Chapter 40

We all stood in the forge and looked at Hammer. “So? How’s it look?” he asked as we collectively stared at him.

“Well,” I said. “To quote Knick, ‘you look way more dangerous.’”

Knick just nodded, “Yeah,” he said.

Ara was holding her hands clutched together against her chest. “You look like a real knight, Mister Smith,” the dreamy tone in her voice made me glance over at her. “Why, if I wasn’t already my lord’s attendant I do believe you’d have stolen my heart away at the first sight of you in your splendid armor.” Hammer put his hands on his hips proudly. I had to admit she was right though, he really did look like a proper knight with that shining armor on and his greatsword on his back.

“Hmph,” I put an arm around Ara’s waist and snugged her up next to me. “You can’t have her, Hammer. She’s all mine,” I said as I pointed a finger at him in mock anger. His chuckle from inside the armor had a slightly hollow quality to it. I released Ara as she blushed and slapped my chest playfully. “Seriously though, how’s the vision with that helmet?” I asked. I had ended up making almost a dozen charcoal sketches of various helmets for him, and he’d tacked them up on the walls of the forge which actually gave the place a somewhat martial feel, especially combined with the even larger number of sketches of various pieces of his armor and the scale mail. I took a mental picture of Hammer standing there with his hands on his hips. I’d do a sketch of the final product later.

“Pretty good actually,” came his deep echoey voice as his head turned from side to side. I’d stolen the vast majority of the helmet designs from movies I’d seen. Knick’s personal favorite had been a straight up copy, or as close to a copy as I could recall, of the helmet from the movie Gladiator. Personally, I was rather partial to the Mandalorian style helmet I’d drawn up. Hammer, though, had spent more than a week considering which one he would ultimately make and had ended up making a helmet that looked somewhat similar to the helmet of The Goblin Slayer, from the anime series of the same name, with a vertical steel grate over his face. The primary difference between our adaptation and the original was a much sleeker look and a series of spikes that ran from his forehead, over the crown of his head, and to the back like a short mohawk. I figured he might end up doing some seriously close quarters brawling at some point and wanted someone that took a headbut from Hammer to STAY headbutted. It was also much more form fitting and streamlined than the original I’d drawn up, but that’s the difference between reality and cartoons I guess.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Well,” said Hammer. “Let’s see yours, guys.” He tossed a set of scale mail to Knick and me. We still had about a month of winter left, but we had completely finished our intended project. We’d be able to use the remaining time to forge the remaining iron and steel into knives and swords for selling.

I pulled off my cloak, and Ara folded it up in her arms as I pulled on the long scale mail shirt. I’d ended up making mine come down to just shy of my elbows like a short sleeved shirt that hung down past mid thigh. I unbuckled my sword belt and put it back on over the armor which fit perfectly since we’d pretty much custom tailored it to me. I may have to let it out a bit in a year or three, and we had made sure we had plenty of extra scales for when that time came, but fit matters when you’re talking about armor. I wanted to make sure I’d still be alive in a few years to make those alterations..We’d ended up having the leather we used for the scales dyed. Then we’d had each individual piece lacquered after it had been basically glued to each piece of steel, so the scales on my armor shone a reflective black in the light of the forge like that of an actual living reptile. The hope was that the lacquer would make them at least water resistant so the leather would last longer, but damn that is a cool look if I do say so myself.

I looked over at Knick. He had thrown his cloaks over one of the nearby anvils; we had purchased a spare so Knick and Hammer could make scales at the same time, thereby doubling the speed of the work. Knick had already put on his scale mail. His was more of a sleeveless vest that left his arms free and only came down as far as his belt, so as not to interfere with him drawing his knife he’d said. The scales on his vest had been dyed a deep red, and the way it shone in the low light of the forge it actually looked like he was covered in blood. Again, with the close-fit tailoring, it looked like actual reptile skin, like we’d somehow skinned a dragon and turned it into a simple vest. Knick was twisting about and repeatedly drawing his knife. Finally he seemed satisfied, and sheathed his blade. He turned to me and gave me a nod, “I like it,” he said,

“Same,” I replied, as I twisted my torso around experimentally. It was quite comfortable and, while a bit heavier than I’d anticipated, didn’t restrict my movement much at all. I put my hands on my hips in an imitation of Hammer’s earlier pose as I looked from Hammer to Ara. “So? How do we look?” I asked, giving my killer’s grin.

“It’s very dashing, my lord,” said Ara with shining eyes as she looked at me.

Hammer held up a fist in front of where his mouth was inside the armor and cleared his throat, “Ahem. Let me put it this way guys. I’m wearing full plate armor and have a steel greatsword on my back, and I would not want to piss you off looking like that.”

I laughed and looked over at Knick. He had taken out his knife again and appeared to be stabbing himself in the chest repeatedly while smiling a slightly demented grin as the knife failed to penetrate.

Ok, I guess I get it.