by Demetri Grim
Her brother chuckled at her remark as he entered the center of the arena, the spear held over his shoulders in a cocky saunter as he approached the goblin. It hissed and cursed at him in the gibbering goblin language. She almost felt sorry for the thing. At least she did before the revolting monster pulled aside its tattered loincloth and urinated all over the arena floor in what was clearly some disgusting act of defiance. Beka wrinkled her nose and was glad it was not up to her to clean the arena after the fight. Then she remembered it was her brother’s. She giggled, imagining him striking a heroic kingsguard pose while shoveling goblin waste and corpses into a pit. She laughed, catching his attention, though he clearly had not realized it was at his expense. He called back to her.
“Ready to test your theory sister? Because if this does not work I'll just end up giving an angry goblin one of the most powerful weapons on Cross.” He grinned back at her as he shouted across the arena.
“Then don't miss! ” She shouted back to him and matched his grin.
At fifty yards out, she saw him trigger the seek and lock effects from Heartseeker. The spear’s glow doubled and pulsed in time to the goblins rapid heartbeat. Lavets lifted the spear into a throwing stance and took aim. Turning slowly as the spear twisted in his grasp, following the savage as it turned to sprint away, cursing and spitting as it did. A moment passed, a heartbeat really, and he let the spear fly. The instant the spear left his hand it flickered out of existence in a flutter of crimson leaves and a shower of cinders. One more heartbeat later it appeared with a spray of blood and charred leaves directly in the goblin’s fleeing back. The spear tip protruding from the goblin’s chest directly where its heart once was. The force of the strike pinning the monster to the stone wall of the Colosseum as it gurgled and twitched. The crimson spear pulsed once more as the goblin’s heart stopped. The orb of light in the handle flickered and grew in size.
“It worked!” They both cried out in unison before the spear flickered again and vanished in a burst of flames. Reappearing in a surprised Lavets' hand.
“Ohh ya!” He shouted and pumped the spear into the air triumphantly. Before turning his wide grin back to her. He swept out his own array and a rush of leaves amd emerald light sailed across the arena and up the wall in front of her. She took a step back as the verdant cascade fluttered all around her. As the leaves came together she smelled the faint scent of pine and rain, in a flash he stood next to her, a goofy grin plastered across his face. She matched his grin and squeaked as he lifted her into a crushing hug. “Your spear is amazing sister. Your going to make a wonderful Master Smith someday!” She groaned and pinched his arms painfully. His crushing show of affection and unwanted complement making her face flush red from more than just lack of air.
“That's, what I'm afraid of...” She mumbled as he sat her back down and placed his hand on her head, ruffling her already wild tangle of hair and pulling most of it free of her ponytail. She could not help but smile up at him combing her fingers through her hair to combat the tangles she knew was already there. She kicked his shin. “Don't just go picking people up and messing with a girl’s hair you overgrown idiot. It's rude.” She playfully chastised him and aimed another kick.
“Oh my apologies my lady! I did not realize, I was in the presence of someone so sophisticated! I was certain I was talking to my little sister. The same little sister that has to be drug bodily into a bathtub, and has never seen a comb in use outside of a horse stable.” He teased. Flickering away in a flurry of singed leaves, using the spear’s power to avoid her attempt at kicking him again.
“Cheating!” Beka glared at him and threatened with her fist, shaking it in his direction. “And mean! That's it, I'm taking the spear back, you’re no brother of mine.” She held out her hand and gestured with her fingers to hand it over.
“You wound me! Even with no weapon! You terrible savage creature. Such a lethal Heartseeker of your own insidious devising!” He mocked a strike to his chest, and staggered backwards over one of the stone bleachers.
“Ha! No, seriously give me the spear.” She giggled and cocked her head to the side, letting her long red lengths cascade over her shoulder. "Your, master," she said making air quotes with her fingers, “wants a second opinion and asked, no...actually he told me to bring it to him in the Menagerie.” She reached her hand back out, noticing how her brother’s expression lost some of its excitement. Replaced once more with a flicker of concern before he handed the spear out to her.
“Thank you.” She said, taking the spear carefully in her sleeve and nodding towards the arena. “Have fun cleaning up your mess.” She grinned at him. Lavets groaned in response and slouched. He gazed crestfallen out to the bloodstained arena floor and the bloody smear the last goblin left along the far wall from its impaling.
“You're too kind…” he responded in a deadpan tone. “Be careful down there, most of the things Lord Kindredstar keeps in the Menagerie bite.” He winked and with that he swept himself over the observation wall and dropped down to the arena floor. Giving her one last wave goodbye.
Chapter 11: Second Opinions
The alcove the elf had disappeared into was actually the top of a wide stone spiral staircase descending under the Colosseum. The walls along the passage were smooth to the touch, only disrupted by the occasional wall sconce with a simple torch every few yards.To Beka it felt as if she was indeed walking into a monster’s lair. “Just how far under the Colosseum is the Menagerie?” Her voice echoed down the empty stairwell, sounding nervous to her own ears. Coming to the end of what must have been a hundred-yard descent, she came face-to-face with a pair of city guards and a thick iron door. Banded with steel and marked with a faintly-glowing sigil it filled the passage behind them. A simple table and a set of stools sat to the side of the short hallway.
“You the smith?” One of the guards asked. “ You’re a bloody girl, a child at that.” His voice was full of disbelief as he sniffed and grunted, mocking her. She was sure whichever of the two helmeted guards had asked the question was no doubt an asshole. The echo of the room and the fact they did not move even an inch to address her made it hard to tell which one had spoken.
“Two real piece of work guards in one day at the same location? This is ridiculous,” she mumbled under her breath, and considered finding her brother again. The city barracks needed to get better men, or better yet add some skilled women to the ranks.
“No my lord, I'm just the maid,” she said in her sweetest and most innocent voice. She batted her eyes at them but got no response. Feeling a frown form, she pressed on. Lifting the glowing crimson spear, still covered in the drying blood of goblins, towards the guards. “This is just for the cobwebs.” She smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes once more.
“Alright enough of that,” another one of the guards said. The left one? Maybe? They must be brothers, they both sounded very much alike. “We have orders to let you through, and direct you to meet with Lord Kindredstar in his office.” The two guards moved from their position at the table in perfect unison. Moving to the heavy iron door, they each held up opposite hands. A rune of red on the right and blue on the left flickered above their palms.
“Okay, and I'm supposed to know where that is?” She scoffed and tapped the spear tip along the stones of the hallway, making a loud and annoying ringing sound with every strike. Beka was a little bit curious if the hard stones would chip or if the keen edge would dull first. The Silverlight Smithy prided itself on having blades that never needed to be sharpened, but this was not the same enchantment as the rest of their weapons.
“Straight down the hallway, big door at the end, you can't miss it,” the second guard commented, as the one on the right placed his hand against the door.
“Don't touch anything on your way. Don't get close to any of the cells. Don't dawdle. And knock that bloody noise off. You’re going to piss off most of the things down here, starting with me,” the first guard snapped at her, his tone still just as hostile as
it was the first time. The left guard placed his hand against the door and the runes vanished.
“Thank you for your concern good sir. I will be certain to do just that,” she said, still using her sweetest voice, as she made a rude gesture at both the guards’ backs. Her hand dropping back to her sides just as the heavy door began to open. The guards turning back to her. She had expected it to swing inwards or drop into the floor but instead the sigil carved into the door flashed violet as the two magics mixed in the center sigil. The thick iron and steel slowly becoming transparent as the magic inscribed into the door took hold, leaving the single glowing sigil hovering in the center of a now misty door.
“On your way then.” Both guards said in unison and stepped out of the way.
Hesitating at the edge of the transparent door she turned a nervous smile up to both guards and stepped though. There was a moment of resistance and then she staggered through what once had been solid metal. The spear in her hand vibrated violently. Even with her hand wrapped in cloth she felt the surge of power as something in the door forced the spear to go dormant. A ripple of ember light rushed down the shaft as the now tiny orb in the spear’s handle flickered and vanished in a burst of magical flame. She looked up at the guards, lifting a curious eyebrow at them and nodded to the weapon.
“What the bloody hell was that?” Beka asked, gesturing to her spear. The more reasonable of the two guards chuckled a little as the other just shrugged and turned away. At least now she could pick which one need a lesson in manners.
“No outside spells allowed within the Menagerie. Keeps the beasties in check.” The helpful one nodded at her and took a step back, the door reforming out of the mist a second later.
She swallowed and chewed at her lip. With the sudden silence, and the door closed, she was feeling trapped. Trapped in an evil, murderous, creepy old mage’s domain. This never ends well for our plucky hero. She shivered slightly as the chill and sensation of spiders crawling along her spine returned, though not as strong as when the elf was actually present. Turning her back to the door, her eyes adjusted to the light beyond. Beka was surprised to see what looked like a simple hallway, as if it was cut from the heart of a manor house or rich lord’s keep. She was expecting a dungeon, dark and dank, with steel bars and monsters in cages hissing and biting at her. Instead it was nothing more than a long stone hallway with a fine green carpet running down the middle, small benches and potted plants scattered about, even warm torchlight flickered in elaborate ivy shaped wall sconces at each of the dozen recessed openings along the hall. All of it ending in a large simple wooden door that must have been the office.
“Hard to miss is right. This is all so very out of place down here...” She murmured and slowly moved into the hall.
Making her way down she did note that each door was made of the same sigil-inscribed reinforced iron as the main passage but with a small latticework of steel bars making up a window high in the center of what must have been cell doors. “I guess that's so the Lord of the Menagerie, or those two idiot guards, can check on whatever is inside,” she snarked. It was clear that the hallway ran under the length of the Arena, but she didn't even see the lift gates that had delivered the goblins to the surface. “There must be another section to this place. Another less... friendly and welcoming hallway than this.” Beka was hesitant to find out where that less-inviting prison was. “This, I can handle,” she told herself as she marched farther down the hall.
“There you are. Come over here a moment would you? There is something for you to see.” Lord Kindredstar’s calm and regal voice called from just behind her. She paused a moment, glancing around the hallway. She had only made it halfway down the hall and had seen no one. The Elf lord was nowhere in sight. Narrowing her eyes, she took another hesitant step towards the door at the end. “Don't be insolent, come over here, there is something that must be seen.” His voice sounded once again from an alcove, his tone sharp and commanding.
“My lord?” Beka asked into the silence of the hall before approaching the alcove. She was certain something was amiss, every fiber in her being telling her to just keep going. But if Lord Kindredstar was in fact calling her, and she just walked away what would he do to her, much less to her uncle or brother? No, she had to check it out— besides the doors were all locked anyway. Coming up to the door she leaned up to the window, having to perch on her tiptoes to look in. The room was pitch black save for the small square of torchlight from the window.
Suddenly an oversized hand covered in smooth nearly translucent grey skin poked through the cell window. An extremely thin and bony finger tipped with a thick black talon planted itself onto her nose. “Boop.” The obviously not Lord Kindredstar’s voice rang out from inside the cell.
“Eeep!” She squeaked. Her voice caught in her throat as she backpedaled, followed by an “Omph!” as she fell backwards onto her butt. Her hand coming up to her nose. Nothing felt amiss, but as a dozen different voices all started laughing at once, she turned bright red and quickly scrambled to her feet. “‘Don’t go near the cells’ he said. ‘Don't touch anything’ he said. Stupid guard, stupid monsters.” She grumbled at herself and poked the spear in the direction of the cell door. An old man wheezed and chuckled as a small girl giggled mercilessly at her. “Oh shut up you!” She shouted at the door and quickly turned away, her face flushed bright red with embarrassment. Beka was more than a little thankful whatever that creature had been had not ripped her face off or something. Still, she was going to have to scrub every inch of herself clean after this just in case that sickly grey thing was in fact sick, or cursed, or undead… Her thoughts trailed off as she came up to the simple wooden door at the end of the hall. “Great now I have to deal with him, and I look like an idiot”. The voices behind her continued to laugh and she grit her teeth.
“Do I knock, or just go in,” she muttered. She was supposed to be here after all but normally a door would be left open when expecting guests, right? Beka cursed under her breath, chastising herself for not paying more attention when her mother was trying to give her lessons on etiquette and courtly procedures as a child. “I’m just a blacksmith's apprentice… What good does which fork to use, or where to put your boots when visiting a dignitary’s house do for me?” She really wished she was back home, or at the very least down here with Lavets— he would know what to do. She fidgeted and kicked her toe at the thin carpet.
Lifting her hand to the door, she decided to give it a hard knock. Before her hand made contact, the door swung open. Her fist passing through open air and thumping into something hard, muscled, and very warm. She took a step back and blushed. The man in the door was huge, though not as wide or muscular as her uncle perhaps. But the man must have been nearly seven feet tall with dark olive skin that seemed a little sunburnt. His broad shoulders were nearly as wide as the doorframe, slightly disproportionate to his athletic build. His face was almost Elvin, smooth and angular but with a wide jaw more like a human and ears that were only slightly larger than her own. His short red hair swept back over his head, making his entire profile spiky in appearance. What gave him away as not an elf, human or any other Elf-kin at all, was his eyes. His slightly oversized eyes were solid golden orbs, with a narrow vertical slit down the middle very much like a reptile’s. His golden eyes flickered her way and caught the torchlight. She gasped and took another step back, the torches giving his eyes the same glint as a large predator. Where the mage Kindredstar had made her feel cold and unnerved, this man, or monster in a man's skin, made her feel small, insignificant, and weak. The man radiated power, from more than just his imposing stance, huge frame, and stern expression. What troubled her the most was the fact he did not seem to blink. His unnatural reptilian eyes remained fixed on her.
“I'm so sorry!” She managed to squeak out before the huge man stepped into the hallway. His finely tailored suit of red silks rustling as he stooped to exit the door frame. It was then she realized he was in fact not looking at her at al
l. The huge man just strode past her, eyes locked to where the fits of laughter and giggling continued. She had to skip out of his path just to avoid being bowled over as the big red man stormed past. A few long strides later, the man was standing in front of the alcove were the sickly grey monster was still laughing. A deep resonating rumble rippled through the hallway from his direction, a pitch so low she felt it more in her bones and gut than actually heard it. The laughing stopped instantly, as the big man continued to stare unblinking into the alcove.
“Come in young smith.” Kindredstar’s voice called to her, breaking her out of her stupor. Quickly turning back to the open doorway she saw it led into a large oval room. Two more doors halfway around the oval led to the left and right, out of the room and made of the same thick iron and sigil inscribed barriers that she had passed through to enter. The room was uniform grey stone save for the same green carpet as the hall and a single ordinary oak desk and chair. The desk had a small stack of papers and the box Beka recognized as the same one the Mage had produced the etherium from weeks before sitting on it. Beyond that the room was sparse, bare. The lord himself sat in the lone chair writing, his glowing blue eyes focused on his task before glancing up to her as she entered.
“Thank you, My lord. I was not sure if I should knock or just...” she rambled a bit, but trailed off as the magister’s eyes flashed blue at her. His overly wide grin splitting his face as he stood.
“It is polite to knock, even if expected. That is decorum. I am surprised you did not know this, young miss Galten. Has your mother not instructed you in courtly manners?” His voice was slightly teasing and her face for the third time that day flushed brightly.
“She has, but I was little, and there is not really much use for it as a smith,” she answered, trying to save face. Turning to examine the room and hide her embarrassment, she noted the distinct lack of decor or signs of residence in the office. “Really is empty in here. He must not stay here very often, just like uncle said,” she mumbled under her breath.