by Perrin, Don
The woman giggled and tried—but not very hard—to pull away. “Oh, yes! That would be wonderful, my lord!” She snuggled up. She knew how to win friends.
“I would really like this man, Theros Ironfeld, to join my army. Do you suppose you could persuade him to do that for me?”
The girl’s eyes widened. She had seen Theros in the pub many times over the past years and had paid little attention to him. She now eyed him with more respect.
“I’m not sure what I could say to him to make him reconsider,” she said.
Moorgoth gave the girl a nudge toward Theros. She wobbled and landed in Theros’s lap. “I’m sure you’ll think of something, my dear.”
Marissa’s eyes darted over the massive muscles of the smith in admiration. She ran her hand over his shoulder. Three gold pieces had been shoved into her hand while she sat with Dargon Moorgoth.
Theros didn’t know this at the time. He put his arm around the woman’s waist. “Say anything you like to me. You are a very lovely woman!”
The barmaid snuggled close and looked into his eyes.
“Oh, sir. Do you really think so?” she asked coyly.
Moorgoth smiled and stood up. “I am off to bed, Theros Ironfeld. I hope you change your mind and decide to join Moorgoth’s raiders. Perhaps I’ll stop by tomorrow and we can have another little chat.” With that, he turned and left.
The barmaid stood and began clearing the dishes and mugs from the table. She took them to the kitchen, then went over to the bartender. The two whispered back and forth for a few moments, and a few coins were passed to the man.
She returned to Theros’s table and picked up his now-empty mug. Leaning forward, she let her hair fall softly across Theros’s face and whispered in his ear. “Meet me upstairs in Room Two in half an hour.”
She turned and took the mug away.
Theros’s heart pounded. He had admired the barmaid for a long time. Now, he was being admired in turn. He was no longer just the town smith.
He went upstairs.
He found the room without any problem, even in the poorly lit corridor. The candles in their sconces illuminated the number on the brass door. He hesitated in front of the door, then opened it without knocking. He quickly looked around. No one was in the room.
The bed was large enough for two, and there was a desk and chair standing in the corner. Next to the door stood a small table with a washbasin and a full jug of water. Beside the basin sat a razor. A small hand towel hung from a peg in the wall. It was definitely a comfortable room.
Theros gingerly tried the bed. It was soft. A down quilt covered the straw bedding, neatly hiding the scratchy stalks below the cloth. Sheets and a blanket covered the quilt.
He lay back on the bed and shut his eyes. He felt like a man of destiny today. He had been invited to join up with an army. He had refused, but the memory of old times made him wonder what its objectives were, how many men and what sort of equipment it had. He was thinking about this when the door opened.
The barmaid slid in and shut the door behind her. She came over and sat next to Theros on the bed.
She put her hands on Theros’s chest and looked down into his eyes. “My name is Marissa.”
Theros started to tell her what his name was, but she stopped his words with a kiss. He put his arms around her and brought her close.
Marissa pulled back from him, ran her hands through his curly, short black hair. “I know your name. And I’m sorry I never noticed you before, Theros Ironfeld,” she said softly, breathlessly.
Reaching into the bodice of her dress, she drew out three gold pieces and handed them to Theros.
“What’s this for?” he asked in astonishment.
“You overpaid me for the meal,” she answered, smiling.
“But—”
Marissa kissed him again. There was no more talk about money. Nor did she once mention the notion that he should join Moorgoth’s raiders.
The night was one Theros would never forget.
Chapter 16
Theros awoke when the sun hit him in the eyes and he looked around, not recognizing his surroundings. Then the last evening and his liaison with Marissa came back to him swiftly.
He lay back down in the bed, noticing that she was gone. He could still smell her perfume on the sheets. The sun was yet level with his window, meaning that it was early. He didn’t have to leave at once. Perhaps Marissa would come back.
Today would be a good one for Theros. He would go to his work, start that new shield he’d promised to one of Moorgoth’s men. Now that the army was planning to march, Theros would undoubtedly have as much work as he could manage in the next few days. He’d work long hours, but he’d charge more for the extra time. Then he’d visit the Jeweler’s Guild, buy one of those jewels Marissa thought were so lovely.
Marissa. Last night had been the first night Theros had not slept alone since he had arrived in Sanction seven years ago. Women had glanced his way on more than one occasion, but he’d never done much to encourage them to do more than look. He didn’t know how to talk to women, who seemed to expect a man to talk about things like moonlight and roses. The only thing Theros knew about moonlight was that it permitted night marching. Women never seemed the least bit interested in talking about the things he liked to talk about—the best stone to use for sharpening swords, how to make fine quality steel.
Not until he’d met Marissa. Last night, they’d talked and talked, and not about moonlight, either.
He rose, rinsed his face in the basin, and shaved. Dressing, he went down the stairs to the pub. Breakfast was being served.
He looked around to see if he could find Marissa. She was nowhere in sight. Theros ordered a plate of eggs and bread, with tarbean tea and a piece of apple for his meal. He ordered an apple cider to wash it down.
After his meal, he went back out onto the street, walked to his shop. Yuri was there already, opening the shutters. Yuri was a good worker, skilled in tooling and sewing leather. He was not strong enough to make a smith, but he could do all of the odd jobs that Theros didn’t have time to do—leatherwork, arrow and spearhead making, armor work. Yuri was young, but he caught on quickly.
Sometime, perhaps, Theros would tell Yuri that. Then Theros thought of Hran and his training. Praise gives a person a swelled head. Better to keep Yuri in line. He’d learn faster.
Arriving at the smithy, Theros was not surprised to find one of Moorgoth’s men loitering about the street in front of the smithy, obviously waiting for the smith to open for business.
Theros gave the man a nod, unlocked the latch, opened the big doors. He went inside and started to heat up the forge. The guardsman stepped inside. He was holding a sword in his hand. Theros, eyeing the weapon, was quick to spot the notched blade.
“Yuri!” Theros bellowed. “Get in here!”
The young man was in the back room, where he slept. He ran into the smithy, looking fearful, as if there were a fire, or—worse—he had forgotten to do something. “What is it, sir? The accounts are in order. I counted them down myself this morning! I—Oh! Hello, sir.” Yuri flushed. He was supposed to watch for customers. “What can we do for you today?”
“Look at this blade!” the guardsman said in disgust. “Can you believe it? Just for hitting a blasted dwarf over the head. Sure, he had on a steel helm, but still! I paid good money for this sword in Flotsam. I expected better. Moorgoth sent me to you. Can you mend it, Master Ironfeld?”
Theros smiled. So Moorgoth was sending his men over here. That was excellent! “Certainly. Put the blade on that table. I’ll have it ready for you tonight.”
“Fine. Moorgoth said to send the bill to him.”
Theros nodded. He’d make it double what he would have charged anyone else.
The guardsman left the forge. Yuri took the sword, placing it on the table. Theros went back to his work, heating up the fire, when he noticed that Yuri was wasting time, staring at the sword.
“In Sargas’
s name, what are you doing, boy? Haven’t you ever seen a sword before?”
“Not one like this, sir,” said Yuri. “It’s got funny little marks all over the blade.”
“Bah!” Theros snorted. “That’s the problem, then. Let this be a lesson to you. Engraving a blade is well and good, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, you ruin the blade’s effectiveness. Now get back to those gloves you’re stitching.”
Yuri ran off, giving the sword a last parting glance.
Theros, now curious, left the fire to itself and went over to examine the weapon.
The marks on the blade were, as Yuri had said, curious. Theros had expected them to be Solamnic in nature, for the knights were forever putting family crests, roses, kingfishers and every other heraldic symbol they could find upon their weapons.
But this.… Theros turned the blade this way and that and finally made out what the “marks” were supposed to represent.
Dragons. Dragons twining up and down the blade. Strange-looking dragons with long, snakelike bodies and no wings. And interspersed among the dragons appeared to be letters, although they belonged to no alphabet that Theros knew. Not elven, certainly. Not dwarven either.
Obviously, though, he’d been correct in his assessment. The engraving had marred the integrity of the blade. He thrust the blade into the fire to heat, and began sorting out and preparing the proper tools.
A strange hissing caught his attention.
“Yuri, stop making that fool noise!” Theros shouted.
“Stop what, sir?” Yuri walked in from the back, a half-finished glove in his hand. “I wasn’t doing anything—sir! Blessed Gilean! S-s-sir! L-l-l-look!”
Theros turned. Yuri was stammering and pointing at the forge fire.
Theros couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Dragons, small red dragons that seemed to be made of flame, were crawling off the blade of the sword that now glowed red in the heat of the blazing fire.
Openmouthed, Theros stared. He shut his eyes, rubbed them, looked again. The dragons were still there, more and more of them. Now they were scuttling across the white-hot coals. One of the dragons—a bright, fiery red creature—jumped out of the bed of coals, landed on a wooden bench. The dragon vanished, changing to flame. The bench began to smolder and smoke.
The firepit was filled with tiny dragons now, hundreds and hundreds. They were leaping and dancing and jumping, and everything they touched burst into flame. Yuri was now shrieking at the top of his lungs. At least he had the presence of mind to grab a bucket of water and throw its contents on the flaming bench.
Theros couldn’t move. Sorcery! This was wizard’s work. Theros would have faced the prospect of cold steel in the belly without blanching. The sight of that ensorceled sword left him as weak and shaking as a terrified child.
The fiery little dragons were dashing up the wooden beams that supported the roof. They crawled to the worktable, dropped among the tools. And everything they touched burst into flame—even metal. The only effect the water seemed to have on the flames was to spread them. Yuri might have been pouring oil on them.
Yuri was clutching at Theros, trying to drag him out of the forge. The building filled up rapidly with a particularly toxic, choking smoke.
“Come away, master! Come away! There’s nothing you can do! Give up!”
“By Sargas!” Theros roared, coming to himself. “Never!”
Grabbing hold of a piece of uncut leather, he began beating at the flaming dragons that were running along the hard-packed earthen floor of the smithy. The dragons jumped onto the leather, and it caught fire so fast that the heat of the flames singed all the hair off of Theros’s arm. He dropped the leather, started to try to stamp out the flames with his foot.
“No, master, no!” Yuri was howling.
“More water, you fool!” Theros shoved the boy out of the forge. “Bring more water.”
He stomped on the dragons, and every time his foot hit one, it gave a little squeak and turned cold and black. But there must have been thousands now and he could never hope to put them all out. The smoke was making him cough, burning his eyes. The wooden beams on the ceiling had caught fire now. The heat was forcing Theros back toward the open door.
Still he fought, until one of the dragons jumped on his leg. It burned through his long leather apron in an instant, touched his flesh. The pain was excruciating, far worse than any burn Theros had ever received in his long years of working the forge. It seemed that his flesh was going to burst into flame. The pain was so intense, he felt himself starting to black out.
He staggered out of the burning forge and collapsed upon the ground, clutching his leg and moaning. Looking up, he saw that a crowd had formed around his forge. Most of his neighbors were there, plus many more of the citizens of Sanction, attracted by the billowing black smoke. Among these were several of the maroon-coated men of Moorgoth’s raiders. And standing among those was a black-robed wizard. He stood with his arms folded across his chest, a slight smile on his face.
Not one person sought to help put out the blaze. Not one person grabbed a bucket or shouted for the town guard, or did anything else typical of such emergencies. They all stood in silence, watching the fire, staring at Theros.
Yuri came running up, panting, carrying the bucket of water. He stared, aghast, at the shop—it was engulfed in flames.
“Never mind that now!” Theros shouted. “Pour the water on my leg!” It might help or it might make the flames worse, but Theros was frantic with the pain. He didn’t much care.
Yuri dumped the water on Theros’s burning clothes. The fire went out instantly. Theros lay back on the ground, panting and sweating. The pain of his burned leg made him almost sick, as did the smell of his own charred flesh.
The black-robed wizard walked up to Theros, knelt down to examine the smithy’s injured leg. Theros growled, but he was in too much pain to say anything.
“Nasty burn,” said the mage calmly. “It will leave a bad scar, I’m afraid. But I have something that might ease the pain.” He placed a jar of ointment at Theros’s side. “Oh, don’t worry about paying me,” the wizard added, with a sly grin. “I’ll send the bill to Baron Moorgoth.”
The wizard strode off, black robes trailing in the ashes, which were just about all that was left of the forge. Even the stone chimney had burned in the magical blaze.
One by one, Theros’s neighbors drifted away, went back to their work. The townspeople, now that the excitement was over, wandered back to the bars and taverns. Moorgoth’s men stood around, talking amongst themselves.
“Isn’t that a coincidence? For the smith’s forge to catch fire like that. After he turned down the baron’s generous offer. My, my. I wonder what Master Ironfeld will do now?”
“Lost his tools and everything. You know, it’s a strange twist of fate, but Baron Moorgoth’s well stocked with tools. Kept them from the last smith we had.”
Yuri helped Theros to his feet. “Master!” The boy’s face was white, streaked with black. His eyes were wide and frightened. “Master, even the strongbox melted!”
“The money?” Theros knew the answer.
Yuri shook his head. “Gone. All gone.”
“Well, Ironfeld,” said a voice behind him. “This is a terrible accident you’ve had. Just terrible.”
Theros turned. Baron Dargon Moorgoth stood behind him.
“What will you do now, Ironfeld? Oh, I guess you could start up your business again, but you know, I have the feeling that you wouldn’t get very many customers.”
A minotaur bested in contest who has fought well is permitted to surrender without shame or dishonor. Theros knew when he was beaten. The best thing to do was to accept his defeat, surrender, and carry on. But do it with dignity. Always with dignity.
Theros, limping on his injured leg, pulled himself up, faced Moorgoth.
“Do you still need a smith?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” said Moorgoth.
“I will
take you up on the job, then,” Theros said coolly. “You will pay me what you offered me last night—one thousand steel to join. You can hand it over now. I’ll need to replace what I’ve lost in the blaze.”
“Agreed,” said Moorgoth, smiling. “Though I might say that you are in no position to bargain—”
“You might,” said Theros. “And I might say that you could go looking for your weapons-smith in the Newsea.” He took the purse that Moorgoth held out to him.
The baron started to walk away. His men, laughing and talking, fell in behind him.
Theros raised his voice to be heard. “Plus, I want a percentage of any take that your army makes, over and above my pay. Is this clear, Baron?”
The baron turned to stare at Theros in amazement. “What did you say, Ironfeld? I thought you made more demands.”
“I did.” Theros was calm. Yuri, standing next to him, was shaking in fear and making signs to Theros to be quiet. Theros ignored him.
“I want a percentage of the take. I’m worth it. You must think so, too. You must have paid that foul wizard a small fortune for his work today.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Moorgoth said. “This was a terrible accident. Still, I imagine that I can agree to the deal. My former smith had a two percent cut. You will receive the same. If you stay past the first three years, I will increase that. Anything else you want, Ironfeld?”
“Nothing for now, Baron,” Theros said. “Where do I join up?”
“Meet us at the center of town.” Moorgoth eyed Theros with new respect. “I think we’re going to get along fine, Ironfeld. Just fine.”
He sauntered off, his men accompanying him. Yuri was looking at Theros with round-eyed wonder.
“What?” Theros demanded, irritated. Bending down, he spread some of the ointment on his leg. Sure enough, the burn immediately ceased to hurt. “Stop gaping at me like that. You look half-witted. Now take some of this money and buy yourself some warm clothes and a blanket. You’ll need them, sleeping out in the open—”
