PING!
When metal meets metal. It doesn’t merely make noise.
PING!
The metronomic pulse of iron striking iron sent ripples of authority bouncing around the armoury. Yet the sound it birthed was merely an echo of its true creation.
PING!
Unbeknownst to all but my creator, these strikes heralded my arrival into reality.
PING!
Before them, I was but metal. Meaningless, purposeless, placeless.
PING!
But my creator gave me meaning, and for that I am grateful.
PING!
He gave me a place in this world.
PING!
He gave me my Harmony.
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“Erik! My boy! How’s your project treating you?”
My creator’s master entered the armoury. His footsteps echoed pulses of creation, and the hammer at his waist whispered countless more.
I knew little of this man. I had never felt his touch nor his will, and only very rarely had I heard his harmonious voice.
But I had felt his influence. Over myself as well as my creator.
“She’s not as temperamental as the last one. I think… I think I’m ready.”
I felt my creator’s love squeal out from behind every word.
I heard sadness too.
Why?
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Sound doesn’t travel very far inside the Heartforge.
My creator described it as heat; all I heard was constant screaming.
I knew why I had been brought here. I was to evolve. To become more alive.
At first, I was afraid. I loved my existence. It was a simple one, but I always had my creator. I always kept him company.
Others would come and go, but I would never leave him.
I never wondered whether there could be more to existence.
I never cared.
But with every day, I learned more. Each swing imprinted information onto my reality, each hit of the hammer heightened my Harmony. There was more to existence than simply being beside my creator.
It wasn’t enough just to be there.
I needed to protect him. And for that I needed to grow.
I felt my creator’s vibrations before he even started the process. His body shook in response to the Heartforge’s constant screaming. His body joined in.
I tried to calm him, to reassure him.
I couldn’t.
I wasn’t strong enough.
Yet.
My creator’s master stood silently beside him. A monolith of tranquillity in the Heartforge’s constant chaos. Perhaps he could quell my creator’s fear. Perhaps he could protect him where I couldn’t.
“Before you commence. Announce your intent to reality Erik. Exalt it. Unveil your Harmony to the world”
“I…I want to make a protector. A shield that will protect no matter what. A true guardian, unchained to the will or weakness of its wielder.”
“Very well. You may begin.”
My creator’s master didn’t sound impressed. He didn’t sound like anything. He would not be protecting his pupil inside the forge.
Why?
His footsteps grew quieter until I barely heard them exit the forge. He closed the door, releasing a rolling rumble unto the room.
From just beyond the door, an iron bolt slammed into its casing.
PING!
The final remnant of familiarity quelled my nervousness, but I felt my creator’s incessant trembling.
Don’t worry.
I will protect you.
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SMACK!
My creator’s hammer slapped weakly into my core.
I felt nothing. I learned nothing.
He was trying. I knew that. With each attempt, he tried to attach more to my reality, to teach me about the world.
My creator imparted knowledge upon me, but I couldn’t understand why. New information entered my reality, devoid of true purpose.
Was I not to become a shield, a guardian, a protector? Why would I ever need to fly from my creator’s side?
My creator grew anxious.
I did too.
Indecision rang through each strike of his hammer. The sound fell flat, fading into silence.
With each hit my creator grew more uncertain, more afraid.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Why was he doing these things to me?
He had attached a crystal to my core. It stayed silent, but I felt its intent.
I hated it.
It didn’t care about its creator. It didn’t care about protecting him.
It only cared for itself.
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“Why… Won’t it…Take!”
My creator screamed out at the forge, but his voice withered into obscurity. Nobody listened to him. Nobody cared.
Not even me.
I didn’t care for his wishes anymore. He tried to change me, to change my purpose.
I couldn’t let him. I had to protect him from everything, even from myself.
From what he might make me become.
PING!
Finally. Some familiarity.
My creator’s master slid the bolt across its hinges and entered the Heartforge.
His steps were slower now, more deliberate, more cautious.
“Is it complete Erik? Did you succeed?”
“No. Nothing happened. The essence of flight worked, the channels of cognitive essence worked, but the evolution crystal didn’t take. I don’t know why.”
My creator may not have succeeded. But I had.
I had endured. I had protected myself. I had kept myself strong enough to keep on protecting him.
My creator’s master picked me up. For the first time I felt his touch.
He heard me. Just as I heard him. I felt the pulse of his reality course through me, investigating me. In that moment, I felt more connected to him than I ever had to my creator.
I felt understood.
I still wanted to protect my creator, but it felt nice being with his master for a moment.
I was placed back down, alone once more.
“What do you think went wrong Erik? Why didn’t it work?”
“I…I don’t know! I did everything right! All the materials were top class, I followed the construction methods perfectly, I even kept the forge running at optimal conditions constantly. It should’ve worked.”
I desperately wanted to speak to my creator. I wanted him to understand my desire, like his master had moments before.
I didn’t want to evolve. I didn’t want to fly. I just wanted to keep him safe.
“We can go over it later, but your construction had one major flaw. You pushed too hard too quickly. You focused too much on the shield’s will before either of you knew it’s final destination. By the time you’d decided, it already had other ideas. It’s not a complete failure. We can still find a home for her, especially with the raiders knocking about, but you’ll have to try again.”
I’m…
My creator’s master picked me up, holding me under his arm.
“Come on. You can start planning your next project now. Don’t get too down on yourself, I’m sure your next one will succeed.”
… a failure?
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PING! PING! PING!
The ringing never stopped in my creator’s master’s forge. It almost made me forget.
I thought I’d done everything right…
Why was I a failure?
“Okay okay! You’re not a failure all right!”
He’s speaking?
My creator’s master never speaks while he’s creating.
He’s speaking to me!
My creator’s master picked me up. I felt his mind reach out to me; I heard the voice behind his words.
“You’re not a failure. However, Erik failed in creating you. He was supposed to create something else, so now you must find a new purpose. You can’t protect him any longer. That is not your path.”
WHAT!
I… I can’t protect him? What am I supposed to do then?
I don't want to do anything else…
I can't.
“It is no longer your path.
“Erik brought you into Eterna, he gave you a glimpse of Harmony, but now that glimpse has vanished.
“But you are still here. Why? Because your path has not yet ended. You may not have liked the evolution crystal, but it is a part of you now. Thus, it will be a part of your Harmony. You can no longer achieve your old purpose. It’s time for you to find a new one.”
A new…purpose?
But what?
“That’s for you to discover. I’ll hand you over to a friend of mine. Protect him. As you grow, you’ll discover your true Harmony.”
If I can’t protect my creator…
…maybe I can protect someone else instead?
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“Orrin! It’s been far too long! How have the Wilds been treating you?”
The soothing murmur of my creator’s master’s voice caught my attention. No, not his voice, not his words, but the intent behind them. I’d heard him several times over the past few weeks, but this time felt different.
“It’s been treating me like shit! Can’t believe your family still lives there, Ben!” My creator’s master’s friend replied. His voice was gruff, worn down by hardship, but kindness still bled through. A quiet, unshakeable, warmth.
“It wasn’t always like that. In the Old Era, things were different. At least that’s what they say… Nobody really knows.”
My creator’s master… Ben, stopped speaking about the past. Whispers of longing crept out from his silence.
“Anyway, I have a gift for you my old friend! Something to protect you from the Voidbeasts.”
He lifted me up, his hands gripping into my edges slightly tighter than usual.
“You must have forgotten about life in the wilds my friend.” Orrin laughed. A deep, hearty laugh, laced with mirth and not a hint of malice. “What use is a lightning shield out there? The Voidbeasts will detect my essence from a mile off! It’ll be a beacon, not a protector.”
I won’t!
Ben must have felt my annoyance, he too laughed slightly. His warmth spilled into me as he squeezed his grip tighter.
“You won’t have to old friend, she’s far more sophisticated than that. She has her own internal Harmony. It’ll still attract them, but far less than even your own internal techniques. Why do you think they made so many artefacts in the Old Era? They had to.”
I didn’t understand what my creator’s master was talking about, but I felt Orrin’s rhythm shift as soon as he was finished talking.
“Interesting.” He said, voice filled with curiosity “Does she have a name?”
I heard my creator’s master reach for his tools beside me, mumbling under his breath.
“Kind of, but not quite…”
He fished a small hammer from a toolbox and held it in his hand.
He rapped it against my surface.
PING!
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Orrin’s warm blood spilled across me as I lay motionless, embedded in the rocky ground. It filled in the grooves running across my surface.
Physical proof of my abject failure.
He needed my protection, but I failed.
Not fast enough.
…
A cold, gloved hand pulled me from the ground.
It held me up, even through its thick leather, I sensed it’s silent appraisal.
A new wielder?
I won’t fail this one.
I will grow strong enough to protect him.
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An armoured hand clasped against me. Losing grip as its life slowly faded away.
Another owner. Another one I was tasked to protect.
Another failure.
A gentle pair of hands lifted me from my latest owner’s corpse.
Maybe I’ll have the strength to protect this one.
Maybe not.
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Why am I never enough?
…
Why do they keep dying?
…
I never had the chance to protect my latest owner, he just stored me away from the world.
Well, until today.
“…I am very pleased to welcome you to the two hundred and forty fourth Moontide auction! Now-”
Next time…
Next time I’ll be strong enough.
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I flew out from behind Ezekiel, rushing to protect him. I didn’t particularly like my current owner. I didn’t have to. I’d protect him regardless.
His opponent was hard to predict, and my owner couldn’t defend himself well. I rushed into an attack, but only to buy my owner time to protect himself.
Electricity streaked behind me as I surged towards my owner’s opponent, determined to protect. He raised his steel fist as I neared him.
PING!
Even through the layers of bandages and steel, I felt it the moment I collided with his knuckles.
A kinship.
A resonance.
A Harmony.
He understands! But…differently? He doesn’t wish to protect; he wants to fight instead.
I returned to my owner, I still had to protect him, but I didn’t forget my exchange with his opponent.
I couldn’t.
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My owner lay dying on the ground. Knocked almost unconscious by his opponent’s blast. I rose in front of him, he needed me to protect him.
His opponent still stood.
He walked towards my owner.
I had to protect him.
I needed to.
I didn’t want to hurt his opponent. I liked the fighter; I felt like I understood him.
But I had to protect my owner.
“No.”
The fighter’s hand brushed against me. I felt his authority.
I fell to the ground, embedding myself into the gravel.
I wanted to protect my master, but in that instant, it didn’t matter what I wanted.
Because the fighter wanted far, far more.
I wanted to protect. But beside this man my deepest desire felt like a childish whimsy. He didn't just want to fight, he hungered for it, he craved for it, as if the very fibres of his being held themself together purely to fight.
Is this… purpose?
Is this Harmony?
He crushed Davad’s skull beneath his fist, and I felt my owner die.
Again.
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In a small and peaceful room, I heard the fighter place down a quiver.
He walked over to me and held me with both hands.
He wanted me to protect him.
Even after I’d failed countless times.
…
I’ll try.