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."
