Michael Manning - The Line of Illeniel

“Thanks Joe,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. Once he had gone I began walking toward my father’s smithy. Someday soon I was going to have to start hiring a staff of some sort, such as regular messengers. It was quickly becoming apparent that I could no longer do everything myself anymore.

“You looked troubled son,” my father commented after I came in. He was a quiet man, which might be why he was so perceptive.

“There was trouble last night,” I explained, and then I told him what had occurred the previous evening. I also described the creature’s effect on my magic. Dad didn’t have any magical talent of his own but he was very intelligent and I had come to appreciate his advice when I had been testing different ways to enchant things.

My story alarmed him, but you would have had to know him to tell. He had always been a difficult man to read. Rather than spend his time talking about his worries, he moved on to practical matters. “Looks like we have a lot of work to do,” he said and then he walked over and drew out the stack of sheets he used when he was planning a design for something.

Naturally I was curious. “You’ve already got an idea?”

“You said when it touched you everything went black right?” he replied.

“Yes.”

“But… Penny was still able to fight it,” he reminded me.

Damn! I hadn’t thought of that. The merest touch had rendered me insensible, but although it had been steadily drawing her life out she had retained the ability to struggle.

He went on, “And it wasn’t able to draw the magic out of your enchantments, like the sword.”

At last it came clear to me. “The amulet! It must have protected her mind even while the creature was sucking the life out of her.” That thought had a lot of implications; it meant I had a way to protect people, at least partially. Penny’s amulet wouldn’t have saved her life, but people would be much more difficult to prey upon if they weren’t immediately paralyzed at the first touch of these creatures.

“Not just the amulet Mordecai, you could enchant your clothes, or armor, to more fully protect yourself. Anything to keep them from touching you,” he replied.

“There’s no way I could enchant enough armor or whatnot for everyone in the village, it would take years!” I argued, for the thought was daunting.

“Not them! For you boy! If something happens to you, none of us will be able to protect ourselves.” He gave me a look that spoke volumes, “You’ve got to start thinking like a lord and less like a footman, you’re important now.”

I didn’t completely agree with him on that, but in any case there was no way we could afford to produce armor for everyone. Besides, no one could work, farm, cook or anything else while wearing armor all day. The idea was ludicrous, but I still wouldn’t give up on the idea that we could do something for them. “Alright, I agree with you to a point, but we’ve still got to do something for the people.”

“If I could make enough amulets…”

“You did that in silver and I’m not really set up for that sort of thing, not if you plan to make dozens,” he responded.

“It doesn’t have to be silver; we could do them in iron.”

“That makes it easier, still it will take quite a bit of time, and the shape of it was very intricate. Could you change the shape?” Royce asked.

“Only if we engraved it instead, the symbols are the important part. When I made Penny’s I made the entire pendant from the symbols before I infused it,” I replied. I knew my father didn’t have the right tools to do intricate engraving.

“Hah! I have it,” he exclaimed. My hopes went up, for when my father set his mind to something he always found a way.

“What?” I asked.

“If you can borrow Penny’s amulet, we’ll make a mold, then we can cast as many as we need. How long does it take for you to do your magicking?” Royce waved his hands around comically while swaying side to side as he said this.

I gave him a hard stare, but inwardly he had me smiling, “Not long, maybe half an hour each if they’re already formed.” After that we got busy, though I had to do some talking to get Penny’s necklace away from her, she seemed to think I planned to take advantage of her. I had no clue where she would have gotten an idea like that.

Dad set things up and assured me he would have the molds ready in another day or two, after that he would be able to make them faster than I could enchant them. I worried it might not be soon enough.

I left after that, he didn’t need me so I got out of his way. I spent the morning helping the carpenters again but I was interrupted in mid-afternoon when Dorian arrived. “Ho! Mordecai!” he called up to me. At that moment I was standing on some scaffolding on the exterior of the keep.

I was relieved to see him but I hadn’t expected him to arrive so soon. I yelled down to him, “How did you get here so quickly?” I began climbing down so we could speak more easily.

“I left as soon as I got your message this morning.” Dorian was the most reliable of friends, the sort of man who would walk through fire if he thought it would help someone. He had already saved my life at least once before. “The description in your letter was a bit vague, but I got the impression you’re dealing with some sort of monster?”

I hadn’t known what to write so I hadn’t been very specific, “Yeah, let’s not talk about it out here. I haven’t figured out what to tell the people yet and I don’t want to start a panic.”

He blinked at me, “Seriously, a monster?” I could see the gears in his head turning, conjuring up creatures from childhood fairy tales. I also noted that he had come geared for war. He wore chainmail, not just the hauberk… but the leggings as well, complete with a steel cap and aventail. He had also brought both his sword and a long spear.

“I see you took me at my word. Did you really need the barding though? That must be a real pain for your horse.” Barding was the term for the armor that partially covered his steed, a great black destrier.

“How should I know? I’d rather come to the party overdressed than arrive and find out later that I should have worn my chainmail knickers!” he answered. As usual his joke wasn’t that funny, but I felt a bit less burdened seeing him in full armor. Dorian was the deadliest man I had ever known, and I was glad he was my friend.

Since his horse was tired (wouldn’t you be after carrying all that?), we walked him over to the makeshift stables and I helped him clean and groom the massive beast. It wasn’t a chore for me as I loved horses almost as much as people. While we combed him down I had a thought, “Take your armor off too, if you’re going to help there are some things I can do to improve your chances.”

“I’m afraid to ask,” he replied, but he started shucking the armor. Once it was off he handed me a very heavy pile of mail. Luckily I was still in good shape from helping Dad now and then at the smithy. As big a man as Dorian Thornbear was the armor probably weighed around eighty pounds or more.

“Bring your sword and spear too,” I added.

“I wasn’t planning on leaving them behind.” He gave me a look that indicated I was crazy to think he would walk about unarmed. “What are you planning to do to my armor? It’s very expensive you know.” He eyed me suspiciously. I never understood why he didn’t trust me.

“I won’t hurt your precious mail, never fear. I’m just going to improve it.” I tried to give him my best ‘wise and mysterious wizard’ look, but he merely shook his head.

We had reached my house at this point, although according to Penny it barely deserves the name. I took him around to the back where a small shed served as my workshop. It didn’t have all the neat toys Dad kept around his smithy, but I didn’t need most of them for my work. My skill with magic allowed me to do a lot of things without recourse to tools. I stretched his hauberk out flat on the table.