Chapter Thirteen #2
I felt a faint thrumming beneath my hand, and I jerked back with wide eyes as I recognized the sensation.
It felt just like the shard.
“Maybe it was in distress,” Karrida said. “Maybe it didn’t want to be found and used by Shaar.”
“Why would he want this, anyway?” I asked as I looked around at the cave walls. “And what even is yuriel?”
“It’s a strong and powerful metal, but this has been infused with magic because of the shard,” the half-dwarf said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it had other qualities now.”
“Right,” I mumbled. “Just another thing the shard has changed.”
“This metal is incredibly rare and incredibly expensive,” Karrida said. “It’s almost impenetrable. Even the king’s Hands don’t have this in their armor.”
“It’s a metal that even the king can’t get?” I blinked. “Karrida, we’re sitting on a gold mine here.”
“We could always take some back and give it to Halamar?” my girlfriend suggested. “Maybe he could do something with it?”
“If we do that, I’ll have to find a way for the king’s soldiers not to find out,” I said. “It won’t exactly help their suspicions about me if I show up with a magically imbued ore that even the king can’t get his hands on.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Karrida agreed as she chewed on her bottom lip. “But you’ve been going to Halamar anyway, right? You went to commission those glass sheets for your greenhouse.”
“Hmm, I guess I could always pretend I’m checking up on that,” I mused. “I can hide the ore in a crate, or something.”
“Then I suppose we should get digging,” Karrida said with a lopsided grin as she reached for Wyn’s discarded pick.
“Are you sure you’re able to handle that right now?” I asked. “A minute ago, you could barely stand on your own feet.”
“I’m fine now,” she said. “The pull is gone. The ore wanted me to find it, and I have.”
“So, there’s no more pain?” I asked as I picked up Hirr’s pickaxe. “None at all?”
“No.” Karrida smiled sweetly before she brought her pickaxe down onto an exposed piece of ore like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Get axing, or we’ll be here all night.”
I laughed in disbelief at how quickly her demeanor had changed, but if the half-dwarf said she was okay, then I’d believe her.
The two of us chipped away for a good amount of time before I finally managed to dislodge a chunk of the ore. As soon as I plucked it free, the weight of it almost sent my hand straight to the ground.
I caught it with my other hand at the expense of my pickaxe, but we had enough here for Halamar to have some fun. Karrida had also managed to pry a chunk loose, and I offered to carry both chunks to save her the hand pain.
It felt wrong leaving the cave open and exposed, but there wasn’t anything we could do.
No doubt Shaar would come sniffing around once he realized three of his men hadn’t returned, so rather than leaving their bodies there for him to find, I decided to drag them into the thicket and hoped that the wildlife would help themselves to dinner.
There was a small stream nearby, which I gathered some water from using one of the buckets the bandits had used for water, and then I washed away the blood that stained the stony ground.
Once the crime scene had been cleaned up, I grabbed the ore again, and we set off back to the Gator.
We made a quick stop at the farm so I could update Ellyn and grab a crate to hide the ore inside. I also put a small tray of goat cheese on top that I decided to give to Halamar free of charge if it meant buying his secrecy.
Then Karrida and I set off for Gladewood again.
As soon as we reentered town, I was flanked by three soldiers I didn’t know the name of. They followed me all the way to the blacksmith’s, and when I grabbed my crate to take inside, one of them stepped forward and stopped me.
“What’s inside there?” the tall human with soft blue eyes asked with a suspicious lilt to his tone.
“Take a look,” I said as I showed him the contents. “Goat cheese. Halamar has been making me glass for my greenhouse, so I figured I’d give him a little treat to say thank you.”
The soldier grunted before he turned his large nose up at me and spun on his heel.
“On your way then,” he said.
“Thanks for the permission,” I grumbled under my breath before I opened the door to the blacksmith’s with my elbow.
As per usual, Halamar was hammering away at something at the forge. His light gray dreadlocks were pinned back from his face by a piece of leather, and sweat was pouring down his droopy pointed ears and onto the sword he was heating.
Every time a droplet of the liquid hit the metal, it hissed, and steam billowed into the elderly blacksmith’s wrinkled face.
“Noah,” he greeted in a gruff voice. “Good to see you.”
“Halamar,” I returned the greeting and set the crate down onto his counter with a grunt. “I’ve got something you’re going to want to see.”
Halamar’s dark eyebrows raised in curiosity, and he abandoned his heated blade to come behind the counter. When he peered into the crate, one of his eyebrows dropped, and he looked at me with a blank expression.
“Cheese?” he asked dryly.
“That’s just a little something to butter you up,” I said as I grabbed the tray and pulled it out. “It’s what’s hidden underneath that matters.”