《Mages of Temberlon: Snippets from Landrea》 001 - Smithy You swing your hammer down, pounding the red hot iron rod on the anvil. You can tell you are getting close, you''re just not sure to what. You swing again trying to find where this feeling is leading you. Every swing brings you closer and closer until¡ª ¡°Smithy!¡± a yell disrupts your thoughts. ¡°Come in for dinner.¡± ¡°Be there in a minute,¡± you reply. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! You take another couple of swings at the iron but the feeling is gone. You¡¯ll have to try again tomorrow. You quench the rod and clean up your tools before heading in to eat with your parents. Well, technically the old smith and his wife are not your parents. They had found you huddling by the forge one winter night when you were barely old enough to walk. They had tried to find your parents, but they hadn¡¯t even been able to figure out your name. Which is why you were now called Smithy or Little Smith. The old Smith had given you a name but nobody ever used it. You take one last look at the forge before heading inside. Surely you will be able to find what you are looking for tomorrow. 002 - Rea You ride your horse towards the edge of town. You¡¯re probably going faster than you should be, but as the third child of the lord no one is going to complain. You arrive at the weekly market in the square in front of the eastern gate. The square is surrounded by shops, inns, and artisan workshops. For the market today several merchants have also set up shop in the square. You guide your horse to one of the inns and dismount. You hand the reins to one of your guards as the rest of them dismount and spread out into the crowd around you. They will stay within several meters of you the entire time you are shopping. You sigh thinking about how you can never truly be alone. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. As you wander the market you notice a strange sight in a back corner of the smithy. A youth who appears to be about your own age is working a piece of iron. The strange thing is, they aren¡¯t actually hitting the iron with their hammer. They swing their hammer onto the anvil next to the iron, but somehow the iron still reacts. You immediately recognize the phenomenon as magic. Your father has a hired sorcerer who knows some basic spells, but he is very secretive about how it works. You have no idea where this little smith learned magic. 003 - Smithy You swing your hammer but your strike is off. You are having a hard time concentrating. The lordling has been watching you for the last couple of weeks and it has you on edge. You are worried that they saw you using your weird invisible hammer and might be trying to catch you at it again. Because of that you have had to stop practicing. It might not be just the lordling, they could have others watching you as well. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. So you have tried to find other ways to use the mind power thing. You have a lot of things you think you might be close with, but for now all you can do is light candles, but only candles. The power doesn¡¯t seem to work on the forge or torches. You will have to experiment more. 004 - Rea You are starting to wonder if maybe your mind was playing tricks on you the day of the market. You have watched the little smithy on multiple occasions and even set others to watch for you, but you haven¡¯t seen anything. There is a possibility that your agents didn¡¯t understand what they were looking for, you had simply asked them to watch for anything ¡°unusual¡± at the smithy. You didn¡¯t want to be starting any rumors about another sorcerer being in town. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. There is one thing that you haven¡¯t tried yet. You could simply go ask the little smithy if they know magic. However you¡¯re not sure that is the best choice. Maybe you can buy a new ladle or something and try to make friends with them. The next day you decide to actually buy something at the smithy. You want to make a good impression so you make sure to take a nice bath and apply plenty of perfume before leaving the castle. 005 - Smithy ¡°I¡¯m not feeling well right now,¡± you call down to your father, ¡°I¡¯m going to rest up here for the rest of the morning. I¡¯ll make up the work this afternoon.¡± You¡¯re pretty sure he doesn¡¯t believe you, but hopefully he¡¯ll let it slide. If they keep their pattern the lordling will be showing up any minute to stink up the shop and buy some random gadget. Seven times now that blighted lordling has shown up with glowing skin and covered in the most overbearing perfume and tried to make small talk with you while you''re covered in soot, ash, and sweat. Each time they leave with some random household item. The first time they bought a ladle while trying to talk about soup. They obviously had no experience having done anything with soup besides eat it out of a pristine bowl. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. You peek out the kitchen window that overlooks the square. Sure enough the lordling is making a beeline for the smithy. ¡°Sorry dad,¡± you whisper to yourself as you duck down below the window sill. 006 - Rea You slowly sip your soup from the silver spoon as you admire the pure white china bowl it was served in. The dinner set had been a present from your father to your mother for their tenth anniversary. The set was expensive but your mother insisted on using them instead of keeping them hiding away in some cupboard. Thinking of hiding makes you think of the young smith who seems to be hiding from you. You haven¡¯t seen them in weeks. Everytime you go you end up talking to their father, who seems nice enough, but you want to see the young smith themselves. You have tried changing what time of day you go but they are always nowhere to be seen when you arrive. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Rea, is everything all right?¡± your mother asks. You realize that while you were lost in thought you had started to slurp your soup. ¡°Yeah, everything is fine.¡± Your response doesn¡¯t sound very convincing. ¡°You seem to have a lot on your mind lately,¡± your mother continues, not giving much heed to your half hearted reply. ¡°Your father and I think that maybe you have been stuck in the city for too long. Would you consider traveling with your uncle as he makes his rounds to the local estates? Afterall, you will one day have to serve as your sister¡¯s representative in the same way your uncle serves your father.¡± Her tone of voice indicated you only really had one choice. 007 - Smithy You haul the crate of trinkets and puzzles from the storage shed to the shop. Lord Emig is here for his quarterly order of gifts that he takes with him when he goes to collect taxes from the local estates in the name of his brother. You don¡¯t think the system is very fair. When the tax collector comes, the local lord gets a small gift while those less fortunate get part of their hard work taken away. Well, not really your problem to solve. ¡°Ferdy, any chance you can spare a couple of days to come with me to Lord Phildro¡¯s estate? He¡¯s been trying to convince a blacksmith to move there ever since old Hammond died, but I was hoping you could come for a day or two to help with some of the more pressing needs.¡± Lord Emig turns to you as you hand the crate to his attendants. ¡°Hello there, Little Smith, I hope you came up with some more intriguing puzzles. Lady Litz can¡¯t get enough of them.¡± He turns back to your father. ¡°What do you say, want to tag along?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m up to the task at my age.¡± He makes a show of messaging his lower back. You know he¡¯s faking it, he might be getting old, but he¡¯s still fit as a fiddle. ¡°How about you take Smithy along with you. They''re up to the task and it will do them some good to get out and see a little bit more of our corner of the world.¡± Your heart is racing as Lord Emig takes an appraising look at you. You hope that he¡¯ll take your father up on the offer. After some discussion it¡¯s decided that you will accompany Lord Emig and you rush upstairs to prepare what you need. It doesn¡¯t take you long and you are soon rushing back into the shop. Just as you make it back the door slams open while an out of breath voice exclaims: ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late uncle!¡± You stare in horror as you meet eyes with the lordling who looks back at you with a wide grin. ¡°Oh blight!¡± 008 - Rea Blight you uncle! You curse in your head as you hurriedly make your way to the blacksmith¡¯s shop. You immediately apologize to yourself for using such vulgar language, ashamed that you even know it. But seriously, why couldn¡¯t your uncle tell you that he was going to be stopping by that particular blacksmith before departing for the estates. You barely stop before also cursing yourself for sleeping so late. It might not have mattered that your uncle had only left you a note this morning about the meeting time and location if you had been awake soon enough to prepare accordingly. As it was, you barely had time to get dressed and run to the stables for your horse. Even now you were going to arrive a little after the appointed time. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. You ride your horse to one of your Uncle¡¯s attendants and throw her the reins as you jump off and run to the shop. You stop outside just long enough to fiddle with your hair and regret that you hadn¡¯t put on any perfume today. Then you push through the door before you lose your nerve. ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late Uncle!¡± Your eyes are immediately drawn to the young smith who is standing next to your uncle. They have on a travel pack and look for all the world like they are preparing to go on a trip with your uncle. You can¡¯t help but grin at the thought that they might be coming with you. ¡°Oh blight!¡± they exclaim, but you¡¯re too excited to be offended. 009 - Smithy You sigh in resignation as the lordling saunters into the shop. Ever since the trip to the Phildro estate you have given up on avoiding them, while they have given up any pretense of coming to shop for any reason but to talk to you. As they approach you, you appreciate that at least they stopped wearing that dreadful perfume. Over the last couple of weeks you have been able to deduce that the lordling saw your ¡°weirdness¡± with the hammer that day in the market. You think you have convinced them that they must have been seeing things and they definitely haven¡¯t seen any of your other ¡°weirdness,¡± but they still show up every couple of days with more questions. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Today¡¯s questions feel more blunt, maybe even on the verge of desperate. You answer them the same as all of the questions before. When the lordling finally does leave it is late and there is a sense of finality when they finally say goodbye. 010 - Rea You leave Smithy feeling sad. After your trip with Uncle Emig your parents have been giving you more responsibilities so today was your last chance to visit Smithy and try to get them to reveal what you thought you saw at the market. However, you are now convinced that what you saw that day must have just been your eyes playing tricks on you. You ponder and gaze at the full moon as you make your way back to the keep. You''re not sure where exactly your guard is, but you know they are following somewhere close by. As your visits to the smithy have become more frequent they stopped being as blatant with your escort, giving you at least the appearance of going about on your own. You catch a flicker of shadow at the edge of your vision and you look down from the moon to see that in your pondering you have gone slightly off course and are currently on a side road that is barely used at this time of night. The shadow is a person traveling the opposite direction as you, away from the keep. When they are about three meters away one of your guards steps out from the shadow of a building to intercept them. You hear the sounds of a skuffle to your right and see that your other guard is blocking the path of another person coming out of an alley. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. You¡¯re not worried. More than likely these people are just random passersby that your guards are stopping to be extra cautious in the dark rather than because they detected an actual threat. As you¡¯ve practiced many times, you start to go around the person in front of you while your guard stays between you and them. ¡°Rea, watch out!¡± You turn in surprise to see Smithy running up the road. They are pointing to the left of where you were walking. ¡°Duck!¡± They shout at you. You drop to your knees and look to where they were pointing and see a man with a dagger aimed where your heart had just been, but is now headed towards your eye. 011 - Smithy You send curses after the lordling as you clean the forge for the night. Why did they stay so late, preventing you from closing the shop at the normal time? ¡°Smithy!¡± Your father calls from the shop. ¡°Could you come here?¡± You go to the shop and see your father holding up the lordlings signet ring to the lantern. ¡°Smithy, the Young Liege left their ring here. Would you run it up to the keep?¡± He hands the ring towards you. ¡°I don¡¯t want them or us to get in trouble for them leaving it here.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± you say before mumbling under your breath, ¡°blighted lordling and their blighted ring.¡± ¡°Language!¡± Your father yells at you as you head back to the forge to grab a hammer. You never like to wander the city without a way to defend yourself, especially at night. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. You make your way towards the keep following a more direct side street rather than the main road. Maybe if you¡¯re fast enough you might even get there before the blighted lordling. You slow down when you see a small commotion ahead. Maybe a small confrontation involving the city guards? Even though it¡¯s still a ways off you cross to the other side of the street to avoid it. You see someone else doing the same thing much closer to the commotion. When they get to the middle of the street and out of the shadows you recognize the lordling. You also see a cloaked figure dash out of an alley straight at the blighted Young Liege. ¡°Rea, watch out!¡± you yell at them. The lordling has the audacity to stare at you instead of the cloaked man. You point at the man as you grab your hammer and pull your arm back for a swing. You had finally convinced the lordling that your ¡°weirdness¡± didn¡¯t exist and now this. Blighted lordling and their blighted ring. ¡°Duck!¡± You swing your hammer. 012 - Rea There is a crack and the arm holding the dagger snaps at a weird angle just below the elbow, sending the dagger flying. The man screams in pain. In your astonishment, you look back at Smithy to see what they did. They are still standing several meters away and they are holding a hammer in what looks like the final moments of a swing. They keep the momentum from the swing going and bring the hammer back around for another swing. Right as the hammer passes in front of their chest it stops midair and the moonlight around them changes. The light becomes less, like something is taken away, there is still light but it is changed forever. Or so it seems in the moment, as the effect barely lasts long enough to register before the light returns to normal. The dagger man screams again which finally pulls you out of your initial shock. Your training finally kicks in and you grab your sidearm and prepare to fend off any more attacks from the man. However, he is in no state to continue. He slumps to his knees clutching at his right shoulder while his right hand and wrist dangles loosely from his arm. You get behind him and shove him the rest of the way down to the ground. You pin him there and place the tip of your short sword on his throat. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. With the immediate threat taken care of you look up to take in the rest of your surroundings. Your two guards are making their way to you, leaving two corpses behind. Smithy is nowhere in sight. ¡°Well done my liege,¡± Mark says to you as he approaches and eyes your captive. ¡°Please forgive us for allowing this to happen.¡± ¡°I¡­uh¡­¡± You fumble for words trying to describe what just happened. ¡°I¡¯ll take it from here,¡± Mark continues before you can explain that you didn¡¯t actually do much. ¡°We¡¯ll figure out what happened and what our punishment will be once we are back at the keep. Lily,¡± he turns to the other guard, ¡°get the young liege back to the keep. I¡¯ll be right behind you with the captive. 013 - Smithy As the man screams, it sinks in what you just did. You blatantly used your ¡°weirdness¡± in front of the lordling. Not only that, you used it as a weapon. You run. You run and you don¡¯t look back. You dart down the first alley you can, trying to get out of sight as soon as possible. This is bad. Your mind races as you make your way home, staying in the shadows, trying not to be seen. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. There are no good options. What will you do? What if you killed the man? Focus, you need to focus. Find a solution. Your parents. You can¡¯t bring them into this. Is it safe to go home? Will they be arrested if you run away? You stop in front of the smithy. It¡¯s weird that both the place you live and your name are smithy. Focus, that¡¯s not relevant to the situation. You need to stop and think of a plan. But you can¡¯t stop. Your brain is running through scenario after scenario without any input from you. Your adrenaline fueled panic continues well past dawn.