"Can I taste one of the berries?" Mericlou asked expectantly. "Are they good to eat like this?"
"You can try," Aldrec said," but I wouldn't recommend reaching for them."
"Why not?"
To answer, Aldrec reached out his hand towards the multicolored berries that clung to the plant's central pod. The leaves on the outside rustled gently in response, but as his hand moved closer, they began to shake faster, more menacingly, until suddenly, he jerked his hand back, just in time to avoid a long, black object that shot from the inside of the plant.
Mericlou started as it impaled itself inside the pod. It was a spine, or spike of some kind: long, black, and flattened sharply at the edges.
"A poison barb," Aldrec said, gesturing towards the object. "The plant's partially magical, and it doesn't like anyone except dwarves touching it. It's too bad they're extinct now; I got a pretty nasty wound the first time I tried to get at the berries. It most likely wouldn't hurt you, and the poison's not deadly to elves, but it burns like dragon's blood. I would've benefited from the warning."
"So that's what this place is!" Mericlou squealed with recognition. "We're in an old dwarf cavern!"
"You didn't know?" Aldrec said, genuinely surprised.
"I suspected it was," Mericlou said, "but I wasn't sure. I've never been in one before."
"Well, this particular cavern used to be the main hall for the royal palace of Raynok." Aldrec explained. "The runes," he indicated the roof, and then the main entrance tunnel, "are their own special design."
"That explains why the buildings in Skainhart looked so strange," Mericlou said, the pieces at last falling together. "They were all dwarf-sized."
Aldrec nodded. "Originally, they were, since Skainhart was once a trading post for the Raynok clan. But after the Dwarves died out, the town was left abandoned, and virtually undamaged. Elves came in years later, and refurbished it. A rockslide hid the entrance to the main cavern of the kingdom proper, but I discovered it a few centuries ago, and found this place. The magic in the light runes was fading and nearly spent, and the plants that were already here were dying. I figured that even though no magic can bring back the dead, mine could revive the places where the Dwarves once lived, so I repaired the runes, which, in turn, repaired the environment. I had been collecting extinct plants for quite some time beforehand, and so I transferred them from my old greenhouse to here. Now this place-" he swept his hand across the breadth of the cavern, "-is my garden of memories." The sight of Mericlou's doe eyes aglow with such fascination made Aldrec become aware of a blush encompassing his face. He had never met someone who shared his unique combination of hobbies. Her interest in history and plants matched his own, and this made it all the more easier for him to ask what he wanted to ask.