you might reach that age as well."

     Before he could ask another question, Gerig spotted a faint light. A few steps later, he emerged from the other side into not a small village that he had assumed was their destination. Instead, it was a kingdom. There had to be close to a thousand homes and in the center of it was what looked like a massive castle by dwarf standards but was no bigger than the shack he left behind. What amazed Gerig the most was the fact that the kingdom seemed to sit in the middle of the mountain but the mountain's ceiling was gone, which allowed the sun shine in. He looked behind the cart to realize that the mountain was a hallow wall that was no more than twenty feet thick

     "What happened to the top of the mountain?" Gerig asked.

     "There never was a top to this mountain. What you saw outside was an mirage, an illusion to keep strangers away from the city." Marrec explained as he began to point out instructions to where Gerig could find his house. 

     Gerig started to pull the cart down the small dirt road and past rows of houses as they began to pull closer to Marrec's house. He also had to watch his step as hundreds if not thousands of dwarfs of all sizes had begun to come out of their homes to see what was going on. Most of them were looking up at Gerig, obviously shocked to see someone so tall. He felt like a giant. Except for what seemed to look like a castle, none of the houses managed to reach his shoulders and a very tall grump walking through out the streets was difficult for the town's people not to notice. For the first time since they had met, Gerig was now the one who felt like the stranger. Gerig suddenly understood why Marrec was so nervous about being discovered in his village. All the eyes were on him as he walked slowly through the labyrinth of houses.

     "Marrec, is that where the King lives?" Gerig asked, gesturing to the large house in the center of the city. 

     Marrec laughed, "No lad. That is the house where the other grumps like you live. Obviously their house is going to be rather large compared to the average home. Also, we don't have a King. Instead we have a Chief, and he lives in small house like the rest of us.

     A few moments later, Marrec was able to point out a specific house, and within a few minutes Gerig was finally able to set the cart down as they had finally arrived. The door never opened, but Gerig politely tapped on the front door with a single knuckle so that he wouldn't damage the small door. A small lady slowly opened the door. She was a simple woman who was obviously very nervous and likely scared as she had no idea know why someone like Gerig was knocking on her door.

     "Can I help you?" she asked with a soft voice, trying to be a polite as she possibly could.

     "I have something for you." Gerig said with a smile as he walked back to the cart.

     He lifted Marrec out and carried him over to the house, softly setting him down near the door. When his wife finally realized what was going on, she rushed out the door and embraced Marrec and started to cry uncontrollably. Gerig knew from this reaction that the lady was obviously his wife. A few seconds later, about several children about half of Marrec's height came scrambling out of the house to join in on the hugs and celebration. Pretty soon, the area was packed with people when they discovered what had happened. Marrec had come home and the tall grump had helped him overcome what was a very difficult situation. It would have taken the dwarf months to walk home with the injury he had sustained. With Gerig's help, it only took a little more than a week.