Chapter Thirteen #3
As soon as Halamar’s dark eyes fell onto the yuriel shimmering inside, he sucked in a sharp breath and took a step back.
“This can’t be possible,” he muttered. “If this is what I think it is--”
“It’s shard-touched yuriel,” I cut him off. “And we’ve found an entire cave of it.”
“Hell’s taint,” Halamar mumbled as he ran a hand over his wizened face. “Noah, do you understand how much this amount alone is worth?”
“I know, but I was wondering if you could make something out of it?” I asked. “I’m sure it’s a tricky metal to work with if it’s so rare, but if anyone can do it, it’s you.”
Before Halamar could even respond, the door to the blacksmith burst open. I instinctively moved in front of the crate to block the view of the metal, but when I saw it was only Alaek, Karrida’s father, I let out a sigh of relief.
The stout dwarf paused in his tracks as he spotted me and his daughter, and a wide grin spread across his bearded face.
“Fancy seeing you two here!” he called out as he waddled over and pulled Karrida into a tight hug. “I’ve been wondering where you’ve been. I haven’t seen you at the watchtowers all day.”
“I was getting rather bored of being sidelined, Father,” Karrida said as she shot me a hesitant look. “I… spent the day with Noah.”
“Well, I hope you two had a--” Alaek cut himself off, and his smile faded. “Wait… you went to Midhallow with him?”
“Yes?” Karrida squeaked out.
“Karrida Arrowstone--”
“Father, please, I am a grown woman, and I can protect myself,” the ginger-haired half-dwarf cut her own father off. “I do not wish to hear a lecture from you. Not when I have handled myself better than you can ever realize in situations I certainly cannot inform you of.”
“W-What?” Alaek spluttered. “Like what?”
“She’s one hell of a fighter,” I interjected. “We should probably leave it at that.”
“Well, I--” The stout dwarf shook his head and rolled his shoulders. “Perhaps I need to loosen my grip on you then. If you’ve supposedly been fighting in battles I can’t hear of and you’re still standing, you’ve clearly done a good job.”
“That I have,” Karrida hummed and proudly tilted her chin up. “Noah was just discussing a business proposition, Father. Perhaps you could wait your turn for Halamar’s attention?”
“I was only coming to tell him about the watchtowers,” Alaek said. “We’re almost done. We just need a few more nails to fix everything in place.”
“I’ll make some more tonight, Alaek,” Halamar said. “But I must say… my mind will be on other things.”
“What things?” Alaek asked as he waddled over and stood on his tiptoes to try and see inside the crate. “What’s this?”
Halamar gave me an expectant look, and I nodded in agreement. I didn’t mind if Alaek knew about the ore. He was a dwarf, after all, and dwarves were known for their prowess when it came to working with metals.
The old blacksmith grabbed the crate and brought it around the counter so Alaek could see inside. As soon as the ginger dwarf peered into the box, he let out a strangled cry, stumbled back, and put his hand on his chest.
“Yuriel?” he breathed as he looked between all three of us with wide eyes. “How in the stones have you got yuriel?”
“Karrida and I found a cave in the Mist Woods full of it,” I said. “Some of Shaar’s men were digging it out.”
“Shaar was after this stuff?” Halamar asked as he protectively hugged the crate closer to his chest. “That doesn’t bode well, Noah. If he got his hands on this ore, there’s no knowing what he could make.”
“He’d be lucky if he found someone who could handle it,” Alaek said as his bushy eyebrows furrowed. “Yuriel’s a tricky metal to work with, but magic-touched yuriel? That’s going to be a difficult task.”
“I must admit, even I’m wondering if I have the capabilities to handle it,” Halamar said.
“What about you, Father?” Karrida asked. “You’ve worked with rare ore before.”
“I suppose I have, but never yuriel…” Alaek trailed off and tapped his chin. “What sort of thing would you be looking for?”
“What kind of things has it been used for before?” I asked.
“Well, armor is one of the main uses because of how impenetrable it is,” Halamar said. “But it’s few and far between because of its rarity.”
“Swords are another one that are rare but incredibly powerful,” Alaek added. “A cut from this would take your arm clean off.”
“Charming, Father,” Karrida grumbled under her breath with a shake of her ginger head.
“Well, it’s true!” Alaek snorted. “It’s more commonly found in spear tips. Somewhere there isn’t a lot of surface area, but enough to pierce straight through a man.”
“So, it’s good for high impact shots is what you’re saying?” I asked as my brain began to churn.
“It’s good for whatever shot you want to give.” Halamar chuckled. “You could make a butter knife out of this stuff, and it would cut through bone.”
I thought back to the dilemma in my ammo closet. Something I thought was an inevitability I wouldn’t be able to avoid.
If this metal was rare and incredibly powerful, with some unknown magical qualities, I could potentially have just scored myself a new source of ammunition.
Not just finite.
But an unlimited supply.