Hagor seemed happy to answer everything we asked, but after a few queries, Magor gently reminded his father that they were wasting the heat of the specialized forge as we sat there and talked. We apologized and encouraged Hagor to go on with his work. He retrieved a second Orenrock, placed it in the second power node, and went right to smithing.

The father-son duo worked the two different forges in tandem, crafting separate projects at the same time. Goran and I split off in one team to assist Hagor, while Victor and Al went to help Magor at the normal forge. We mostly just followed the directions of the smiths, grabbing materials and tools as ordered. They were happy show us, in detail, how they shaped, hardened, and tempered their various projects. Hagor mostly worked on a dark metal that resembled obsidian called Durandu. It was apparently used for Goran’s sword as well, and it was the Maegar material of choice for their weapons, Magor mostly focused on making mundane iron tools for everyday use.

The work took on a steady, rhythmic quality as the day went on, hammers echoing throughout the building’s rooms. In time, all three Maegar began to hum. It was a deep, vital hum, the melody following the beat of the hammer’s fall. In no time, we were humming along to the same tune. In time, we didn’t even need to take active direction from the smiths. We were able to anticipate their needs, learning simply from watching them, wordlessly following the workman’s song, and ensuring they had whatever they needed. The huffing of the bellows and the crackling of the forge’s fire was the breath of the smithy’s life all throughout.

It was a genuine surprise when Hagor grabbed my shoulder as I went to fetch another piece of ore, breaking the reverie. He gently grinned at me, saying:

“The day is almost over, my boy. We should start preparing to close the shop.”

Technically, since we were underground, the day-night cycle was not as obvious as it would have been aboveground. But the lights would dim as night approached outside, allowing city life in Mahria to approximate the normal routines of sleep and work typical to any civilization that wasn’t in a cave. It wasn’t until after we had finished closing the smithy and just walked out that the herald of the end of our peaceful times approached.

He was a child, perhaps around ten years old, though it was hard to tell, as he was unusually large by human standards. Only his very youthful features marked his as anything else besides a small adult. He ran at us through a small cloud of ash, huffing and puffing as he windmilled his gangly form towards us. Specifically, towards Goran.

He was breathlessly yelling something at Goran in the Maegar language, which I of course couldn’t understand. But the more he spoke, the more I saw the old warrior’s face darken. After a short back and forth with the messenger, Goran began moving down a side road, his long legs eating up an enormous amount of distance even at a fast walk. We jogged to keep up with him, leaving the father-son pair behind.

“What happened?” I was the first to ask. Goran’s expression reminded me of my father’s before he went off to battle.

“One of our major scavenging parties was waylaid by a large party of Harai while on an expedition, about two days of travel from here. They were forced to hold up in one of our emergency shelters on the surface, but they were besieged. Apparently, things were difficult even when the messenger first left to notify us. Things have likely deteriorated even further since. I am going to gather a relief party as quickly as possible. If you wish to offer your aid, though you have no obligation to do so, be at the main entrance of the city in four hours. We will travel by night and day, and the fighting may take some time, so pack accordingly if you wish to help.”

With that he sped up, such that I was the only of the three humans able to follow him further. I didn’t though. I stopped in my tracks and gave the others a meaningful look.

“Let’s get packing. Al, go find the girls.”

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Julia

I wanted to like Mina. I really did. I do my best to like everyone, for the most part, so long as they weren’t trying to kill me.

But she could really push a girl’s buttons.

To her credit, she showed Ann and I around the city while holding onto a general air of politeness. I could see that she listened to her mom enough to not openly glare at us, which I appreciated. Ann and I had a wonderful time looking over the various shops and stores, though we didn’t have the money to buy anything. I caught Ann practically drooling over a shiny black saber, littered with those strange runes that people seemed to put on everything important in this town. We could have tried trading some of our items and seeing what they would give us, but I didn’t want to do that without the boys’ knowledge or input.

Some of my enjoyment, though, was punctured by Mina’s air of indifference and haughtiness. I could practically feel her looking down on us as we ogled the various curiosities and wonders of the city, like she thought of us as country bumpkins. Which we were, technically speaking, but being condescending was still very rude. Even if she never actually said anything about it, her eyes told the full story.

“Hm? You’ve never seen something like this? What a surprise! I thought it was a rather simple thing.”

I had tried to talk to her, but she had promptly brushed me off with one-word answers. When she explained a place or a shop, it was in totally clinical and sterile language. We had tried to get her to explain the strange writings, but she had brushed us off and explained that her father could give us a better explanation than she could at dinner. Ann was just about ready to jump down her throat when she had dodged that question, but I managed to get her to back off. Not like I felt much differently, though.

“Play nice, Julia.” I commented internally, “You won’t get along with everyone and her family has been very generous. Just smile and try to kill her with kindness!”

That last phrase had been a favorite of her mother’s, though she found it very difficult to put it into practice.

Despite a tour guide that was colder than ice, she found herself mostly enjoying this adventure, on balance. There were a few darker spots, though. Like when she realized that food in the city was much tighter than she initially realized, a fact made obvious by the slight malnourishment seen when you looked at many of the children more closely. Not to mention the long lines at the food stalls. But in general, Mahria was a city with a lot to be excited about.

She was rather put out, then, when the overhead lights began to dim, and Mina said that was a sign night was drawing close. The strong implication was that the tour was ending as well. We began to make our way slowly back to our house, guided by the young Maegar girl, when we were stopped by a familiar face.

Al came running and gasping right up to us, and before we could ask what was wrong, he quickly spoke:

“A Maegar scavenging party is in serious trouble, and Goran is putting together a warband to relieve them. We need to get the house quickly, pack up, and get to the entrance.”

Ann and I didn’t know the way back to the house, so we needed to follow Mina back. The young scholar aspirant was far from fast, but she guided us back as quickly as she could, her serious running matched easily by our jogging. Still, though, I was happy that she tried to bring us home as swiftly as possible.

Maybe there was hope for her yet.

Steven

Victor and I had nearly finished packing everything we thought we needed by the time the girls showed up. Lynn had helped as well, after she finished putting Eithan to bed. Both she and I had needed to convince Victor not to come with us on the relief mission, a fact I saw pained him. But he was not a warrior, and he knew it, so he agreed to stay home and gather information.

As Al and the girls arrived, I tossed each one of them a pack:

“Victor is getting your weapons now. Including your gear for traps, Al. Everything else we might need is in the packs.”

After a few more minutes and a couple goodbyes, the four of us were on our way to the entrance.

We arrived early and found a substantial gathering of Maegar already assembled around the entrance. They carried packs like us, and most of them carried spears like Julia, though a few had longswords like Goran or bows and arrows instead. All of them wore their hair in the warrior’s braid that Goran did, and most of them were male.

We waited around, as more warrior’s congregated, and it wasn’t long until Goran himself showed up. He gave a quick speech to the group, and I could tell that it detailed the mission and steeled the determination of the gathered fighters. I could tell by how the others nodded and straightened their backs, the zeal to protect clear in their body language, even though I couldn’t understand their spoken language.

That done, we passed through the tunnel and out into the wild. Our feet crunched in the snow as we dashed into the mountain passes, breath misting in the cool mountain air. The wind whistled softly in the distance, the faint howl of a predator cutting menacingly through the northern passes in the distance. The pounding feet of hundreds of anxious Maegar warriors around me and the adrenaline thudding through my veins urged me onward ever faster. Only the waning light of twilight remained to guide us.

I could only hope that tonight would be a bright moon.