Moving Mountains

9

.^^ Necromancer James Lectin ^^

— Josef —

Before I had a chance to say much else, Mara pulled the trigger, and I grunted as the musket-ball slammed into my recently-healed chest, tearing into my skin and muscle, cracking a rib... and then got stuck, having pierced me maybe an inch.

"Hello, Mara... Ouch." I growled, digging a knife into the wound and popping out the lead ball. "Anyway, I claimed the Arch Plateau, grew a tree, these are the twins, can we use the front door?" I sighed, moving on immediately to save her the embarrassment.

She blinked slowly. "Sorry, love... are you alright?"

"Ja, I am perfectly healthy, don't worry!" I waved her concerns away, and healed myself with a small dose of the Witch-Doctor Skill, a new one that I liked the sound of.

Her eyes widened when the hole sealed itself up instantly, and then she nodded. "Alright, well, you and your friends are welcome to eat with us, and be on your way after a good feed. Come!" She commanded with that motherly air that brooked no argument, and we all followed obediently.

I squeezed through the building carefully, (having never been inside,) out to the porch that looked over the water, the outdoor forge. When Karen saw me, she raised an eyebrow. "Back so soon?"

I grinned. "Went and claimed the Plateau, climbed it and planted the tree, then used its wood to make this." I handed the bow to Brill.

He raised an eyebrow, then focused on the bow, and slowly lowered his eyebrows into an annoyed expression. "Rank SS Material, And you made a Rank D- Weapon?!? What is-... hmm... I see what you did, now... not as stupid as it looked at first..." he placed his glasses on his face, and nodded after a few moments, handing it back. "Yes, I see now. As I am incapable of wielding it, it is only a D-. In your hands, it is SS+ Rank. Congratulations, you've become a Master Craftsman. I'm happy for you... would you be selling that White Steel, then? I'm sure you can make it now." He asked, getting to business quickly.

"I'll sell you the un-charged crystals in with the Anthracite, and you can mix them with anything you like, maybe make some new Alloys, who knows? The elves are Saccharine, Verran and Desta, my companions on the little quest we're undertaking to deal with that Necromancer to the north." I explained, and sat down on the edge of the forge, drying all my clothes instantly.

He nodded. "Indeed... well, I wish you luck, and now we will eat! Mara has used that recipe of yours, the thing called 'Blüdworst', to make a variety of delicious foods, I have to thank you for it!!! And there is a salad, if the elf clerics do not partake of meat."

The twins bowed their heads a little, thanking him silently, and accepted the bowls they were given. Saccharine ignored them, and accepted the bowl of stew happily. "Thank you for the meal." He said politely.

"Eat up, sweetling, you're very thin, even for an elf!" Mara nodded and patted his head, then sat down and tucked in to her apparently half-eaten meal. We'd interrupted dinner, it seemed.

I ate swiftly, stealthily rooting around in the barrel of dried meats I'd stashed in the forge to fill myself up entirely, all the while casually ignored Mara's piercing gaze. "Well, I think it's been long enough, we should get back to the horses, and then be on our way! I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, if all goes well!" I grinned, and made my way out the open wall, around the front of the house.

The elves said their goodbyes politely, and followed me out to the front, where I was staring at the horses. "How... did they find us?" I asked slowly.