Steelforged Legacy 2 - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Casey worked quickly to check over the nameless little ruined town. While there were the signs of ancient violence, they were well faded and the ravages of time had taken much from the town. He found pantries that both men and animals had raided, any scraps left behind having molded or rotten away entirely. Even the stores of grain he found inside of large clay urns showed signs of predation by the wild animals who had wandered through town.

What Casey did find in the town showed the trade of the people there. They had been fishermen and women who worked the river, as well as carpenters who harvested trees from nearby.

He found a number of metal tools for both working and felling wood in two buildings that had large workshops attached to them and supplies of wood well dried in storage. 

At the largest, untouched building, Casey found a half-dozen open, low sided boats that held both fishing nets, rods, and all sorts of accouterments of the tradesmen. The warehouse also had large racks that would have served to dry and preserve fish, as well as barrels to store them in. Even the preserved food was long gone, and the warehouse showed signs of the fighting too, with ancient discolorations from blood and weapon-scars on both the racks and boats.

It is too bad that those faerings are damaged, Maude sent to him while he studied the boats set to one side.

Several had the scars of axes and swords on them, and each had at least one or two of the boards in the bottom shattered to make them unworthy to sail or take on the river.

“Yeah, would have made for a good way to cross the river,” Casey muttered, glaring at the damaged boats. “If I had even a vague idea of how to repair them, I’d give it a shot. All I have to do is get across the damn river. Hell, I’d try swimming it if the flying longships weren’t so thick.”

They’d already heard one of the ships pass overhead twice at this point. Casey wasn’t sure if it was the same ship, or two different ones. All he knew was that the crack of the wind-filled canvas was loud enough each time that he had stayed out of sight.

Wish all we want, but it won’t change the reality of the situation. At least we were able to break contact with the hunting groups. Now you just need to decide where you are going to bed down for the night.

Casey sighed and nodded. He had wanted to take over one of the abandoned houses. That way he could use the hearth and maybe have a bed. But with the number of airships flying by, he couldn’t bring himself to risk it.

“I’d go for that basement under the ruined tavern, but I don’t think the stairs are wide enough for Magnus. I don’t want the big guy left alone outside.”

Probably for the best. I know he can take care of himself, but he is a part of your group, and I would be happier if he is nearby to help you keep watch.

“I should feel insulted that you think I need an overgrown deer to help me stay safe, but I also know how keen Magnus is, and I can’t say I’d have a problem with it. That horned menace has saved my butt a few times already.”

The ‘horned menace’ gave a derisive snort from his spot by the door of the large warehouse. When Casey glanced over, the elk was giving him a mock-offended look.

You do your fair bit of tormenting in return, good Magnus, Maude chided gently, getting an amused huff from the animal.

Honestly, if you want to keep Magnus close, I’d say sleep here in the warehouse. You’ll be sheltered from above, and Magnus can get through the larger doors. Anyone entering town will have to either come along the road, up the river, or set down in the clearing by the walls.

Casey glanced over his shoulder at the setting sun as it dipped down to the horizon, barely visible above the canopy of the trees.

“Yeah, gonna get a quick fire going to cook dinner on before it gets fully dark. If I use this dry wood in here, it shouldn’t smoke enough for anyone to catch sight of it,” Casey sighed and set about collecting bits of shattered wood.

Magnus grunted happily, trotting across the cracked timber floor to a corner behind where the boats sat piled, clearly intent on making himself at home while Casey actually worked.

Shouldn’t expect anything less of the lazy bastard, Casey thought with a smirk, pulling his small wood-hatchet off his pack. Then again, he did his share earlier today in baiting those hunters into the troll and helping me fight the varg.

While he got the dry wood split and rummaged around through a nearby house to find an old, iron cauldron to use as a mobile hearth, Casey turned over the events of the last several days.

“Maude?” he murmured once he had the cauldron in place. It was a stout thing that would have probably held five or more gallons if he was making soup, but for now it was just going to be a firepit for him to keep from burning the wood of the floor up.

What is it, Casey? Maude answered from within his mind. He had a distinct image of the weapon-woman lounging on a long bench of stone beside the pool of her qi, sprawled on top of a thick animal fur.

Blinking at the image presented, he wondered when it was that Maude had gotten that bench and fur. He knew she had a bed of sorts inside her center, where her spirit rested, but she wasn’t always trapped inside the cave where her qi resided.

Must be something to do with how she’s grown? I know my cave expanded more when I took the third Step, and she’s on the fifth now. I wonder when I’ll be able to make a bed in my center? Casey smirked at that thought.

He knew that Maude would be more than happy to occupy that bed with him, as the weapon-woman was always excited to make herself at home within his spirit whenever he invited her.

“You mentioned that you were working on figuring out what to do with the star metal. Did you make a decision on that?” Casey asked, dropping the cauldron into its spot on the floor with a grunt.

Magnus had found a spot in the corner that both sheltered them from view using the stacks of ruined boats and had enough room for both of them to lay out if needed. Casey had already set out his bedroll to claim a spot, with Magnus flopping down next to it with a contented sigh.

Now, Casey got the cauldron settled in the open space that led to the rest of the large room before glancing around to check for windows that would allow light out. As the sun was already dipping low, the building was quite dark. He was hoping that using the cauldron to contain the light of the fire would help hide it.

Maude didn’t respond to his question at first, and Casey let her think while he got the wood he’d prepared ready, using the hatchet to ‘feather’ or cut strips into one stick of dried wood so it would catch easier.

I have, Casey. I had originally wanted to save showing it off to you for later, but now that I am thinking on that, it would be foolish. Maude’s voice was thoughtful as she spoke, and Casey just nodded along while he rummaged through his pouch for tinder.

Digging in the tinder pouch, he found a piece of the prepared fungus that Maude had walked him through treating and drying properly before and set about scraping it with his eating knife to fluff it out.

“Going to need to sharpen this thing,” Casey muttered as he used the dull metal to rub at the fungus and make its dry layer fluff up so it would catch a spark.

You should look at that other knife you got from the troll-horde as well, Maude reminded him. Never hurts to have a spare, and tucking a knife into the top of your boot is an easy way to conceal it in a pinch.

“If I’m going to be needing to fight, I’ll have you at my side, Maude. So I don’t expect to need a hideout weapon,” Casey chuckled, squatting down next to the cauldron and setting the now-fluffy piece of fungus down amongst the sticks he’d prepared and getting his flint and steel out.

You never expect to need a holdout weapon, you just end up being thankful you have one when the time comes, Maude said dryly while he made a few quick gestures with the tools, striking a shower of sparks into the fungus and then blowing on the glowing ember that caught.

Casey didn’t argue with her, focusing instead on getting the ember to grow into a flame and tucking that amongst the dry slivers and sticks until they caught and crackled away. Then he stuffed that into the wide mouth of the cauldron.

The fire burned low, with the actual flames not leaping up high, but the exceedingly dry wood in the storehouse still caught and burned without producing excessive smoke, so Casey was satisfied.

“And when I’m done, I just bang the lid on top and it will smother the fire,” Casey said, satisfied at his own cleverness.

Magnus grumbled from behind him. Casey turned to roll his eyes at the elk.

“Yes, I know you are hungry. Give me a minute to dig through the bags and I’ll get you some vegetables. No onions for you tonight, though. I don’t need you driving me out of the warehouse with your farts.”

The elk gave an offended huff, tilting his snout up with the air of an offended prince at the suggestion that he, the noble Magnus, would get gas.

“Yeah, keep lying to yourself,” Casey laughed.

Casey didn’t make Magnus wait long though, rifling through the saddlebags that he’d removed from the elk so it could be comfortable. A bit of digging found him the supply of carrots and he fed several to Magnus before pouring out a share of the dry oats into a bowl for the elk, too.

When Magnus was crunching away happily on his food, Casey set about preparing his own dinner, which was oatcakes fried over the fire along with some vegetables roasted in the same pan and dried meat.

Once everything was sizzling away happily, Casey sat with his legs crossed and dragged his pack over to start going through everything they’d taken from the troll-horde.

There were actually fourteen of the dull blue stones that hummed of qi, which told Casey that they had belonged to some kind of aquatic spirit-beast. Maude had no idea what it could have been, as there were all sorts of spirit beasts that could be in the river. Everything from magic-wielding salmon to some of the lesser river serpents or freshwater, predatory fish like the pike.

And that’s not even counting the actual spiritual creatures like selkie or huldra. Though I doubt they would have been foolish enough to be caught by a troll. Also, we are too far south to run into selkie…

“Either way, I feel less guilty about using something like this to help encourage my growth than I would an elemental core,” Casey said, tucking the stones into one of the spare pouches he had and then stuffing that deep into his pack to conceal it. “Speaking of, I should return those elemental cores to their people.”

It wouldn’t hurt to leave an additional offering to the spirits of the village, either. For all that the village was destroyed violently, I don’t sense lingering resentment here. And we have seen no corpses either. If we are lucky, maybe some domovoi still reside here and laid their former families to rest.

“Domovoi?” Casey asked, dumping out the loose coins he’d just shoveled into the pouch next. The bone-handled knife slid out as well, landing amongst the pile with a jingle. He set the knife to the side as he set about sorting the coins and piling the gold and most of the silver into the money pouch he’d taken from Mikhail.

House spirits, one of many kinds that live in the wild. There are also brownies, clurichauns, and hobs that might be in the area. It’s doubtful that there are any here, but it never hurts to be polite.

“Gotcha. Always good to be polite.” Casey tested the oat-bread with a finger, finding it finished cooking and tore off half of the loaf before getting to his feet and fishing the elemental cores out of his pack. “Magnus, leave my dinner alone. You’ve had yours already,” Casey said while eying the elk, who did his best to look innocent.

He’s a good boy. Magnus would never steal your food, Casey, Maude crooned, and Magnus visibly puffed up with pride at her confidence in him. It was honestly weird to see an elk do that, but Casey wasn’t going to argue as long as the animal didn’t try to filch his food.

A quick tour outside and Casey found three different spots to leave his offerings. The bread he left on the hearth of the tavern, figuring that if any house-spirits dwelt in the town, then the tavern would likely be their home. The two acorn-shaped cores, he left on the root of the largest tree near the village, while the scale-shaped core he laid out on a large rock that overlooked the river on Maude’s advice.

That is the best place for it, Maude explained as he hurried back into the warehouse and went to check his food. The stone elementals will find it eventually there. It is unlikely that any live in the area, but with it out there like that, it will draw them to it. One will come along to collect it.

“Fair. I’ll just call it a win if they can use it to create another of their people,” Casey said, sighing when he found the bottoms of his vegetables had burned from sitting in the pan for too long. They weren’t inedible, but were far crispier than he normally liked.

You are remarkably kind about such things, Casey. Most drengr, even the kind ones, would not hesitate to absorb the qi in those cores to empower themselves so they could better protect their own people.

“I already explained—” Casey began to grumble but went silent at the sensation of a hug wrapping around his shoulders.

I know, Casey. I’m constantly in awe of how kind you can be. I have no problem with your choice, because it also earns you goodwill with the elementals and they have their own blessings they can give. But others will not always agree with you on this. There are clans of elementals who will still seek to kill you for just existing as a threat to their own people.

“I’ll deal with them when that time comes,” Casey grumbled, scooping the last of the coins into the pouch. He spared a moment to study the silver arm-bands that he’d taken, but they were simple jewelry and didn’t really appeal to him, so they went into his pack as future trade-goods as well.

While letting his food cool, he finally took out the bone-handled knife and studied it carefully in the faint light that made it through the horn windows of the warehouse and what little light escaped the fire.

The knife was simple, with a chisel-style tip not unlike Maude’s seax form, but far shorter. With a blade only about six inches long, it was longer than his eating knife. Well polished with time and age, the bone that made up the handle gleamed in the dim light, and the pommel was a simple cap of brass. Its leather sheath was scratched up some from its time in the troll-horde, but showed no stains or rust.

“Interesting,” Casey mumbled before pulling the blade free of the leather. He was surprised to see that it wasn’t rusted at all and there are a handful of runes carefully shaped into the side of the blade.

Tiwaz and Mannaz. Victory and Man, with Tiwaz further towards the tip. I believe they were meant to bless the blade to lead its wielder to victory based on that orientation, Maude explained as he studied it. The faint glimmer of oil on the blade told Casey how it was that the weapon hadn’t fallen victim to rust. He felt no signs of qi from the metal, though the knife was well made.

“Seems sturdy enough. Boot knife it is then,” Casey said with a chuckle, setting it aside for now and collecting the pan with his dinner in it to eat.

Casey had barely taken his first bite when a distant sound caught his attention and he froze to listen.

The sound repeated itself again, a swish of something moving through the water and a splash. He waited for several minutes more, listening carefully, but no further sounds came.

“Maude?” he asked after the long moments finished edging past.

I heard it as well. Maybe something swimming past in the river, or a large fish going for a bug in the late day. The weapon-woman’s voice was dismissive as she said that.

Casey got to his feet, pan in hand, and strode over to peek through one of the damaged slats in the wall, looking out towards the river to be sure.

There was no sign of anything on the water, the last rays of the sun being the only things moving over the waves. He studied the river for several moments while eating from the pan before shrugging and returning to the spot in the corner.

“Half expected it to be Erik again,” Casey muttered, settling down by the cauldron and peering inside at the glowing coals.

That both would and would not surprise me at all, Maude said dryly. But coincidence can only do so much. And given his professed dislike of the Bronze Fist, I doubt he’d be sticking around their waterways. Especially while they are riled up.

“Fair,” Casey huffed around a hot mouthful, cooling his scorched tongue with a drink from his waterskin. “Anyway, you were talking earlier about the star metal and we got distracted. Have you figured that out yet?”

Ah yes, that is right. Honestly, I have to apologize to you about that, Casey. We are partners after all, and I should have asked for your input on what I was doing before I just made the choices.

“It’s your journey on the Drengr’s Road, Maude. I’d never be upset with you making your own decisions. I trust you,” Casey said. Magnus huffed in agreement from behind him, the elk laying with his belly towards the cauldron, which was putting out a fair bit of heat now to warm the space they were in.

Thank you for understanding, Casey. I greatly appreciate it. Maude’s voice was full of love now and Casey felt the gentle brush of ghostly lips to his. But to the point, I’ve progressed far enough along my Road and with the addition of the extra material of the star metal, I can alter my form more.

Casey promptly choked on the bit of roasted potato he’d been swallowing as his mind drifted to an image of Maude naked and her breasts swelling even larger than their normal generous curves.

Thank the gods I wasn’t touching her when that image crossed my mind, Casey thought while coughing to clear his throat.

Are you okay, Casey? I didn’t expect you to be so surprised by that revelation. I thought you remembered when I’d mentioned it before, Maude said in concern. He took a quick swig from the waterskin before he answered her.

“I didn’t forget, just surprised me,” Casey said quickly when he could breathe again. “What can you do now, then?”

Draw me and I can show you. If I were to do it now, it’d damage my sheath and I’ve come to like the one you bought for me, Maude said shyly.

Setting the pan aside, Casey carefully schooled his thoughts to neutrality and pulled Maude from her sheath, holding her upright in front of him.

The dim light glinted off the blackened steel of her blade. The seax’s shape was longer than his new knife and Maude’s edge looked infinitely keener. Under his hand, the leather wrap felt comfortable and warm, padding his grip while ensuring he wouldn’t lose his hold on it. The hilt was small, just a simple block of metal that barely extended far enough to protect his hand from a descending blade, and the pommel was a simple cap of black metal as well.

Before his eyes, Casey watched as the blade began to shift in color slightly, going from a gray-black shade to a more polished silver one. The blade lengthened and grew until it was nearly a foot longer. The forward-angled tip that helped define the seax shifted and centered itself before the thick spine at the back of the blade smoothed out and became another cutting edge.

Now, the entire weapon was over three feet in length, with the handle extending down longer beneath his fist to give him space to grip it with both hands if he needed to, but the weight of the weapon was balanced enough he could easily wield it with one hand. The hilt extended further out and hooked towards the blade in a spread out ‘U’ shape that had the faint resemblance to antlers in a far stronger protection for his hand.

When the changes finished, Casey couldn’t help but study his new sword with awe.

“Maude, you are beautiful, you know that right?” he said in an astonished and proud voice.

I’m happy that you like it, Casey. I’ll be able to help you fight far better now, and I have a bit more to work with still, so I might be able to unlock another form. What do you think?

“I think it’s great, and I’m going to need to practice a lot more before I can put you to proper use.”

No, of what other form I should work on? Maude said with a laugh, and Casey grinned at the blade.

With it no longer being blackened metal, he could now see his reflection in the blade, and his own steel-colored eyes glittered in the polished metal. Even more than before, Casey felt like he could connect to the weapon in front of him, and not just because of the spirit of the beautiful woman inside of it.

“I’ll leave the form choice up to you, Maude. You know best what will be the most useful. Having the extra reach will help out a lot right now. How quickly can you make that change? Does it drain you?”

No, it doesn’t drain me at all. And I can switch between the forms fairly quickly. I just drug that one out so you could appreciate it. Maude’s tone was shy now, and Casey pulled the blade in close to press a kiss to the flat of the blade, just above the crossguard.

“My girl is beautiful, skilled, and smart. I really lucked out with you, Maude.”

Love you, Casey, Maude said, her voice dropping into a husky tone now, and he could envision her blushing faintly but looking up at him through her eyelashes again.

“Love you too, Maude. Will have to show you just how much I love you soon,” he whispered against the blade.

Why wait? Maude teased. This time, Casey didn’t have to envision it. The image of Maude loosening her leather-wrap outfit rushed to the front of his mind as she sensuously tugged her outfit down to expose her lush curves.

While I cannot spend enough time in physical form yet to fully satisfy you, I will happily help relieve some of the stress you are under and welcome you into my center. I have a few things still to show you here.

The innuendo in her tone made Casey groan with need. He shook off the vision and glanced around quickly to check on his surroundings.

The cauldron still had the fire burning low in it for warmth, and Magnus snoozed nearby with the peace of an animal confident in its safety. Darkness had clad the world now outside, and he was finished with his dinner. There really wasn’t anything besides his own exhaustion that kept him from taking some time to spend with his lover and partner, after all.

The last several days had been exhausting and difficult. The fighting, the running, and the people killed all weighed on his mind, and Casey felt that he could do with a reminder of the good things in this world.

“I’m coming, Maude,” Casey husked with a smirk down at the sword in his hand, laying it over his knees carefully so he could meditate and delve into the inner space where he could touch his lover.

Not yet, you aren’t, the weapon-woman purred into his mind.