We sat down at our oval-shaped, wooden dining table. I sat at one end while Pop sat on the other. Beth and Ma sat opposite each other at the middle of the table, with Arienne and Charlie on either side of Beth. Henry rarely ate with us, but when he did, he sat next to Pop and Ma. This order was strict and never broken, save for birthdays where the lucky boy or girl got to sit at the head of the table.
Henry gave me a quick glance before leaning over the table. “Beth?” he asked, smiling.
While turning to look at Henry, Beth fixed the orientation of Charlie’s spoon. “Of course, as long as you bring her back before dinner.”
Henry’s smile dropped. “But I didn’t—”
“Arienne asked me. Said she heard you and Norman talking by the fence.”
I looked over at Arienne, who was trying to hide a smile. “What did I say about eavesdropping?” I asked.
Her smile fell. “But Poppy! You and Uncle Henry were talking about me. I had to know what you were saying.”
Shaking my head, I shrugged. “I guess your Uncle Henry will have to put you to work.”
“Oh yes,” said Ma. “He’ll need someone to carry all those heavy metals around the forge.”
“I don’t know,” replied Pop, stroking his beard. “She’s got sticks for arms. Doubt she can even lift a hammer.”
Arienne slammed the table. “I can lift a hammer!”
“Arienne!” exclaimed Beth. “We don’t slam the table.”
“Sorry, Mommy.”
I laughed. “We’re just having a bit of fun. Be good to your uncle, Arienne.”
For the rest of breakfast, she seemed a bit nervous. Normally she would take food without asking, or leave without taking her plate. Instead, she tried her hardest to be good, following every formal dining rule in the book. At least, every rule that she could remember.
Arienne continued to surprise me by offering to clear the table after breakfast. Beth graciously accepted her offer and the two quickly cleaned up. I helped, at least a bit. More than I usually did, which was less than I should.
While Arienne waited for Henry to finish getting ready, she paced around the house. She wore a red tunic Beth had sewn for her. A small leather bag bounced on her hip. Her hair, brown like Beth’s, was tied in a ponytail. It too bounced behind her.
Henry finally came downstairs. She ran to his side, never leaving it even as they started to leave. Beth and I watched them leave from our doorstep. Arienne seemed to bounce down the street, running a bit ahead of her uncle before racing back. It reminded me of Beth when she was a child, always full of energy. I was glad that she was having fun. Someone needed to on this farm.
“Goodbye, Arienne!” I yelled. “Be good to your uncle!”
She couldn’t help but smile as she turned around to wave. Henry also waved, but I could tell he was starting to regret his offer.
“She’s so much like you,” said Beth, still watching them disappear behind our neighbor’s farm.
“I was thinking the same.”
Beth shook her head before turning to head back inside. “I was never that wild.”
While Beth was busy watching Charlie and cleaning the house, I spent the rest of my morning working on the farm. It was tough looking after most of the farm by myself, but I managed. My old master Piopus had taught me a few songs to help make the work go quicker. By the time the sun was high in the sky, I had finished digging a new plot of land for crops. This year, we were planning on growing corn.
It wasn’t my favorite vegetable, but the others in Xalir loved it.
Scraps followed me around the farm. She chased birds and small animals investigating the remains of the last harvest. I laughed as I watched her scruffy ears bounce around as she ran after a rabbit. It made the work easier, even if she wasn’t helping.
As I looked over the empty field, I wondered how Arienne was doing. This was her first time being away from the house by herself. Sure, she was with her uncle, but it was still a new experience. Distracted by my thoughts, I almost didn’t catch a small dark shape moving towards the barn. My eyes followed it to the barn and then further down the road.
It seemed half as tall as a human and stood upright like one too. The shape was too big to be a child, faster than one too. Well, Arienne was pretty fast. She might be able to beat it in a race. I moved the straw hat I was wearing to block out the sun so I could see it better.
Maybe it was my exhaustion, or the heat of the sun beating down on me, but I thought it looked like a cat. That couldn’t be right, a cat wasn’t that big. I wondered if it was one of those creatures Pop had been worried about. Some kind of cat-like creature Henry had called harska. There was still plenty of work to do, so I tried not to worry about it. Henry’s smithy was close to town, so if there was trouble people would know.
I glanced down towards Scraps, who didn’t seem to have noticed the strange figure. She was laying on her stomach under a nearby tree. Shrugging to myself, I got back to work. If Scraps was relaxed, then I had nothing to fear. Or at least, that’s what I told myself.
The figure was long gone now, but that didn’t stop me from glancing toward town. Beth came out of the house a few minutes later. She brought a tray with freshly squeezed lemonade and two sandwiches for us to eat. We sat down in the shade, forcing Scraps to share the space. Scraps didn’t seem to mind, she laid down next to Beth placing her head on Beth’s lap. I felt a little jealous, not because I wanted Scraps to lay on me, but because that was my favorite spot.
“It’s weird not having her here,” said Beth, looking towards the road.
I swallowed, savoring the delicious lemonade on my tongue. “She’ll be fine. I trust Henry to watch after her.”
“I know. I trust Henry too. But…” Beth sighed. “It makes me wonder if she’ll leave home someday.”
“I didn’t, Henry didn’t. Why would she?”
Beth glared at me. “I didn’t live here my entire life, Norman Benson. You know, I was quite happy living with my family.”
I laughed, pulling Beth into a hug. “Don’t pretend you don’t love it here. Besides, you made your own little family.”
“And what if they go away? What if you decide to leave? Like you’ve always wanted.”
Beth turned away, her body shuddering. Gently, I turned her head back towards me. “I will never leave. I’m happy here.”
“If you had the chance to become the greatest bard in the world, wouldn’t you take it? Go on some grand adventure and become a legend, like your stories?” she asked, tears fighting to break out.
I hadn’t considered how much Beth missed Arienne, or how much she worried about me. We talked a lot, mostly at night, but she had never worried about my dreams before. “No. I would stay right here with you.”
She leaned into my shoulder, her face turned away. “That’s what she used to say.”
When we were kids, running through the fields and getting into trouble, we had another friend. She was a Kanta elf named Zadona. Kanta elves came from the kingdom of Kanta, a coastal kingdom to the west of Xalir. They had brown skin and snow-white hair. Kanta elves were less common around this part of the kingdom compared to other kinds of elves. Zadona was adopted by my neighbors, the Meyer family. It had taken a while for her to warm up to us. Something about her previous family made her unwilling to be friends.
But that was not the case with Beth. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. I remembered watching Beth run up the steps to the Meyer’s house and bang on the door. ‘Come out and play right now!’ she had yelled. Until Zadona left, they had been the best of friends. We all had been. While I had left those memories behind, it seemed Beth hadn’t.
There was nothing I could say to ease Beth’s mind, so I didn’t. Instead, I pulled her closer to me and gently rubbed her shoulder. Scraps yawned, snuggling deeper into Beth’s lap. Her tail gently swiped at the dirt. As much as I wanted to follow my dreams, I knew I couldn’t break Beth’s heart. She didn’t deserve that.
Without meaning to, I fell asleep. The combination of a cool breeze and the heat from Beth’s body provided the perfect conditions for a good nap. Thankfully, most of the day’s work was done. All that was left was to bring in the cows before sunset. So I didn’t fight my slumber too much.
I didn’t sleep long. The smell of ash brought me out of my comfortable slumber. Cracking open my eyes, I didn’t see any smoke coming from the farm. Far in the distance, it appeared to be billowing up from the town. There were plenty of people in town who could handle it, so I closed my eyes.
Beth shook me. “Norman. Norman! Look!”
Opening my eyes again, I followed her finger pointing towards the cloud of smoke. It was rising higher in the sky, blowing towards the east. There usually was some smoke coming from that side of town. That was where Henry had his forge. Smoke would rise from the top of the furnace and fly wherever the wind took it.
My eyes widened. Sitting up straight, I squinted toward town. That was a lot of smoke. Too much smoke to be coming from the forge. Beth, seeing that I was awake, stood up and ran toward the town. I followed a step or two behind her.
Xalir was a half-hour away from the farm if you walked. We made it there in ten minutes. Smoke filled the air, making it hard to breathe. The streets were clear of foot traffic the closer we got to the source of the fire. Occasionally, we passed people carrying buckets of water. I would have offered to help, but I had to be sure it wasn’t Henry’s smithy. It couldn’t be. Our daughter was there.
We turned a corner and were nearly pushed back from the heat. On the hill where the forge sat, a swirling tornado of fire had engulfed the building. Embers and ash flew through the air. Thankfully, it was far enough from the other buildings to prevent the spread. Townsfolk worked in a line fighting back against the flames.
Beth and I joined them, grabbing whatever water we could find. The fire fought as hard as it could, but it quickly ran out of fuel. Henry liked to keep the area around the forge clear of debris in case of such a scenario. It was for that reason that the rest of the town wasn’t a smoldering pile of ash.
The same couldn’t be said for the smithy. By the time the fire was out, all that was left was a soot-covered frame and various bits of melted metal. Henry and Arienne were nowhere to be seen. I searched through the wreckage, but they were gone. No sign of whether they lived or died. Not one shred of their clothing, not even their bones.
What I did find was a broken arrowhead made of stone. Located at the edge of the flame, its tip was broken. It was as if it had broken from hitting some piece of metal. It was too small to be from a human’s arrow. I didn’t have much experience with archery, but it looked that way to me.
Beth had also been digging through the remains of the forge. As I examined the arrowhead, she squatted down next to me. I handed her the arrowhead and searched for more.
“Something Henry made?” she asked.
I shook my head. “It’s made of stone. Henry only worked with metal.”
“What do you think it means?”
“I’m not sure,” I answered, moving further away from the forge. At the bottom of the hill, where Henry had missed a growing patch of grass, there was a clear indent. It wasn’t deep enough to be from someone laying there. I wondered if someone had landed there after sliding down the hill.
It didn’t look big enough to be from a human, maybe big enough to be from a large dog. Following the direction of their descent, if they had kept moving they could have hid in town. In the chaos of the fire, no one would have seen them leave.
One of the townsfolk approached me, an older woman by the name of Sally Briarpatch. “I’m sorry, Mr. Benson. We came as soon as we smelled the smoke.”
I stood up, dismissively waving my hand. “These things happen. Do you know where my brother is?”
She nervously picked at the sleeves on her dress. “No. We heard some yelling before the fire started, but we were too far away to get here before it got out of hand.”
I looked up the hill, Beth was talking to more people from the town. “Was anyone close enough to hear what they were yelling about?”
Sally shook her head. “I don’t think so. But I’m sure someone will speak up if they did.”
While watching Beth, my eyes were drawn to a piece of fur blowing in the wind. It tumbled through the air, wafting towards the east. I followed it, picking it out of the air once it was close enough. The grey-colored tuft of hair felt like a cat’s, but the size of it was too big.
I held it out towards Sally. “What do you think this came from?”
She took it from me, rubbing the fur between her fingers. “It’s soft. Maybe a wolf?”
“Doesn’t look like wolf hair to me. Never seen anything like it.”
Holding her dress above her ankles so she wouldn’t trip, Beth joined me at the bottom of the hill. Sally apologized to Beth, showing her the fur that I had found. “What do you think it is?” she asked.
Beth rubbed the fur between her fingers. She looked up at me. “Norman, you don’t think this is from one of those…”
I had never heard of the harska until that morning. Making a judgment call like that with little to no information wouldn’t help to find Henry and Arienne. Even saying that, I was unsure if they were even alive. There was no sign of them, but the fire could explain that. Thinking about it made my head hurt.
“I don’t know,” I replied, sitting down to collect my thoughts.
Beth handed the fur back to Sally. “Can you go ask if anyone knows what this is from?” Sally nodded, taking the fur and running back up the hill.
The two of us sat down together at the bottom of the hill. She took my hand while I rubbed her back. It was possible Henry and Arienne escaped from the fire and made it back to the farm. Right now they could be eating lunch with Pop and Ma. That was what I hoped for. I didn’t want to imagine the truth if it even was the truth.
Sally returned with a young man walking carefully behind her. His features made it obvious he was an elf. Long hair and pointed ears were common amongst the elves. The quality of his clothes told me he was a merchant. Xalir was one of many stops merchants visited on their way up north.
“This is David, he was selling his goods in the market when the fire started,” said Sally
The merchant bowed, holding his straw hat to his chest. “Apologies Mr. and Mrs. Benson, but I might know what creature this hair came from. You see, I’ve traveled the king’s roads for many years now. I’ve seen all kinds of folks and creatures you would never believe. There are several creatures this fur could belong to, but I’d have to say this is most likely harska fur. They’re nasty little cat-like sophonts that live to the northeast. Can’t say I’ve ever seen them this far away from their home.”
“Thank you,” I replied, standing up and taking the fur from him. “Do you know why it was around here?”
“There’s been rumors of them attacking blacksmiths for some months now. Didn’t believe it at first, but based on everything that’s happened today, I’m starting to.”
“I heard this morning that the blacksmith in Ormkirk went missing. But nobody said anything about a fire.” I glanced up at the burning remains of Henry’s forge.
David shrugged. “This is the first I’m hearing about that. But Ormkirk isn’t on my route, so I’m not surprised. What I do know, is that all the recent harska sightings coincide with someone going missing. Sometimes it’s the blacksmith, sometimes a noble living in the area. I’m surprised the king isn’t doing anything about it.”
I felt a sinking feeling in my chest. How many people would disappear before someone would do something about it? Who could do something about it? Henry was tough. He’d always been a fighter. If he had been taken, it hadn’t been done easily.
“You said they lived northeast of here?” asked Beth.
“I don’t know the exact location,” said David, glancing up the hill. “But people say they live in the Sapphire Mountains. I was hoping to ask some folks about that when I got to Kent’s Crossing.”
Kent’s Crossing was a couple of days’ ride from Xalir. Surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides, it was a hotspot for mining and the trade of rare gemstones. Merchants constantly traveled between Xalir and Kent’s Crossing for trade.
“Could you take me there?” I asked. The question came out before I could think. Beth glanced at me, pursing her lip, but she didn’t object. She knew as well as I did that if there was any hope of finding Henry and Arienne, we had to try.
“Sure,” answered David. “But you’ll have to ride in the cart.”
“That’ll be fine.” I turned to Beth, but she didn’t meet my gaze. “I’m sorry. I have to try.”
“What about the king?” asked Beth, tears starting form in her eyes. “He can send some guards, or hire someone, or…”
I shook my head. “There’s no time. By the time the king does anything, they could be injured. Or worse.”
She sighed, nodding her head. “I wish I could go with you, but Charlie… and your parents need me to stay here.”
I kissed her forehead, holding her tightly. “I’ll write to you. Every chance I get I’ll write to you.”
She returned the kiss on my cheek. “You better. You promised you wouldn’t leave, Norman Benson. You better come back.”
“I’ll bring them home. I promise.”
We returned to the farm where we explained the situation to Pop and Ma. They understood but were still wary about me leaving. Charlie was asleep when we arrived. I wanted to wake him, but I knew better. He was too young to worry. Better to let him dream in peace.
This would be my first time leaving Xalir. The first time I would be without my family. They helped me pack my things. Extra clothes and dry food were stuffed into a burlap sack. From my closet, I grabbed my mandolin and hung it on my back. Had to earn money along the way somehow.
While I was looking for more things to bring, Pop handed me an old pair of boots. “These were mine when I was younger.” He reached into the inside of the right boot and pulled out the insole. Underneath was a small silver knife. “Keep this hidden, never know when it might be useful.”
The boots fit perfectly. Holding back tears, I hugged Pop for what felt like the last time. “Thank you.”
He muttered something I couldn’t understand, but he did return the hug. Once I was fully packed, I stood on the steps of the house. Pop, Ma, Beth, and Charlie were all there to see me off. Charlie had woken while I was packing. It didn’t feel like a farewell, or maybe we didn’t want it to be.
“I’ll be back before winter.” I waved goodbye as I headed toward town. Charlie excitedly returned my wave, while the others were more solemn.
“You better come back!” yelled Beth, tears streaming down her face. “Bring them home!”
Finding Henry and Arienne, if they were even still alive, wouldn’t be easy. But it had to be done. I had to try. Arienne had been so excited to spend the day with her uncle. Now there was a chance they could never come home. I wiped away my tears. Wherever they were, I hoped Henry was watching her. I hoped I could find them and bring them home.
