Elandria, The Web of Destiny

Chapter 11 (Aaron)- The Blacksmith

~~~~~Three years ago~~~~~

"LET'S GO LET'S GO!! IT'S TIME TO GO!!" A high pitched voice raises my consciousness above the waves of my dreams.

"Mmm, 5 more minutes Lily." I roll over in the bed, tapping Qiyanna to share in my early morning torment. She stirs and gives more attention than I.

"What is it sweetheart?" she sits up, grabbing her close in a hug.

"Dad promised we could swim today!!" She hits me playfully with her stuffed animal, a bear with a pink bow crocheted into its head.

I feel Qiyanna's glare piercing the back of my head while I pretend to be asleep, hoping to fake it until I make it. "Did he now?"

"Yes!" Her excitement shakes the whole bed. No sleeping now.

"Fine fine fine, I'm up." I slide the blankets off and look my beautiful girls in their bright green eyes. Lilly holds a small pink rabbit in her arms and she looks at me hopefully. "I'll take you once I'm done for the day, I onl..." she jumps into my arms, cutting me off.

"Thank you thank you!! I can't wait!" I pat her on the head, kiss my wife, and begin another beautiful day.

On my regular morning walk, the sun rises to my left casting long, tall shadows against the cliffside overlooking Evercast. Birds sound the trumpets of another fine day. Street Goers pass back and forth focused on their own daily lives. My eyes are drawn to a slight commotion down the street on the side of the road. The usual Rosewater shipment by the usual dwarf family just arrived at the inn, but it's not that simple. Half of the barrels of wine are cracked open, red liquid stains the cart wood, a hopeful heart only guesses it's wine. All across the cart are deep slash marks, claws.

A hand on my shoulder jolts me out of my focus. Before swinging wildly, I turn to face my aggressor. My racing heart calms to see the face of my best friend, and business neighbor: Ivan. "You're late for work Aaron." he says snarkily.

"When is Listren going to learn?" I say, ignoring his comment, my gaze returning to focus on the dwarves unloading the couple of their wares that managed to survive. We resume our walk while I eyeball the cart.

"That old bag wouldn't admit he's wrong if his feet were dangling over the damn things and his life depended on it."

"I've told him. He needs to take care of them before Evercast has a worse problem than a scratched up caravan."

"I know you did." he reassures. "But you're not going to get through to him. Power is blinding. Especially to those who don't deserve it."

"I'm just hoping he has enough self-preservation to do something before they're yipping at his doorstep."
"And hoping is all you can do." he shrugs. We've reached his shop, a small carriage and cart repair business he's cleverly named 'Wheels of Fortune.' "The gnolls don't bother me too much, they're good for business in fact." he remarks sarcastically.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, very funny, go fix some wheels jackass... Oh I almost forgot, do you want to bring Jess and William to the creek? I'll be taking Lilly tonight. She's been begging the past few days." I ask before the door closes.

"We'll see you there! I'll bring the booze!!" he nods before heading in and I head down the street to my own shop.

Every swing of my hammer against my anvil is mirrored against my heart. The more time I spend in here, the more time I lose pleading Listren to take action. My heart and mind can't take it anymore, I put my work down and take myself up the hill to the mayor's villa once again.

My fist pounds viciously against the palisade gate *BANG BANG BANG* it rattles hard against my fist. I hear voices, mockingly calm and ignorant of my demands on the other side, guards no doubt. "OPEN UP!!" I shout. *BANG BANG BANG* it quakes again. Their conversation doesn't stop but one voice grows closer until he cuts himself off mid-sentence, truly annoyed to have to do his job. *SCHLLT* a wooden window slides open to reveal helmeted eyes.