Chapter 19 The Hammer Blow

My mind felt like a freshly forged hammer before it has been hardened. Capable, shaped, and ready to shatter at the first blow. But I couldn't take the time to harden my mind. I had to stay vigilant. If something else came out of the sky it could kill everyone. If I let my mind stray and I lost my temper, everyone could die. I need to keep myself occupied and keep an eye out for danger. It doesn't help that Jerry, the goblin, has come along only to seemingly follow me. Standing at the back of the ship keeping a lookout for more apocalyptic happenings that could destroy the entire ship, the little goblin was playing his mouth harp claiming they were different songs. They all sounded the same to me anyway. Only once he paused for any length of time. When I looked around to see if he had somehow died mid “song” I saw that everyone on deck was looking up at a figure climbing to the top. Marda it appeared had decided to climb to the top. Her diminutive figure sped up the rigging of the ship like she had done it many times before. Soon enough she disappeared over the top of the balloon, and with no screaming heard, I could only assume she was OK. The spectacle finished, Jerry went back to playing his instrument. Maybe he will get tired. He didn't. He wished to play for me all night, and wouldn't let me sleep. I had to put up with it, and do my best. I can't loose my temper. I can't be tired. I need to be ready at all times.
I am down in the galley, taking a break from watch, when a voice comes from Behind me, “Hey good looking!”
Turning around. I look for the origin of the voice, and I look down to find Nagisa standing in front of me. I frantically try to think of something to keep calm. From feeling that dread creep up into me. Nails
“You know, you killed my partner that day” he says.
Hammer down the tip of round stock. Square it off. “It was just a job. We were not supposed to kill him. I loose sleep over it.”
Square the stock for the desired length. Insert-”Casters shouldn't be considered second rate citizens. They are just like everyone else!”
Insert the Hot cut into the anvil. Mark the stock half a finger from where it was squared. “I joined the Black Legion because of that. I have no problem with casters.”
Break stock off in a nail header, flatten head. Repeat.
“You seem to have had a problem with that caster,” Nagisa spits.
“I didn't choose the job.” Point the stock. Square. Hot cut, Mark....
The old drow. The kids. It wasn't just a simple thing to them. I let that happen. I should have run that mission better. I should have stayed with my squad. I should have stopped those kids before they left. I could have saved them.
“If you want a sleep aid,” Nagisa is saying “Let me know.”
I barely register that he is still there. All I can think of is what those kids looked like.

The Hammer Shatters.
 
I try to close my eyes. Shut it off before the memory comes back. But all I can see are the eyes. The dead, glazed over eyes. Scared. In horrible pain. It was my fault. If I had sent the second squad around back, or split them up to reinforce us up close. We could have just grabbed the guy while he was out.
-We stack up on the door of the house...
I come out of re living the mission just long enough to crawl into a corner then it happens over and over again. Rekx Breaks down the door over and over. The kids die every time, and I can't stop it. Can't get away from it. I try to gain a semblance of control over and over, but I always remember that I'm on the ship with Nagisa, and it comes back. Sleep is not merciful enough to come. Down in the galley I have no notion of the passage of time. Physical and metal exhaustion hit me, and I don't want to move. I don't want to be found. Let me become part of the ship, and take me away so I don't have to worry about this anymore. I can hear myself speaking, but it sounds like I am speaking through wool
“Those eyes. So small, so still. Why were they there! They should not have been!”
Death stands before me, winged and ready to carry me out. But after blinking away the fog of my mind, I find it is once again Melfina, come to remove me from the past that haunts me. I pour all of my energy into not shaking in place, exhaustion is the only thing I can feel. Not able to string two words together, any inquires pushed upon me I reply with bare grunts. She tells me something about landing, and leaves to go up. Marda and I are still down below when the ship bucks like a wild horse. My muscles are so loose that I just wobble in place, instead of being thrown about. Marda simply jumps at the right time, and goes from the bottom of the ladder, to the top. I am not sure if she did that on purpose, or just a happy accident. For all I know I just blacked out again, and she climbed up the stairs. Maybe I'll ask her later.
As we pull into the harbor, I notice a large dragon standing in the middle of the town, unmoving. Wondering why, or how there is a dragon here, I finally notice that it is made of wood. Neat. And weird. I must have been staring at it as Marda pops up next to me, and explains that it is the Festival of the Midnight Dragon. I have no idea what that means. As we leave the ship I hear the rest of the group talking, but I don't really make out what they are saying. A nice guard tells us about something called the # rivers tavern. He says something about breakfast, but I could have sworn that it was the afternoon. Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure what day it is. I hope this breakfast place has beds.
Taking mittens and the horses to the local temple of Kusco, we drop them at the stables. Marda and Melfina point us to the one of the largest buildings in the town, and we start to head over. The local populace seems to be getting ready for some festival, but I don't remember what it is called. No one seems threatening though.
We make it to wherever the ladies are taking us, and I see that it is a large Inn, probably where we can stay the night. I hope they have good breakfasts. We go inside, and I sit down, making sure to hold a table. A double staircase, one of each side of the dinning area goes up to the second floor, and a pair of furry points appear just over the bar. Eventually I see that the proprietress is a rabbitfolk, something I had only heard about. I think. I feel like that is something I knew. It seems normal enough. There are others around, scampering to and fro with trays of food, and no one else is being bothered by it. I guess these folk are pretty cool about things like that. Wasn't there a dragon out near the harbor?
Soup bowls are brought out by a shorter rabbitfolk. Huh, maybe a juvenile. A sweet honey tasting drink is placed before me, and I drink it down with the soup, and eat the bowl. Oh, it was made of bread. I head up to our room, and before I pass out I think about this broken hammer I had. I can't remember how it broke, but I think I decided I should just forge myself a new one......
 
Shouts. Yelling. Before my eyes are even open I grab frantically for my axe, and find that it isn't where I normally leave it. I scrabble for something to defend myself as I try to get out of my bed. Disoriented, I finally get out of bed clutching something heavy, and try to get my bearings. I”m not in my room, and judging from the chamber pot in my hand, I”ll have to find something else to defend myself.
As my head finally clears from the grogginess, I realize that it isn't the shouts of battle, but the shouts of laughter, and yelling for more singing and merriment. I sit back down on the bed and try to figure out what has happened the last few days. I don't remember much about where we are, something about a dragon, and someone asking me about fixing a hammer. We stopped at an Inn, there was a meal of some sort, soup I think. Looking out the window, I can see that it is dark out, yet many people still mill about in the streets below, and I remember a festival of some sorts going on. I do not know where the others in my party are, and the room we have seems to have been set up for all of us, as some of their packs are here. I guess the only thing to do is go out and see if I can find the common room.
I find the common room with little problems, just follow the roaring laughter. Finding the great crowd of people here, I can see Melfina standing out from everyone else. A curious look on her face, it is obvious to a casual glance that she has no wish to talk with the strangers around her, or really even notices them at all. When I come upon her she tells me the group had all received news from different sources that all add up to bad news.
Aurane had gone to his local temple to find any news that could be found. Marda and Melfina had also gone to find any news of the woods. As it turns out, The Ravenswood, our destination, has been affected by some sort of unnatural blight, rotting away the very trees, and small parties going into the woods have not returned. Unnatural beasts have been told to roam about, but normal wildlife has also grown scarce. Well, we knew that there was something wrong in the woods, we just need to figure out what is causing it.
It seems that everyone else has gone out to enjoy the festival, and If we want to get back together Melfina and I are going to have to go out and find them. While Melfina doesn't really want to go out, she says we should stick together, and see what the city has to offer. As we go out into the night, many of the same things from Cherwood are seen here. Buskers call and sing, vendors display their wares. Cries of enjoyment, screams of laughter, and Clashes of wheels on cobbles fill the air with their cacophonous noise. The sky above is filled with a large dragon effigy, and I now remember seeing it as we came into town.
As we get closer to the large dragon, I can see that the city guard are allowed to have a good time, but don't appear to be drinking, which is only proper. People with hand drawn carts are ready to take people home who have had too much to get there themselves. I stop and ask one of the cart pullers as to what the festival is about. Apparently, the town had at one point angered a copper dragon many years ago. While angered, the dragon had destroyed part of the town in retribution, then flown off. While the town was attempting to rebuild, and Goliath tribe had come down to raid the remains. As they saw the town in ruins, they decided to help rebuild. Over the years, the tribe still raided, but it seemed more a formality than anything else. Offerings were left out, and eventually some of the giant kin even settled, the guard captain being one of their descendants.
Once we had heard the reason behind the festival, and wanting to get good seats for the lighting of this giant dragon, we find a place to watch. The others find us and we chat about the goings on in town, and what lays ahead of us. My thoughts linger back to the story of the festival, and I wonder how much of it is really true. How much do stories grow? How much have the stories grown about the Legion? And how do they grown like that? I wonder what the people here tell passersby, and children of what goes on around this area.
I didn't notice one of the locals had been gawking at me. Holding a torch, and looking like he wants to say something, I look at him. Before I can open my mouth he sputters out something about coming with him, and grabs my wrist, pulling me forward to some official looking person. As it turns out, the torch bearer had brought me before the Mayor, who asks if I can breath Fire. Saying that I can, I am then asked if I would participate in this years festival, and help light the effigy when the music stops. Sort of caught up in the moment, with oodles of people watching, I don't really think about it. I stammer out an affirmative, and everyone seems happy about it. Taking my place near the base of the massive dragon, I have only a few moments before the music will stop. I don't really breathe fire in front of a lot of people, and when I do, not all of them make it out alive. Well, Tonight at least I can make this event special enough for stories to be told, for these fold to be able to remember this night. I can feel the fire building up in my chest, but not a fire of anger, or need. A flame of excitement. A Burning exhilaration. As the music stops, I yell out, “This is why we are legends!!”
A gout of dull red heat spits out of my maw, bursting into bright orange flame when it hits the surface of the dragon. Brilliant light burning the darkness away, heating the air around us. I can feel the hunger of the fire, and the jubilation from the crowd behind me as the festival reaches the climax.
We sit and watch the fire burn, the fire captivating the mind for a brief amount of time. Rorin and Melfina seem distracted by something, but I can't tell what they are looking at. Rorin expresses some interest at going and getting more to drink, and I offer to go with him since I have only recently woken up. As the night goes on, so does Rorin. I finally drag him off to our room in the early morning hours, where he is muttering about seeing a couple dragon tattoos, and even some Arch tattoos, one of them apparently on the Mayor. As we settle down for a bit of rest, some of us far ahead of the others in that respect, I wonder about how all this ties together, and what may lay ahead of us in the forest. Does the Mayor know about the attack Cherwood or the bards? How deep in the bards business is Mayor Shanon anyway? I only hope that nothing happens while we are in the forest. A nice place like this should be allowed peace. I try to get a bit more sleep before we decide to leave, and for once, nothing plaques my dreams.