02 Wrath of Flames

by Jr H. Lee Morgan

  “About time they returned your letters. I really want to meet my in-laws. I know you really miss them. Is there anything about the letters I wrote introducing myself?”

  “It is short and to the point. They say they want to meet you and will be here for Floa’s weddin’ on December fourteenth. Mother is more a talker than writer.”

  “Glad to see they responded. You know where I’ll be.” His lovely wife smiled and looked over the sheet once more before snapping her fingers and made it vanish.

  Hammering paused as liquid hissed from quenching. The shop was brightly lit as usual thanks to the open furnace and a Phoenix standing there. “Good evening, Master!” he called out as he approached the sword from last night and retrieved the dull blade. And began super heating it from the core out, making hair thick molten core and turned it cherry red while picking up his usual rounded hammer to begin stretching and folding it in half.

  “You seem both tired and more energetic tonight.” Celestia noted as she began reheating a Morningstar mace to work it to her ideal and greatest standards of quality. They shared the huge anvil, both using the flat face while she occasionally used the horn.

  “It’s impossible to hide anything with those critical eyes. Actually aside from fighting Blake for three hours straight I” he hit the metal in a momentary shift of intense focus. “also had to train with Merlin. By the way, my whole fist glows.”

  She paused and gave the look that said ‘Show me.’ and he did. “Interesting. My memory is foggy, but there were few Casters in my day who had power enough to make a large part of their limb glow. I will do serious mental contemplation to unravel your mystery. That blade is finished by folds.”

  “Nice try, Celestia. I still have four more folds to make the standard two hundred. I’m not as gullible as people believe.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.” She hummed, apparently in a good mood. Few times had she bantered. It was better than getting pecked in the head. “Interesting accessories you wear. Dragon nether scales by the look with spikes perfectly placed to punch with most effect. Interesting you wear them.”

  “Before I ask what that means,” he easily made another bare handed fold using his newfound strength. “It was from a Dragon I killed a few days ago. I made a decent trade for having these made, but I have to wear them so whatever spells Kanade is putting in them will respond only to me. Now what did you mean by ‘interesting?’I know you enough to hear when you have something up your sleeve… er… wings… talons?”

  “Sleeves are fine. I understand what you mean most of the time.” She sat down the mace yet to have its spikes screwed in, down on the anvil. Full attention turned on him and when she does that he knows full well to put everything down and pay attention. “My most valued client contacted me last night and has been intrigued by my pupil, the Fire Elemental. I owed an old favor he’s calling in. You’ve made a dozen creations from scratch with me looking over and guiding you. He has plenty of weapons and armor, but has requested you to, coincidently, make a unique and one of a kind set of gauntlets. After you finish this Bastard Sword, I want you to make a pair of gauntlets exactly like those you are wearing. Forgo adding copper to the blank and final product. Copper will do no good to dragons if close enough to touch. His size is near identical to yours so I leave it up to you to impress my client. You’ve made gauntlets before so apply the trade I taught you. This must be your first solo masterpiece. Don’t screw it up.”

  The importance of those last four words drove home just how much faith she was placing in him. This was a competency test, one he was alone to pass or fail and would get no further instruction. She was serious, but he reflected on all her words and criticisms especially. Oddly enough, there was no fear dreading he’d screw up again. Celestia was too detail oriented to allow a complete novice touch her craft and livelihood. He also realized that in the past month her outbursts were getting less frequent. If she believed he was ready to work independently, he had to be. All spare thoughts clamped down into a narrow focus. “Celestia, I won’t let you down.”

  Her beak dropped in a sharp nod she believe him.

  Renewed determination rang out with each blow till an hour lapsed with the final four folds and quenching. While still hot, Ethan took out his own measuring cord and hammered the client’s perfectly needed measurements before going to the table to use whetstones to give the double-edged blade a razor’s edge. He dug and retrieved a premade spiked guard and hammered it in snug before using his abilities to weld the guard to the blade. Celestia went over the blade and gave the nod for their dual marks, which he hammered in. A cooling rack outside allowed it time to cool faster than inside the nine hundred degree room. Ethan took a block of ivory from a dragon’s tooth and put it on the foot powered lathe. The tooth had sat in a moist potion for thirty years, softening it enough to be fashioned to a sword’s hilt. Chisels, knives and sanding stones allowed the spinning tooth to be whittled down to the grip made for the two handed hilt for a Gargoyle’s larger grip. In six weeks the tooth handle will harden back to a tough grip, but Ethan went outside with a jeweled cap and a hammer to bind all of it together and fuse the end cap to the blade, everything lined up in a flawless fit. Dress would send the ordered sheathe once the sword cooled completely and was polished to a shine and sent to Kanade to be enchanted.

  The wet night’s chilly air gave a brief pause of relaxation on his sweaty body. The fresh air was relaxing and gave time enough for fatigue to simmer down.

  Back inside Ethan rummaged for an empty bucket beneath her lone sink and found one. He filled it and took a piece of charcoal for a writing implement to make a beginning line and then plopped both of his gauntlets inside to measure the volume of materials he’ll need. When the water stilled, another mark was made. He then steamed the leather dry and put them aside to pour the water in the enchanted quenching bucket which allowed the water not to boil. He set aside his marked bucket in an area Celestia allowed him to call his own.

  He then picked up an empty metal box frame, one made twenty inches by twenty. He lifted the lid of the box and moved to the wall were mostly ingots of differing metals awaited to be used, but below them was a wide mouthed spigot with a lever. He placed the box open and pulled the lever.

  Fine black sand mixed and treated with magical liquids poured out in a thick syrup. This was his fifth time doing this, but was so focused he didn’t see Celestia nodding as he controlled the flow so as not allow a single air bubble into the soon to be blank. Just as it was about to overflow he stemmed the tide and spoke the command words “Seal, shave and separate.” Blue runes all along the edges flared and cast a thin translucent barrier over the two dark sections. He added a few shavings of excess from finished weapons to both sides and then carefully laid tubes in before adding both gauntlets and closed the two halves. The barrier allowed no weight shifting. He then took the case outside and was surprised how light it felt. Usually it felt to weight over a hundred pounds.

  Ethan wasn’t worried about burning the gauntlets. Dragons were just as immune as he is. He sat the box outside and sat down to rest and concentrate. He began the baking process to create a one of a kind blank. It took temperatures of exactly ten thousand degrees Fahrenheit for the mixture to properly bind to the metal shaving he added earlier. The extremely fine sand fit itself exactly to the gauntlets and tubes. Process takes a continuous hour of complete focus. The box burned, but wouldn’t be harmed. A key shift in the molten soup is what was waited for.

  The potion made a sudden hiss, shooting steam out the tubes thanks to microscopic holes. That was the moment and immediately he canceled his heat and stiffly got up to grab a water hose and spray the blank, rapidly cooling it down.

  It took a quarter hour to do and would still be impossible to touch for anyone else. Ethan made a flame to see by and could sense the blank had solidified. To it he gave the command “Deactivate and eject.”

  The box opened and spat out an off golden block in two pieces whi
ch fit perfectly together. The shavings encased the inner sand which was stronger than steel, but had a coating so no foreign particles would mess up the process. He pried the halves apart and plucked his gauntlets. As he slid them back on he smiled at how perfectly detailed the blank turned out, then the pipes came out.

  Satisfied, Ethan collected everything and walked inside to show Celestia. No words came from her beak, but he knew the glint of surprise when he saw it. And she clearly had gleaming emerald eyes.

  He put the case back and laid the blank in his area.

  Soon he returned to grab the measuring bucket and quickly calculated exactly how much metal he’d need to create, minus copper. Celestia meanwhile worked around, hammering away and doing final touches on the Morningstar.

  Celestia paused when she heard him talking aloud and holding an empty bucket in his hand. He mumbled “Silver is toxic to Shifters.” ‘Plunk’ sounded the nugget dropped in the empty bucket. “Gold causes immense pain to Kelpies and Lamia.” ‘Plunk’. “Iron burns Elves. Sirens are paralyzed with Platinum. Titanium stops seductive powers of Incubi and Succubae on contact… No copper as requested… Chromium can make Arachne speak only the truth…” he kept adding varying amounts and she watched, highly impressed he did indeed pay full attention.

  After the last few ingredients were collected from their holes he refilled the bucket to the first line then dumped the metals and waited for all to go still. He mumbled “Good, just over the mark. The excess will mesh the moving parts.” She turned away to go back to work before he noticed.

  Not long after he poured the water away he grabbed a melting cup and unceremoniously dumped in the ingredients. He then reached inside the forge, hot flames licking him all over. The cup sat deep in the back so not to be in the way. He looked down at the fuel and decided to add more ancient oak and coal.

  “That is enough for tonight, Apprentice. Go rest.”

  “Fine. I’ll work” he yawned greatly and covered his mouth. “on the next backlogged weapon. It’ll take a few days to melt everything and for it to absorb enough carbon before pouring and cutting. Night.”

  “Pleasant dreams.”

  There were no dreams after a shower. As soon as he finished he was out like a light. Kanade smiled and snuggled naked with him for the next five hours.

  And so started a strict routine with little time for enjoyment. Every morning after breakfast he gave three blood samples and was scanned, growing a little more than a half inch per week. It really helped with pain. As of yet there was no concrete proof who his bloodline comes from, but it was concluded it be an atavism. Certain genes in his DNA were changing, overriding his weaker human body to become something else. So far his life wasn’t in danger and wouldn’t be treated unless a danger arose.

  Blake waited as Ethan started swimming on his own a little more than a month later, all thanks to Kanade’s insatiable sexual appetite. Early in the fourth week he no longer feared the water, but was more comfortable with Kanade who was always willing to swim. It especially helped when he heated the lake and many warriors donated a few points to his account to heat it daily, especially after the snow came to blanket the land. He would do it anyway just to get his love in a bikini, but the secret plan in progress could definitely use a deeper pocket.

  And as foretold, Jormungandr the World Snake, a gigantic cotton mouth with black and orange bands, slithered out of his moat one chilly day before the first signs of frost reared its head and asked to get warmed up. And each morning and night he would swallow giant boulders Ethan would heat to keep him happy and warm. The boulders were reused, regurgitated each time. Always Jormun would hiss “Thanksss.” Ethan refused payment because Jormun saved his ass back in the battle by killing a brown Dragon Demon Lord hell bent on devouring him and Storm-shadow.

  Star-bolt though had moved away from the First House somewhere private and only Queen Gra knew. Messages were passed along, but even without Pegasus’ prediction, all knew signs of suicide and grief. It would be only a matter of time before word spread of her death and new foal come to the world.

  Battles weren’t as fierce at that first day between Blake and Ethan, but his tail had grown back completely and was lethal as ever. But as each day passed, the Blademaster was pushed harder and harder till the day came Ethan’s unarmed attacks were faster, heavier and nearly unstoppable. It was also clear his back muscles were bulging around the shoulder blades, contributing to the impacts of the punches.

  The day came when Vitalli recovered and got that desired brawl. Unfortunately his confidence that Ethan was a pushover ended him back in the hospital wing with broken arm and a few cracked ribs while Ethan came out with a sprained wrist that healed before bed. The Centaur laughed, being bested wasn’t easy to do for one of his experience. The unarmed challenge wasn’t his forte, but he wasn’t helpless in that department either. True to his word, when he recuperated he held up his deal and taught how to spot signs of Lamia, which was almost as difficult as following a flying beast which left marks on the ground. Despite being part snake, Lamia left almost no signs of tracks behind.

  Soon his newfound longer strides could match any Nagai’s incredible yet short burst of running speed. The only matches came from a cheerful Ellen and Vitalli or Kanade who still toyed around as her foot speed was unparalleled to everyone other than a few wolf Shifters and Collu and Mia of the Centaur leaders. But he was rising to the challenges his woman put up. Now over seven feet tall a month and a half later, Ethan wasn’t so jealous of being small in comparison.

  Unfortunately he got tired of her always holding back and asked to see her true strength. She smugly obliged and single handedly lifted just under three tons and a half with her weaker left arm. Six thousand four hundred and sixty three pounds to be exact. Her amazing legs pressed ten tons just to impress him. Despite the jealously, he was turned on and she found out not a moment after arriving home.

  Internal growths stabilized some, but the new bones in his back could barely be felt beneath his large back muscles. Nevertheless, they were there. Like nodes, but couldn’t be seen outwardly without touch. His bones were indeed slowly hollowing, but were oddly growing more dense. And his weight also steadily increased, as did his appetite Cook always sated and relished in his comments. She was an easy being to please and just as quick to upset if she didn’t get his praise. It only happened once, but he vowed to never have the Wisp look so sad ever again.

  Sex only got better and more intense. His back was a shiny silver roadmap of scars from scratching and hundreds of bites stood over his neck, chest and arms like tiny hills that stoked his ego, with one bite mark somehow placed on his left butt cheek one passionate night where too much alcohol could be blamed. Still as of yet he couldn’t break her skin, needing a sharp knife to taste her life force. Kanade especially loved his changes for it meant better leverage, deeper penetration and stronger screams of ecstasy. Every day was better than the last.

  Work with Merlin progressed rapidly, especially with Kanade helping to practice. From Two B a month and a half ago he was now Seven C, roughly the equivalent of a young teenage Wizard. He now had nineteen runes to invoke and did fairly well learning how to properly connect runes along with doing small illusions like making animals or children. He was by no means proficient, but got by.

  Many things he learned like how leather was the best medium to house defensive spells, no matter what leather it is. It retained enchantments for days at his level. But level Twenty Six, the highest Caster class, made permanent spells that would not wane in time unless the runes were broken… in which case rarely happens accidently. The Sixteenth House is the main supplier of natural magical ingredients and is the most guarded as the Nymph Queen oversaw and regulated all purchases. Most potions come from the Sixteenth House because it was the only place in the world with a unique soil composition that allows for three of the most sought after ingredients, Cereeme Sap from a ten thousand year old Nymph queen cursed by a Demon and transformed to
a sacred tree. Lammian seeds are a powerful catalyst that blends most potions and Ethan knew all about Tournikka plants used primarily for healing.

  Ethan also learned Demons had their own set of runes, but unlike Witches and Wizard who pass along magical talent to their children, Demons rarely find themselves capable. But those who do command their Demon Energy can use thirty nine runes made and used by Chaos. Apparently the two kinds of runes cannot mix, just like Spirit and Demon energies.

  But the coolest bit of magic Ethan was taught was one day when he activated a four rune sequence and a bluish violet flame appeared in one hand while he used the other to ignite the other in normal red and orange.

  Magical fire was pathetic to what he made.

  The most useful teachings by far from Merlin was learning to sense the most subtle tingling used in magic, which was impossible so long as he used fire. He had to be entirely relaxed. The High Wizard even taught him what to feel for if someone went digging around in his skull. Because of it he actually caught Kanade twice accidently trying to eavesdrop while he worked on his tablet. When it happened he did as taught and shut down all excess thoughts and mentally screamed so loud Kanade almost had to peel herself off the ceiling. She apologized, but didn’t try a third time. That mental trick, Merlin explained, requires years of discipline, but never had he heard it coming naturally to a person. The unbreakable focus was the only defense a Caster has to defend from mental extraction. But no one other than Ethan knew he had read Kanade’s mind not once, but twice. He figured out how to do it and reframed from unintentionally getting caught.

  Enough was known and unknown already.

  And every morning and night right before a meal he drank up to keep the potion’s effects strong.

  Celestia’s project he was doing though took meticulous effort which meant time. Gauntlets were by far the hardest creations a blacksmith can do. He could crap out a longsword in about a week or less. Fewer moving parts the better.