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Iron and Light pt. 34 - ending

He returned to the hill and found the remains of his other self. Gathering them up, he took them into the deep woods where he began building his own smithy. He pulled down branches for a fire and dug into the soil for clay. He baked and stacked the bricks for his own furnace. Seeing the sun begin to rise, he returned to the path outside the hill.

The hillside opened and the Lady of the hill rushed out, prepared to punish the smiths for their crime. Seeing Forge standing there, she stopped, then rushed to embrace him. “You’re okay,” she exclaimed.

“Well enough,” he answered. “There are still a few patches in my mind that are not quite fixed, but they will take care of themselves over time.”

Frowning, she released him. “They’ll pay for what they did to you,” she declared.

“Let it go,” he said. “I hold no grudge against them. The boy acted without malice.”

“Still,” he continued, “I’ll have nothing more to do with them. I feel at least partly responsible for what happened. I never should have left those parts alone. I’m building a new smithy, away from town.”

“You are not going to come and live with me under the hill,” she asked.

“Your land is very beautiful, but my work cannot be done there,” he answered. “I could not bring myself to cut down a single branch for my furnace, and you would not want me to. I will visit, but I cannot live there.”

Turning back to the woods, he continued. “I have much to do. I will return when I have the time.” Having said this, he began his walk back to his new forge and the work of restoring his brotherself to sanity.

#iron and light #silver golem #faerie #fantasy #short story #ending #I queued this because it's old

Iron and Light pt. 33

They returned to the smithy where the undertaker was waiting for them.

“So, are you going to bury him or what,” he asked them.

George frowned. “Just help us get him into the shop.”

They carried him into the smithy and set him down on the table. “You can go now,” said George. “Your payment will be sent over later.”

“Okay then,” he said, “see that it is.” He went back to his wagon and started back home.

Turning back to the table, George surveyed the work he had ahead of him. The chest plate was split in half and the left hand was a mangled mess. Taking off the chest plate, he was encouraged to see that the inner grooves were undamaged.

“Robert,” he called, “You’re responsible for fixing the chest. Do it carefully and make sure not to damage any of the lines. You’ve seen what happens when they don’t match up.”

Robert carried the chest pieces carefully to the side table and began melting some silver to seal the crack with. Since the piece couldn’t be melted down and remade it had to be welded back together. He hoped Forge wouldn’t mind the scar.

George took the hand apart and checked the grooves. There would be no help for it, these lines were warped beyond repair. He’d have to try to puzzle them out enough to copy them, and hopefully it wouldn’t be too far off.

Robert finished the chest piece and filed down the weld as much as he could. That was finished by nightfall. After that he went to help his father shape the new hand sections. Their creation took little time, but the engraving took weeks. The deadline given to them by the Lady of the hill was almost up by the time the lines were finished.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, George sighed. “It’ll have to do. I’m sure it isn’t the same as it was, but hopefully he can handle it.”

Attaching the hand, he checked all the connections. He had built some straps into the table to keep Forge from running off in case he panicked, and he tightened these down. Picking up the key, he gingerly slid it into the keyhole and began to turn it. He did not wind him fully, just enough to wake him up.

Forge’s eyes slid open. “What happened,” he asked, apparently calmly. “The last thing I remember is...” He paused, and a clicking sound could be heard coming from his repaired hand. “Why can I not remember? I can feel that there are things missing.”

“You were broken,” answered George. “I was not able to completely restore your thoughts from your hand. Are you, hm, otherwise okay?” he asked tentatively.

“Tell me what happened, and I will try to decide if I am well,” Forge responded.

“Robert,” George said, turning to his son. “Go inside. I’ll join you later.”

“Okay, father,” he answered, glad to not have to answer for his actions yet.

George continued. “Robert, that foolish boy, put your old iron parts back together. He couldn’t keep up with the workload and tried to copy his grandfather.”

“I see,” said Forge. “Go on.”

“It escaped,” he began.

“It!? That was not an it! That was me,” Forge shouted.

Regaining his composure, George continued. “I’m sorry. He escaped and went running off to the hill. When he got there he saw you and attacked you. You ended up breaking each other and the Lady had us come pick you up. That was almost a month ago. Are you okay,” he asked again.

“I will be,” responded Forge. “Finish winding me up and unstrap me. I think I am needed elsewhere. Make sure Robert doesn’t try anything like that again.”

“I’m sure he won’t,” said George, releasing the straps. “Do tell her Ladyship that we never meant to cause all this trouble.”

“I will tell her. Goodbye, George,” he said, walking out the door.

#iron and light #silver golem #family #fantasy #short story #I queued this because it's old