Awakening (WIP)

Chapter 3: Family

The next morning, Jarrod woke up groggy. That was one hell of a tea! They weren’t kidding about its nullifying effect. The healers told him it would subside as he got his blood flow moving. They had given him a sling made of felt cloth; it warmed his arm as it rested against his skin. The sun had barely risen when he woke and there wasn’t much sound in the streets outside. A walk home does sound like a perfect remedy, he thought, especially to avoid all the questions he knew would bombard him. He gave the elders his thanks and closed the door behind him.

Jarrod pondered on Ronan’s fate and what happened the night before. He knew Ronan would definitely get the sharp end of his father’s tongue. Perhaps he would see his cousin on the way home; he still wanted to show his cousin and uncle the stone he found. He slid the travel pack over his head avoiding touch to his injured arm.

It was cooler than the day before. He could see the velvet sky laced with orange where the sun’s ray touched and the trees swaying to the morning breeze. He could see the smithy emitting an orange glow. Hallings must be up…

Jarrod walked past the smithy. He could hear the sound metal rattling and ding of hammer on metal; this confirmed his earlier thoughts. Perhaps he would know where exactly Ronan is… would save me time wandering around with one working arm. Ergh…the weight was hurting his back in the short time he walked, especially with the stone. Somehow it seems heavier than before. The stone rubbed into his back with each step as he turned back to walk to the smithy.

“Hello!” He called in the most energetic voice he could muster. The blacksmith’s head peer out from his post and stared at Jarrod in a puzzled face. “Ah…how’s the arm, Jarrod? It’s good to see you up.” The man reached up and rubbed his knotted beard. “Won’t be long before the others rise and make a racket…” he chuckled at this thought, waving his hand for Jarrod to enter.

“I came to ask if you had seen Ronan,” said Jarrod. Shifting on his legs, Jarrod watched the blacksmith arrange his work tools on a bench. He really didn’t want to bring back the memory of the previous night. “Well, by now your uncle might be grilling him over a bonfire if he hasn’t already,” Hallings added as if reading his mind.

“After we got you to Evangeline’s, news had reached your uncle. He had one of his fits and dragged your cousin down to the lengths of the village. I swear he could have been mistaken for a corpse, your cousin.” He chuckled lifting a small tool eye-level to examine it.

Hallings turned to Jarrod, his eyes softened. “I noticed yesterday that you didn’t carry game back from your hunt. Are you lot going to be okay this winter? I think it’s going to be a bad one this time.” The blacksmith’s forehead wrinkled as he thought silently to himself. 

“I missed the deer again,” answered Jarrod after a few minutes. “A loud boom scared it off and I missed it by a hair!”

“I went searching for what that sound was and found this.” He tried to grab the stone out of his pack and show it to Hallings, but couldn’t get the stone out. It slipped out of his right hand every time from the sheer weight. It was difficult enough to use the only working hand he had left. The blacksmith walked to Jarrod side and slid the stone cautiously from the bag. Hallings lifted a curious brow as he examined its polished surface. “I never seen anything like it Hhm… I can see myself.” He combed his hair back where it stood up. He face squeezed into an expression Jarrod could not read. “So you found it this in the Spine?”

“Yep, in the lower valley where I was hunting”

“I suppose this has something to do with magic, nothing in those mountains can be called normal. I doubt it’ll give you any real harm by keeping it.” He ran his finger across its surface, along one of the larger veins. “It seems quite valuable, but I cannot place an accurate value on it for you. It’s not my profession… not bad for a blacksmith, eh?” He slid the stone back into Jarrod’s pack. “Too bad, we blacksmiths are respected, but we are useless in these things.” He sighed, and then said as if talking to himself, “I always did wanted to set a value on something like this.”