Alfred 2: And The Underworld (Alfred the Boy King)

by Ron Smorynski

Alfred hit the rock in front of him a bit too hard. The hammer bounced back and nearly knocked him off the narrow platform.

  “Whoah!” said Ruig, balancing him. “Focus and hit softly. Feel the rock. Feel its bounce.” He gently tapped a few times on rock next to the ore to get a sense of it. Then he hit it just a bit harder. There was suddenly a small crack.

  “Hey, looky there!” Alfred squinted.

  “Yes, the rock gives in eventually and you exploit it.”

  Ruig poked out his tongue subconsciously as he worked. A small chunk of ore fell out. Ruig caught it as Alfred held out his hand in excitement. Ruig handed it to Alfred. It looked like a rock but was shiny and heavier. It was the first time Alfred had seen iron ore.

  “It's like a mysterious hidden treasure for us to exploit and use,” he said.

  Again Ruig began tapping at the vein and surrounding rock. Alfred put the small piece in a bag and got back to his own tapping, this time more gently.

  After awhile they each had a full bag of ore. Ruig tapped Alfred on the shoulder to let him know it was time to climb back down. Ruig was a bit sore and tired. Alfred didn't want to leave. Ruig marveled at how Alfred had gotten some really good pieces and wasn't tired. Alfred couldn't believe the thrill of getting slivers of the iron vein to fall out. He wanted to continue, but Ruig knew better. At some point, without knowing it, Alfred would be exhausted. It was not safe climbing back down or traversing up the mine's tedious tunnels when fatigued. This is when unexpected injuries could happen.

  Ruig and Alfred climbed down slowly and then trotted along the tunnel with full bags of ore and some stones they had to clear out. Alfred now realized how tired he was. They had to take regular breaks in the dark shaft. Other workers passed them up, carrying their own loads in wicker baskets. Everyone was tired and dirty. It was hard work. Alfred wondered if they could last.

  Back out at the campsite, Broggia and Boggin had set up their own fire pit and were collecting stones to build a larger one. They were just down the pathway from the opening to the mine.

  Loranna and the girls were building a tree house of sorts to keep watch out across the land. They had the sloping height of the hill but wanted a better lookout and a more secure sleep area. One girl placed a sign that read, “No Boys Allowed”.

  The boys and Murith placed branch coverings and grassy patches for bedding as temporary sleeping quarters. They were near Hedor's men, who tended the cooking and large fire pit for social gatherings.

  Murith then had the boys chop wood. They had only a few axes, so each took his turn. Thankfully, some farmers came by and provided food and additional tools. Derhman brought an ancient saw they could use to cut larger timber pieces. He showed Cory and the boys the proper and safe way to fell trees.

  They had the use of two ponies, one from the smith's cart and another from a local farmer. They put them to use dragging in the felled trees, which the boys would chop up. This freed Hedor's men to focus on mining.

  Over the days, Alfred found he had many simple but great meals. The children's parents, farmers, took turns bringing meals each day. Alfred cherished each one and fell into the best sleeps he could remember. Working physically each day in the dark damp of the mine, not by force or punishment, but with a sense of purpose, led to wonderful nights of campfires, food, songs, dancing girls and singing men, of boys jostling and playing, and of sweet fruit with honey cooked in pots. He was surprised at the variety of desserts and sweets that simple farm folk could provide the children.

  Alfred remembered at school all the packaged and processed sweets, all the bags of chips and candy bars, and all the cartoon character candies. His mom didn’t want him eating them but relented on occasion, giving him a dollar so he could buy a treat along with the other kids. He always knew the processed food stuff was not the best. One time he and the boys read the ingredients wondering what they were made of: sodium benzoate, PGPR, butylated hydroxyanisole, phosphoric acid, high fructose corn syrup, alpha tocopherol acetate? What were these things? They had a laugh!

  He knew that physically the kids back home were not as healthy as they could be, as he could be. Here, with the boys and girls of the Westfold, eating fruits and nuts cooked in honeys and natural syrups, he could see the children were more fit, more physical and more vibrant in their thoughts and ability to focus. He sensed that the Creator of all these things meant for them to eat from what he provided in his creation, foods picked from the vine, so to speak, and not what man made from it – the processed stuff.

  The girls set up patrols day and night. Several boys would tag along with the few decent spear-like sticks they had. Murith and Loranna worked out the schedule. Alfred was focused on the ore and dropping it off with Broggia and Boggin.

  Everyone worked hard, with a purpose. However, they all felt an impending doom. What was it?

  Chapter Eighteen: The Secret of Steel

  Alfred spent time with the smiths, drawing the design of a smelter in the sand. He had studied over a thousand years of medieval history concerning the development of the smelter to make not just iron but steel. This process was held in secret by many societies: Japan's ancient samurai culture developed the katanna blade, a gifted Viking crafted blades stronger than iron. Alfred also read about later periods when steel was more fully understood and created with industrial methods.

  He figured all he had to do now was teach Broggia and Boggin the basic concepts, so they could refine the process and make some of the best steel around. He knew that in order for this kingdom to survive it had to have its own source of strength. They were blessed to have raw materials. Now they needed to understand the secret of making steel to gain an advantage against the evil of Gorbogal and her monstrous armies. They couldn't rely on killing goblins for their crude steel or on the greedy Telehistine merchants and their mercenaries, especially since these opportunists had drained them of their existing resources.

  Though the smiths were familiar with the process of smelting, Alfred needed to provide the information that took medieval men many generations to figure out. The craft of making raw steel was more than a process, it was an art form. Alfred knew from his reading, it did not work every time. Every little factor had to be just right.

  When smelting, the smiths had to note as best as they could all the things they did and what measurements they used. If they were off in any of the factors, the steel could be too soft. This would be “wrought iron,” which would never hold a strong sharp edge. The other possibility was ”cast iron,” which would be too hard and brittle, breaking under pressure. These two forms of iron were commonly made and used.

  Many soldiers fought with weapons that would dull rather quickly or shatter in the middle of the most strenuous conflicts. Both kinds of iron were too heavy compared to perfectly balanced steel. It took smiths generations and the right mistakes to discover steel.

  Throughout the ages of smelting, smiths would mostly get soft or hard iron and never the perfect middle ground of steel. They accepted this, not knowing any better. By chance, a rare smith would figure it out. Broggia and Boggin had the luxury of Alfred, who had studied a thousand years of steel making from cool library books and on “the Internet.” So he could tell them what the process was and what the final product could be.

  Alfred explained that the ore needed to be partially melted down in a chimney-like smelter. This much they already knew, having had plenty of experience making copper, wrought iron and cast iron for pots, pans, hammers and the like. But to make that mysterious magical steel, they, like most village smiths, had never learned the technique and assumed it required magical abilities.

  All were taught to believe that the uncommon “steel smiths” were enchanted or blessed with “dark magics.” Many nations fell to the superior steel of goblins or empires of steel. Whenever a smith figured out how to make steel, upon hearing of it, a strong nation would hurriedly abduct and take the smith to help them build their own superior weapons of war.

  For the
good of the people and to defend against evil in their world, Alfred wanted to prepare his kingdom to fight back using steel.

  As he was explaining the history and process to Broggia and Boggin, Hedor and his men came to listen. All were intrigued by the riddle of steel. Alfred decided he would explain it to all at the evening dinner. All the miners, the carpenters, some farmers, the girls and boys, and Sir Murith sat around the fire with their bowls and plates of food, listening intently.

  “Okay,” he said when they were assembled at the campfire, “there are four major preparations for making steel. The charcoal has to be made. You gather plenty of wood, lots and lots, and then you collect it to burn in a huge pile. We can collect the charcoal from our fire here, but it is best to make a lot for the smelting. You must burn wood down to charcoal and cover it with sand evenly and slowly. The sand puts out the fire before it burns the wood all the way to ash. A lot of charcoal is needed. So a few of you will need to work on that. Charcoal burns hotter than regular wood.

  Another group will need to make the smelting furnaces. These are like a small chimney above a fireplace. You make it with clay and add straw to strengthen it, making it thick like a big vase.”

  “Oh we can do that!” Setheyna whispered loudly.

  “I love clay!” Niranna chimed.

  Alfred paced by, continuing, “It won't need to be huge, just a few feet high. It will be used only once and then destroyed to remove the very very hot steel at the bottom. It will have to have several holes on the bottom, with clay or cast iron pipes sticking out of it. You might need access to those holes to clear them out once in awhile when it gets super hot and clogged. So that has to be figured out. Those holes will be needed to pump in air, lots of it, for a long time. Air is what makes the fire breathe, just like us! And the faster and more air it breathes, the hotter it gets! It's like magic, like a dragon's fire. Or, better, it is like a volcano's fire, like hot magma lava!”

  Everyone looked around puzzled when he mentioned volcano but dared not stop him to ask a question.

  “Air that needs to be pumped in will come from some sort of bellows, bigger ones than you use in smithing. The bellows will be like two large paddles and sewn between them there will be a leather flap. So when you push the paddles together and draw them apart, air gets pushed through.”

  Hedor raised his hand. “Oh we could just use Molger there. He's full of hot air!”

  Molger burped up a lot of hot air and grinned. A few of the men chuckled and tapped him in jest.

  “We're gonna need more than that! Sorry Molger,” Alfred retorted.

  Molger shrugged and received sympathy pats.

  “I've seen drawings of these bellows attached to water wheels. So as the water runs over the wheel, it turns the spokes that flap the paddles in and out. You carpenters will have to design that device and make sure it can attach to different furnaces as they make them and then take them apart. And the reason for using water wheels is that it takes eight to ten hours to burn the ore down. That's a lot of paddle pushing!

  “I can't burp that long,” Molger burped slowly, blowing hot air.

  “And another group will need to get something called flux! It's just limestone or some sort of chalky rock. Hedor mentioned that there is soft sandy rock like this in the mines.”

  “Plenty, along the main corridor. Good for rashes too,” Hedor affirmed. “Not that... I... huh-hmm..”

  “We'll need flux to be added to the furnace, along with the charcoal and iron ore. These three things, together, will be added in measurements you smiths will have to figure out. The charcoal will burn layer after layer as you put it in through the top of the chimney smelter. Air will constantly be pushed in from the bottom holes. As this all heats to a hot magma level, it will slowly melt the iron ore. The iron ore won't turn into dripping lava actually but will get so hot and soft it will sink to the bottom. In the heat, it will mix with the flux or sand and with the burning charcoal. This super hot mixture will become a super hot rock of steel at the bottom called a “bloom.” The flux purifies the steel. There will be some hot drippings of slag, which looks like lava, but that will be run off from the burning.”

  Everyone seemed to slowly lean in, listening as if Alfred were slaying a dragon, very slow and mysteriously. The warm light of the fire on Alfred's face and the way he contorted his hands to show the hot ore dripping down the furnace intrigued them. Broggia's eyes seemed dazed in a dream.

  “Now, as I have read, all of this is an art form. So Broggia, Boggin, you'll probably be doing quite a few of these before you get the steel just right. That's the secret. It isn't magic. It's just about getting the right amount of flux to flow through and purify the iron. It's about getting it hot enough with the air pushing in. It's about the right mixture of charcoal to iron ore in layers as it all melts down. If you have too much or too little or some wrong balance, then you'll just get the old iron you usually get. The important thing to know is that you can make steel. You gotta keep track of what you do each time so you can keep trying until you get the right balance.”

  The small crowd of fixated listeners suddenly blinked and woke out of an enthralling story.

  Alfred took a deep breath to begin anew, “The bloom of steel is just a big ugly lava rock. It still needs a lot of work. Once that is done, the smiths really have to work. They take it to another more open furnace and with more charcoal and another bellows to increase the heat. They soften it there and then hammer it out, over and over. As they hammer, making it flatter and flatter, more of the slag or impurities get pushed out of it. They keep hammering it down into the basic shape they want, like a long stick for a sword. But again, as they hammer, they gotta get out any black or dirty things still sort of melted in there.

  And from there, getting the right middle ground between soft iron and brittle hard iron is how you make steel.”

  Broggia stood up and clapped hysterically. Boggin was stunned at his old father's energetic glee. The others too leapt up, clapping in excitement. They knew that if they could get this working, it would empower them to defend their small kingdom properly. For the first time, they had a chance at freedom, not slavery. They had an opportunity to fight for their liberation.

  The days in the Underworld were busy. Alfred, being king, wanted to help each group and therefore would spend time with each one on different days. He'd mine for iron ore up the scaffolding on one day. On the next he'd get some fresh air – coughing in smoke, that is – at the fires where they made the charcoal. He'd help chop wood with the boys. He'd then work with the girls making clay furnaces. Some of them made little clay dolls and tea cups as well, but since they were the ones on guard, Alfred couldn't complain. But boy did it make him want some tea!

  The furnaces were fun to make. Broggia and Hedor's men, the two carpenters, Gjorg and Smillin, were working out the details of the furnaces and the bellows system. They found a stream nearby with decent water flow that could be used to turn a water wheel.

  There was much design and work to be done. It was an amazing endeavor. They knew that in this goblin infested world, they needed an edge – the edge of steel, that is.

  Broggia and Boggin acquired decent tools from the farmers nearby and used copper as payment. They could easily get copper ore from the mines. They devised a coinage system as payment. It wasn't real money to anyone but this small group. Alfred agreed that they should create copper coins to use for trade. One of the girls crafted a clay mold forming a fancy “A”, for Alfred, and that was imprinted on each coin. In time, they could use the coins to pay for services rendered by Broggia and Boggin or for trade in Alfred's kingdom, such as farming produce, wood and eventually steel.

  Initially, the farmers donated many items for the cause. As time went on, with all that was given, the burden began to be felt as more was needed. In this way, Alfred could use the coins as payment, and they could accumulate wealth to pay for their needs later. It was like an “investment” they made for their future, a
nd it gave the farmers the feeling of ownership in their success. Surprisingly, the system grew rapidly, and the farmers worked harder to bring provisions to exchange for coins. Everyone felt a renewed sense of purpose.

  Hedor and Ruig looked odd as Boggin handed coins to a farmer. The farmer seemed joyful to have such a bag of copper coins, sauntering off with his precious investment. Hedor rolled his eyes and asked flippantly, “How much will these copper coins be worth in the future?”

  Broggia answered, “Everything.”

  Chapter Nineteen: Exploring the Underworld

  Once everything was ready, Broggia and Boggin and the team began the smelting process. After several tries, they were able to make plenty of the soft wrought iron and the hard cast iron. They could use both for various tools. They still hadn't made that elusive bloom of perfect steel, but they sensed that they were getting closer. Alfred could see their excitement knowing that the next trial of charcoal, flux, clay furnace, iron ore, and several days of bellowing and burning, might result in steel. The most important factor was their knowing it wasn't some evil enchantment that kept them from it. They just needed persistence.

  Alfred decided it was all in good hands and therefore, time for him to explore the Underworld. He conscripted, as it were, a sort of “force,” Loranna and Cory, to come with him. Neither wanted to explore in the dark depths of the Underworld. Alfred had already worked in and explored for weeks in the local mining areas. He had grown accustomed to the darkness, the hard gritty surfaces and the claustrophobic nature of it all. He wasn't afraid of it anymore.

  He reminded them that it would be catastrophic if he were to fall in some chasm of eternal bottomless darkness! Who else could he trust to save him? He smiled as both Loranna and Cory tried to fathom what a chasm of eternal bottomless darkness was.

  Hedor gave them a final warning about the dangers and advice on the right gear for their “short jaunt” into the Underworld. “Just a short exploration, mind you. Enough food for two days, then return.”