The trip seemed to take longer than it should have, yet I hardly remembered any of it and was left with only a hectic blur of indistinct impressions as we passed people and places that suddenly seemed less welcoming. The distorted shimmers of hot smoky air rising from the stacks above the forging stations were the first sign we had nearly arrived at the Smithy, followed by the noise that grew louder as we approached one of the smaller doors leading inside.

Mother looked around a final time before opening the door and stepping into a short hallway. She paused, looked to me for guidance, and then simply gestured that I should lead the way. I had never seen her anywhere near the Smithy before, which explained her current hesitation, and possibly the unfamiliar route she had taken to lead us here (I, on the other hand, had been coming here for years, and knew the building almost better than my own home).

Once we reached the large central chamber that held the forging stations, she stepped in front of me and marched closer to the area where Jaws was working. "Master Toly!" she yelled in a piercing tone that hurt my ears, "Stop all that and come here, at once!"

I winced as I looked around at all the surprised Blacksmiths, Master and Apprentice alike, who had paused their work and turned to look at us in shock.

Father came jogging over, his eyebrows raised as he looked back and forth between his wife and son, taking in our disheveled appearance and Mother's stern demeanor. "Isa," he said once he was closer, his tone making it clear that he was growing increasingly concerned as the implications of our visit occurred to him, "what has happened? You know you cannot be here." He gestured towards the main entrance as if signaling for us to follow him back outside the Smithy.

“Beasts take your stupid traditions,” Mother hissed back, drawing her dagger and gesturing further into the Smithy, towards an area where there were fewer people working, “We will speak over there.”

For a moment I thought Father was going to pick her up and carry her outside, as I had never seen him frown so deeply before, his usual smile gone and that rock-steady calm finally showing signs of fracture… it abruptly occurred to me that as frightening as Mother might be when she gets upset, the thought of Jaws getting angry was far worse. He looked at me, took a moment to absorb my worried expression as I stared back at him, and nodded. He looked around the room at the dozen people around us and motioned towards the exit, “Return to your homes! I will release the flames, and new fires shall be lit alongside the rising sun.”

A few of the Blacksmiths nodded at him, looking like they were already starting to pack up in a similar manner to the drill used during an attack, and others soon followed their example as they organized the Apprentices and Assistants. One Blacksmith was already at the back exit, near the Waresroom: The woman with lumpy red skin and curling bull-style horns, and her eyes briefly met mine before she quickly looked away and hurried outside the building. Others shook their heads, saying that they would stay and help ‘renew the forges’ after our business was concluded.

(I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but I did know that the only people who generally came this far inside the Smithy were the Blacksmiths, their helpers, and occasional guards requesting repairs or upgrades. It wasn't expressly forbidden for family and friends to visit, as far as I knew (although it seemed like a bad idea, if only for safety concerns) with the only exception being Nobles - and even then, it wasn't that the nobility wasn't 'allowed' in the building (since that would probably be impossible to enforce), but if one of them entered this area the rule was that all work must be stopped for the day. I hadn't been able to get a clear answer as to why such a rule existed, but it had been in practice since before The Merrik descended and our people left the City. Perhaps it was a religious taboo: Our culture didn’t have a specific god or deity, but we venerated the 'spirits' of many things in a manner that reminded me of Shinto-Buddhism, except there was no ancestor worship and Buddha was replaced by our local sky-fallen savior.)

Father picked me up (I was panting pretty heavily – partly from the jog, and partly from fear) and led Mother into his office near the Central Forge. It was furnished with a simple desk and a few shelves used for storing various small tools and neat stacks of beast-hide parchment marked with simple symbols used to help manage inventory.

“Isa, what happened,” he asked, his calm having returned somewhat.

“The guard, Toly. They said they wanted to take Heller from me!” Mother said in a rush, her knuckles white around the dagger in her hand.

I had already gathered that this was about me, somehow. I had heard part of what the guard said, and my mother was far more upset than I had ever seen her… I was also pretty sure she would have been willing to kill that guard if he hadn’t let us leave. Everything started to slow down around me, my thoughts murky as a sense of pressure built in my head and my breath echoed loud in my ears. What the heck was happening? Did they know I was an impostor? That I was from another planet?

Jaws' eyes widened as he took a deep breath, looked towards the door of his office, and then smiled down at me, “Wait for us by the Central Forge, Heller.”

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Mother reacted instantly, moving to block the doorway, “No! Heller stays with me!” She glared at Jaws until he let out a deep sigh.

“Tell me exactly what happened then, Isa.” He looked at me, “You are a clever lad, Heller. But just listen for now.” I nodded, not knowing what to say anyway, my thoughts still chaotic and dim.

Mother took a deep breath, her hand tightening and loosening rhythmically around the hilt of her dagger, “The guard came to the door, Toly. He said that my beast-taken cousin wants to talk to Heller, alone, and he was here to escort our son to North Stone Fort!” She had begun her explanation with surprising calm, but her voice rose in pitch and volume until she was yelling again near the end.

Father’s brows raised in surprise, “You mean Lord Runax? But why would…” he started to ask before Mother cut in again.

“They obviously want to get back at me for leaving!” she exclaimed.

I was getting more and more confused, none of this making the least bit of sense to me.

Mother continued, “We need to leave, now.” She said, emphasizing her point by banging the desk with the hilt of her dagger, “If we take some weapons to trade for food, we can make it to East Stone Village within the week!”

Father was silent, raising his hand to his chin in thought. It was useless to try and force him to make snap decisions, and Mother knew him well enough to wait for him to speak.

“No,” he said, raising a hand to forestall mothers reply. “We need to find out why they want to speak with our son. If we run, they will catch us.”

Mother stepped forward and hit his chest with her free hand (his face was too far up for her to reach without jumping, and she wasn't mad enough to draw her sword... yet), but it was unlikely he even felt the blow, “They want our son, and you want to give him to them! Iron for brains and coal for eyes, you beast-blind fool!”

Father reached out and drew her into a hug as she sobbed into his chest, then looked in my direction. He spoke as if addressing my mother, but I felt as if his words were meant for me, “If they mean us harm, they would do it after we fled the village, Isa. Not here, where all would see.”

Mother froze, her breath caught in her throat as she struggled to digest this new thought. I was probably as pale as a ghost underneath my dark green scales, but I did my best to stand up straight and emulate my father’s posture.

“We will go together to the fort now, in full daylight, and find out what Lord Runax wants from our family,” Father said, placing particular emphasis on the final few words. He looked at me, “Understood, Heller? We gain nothing if we run, and I’m sure it will be fine.” His smile was actually quite reassuring.

Mother nodded as well, finally placing her dagger back in its sheath.

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We left the Smithy after Jaws took a few moments to speak with the Blacksmiths who had remained behind. I noticed Carver was there as well, and she gave me an encouraging nod as she helped attach the chains that would be used to pull apart the largest hearth in the Central Forge. The fires couldn’t be put out with water because the steam could cause the hearth to explode, and sand would smother the fire but also melt into the hearth and leave a huge mess, so instead the hearth itself was opened and slowly spread apart so that the burning coals inside could be dealt with separately (with either water or sand, as the Blacksmith saw fit).

It was a long and difficult process, and I could see that Jaws felt guilty at having to leave all the work to other people – after all, it was Mother's arrival that broke the taboo in the first place. It didn't seem to matter that she wasn't really a noble anymore, just the fact that she had been one in the past was enough. I assumed it was somehow related to the magic powers that nobles 'cultivated' from their top-secret scrolls (or whatever other methods they used to hoard their generational power and knowledge). I didn't have a very clear picture, but between context clues and my friendship with Wolfram, I knew enough to make an educated guess.

My parents made it clear that they didn't want to answer my questions because, according to them, the less I knew, the better it was for all of us. My mother assured me that she was certain no laws had been broken, therefore this was simply the result of ridiculous political maneuvering that had nothing to do with me - and that my father would make sure nothing bad happened anyway, so I shouldn't worry. She was being so deliberately vague about the details of what was transpiring that I figured there must be a good reason she didn't tell me more. The final word of advice given was to 'be honest, and don't overthink things' when the time came.

The walk to North Stone Fort felt far shorter than the run from home had been, and before I knew it we were approaching the guards who manned the gates. I didn’t see the guy my mother had stabbed anywhere, and the only reaction the guards outside had was to nod to us and greet my father respectfully. (I hadn’t been able to bring myself to try and dig for any additional answers during the journey, my mind whirling with enough crazy possibilities as it was. I desperately wanted to contact Wolfram, maybe get him to somehow send help if I truly was outed as a cross-dimensional traveler, but I couldn’t just lay down and take a nap in the middle of the street.)

“I have heard that the Lord of Marshal of North Stone Village wishes to see my family,” said Jaws, causing the guards to share an embarrassed look as one of them stepped forward and cleared her throat to reply.

“A squad was just dispatched to your house, and another to the Smithy, Master Toly,” said the guard – a woman with pinkish fur and dog-like ears – as she smiled, “Gerrant ran into some trouble earlier and came back for reinforcements.” She nodded at my mother, “My bet is the poor fool wasn’t as polite as he should have been.”

Mother didn’t say anything as they escorted us inside the fort… her temper was well known, it seemed.