The Castle on the Hill

Chapter 1: Forged in Fire

                     The heat of the forge burned against the skin of Thomas's face as he moved the sword around making sure that it was getting evenly heated all the way through and around. He looked up to see my father stumble through the door. Thomas barely nodded to him as he dove back into his work. His dad was three hours late again, because he had drank too much mead the night before. It was hard enough being a level 8 Status but it was even harder when you are the only one keeping the business afloat. It used to not be this bad, but after Thomas's mother passed last winter his father started going on these binges much more frequently. Some days he never shows up and when he does he is almost always too hungover to be of any help.

                   "Morning, Thomas." Eli mumbled as he stumbles over to one of the tables.

                    "You're late again, dad." Thomas grunted without even looking at him. His frustration was already high and he wasn't ready to get into another fight with his still half-drunk dad.

                     "Well I am here now so Shut up and get back to work!" And there was the anger he had been expecting. Typical response from his father.

                     It was nearly lunchtime when he set aside the nearly-finished sword. All he had left was to put a handle on the beautifully crafted blade. He had spent days picking the perfect metals. working it gently so not to make it too brittle or unusable. It was a dazzling Damascus blade that would be a large two-handed sword ready for the toughest of circumstances. He was praying it would be just what he needed to get him a level 2 job making swords for the Kings men. In two days he would present this sword to the recruiters. The only problem is that it wouldn't raise his status it would just pay him the payment that a level 2 would get for their work. He desperately needed that because one years worth of work from that platform would pay off all of his father's debt.

                          "Trying to run off and be a blacksmith for the King, eh?" Eli's voice broke Thomas's attention from inspecting the sword.

                        "I need to do something and becoming a soldier is out of the question." Thomas curtly answered.

                        "If that's what you want." His father stumbled off to go drink more mead and eat his lunch.

                        Thomas pulled his own lunch from the sack he carried it in. It was just a small loaf of stale bread he had made over two weeks ago, a bit of dried meat, and a small portion of cheese he had managed to buy.

                       After he finished his lunch he went back to the sword. He had samples of different woods and antlers out so he could see which looked best with the metal for the handle.

                      "This one is cherry right? you should definitely go with it. I think it would look nice." A girl's voice washed over him as he stared down at his work. Lilith.

                     "Thanks for your input." He straightened and looked at the girl. "How can I help you today, Lilith?"

                     She just stood there, slowly shifting around the hem of her dress along the dusty shop floor and batting her eyelids. Finally when the silence became to much for her she lowered her head and stared at her feet, "I was hoping you might ask me to your house for dinner, or on a walk, or really anything to spend some time with you?" She raised her eyes seductively from under her eyelashes.

                    "No thanks. Now if you don't have anything that you are in need of my services for then I must ask you to excuse me because I have work to do." He went back to his pondering leaving Lilith standing there furious.

                   "You know what?! You are plenty handsome enough to be married to any woman level 8 or lower, but your damn pride will make you spend the rest of your life alone. Maybe it is time that you accept that all you will ever be is a stupid blacksmith and get over your dreams of glory. You are tool working class! Get over yourself an your stupid dreams!" She spun so quickly it stirred up a cloud of dust as she marched from the building.

                   Thomas didn't even look up as she left. He knew she would be back. Even as much as he hoped one day he would get the message he wasn't interested in her, she would be back. He just couldn't settle for this life. He couldn't settle for only ever being a blacksmith and raising sons who would only have the option to be blacksmiths, carpenters, or others who worked raw materials with tools.

                     "I don't understand why you won't pursue such an attractive girl who is obviously interested." Eli spoke up from across the room.

                      "I don't want to." Came the short response.

                       It wasn't that Lilith wasn't pretty because she was, it was that he had no desire be around her. She flirted not only with him but with every guy who was around her age since she had turned 16. Sure she was pretty. She was a good three inches shorter than him, had light honey colored hair, pale green eyes, lightly tanned skin, a slim build, everything a guy would typically look for. But she had no personality, she had the most atrocious laugh, she never smiles, she was bland.  He wanted adventure. He wanted to look into a girl's eyes and know that she would fight just a hard a he would. Since that wasn't an option anywhere, he was okay with being single.

                  He opted for Osage orange for his handle. He spent the next day and a half carefully creating his handle and making sure that it was perfect . The night before the sword would be looked over he stayed up well into the night creating a dragon head shaped pommel to finish off the sword. Finally satisfied with his work and the sword, he put out the lantern he had been using, locked up the shop, and headed home.