Roq still rested against the wall where I'd left him. I lunged across the room, nearly colliding with Eryn in my haste to get to him. My fingers closed around the hilt, and I squeezed hard.

  “Let us show these cowards what happens when they try to burn down MY forge!”

  I rushed to the window leading up toward the forge's roof where Enar was supposed to be standing guard. The shutters remained firmly sealed. How long did we have before the flames consumed everything?

  I raised Roq and slammed him into the shutters. They broke under his power, and punched right through, sending pieces of wood and splinters flying onto the roof.

  “Thomas!” Ma said. “Get away from the stairs! We need to get out now!”

  I struck again and again, clearing the frame. Moonlight flooded in, showing more tendrils of smoke rising from below. The air had grown heavier with each passing second but it was now mixed with the cold night air rushing in from outside.

  “Eryn, come on!” I reached for her hand. “You first!”

  She gripped my fingers tight, and I helped her through the window. Her naked feet found purchase on the sloped roof tiles, sticking to them and preventing her from sliding down.

  Pa hobbled across the room, his bad leg dragging slightly as he grabbed Ma's arm.

  “Hurry!” I urged them forward.

  Knut followed close behind as Pa and I helped Ma through the window. Her hands trembled. Pa climbed out next.

  “Your turn,” I told Knut. The big man nodded and squeezed through.

  I followed them onto the roof last, the cool night air a sharp contrast to the smoky mess that was inside.

  “Cowards,” Roq spat. “They strike at what hurts most, and without facing us. We must make them pay for this insult!”

  “Fire!” Eryn's voice rang out as she climbed down to the street. “Wake up! Fire!”

  Knut's booming voice joined hers as I scanned the area frantically, looking for any sign of Enar. I yelled subconsciously, too, but looked for my friend. I spotted him on the patch of grass behind the smithy. His dark form lay motionless in the shadows. I squinted but couldn't tell if he was breathing.

  No time to check on him. At least he's clear of the flames.

  I ran across the roof and dropped down in front of the smithy. Orange light flickered through the ground floor shutters, and the lock on the door had been broken open. Flames licked up the walls inside the shop, hungrily eating at our wooden interior. I could feel the heat even from outside. The only saving grace were the steelhusk walls and furniture.

  Eryn raced along the row of neighboring houses, pounding on doors.

  “Fire!” she shouted. “Everyone up! Fire in the smithy!”

  I ran down the street the other way and toward the well, my own voice joining theirs.

  “Fire! Wake up! Fire!”

  Doors creaked open behind me, and worried faces appeared in the windows. The street began to fill with the sounds of more alarmed voices screaming fire.

  I glanced back at the smithy. The windows glowed like the eyes of demons in the darkness, casting dancing shadows across the street.

  My jaw clenched in rage, but it wasn’t over yet. Steelhusk burned slow and it didn’t catch easily. Even if they used some kind of accelerant.

  “We need water!” I shouted. “Now!”

  The well came into view, and my heart sank. The rope hung cleanly cut, and the bucket was gone.

  “Rift-cursed bastards,” I swore under my breath.

  “This isn't just a fire,” Roq growled. “This is war. They think they can burn you out. Show them how wrong they are! We will smash their limbs one by one and make them hurt!”

  My mind raced as I ran back toward the smithy. We couldn't let it burn down and lose everything. Not again! Eryn and Knut appeared from the other direction, each carrying buckets of sand from the pile down the street, placed there for just such emergencies.

  Ma stood outside, one hand pressed to her mouth as she stared at the growing flames.

  “How?” she whispered. “How do we save it?”

  Neighbors gathered in the street, some calling for water, others suggested breaking down walls to stop the fire from spreading.

  “The well's been sabotaged!” I shouted. “We need water from the one by the bank! Form a bucket line!”

  Pa limped after Eryn and Knut, grimacing as he carried two more buckets of sand.

  Knut didn't hesitate. He kicked the shop door open with a mighty crash and charged inside, hurling sand across the burning surfaces.

  The heat seared my face as I moved closer. My skin felt tight, ready to blister.

  “Move faster!” Roq urged. “I refuse to lose my battlefield of material conquest! This forge... we must save it!”

  I dropped Roq by the door and grabbed the buckets from Eryn's hands. The smell of burning wood coming from the shop filled my lungs as I rushed inside. Sand cascaded into the flames, smothering patches of fire. The ceiling hadn't caught yet, and neither had the walls. It was mostly just the furniture. We still might have time...

  Neighbors arrived carrying pots and pans of water, whatever they'd had on hand. They flung the precious liquid at the flames, creating clouds of steam that joined the smoke in the air.

  Heat pressed against my face as I hurled another bucket of sand at the base of the fire. It wasn't enough. The flames didn’t grow larger, but they weren’t dying out either, slowly spreading across the room.

  “We need to knock it down!” Old Turner's voice cut through the chaos. He emerged from the crowd wielding two axes, his weathered face grim in the firelight. “Better we lose one building than half the street!”

  “No!” Pa's voice boomed with such force that Turner actually stumbled backward. “This smithy will not burn! Not again!”

  The raw pain in Pa's voice hit me harder than any blow. I spun toward Eryn, who stood ready with another bucket.

  “Check on Enar out back and make sure the glowcaps are clear of the fire!” My voice came out raw from the smoke. “But be careful. This was planned.”

  She nodded and darted around the corner of the building. I watched her go, heart clenching, then I cursed under my breath. What if whoever did this was still out there?

  “Focus!” Roq snapped in my mind. “The forge first, then revenge!”

  The bucket line was rushing up the street towards us, familiar faces among the crowd. Nina and Finn were followed by Garrett, Isaac, and Rowan. Even Johan ran with a heavy bucket.

  Then the line fell into place, stretching down the street like links in a chain. Buckets and pots were passed hand to hand as I hurried into the smithy to use what water we had stored there in our three barrels.

  Knut followed me inside, understanding what I was doing, but our hearts sank once we’d made it past the flames. Someone had emptied the barrels across the floor. It was still wet.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Damn it!” I hissed, rushing back out with Knut. We stood at the doorway, hurling water onto the hottest spots as buckets started trickling up the line. My arms burned from the effort, but I didn’t stop. Not with the whole community rallying around us. Despite the chaos, hope flickered in my chest. Dawnwatch wouldn't let the smithy fall without a fight. We all needed it too much.

  “We should find the noble bastards and douse the fire with their blood!”

  I wiped at my sweat as Knut took my place, just as an imperious voice cut through the chaos.

  “Stand aside! All of you!”

  I turned to see Benedict striding through the smoke-filled air, his expensive robes pristine, and the tip of his staff shining a bright blue.

  “Isn't this wonderful,” Roq's mental voice dripped with disdain. “The ice princess arrives to save the day.”

  “Benedict!” I called out. “Please, help us!”

  He didn't even glance my way. Instead, he addressed the crowd with a dismissive wave of his hand.

  “Like watching ants try to eat an elephant,” he said and even let out a little “hmph”. “Stand back and let a real man handle this.”

  Painfully slowly, he approached the burning doorway, Knut glaring as he stepped aside. I gritted my teeth, hating that we needed him but knowing his magic was the only thing that could put out the fire all at once.

  Benedict raised his staff, muttering a word that made the air crackle. A cone of freezing energy erupted from his hands, smothering half the room's flames in an instant. He stepped through the doorway, ignoring the heat, and walked to the center before casting again. This time the spell radiated outward in a wave of frost, transforming the room. Where flames had burned moments before, now ice crystals clung to every surface, and steam rose from frozen timbers as an eerie silence fell over the room.

  Benedict emerged from the smithy, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeves as the gathered crowd erupted into applause. He waved them off with a grunt.

  “Go back to sleep, all of you,” he growled. “The walls stand, it is just the furniture that is ruined. Now let me through, some of us need our beauty rest.”

  Despite his harsh words, I caught the way his lips curved slightly at the admiration. He was basking in it like a cat in sunlight.

  Pa stepped toward him, his movements stiff as he locked eyes with Benedict. For a moment, tension crackled between them. Then Pa reached out and grasped Benedict's hand.

  “Thank you, adventurer. I will not forget this,” Pa said firmly. “And we'll find a way to repay you.”

  Benedict's gaze slid to me.

  “Oh, I'm sure you will,” he said. “Sooner rather than later.”

  “You let him play the hero?” Roq sputtered. “This debt will cost us dearly, mark my words. Just use me and bash his head in. I will grow to level 10 right away! No, maybe even to 15!”

  “Ash!” Eryn's voice cut through my dark thoughts.

  She approached with Enar's arm draped over her shoulder. The guard's face was pale, blood matting his hair on one side.

  “Enar!” I rushed to help support him. “What happened?”

  “Hit from behind with something fast,” he managed, his voice weak. “Maybe a thrown rock? No one could have walked up on me on the roof. Then everything went black. Woke up with Miss Whitcroft standing over me.” His eyes were glassy with pain. “I'm so sorry, Ash. I failed you.”

  “At least he lived,” Roq noted. “Though perhaps we should find whoever struck him and return the favor. With interest.”

  “This is my fault,” I said, guilt churning in my gut at letting them get so close to harming my family. “I never thought they'd actually attack a guard of Dawnwatch.” I looked from Eryn to Ma and Pa, all soot-streaked, fury building in my chest.

  House Domitius would pay for this. One way or another.

  Alex appeared, dropping his bucket and moving through the crowd as he checked people for burns. His eyes lingered on Enar's head wound.

  Knut caught my eye, his expression dark, and I knew what he was about to say even before he did it.

  “Too much,” he muttered, voice low and dangerous. “Monster-loving nobles crossed line tonight. Need to send message.”

  I nodded grimly, watching Ma and Pa embrace in front of the smithy. They were alive, but we'd come so close to losing everything in a single night. The rage in my chest burned hotter with each passing moment.

  “Make them regret this,” Roq whispered in my mind. “Burn them to the ground, just like they’d tried to do to you and your family. Bash their skulls in. With me!”

  My fists clenched at my sides, jaw tight as the fury threatened to consume me.

  “They will pay, Knut. By my hammer, they will pay dearly.”

  * * *

  Roq rose and fell as I worked on the Shardfang leather. My arms burned, but I couldn't stop. Not with so much work still ahead. With people out there wanting to hurt my family.

  “Focus!” Roq said as I brought him down again. “Too much force on the left side! Ash! Stop hammering me like a madman!”

  Sweat trickled down my back as I adjusted my stance, trying to compensate for my tired muscles and the frustration inside me.

  “Are you not listening!? I will NOT abide shoddy work done with me. If you are to play at mediocrity, pick up a rock and bash the monster’s hide with it!”

  I ignored him, striking as I saw fit, making the stubborn leather conform to the shape we needed.

  “Eryn! Damn it, Ash. I need to find a way to speak to others so I can get them to stop your idiocy when you refuse to listen to genius!”

  My girlfriend paused beside me, brushing soot from her arms. Her honey-blonde hair had escaped its braid, wisps clinging to her neck.

  “We're lucky the forge wasn't touched,” she said softly, placing a hand on my arm and making me stop. “Thank the gems you were awake to smell the smoke in time.”

  I glanced at her and sighed.

  “We're lucky Benedict showed up,” I said. “But we can't count on luck next time. Especially when that bastard's turned the tables on us. Instead of having to bow before us for running and leaving us to die, now we have to be thankful to him!”

  “What we NEED is a lucky strike if we are to even have a CHANCE of making this into something vaguely resembling a work of art because 'masterpiece' went into the coals fifteen strikes ago!”

  Eryn nodded and seemed content to let me have my peace for the moment. We both knew how close we'd come to disaster. The arsonists had planned it well. Knocking out Enar, barring the windows, setting the fire inside the store to give it time to spread before anyone noticed? If I hadn't been lying awake, we’d all have suffocated in our sleep. Just like they’d planned.

  I pushed the thought aside and nodded to her. She inserted the rivets and one by one I hammered them into place, Roq's complaints accompanying the rhythmic clanging. The sound of my strikes filled the room, drowning out the scraping of chairs and worried voices coming from the shop.

  “Your technique is sloppy,” Roq said. “I guess it won't fall apart, but you can call me a rapier if this turns out to be of rare quality.”

  “I'll settle for just done, Roq. It'll sell for enough. I just need nine gems, that's all.”

  Finally, I lifted the finished piece. It was a reinforced shardfang cuirass. My fingers traced the smooth, tough material. The leather had responded well, maintaining its flexibility while gaining incredible durability. Unfortunately, Roq was right, and it was only magical quality, with a +1 to agility. Not bad, but I knew Roq had been right. We could have made something better if I’d been able to put my everything into it.

  I set the piece aside and glanced toward the pile of materials still waiting.

  “One step closer,” I whispered, and Eryn nodded.

  “Indeed! Though I must say, the result of our time investment would increase significantly if you'd listen to my directions. Mindless rage will not help you, Ash. You need to funnel it…through me! I will do the raging for you!”

  I gripped Roq's handle tightly, staring through the door into the shop. The walls were mostly untouched, but the air was still thick with the smell of burnt wood. The image of Ma and Pa clutching each other in front of the burning smithy flashed through my mind, stoking the anger that bubbled beneath the surface. I wanted to bash the thugs’ heads in and make them suffer so badly for what they’d done that I was seeing red.

  “This won't happen again, Roq.”

  “Look. I'm all for hitting things hard, and while I understand your frustration, save it for the monsters. Bash them as hard as you want. I cannot wait to taste their blood. But for now, would you please focus? Every mistake you make when forging... it hurts me, Ash. Mentally. If I have such a thing as a brain. And if I don't, do you realize how badly you must be performing for something that doesn't have a brain to feel a headache?”

  I sighed.

  “I know, Roq. I screwed up. If not for Benedict and our neighbors, we would have lost everything. Again.”

  The store might have received a massive downgrade, but the smithy and house still stood, its foundation intact. It would take time to restore the shop to its former glory, but we would rebuild. It was just furniture after all.

  Through the doorway, I saw Ma working with five of her friends, their dresses streaked with black as they sorted through the aftermath. Mrs. Turner held up a scorched tool, turning it over in her weathered hands.

  “This one might still be usable if we clean it up properly,” she said.

  Ma smiled.

  “Waste nothing, want nothing,” she said. “We'll rebuild it all better than before.”

  “Come on, Ash,” Eryn said, picking up two of the pieces for the next armor. “I know you want to be out there with Knut and Finn, hunting the thugs, but the best thing you can do right now is become a classed adventurer, right?”

  “True.”

  By the time Knut found them, and find them he would, I needed to be ready.

  “I wonder how his investigation is going,” I said, pointing to her left hand. She put away the other piece and we got back to working.

  “Knowing Knut, he's probably terrorizing half of Dawnwatch right now,” Eryn said. “Lifting people by their collars and shaking them until they talk.”

  I frowned, the guilt gnawing at me for not being there to help.

  “Focus!” Roq's voice cut through my thoughts. “You've got fire in you, Ash. Use it. Let it burn hotter than what they left behind. Also, you do not wish to harm the reputation of your smithy with inferior products. When the big guy has found those thugs, you can let it all out, but not now. Focus!”

  “You are right I guess.”

  “Of course I am right! Show me that control you always talk about and let us forge something great!”

  I exhaled slowly, letting the tension drain from my shoulders. Then I lifted the hammer again. The next piece of armor wouldn't forge itself.

  “That's it!” Roq said as I started the work. “Follow the grain, and—yes! Right there. Though I still say a few strategic spikes wouldn't hurt.”

  Soon Pa would be back from his meeting with the city council, and we'd know what support they would provide. Until then, I had my job to craft something magnificent.