Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy (54 page)

In mere seconds the metal was hot enough to bend in half. Steve picked up a heavy hammer and pounded the bent blade flat. He smiled at the amazed dwarf, only now he noticed that his instructor was indicating the metal should be dropped into a large trough of water. Hissing angrily, the metal rapidly cooled. Understanding that he was tempering the metal as he went, Steve retrieved the steel and repeated the process.

He had lost count how many times he had heated the blade, folded it over, whacked it flat, cooled it, and started over. All he knew was that his arms were killing him. Seriously. When he made it back home he was joining a gym.

Kharus was smiling profusely as he kept an eye on his pupil. He had already managed to layer the metal well over sixty times. Ordinarily, that many layers would have taken him close to a week. This human would make a formidable blacksmith!

Time for the midday meal was approaching. Noting that the layer count was now well over a hundred, and his pupil was wheezing, the sympathetic teacher finally indicated it was time to wrap things up.

“
Where do you want me to leave this?” Steve asked.

“
Jus’ drop it in the water there, lad.”

Steam hissed as he dropped the hot blade back into the water for the umpteenth time. His arms, back, legs, hands, hell, every part of him protested angrily. He probably shouldn’t have pushed himself so hard, but he was surprised to discover that he was actually enjoying his time as a blacksmith. He had actually crafted a very serviceable blade for a sword. It just needed a little shaping and sharpening. But other than that, it looked pretty good!

As Steve washed his hands and face in a basin near the back of the cottage, Kharus inspected his work.

“
Impressive! Most impressive, indeed! Ye would make an admirable apprentice! I thank ye for yer help.”

Steve shook the proffered arm. “You’re welcome. Boss.”

Kharus snorted, peeling off his smock. “Come, lad, I promised I would have ye back in time for the midday meal.”

Together they walked to the center of town, angling for a large plaza near the Council chamber they first met Maelnar.

“
Ah, there is yer lady, Steve. This is where we depart. I will see ye again, lad.” And with that cryptic statement, the dwarf returned the way they had come.

“
Hi sweetie!” Sarah stood up and gave her husband a hug. “Did you have a good time?” She took a closer look at him. Dark smudges of soot stained parts of his clothes. His hair was all matted, and he looked bone tired. “Are you okay? What did he have you do?”

“
I’m a lot better than I look, I’m sure,” Steve assured her. “There’s a reason why we’ve never seen an overweight blacksmith.” Standing a little straighter, he grinned at his wife. “I made a sword blade.”

“
Really? He showed you how to make a sword blade?”

Steve nodded. “It ain’t easy. Gotta keep folding over the metal into layers. Over and over and over.”

Sarah was nodding. “That’s the same technique they use for making those Japanese katanas you’re so fond of. The really nice, expensive ones.”

“
That’s right. How’d you know that?”

“
You’re always filling my head with useless trivia. Since you’ve always been interested in swords, I get to hear all about it.”

Steve laughed and gave his wife a kiss.

****

On the sixth day of their stay in Borahgg, Steve and Sarah were observing a weapon
demonstration
that Rhenyon and his men were participating in when a young dwarf came up behind Steve and gently tugged his tunic. Surprised, he and Sarah turned around and looked down at the ‘underling’, as they were called here.

“
Yes?” Steve asked. “Can I help you?”

Keeping his eyes on the ground, the young dwarf child shyly delivered his message. “
Master
Kharus requests your presence at his workshop.”

“
Thank –”

The child darted off before Steve could properly thank him. Or her. He wasn’t sure.

“–
you. He better not want another day of work out of me,” Steve grumbled. He had been guilted into returning to Kharus’ shop to finish the blade the following day. Thankfully, he hadn’t been asked to return since.

Scribbling their intentions on a small piece of paper, Sarah caught
Darius’
eye from across the arena. She held up the message. Quizzically, Darius cocked his head at her. Sarah held up her hand, palm facing up, and waited until the soldier mimicked her. As soon as he did, she sent the message to him. She mouthed instructions to the soldier.
Give it to Rhenyon
.

Understanding, Darius nudged his captain, handing the small slip of paper to him. Reading the message, Rhenyon glanced across the arena at the Nohrin. He nodded.

The familiar blast of heat welcomed them both back into Kharus’ workshop as they stooped to walk through the door.

“
Welcome back lad, lass.” Kharus took off his smock and walked over to the far wall where numerous shields and swords were hanging. Bending down, he retrieved a large cloth covered bundle. Walking back to the humans, he started untying the strings holding the package closed.

“
Thought ye might like to see how this turned out. I will say, this is the quickest I have ever assembled a sword.”

Removing the last of the wrappings, he presented the golden hilt of a broadsword to his former apprentice. Gently taking the sword from the dwarf, Steve stared at the amazing craftsmanship of the hilt. The grip, or handle, of the sword was wrapped in tightly bound dark leather, while the pommel had several intricate designs carved into it. In fact, Steve held the sword closer, they looked like interlocking crescent moons. The guard was absolutely breathtaking. Kharus had carved a golden dragon in flight, using the wings as the bulk of the guard, with the dragon’s tail entwined around the grip and coming to a point at the tip of the pommel. The dragon’s eyes were sapphires, while the claws clutched a large emerald.

“
Wow! That’s gorgeous!” Sarah was standing up on her tiptoes to admire the dragon sword. “Are those real jewels? Unbelievable!” She turned to the glowing creator of the sword. “That is a true work of art. Whoever gets that sword will treasure it always, I have no doubt.”

Steve unsheathed the sword, noting immediately that the surface had been polished and the blemishes from the repeated strikes from his hammer had been smoothed. Gently touching the edge of the sword he could tell that it was probably sharper than a surgeon’s scalpel. He whistled in admiration.

“
It turned out a lot nicer than I would have thought. Thanks for letting me see it before you give it to its new owner.”

Kharus smiled. “I am looking at the new owner, sir Steve.”

“
I’m sorry?”

“
Ye gave yer heart and soul into the making of this blade. That type of devotion does not go to a simple warrior. It was destined to be yer blade. And now it is.”

Shocked speechless, Steve could only stare at his new sword. Smiling warmly at the dwarf, Sarah spoke up.

“
Your skill and your generosity will never be forgotten. We are honored. Thank you.”

Kharus nodded. “It is I who am honored. Use it well,.”

Steve, however, was still staring at the magnificent sword, and was unable to move or say anything. Chuckling to himself, Kharus picked up the scabbard and gently slid it back on the immobile blade, preventing the human from slicing off a toe in case he dropped it, which it looked as though he was ready to do.

Pulling her husband back out into the street, Sarah gently shook him.

“
Hey, are you okay?”

“
What? Yeah, sorry. I’m okay.” He held up the tightly wrapped sword. “Look what he gave to me! I mean, I need to pay him something. I can’t just accept this!”

“
He wanted to give it to you. Which he did. Be thankful. Everything happens for a reason, right?”

“
Look at this thing! Does he really think I’d take something like this out and use it against someone? Hell no. I think I’ll have you give it to the king for safekeeping, okay?”

Sarah nodded. “You can if you’d like to, but I think you’d be dishonoring its creator if you choose not to take it with you tomorrow.”

Still gazing fondly at his prized sword, Steve could only nod.

After spending a total of seven days charging the power crystals, including taking time to replenish their own personal jhorun, the emissaries from R’Tal were finally ready to fulfill the arrangement made with the dwarves. Outfitted in their brand new leather armor (except for Sarah, who was wearing a scaled-down lighter version), the troupe of humans, with Breslin as their guide, left Borahgg behind to venture into the recently dug eastern exploratory tunnels, last known location of the dreaded guur.

“
I’m not kidding,” Steve was saying again, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sparkling new sword. “If there’s the slightest sign of trouble, I want you to get back to the city on the double. Okay?”

“
No worries, honey. I hate bugs. I see a bug that big coming at me and I will give you my personal guarantee, on my honor, that the last person you’ll have to worry about will be me.”

“
Have you practiced teleporting at all?”

“
I have! You’re going to be impressed! Watch this!” Sarah stopped walking, closed her eyes, and vanished.

The rest of the group disappeared into the tunnel when Rhenyon, about to step foot into the dark opening, noted Sarah’s absence. Pausing in mid-step, he turned, raising an eyebrow at Steve. The male Nohrin held up a hand with one finger raised, signaling him to wait. Sure enough, moments later Sarah popped back into existence right next to her husband.

“
See? No queasiness, no stumbling, no
problem
!”

Steve breathed a sigh of relief. One less problem for him to worry about. If things were going to get sticky, as he was certain they would become, it was a welcoming relief knowing that his wife could get herself to safety.

“
So what changed?” Steve wanted to know. “Or did the queasiness just go away by itself?”

“
Maelnar explained it to me,” Sarah answered. “The reason I got so nauseous before, back in that tunnel, was of something they call ‘the Barrier’. Basically it’s a series of enchantments they have in place to prevent people like me from getting in the easy way. The Barrier was supposed to repel teleportation. Somehow, and I’m not sure how, I managed to sneak through.”

“
So your jhorun essentially defeated the security the dwarves put in place to keep strangers out, is that right?” Steve observed.

“
That’s exactly right.”

“
Cool!”

Following Steve closely, Sarah ducked behind her husband as he disappeared into the dark
tunnel
. Within moments they had met up with Rhenyon and the others, each holding a lit torch. The soldiers appeared to be in the midst of detailing their plans for the assault on the guur.

“
We must assume that these creatures are wickedly fast,” the captain was saying. “According to the dwarves, the guur’s only weapon is its bite, so everyone keeps their armor on at all times. I do not care how cumbersome it feels to have all this on in here. Is that understood?”

Echoes of “aye, sir” resonated off the tunnel walls as each soldier checked their weaponry. Swords were unsheathed, inspected, and sheathed again. Three of the soldiers were wearing full quivers of arrows, each with a long bow already strung. Breslin pulled his axe off his back and checked the sharpness of the twin blades. Rhenyon pulled Steve and Sarah aside.