Murphy's Law

Chapter 27

"These bones be a pain in the arse to work with," Iron-Tail grumbled as he attempted to smith a dagger out of the dragon bones they'd brought down. Daggers were simple enough, and would be good practice while he got a feel for the material. He'd wound up with something... rather crude and simplistic in design. Nowhere near as elegant as glass or ebony. He loved working with ebony, when he could get his hands on a few ingots.

"That blade looks wicked sharp though," Kitty complimented, picking up the first one he'd finished and checking it over. She had to agree, it wasn't the prettiest design ever, but the weapon was solid. "I bet that'll go a long time without needing to be sharpened again." She traced her fingers lovingly over the Master Builder symbol he'd inscribed into its hilt, then offered it to the Knight for inspection. It was no secret that he wasn't a Master Builder like them, or even that much of a smith, but he still seemed to have an eye for good weapons.

'Excellent work as always, my friend,' he said. 'Do you have plans for the rest of it?'

"Aye," Iron-Tail murmured. "Lucy's been sayin' she wants a new bow, she still be usin' that stick she pilfered off a Legionnaire years ago." Kitty snickered at that. "And maybe a new pair of swords, them steel ones she carries be about done for. And some armor for the lad." He shrugged. "Then whatever anyone else requests til it's gone."

'Fair enough. Mind if I keep this one?'

"Aye, 'tis yours, if ye like. I've no use for it."

'Thank you.'

The Knight wandered his way out of the forge. The heat suited his Argonian and Khajiit friends well enough, but under all that armor, it was unpleasant for him to stick around for long. He continued to play with the dagger as he made his way through the base, checking on his people and showing off Iron-Tail's craftsmanship, and paused when he heard Sirius and Jenny arguing in the hallway. It sounded bad. He winced as Sirius snapped at her; perhaps they had overstepped. He carefully tucked the dagger into his belt before approaching them. Neither one seemed to notice him at first, until Sirius turned to storm away from his escort, nearly running into the Knight. He caught the Ambassador by his shoulders before they could collide, steadying him. "And what do you want?"

'Is everything alright?'

He gave a derisive laugh. "You're really asking me that? You dragged me away from my home, kept me drugged the entire trip here, kept me confined to your secret base this whole time so I haven't even seen the sun, you've tried to convince me that everything I've ever known is wrong, and now you're trying to control my diet, all 'for my own good'! The hells do you think?! How is any of this supposed to convince me you're better when I can't even make my own choices?!"

The Knight stared at him as he trembled with the force of his fury. 'You're right,' he admitted. 'This hasn't been very fair of us. Walk with me?'

"Where are we going?" Sirius asked, tone full of suspicion.

'To see the sun.'

"Sir, are you sure that's wise?" Jenny asked.

'It'll be fine.' Sirius frowned at him, still suspicious, but kept pace as they walked through the tunnels. He tried to keep track of where they were going, but the Knight took him to a completely new section of the tunnels, making so many twists and turns that he soon got lost. He scowled at the Knight's back. He was doing it on purpose, he was certain, to keep him from finding his way out this way on his own. They came across another escape route, and after a surprisingly short climb, found themselves outside. Sirius winced; even though the sky was overcast, compared to the constant dimness of the caverns, it was almost blindingly bright. Slowly his eyes adjusted, though, and he took a deep breath of the cold, fresh air. He could smell the sea.