Chapter Ten

The next day, Tengeshi took his travel bag and packed a sword, ax, breastplate and greaves within it. Though the bag could have held all that he brought, he didn't want to have to use the weightless glyph to lug the whole store with him. It would raise too many questions. If he had his way, they would look at him with respect instead of curiosity.

Tengeshi slung the pack onto his shoulders and led the way to the exit to their living area. When they reached the end of the long tunnel leading to the circular chamber, he turned left and walked towards the tunnel which had a single marking on it. After walking down the long narrow passageway for a quarter hour, it began to widen until Elysia could walk next to Tengeshi instead of behind him.

Soon the widened passageway turned into a bridge of sorts. Elysia went to the edge to look down, but all she could see was darkness. She looked around the glyph lit bridge for a stone to toss down, but the smooth bridge had no faults, no cracks to chip off a chunk. "This structure looks like it was just made." She marveled at the craftsmanship. The surface even reflected the glyph light as if it were recently polished.

"It's very well maintained." Tengeshi smiled as he placed a hand on the smooth rail which kept them from falling from the edge. He had seen the bridge once before while he had been familiarizing himself with the passageways. The first time he had seen it, he thought some legendary artisan had been commissioned by the king to make such an awe inspiring sight.

Walking to the other side took nearly ten minutes, making Elysia wonder just how far they had traveled underground since they entered through the entrance near the tree. Just as she was beginning to wonder just how much further they would have to travel, she saw two bright glyph lights in front of them, within the center was a sturdy metal ladder leading up.

"Make sure you activate your weightless glyph for this climb." Tengeshi grabbed hold of the first of the rungs and began to climb upwards, his glyph already activated within his chest plate. "This ladder will take us all the way up the mountain, if you don't use a weightless glyph you might get too tired to continue the climb, and there are no rest areas."

It was a three hour climb up the ladder, which took the wind out of both of the companions, even with the weightless glyph. They exited from the upward tunnel and went into the light. There were no longer any glyph lights, instead the sun beat down on them. As they looked around, they took in the old tower they had exited, then turned their heads to the bustling streets of an ever busy city.

It took a moment for Tengeshi to process just how many people were in this city, it took Elysia double the time. "This is what human life looks like." She said in a silent voice.

Tengeshi nodded. He didn't blame her for being in awe. For her entire life, she had only ever been in the Iryopin Forest with the rest of the elves. The closest thing to this was when she watched through his eyes as he went to the small village near his home.

'I think for now it would be best if we communicate like this.' Tengeshi put up the hood of his travel cloak and looked to Elysia to do the same. 'We don't want to draw any more attention than needed.'

Elysia nodded after she jumped slightly. Since they had spent every day of the last six years with each other, she had forgotten that they had briefly communicated through their minds during their flight from the gargoyles. Since that time, there was never any need for them to use it, but she had felt the connection the whole time, like an invisible cord that attached them.

Traveling the street, delicious aromas of spiced meat and baked bread assaulted their nostrils. At that moment, Tengeshi could almost swear he could hear Elysia's stomach growl through their connection. He smiled as he went to the nearest stall and took out the twelve coppers he had left, walking away with two sticks of spiced meat. He decided to keep the silver piece he had left for when they needed it. 'At least we know they use the same coin.' Taking a bite of the meat, he allowed the slight spiciness of the food to warm his mouth. It was the tastiest meal they had since leaving home.

He looked around the well maintained stone streets, with the same structure for the homes. Some of the buildings had two to three levels to them. Some of them opened up into various stalls and shops. Through the large crowd of people, he saw a sign which had a suit of armor and a sword across it. He gestured to Elysia to follow him into the store.

"Welcome to Sword and Stone! How can I help you…" The shopkeeper began excitedly, but slowly lost enthusiasm as his eyes landed on two travel worn cloaks dawned by two who had looked to just have exited childhood.

Tengeshi went directly to the counter without looking at any of the wares. "I have some of my own work I would like to sell here." He took the pack from his shoulder and took out the leather bound sword and ax first.

"Let's see them then." The shopkeeper unrolled the leather to show the polished iron sword first. His hand expertly went over the pommel first. His fingers brushed over the silver wiring which wound over the cured leather. The handguard was a hands length wide, giving plenty of space to catch a blade if needed, the metal curved up in an elegant design. He took the sword from the sheath and ran his thumb against the blade, the lightest touch was still enough to leave a red line forming, dropping a single bloody tear. "This is very fine craftsmenship." He looked at Tengeshi strangely. "You said that you made this?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I've been working with my father since I was in my eighth year." Tengeshi had prepared for the inevitable questioning of his work. "He sent me out into the world not long ago to find my place, this is one of the finest blades I've crafted."

The old man stared at Tengeshi for at least ten heartbeats before returning his gaze to the blade. He then noticed the glint of steel from beneath the travel cloak. Instead of commenting, he placed the sword on the counter and unwrapped the ax. He sucked in a surprised breath when he saw the polished arm length handle wrapped with the same polished leather and silver wire as the sword. The ax head had an impressive weight to it. Tengeshi had designed it to be wielded by someone who used his strength in a fight. With the correct strength, anyone could cut through the wind with it.

"What else do you have in that pack?" The man's eyes roamed to the pack, where he saw more of the same leather wraps.

Tengeshi smiled as he fished out the breastplate and greaves.

"Hmm." The old man ran his fingers down the armor. His index finger and thumb pinched the metal. "I don't think this armor is thick enough to stop a strike from a sword, let alone a knife." He continued his inspection regardless. "There's no question of your talent, son. But I think you still have a little to learn before you start forging for the kingdom."

Tengeshi was going to protest, but thought better of it. The armor was indeed very thin, but that was for mobility. Even though it was as thin as it was, the durability glyph would allow the wearer to survive at least ten fatal strikes before they ran out of life force, but Elysia shot him a glance, silencing him before he could voice his opinion. 'You shouldn't have even put a glyph on it in the first place.' Her agitated voice flowed into his mind.

"I will give you twenty silver per item." The shopkeeper said as he placed the greaves back onto the table.

"Twenty silver per piece?" He knew that his work was more than enough to provide him with at least two gold per item. The sword itself was of the same quality as Sir Sergath's blade his father had forged, but the elegance was more suited for nobility. He knew that the man had just cut the string to his purse in the future.

"I will sell these weapons and give you thirty percent of the earnings. But the armor might only fetch a small amount of coins for me, so I'll give you twenty. The twenty silver per item is only a down payment, so don't give me that look." The shopkeeper's brows knit in a stern look as he placed his hand on the breastplate. "I will always allow the customer to show the worth of what I sell. I will of course sell it at a higher price and see what we can get for it."

Tengeshi let out a breath of relief. He had expected a lot worse. Even though it was a lot easier to make glyph forged weapons, he knew due to his age, he might not be taken seriously.

"This isn't a favor, young man." The shopkeeper said with the same stern expression. "I wish to become your patron."

"Patron?"

"As such, I would appreciate it if you brought me all of your work to sell. I don't want to see the like in another shop. If you can do this, I'm sure we can have a mutually beneficial partnership, do we understand each other?" The man held out his hand. Tengeshi clasped hands with him.

"My name is Eldridge." The shopkeeper took out a purse and counted out the eighty silver owed to Tengeshi. He then grabbed a piece of parchment from behind him and wrote a brief note. "What is your name, lad?"

"Oh, Tengeshi," He fumbled for the words. "I'm Tengeshi, and this is my wife, Elysia." He put a hand around Elysia's waist and brought her closer.

"Hm." Eldridge grunted while finishing up the note, then lighting a candle, allowing the wax to drip onto the letter and stamping it quickly. "Take this to the Lion's Den. It's an Inn a few streets down. Hand it to Godfrey only."

Tengeshi took the note from his new patron. "I thank you, sir. You won't regret this." He took the purse of coins from the desk and bowed respectfully.

"I don't require thanks, I require work." Eldridge gave a half smile which didn't quite reach his eyes. "You have some real talent, lad. I intend to get the most out of it, be sure to be here at sunrise daily to start your work."

Tengeshi bowed once more before turning to Elysia. Holding out his hand, she took it and leaned against him as they left Sword and Stone. 'I'm your wife now?' Her voice within his head was playful, even though her eyes didn't show it.

'I had to find some way to explain who you were,' He thought quickly. 'Should I have told him you were my sister?' This did earn him a chuckle, partnered by a not so light punch.