Chapter Eight

The sun rose slowly within the sparse vegetation. Dew formed on the trees and the leaves, giving it a crystalline appearance. Birds chirped, flying around looking for their morning meals. Small wildlife scurried over the wood floor, looking for fallen nuts from the trees, or anything else they could harvest for the day. As the routines of all creatures in the land continued uninterrupted, if one were to pay attention to the trees, they might see a breeze brush a leaf here and there, yet not all of them. If one were to increase their perception just a bit more, they might see where the breeze hit, there was a blur of motion. Yet the wildlife continued their morning ritual none the wiser.

The blur of motion continued for well into the morning. From time to time, one might hear the clang of metal against metal. Or was that just a branch hitting the ground? It would happen on one side of the green island, and then just moments later on the other. They could not possibly be related, right?

The metal clashing against metal became more frequent as the sun continued its climb. The blurs continued without faltering, gradually picking up pace. If anyone had superhuman speed, they might see two young teenagers trading blows above the treeline, yet no one seemed to have such ability aside from them.

Tengeshi blocked an oncoming downward thrust by Elysia. The resounding clang of metal sung across the land. His harm became a blur as he blocked blow after blow as if he had more than two arms to defend. This wasn't enough for him though, instead, he activated the glyph for flame, sending an inferno towards his training partner who created a whirlwind from her own sword. Not a single flame licked her clothing, yet while she was busy protecting from the flame, Tengeshi condensed water with another glyph within his palm, sending a jet spraying her face. "Ha! I won." He said with childish glee. Though he was now fourteen, he still acted as if he were a small child.

Elysia shook the water from her face. "Why do you always use the same attack?" She was getting tired of getting sprayed in the face. No matter how many times she thought of how to defend, she couldn't keep all of it from hitting her. Since the rules were 'the first to place a hit on the other wins' it was impossible for her to get a win.

"It's not my fault I found something that will always work." Tengeshi smiled as he placed his sword in its scabbard on his hip. "Maybe I just got tired of getting sent to my rear on the first move."

"That was years ago." Elysia complained. "Won't you let it go?"

Tengeshi laughed at her pouting as he stepped off the branch he was balancing on and dropped to the floor below. Landing nimbly, he lightly raced along the trees until he found a discolored patch of grass in the center. Crouching down, he opened a cover to the wood floor and entered.

When he let the grass cover shut behind him, the tunnel became dark for a moment, at least until the light from the stones adjusted back to the darkness. He had learned quickly that it was nearly impossible to have torches lit within the dark tunnel, so he had Elysia teach him the glyph for 'light' so he could keep it well lit without the potential fire.

As he walked through the tunnel, he could see the marks he had placed, measuring the distance from the surface, as well as the places he had taken precious metals from the earth. The further down he went, the less like a tunnel it looked. He had hollowed out the area into a hallway with a few rooms. It had taken him a few years to perfect the science behind excavating, yet when he did, he was like a digging monster. Not only did he dig out an area for his furnace, but also a living space and two rooms for the two of them. He walked past the makeshift home to where he had his workplace.

He made sure to leave around the same amount of space his father had between the forge and their home. It was a little time consuming, but by doing so, he was able to increase his life force quite a lot. When he entered the space, a clean gust of wind blew his long black hair. He reveled in the quality of space for a moment. It had taken a long time to learn how to keep fresh air circulating through the cave. Many holes punctured upward, producing fresh oxygen. He had sent plumes of fire up each hole to dry them after every rainfall. Luckily they made plenty of barrels in order to catch the water that went into the cave, or they would be drowned out.

In the center of the open area lay the stone forge he had made so many years ago. The smooth surface showed how much it had been used in the past. He had hollowed it out easy enough, even adding a spout where the liquid metal would exit onto the limestone mold.

Tengeshi took a handful of iron nuggets from a barrel and placed them into the hollow portion of the forge. He then placed his hand upon the outside of the stone, where a glyph was carved into the cool smooth stone. He funneled his life force into it, and almost instantly the stone began to heat. There was no light from the heat, instead only the light of the glyph lights kept the place from the darkness. Elysia had taught him the difference between the glyphs for flame and heat when he had just started smithing.

In a few minutes, the iron melted, the impurities evaporating in the intense heat. The melted iron funneled out from the spout and into the mold. Tengeshi smiled as he saw that he had gotten just the right amount of iron for the project. When the liquid iron filled the full mold, he placed his hand below it, activating a cooling glyph. Steam rose from the metal as it dropped temperature gradually. He had found the speed of cooling through trial and error. If he cooled the metal too fast, he would crack the piece, leading to him having to reheat the metal to its liquid state. If he did it too slow, the liquid metal had the chance to gain impurities, or lose its shape.

When the metal took shape, he took the chest plate out of the mold and brought it to his anvil. From there, he pounded the metal where it needed it, activating a glyph of heating within the anvil when the metal lost its flexibility. He then got a small chisel and hammer, etching a design into the metal.

Taking leather that had been cured weeks before, he began to fasten the chest plate in the strap loops he had made. When he was satisfied with his work, he set the finished piece on a table with a waiting back piece. Admiring his work, he rubbed a scuff mark out from the polished iron as if caressing a lover's cheek.

"It looks beautiful." Elysia said from beside him. Tengeshi didn't even jump, seeing as though her voice was the only one he had heard for the last six years.

"Why don't you try on the full set?"

Elysia walked almost reverently to the table. She had sampled a lot of his work in the past years, but this was something special. She lifted the back plate and allowed Tengeshi to fasten it to the chest plate. When it was placed, it perfectly formed to her, as if he had made the piece while she wore the metal. There was room to breathe, even though it was tightly secured to her.

She then put on the gauntlets, greaves and sabatons. When she was fully equipped, she jumped a few times, hearing no metal clashing against metal, or even a sound other than her feet coming back down. She smiled like a child as she raced to the entrance of their makeshift home, all the while not making a single sound of metal.

Tengeshi went to a corner of the cave and gathered his own armor, which he had finished two weeks ago. After putting it on, he tested the sound proofing glyph he had placed on it the inside of the chest, as well as the durability and weightless glyph. They worked perfectly. He beat his chest with the iron gauntlet, yet it was as if an invisible barrier gathered the noise which was supposed to escape, keeping it from making a racket.

He then raced through the tunnel to the exit. Opening the entrance, he jumped out of the hole. Sending life force to his greaves, he activated the agility glyph before disappearing into the trees. As the trees blurred past him, he slid his sword out of its scabbard. The one handed steel blade gave no trace of noise as it was pulled out. He praised his craftsmanship as his eyes trailed the beautiful vine like design which was etched into the blade. The vine seemed to work its way down, leading to the leather bound pommel, yet the steel vine wrapped snugly around the leather, completing the design. The cross guard was leaf shaped instead of the original design his father had made. This weapon was meant to cut through the air.

Beneath the vine covered leather, he had etched various glyphs within the metal, just in case he didn't have his armor with him.

Tengeshi was brought out of his reverie by a glint of steel he noticed out of the corner of his eye. His sword moved on instinct, catching its sister in a parry. Tengeshi looked into the playful eyes of Elysia as he pushed off from her, flying back a few feet before landing on a branch. "I almost didn't notice you."

"That is a complement to your work, not me." She gave him a half smile while twirling her blade. "You've outdone yourself with this one. It's so close to the armor the elves use, it's almost an improvement." She looked him up and down. "You could almost pass as one of us." She thought back to the dream they shared. It wasn't too difficult, seeing as though they had the same one every night they slept at the same time.

Each time they both closed their eyes, they could sense the chemistry their dream versions had for each other. Though, they almost couldn't keep thinking of these legendary figures as dreams. The older they became, the more they began to resemble their own dream versions.

Elysia looked almost like a younger sister of the woman they dreamed of, while Tengeshi's only difference was that of his human appearance. If he had somehow grown pointed ears, he would look like the shadow figure's younger brother. This was not lost on them. They were reminded of the feelings of the two dreamlike figures every time they looked at each other. It was as if their feelings transcended what was considered imagined into reality.

"I think we're about ready." Tengeshi smiled with a vacant expression as the memory of the dream left its normal effect. "I've made more than enough for us to make a living at least for a while."

Elysia nodded, slightly breathless. He couldn't blame her, they had been preparing for this moment for years. "I'm going to miss this place." She looked back at their hole wistfully.

He knew she hadn't meant the hole in particular. Their lives were less complicated without the outside world's interference. He already felt like he had known Elysia for a lifetime, to move to the outlying kingdom, even if just for a year, it would introduce politics they would rather have not have. But he had to admit, he did miss civilization. He remembered his trips to the village near his home with fondness. The butcher had to have taken on an apprentice already, and he knew a few girls at the inn that must have found men by then. At that thought, he looked up at Elysia. 'Maybe I don't need to worry about that.'