Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 106: A vile disease

Something was wrong with Lillia’s stomach and she couldn’t quite place what it was. She’d been eating all day in an attempt to quench the twisting, gnawing pain that had been growing in it, but nothing seemed to help.

Lillia didn’t want to think about how many sandwiches she’d scarfed down since morning. It didn’t matter how great they tasted or how much she ate. Nothing seemed to fix the problem.

There was a possibility she’d gotten sick, but she couldn’t remember the last time a disease had managed to take purchase in her body. Demons were resilient. She hadn’t even eaten anything all that odd.

What is causing this feeling? It makes no sense. Nothing is wrong. There isn’t even anything to be concerned of. Rodrick was right about Jessen not acting – that man is a madman, but a madman with a set of rules he’ll never break.

So if that’s not the problem… what is?

Arwin shifted into a more comfortable position. His arms pressed up against her side and the thoughts skipped a few cycles in her head before kicking back on. His form was cast in gray hues in the darkness beside her, but it felt wrong to look. He couldn’t see her back, so looking at him almost felt like cheating.

They’d finished their meal around an hour ago, but neither of them had made any move to get up or even say anything else. Lillia was grateful for it. She couldn’t really think of anything to say, and the knot in her stomach seemed to grow tighter whenever she tried to speak.

Maybe I am really getting sick with something. I hope it’s gone in the morning.

Lillia’s eyes started to drift closed. It was hard to stay awake, no matter how badly she wanted to. It wasn’t as if the day had been all that hard, but her body wouldn’t be denied any longer.

Her breathing slowed and a small smile drifted across her face. If Arwin hadn’t wanted to be a pillow, he shouldn’t have been so comfortable. The last vestiges of her resistance crumbled and she sank into the embrace of sleep.

***

Arwin drifted off at some point. He wasn’t sure when. The passage of time in the dark was no easier to tell now than it had been before, and he didn’t particularly mind. Resting beside Lillia was nice.

A part of him felt guilty for that thought. Any feelings he may have had felt like they went in direct opposition to everything he’d learned, even if that was no longer true. Finding solid ground to put beneath his feet was difficult when his past was built on a tower of wobbling cards.

At least the nightmares were gone.

Lillia had shifted by the time he woke up after however long it had been since he’d fallen asleep. She’d slid down his side and was draped across his lap, curling around him like a cat seeking warmth.

It took every scrap of self-control that Arwin had not to jerk in surprise. He forced himself to remain still. Any sharp movements would just wake Lillia up, and he didn’t have an explanation to give her for when she awoke.

Wait, why do I need an explanation? She’s the one that fell asleep on me.

That was a very logical answer. It was also entirely useless. Arwin couldn’t think of anything more to say – so he did what any sane man would and distracted himself by turning his thoughts to his work.

With the new Maristeel he’d made in conjunction with Brightsteel, Arwin was pretty confident that he could make something that at least resembled a bow. He just needed something to make the string from.

Not just any string. Shit string, shit bow. Then again, it’s not like you can have any part be bad and still have a good bow. Maybe that isn’t a great example. Either way, I need a string.

Buying one would probably be really expensive if I wanted it to be good enough to handle what I need. That means I’ll have to find it. Maybe a really hairy monster?

Lillia shifted in Arwin’s lap. Her hair brushed against him and a grin flickered across his face before he could stop it.

I wonder if demon hair is resilient. That would be kind of funny. How many pounds of force can you put on it? Maybe Lillia will let me test it, but something tells me I might need to look elsewhere.

There wasn’t any reason to wait to make the bow. Even if he didn’t have the string yet, adding the string in was probably the last step. Archers carried their bows around separated from the string, so the Mesh would probably acknowledge the weapon being completed without the string. There was only one way to find out.

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I’ll try to make the body of the bow. I’ve got Brightsteel and Maristeel for that. The hard part will be figuring out how to work the crystal into them. A string can come after that.

Arwin nodded to himself. And, in the process, he moved enough to make Lillia stir. He froze and repressed a curse. It was a little too easy to get lost in his own thoughts, especially when he was doing everything he could to distract himself from his actual position.

He kept as still as a statue in hopes that she would drift back off. There was no such luck. Lillia yawned and rolled over – then froze. Neither of them said anything for a second. She slowly sat up in his lap before scooting off.

“I fell asleep,” Lillia proclaimed, her voice more uncertain than it normally was. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I did too. Did you at least sleep well?”

“Better than I would have thought. You’re a surprisingly good pillow.”

“I’m thrilled to hear. If I ever have to start looking for a job, I’ll make sure to mention that.”

“No. I don’t like sharing,” Lillia said through a yawn.

They both paused for a moment. Lillia hurriedly cleared her throat and the straw crunched beside Arwin as she stood up.

“We should probably get back to work,” Lillia said, her words nearly tripping over each other in their haste to get out of her mouth. “There’s a lot that still needs to be done, you know. Prep for the Wyrms. All that.”

“Yeah,” Arwin said. A second passed. “You still have to lead me out, you know. I can’t see.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” Lillia’s hand found his and she pulled him to his feet. She didn’t make any move to leave. “Did you really mean what you said about liking the dark?”

“Yes. It’s peaceful and makes me feel like I don’t have to worry about anything else. I know this isn’t what actually happens, but my mind gets tricked into leaving all its problems at the door.”

“I’m jealous,” Lillia said. “I can’t really get that. I can see through even the deepest shadow. Everything just looks grey. Nothing is really dark enough to stop my eyes. Great for fighting within my own magic. Not so good for anything else.”

“Good for leading me through it, though.”

Lillia let out a small laugh. “I suppose that’s true.”

“Why do you ask? Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Lillia said, but she answered a moment faster than she’d needed to. “Just wondering what it was like to actually be blind in the dark. It feels like it might be liberating.”

“Or terrifying. If you don’t have someone you trust that can guide you through it, I don’t imagine it would be particularly enjoyable. The dark is only comforting when you know that there’s an end to it.”

“That’s an interesting way to look at it. It definitely gives me some things to think about,” Lillia said. She gave his arm a gentle tug before he could say anything, and the two headed out of her room and into the kitchen.

Arwin followed after her, nearly bumping into Lillia as she stopped a few feet later. A second later, orange light fluttered to life on the candle and she closed the lantern behind it, releasing Arwin’s hand.

“Thanks again for dinner,” Arwin said. “It was nice.”

“Any time,” Lillia said. “I cook for the others anyway. It’s not all that difficult and it helps me.”

“Again tonight, then?” Arwin asked with a grin. “If it helps you, that is.”

Lillia rolled her eyes and bumped her shoulder into his. “Only if you remember to take a bath the moment you walk into my tavern. You’re going to make the whole thing smell like death if you keep working with that metal.”

“I’ll do my best,” Arwin promised.

“Your best isn’t enough. Just take the bath.”

“Okay, okay.” He held his hands up in surrender, laughing as they walked over to the open doorway. “I will. By the way, you should probably get a door at some point. It’ll make the tavern look more official. Good things, doors.”

“I think you have an unhealthy obsession with doors, but I’ll get one soon. Probably when I get all the signs. I might send Reya out so she bargains the price down for me. It’s a bit hard to do much shopping when you look like this.” She gestured vaguely to herself. “I’m hoping to have the inn looking a little more hospitable by the end of the week.”

“With any luck, my smithy should be up and running soon after that,” Arwin said. “I’ll need to get another 150 gold to pay off the mason, but with any luck the majority of that will come from Olive. Anything else I’ll make up by making some more work to sell on the market.”

“Maybe we can actually start drawing some more attention to the street once we rebuild some of it,” Lillia said with a wistful note in her voice.

“The brave ones, maybe. Everyone is still completely convinced the place is haunted, and now I think it’s my fault.”

“What do you mean?” Lillia asked.

“It’s all the people I’ve offed. When I was talking to the mason, he said that the street was clearly haunted because of all the disappearances in the area. Those were me. With any luck, he’ll finish the building and go back to tell everyone the place isn’t that bad.”

A concerned frown creased Lillia’s brow but she nodded. “Yeah. Hopefully. Things will be really bad for me if we can’t get anyone to show up. I’ve got time, but not infinite.”

“People will come,” Arwin promised. “If not specifically for the tavern, then for my gear. It won’t be long before I start doing more custom work. And, when I do, then I’ll have a steady flow of people that need a place to stay. You’ll have no competition.”

Lillia’s frown was replaced by a grin. “I’ll count on that and keep getting ready to put people up whenever they need a spot to stay. All we have to do is make sure Milten doesn’t get wiped out by a bunch of Wyrmlings before that happens.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Arwin said through a laugh. “I have some ideas for how to handle this, but only time will tell if they actually work. For now, I’m going to focus on getting [The Hungering Maw] under control. I think making that crystal into a weapon will take me a long way in that direction.”

“If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“Having something to look forward to at the end of the day is already more than enough,” Arwin said.

“I suppose it is. See you then.” Lillia quickly turned back to head deeper into the tavern.

Arwin watched her leave for a second before pulling his attention back to his smithy and setting off himself.

He had a bow to make.