by Eric Vall
Cayla grinned as I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“A picnic then,” she said as she gestured to the grassy clearing around us.
“Or I could just make a quick table and chairs?” I offered. To remind the raven-haired beauty of my powers, I lifted my hand, and the walls of the workshop shuddered before they parted and reshaped to make a door and several windows.
Cayla looked impressed by my display, but when she looked back at me, a teasing smirk played at the corner of her mouth.
“What?” she joked. “Too good to sit on the grass?”
“I was merely trying to be courteous to the beautiful and delicate women in my company,” I replied with a wide grin.
Cayla cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Aurora. The half-elf rolled her eyes.
“Pardon him,” Aurora said to the other woman as she reached out and took the basket from my hand. “He means well, but sometimes his mouth gets in the way.”
“What did I say?” I asked with a frown.
“Do you truly believe an Ignis Mage, a Defender no less, and a woman who traveled dangerous lands alone are delicate?” Cayla laughed as she began walking toward the center of the clearing. When she found a spot she liked, she knelt in the grass and then sat coyly back on her shapely legs.
“In a polite way?” I hedged as I followed her lead and sat on the ground across from her.
Aurora snorted rather indelicately as she sat beside me and put the basket in between all three of us.
“Like I said,” the half-elf directed at Cayla again with a smirk, “he means well.”
The two women shared another chuckle at my expense.
“Well, I am glad to know that chivalry is not dead,” Cayla said with a smile.
My heart fluttered at how beautiful the blue-eyed maiden really was, and I couldn’t help but smile back in return.
Breakfast was a quick affair after that. The sausages were roasted to perfection, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The bread was fresh and warm and almost sweet. For the eggs, I crafted a clay plate that Aurora heated up using her Ignis powers, and within minutes, we had immaculate fried eggs with bright yellow yolks. My mouth watered as I wiped salty grease off my chin and swallowed a bite of sausage.
“This is great, Cayla, thank you,” I said with a broad grin.
The fair-skinned maiden blushed. “It is not a grand meal, but it is tasty enough.”
As we finished our breakfast, we chatted idly about the weather and about Serin. Cayla had never been to the capital and found the city strange but enchanting.
I understood the sentiment entirely.
When the food was gone, we walked over to the workshop, and I gave Cayla a quick tour.
“It’s nothing much, but it gets the job done,” I said as I gestured around the single room. The space had become rather cluttered and messy after a week of me toiling away, and I felt a little embarrassed. The only corner of the shop that was relatively clean was where I stored the finished guns and ammo. The rifles were on their own racked shelf with the revolvers lined up in rows beneath them. The ammunition I sorted by caliber and placed them in their own individual boxes that were stored on a separate, smaller shelf.
“You built all this yourself?” Cayla asked as she turned slowly in place. Her wide ice-blue eyes raked over every inch of the room. “With your powers alone?”
“Well, the tools were gifts from the king,” I explained as I pointed them out, “and the bellows from another smith. But everything else? Yeah. This spot was simply another part of the clearing two weeks ago.”
“Remarkable,” Cayla breathed. “I’ve heard tales about the works and wonders of mages, but to witness them first hand is another thing entirely.”
“Oh, just wait,” I replied with a grin. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Then, by all means, Mage Flynt,” Cayla said with a smile as she gestured toward the workshop table. “Where do we begin?”
“With this,” I declared. I walked around her toward the back of the shop where I kept the wheelbarrow. The metal I had harvested yesterday glinted faintly in the early morning light. I reached out and picked up a football-sized chunk of iron and bounced it lightly in my palm. My magic roiled in my chest, eager to be let out.
“This is some iron ore that I mined yesterday from the cave outside,” I explained as I walked back toward the two women.
“So that’s what you were doing when I arrived,” Cayla mused as she studied the piece of metal in my hand.
“Yes,” I replied with a smile. “Most of my time in the last week has been spent mining. As of yesterday, though, I think I have enough materials to complete the first round of weapons for King Temin.”
Cayla’s gaze went to the eight finished guns I had stored in the corner. “And that piece of raw ore in your hand will turn into one of those?”
“With a little work, yes,” I said. “Here, let me show you.”
I turned to Aurora then. The half-elf had been casually finishing her tea beside the workshop table as I spoke to Cayla. When I caught her eye, I cocked my head toward another table set beneath the windows. Out of all the surfaces in the shop, this one was the clearest of clutter.
Aurora nodded in response and tilted her head back as she drained the dregs from her canteen. She smacked her lips when she was finished and then set down her cup.
“Brace yourself,” the half-elf warned Cayla as the three of us walked toward the empty table. “Once the work begins, it can get a little hot in here.”
“I think that has less to do with the work,” I said with a sly grin, “and more to do with the company I keep, both in the past and currently.”
Aurora rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the small smile that tugged at her mouth. Cayla, on the other hand, blushed a bright pink.
“Should I stand back?” the raven-haired beauty asked as we came to stand before the table, her on one side and Aurora on my other. “Is the work particularly dangerous?”
“You’ll be perfectly safe, don’t worry,” I reassured her. “Just as long as you don’t reach out and touch any of the metal before it cools, you’ll be fine.”
“Noted,” Cayla said and then she tucked her arms behind her. “I’ll be extra cautious.”
“Great,” I replied with a grin. “Then we can get started. Now, the first thing I have to do is refine the iron. If I were making another weapon, like an axe or a mace, refining wouldn’t be as much of an issue, but for these guns, the best material to use is steel.”
“So how do you convert the iron to steel then?” Cayla asked with a tilt of her head.
“This is where Aurora comes in,” I replied as I nodded to the Ignis Mage. “If she wasn’t here, I could use the forge at the back of the room there, but it takes time to heat and dedication to maintain. Luckily, she’s agreed to help me though.”
“You are welcome,” the half-elf said with a smirk. “Should I begin?”
“Have at it,” I said as I summoned my magic to the surface. The chunk of iron ore floated out of my hand and hovered about a foot above the tabletop. Cayla looked shocked but only for a moment. In the next instant, the familiar zap of magic raised the hair on my arms as Aurora lifted her hand, and blue flame shot out from the center of her palm.
Cayla gasped as the wall of heat struck us, but I was used to the sensation already. The spectacle before me, however, felt new every time.
The floating piece of iron was bathed in ethereal blue fire. The flames licked along the edges of the metal, and then the iron began to glow. When the metal was as bright orange as a sunset, I closed my eyes, lifted my hands, and concentrated. The magic flowed out of me like a rushing river, and it felt good, like hitting a runner’s high.
After several minutes, I was finished. I slowly let my magic recede, and the metal struck the tabletop since I was no longer using my power to keep it aloft. I felt Aurora rein in her powers as well since the immediate temperature of the room dropped drasticall
y.
When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t help but grin.
On the table before me were two still cooling heaps. The one on the right was a piece of silvered metal, about half the size of the original ore. The one on the left was a compacted chunk of black debris.
“What is that?” Cayla asked as she leaned over my shoulder. Her face was pink from the heat of Aurora’s flame, and sweat beaded on her delicate brow.
“That is slag,” I said as I pointed to the black pile. “It’s all the impurities that I pulled from the iron ore, basically garbage. Because of my powers, I can sense the difference between metal and rock, as well as differentiate between all types of metals. I could do this without Aurora’s help, but her fire makes it hundreds of times easier and faster.”
“Incredible,” Cayla murmured as she shook her head in disbelief.
“We haven’t even truly started yet,” I remarked with a grin. “Now comes the really fun part.”
I turned back to the table and picked up the cooled piece of steel. The next part of the process was easier if I actually handled the metal. Going off my previous work, I eyeballed how much material I would need to start with and cut off the piece I wanted with a thin blade of magic. The remaining steel I set aside for later.
“The first piece I start with is the frame of the gun,” I explained to Cayla as I held up the steel for her to see. I let loose another torrent of power, and the still pliable metal began to mold and reshape in my hand. A moment later, I held the skeleton of a revolver. I gave it a glance over to make sure it looked like Elias’s original diagram, but I had done this enough times now that it came more naturally. Now that I knew were the pieces needed to go, my magic adjusted accordingly and each time the frame had the exact dimensions and number of screw holes as I needed.
I was getting pretty good at this if I did say so myself.
“How many pieces does each weapon need?” Cayla asked as she studied the frame in my hand. She had sidled up close behind me, and I could feel the weight of her breasts brush against my shoulder.
“If you’re talking big pieces like this,” I said as I forced myself to focus on the task at hand and not my raging libido, “then only a few. However, there are a dozen little screws and smaller components that have to be made and assembled in a very particular fashion. If even one thing is just a little off, the weapon won’t work.”
Cayla pursed her lips as she looked from the revolver skeleton to the finished products in the corner. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her perturbed expression.
“I know it doesn’t look like a lot right now,” I said, “but trust me, the pieces come together quickly. We’ll have a finished product in only a few hours.”
“Could I have a demonstration of how they work?” the raven-haired maiden questioned. “I am simply having a hard time believing something so small could take on a hydra.”
“Once we complete a few weapons, sure,” I said with a smile. “Though I’ll warn you now: when I get started on something, time tends to lose its meaning. If the sun is setting or if I’ve forgotten about the demo entirely, which also tends to happen, you have my full permission to drag me from the table.”
“It is a little difficult, but with two of us, I think we can take him,” Aurora stage-whispered to the other woman. Cayla grinned, and I laughed, slightly nervous, in response.
If the two women truly teamed up against me, I was a goner.
The next half an hour passed quickly as I crafted the screws, springs, and other moving parts that the gun needed to operate. When I was done, I had over thirty gleaming silver pieces laid out in straight rows on the table.
“Finished,” I declared as I took a step back and admired my work. I think I had beaten my fastest time with this gun, even with pausing to explain things to Cayla.
“That does not exactly look like the ones over there,” Cayla observed as she motioned with her chin to the rack of weapons on the other side of the room.
“Not yet,” I replied as I held up a finger, “but now it’s basically a jigsaw puzzle. All I have to do is assemble the pieces according to a drawn-out schematic. No magic required.”
“Can I see the illustration?” Cayla asked with a curious glint in her eye.
“Sure,” I said. I turned and walked over to another table where I kept Elias’s drawings. They were rolled up and tucked safely into a wooden box the watchmaker had given me. I didn’t think he trusted me not to rip or ruin them.
When I handed the papers to Cayla, she studied them closely, and her eyes darted back and forth to the pieces on the table. After a minute, she looked up and met my gaze.
“Would you mind if I try?” she questioned.
I lifted my eyebrows in surprise. I didn’t expect the raven-haired woman to sound so eager.
“I was going to give you a few days of observing before I asked you to do any--”
“I told you I wanted to help,” Cayla replied with a sharp frown. “I may not have magical abilities like you or Aurora, but you said this task requires no magic. I want to do my part. Besides, I think I can handle a simple puzzle.”
I raised my hands in surrender. “You’re right. I didn’t mean to offend you. Please, go right ahead.”
Cayla raised her chin defiantly and once again I was struck by her poise and beauty. There was a strength in her delicate profile and aristocratic features. I made a mental note to stop underestimating her.
As the slender woman stepped up to the table, I moved back to give her a little space. Aurora, who had perched herself on another table once her job had been done, grinned at me.
“I like her,” she whispered as she jerked her chin in Cayla’s direction.
“I do, too,” I murmured. My eyes were locked on Cayla’s spine, and I kept wanting to look over her shoulder, but I forced myself to give her a chance. If she said she could do it, then I was inclined to believe her.
Aurora and I waited in patient silence as Cayla worked. The only noise in the workshop was the rustle of parchment as Cayla referred to Elias’s charts and then the clink of metal as she put the pieces together.
A little over five minutes later, Cayla took a step back from the table and glanced at me over her shoulder.
“Done,” she said simply.
All I could do was blink in shock. It took me over half an hour the first time I sat down to assemble a revolver. I had whittled down my time as I got more experience under my belt and began to build muscle memory and now my record stood at eleven minutes. She had cut that time in half.
I walked over to Cayla and inspected the revolver on the table. It looked perfect. She had even affixed the grips, and the stained wood gleamed brightly in the light that fell through the window.
“Well?” Cayla asked. She tried to sound casual, but I could see how nervous she was in her icy blue eyes.
I picked up the revolver, turned it over in my hand, thumbed down the hammer, and spun the cylinder slowly in its track. Then I turned, put my finger on the trigger, and dry fired at the opposite wall. The resounding click was like music to my ears.
“It’s perfect,” I announced as I turned to Cayla with a wide grin. “I’m more than impressed. How did you put it together so quickly?”
The quick-fingered beauty shrugged, but her cheeks flushed with pleasure.
“It wasn’t very hard,” she replied. “The watchmaker’s notes are very detailed, and I can read very quickly. I’ve also always been good with my hands.”
Before I could stop myself, my eyes darted to Cayla’s pale and slender fingers, and I found myself wondering exactly how good her hands were.
“Mason is right.” Aurora joined us at the table and pulled my thoughts out of the gutter. The blue-haired maiden also looked impressed as she considered the gun. “You have great skill to pick up something so foreign and be able to assemble it so quickly.”
“Thank you for the compliment,” Cayla said with a grateful smile.
An idea struck me sud
denly, and I glanced between the table and the wheelbarrow of raw ore parked in the corner.
“Hey, Cayla, how would you like to be my official weapons assembler?” I asked with a grin as I looked back at the raven-haired beauty.
“Really?” she asked as her smile grew.
“The way I’ve been doing things,” I went on, “hasn’t been very efficient. I would refine the metal and then craft and assemble the pieces for each gun one by one. Since Aurora and I have to work simultaneously, we couldn’t form a proper assembly line, but having your help could change that. If you agree, I can just focus on making the pieces in bulk, and you can put them together. Then, if we finish before you, Aurora and I can help you complete the last few. Does this sound agreeable?”
“Perfectly,” Cayla replied, and then an eager gleam leapt in her eyes. “In fact, I am curious to see how fast I can get once I don’t have to look at the schematics.”
“If you go any faster,” I laughed, “I’ll think you actually are a mage.”
Cayla seemed incredibly pleased to hear that.
“But what about the bat poop?” Aurora whispered to me loud enough for Cayla to obviously hear.
“You both keep talking about bat poop,” Cayla said as she smirked and crossed her arms.
“I am also making you my official gunpowder maker,” I said with a chuckle. “It’s a very important job.”
“That entails collecting bat poop and some sort of rotten egg?” she asked as she raised a dark eyebrow.
“It’s verrrrrryyyy important,” Aurora snickered.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” the raven-haired maiden said as her brow furrowed suddenly, “the faster we finish your work for King Temin, the faster we can leave for Cedis. It’s a long journey to the southern border, and I become more anxious with each passing day. For all I know, my home could be burning as we speak.”
“The Order would have heard if something had befallen your kingdom,” Aurora said as she reached out and placed her hand on Cayla’s shoulder. “Do not worry. There is time yet for action. Once Illaria is protected, I give you my personal guarantee that we will make all haste on horseback.”