by Logan Jacobs
“The tang,” the blacksmith said in answer to the question my face must have asked. “On a finished sword, it’s where the grip is. I can slide a guard through it and fit a pommel to the end.”
He demonstrated this by picking up a thin, gently curved strip of metal with a hole in the center. It didn’t quite fit on the tang he had just made, but the guard slid down an inch before it got caught.
“Mister Duke the Third will require somethin’ extra fancy, so this here won’t cut it,” Jax continued as he shimmied the guard back off. “It’ll probably need some etching in it, and probably his initials or something.”
The blacksmith sounded so eager to fill this particular order.
Jax repeated the tang work on the second dagger-to-be until he had a pair of nearly identical sheets of metal again. Both were squared off at the opposite end, but after another half hour of pounding, they both tapered to a fine point. The edges were still incredibly dull, and the metal looked like it had aged a thousand years.
“It’ll take a few more days of work to get it finished up proper, but that’s the start of it.” Jax placed the two blades into the water trough beneath the table, and the metal hissed as it cooled rapidly. “C’mere, Bash, and let’s get you measured for a proper sword.”
Jax wiped his hands clean on a cloth as I hopped down from the table. He eyed me up and down, and with the fire of the hearth casting his face in shadow, he looked more like a grizzly bear than a blacksmith.
“Right-handed?” His brown eyes studied me hard with a focus on my arms and torso. Without even waiting for my answer, he lifted my right arm straight out and poked at the muscles. He wrapped his hand around my wrist and elbow, and carefully around the muscles of the forearm and bicep. “You’ll need to bulk up a bit more, God of Time, if you want to wield a sword to match your title.”
I grinned at him and turned to look at Mahini. “Well, I’ve got a pretty good partner for that, I think.”
The mercenary woman tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows. We had never discussed her training me in any kind of combat. She had no idea that I had seen her fight before, or that I only won my fights because I could repeat them indefinitely, so of course she was confused.
That was okay, everyone could be confused. It kinda helped with the “god” motif.
“You require a sparring partner?” She thought about it and then nodded. “Yes, I would be honored, Great One. Maybe I will learn from you.”
“Perfect!” I said. “Any excuse to spend time with a beautiful woman like you.”
“Thank you.” Mahini looked away, but I saw the tint of her cheeks darken just a little bit, and I had to think it wasn’t from the light of the forge.
Jax poked and prodded me some more before he was satisfied. “It won’t be ready before you fight the goblins, but I can have the perfect sword done for you in a few days.”
“Can’t I try to make it?” I asked. “I may not be a master like you, but I would love to work with a sword I made with my own hands.”
The blacksmith laughed from deep in his belly, and the sound filled the forge just like the clanging of his hammer. “You’re more than welcome to try, O Great One, but it’ll take you years to get to my level.”
Challenge accepted.
I took a deep breath and pulled at the source of my power. The tingling filled me as a new savepoint was created, and I had to fight back the grin. I could live several years in a single moment with this power. I may not be a master standing before him right now, but I would impress the blacksmith and Mahini with my skill before the day was done.
Jax selected one of the blocks of metal and handed it over. This one was a bit heavier than the one used for the daggers, but was roughly the same size and shape. Without waiting for instruction, I tossed it into the hearth and gave the bellows a few big pumps. From the nod Jax gave me, I was doing the right thing.
“This hammer will be used the most,” he said as he pointed at the tool sitting on the anvil. “It will get the metal into the proper shape. You saw me use the wedge to split the metal in half, but you probably won’t need that for a sword.”
He took down a spare apron from the wall, and when I had tied it around my back, he handed over the tongs.
Since I already knew what they were used for, I fished the block of metal out of the fire and brought it to the anvil.
Jax made the hammering part look easy, and I quickly discovered that it was much harder in practice.
The clanging that filled the room wasn’t anywhere near as loud as when the blacksmith pounded the hammer, and the force of the blows seemed to shudder up my entire arm. I didn’t have the same rhythm that Jax did, and when I finally transferred my hunk of metal back into the flames, it was more lumpy than uniform. I chose to ignore the smug look on Jaxtom’s face as I pumped the bellows a few times.
What had taken the blacksmith twenty minutes took me nearly an hour. My hunk of metal was not a uniform thickness, although it was at least about the same length Jax’s had been. It wasn’t straight or clean or even nice to look at, and both Mahini and Jax were losing the fight against laughter at the sight of it.
Since I didn’t have to split the metal down the center, I shoved the lumpy rectangle back into the flames. I shot a glare at my audience as I pumped the bellows a few more times, and I had to bite back the smile that threatened to form as the two of them laughed.
I worked the metal for another two hours until Jax told me the length was suitable for a sword. I managed to get a tang banged out under his strict guidance, and when all was said and done, I had a long, lumpy rectangle that was supposed to end up being a sword.
Mahini and Jax filled the forge with laughter, and even I had to admit that the poor thing should be put out of its misery.
Chime.
I repeated the task of forging my pitiful sword several dozen times, until I was able to pound out the metal into a uniform thickness. The hammer still rattled my bones as I brought it down, but I found my rhythm and technique that kept everything flowing smoothly.
Jax’s surprised look was well worth the dozens of reboots when I showed him the completed plank of metal.
“How in the hell did ya manage that?” he asked as he sighted the length of the would-be blade. It probably wasn’t straight as an arrow, but I bet it was better than he anticipated my “first” attempt to be. “You sure you’ve never smithed before?”
“Nope, this is the first time I’ve ever tried it,” I said smoothly. “How well would you say I’ve done?”
“Fine,” he said as he eyed me warily. “Not the best I’ve ever seen, but pretty good for a beginner.”
Yeah, I could do better than just “pretty good.”
Chime.
With all the time in the world, I could literally become a master during my first try at everything. People would think I was some kind of prodigy, and shouldn’t the God of Time be amazing at everything? I may not know magic or how to fight properly with a sword, but both were things I could learn, at least I assumed so when it came to magic. If I could kill everything that stepped across my path, then I could forge the perfect sword on my very first go of it.
After a few dozen more tries, what had taken me two hours now took me forty-five minutes or so, and the awed looks on Jax’s and Mahini’s faces was enough to swell my head tenfold.
“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” I asked as I tried to feign ignorance. It was hard to keep my voice serious when I knew the answer already. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Jax’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I’ve never seen someone try smithing for the first time and produce something like this.”
The blade still wasn’t absolutely perfect, but even Jax’s blades had small flaws in the metal. My final attempt was much straighter than the first, and the tang was almost dead center at the end. The thickness was finally uniform, and the only issue I had with it was a small streak in the metal near the very tip.
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“That’ll grind out, don’t worry,” Jax said, and he must have seen me glaring at the spot. “You’ve done a fine job here, Bash. Might put me outta business.”
“The student is only as good as the teacher.” I gave the man a flourished bow.
The man roared with laughter, and his hand on my shoulder nearly knocked me to my knees.
“So what do you know about armor? And shields?” I asked as I nodded toward a studded round shield in the corner. “Think I could try my hand at those, too?”
“You really are trying to run me outta business, boy!” Jax roared.
That didn’t stop him from showing me how to forge a sturdy shield and the beginning of a set of armor.
It felt like it had been days or weeks when we finally left the forge after all of my attempts, but the sun wasn’t even at its midway point in the sky yet.
“I cannot believe you were able to forge not just a sword, but a shield and a pair of bracers so quickly,” Mahini said. “And Jax was absolutely impressed with the quality.”
“Helps to be a god,” I shrugged and stretched out a kink in my shoulders. “I only have to be shown something once, and I can usually replicate the results.”
“But to that degree?” The mercenary shook her head. “You are always surprising me, Great One.”
Her beautiful eyes pierced me like her sword, and it was difficult for me to tear my gaze away from hers. We had other things that needed to get done if we were going to clear out the goblins before the duke’s son arrived, but I planned on taking her to bed as soon as possible.
“Elrin said he had maps of the mine and the plains around here we could look at,” I said as we turned down the street toward the man’s house. “And some of the miners might be able to tell us some things about the mine you and the other Golden Swords didn’t know before.”
“They will have no new information,” she replied in a grim tone. “Nobody has been inside those tunnels since we were paid to clear them out.”
“And you were the only one to survive,” I added when she did not, and then I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “You weren’t with a god last time. This is a chance to avenge them, and I’m looking forward to spending some quality time killing those monsters with you.”
“Yes, Great One. It does sound enjoyable.” I saw the smile on her lips just before she turned away from me. She was getting used to my constant flirting, and it warmed my heart to see her begin to heal from the deaths of her mercenary family.
I just had to get her to flirt back, and everything would be perfect.
The door to Elrin’s house opened, and several of the townsmen were milling about in front and within. They parted like the sea as Mahini and I approached, and many of them mumbled my title with a curt bow as I passed.
My reboots from the day before allowed me to refer to them each by name, and I spent some time chatting with them about their families and whatever troubles I had learned from them. They were all happy to oblige the conversations, and they seemed to delight in the special treatment I gave them.
These were my people now, and I had to do everything I could to protect them.
Elrin appeared after a few minutes of chatting and beckoned us all inside. The men filed in behind Mahini and I, and they chattered quietly as Elrin led the way into the dining hall. The table was littered with papers that I could only assume were maps of the area. Two men were studying the maps and occasionally said something that didn’t quite reach my ears. When Elrin cleared his throat, the two men looked up and stood straighter.
“Sebastian, these men here have scouted the mine entrance numerous times since the goblins drove us out.” Elrin pointed to first the man on the left, and then the one on the right. “Willihard and Niconor.”
Willihard had that stretched out sort of look that teenage boys usually got when they went through puberty. From the facial hair decorating his jaw, I guessed that he was only a little older than me. His hair was dirty-blond, and he wore a full set of leather armor. A shortsword poked out from his left hip, a full quiver of arrows dangled from his right, and a bow was slung across his back.
Niconor looked as if he was Willihard’s father. He had the same dirty-blond hair and rugged beard going, but where Willihard had hazel eyes, Niconor had dark brown. He also wore a full set of padded armor, but there was a well-made chestplate over his torso, and his right arm was encased in armor. His sword was slightly longer than Willihard’s, probably a longsword, and the hilt stuck out several inches from his left hip where his hand rested. A large shield was slung across his back, and from the angle, I couldn’t tell what it looked like aside from the fact that it was wooden.
“You can just call me Will, Great One,” the younger man said as he strode forward with his hand out. His grip was firm as he shook my hand. “And I’ll call you Bash, if that’s alright?”
“More than alright, Will,” I replied with a grin. “And this is your father, am I correct?”
Niconor didn’t even bat an eyelash. “You are correct, Great One. It is an honor to meet you.”
I knew right away he’d get pissed if I tried to call him Nico.
“These are the maps you requested, Sebastian,” Elrin said with a sweeping gesture toward the table. “And the men I assembled are all of my miners. I thought we could all sit down and help you come up with a plan of attack.”
He may not have wanted to give his daughter to me, especially if her fiancé was on his way with an army, but Elrin clearly wanted to do everything in his power to get rid of the goblins. From the looks of the other miners, it was obviously a shared sentiment. The town’s survival rested upon the destruction of the goblins.
And everyone here thought I could do it.
Of course, I could. I was a god, after all.
“Okay. What can you tell me about the mine?” I asked as I dragged one of the maps closer to me.
“It’s a copper mine,” Will said immediately, and he pulled over a piece of paper that had all kinds of numbers on it. “This was what we were mining on a daily basis, and this is how much of it went to the Duke of Bullard.”
A large amount was given to their liege lord, but it was easy to see that even with that accounted for, the town was able to sell off the rest and make a good profit. The goblins had dropped that number to zero, and I would wager my ability to reset time that this duke was starting to get pissed off that the mine had all but dried up.
“How many tunnels are there?” I asked as I turned back to my map.
“The main tunnel loops around in the first section of it,” Niconor said as he pointed to my map. “There are a few branches that lead to pockets we have already mined, but the tunnels go much deeper. We hadn’t mapped them out properly before the goblins came.”
“How much deeper?” I asked. “Is there another way in?”
Elrin shook his head. “We were all set to start another entrance when they came down from the mountains. We thought about tunneling in behind them, but they’re like a bunch of angry ants protecting their nest. We can’t get close, even during the day. They swarm and attack.”
My map showed three large pockets on either side of the main entrance to the mine, with a much larger pocket deeper inside the mountain. Niconor saw where I was looking and tapped his finger at the large room.
“That’s supposed to be a halfway point where we can keep any excess ore between shipments. There’s only one larger tunnel leading further in and maybe two or so pockets.” He looked around at the men who all nodded in agreement. “Goblins aren’t the best at mining, but there’s always a possibility of them digging further in.”
“How many of the little bastards am I going to have to deal with?” I asked as I looked at the group. “Fifty? A hundred?”
“We do not know for certain, Great One,” Mahini said in a low voice, and her troubled eyes met mine. “We know they have a leader, and that there are at least two guards inside the main tunnel only
a few hundred yards from the entrance…”
“Okaaay, not the best news, but I can work with that.” I drew my eyes over every curve in the map as if it would tell me what I needed to know. “What about weapons? Did you have anything inside the mine when they took it?”
“Just picks,” Elrin replied. “And a few torches. The mercenaries had weapons when they came to help, but...”
His brown eyes flashed to Mahini. The warrior didn’t flinch, but I could see the pain swimming in her blue eyes like sharks.
“So no real headcount and the possibility of them having weapons used by the Golden Swords. That makes things a bit more difficult…” I tore my eyes away from the map and gave all of my attention to Mahini. “What do you think?”
She may not have seen as much of the inner workings of the tunnels as the miners, but she had gone in there and fought against the goblin horde. If anyone had a solid plan for me to build off of, it was Mahini.
“The first thing to do is to clear out these rooms here.” Her focus was on the leftmost side of the mine, and she traced her fingers along the path to the larger room at the far end. “The pockets would be a good place for the goblins to use for sleeping and eating or whatever else they do. This path will get us to the large room the fastest, and if we can take out their leader, the rest should just flee.”
As I expected, it was a solid plan that was flexible enough to adjust as we learned more about what we were actually facing. I doubted it would be as easy as just killing the leader, but I kept the negativity to myself. We would know for certain soon enough.
When Mahini’s fingers didn’t immediately lift from the map, I looked up. Her eyes were filled with pain and guilt, and I knew she was remembering what had happened the last time she had entered the mine.
“The Golden Swords were ambushed here,” she said as her quivering fingers pointed at a junction. It seemed like a short distance from the larger room at the back, but I doubted the map was actually to scale. “They came out of the room on the left and surrounded us.”