Chapter 222: He’s Everywhere (4)
Crap, I knew it...
Looking at the soldiers still aiming their weapons at him, Ash was at least half sure that whatever the dwarf captain’s name was, the man was just coating his words in honey to lure him into handing over the item.
But then the captain slowly raised his hand, and the soldiers lowered their weapons in unison.
Their eyes, however, never left Ash for even a heartbeat, sharp and watchful like hounds trained to strike at the smallest sign of movement.
"Aye, lad, I can see why ye would think that way," the captain said at last, his voice steady and deep, the kind that seemed to roll out from the chest rather than the throat. "I understand... aye, I understand it all too well."
He let the moment stretch, his gaze fixed on Ash as if he were weighing every flicker of expression, "But... that item ye carry... it is worth more than gold or steel. If ye hand it over, I swear on my hammer, that I will see ye leave this continent unharmed."
"I will even put me best men on clearing yer name. A dwarf does not break such a promise after all a dwarf’s oath is heavier than the mountains"
The captain took a slow, deliberate step forward, "But if ye are thinkin of runnin, I would say think twice. Even with yer space magic, the land itself will not let ye slip away so easily. Every stone here has eyes, lad."
"And for helping ye, I will be needin yer cooperation. And that cannot happen unless..."
The words hung in the air, like a hammer raised high but not yet fallen. Ash finished them quietly, his voice steady.
"...Unless I give you that item."
The prison hall seemed to grow colder, the silence heavy and unmoving, as if even the stones were holding their breath.