It had ended there. Gog had laid out his proposal, which talked a lot about things that two ordinary dwarves were not supposed to meddle in, things they didn''t really know anything about.


    After Mim''s final question, about the true end of the rift that had brought them to this dismal situation, things had darkened.


    “Look, I''d better describe what I know and we''ll get it over with, and I don''t even feel strong enough to deceive you” said the demon Gog.


    “A long, long time ago, ah... in fact I don''t remember what year it was for those of you who live above, but well, whatever... The fact is that a long time ago I dug with my own claws the hole that connects with the crack through which you descended, the one through which I helped Mim enter my house.”


    The dwarf preferred not to intervene with his own version of the matter, giving only a glance at Beleg as if to say -I''ll tell you later-.


    “The thing is, I was looking for a way out so I could climb up to your citadel and fulfill my duty, and I knew the crevice was in that direction because a little emerald told me about it.”


    “Wait, you talk to the stones!” asked Beleg, thinking of the consequences of that possibility.


    “They have no choice left. Unmoving things make good listeners, and observers, but that we can talk about later on the way.” For the dwarves it was incredible to hear that carved onyx talking, the expressions on the face were practically dwarven, perhaps like those of the cousins, if we add the height.


    “As I was saying, I found the crevice and proceeded upward. Of course, I reached the mouth of it and you know the story on that side. The enigmatic thing happened on the way down. When I went down, I expected to find the Quartz Wall soon, for I was going at a fast pace, digging my paws into the rock.”


    -That explains some holes in the wall, when descending down the rope- thought Mim as the demon continued his long exposition.


    “After an endless walk, something strange happened to me, which I will always remember. I met along the way a gold vein, who spoke to me of something gloomy, something that made me think twice whether to continue going down.”


    “She told me what I was already thinking: that at that point we should be, she and I, in Avernus, my home. She told me that I had already passed the Quartz Wall, that I had left it behind. She told me that it must lead somewhere else. She told me to run away and not to come back, for my own safety.”


    “Never in my life, from the time I was pulled out of the magma to this day, have I listened to a mineral so disturbed, so frightened by the place in the world where it had the fortune to be formed in.”


    Despite the ridiculous talk about talking to rocks and veins of ore, the two dwarves agreed on one thing: Finna had not been stamped against a cruel and sinister bottom, though neither could they guarantee that her fate would have been any better.


    However, nothing eliminates the material reality: they were alone, unarmed, beginning to feel the hunger increase after spending the whole night in such a bizarre situation, and, really, they had no clear objective. They did not know where she was.


    Besides, of course, they were still in the house of a demon of the deep who clearly had plans for them.


    While they pondered their meager alternatives, Gog continued his narration, enamored with his own voice.


    “...and thus never descended much again, and only used the crevice to ascend. The minerals have never failed me and their advice has saved me from a bad time on more than one occasion. Here, my dear brilliant Sebastian alerted me when your ancestors stormed my gates. But it was too late, as you can see.”


    “Well, so ends the story of the rift, I hope you are satisfied with my words. I have no idea where your friend in freefall will be now, but I assure you that rope of yours is not going to be enough.”


    There was a moment of silence, in which the two dwarves looked at each other again and seemed to agree on something in the eyes of the demon.


    “Gog, gracious host, would you leave us alone for a few minutes, we swear to you that we won''t try to leave, though it''s not as if we could” Beleg assured, with a diplomatic tone.


    “No problem my dears, I am glad that you have come to your senses; with the word and not with the sword you can get anywhere, but we may be talking about swords soon enough. Anyway, I will leave you and come in a few minutes, anyway, I was already missing for the stagnant air of the cavern.”


    When the demon had left them there, alone, surrounded by the luminous geode and the stony furniture, silence fell again in the room.


    Mim was the first to break the silence: “Well, I hope you have a good plan to get out of here. I can''t think of anything else but to try to knock him down between the two of us and run away to wherever fate has in store for us. Because you don''t plan to make a deal with him, do you?”


    Beleg''s reply was not long in coming, “One, I don''t have any decent escape plan nor do I think there is one. Two, he''d gut us in about two seconds. Three, we might throw away our only chance to save her.”


    When Mim closed his eyes and put on an indignant expression, Beleg continued, knowing that his friend was struggling to accept the reality of the situation.


    “Look, if he wanted us to do something where -it- didn''t require our will we''d already be doing it, and he wouldn''t have made so many things clear to us about Finna. He needs us, as he said himself. It will have to be cleared up, but I don''t intend to go back now with my tail between my legs.”


    “Nor do I!” spat Mim, fed up with lessons.


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    “Okay, I accept it. Anyway, by now I will have lost my job and with it part of my honor, even if I had enough of building walls” continued the red-haired man, more and more confident.


    They spent a minute in silence, wondering if it was worth saying anything else. After all they were now getting closer again, the situation had forced it, and think about how differently this had started.


    They then looked around to take a closer look inside the geode.


    It was indeed replete with color, there resided the wealth of a king under the mountain, wealth that his people had not enjoyed for centuries. It was full of brilliant amethysts, rubies, sapphires, unparalleled opals that covered the hemisphere that enveloped them.


    “Who could see us here now… no one would ever believe this in the tavern, not in a thousand years” Beleg affirmed, without exaggeration, and his friend Mim did not discredit him.


    Again they let time pass enjoying the reflections in the gems, which were beginning to haunt them. Seeing the purple, green and red lights now made them lose themselves inside their minds.


    They allowed their eyes to wander into the density of the jewels embedded in the wall. It would not surprise them if hundreds, or even thousands, had fallen to the temptation of this demon and his glittering tinsel, for now they too were losing their minds observing their surroundings.


    “Stop, damn it, let''s stop looking at the temptations of this corruptor!” cried Mim, forcing herself to duck his head to the floor, which was black and lightless.


    “Yes, you''re right!” said Beleg giving a sigh. ”It’s already beginning to blur my vision and I’m forgetting the face of... of her, looking at these jewel encrusted walls.”


    Mim, agreeing with Beleg with a nod of his head proceeded to say, “I''m going to call the demon, for we have much to talk about. If we''re going down we''ll need food first, I don''t think they harvest mushrooms or ferment beer in their homeland.”


    “I doubt they''ll eat, at best they''ll be content with pebbles from the ground, can you imagine?” proposed Beleg by way of mockery.


    Mim laughed a little, the first time since the tragedy, and added: “Surely they''ll add charcoal to season the pebbles, perhaps here it’ll serve us its dear diamond as a dish, with mercury sauce!”


    “How good! If so, I''ll season it with a little gold, for I see it gets very sentimental when it talks about that vein that made it tremble in fear” added Beleg to the joke.


    “Ha! And what do you say about the way it talks, and its mannerisms when it -speaks-, I''d say its a female of its species, a female of stone” continued Mim''s mockery.


    “Maybe, though I''d never say it with that indescribable voice, I don''t think it''s very popular with minerals and rocks,” the other continued.


    They both held back their laughter, not wanting to attract the attention of the demon, who must not be far behind the geode''s door. At once, Beleg decided to put an end to it:


    “I''m going to the door, to call the demon, I''m sure he''s been waiting for us, bored for a while now, I hope -she- had some piece of iron to give her conversation...”


    “No NEED, I''m already here!” came in quickly Gog, carrying a multitude of things in its claws. They were speechless with fright.


    “I see you take me for a joke and find it very funny how I talk” said the demon immediately, with a clear accusatory tone.


    “Well, first of all, I am not -female- or anything like that, it is clear that you do not know anything about your neighbors below. I am as I was pulled out of the magma, period.”


    “Second, minerals are much more polite than you people, and make much better conversation. Besides, I would never eat any of them, much less Sebastian!”


    “And finally, I''ve brought you everything you need, now gather your food and pick a weapon you like, the descent into Avernus is not as easy as a walk to the tavern and we''re going to need skilled hands.”


    The dwarves watched dumbfounded as Gog dropped a bag full of weapons enough to arm a garrison. There were axes, spears, hammers, swords, bows, crossbows and the occasional dagger.


    “But... how did you know everything? WAIT, I forgot about the minerals, they''re your eyes and ears, aren''t they?” asked Beleg, regretting now the folly of talking behind a demon''s back.


    “Think faster next time. Obviously, it''s not wise to talk about someone like me inside a geode. But well, I hope at least your spirits have been lifted, we''re going to need that too,” replied Gog, the onyx demon.


    “I have made something of my time, in the meantime, knowing that you would not run away. I''m afraid I''ve had to borrow all this from your home upstairs, but it''s not stolen, it''s borrowed indefinitely.”


    “Now, take a weapon that pleases you.”


    Mim was the first to approach the pile of war tools, almost eager to put them to the test already, as he pondered if it wasn''t stupid of the demon to bring its so-called weapons here to them. Or, maybe it was so sure of its superiority that it feared nothing from them.


    “I''ll take the hammer, no doubt from my trade I have enough experience and skill, even if mine nails nails and this one opens heads” said Mim without qualms. It was definitely a weapon that fit him well and he was at ease in it in his hands.


    “I on the other hand will keep the crossbow and its bolts too, although I will also keep a dagger, in case of extreme necessity. I have no interest in making use of any of these soldier''s tools, but I understand the need” explained Beleg, as he equipped himself.


    “You''d better safekeep the food between the two of you, lest one of you get lost on the way and the other is left to starve. I have brought bread, water, wine, mushrooms, black pudding, pancetta and other things that will stand up well to the journey.”


    “However, I thought that, after such a stressful day for you, it might do you good to sleep for the day today, taking advantage of the fact that the sun cannot wake you up here.”


    Mim was the first to respond to the proposal this time: “With this you are right demon, but I don''t think I can sleep a wink in this room, and with the stress we have now…”


    “That, my friend, I''ll take care of later. Please, sit down in a chair where you can rest your back. I still have something to tell you”, he explained as they proceeded to sit down.


    “I still haven''t introduced you to Sebastian properly. You see, he is a diamond of great size, as is clear. Cut not by great craftsmen, like your fellow citizens, but by Mother Earth herself, who begot him in this shape, almost round.”


    Both dwarves set their sights on the huge jewel, but without ceasing to rest their heads on the chair more and more.


    “But it is not only for its beauty and wisdom that I price it so much. If you look at its cuts you will see yourselves reflected, each time finding a deeper and deeper reflection into the diamond.”


    “Deeper and deeper into the diamond. Inside it is as if there is no world but the bluish glow of its perfection. Deeper under the crystallized layers. Deeper...”


    But Sebastian had already finished its job: both dwarves were peacefully asleep, resting their heads on the chair still.


    “Good night, even though it''s daytime.”