Chapter Fourteen
“You know my guns?” I asked as I pulled out my Glock and showed Alaek the magazine.
“The way they harm people is through bullets, which are these small pieces of metal here. They also have an explosive powder in the casing here that projects the metal outward. Now, I don’t have an infinite supply of them, so once I run out, my guns are useless. ”
“So, you want to try and forge new ones?” Alaek asked as he held his palm out to me.
I emptied the mag and dropped a few bullets into his hand.
He looked at the shiny pieces of metal closely and even brought them up to his nose for a quick sniff.
Then, at my suggestion, he pulled a small tool out of his pocket and pried the bullet out of the casing, and I pointed at the powder and warned him to be careful with it since it was flammable.
“Interesting,” Karrida’s father hummed. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“Which is why I’ll understand if it’s not something you can do,” I said. “But if you could find a way to turn the yuriel into more of these, and also figure out how to replicate the powder with Mystica alternatives, then I’d be in your debt.”
“I’d be happy to lend a hand in smelting,” Halamar said. “My forge is always open to you, Alaek.”
“I appreciate that, Hal, and I might have to take you up on that offer,” Alaek said as he rolled the bullet between his thick fingers. “But I don’t know where to even start with the schematics.”
“Benni could be of help?” I suggested. “He lives in the Frostfyre, and as far as I’m aware, he doesn’t have too much going on these days.”
“He was obsessed with the shard, Father,” Karrida said. “He studied it and the wizards in great detail.”
“And that’s the entire reason he’s even here,” I snorted. “If anyone can help you with the schematics, it’s him.”
“Very well.” Alaek nodded as he handed my bullets back to me, and then he looked at my pistol. “Is this the weapon you wish to have the bullets made for?”
I weighed it up in my head. While I used my Glock the most and went through the ammunition for it more than any of the others, I didn’t want to be without it for a long period of time.
Plus, if this was more of a trial to see if it would work, I’d rather give up one of the guns I didn’t use as much.
“I’ll give you my varmint rifle,” I said. “I haven’t had much reason to use it recently.”
“That takes the pressure of time off,” the ginger dwarf said. “Bring it to me when you can, along with some of the ammunition for it. I’ll speak to this Benni fellow and see what he can help with. And then we can bring it to you, Halamar.”
“That’s fine by me,” Halamar said with a shrug. “Once you figure this out, if you want me to make anything else with it, let me know.”
“If Shaar doesn’t take over that cave again, I just might have to see what else we can make with it,” I said. “How long do you think it will take?”
“Hmm, give me a few days,” Alaek grunted. “Now that the watchtowers are pretty much done, I have the time for it.”
“Thanks, Alaek,” I said as I shook his hand. “If you want to keep some of the yuriel as payment, be my guest.”
“I don’t even know what I’d do with this,” Alaek admitted as he eyed the shimmering ore. “And you won’t find anyone rich enough to pay for even a morsel of it anywhere near here. You’d want to go to Emberstone for that.”
“And that’s the last place I want to be right now with those Hands breathing down my neck,” I joked.
“Not to mention the king would probably snatch it away from you the minute you set foot in his Capital,” Halamar said in a dry tone. “He’d call it a donation to show your undying fealty to him.”
“When in reality, it’s just daylight robbery,” Alaek snorted. “Kings.”
“I’ve never had much love for him.” Halamar shook his head before he glanced back at me. “You should keep this hidden here for now. Alaek, when you get the guns and ammunition, you come and fetch it. Noah’s got the Hands watching his every move.”
“I’m sure they won’t think it’s too suspicious to see a dwarf coming out of a blacksmith’s shop,” Karrida’s father said. “Very well. I suppose it’s settled.”
“Noah, before you leave, that glass you ordered is ready,” Halamar said. “I’d be happy to give it to you free of charge if I can have a sliver of that ore.”
“Are you planning a trip to Emberstone?” I smirked.
“No, it’s more of a guilty pleasure,” the dark-skinned blacksmith admitted with a small smile. “To own even a fragment of yuriel is a blacksmith’s wet dream.”
“Then be my guest,” I said. “Take what Alaek doesn’t want.”
“You have made an old man very, very happy.” Halamar let out a rare laugh and set the crate behind the counter again before he disappeared into one of the backrooms.
When he returned, he had an entire small cart full of glass panels for the greenhouse. Alaek offered to help me carry them out, and we both managed to secure them on the back of the Gator.
Then Halamar gave us some rope to tie them down with so there was little chance of them breaking on the way back home.
Now that I had what I needed as well as pawning off what we’d just found, I was ready to head back home and call it a day.
So much had happened today that it almost felt unreal. It was like the strange dreams I used to have thanks to the shard, and that thought had me praying tonight would be a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
Karrida decided to stay back with her father so she could explain more of the ‘adventures’ she’d had with me, and I knew it was important for her to make Alaek understand how important it was that she wasn’t sheltered anymore.
So, I made my way back home all alone. The king’s Hands watched me, of course, until I’d left the borders of Gladewood, but I wasn’t doing anything suspicious. I was just a farmer taking home his commissioned glass for his greenhouse.
The sun had already set by the time I’d made it home, so even if I wanted to get started on the greenhouse, it would have to wait until morning.
I checked on the shard inside the barn, and I was glad to see it hovering by the hay bale like I’d told it to. I offered it a pitiful smile before I closed the barn door and locked it.
After that, I headed inside. The house was unusually warm, and it made me shuck off my coat to avoid breaking into a sweat. When I rounded the corner into the hallway, it wasn’t hard to see why.
Crates of goat’s milk had been stacked at the end of the hallway, and the warmth was making its way throughout the entire house in thick waves.
The soft sound of Ellyn humming brought my attention away from the DIY heater, and I slowly crept toward the nursery where I knew she’d be.
When I poked my head into the room, the breath left my lungs in one fell swoop.
My wife had finished the painting we’d attempted to do the other night.
More flowers decorated the walls, and the tree we had painted now had lilac vines wrapping around its trunk.
When they reached the end of the branches, they broke off into small butterflies that flew across the walls until they stopped just above the crib that Ellyn had moved to the center of the back wall.
To my surprise, the blonde elf had hung the shelf on the wall and settled a few trinkets on top, the wyvern figurine included. She’d even found some of the fairy lights my mom used to have up in her bedroom to counter my dad’s ‘manly influence’ on the space.
That had always made me laugh, because my dad had given my mom free rein on the house and how she wanted to decorate it.
The twinkling lights made the room hum with warmth, and Ellyn looked like a dream floating around the newly-decorated space in a long white nightgown.
“You finished it.” My voice came out hoarse and strained.
Ellyn jumped and whirled around in a flurry of white silk, but as soon as she saw me standing in the doorway, her shoulders dropped.
“I thought I would make myself useful while I waited for you,” Ellyn said with a shy smile. “Do you like it?”
“Like it?” I laughed softly as I stepped further into the painted room. “Ellyn, it’s perfect.”
“You really think so?” my wife asked as she walked straight into my arms. “All of these things… I never thought I would have a child, let alone a space like this for them to call home.”
“Yeah, they’re not going to be growing up like any other kid in Mystica, that’s for sure,” I snorted as I pulled her flush against my chest. “I can’t wait for when they’re finally here.”
“Me, too,” Ellyn whispered as she rested her forehead against mine. “I just… I don’t know if we managed to do it last time.”
I heard Ellyn sniffle, so I cupped her face and pulled her head back to look at her. Her light blue eyes shimmered with tears and made them look like the rippling pools of the enchanted waterfall we’d come across some time ago.
“Don’t cry,” I whispered as I brushed away a stray tear with the pad of my thumb. “It will happen.”
“I know,” Ellyn whispered back. “I just wish we could know for certain.”
Pregnancy in Mystica was bound to be different.
It wasn’t like they had a doctor down the road or a pregnancy test at a convenience store we could pick up.
There wasn’t much way to tell if she was pregnant or not other than her missing her period.
But Ellyn wasn’t talking about that. She was talking about the waiting game in between that missed cycle.
But I had one way to make sure we weren’t going to be waiting for nothing.
My cock was already straining against my pants at the thought, and Ellyn’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline as she felt me pressing against her lower stomach.
“Noah…” the blonde trailed off as her pupils dilated. “Are you…”
“Why don’t we make sure?” I asked in a husky voice as my thumb trailed along her jawline. “Just to be certain.”
“I…” Ellyn’s voice was no louder than a faint whisper, but then her eyes darkened like an ocean at night. “Yes.”
Her words were like a key being jammed into a door. My lips were on hers in the blink of an eye, and my tongue lashed against hers greedily.