It was an unnecessary risk and too tempting to send a raiding party of in as well.
Jaken and Balmur would be going to see Thogan about his weapons and gear, and to see what else could be done for him. I would be going to find Xiphyre to see about Balmur’s new eye, and Yohsuke would be getting our food stores stocked.
Bokaj would go to see what was new on the potion front, as we had given Nora the components procured in T’agnolian Val for her. Her husband could plant some, but we hoped she would be able to use them to make potions.
Kayda and Tmont would be allowed to hunt and scour the area for fun while we worked, and that was that. Well, Muu would likely do whatever the hell he wanted as he didn’t have anything to really do for the group,–speaking of.
“Why don’t you go see if Kynin and Farrin have some pointers for you on leatherwork and crafting?” Muu shoveled food in his mouth but acknowledged my talking to him by looking at me. “Two bear-Kin crafters. Kynin is super friendly, her brother Farrin has a bit of a temper, but he can be cool. Their place is just off the square; you’ll be able to find it.”
“Awesome,” he replied, just barely swallowing before eating more and looking over to Balmur. “You going to open that up, or what?”
Balmur blinked, held the package up, looked at Muu. “No.”
“Fucking tease,” Muu grumped.
Maebe laughed aloud, and when we all looked at her in surprise, she pointed to Balmur. “He was being funny. He’s going to open it, right? Was that not sarcasm?”
“You’re getting really good at this, Maebe.” Balmur grinned as he tore into the package.
“We also need to talk about you saying ‘fuck’ for the first time a little while back,” I added with a soft tone of teasing reprimand.
“Hold the fucking phone—Maebe dropped the F-bomb, and you didn’t say shit?” Yohsukes eyes shot open in surprise. He looked to Maebe. “Is that true? You said that?”
Maebe blushed, surprisingly, “Yes. I was upset.”
The party high fived each other with whoops of laughter and cheers.
“Why are you like this?” Vrawn asked with concern. “It’s a crass word.”
“It’s a crass word that we say a lot,” Bokaj corrected her gently. “When someone curses with us, especially someone who has never done so before, it’s a sign that they’re comfortable with us.”
“It’s always nice to know when someone’s comfortable with you,” Balmur agreed as he pulled out a long, thick box roughly six inches wide, four thick and a foot and a half long.
Balmur lifted the lid and pulled out a wicked-looking dagger, the crimson blade flashing in the dull light in the tavern dining area.
Balmur had been admiring it when he stiffened.
“I must warn you he can be a little much at first when you don’t feed him.” Maebe put her hand out to ward anyone from touching the blade. “He is—”
Balmur interjected, never taking his eyes from the weapon in his hand. “Sentient. His name is Sorrow, and he craves blood.”
“Well, does it do anything cool for you?” James peered over the dwarf’s shoulder.
“It adds a plus sixteen to attacks against creatures with blood and will give me a portion of the damage I deal as added damage to my next strike, and it stacks up to three. And if I quench his thirst, he says he will reward me with a permanent stat boost of my choice.”
A knowing smile curled on Maebe’s face. “That will require quite the battle. Or rampage. But I wanted you to have him, as he was a good partner for me to have when I was young. Thank you again for your sacrifice. It is truly good for you to be here.”
“Thank you.” Balmur smiled and finished his water before standing. “Ready to head to the forge, Jaken?”
Jaken shoveled some more food into his mouth and nodded enthusiastically as he stood from his seat. The two of them left the room.
Yohsuke leaned back and smacked his stomach contentedly before standing. “Better go see about food to feed your fat asses. Send word when we’re ready, yeah?”
The rest of us nodded to him before he walked away, merrily.
“I’d better see about finding where Xiphyre is then, got a new eye to see about. Maybe some good weapons and stuff too for Balmur? Who knows?” I stood up and began to walk away when Maebe stood and joined me with Vrawn. “I take it you two are coming along?”
“We were going to see how the children were doing, actually.” Maebe took Vrawn by the hand and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Send for us when you’re done.”
“I will.” I watched the two of them walk off hand in hand before turning and walking off myself. I wasn’t entirely sure where the diminutive Fae would be, so I cast Mental Message. “Yo, Xi! Where you at?”
A voice responded inside my mind thanks to the spell, “Xiphyre, fox. And I am currently putting the finishing touches on your order, but I needed a secluded spot. I am currently in the forest. I will fly back once I am able. This will cost you, well, you’ve already lost an arm, haven’t you?”
I rolled my eyes, casting the spell once more. “How long?”
“Give me half an hour,” his annoyance was obvious from the tone in his voice by now, so I left it at that. “I’ll meet you at the forge when I finish.”
What should I do for half an hour? I wondered to myself as I ate my food.
I decided to take a flight to check the forest around the village. The wall had been added onto to include the newest addition to the area, the baths, and so was larger now. Vilmas had assured it would be a simple thing to do, enchanting the new addition with Xiphyre’s help.
The skies were nice today. The clouds in the air seemed to lazily float along, spaced sparsely and silver against the vast expanse of blue. I watched other birds in the area flutter and flit about as I scanned the world below me as an owl.
The thermals here were lovely beneath my feathers. I reached out to Kayda mentally and found that she had decided to take a nap in a tree in her smaller, parrot sized form that she had learned to take recently from a druid friend of ours among the high elves, Questis.
His companion Fern, who usually took the size of a house cat rather than the saber-tooth he was, could shrink at will as well. It was nice not to have to worry about having a twenty-foot-tall Storm Roc around, so having her shrink was truly a convenience.
Flying through the skies was lovely. After scouting the area for a little while, I figured I should head back down to the forge to wait for the tiny enchanter.
As I came to rest on the roof of the forge, Xiphyre stepped from the building.
“By the gods, if you’re that bird and you’ve kept me waiting, Zeke, I’ll have your feathers!” Xiphyre threatened menacingly.
I contemplated shitting on him, but decided against it, unfortunately.
I landed next to him and shifted into my fox-man form, “Why so grumpy, Xiphyre?”
“You have the nerve to interrupt my work to ask me to basically hurry along, and you’re late yourself!” He fluttered dangerously close to my face.
“Woah, all I wanted to do was to see how you were coming.”
The Ragalfr scowled. He looked like a pixie—decidedly not a pixie, because the proportions were different for the head. His matched his body, though his attitude was about dragon-sized. He had punched me once and done some serious damage. Little fucker.
At about a foot and a half tall, violently green hair spiked in a mohawk of sorts, Xiphyre cut a very…punk rock kind of figure, and it was always interesting to see him out and about.
“You done admiring?” The little man growled; his fists balled.
“Looking good, man, I dig the shorts.” I tried to make the complement as flattering as possible. His brown trousers fluttered in the downdraft of his tiny wings.
“Dig nothing, fox. Come, I must show you my work!” He seemed to forget the slight against him, so into the forge we went.
The inside of the place was as clean and organized as I had ever
seen it, though on the multitude of racks and counters, there were new weapons made of new kinds of ores.
“Hail, Zeke!” A gravelly voice bellowed. I turned to see Thogan Swiftaxe, followed by his apprentice Rowland. “Finally come to visit, eh?”
Thogan was an odd-looking dwarf, skin craggy, and pitted like stone the color of midnight with diamonds sprinkled throughout it. Almost as if his oath of service to Maebe had made his body a mirror of her own. His head was bald, and he had a beard as dark as his skin. Golden eyes shimmered at me merrily while he offered his fist. I rapped his knuckles with my own and then did the same with Rowland.
Rowland was the owner of this fine establishment, and pretty tall for a dwarf, standing almost a full two inches taller than Thogan, his new master. His black beard was longer than it had ever been and looked as though there was a shine to it that I didn’t recall either.
“Love what you’ve done with your beard, Rowland!” He waved it away halfheartedly. “And you guys know that we needed time to decompress after what happened.”
Thogan nodded sagely and slapped my shoulder affectionately. “We know, lad. Cannae be dwarves if we donnae grief ye, aye?”
I smiled, and Rowland socked me in the shoulder lightly.
“Seriously, Rowland, you’re looking pretty damned good!” I tried to see what other goodies he had woven into his beard, but he shoved me away playfully.
“Bah, is nae much. Thogan were kind ‘nuff ta lend me a secret fer a softer beard. Normal lady dwarves like a gruff beard—like their men—but Vilmas be a true prize, and I be needin’ ta show her I got class as well. Aye?”
“Nicely done then, Thogan.” He simply grinned at us and motioned toward the forge area behind him.
We walked back into the area, and it was vastly different from before. The former forge had been taken completely out, and the old anvil replaced by a deep maroon-colored one, with a twin half a dozen feet away. The old wooden counters had been gutted and replaced by thinner stone slabs. Tools hung on hooks in their assumed proper places, and there was plenty of room to move and work in.
“What’s the deal with all the new gear fellas?” I wandered around the space. It was warm, the forge on a constant low heat. And holy fuck the forge.
“Admire yer handiwork lad.” Rowland clapped me on the shoulder. “First time seein’ the Dragon’s Maw Forge, be a bit much ta take in, but ye get ‘customed.”
True to the name, the forge had taken on the shape of a dragon’s head with the Fire Primordial Elemental’s flaming crown symbol in the middle of the top half that looked like a forehead. The sides that had once been flaps were now teeth and lips that could have been moving as I watched.
“This is incredible,” I whispered in awe. I went to touch the forge and Rowland stopped me with a hand on my forearm.
“Careful lad, she be temperamental.” I took his warning for the truth, and left it alone. “She’s been doin’ right fine work. Heats the metal perfectly, an’ with Thogan here ta help—me shop’s better’n ever!”
“I’m really happy for you, man.” I rubbed my green and purple arm, the prosthetic having replacing the limb I’d for fucking up this very project. Well, not fucked up. It was better than I had ever planned. But that still had almost gotten me and my friends killed when I had enchanted it, though I had only lost my arm instead. And been unconscious for more than a day.
Look just don’t ever try to work with a crazy-large ruby with flame-aspected mana, because unless you want to make a bomb, it’s not a good idea. Okay?
But, rather than dwell on the past, I turned to Xiphyre. “Where’s the eye?”
The Ragalfr grinned and flitted toward the forge, Rowland stepping over beside him with a long set of tongs. The dwarven smith almost lovingly touched the side of the forge and whispered something. The top rose a little bit, so that he could reach in with the tongs and pull a small object out easily.
Rowland brought it over and set it onto the closest maroon anvil. It was a small cherry-red object, with the orb portion looking the same as an eye would from any anatomy textbook. It was both simultaneously cool as hell, and really weird.
“Balmur!” Thogan called loudly.
A few seconds later, Balmur and Jaken bustled into the room. They both wore aprons and held different tools. Jaken held a small set of tongs and Balmur a small hammer.
Xiphyre flitted to the Azer dwarf and ushered him toward the still glowing appendage. “It requires a sacrifice, but I had something that would work thanks to Her Majesty.”—he took the tongs from Jaken and lifted the still hot item from the anvil. He prodded it toward Balmur—“Hold open your eye, boy. The heat won’t bother you.”
I came over to stand next to Balmur as he obeyed, though a little nervously. The eye floated toward the socket in the tongs, and as soon as it was close, Xiphyre jabbed. He released simultaneously and suddenly fluttered behind my right shoulder.
“The fuck are you doin’ you little coward?” I snorted when he smacked the back of my head for the insult.
Balmur groaned and blinked, his hands flying to his face.
Xiphyre howled, then shouted, “Don’t take it out! If you do, there’s no way to get it to stay again; you must work through the pain.”
“You’ve dealt with worse, Balmur!” I encouraged my friend. Jaken and I both cast healing spells on him, but they did little. After a full three minutes of our friend hissing in pain, he finally managed to stand and turn a tear-stained face to us.
“That sucked,” He whispered.
Xiphyre moved forward to sit on Balmur’s shoulder. “But it will be worth it because my genius smiled on this item!”
He pulled out a small jar with a single eye in it and whipped the lid off. Before anyone could do anything, he had the eye up and out of it, presenting it to Balmur’s new eye like some kind of priest making an offering.
A spectral mouth that looked vaguely like a demon’s appeared a centimeter from the blank eye, reaching out with sharp teeth that plucked the offering from the air, devouring it like a cherry. Balmur’s body went rigid for a heartbeat; he groaned some more as he rubbed his eyes. He looked around in a fugue state, then blinked as a tear fell from the new orb’s home.
“You alright?” I closed the distance between us to look him over.
He nodded, a hand out to stop me from getting too close. “Yeah. The price for it was just a bit steep.”
“What is it?” Rowland knelt next to the doubled-over man.
“I get to see how the owner of the eye died from their point of view.” Balmur blinked again, and his vision seemed to clear. “This one ran afoul of Xiphyre and lost an eye in a bet. You’re crazy, man.”
The ragalfr grinned maniacally. “Have you noted the ability yet?”
“It absorbs ocular abilities?” Balmur’s voice held curiosity and wonder. “That is so cool. But it can only have one at a time.”
Xiphyre handed over the jar that he had held. “Hence this jar. It is a package deal. The component that was brought to me was a doffilnar’s eye! With that, I was able to give it the ability to take one power of an eye that it consumes. But that is the problem—it must consume. Once a week should be fine, but it could depend. It will let you know when it hungers. As I am sure it likely did when it settled into its new home?”
Balmur nodded once, raising a hand to touch his face around the eye. I watched the item closely, moving just a little closer to him to see it more clearly. It now looked exactly like his other eye.
“Now, it won’t inhibit any sight that you have naturally on your own. I understand dwarves can naturally see under the ground?” The dwarves all confirmed his question. “So, you will have an added bonus to your natural sight. Things like Zeke’s True Sight, the ability to see the magic that some creatures have. Other things too, I would ask that you try to track what you get and let me know if you can. This is fascinating.”
“Yup, will do. Thanks, Xiphyre.” Balmur shook the little man’s hand an
d turned to me. “Thanks for hooking me up like this. I hope it hasn’t set you back too much.”
I grimaced. It had. It had cost a good portion of the chunk I’d taken from Riktolth’s hoard, and some from the others as well. I didn’t want to talk too much in the area of prices, but cha-fucking-ching didn’t describe it well enough. But, if it did what it was supposed to, then the item would be well worth the cost. Not to mention the fact that we could go back and collect more money if needed, a little Teleport and bam we had money in the bank.
“Ready for a drink tonight then lads?” Thogan raised his eyebrows, hopefully.
Balmur grasped his shoulder with a grin. “Some booze sounds really good. We’ll see you tonight.”
Oh. Great. Some of the biggest drinkers in the village getting together to drink to whatever they wanted? This was going to get interesting.
But with Rowland being here…. “Hey Rowland, where’s Mini?” Mini was a small fox kit that I had rescued, and in turn, became a constant companion to Rowland. Someone to help him cope with the PTSD of the attack on him by the thugs from the Children of Brindolla.
“She and Vilmas be thick as thieves now, though she does drop in an’ check on me.” The smith smiled wistfully. “Enjoys harassing Thogan and Xiphyre more than anything these days—does enjoy a nice cuddle and a meal with me, though.”
“Sounds like she’s having a great time then.” I couldn’t help the stirring of jealousy. I missed Coal; the flame wolf I had helped strengthen for the primordial flame. He had reached a high enough level to return home, and I couldn’t be so selfish as to keep him from his life and family.
“What will you do now?” Jaken had come to stand next to me while thoughts of Coal flitted through my heart.
“I’ll likely go see about finding Maebe and Vrawn. Maybe go for a longer flight. I’m not sure. But I do know that we’re likely heading out tomorrow, so get what you need doing done. Yeah?”
Jaken nodded, then seemed as if he stared straight through me for a moment before pulling me in closer to him. “I know it feels weird being idle like this. But it’s just helping us. It’s okay to relax a little.”
Into the Darkness: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Axe Druid Book 4) Page 5