Chapter 8: A Joining with Friends
                    ---------------------------------

      "I had befriended bears.  I had befriended wolves.  Hawks.  Whales.
Even creatures out of nightmares, I had befriended.
      "But to whomever is reading this, tell me:
      "How does one befriend a rock?"

      *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

      It was about waist high with numerous appendages flailing about
beneath a rocky shell, propelling it toward him at a slow, but steady
pace.  Chittering the whole way, its antennae waved from side to side
in a frantic dance.  Faint blue and yellow marked its side as if a
too-intense painter had swept his brushes from the canvas onto the
creature's side.
      Kindar stood a moment as it came for him, then moved to place one
knee on the ground.  He extended a hand, and whistled intermittently
through clenched teeth and tightened lips.  The creature slowed a bit,
then came forward with redoubled force.  A slight fear began to hit the
man, but he remained on the ground, trusting that the knowledge he gained
from the Veldt would apply to the surface beneath the world.
      It continued coming for him and finally barreled into him, sending
him sprawling to the floor.  Kindar frantically pulled himself back
hoping he could escape to some sort of safety in the caves when he
realized...
      It was caressing his leg.
      Its many legs were rubbing up and down his leg and the antennae
were moving slowly, rhythmically around.  Kindar reached out a hand
again.  The creature stopped a moment, and rubbed its antennae against
it.  Kindar reached up with a finger and rubbed its underbelly.  It was
soft and fleshy with blue and yellow markings similar to the ones on its
shell.  It chittered with apparent delight.
      Rising to his knees, and eventually to his feet, Kindar looked down
at the little boulder and smiled.  "So what's your name, little one?"
It chittered happily, and the man chuckled.  "Well, for now, let's call
you..." he thought a moment, "...Kebah."  Once again, it caressed his
leg.  Kindar thought again for a bit, and prayed intensely that it wasn't
trying to mate with him.
      The man looked about again to see his surroundings.  The ground was
packed quite hard, and little grew except in tufts and clumpings of life
where the earth had split apart and the soil beneath was revealed.  The
lighted waters were far in the distance, yet easily visible because of
the constant glow.  He wondered if night ever came to this land.
      Cliffs arose hundreds of feet into the air behind him, and stopped
at a roof of stone that covered the entire cavern for as far as could be
seen.  Miles of cavern lay in all directions but to the cliffs.  Other
juts of rock appeared here and there.  Some rose a good ways, others were
merely boulders embedded within the earth.  Most were jagged or at least
rough.  Yet one wasn't.  One far in the distance was quite even.  The
regular shape seemed unnatural to the wanderer.  Squinting, he tried to
get a better look at the form.  It was roughly rectangular with other
rectangular pieces rising out of the top of it.
      Perplexed, the man began walking toward the creation.  He looked
back a moment to see Kebah engrossed in some kind of flower that grew out
of the rock.  "Kebah!  You coming with me, little one?"  Antennae flailing,
the rocky creature ambled toward him and looked up at his knees.  "Come
on, little guy," he said, smiling.  "Let's see the funny rock."  As usual,
the creature chittered a bit and followed the man.

      *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

      It wasn't long before Kindar realized what it was that he had
found.  The rectangle that formed the base of the "rock" was, in truth,
a wall.  The others that rose above were towers and roofs of buildings.
A fairly decent sized town sat among the granite and treeless earth.
Coming closer, he saw bits of activity around the walls, movements
just discernible in the distance.
      As he walked on, he studied the forms as they moved.  He noticed
one stop a moment, then quickly run to another.  They both stopped and
then ran into the walls.  Within a few minutes, several shapes came
from out of the walls and began traveling toward the man.  As they
came closer, Kindar began to make out their stocky shapes.  They wore
mostly purple and red, and each had a large beard that nearly took over
their faces.  There could be no mistaking them.
      They were dwarves.
      "Human!" one shouted as they came near.  As they met amidst the
barren land, the one said again, "Human!  Hi-Ho!  It has been many years!
It has been many generations even!  Who are you, human?  What brings you
to the Underworld?  And," he said pointing at Kindar's side, "how is
it that you come traveling with a rock larvae?"
      "My name is Kindar.  I was taken away from the surface by a
worm, a zone-eater.  I've been trying to find a way to return, but I
have found only this passage down.  As for the larvae, here," it
chittered and rubbed the man's leg, "it found me when I came to this
place, and it seems harmless."
      "Well then, Kindar.  Come with us!  Let us return to town and
speak more of all this.  But... leave the larvae."
      Kindar stopped a moment.  "Why should I leave Kebah?  What about
him is wrong?"
      "You have named it?  It is a wild beast!"
      "I lived among the wilds for a long time.  I understand them.  This
one means no harm.  Please allow me to bring him into the city."
      The speaker thought a moment.  "Very well, Kindar.  Kebah comes with.
Then we are off to the city!  Hi-Ho!"
      The group turned and headed back to the city.  Kindar walked along
beside and talked about what he knew and of his past.  Silently, he hoped.
There was a way home.  If any could find it, the dwarves could find it.
There was a way home.