by Simon Archer
“A music note,” I said as though it were the most romantic thing in the world. “He told her that he liked her voice and could listen to her sing and talk for hours, and would she like to go have a drink with him.”
Arges’s eye widened in surprise. “That’s rather gentle and thoughtful of Hephaestus. Good for him.”
“And the rest is history,” I concluded. “They were together on and off for a year, and then I came along. He was really present for the pregnancy, Mom told me, but on the day I was born, he just vanished. Was supposed to meet her at the hospital but never showed.” My voice caught on the last word, and I put a hand to my chest in an attempt to stop the tightness that formed there.
Arges caught on to my discomfort and quickly gave me space. He slid his massive body down on the workbench and coughed awkwardly into his hand.
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling the room shift as I got emotional. “This is the longest I’ve ever really talked about my father, and it’s weird.”
“An understandable sentiment,” Arges agreed. “We can stop if that would be better for you.”
I nodded, and Arges responded with a kind nod. He straightened himself up and walked back over to his anvil. Suddenly, though, the cyclops turned back to me and held up one finger.
“If I may, Cameron, I cannot let the conversation end without saying this,” Arges added, his voice softening. “Your father’s disappearance is unusual and should not be taken lightly. It had been widely ignored for these last twenty years or so but should not be any longer. Especially if our theory is correct and these vital weapons are going missing. I implore you to find him whatever your personal feelings may be towards him. It is more imperative than the demigods at the Academy would lead you to believe. And I believe that someone, I do not know who, but someone has done a very good job of hiding him for all these years.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I said, my brain whirling from his words. It had been one of the last things I ever thought the cyclops would say. I thought he was going to offer me some sentiment about my dad being a good man or a funny story from the good ol’ days. But a warning? No, that was not on the list of expected statements.
“I’m not quite sure myself as to what it means,” Arges admitted. “But I feel that as his only living offspring, you should do everything in your power to find him. Do you not want to?”
I blinked at the question, taken aback. I had thought about meeting him, sure. What young child didn’t? But I’d resigned myself to the fact that it was just my mom and me for so long that the desire in me waned. Then, when I found out he was a god, I thought I might get the chance. I didn’t know why it hadn’t been a priority to find him. A part of me always assumed that I would go in search of him after I graduated from the Academy.
But maybe I needed to consider finding him sooner than that.
22
“Am I interrupting something?” a familiar voice rang out through the cavern smithy.
Immediately, my head snapped up at the sound of Hailey’s voice, real and close. The sadness dissolved at the prospect of seeing her beautiful face again. This time, the tools actually left my hands, clattering against the anvil with a rattle. I stepped around Agres and ventured towards the mouth of the cave.
There she stood, backlit by the sun beginning to descend into the ocean. She looked magnificent in her all-black uniform, sans orange sash. When our eyes met, Hailey’s face broke into the widest, goofiest grin. I didn’t waste a second. She dashed forward and leaped into my arms, wrapping herself around my broad frame. She was up in the air and twisted her legs around me. I held her steady and close as I planted a kiss on her.
Her lips were warm, tasting of salt with a hint of chocolate. I lost myself in her embrace, comforted by her presence and her touch. My hands roamed all over her back while still holding her up.
Just then, a cough echoed through the cave. It stilled the both of us and reminded both of us where we were and that, as much as it felt like it, we were, in fact, not the only two in the world at that moment.
I unhooked my lips from Hailey’s and looked over my shoulder to see a grumpy cyclops shooting my girlfriend and me a skeptical glare. I licked my lips, getting one last taste of Hailey before I loosened my grip on her, and she slid back to the ground, safe on her own two feet.
I coughed amidst the awkwardness and adjusted my positioning so that I was next to Hailey and facing Arges. I made the proper introductions.
“Arges, this is Hailey, daughter of Apollo. Hailey, this is Arges. Cyclops and Blacksmith,” I added because I realized just then that I didn’t know the proper way to introduce the monster.
Hailey moved forward to shake Arges’s hand, but the cyclops just eyed Hailey’s hands with skepticism. Quickly, Hailey’s smile fell, and she lowered her hand, stepping back into place beside me.
“Cameron tells me you have the ability to control sun fire?” Arges asked as though this were a police interrogation.
“Yes sir,” Haiely answered in her soldier voice. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the unnecessary formality. I knew both of these beings better than this. But for some reason, Arges felt the need to intimidate my girlfriend.
“Show me,” Arges challenged.
“Really?” I snapped. “You don’t trust me?”
“I want to see it for myself,” Arges countered as he crossed his muscular arms, flexing as he did so. I felt Hailey’s body tense next to me and grabbed her hand in order to reassure her. With her free hand, the Enka soldier raised it and snapped. A small flame appeared atop her thumb and pointer finger.
Arges stomped closer and leaned over with a critical eye. He glared at the flame as though he was trying to look right through it.
“Is that good enough for you?” I asked, not bothering to hide the exasperation in my voice.
“Hmph,” Arges grunted. He straightened himself back up to his full and albeit intimidating height. “We’ll see. I hesitate to leave the two of you alone, but I need to help Phae prepare dinner. For our guest.” His voice bit down on the last three words as though it were painful to say them. Arges purposefully walked between the two of us, and we had to step away in order to allow enough space for him to do so. The cyclops reached the entrance of the cave and turned back over his shoulder to offer us one last command.
“I expect to see a prototype of the helm before dinner,” Arges warned. “That should take you most of the evening.”
With that ominous statement, the cyclops left us in the smithy. Completely and utterly, alone.
“How have you worked with that guy all this time?” Hailey asked me as she stuck her thumb out over her shoulder. “He seems like a real delight.”
“He is fine when you get to know him,” I offered with a shrug. “But definitely takes some getting used to.”
“To be fair, the only cyclops I’ve met are ones I have had to fight, so I might be biased,” Hailey said with a glance back towards the entrance, as though Arges was spying on us as we spoke.
“Arges isn’t like that,” I assured my girlfriend. “He’s not a danger to us.” I tugged on Hailey’s arm and pulled her further into the cave. “Come and see this workshop. It’s amazing!”
Hailey followed me into the smithy, a small smile appearing on her face as she watched my enthusiasm. The smile brightened and widened as I danced about the workshop, showing off this tool and that machine. I even flicked on the overhead conveyor system to which she appropriately oohed and ahhed. After my short tour, I stood in the center of the smithy and held out my arms, spreading them wide and proud.
“So that’s where I’ve been working,” I concluded.
“It seems right up your alley,” Hailey said, the smile never leaving her face.
“Wait until you see the rest of the property!” I cooed.
“I saw a lot of it when I drove over it,” Hailey explained, as she stuck her hands in her pockets. “It’s pretty spectacular.”
“I’v
e grown quite fond of it,” I said, realizing the words as I said them aloud. I had been on Arges’s villa for several weeks, and even though it had been a frustrating struggle at times, I really did enjoy being here.
“Italy looks good on you,” Hailey said as she stepped closer to me, leading with her pelvis before pulling her hands out of her pockets and snaking them around my waist.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, my voice unintentionally breathy. I tilted my head down so I could stare in her green eyes, which looked like emeralds in this dark cavern. Gods, she was so attractive.
“You’re all giddy and geeking out,” Hailey said as she swayed our bodies as though we were dancing, but to what beat, I wasn’t sure. “You’re so handsome when you’re happy.”
She pulled me closer so that our bodies were pressed together, so close they seemed to meld into one another. Hailey leaned up and whispered up against my lips.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I agreed, finally giving in to her intoxicating presence and kissing her fiercely.
My hands traced the roundness of her breasts and I reveled in her short gasps. Her back bent backward like a gymnast, but she showed no sign of discomfort because she was too focused on the sensations my tongue gave her.
I slipped in through her teeth and stroked hers with practiced precision. It was a familiar move, and I melted into it with ease. That hint of chocolate came back mixed with a smoky scent as I reminded myself to breathe through my nose. But then I forgot to breathe altogether when one of her hands trailed up my spine, up my shirt, and teased my nerves with her fingertips the whole way up. Meanwhile, my hands roamed down towards her ass and cupped her, pulling her lower body closer to mine.
Automatically our bodies knew what to do. They rubbed against one another as my mouth detached from hers so it could plant kisses along her neck. She leaned her head back to give me access to as much skin as possible.
When I nipped at her collarbone with my teeth, her eyes popped open in pleasure-filled surprise. However, once my vision cleared, I remembered where we were, and the spell broke. The whole scene shattered like broken glass, and my blood ran cold.
Hailey noticed my sudden detachment because she stopped her slow grind of her hips against my hardness and moved so she could look me in the eye. “What is it?” she asked, worry all over her face. “Did I tease too much? Normally you like that--”
“No, it’s not that,” I assured her quickly. “That was… fantastic,” I let myself enjoy the memory of the moment. That was clearly a mistake because Hailey took that as an encouragement to continue.
“Then why…” she said between soft, feather-like kisses, “did… you stop?”
“Because as much as I want this—Ooh!” I moaned as she cupped me in my pants, tugging at my pants with her other hand indicating she wanted them off. “We can’t. Not here.”
Hailey fully stopped then, as though she finally took stock of where we were too. “Oh, I get it,” she said with a knowing nod. “You never wanted to do it in your smithy at the Academy either. Well, is there somewhere else we can go? Your room, perhaps?”
I released a frustrated groan because as much as I wanted to push her out of the smithy, head down to the beach, and take her in the crystal blue waters. Or hell, that would take too long, just take her right there on the workbench, I knew we weren’t going to have time.
“We have to make the helm,” I said through gritted teeth.
Hailey’s face fell. “The cyclops was serious?”
“His name is Arges, and he was dead serious,” I said as I detangled my limbs from hers. The throbbing in my heart and between my legs protested loudly as I did so, but I pushed reason and rationality to the forefront of my thoughts. “He will be really upset if we don’t have something to show him before dinner.”
“Okay, we can stop,” Hailey paused dramatically and then bounced her eyebrows up and down. “For now.”
“Oh?” I teased, turning away from her, so I wasn’t tempted to run into her arms again. “Did you have something planned after dinner?”
“Not after dinner,” Hailey answered, her voice husky and tempting me even though I now stood three feet from her, it would only take two steps to close that gap. “If I’m not mistaken, the cyclops said the helm would take us most of the time to finish.”
I picked up on her meaning. Then I grabbed a smaller rounded hammer and waved it at her with a smirk. “I’m picking up on what you’re putting down, Barlow. Let’s get started so we can get done sooner.”
“Yes sir,” Hailey said, offering me a salute. “You’re in charge. Tell me what I need to do.”
“I need you to heat things up in here,” I said as I crouched down to grab the necessary supplies. When I looked up, I saw Hailey staring at me with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. It took me a second to realize what I had actually said.
“No!” I exclaimed, chuckling at my unintentional innuendo. “Not like that! Jeez, Hailey. I need you to light a fire using your sun fire.”
“Right,” Hailey said, drawing out the word into two syllables, her suspicion showing. Despite her supposed grievances, she still did as I asked.
The daughter of Apollo walked over to the forge and stuck her hand right inside of it. Suddenly, a bright yellow fire appeared at the tip of her middle finger. Slowly, as though she were slipping on a glove, the fire cascaded down her fingers, past her knuckles, and up to her wrist. Then Hailey reached down and dug her hand into the coals. After a few moments, the sun fire spread throughout the coals, and a fire surged in the forge.
Hailey retracted her hand, and the sun that encompassed her skin went out. “Well, if that’s all you need me for, I think I’m going to head down to the beach.”
“No!” I cried, standing from my spot on the floor and grabbed her hand. “I still need you.”
“I thought this was your thing,” Hailey said with a raised eyebrow. “The smithing thing. You just needed me to light your fire.”
I resisted the urge to respond to her double meaning comment. “I thought we could…” I bit my lip, suddenly nervous to ask her.
“Yes?” Hailey prompted.
“I thought we could make the helm together,” I offered, my words coming out in a rush. “I need an extra set of hands, and I thought… well, I thought I could use yours.”
As I spoke about her hands, I ran my own over her callused skin, a sign of her hours spent training with weapons. I rubbed my thumb over the top of her hand and then kissed each one affectionately.
“I suppose I could help you,” Hailey relented. Even though her voice may have sounded exasperated, I knew that it wasn’t true. She was just excited to spend time with me, in whatever way that might be.
We started with heating up the metal to make it more malleable. Hailey stood behind me, watching as I turned the steel in the forge, glowing white against her golden sun fire. I felt her breath on my neck as I explained the next steps in the process.
I took the metal out and brought it over to the anvil. “Would you like to try?” I offered.
“Why don’t you show me?” Hailey replied, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips. I wanted to know what she was up to because I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes.
“Okay,” I said as I cleared my throat. “We’re going to shape the metal around the long round part of the anvil. So you just start pounding.”
I raised my arm and swung. After a couple of solid slams, Hailey moved, so that she was directly behind me.
“I think you should try it like this,” she said, whispering seductively in my ear. As she spoke, she slid her hand down my arm and wrapped her hand around mine. We clutched the hammer together, and she pressed her front into my back. She wrapped around me like a blanket, and I breathed her in. Right in the seconds before we swung the hammer down, I enjoyed the security of her, her protection. While I wasn’t ever a man to crave a woman that could guard me like I knew Hailey could, it was a reassurance th
at she had my back and would always push me forward.
In tandem, we swung the hammer.
We worked together like this over the next two hours as we molded the helm into the shape needed.
It was as though we were dancing. Our movements were so fluid and in sync. She followed my every direction, but soon, Hailey fell into her own rhythm as she made one side of the helm, and I worked on the other. Together we alternated our hammer hits, making a symphony of creation.
I loved having her near me. Every so often, I would reach across her unnecessarily for a tool, or she would graze my arm. A squeeze on my shoulder, a kiss on my cheek. All of our little stolen touches and signs of affection continued throughout our making session.
It was as though I were a tea kettle, ready to whistle as she turned up the heat bit by bit with each touch, nip, and nuzzle. Despite all of our teasing, we were rather productive when creating the helm. While I would have thought her presence would have distracted me, as it was known to do, she motivated me. Hailey’s encouragements were the best fuel I needed to continue this project. For the first time since learning how to make armor, I felt confident in what I had learned and in the process.
Her presence was the last push I needed to make the helm as perfect as it could be.
The sun dipped behind the water, leaving only the light of the torches in the cavern. Hailey stood with her back against my chest as we admired our creation as it sat on the anvil.
The helm was simple in its design, nothing flashy like a skull mask or any intricate carving in the sides of it. The sides clipped right at the jawline, narrowing down towards the chin. The face opening was in the shape of an “M” with a small widow’s peak coming to sit right between the soldier’s eyebrows. There were two parallel rows of bolts that hold the two halves together, one side made by Hailey and the other made by me. It wasn’t the most spectacular thing I had ever made, but it was one of the items I was most proud of because of the complexity and detail required when rounding out the metal and forming it to the human skull.