Looking at the universes that I have made, am making, and have yet to make, I see a young female elf named Kaz, and she is a miner…

  Chapter 1: Simply Ugly

  The days were always divided into two specific times. For thirteen hours, it was day, and for thirteen hours, it was night. During daytime, all of the torches and lanterns were lit. During the night, only a few torches were left on. There was not a sun to rise and set. These dwarves were born and raised within the mountain. Very few had ever left it during their lifetimes.

  There were only two occasions when a dwarf might leave the mountain. The first was if they were in war. The second, and sometimes the most important, if they had to trade. These dwarves, the traders with the other clans, were often the strongest.

  Traders told stories of a bright light that came out during the day. There was also an unpredictable light, not quite as bright, that came out at night. Sometimes pieces were missing.

  Kaz wanted to be like her sisters, but she was not strong enough to be a warrior. The standard chainmail armor was too heavy for her. She tried once to wear a light chain, but it was also too short.

  One of her brothers, Karpd, was a trader. He mainly traded within the mountain. It was a large mountain that went deep. There were four clans that lived in the mountain where Kaz was.

  She was not strong enough to be a trader. Only the wealthiest of traders did not have to pull or push their trade carts by themselves. The wealthiest traders could buy a cave burrow to pull the carts for them. Karpd was not one of those, so he just pulled his carts by himself.

  The traders wore mostly splint mail. It was different from chainmail. Rectangular vertical strips of metal attached to clothing. It was often heavier than chainmail.

  As a miner, Kaz did not need to wear any armor, for her duties. She wore a thick brown leather coat over her clothes. It kept her warm. Unlike the others, the mountain’s cold inside was uncomfortable to her.

  Kailal, her mom, was a rune smith. Kaz was given the rune smith test at a young age. She did not pass it. The young girl could not find the right type of stones. Her mom was disappointed that none of her girls had passed the rune smith test. It was a skill that only females could do. It was not that males had never tried to become rune smiths. They just did not ever pass the test.

  Kaz’s dad had passed away when she was young. He died performing an undisclosed duty for a royal family member. The royals promised her mom a favor. Kailal, her mom, used that favor to get Kaz into mining. There were not many desirable job opportunities for the girl, so she gladly accepted the career path given to her.

  Even with a royal’s recommendation for a position, it did not mean that Kaz would stay. She had to prove that she could be a miner. That was a challenge. Her body was not made like most miners. She was the tallest in the clan. Mining tunnels were often shorter than living quarters and commercial areas. She was as strong as most dwarves, She would have to give that opportunity all of her efforts..

  Her pickaxe was sharp, but soon it would need some sharpening. She had pounded that same section of cave for two hours straight, and she had barely made any progress. Kaz had made a roughly six by six inch, near square, indention into the cave wall. It was only about two inches deep.

  She had encountered hard formations before. Those that had diamonds in there were particularly hard. That wall had something harder than that. When Kaz swung her pickaxe, sparks flew in all directions, but the formation was unyielding.

  Some young male dwarves, all red beards, passed behind her and chuckled. One of them, Frinm tried to whisper, but she still overheard, “Miss Ugly has barely made a scratch on that wall.”

  Some of the dwarves, particularly younger males, had often called Kaz, ugly. She even heard a couple of her brothers say it before. It was a mean name. It was not her fault that she was pale and skinny. She was taller than the rest of the family clan. She even preferred when they teased her and called her a giant.

  If it had been five years earlier, Kaz would most likely have cried. She did cry a few times. She had to ask her mom what was the water coming from her eyes, and why was it happening. Dwarves appeared to never cry. It was not a part of their culture nor lifestyle.

  Almost all of Kaz’s family had auburn hair. She had midnight black hair. It was not that a dwarf could not have black hair; it was that those with black hair were usually from a different clan or it was on rare occasions that a member from hers would get those genes. It was also unfortunate that one of the clans, known as The Blackbeards, were rivals of her clan.

  They were extremely lucky that Kaz’s sisters Kali and Kama had not heard the mean comment. Both of them were fierce warriors, and would have probably beat up the whole group, for the words of one. In this clan, one could be held responsible for the words or actions of any member.

  For years, she had never seen what she looked like. Dwarves did not have reflective things like mirrors. For people that were not worried about their physical appearance, it was particularly cruel for some to call her ugly.

  Kaz even remembered that she overheard one the boys say that she was as ugly as an elf. She had asked her brother, Karpt, if he ever saw an elf when he went on that one trip to the outer world. He asked why she wanted to know. She would not say why, so he did not answer her question.

  About a year earlier, Kaz was assigned to her assignment. On that first day, she had to pass a clear water underground lake. The area was well lit by torches. As she walked by it, she looked down and saw a scrawny pale female dwarf that had long black hair looking at her from the lake. She then realized that it was her reflection. She thought that was indeed ugly, and did not look like any of her family. In her mind, she was, just like what the others had said, an ugly skinny giant.

  Kaz continued to attempt to chip into the hard formation. She worried that her pickaxe had lost its bite. A dull pickaxe is a useless pickaxe. She carefully inspected it. Its tip was still sharp, but it was not getting her deeper into the wall.

  She offered up a prayer, “Oh Lord of the mountain, you blessed me with another day to mine the blessings you graciously offer. I petition for favor to counter this ugliness that I have endured, and yes, I know, I am a diamond, rough diamond, in your eyes.”

  Drindll, the mining supervisor, for the section that Kaz was working on passed, and said, “Still working on that? You’re going to have to do better than that.”

  The old white, with bright auburn accents, bearded dwarf stopped, and looked back. He stroked his long beard. Drindll started to walk towards Kaz.

  He started laughing real hard, and somewhat giggled and said, “My love you can stop.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Stop?” sharply asked the girl.

  “My dear, that pickaxe cannot go any deeper. It’s not you, it’s the axe,” Drindll answered.

  “My love and my dear,” were ot terms of endearment. He said that when addressing all of his miners. Mining was his love, and he passed that love unto his miners.

  He went up to the area Kaz was trying to mine, and said, “Kaz, your pickaxe is not made for mining adamantine.

  Drindll left for a few minutes, and came back with a smaller pickaxe that was wider . It was wider at both the pick and the chisel. Oddly, the pick was round tipped instead of the sharp traditional style. The pickaxe actually complimented Kaz better. The others seemed too big compared to her thin frame.

  “Now dear, this tool does not work like the one you were using. It does not respond well to hard forceful swings. You have to make slow soft swings,” said Drindll.

  Kaz put down her pickaxe. She felt like she was about to betray a long friendship. She accepted the new pickaxe from her supervisor. It felt much lighter than hers. It also felt awkward.

  She took a soft swing against the cave wall.

  “No. No. That’s too hard,” offered the export supervisor.

  Kaz took a softer, slower swing. To her surprise, a small chunk of the hard formation fell out. She picked it up and looked at it.

  Drindll told her, “Now, Kaz, put that piece in your personal bag. That one is yours.”

  Kaz was surprised. No supervisor had ever told her that anything she mined could be hers. She put it in her bag, and then continued swinging softly at the wall. Within a short amount of time, no longer than fifteen minutes, she had mined five more round pieces, each about an inch.

  “That’s good for today. My dear. You can have the rest of the day off,” her supervisor told her.

  As she was walking away, he yelled at her, “Come back and pick up your new pickaxe. That is correct. She is now yours. Swing her softly and she will be your best friend.”

  Kaz went to herfamily’s personal quarters. Her mom was surprised to see her, and asked, “Why are you home so soon? You are not in trouble?”

  Speaking first with her eyes, from left to right, and then with words, “No, I am not in trouble.”

  “Supervisor Drindll said I could go home after I mined five of these,” Kaz said, showing her mom the round ore.

  Her mom simplay replied, “Oh my.”

  The young lady told her mom, “He said it was adamantine.”

  Kaz added, “He also gave me this,” and showed her mom the special pickaxe.

  “This is a special occasion. Let's go find some mushrooms and potatoes.” said her mom.

  Kaz went to her small room and put her new pickaxe and bag near her bed. Her siblings' rooms were much larger, but they had to share with others. Dwarven families divided the young family members' rooms by occupation. Since Kaz was the only female miner, she got her own room, but the other rooms gave each individual actually more personal space.

  Kailal cried to her daughter, “Hurry up little one. We want to get to our garden before others get there.”

  She added, “We might even see your aunt, Milltz, and your cousin Maol.”

  Kaz liked her aunt and cousin. There were two dwarves that accepted her looks. They never teased her about how she looked. They never called her mean names. They treated her nicely and loved her.

  Hearing that, Kaz ran quickly to her mom. They started walking towards the family garden. Her mom, and three aunts owned the family garden. She rarely got the opportunity to go to the garden. She was always working when her mom visited it.

  As the two entered the garden, Kaz quickly saw her cousin. Maol had hair that was bright red. She was the first of the auburns to have bright red hair. Maol looked in Kaz’s direction. They saw each, and both started running towards each other.

  Kaz was much taller than Maol. She had to bend down a little, and Maol reached up, to hug each other. Her cousin was about three and a half feet tall. She was older than Kaz. Kaz was a little over five feet tall, but her mom said she was still growing.

  “My dab, you have grown since the last time we saw each other,” said her cousin.

  Maol and Kaz often called each other dab. Dab was a term of endearment that dwarven cousins would call each other. It was used specifically for the dwarves living in Mount Koptniol.

  Kaz complimented her cousin, “Oh my dab, could your beautiful hair be even redder?”

  Others picked on Maol due to her red hair, but when Kaz said it, it was a welcomed compliment. It was not only a bright red; it was a bright fiery red. Kaz saw another difference in her cousin’s hair.

  “Do I see some golden highlights in your hair?” asked Kaz.

  Her aunt interrupted them and said, “Come on you two dabs, the best mushrooms are to be picked before others get here.”

  An unfamiliar elderly lady dwarf was walking near their family garden. She stared for a few seconds at the unfamiliar sight. She saw the two, Kaz and Maol picking mushrooms together. One was two feet taller than the other. One had midnight black hair and the other had fiery bright red hair. One was very skinny and the other was normal plump. It was indeed a unique sight.

  Maol found a purple mushroom that had blue stripes and red spots on it, and said to Kaz, “My dab, look at this.”

  “I have never seen one like that before. It is so pretty,” said Kaz.

  She then yelled to her aunt, “My Eps, look what my dab found.

  Milltz responded, “Coming my pitt.”

  It was obvious that all loved and liked each other. Eps is what one would call a favored aunt, and pitt is what one would call a favored niece. It was a group of dabs, epses, and pitts.

  Kailal came with Milltz to see what Maol had found. Even though they did not look the same, Kailal and Milltz were twins. Kailal’s hair was truer to auburn, and Milltz’s was redder.

  Kailal aid a simple, “Ooo.”

  Milltz excitedly said, "I was hoping we would get one this season.”

  It was a Royal Mount Koptniol mushroom. Mount Koptniol was the only place they could be found. They were very rare to find. Finding one was considered to be a sign of good luck.

  Milltz then said, “Now everybody gently touch it.”

  Each of the four touched it, and Kailal excitedly said, “We are so blessed today. First, Kaz finds adamantine, and now, my pitt finds a Royal Mount Koptniol. We are surely blessed.”

  The two lady dwarves walked away from the two cousins. Milltz whispered into Kailal’s left ear, “I heard that Frinm said something mean about Kaz. I guess that stupid boy forgot that Minintoi was Kaz’s cousin.”

  “It was not about her looks?” inquired Kailal.

  “He said that she was ugly.” she answered.

  “He better hope that her sisters do not find out,” Kailal quietly.

  Kaz’s aunt remarked, “We are so blessed to have Kaz and Maol. We are blessed to have such wonderful girls.”

  The four visited for a little longer and they gathered a variety of mushrooms. Maol and her mom needed to get carrots and Kaz and her mom needed to get potatoes which were in two different areas. The two sides hugged each other, said their goodbyes, and went separate ways.

  Kailal and Maol went to the potato garden. Dwarves have more than a couple varieties of potatoes, they have at least two dozen types. Maol was looking for the Strongbird variety. It was a hearty potato. The Strongbird had a dark brown skin with an orangish red flesh. It had a strong flavor, and was Kailal’s favorite.

  After picking a few Strongbirds, the two went back home. Kali and Kama were waiting for them. They had mischievous grins on their faces,

  “You heard?” their mom asked disappointedly.

  “No one says anything bad about our sister,” Kama piped up.

  The feistier twin, Kali said, “Know what is ugly? His face is now ugly!”

  Before their mom could say anything, a royal guard entered, and said, “Lady Kax, you have been summoned.”