Ridley could hear the wind beginning to pick up around him as the snow began to fall. Despite the dropping temperatures he didn’t feel a hint of cold, so long as he was near the lanturn that housed the dragon’s fire in it. He sat beneath a tree with a pen and paper out. He scratched at his raggedy dirty beard and started to write.

“Dear sister and family,” He started to write. The snow whipped around him and landed on his face. He brushed off the snow and continued. “It has been a while since I last wrote. My belongings were stolen from me for a bit of time. A pack of green goblins thought they could salvage my pack but I took it back from them. Not without a fight of course. They are like wild raccoons with even better fingers and sharper teeth. After I got my things back I continued to head north towards the mountains. Leaf is watching me and she’s been whispering in my ear every now while I sleep. Apparently she thinks it’s funny. I find it annoying. I guess that’s why she does it. I feel now that I am nearing the end of my journey. Soon I will be in good old Albany with both of you. I just have one last riddle to answer and one last item to get.” Ridley finished writing as he looked around him. More and more snow was starting to fall from the sky and pile on the ground. He let out a grunt.

“I hate the snow.” He grumbled to himself as he folded his letter and carefully placed it inside his coat pocket.

The path before him was barely noticeable. The wind started to pick up and blind his vision. Every few feet he would check the path he was on to make sure he was still on the road heading up the mountain. And still surprisingly Ridley did not feel a breath of cold the entire time. In fact he felt nice and warm. The lantern felt cool and danced as he walked along.

Off in the distance he spotted black smoke billowing into the sky and the silhouette of a building just below it.

“A public house?” he quickly thought to himself as he started to speed up his pace. “I can get a drink!” he thought with a smile. The snow was starting to cling to his pants with every step and he could feel the dampness seeping through his pants and onto his legs. The look of excitement and relief were suddenly swept away as he got closer to the building. It was a building and there was smoke stretching up to the sky. But the sign that swung back and forth in the wind didn't have a mug on it nor was it written in any language Ridley could recognize. He did, however, recognize the symbol in the center of the sign. It was an anvil. He stared at the sign with a look of disappointment. He only shrugged and walked in.

The clanking sound of the hammer coming down on fresh molten steel rang out in a rhythmic pattern as Ridley stepped through the door. The building’s interior mostly consisted of stone with some wooden furniture. At one end of the building stood Ridley, ragged, tired, dressed in dirty clothes and on the other side was something he did not expect and it made him scared a little bit. In front of him, hammering away on the anvil was a red skinned twelve foot tall cyclops.

The hammer ceased and the cyclop’s eye turned and looked down at Ridley. Ridley started to mumbling nervously to himself with a look of panic on his face. The cyclops only grinned and set his tools down.

“Welcome, friend.” The cyclops said. “My name is Carl Withakay.”

“Carl?” Ridley asked. “Yeah sure.” He whispered to himself as he attempted to swallow his fear and lightly shake his head. He gingerly lifted his hand and pointed over his shoulder at the door.

“Do...do you know where I can find a pub?” He asked. His words trembled and there was an obvious sense of uneasiness. Carl only gave a brief sigh before smiling once again.

“I bet this is your first time up in the mountains, friend.” Carl said as he walked over to Ridley. Ridley froze. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here.” Carl said as he looked over Ridley. “Lots of folks like me roam these mountains long ago but now not so much of the roaming.”

“Yeah, you don’t say.” Ridley said. His tone was composed of a weird mix of sarcasm and nervousness and it made Carl giggle slightly.

“Scared, aren’t ya?” Carl asked with a devilish grin. Ridley’s shoulders twitched a bit.

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“Nah, not scared at all.” Ridley replied. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck start to stand up. Carl’s grin only grew wider.

“You know it’s okay to be scared. Fear is as old as the sun.” Carl said as he turned around and walked over to the wooden counter. “Courage isn’t simply not being afraid. It’s being afraid and still doing what you need to do because someone has to do it and it's the right thing to do.” Carl said as he reached down and brought up a bottle of whiskey. “If you’d like to, friend, I can share with you a drink in good faith to help ease your nerves.”

Ridley eyed the bottle and a little smile cracked on his face. Ridley felt a bit foolish as he walked over to the counter and accepted a glass from Carl. He pressed his lips to the glass and felt the warm sensation as he drank the whiskey. He felt a chill for the first time in awhile from his shoulders as he breathed a sigh of relief.

“So tell me, friend. What brings you here to the mountains?” Carl asked.

“Fairies and their riddles.” Ridley replied. Carl quickly shook his head.

“Well that’s on you, friend.” Calr said as he eyed the lantern on Ridley’s belt. “Pretty tough stones for you to go out and get a lantern full of dragon’s fire.”

Ridley blinked a few times and looked down at the lantern. “Oh..Yeah that. It was a hell of an event. But in the end I succeeded and answered one of the fairies riddles by doing it.” Ridley said with a dash of confidence in his voice. Carl gave Ridley an impressed look.

“Fortune favors the bold and the brave, indeed.” Carl said as he rubbed his chin. “I tell you what, friend. How about a trade?”

Ridley looked at Carl with a look of curiosity. “Trade...what?” Carl reached down behind the counter and revealed a small piece of wood. “Just a brush of the dragon’s fire for my forge and I’ll make you a new sword. One that can cut through anything. What do you say?” Carl asked with glee in his eyes.

Ridley placed a hand on the lantern. “I think I would need this for the fairie. It would be bad to take something that they already claim wouldn’t it?” Ridley said with a cunning grin. Carl started to get nervous. He eyed the dragons fire and then back at Ridley.

“Free enchantment. I’ll make it so it can absorb magical energy and bond it to your very blood.”

A wild smile crept over Ridley’s face. “You got a deal.” He said in a boastful tone as RIdley took the lantern and placed it gently on the counter.

“Clever boy.” whispered Leaf’s whimsical voice into Ridley’s ear. His look of confidence and assurance was quickly replaced with annoyance. Carl opened the lantern and hesitantly stuck the piece of wood into the golden fire. There was a bit of a white spark with a popping sound. Carl pulled the piece of wood back and dancing on the tip was a small golden flame.

“Best to be careful when handling something of this heat. Ha! Explains why you haven't got a lick of frost on ya.” Carl said as he turned around and placed the burning piece of wood into the forge. FIre roared and shifted colors dramatically for a split second but then settled.

“Have you got any magical items or incantations on you that could be used?” Carl said as he gathered his tools. “Things like this don’t come at a price of nothing.” Carl turned back to Ridley who was already digging through his pack.

Ridley took out the last shard he had been saving in his pack and placed it on the counter. “Would this work?” He asked innocently. Carl’s eye widened with fright and let out a shriek of panic.

“What are you doing?” He shouted at Ridley. Ridley backed up a bit and had his hand on his sword.

“What!?” Ridley shouted. Carl backed up a bit as if he was expecting something but nothing happened. After a few more moments of tension, Carl let out a sigh of relief.

“Friend, you can’t just toss things like that around carelessly.” Carl said as he gingerly approached the shard. His voice was calmer but still dripping with panic. “Barrier shards are indeed powerful and rare enough but they are also incredibly unstable to handle. If you have had that in your pack the whole time I’m surprised you didn’t explode while walking up here.”

The thought suddenly crossed Ridley’s mind of him wandering around in the snow and then exploding. A look of terror crossed his face.

“Shit.” He whispered as he looked down at the shard. Carl carefully picked up the shard.

“Don’t worry friend. I’ll be careful. I’ll make you the best sword I can make short of it being sentient.”

Ridley shook his head. “Wait what? Swords can be alive?”

“To a degree. Sometimes items can have their own sense of self and free will. Some can be good, some can be bad. They can either work with their holder or possess them. But you don’t have to worry about it here.” Carl said. Ridley stood by with a baffled look on his face. For a brief moment he started to look around the room at each individual item.

“Ah crap,” He thought to himself. “Just hope none of these things are alive.”

“Take yourself a seat over on the chair near the fire.” Carl said. “And hand me your sword. It’s going to be awhile.”

Ridley handed Carl his sword and took off his pack and rested for a bit near the fire. He didn’t realize how cold the room was without being near the dragon’s fire.