Mind Forged: Book One of the Enchanters of Xarparion (26 page)

I looked up and there was Darroth, mouth open and pointing at me
. “What in the world are you?” I looked around myself and realized that I was still shaping the metal around me. From the number of pieces, I would have to estimate that my suit was about done. But Darroth didn’t seem to be concerned about that at the moment.

“
Um, I can explain, I think.”

“
You’re darn right you can explain!”

I told him everything that I knew about my father and what he told me about these
‘talents’. To my surprise, he took things rather well, only stopping me twice to ask questions.

“
So let me get this straight, because of whatever your parents are, you now have the ability to control metals?”

I cringed
, “Yeah, that’s about right.”

Darroth paused in thought and absently pulled his weathered old pipe out of his shirt
. He lit it with a straw ember from the forge and puffed up a great cloud of smoke that temporarily hid his features. Waving it away, he leaned back against a post.

“
Son, I’ve been around a while and I’ve seen some things: rare artifacts, legendary weapons, and metalwork from all over the known world. And I am not too hidebound of a smith to state that, in my opinion, more than a few of those relics were never made by the hand of dwarf or human.” He took another draw on the pipe and motioned toward my pile of armor pieces. “Some of them looked a lot like that, however.”

“
It seems to me that every so often, the world gets out of round, like a broken grinding wheel, no good for anything. When that happens, certain beings, call them what you will, and mortal heroes are called upon to step up and make it right again. When it happens, the process ain’t pretty, a lot of blood will spill, and a lot of good people will end up dying doing what’s right. But for some reason when the call is made, there are heroes who answer it.”

He took another puff and smiled
, “Of course, the wise person in these situations would run like hell. But I guess I’m too old to learn wisdom, and you used all yours up when you decided to court Maya.”

Darroth put out the bowl of the pipe with his thumb and tucked it back into his shirt
. “Now, if I were you, I wouldn’t do this where people who are just passing by can see you.” I was shocked that he took it so well. He then stepped past me to the assortments of parts behind me. “Looks like all you have left is to rivet everything together.”

“
Actually, I think I’m ready for my first fitting. I’ll need your help with that.”

I took of
f my robes and got into the leather gambeson that I made to absorb impact and for comfort. Once I was ready, I used my new ability to float each of the pieces into place, starting with my boots and working my way up. As more and more of the armor took shape, I was starting to get a sense of the size I had become in it. Everything fell into place nicely. I fitted the pieces of the helmet together last and inserted the leather and cloth lining. I put my helmet on and turned to Darroth for inspection.

“
Kid, you’re a damn monster in that stuff.”

“
But how do I look?”

“
You look great, but I can see some things that aren’t fitted right.”

We ended up working a bit late into the
night fitting everything properly, so I had full range of movement. I even added a few things that Darroth suggested would be useful. Later that night at home, Nia came to me after dinner.

“
I take it you’re almost done with your armor?”

“
We actually got it fitted today.”

She
smiled, “That’s great! I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there to see it, I’m sure it was awesome.”

“
That it is. But don’t worry, I’ll be putting it on again tomorrow, and I’ll need you there for that.”

“
Ok, Mr. Alex, but could I ask for some of your time now?”

“
Of course.”

She
smiled and dragged me up to our room. She then shut and locked the door. Satisfied that we wouldn’t be interrupted, she took her secret rolled up sketches out of their hiding place.

“
I know I’m not a master smith like you, but I would really like you to look this over for me.”

She unrolled everything on the table so I could look it over
. I was very impressed with what she had drawn up.

“
I knew you were up to something like this, but this is extremely good!”

Nia was beaming
. She had drawn up a complete print of armor for Maya. Her design was very sleek and slender when compared to mine. She even had notes on all the enchantments that she felt were needed. This suit of armor was designed with speed in mind, but still offered protection that would be unmatched by any other armor but mine, even full field plate.

Nia must have been spending all her free time working on this
. I had no doubt that this would be perfect for Maya.

“
This is excellent! It must have taken you a long time to do this.”

She blushed
. “To tell the truth, I even faked going to sleep some nights so I would get it done in time, so you could build it as soon as you finished the tournament. Do you think it will be good enough for Maya?”

“
Of course! It will be perfect. But there are some minor things that we need to put in that you wouldn’t know about.”

Nia
listened intently to everything that I said and made her own changes to her design. I was not going to take over anything. She worked so hard on this; it will be her armor and hers only. Nia understood all the reasons that I gave her for modifications and even changed some other things before I even said that they were needed. After a couple of intense hours, we were done with the revisions.

“
Nia, come here for a second, I would like to try something.”

She flew over to me
. “What do you want to try?”

I pulled a
small block of mithrul from one of my pockets. “Ok, I know this will be a bit strange, but just trust me. I need you to close your eyes, stand on this block with your legs apart and your arms and wings out, and don’t move.”

She did as instructed, and then I started to shape the metal
. The liquid metal was not hot so I wouldn’t burn her, but she still flinched a little. I had it climb up her legs and out to her arms, slowly hardening into the shape I was wanting. After about a minute, I was done.

“
Ok, you can open your eyes now, and you’re free to move.”

Once I said that
, she sprang into the air, away from the block in my hand. She was horrified about what she just saw. “Ok, what the hell, Mr. Alex? What is that thing?”

“
This is a simple piece of metal.”

“
But it was moving…and on me!”

“
That was me, a new ability from my dad. And I must say that it worked even better than I hoped.”

“
What worked?”

“
Look at what you’re wearing.”

She looked down at herself and realized that she was
wearing a suit of armor. She had on a suit of breast plate that looked to be made of pure silver. She had slots in the back for her wings to move, but even they had a super thin layer of silver around the edges of her wings. I also gave her twin long swords the size of toothpicks. Nia looked over herself with her mouth wide open.

“
This is fantastic! I can fly in armor! Wait, why can I fly in armor?”

“
It’s made from mithrul so it’s super light but still very strong. But due to your size, I would still try to not get hit with anything, but it will protect you from most magic attacks and help you control your own. I worked the channels of magic in the swords and gauntlets so they work like a wand would. So if you’re in a fight, just point a sword at a bad guy and fire away!”

She flew around a bit and then landed in front of a mirror to admire herself
. “I look great! But do I get a helmet too?”

“
Do you want one?” She nodded shyly. I shaped a small helmet from the block that looked similar to the one she designed for Maya. “Here you go.”

She
snatched it away and put it on, then continued striking exaggerated martial poses in front of the mirror. She looked rather badass actually. There’s just something about a pixie in armor that instills fear. Ok, not really, but it is really cool.

“
I still can’t believe I can move in this!”

“
As I said, it’s very light and has a lot of magic pumped into it. I also have it set to a key word so you will need to pick one.”

She thought for a
moment. “Combat pixie!”

“
I like it!” I set that as the key words to activate her armor. With that done, I carefully liquefied it again and turned her armor into a small cube that I held in my hand. “Now all you have to do is touch it and say the key words, and it will do the rest.”

“
That is so…I can’t explain! Thank you, Alex!”

“
But you need to promise me that you won’t tell the twins or Maya.”

She made a sad face
. “Oh, I can see not telling Maya, but why not the twins?”

“
Because those two can’t keep anything from her, so it’s best if they just don’t know.”

“
Got it.”

The next few days were
extremely hectic. Nia and I spent most of our time working on all three of our armor sets, much to the disgust of everyone else. With us two busy, most of the cooking responsibilities fell on the twins, and the only meal they were comfortable making unsupervised was breakfast, so the hall ended up with eggs, bacon and sweet cakes for every meal. Even Rosa began to get tired of it and threatened to eat at Central if something wasn’t done soon. The dragons were perfectly fine eating the same food over and over, as they had developed a special fondness for bacon, lots of bacon. At lunch one day with Lin and Julia, I even overheard two cooks complaining about the looming bacon shortage that seemed to be on the horizon at the school.

But
the work needed to be done. Rosa and Maya were working out the plan to find the guy protecting the assassin, apparently that was going well. The twins even spent the day with Julia and Lin doing girl things. I asked Nia what that meant and she simply said, “Boys don’t understand girls.” Someday I hope to understand them, but somehow I feel that isn’t going to happen.

Alex

The first day of the tournament had arrived and we were ready. Nia and I took the day before off and got to bed early so we were well rested. Nia has made it very clear to me that she doesn’t trust the other competitors when I’m not in a match, so she will never let me leave her sight. She is taking this a bit too seriously…I hope.

After a good breakfast
with lots of bacon and a pep talk from everyone at the table, we went over to the starting area for the contestants to start the opening ceremony. In the meantime, I took this opportunity to get a feel for the area. The layout was simple, large stone steps were arranged in a very large ‘C’ shape with the opening leading to a row of tents. In the center, were five colored rings, one for each of the towers, arranged in a circle as well. Sadly, there was nothing representing the Enchanters Hall. Some of the pre-tournament favorites had banners hung up to cheer on their side, and of course reds, greens, blues and grays were represented proudly. I could see nothing that would give me the advantage; I also didn’t see anything that would hinder, either. In fact, if both opponents have to stay in the circles, I would say that this will be easy.

I
decided to wear my leather undersuit so not everyone would know right away that I was an enchanter. Looking around though, I probably did look a little odd being the only one not in a robe. My pondering was interrupted by the loud sound of someone clearing their throat. Looking up, I could see that the Headmaster and the other heads of the towers, in their finest robes, were ready to get things started. The Headmaster used a spell to amplify his voice.

“
Greetings, everyone, to the two hundred and seventh wizards’ tournament!” Thundering applause and shouts filled the stadium. “It gives me great honor to oversee this year’s tournament for the first time since returning from my research hiatus. But none of you want me to talk all day, you want duels!” More thunder from the students. “For those of you who are new this year, we have some rules to go over. First, every contestant has been given a tent. When you are not in the rings or in the stands, you will be in your tent. Second, when you are in a duel, there will be no fatal blows. Third, if you leave the ring, you’re out. And fourth, you can use only what you can carry with you, no outside aid. Towards the end of the tournament, the headmasters will make changes to the rules if needed. But for now…let the tournament begin!”

Well
, that was short; here I thought I would be standing for a long time. With the games started, the contestants began exiting the stadium to find their tents. From the number of participants, I would say this could take a long time to declare a winner; there must be over two hundred of us. I found my tent easily; after all, it was the only white one. Inside, I found the floating stone box which was now holding my armor as well as Rosa and Nia. Rosa got up from a small table set up in the back corner and gave me a hug and a peck on the cheek.

“
Don’t worry about anything, you will do fine.”

Through the link we
shared, I could tell that she was the nervous one. “I’ll be fine, Rosa, don’t worry about me. You should go sit with the girls in the stands, I’ll be fine here.”

She
wrung her hands. “I still don’t feel right about this. I know it was my idea but I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Nia flew over to us and attempted to get Rosa away from me and out the door
. “Rosa, he couldn’t get hurt if he fell off a cliff in this armor!”

Rosa
gave the two of us a hard look. “And how is that supposed to make me feel better? Only you two have seen it, and I can’t tell anything about it from reading your minds. Every time we mention it, all you two think about is measurements and improvements. It’s driving me crazy!”

I slowly pushed Rosa out the tent flap
. “I’ll be fine. I have Nia to watch my back, so don’t worry. Please, go have fun with the others today, your undercover work can continue tomorrow.” She looked like a mother sending her child off to join the army, but she left.

With Rosa gone
, Nia let out a sigh of relief. “Finally! I thought she would never leave. Even I can only take so much melodrama in one day.” She flew over to the table and grabbed a thin piece of wood with paper on it. She looked it over as she talked to me. “Ok, Champ, it looks like for the first day, you have three matches to compete in, provided you win, of course, and you will! The first one is in competition round three, so we have less than an hour to get you ready. So get your armor on already!”

“
Yes, Ma’am!”

A pixie with authority, who knew?

...............................................................

Maya

We had excellent seats, tenth row up and in the middle so we could see everything. I sat down wearing an enchanters staff robe that Rosa had enchanted with the same spell as my party dress, so I wasn’t standing out as a dark elf. The sun felt good on my face. Today was going to be a good day. The twins sat to my left and Lin and Julia on my right. The dragons seemed excited by the new experience, but the girls were going absolutely nuts. Julia grabbed my arm and then wrapped me in a tentative hug. She looked at me with those big blue eyes of hers.

“
Maya, I thought Alex was going to be joining us.”

“
He and Nia are on their way.” I could barely contain my excitement. Alex said he never told them about competing, so I was anxious to see the looks on their faces when he stepped out into that arena.

“
Sad, he’s going to miss all the fun.”

“
Oh, I think he will have plenty of fun.”

She looked at me with a puzzled
expression. She started to say something but I put a finger on her lips. “No talking, they’re about to start round three.”

Lin and Julia directed their attention to the announcer who was calling the names for the third round
. “In the blue ring, we have Turkel Hatst vs. Nitile Burs. In the green ring, we have Ranny Eose vs. Alex Martin.”

I wasn
’t looking at the announcer; I was looking at the girls, just waiting for him to say that. Their jaws dropped and they slowly turned their heads to me. Julia looked stricken and started hyperventilating, but Lin was still able to find her voice.

“
By the gods! Alex is competing? It’s going to be a massacre, a slaughterhouse, a big boom and a pile of ash!”

I
patted them on the knees and grinned, “I know, it’s going to be thrilling!”

They both stared at me, blinking like I ha
d gone completely insane. “No, you’re not getting it. Alex will be the pile of ash!”

Still
smiling. “I don’t think so. Have some faith, you two.”

Just then Rosa joined us, looking
rather sad. Julia took the opportunity to go straight to the source of the information.

“
Rosa, please tell us that it’s not true. Please say he’s not actually competing!”

Rosa was actually
shedding tears and wringing her hands. “It’s true…all true. I just hope he doesn’t accidently kill anyone.”

The girls were
speechless now as the contestants began entering the rings. I put a hand on each of their heads and turned them to look at the green ring that was directly in front of us.

This was the first time that
I’ve seen the armor he made and just looking at it took my breath away. He was now a seven foot tall white and silver monument of perfection. The plates of his armor were so smooth that it looked like a white mirror, and with the shine of the silver chainmail peaking through the plates, he seemed to glow. He looked up at us, but there were no slots in his helmet for the eyes. I then remembered he no longer needs them. Aside from the massive armor, he was wielding a white tower shield that was as tall as he was and casually carried a large gleaming white war hammer that still almost seemed too small for him. From the viewpoint of someone who had seen battle and had sent many foes to the afterlife, I recognized the angel of death. I felt a panicked chill run through my body. I knew this armor…from my dreams!

…………………………………

Alex

This armor feels great
. I have been in it for about half an hour now and I don’t feel like I’m even wearing it. Nia has really cracked down on me, though; she had me at the stand-by area twenty minutes before I needed to be there. But time flew by and it was time to start the show. I walked out and took my place at my starting point in the green circle. An official came by and explained that I win by knocking my opponent out, making them leave the ring or forcing surrender. And when I say ‘came by’ I really mean he had no desire to be anywhere near me, so he just shouted the instructions and ran for the hills.

My
opponent, on the other hand, looked as though he wished he could run. I felt kind of bad for the poor kid. There he was, maybe five foot two, eighty pounds if he was lucky, shaking in his boots. I guess having your first opponent be a seven and a half foot tall white and silver metal behemoth would do that to you.

The
official on the side line started the countdown, but the kid wasn’t even readying a spell. The moment he said ‘start’, I gripped my war hammer and crossed the hundred feet between us in the blink of an eye. When the dust settled from my sprint, the boy found that the spike of my weapon was an inch from his neck. He let out a small squeak before backpedalling out of the ring and falling on his butt in fear and staining his blue robes.

I turned to the
official, but he seemed too stunned to move. Thankfully, he regained his wits before this got too awkward and signaled a victory. After winning my first match and setting a new record, I was asked to return to my tent. As I left, I looked up to the girls and found that Lin, Julia, Rosa, Dawn, and Dusk were all staring at me strangely without blinking. Maya was nowhere to be seen. Funny, I could have sworn she was there right up until the judge’s decision. I walked over to the side of the arena closest to my friends and indulged them with a snappy salute. Then I left, grinning behind my helm.

I returned to my tent were Nia slammed into my face plate, hugging it,
as soon as I stepped inside.

“
You were awesome! You scared him so good that he wet himself!”

“
I only did that to end things quickly so he wouldn’t get hurt,” I defended, still feeling a little guilty about scaring the kid so bad.

She r
eleased me and sat on her built-in pixie perch on the right pauldron of my armor. It’s also where her armor was now located. “Well, Alex, we don’t have another match until late this afternoon, and then they’re almost right in a row.”

“
If I keep winning. That’s fine, so I guess I should get out of the armor if we’re going to get some food.”

“
I’d hold up a minute. Rosa said she would stop by after the match to see this armor we’ve been so hush-hush about. And I don’t think the others will miss the chance either.”

I took her
advice and stayed in the armor, but I did the smart thing and put the hammer, shield, and gauntlets in my box. With that done, I stood in the middle of the tent and waited with Nia on my shoulder. Now, standing in the middle was not part of some plot for when they got here, it’s just the only area where I can stand up straight without my head hitting the tent.

The next thing I knew, a
misty-eyed Maya charged into the tent, threw her arms around my head and leaped up into my arms like a small child. She put her head on the breastplate of my armor and closed her eyes tight, saying nothing.

“
Alex, she needs you to just hold her for now,”
Winya advised.

Rosa and the others rushed in a few moments later
. Julia stopped abruptly and gawked at Maya’s behavior, and then looked at me and gushed, “Alex, that was so cool! Your armor is amazing to let you run at those speeds, and you look awesome!”

“
Thanks, but can anyone tell me what’s wrong with Maya?”

Julia thought for a moment
. “She was fine until she saw you come out in your armor, and then she gasped and mumbled something about this being a dream and started to shake like a leaf. Then she bolted.”

I looked at Rosa questioningly
. She shrugged, and finally Winya answered the question.

“
Alex, Maya is ok with me telling you this, she just isn’t prepared to say the words out loud. To make a long story short, she is experiencing a mental shock. Interwoven in this are strong feelings of love, hope, validation, joy and not a small amount of desire.

You might say Maya had a haunted childhood.
From her earliest memories, she has dreamed of a knight in shining armor very, very close in appearance to the armor you have on, who wielded a fearsome hammer to smite his foes. The knight never spoke or removed his helmet, but she still fell in love with this knight from her childhood. He was always there to drive away the horrible nightmares of undead that haunted her sleep nearly every night.

At some point in our late childhood, we all come to the realization that our childhood
’s fondest dreams are just that - fantasies and nothing more. Maya cast off her dreams of the white knight and resolved that if she could not depend on him for protection, then she must become her own protector, a capable warrior in her own right. She vowed that no one would hurt her again, be it man or apparition. So she trained and trained until she became the swordswoman she is today, but still the awful nightmares continued.