Chapter 6: Red Iron and Black Cats
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Nia and I walked down the dirt-covered street meandering through town. The miners had long since left to work, leaving their footprints as the only sign they existed at all. Wooden stands with colored awnings for merchants to peddle their wares were set up in the center of town. They stocked everything, from fresh bread to magic armor meant to deflect a dragon’s fire. Those who didn’t work had plenty of time to peruse the stalls and get the best deals. I saw David, the merchant who had brought me into Kent’s Crossing, set up with his stall. He didn’t see me wave, but that was fine. We could talk later.

Nia moved past all the shops, never even glancing at them. Several merchants called out to her, begging her to check out their wares. A small man with thick, hairy eyebrows and a small goatee ran in front of her. He bent over to catch his breath before pushing the few remaining hairs on his head into place.

“Milady,” he said, his voice croaking like a frog. “Wouldn’t you like to—”

“No,” said Nia.

“But my potions—”

“Don’t care.” Nia pushed the man out of the way and continued forward. I looked at the man as I walked past. His expression was a mix of anger and confusion. The merchant spun around like he was going to say something, but caught his tongue. His eyes went straight to the hefty axe Nia carried. After taking a second to calm his nerves, he smiled at me before going to harass someone else.

“Does that happen often?” I asked as I hurried to her side.

Nia shrugged. “Often enough.”

I decided not to press the issue further. We smiled at each other before continuing on our way. Other merchants decided to not make the same mistake as the short man. A wise move.

Nia was taking me to see the local blacksmith, a friend of hers. All the noise from the forge made it hard for anyone to want to be around, so the blacksmith had built it at the edge of town. Henry had done something similar with his forge. Though he was more worried about starting a fire than bothering the other townsfolk. How ironic that a fire would destroy his forge anyway.

The forge where Nia’s friend worked was quite plain looking. More of an outside hut with a thatched roof than a real building. Smoke pooled around the roof as it billowed out from inside the forge. An anvil sat near the forge with a large bucket of water next to it. A well-toned figure was hammering away as we arrived.

The blacksmith was tall, shorter than Nia, but still a good couple of inches above my head. Like most blacksmiths, she wore a thick leather apron over a sleeveless, white tunic. Scorch marks covered her clothes, most likely from accidents over the years. Her curly red hair was tied up in a loose bun to protect it from the fire. The tunic she wore did a good job of showing off her muscular arms.

In her right hand was a hammer and in her left were tongs, holding a piece of metal, I couldn’t tell what kind, on the anvil. She repeatedly hammered the metal, trying to beat it into shape, before sticking it back in the forge. It crackled and sputtered out hot embers in protest.

Nia called out to the blacksmith as we approached, “Oy, Tamara! I’m back!”

Tamara looked up and eyed the two of us. Her eyes focused on me as she quickly looked me over. I could barely see her eyebrow rise from underneath her hair. She looked at Nia, before gesturing back to me.

“Who’s he?” Her voice sounded more feminine than I had been expecting. It marked a sharp contrast to her imposing figure.

“He’s a bard that played at Samuel’s last night, wanted to tag along.”

I bowed and smiled at the blacksmith. “Norman Benson, pleasure to meet you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Pick up that piece of iron and bring it to me,” she said, pointing at a pile of metal outside of the forge area. 

I walked over and tried to pick up a metal rod lying on top of the pile. No matter how hard I tried to pick it up, it wouldn’t budge. The rod was barely larger than my forearm, but it must have weighed a ton. Nia laughed and picked it up with ease. I glared at her behind her back as she handed it to Tamara.

“Least someone’s useful around here,” said Tamara. She grabbed the piece of metal and stuck it in the forge. The heat quickly turned it a bright red.

Since Tamara was busy, she wasn’t eager to answer my questions. So Nia and I got to work helping Tamara around the forge. Nia picked up all the heavy stuff, and I helped where I could. Thanks to my Master Piopus, I knew some songs to help speed the work along. The two seemed to appreciate the tunes as they worked. I even thought I saw Tamara tapping her foot to the beat. 

I tried to ask Tamara about the harska as we worked, but she ignored me. Nia also didn’t seem too keen to talk either. Shrugging, I focused on helping where I could. While I was still nowhere close to finding Henry or Arienne, I had a good feeling about the two of them. The Sapphire Mountains were a dangerous place. Having two strong women to guard my back would make it easier to sleep at night.

As I watched the two of them work, I gained a new sense of admiration for Henry. Even working on a farm for so long hadn’t prepared me for this kind of labor. I noticed Nia seemed to be in her element as she moved raw materials and the finished product around the smithy. In a way, she reminded me of Henry, always willing to lend a hand.

After a few hours of work, Tamara started to warm up to me. She would tell jokes about doing orders for stuffy wealthy people who never worked a day in their life. I absorbed all these to remember in case I needed them for a future performance. In turn, I told some of my jokes from back home. Tamara politely laughed when appropriate. 

The sun was now high in the sky, beating down its heat upon us. We all decided that this was the perfect time for a break. Tamara brought us inside her house, a small hut near the smithy.

The house had two rooms, with what I assumed to be Tamara’s bedroom sectioned off with a tarp. We were set up in the kitchen, but it also functioned as a dining room and an entrance hall. The kitchen was nothing more than two smaller wooden tables pushed together. Various sizes of bowls with food placed in them were set on top of it. A small bucket filled with water was placed nearby for washing. A pit was dug into the center for starting a fire, with a hole built into the roof for letting out smoke. 

Light poured in from the hole in the roof. Tamara didn’t have any windows in her house. A couple of cracks crawled up the wall, letting a faint amount of sunlight through. Besides that, the corners of the house were cast in shadow. At sunset, I imagined it would be difficult to see what you were doing.

We sat down at another wooden table pushed against the wall. A vase filled with flowers of every shape and color stood at the center of the table.

“Like it?” Tamara asked, noticing me looking at the flowers. “This vase was a gift from Samuel when I opened the forge. Nia gave me these flowers the other day. Said I needed to make this place look nicer for guests.”

Tamara grabbed one of the flowers and leaned in close to smell it. The flower was white with petals shaped around the yellow center like a pinwheel. Dark green leaves grew haphazardly from the stem. As she inhaled the scent, she held it for a while, taking in every detail of the smell. Then she exhaled with a sigh.

“Gardenia, they call it. My favorite,” she said. “I can never find them in the market, but Nia does. She seems to have a knack for that kind of thing.”

Nia blushed, stepping into the shadows to hide. Ignoring her friend, Tamara began to prepare lunch. She pulled out bread and butter with fresh fruits, apples, and peaches for those who wanted it.

“So where are you from, Norman?” asked Tamara.

“Down south,” I said as I plucked a peach from the fruit bowl. “Ever heard of Xalir?”

“Ah yes, did a couple of orders for some folks down there. How’s Sally doing?”

I frowned, remembering how worried Sally had been about the forge. “She’s doing well, but we’ve had some tough times in Xalir as of late.”

“I’m sorry to hear about that,” she said making a sympathetic face. “What happened?”

After taking a deep breath to compose myself, I told her about Henry and Arienne. She listened politely, asking questions when appropriate. Nia leaned in as I continued to tell my story. Unlike Tamara, she didn’t ask any questions.

“I’ve heard of a harska before,” said Tamara. “But I’ve never seen one myself. Maybe someone in town will know more.”

“Hopefully.” I had hoped Tamara would know more, considering she was a blacksmith like Henry. Glancing over at Nia, I noticed she was no longer following the conversation. Her eyes were focused on something outside the house.

Visible through a crack in the wall, a dark shape seemed to be moving toward the back of the house. I followed her eyes and saw the dark shape too. She grabbed her axe, always by her side, and got up slowly. Her chair creaked as she pushed it back.

The shape stopped. Nia ran outside with a roar, knocking her chair to the side. Tamara and I dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled. The door slammed against the wall, a loud crashing noise echoing throughout the room. Once Nia was out of the way, I rolled to a hunched standing position and grabbed a butter knife from the table. I didn’t have enough time to grab the knife hidden inside my boot.

I ran outside with the butter knife in my hand. Nia, axe raised over her hand, was standing over a small, furry, humanoid creature. It had a face like a cat but stood like a human. Its hands were also shaped like a human, though covered in thin, black fur. Its feet and legs, covered by loosely stitched together fabric, reminded me of the hind legs of a cat. 

A long thin black tail waved from side to side. The tail’s tip was curved at a harsh angle. Yellow eyes with thin black pupils glanced at us before focusing on Nia. Above the creature’s eyes, its fur thinned in two lines leading up to its ears. It held a large dagger, though it could have been a normal-sized dagger, ready to attack Nia if she moved too close.

“I have my reason for being here. I don’t have to tell you anything!” yelled the cat-like figure. It sounded like a young boy going through puberty. His voice cracked the more nervous he got.

Nia gave a battle cry and brought the axe down on the creature. Using her entire body to drive home the sharp edge of the axe. The creature jumped to his left, out of the way of the axe. Nia swiftly converted her overhead swing to the side, aiming at the creature’s neck. Moving swiftly, he dove underneath Nia’s legs, popping out right in front of me.

I took my blunt knife and tried to stab the creature. He deflected it with his dagger and tried to run past me. I stuck out a leg to trip him, but he easily jumped over that. Tamara came out from behind me, wielding a hammer from her forge. She swung the hammer and hit him in the shoulder. A thunderous crack sounded on impact.

The creature fell to the ground, face first. His entire body shuddered as he lay there. Nia came up to finish the job, but I held up a hand to stop her. She ignored the gesture and continued to walk forward with murderous intent. Tamara and I grabbed her arms to hold her back—Tamara did most of the work. Within a couple of minutes, we had calmed Nia down.

We looked down at the furry creature. He was covered in rags stitched together from differently shaped pieces of cloth. They were stained with dirt and other unknown substances. I kicked his body, but there was no response. If a creature like the harska existed, then it must have looked like the creature laying at my feet.

“What is it?” asked Tamara.

“Not sure,” I said. “If I had to make a guess, this is the harska we’ve been hearing about. At the very least, it can talk. So let’s see what it can tell us.”

I rolled the creature onto his back. The shoulder which Tamara hit wobbled loosely out of place. I messed with it a bit to check how damaged it was. It felt like pudding in my hands. Pudding with chicken bones placed inside. Not altogether pleasant, but not too far from saving. Lucky for me, the creature’s heart was in the same place as a human’s. The harska’s heartbeat was slow.

Taking my hands and placing them on his shoulder, I started to hum the chord of C major. My fingers started to glow as I focused on healing his injuries. There was a loud pop as his shoulder moved back into place. Piopus, my old bardic teacher, had taught me this trick right before he left. I hadn’t had much of a chance to test it, so I was excited to see if it worked.

I could feel the bones in his shoulder twist as they moved back into place. The torn muscles stitched themselves back together. Piopus had told me it would leave a nasty bruise, but all the fur made it hard to see. With my job done, I sat back and waited. His breathing during the whole process was painful and ragged. As it finished, it turned to a slow, even pace.

“Think he can move?” asked Tamara. I nodded in response. “Good, then let’s bring him inside. I’ve got a few questions that need answering.”

Nia lifted the small figure into her arms and carried him inside. Tamara provided some rope, which I tied around his arms and legs. His dagger was placed to the side, out of the way. Once he was good and tied, I took my knife out of my boot. When I got back to my room at the tavern, I would think of a better place to keep it. Didn’t want something like this to happen again.

As we waited for the cat-like creature to wake up, we talked about what we should do. Each of our eyes continued to look at the creature, never taking them off of him. Tamara looked worried as she stared at the creature. What would have happened had Nia and I not been here? Would Tamara have disappeared like Henry and Arienne?

The creature’s eyes fluttered open. Yellow eyes, shaped like a cat’s and sparkling like gold, looked around the room taking in every detail. He cried out in pain and struggled against the ropes. Nia took a step forward, but Tamara held her back. We watched the creature twist in every way possible before he settled in the chair. 

“Why have you captured me?” he asked, breathing heavily.

I kneeled in front of him. “All we want to know is why you were sneaking around outside this house?”

He glared at me. “I was not sneaking.”

“Then why were you outside the house?” asked Nia.

“I was passing by,” he said with a toothy smile. “I have poor vision. Hard to tell where I’m going. Didn’t even know this house was here.”

Nia slapped him across the face. Both Tamara and I jumped back in surprise. The harska flexed his facial muscles to fight through the pain. He seemed to recover quickly. Smiling, he spat in her face.

“Now I will tell you nothing,” he said, growling.

I put my hand on Nia’s shoulder and led her outside. Tamara stayed to watch the creature. Once outside, I stroked my chin, trying to think of a way to make him talk. While I thought, I paced around, wracking my brain for some way to break this creature’s spirits. Nia seemed to have calmed down, leaning against the wall.

“Doing alright there, Norman?” asked Nia.

“Yes, well no. What was he doing outside the house? Did he come with others? What does he want? Is it a harska?” I asked as I paced around. Nia watched me in silence.

“Doing that ain’t gonna solve anything,” said Nia.

“Maybe, but it helps me think.”

As I walked, my boots stomped against the dirt. It was the only sound that could be heard, except for the prideful cries of the cat-like creature. Even with so little noise, it was distracting. I stopped to keep myself from making noise, but I still heard a tapping sound getting closer by the second.

I turned towards the road. Walking along the path to the forge was a dirty old man. Straining my eyes, I recognized him as Greenspring, his body covered in leaves and twigs. We had met in the local tavern the night before. He leaned on his staff as he walked, causing a loud tapping noise as he drove the staff into the dirt with each step. His long, grey beard and hair flowed gently in the breeze. His face was cracked and wrinkled, most likely from many years in the sun. Greenspring locked eyes with me and stopped, standing several yards away.

Confusion flashed across his face before he smiled warmly. “What a surprise! Come to see Tamara as well?”

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