Priceless

Standing outside the forge, I shielded my eyes with my hand, and peered inside only to almost jump with fright as red eyes gleamed at me from inside the forge.

Then I relaxed as I realized it was the fire of the forge reflecting off the blacksmith's eyes.

Walking in, I greeted the man who grunted noncommittally at me. Ignoring his greeting, or lack of it, I walked straight to the bin where I had found the previous armor pieces… only for the blacksmith to grunt again and point at me.

Puzzled, I soon understood what he meant as he jerked his head toward the bin, and then toward me, before holding out his hand in the gesture for, "What's going on?"

I pulled out the leather armor set that was blackened, curled up, and generally destroyed on to the floor of the forge and stood back.

The blacksmith walked over, and once again, I noticed how powerfully built he was. He stood, looking at the pieces of armor on the floor for a few moments before he jerked his head at the forge fire and then back at me, raising his eyebrows.

Nodding, I said, "Fire. Lots of fire."

Eyebrows shooting up even further, the blacksmith stood with his hands crossed as he looked at the armor and sniffed deeply.

Then, he looked at me with deep eyes, and he walked back to the recesses of the forge where he rummaged around, and then he tossed me an object.

Grabbing it, I found it was a claw gauntlet. A standard gauntlet with three claws extending from the top.

Looking inquiringly at the man, I saw him glancing between the claw gauntlet and the armor. Understanding and marveling at the man's perception, I spoke, "Wolf. Really big wolf."

Grunting again, the man was about to go back to the forge to begin hammering or whatever it is that you do in forging, when I suddenly had an idea.

Pulling out the golden lump I had obtained from the rock, I held it out to the blacksmith, who froze before a crazed look came into his eyes.

Involuntarily, I took a step back as the blacksmith - pointing a quivering hammer the size of my head - walked forward; knocking objects over as he trembled.

The gleam of madness seemed to be growing by the second, and I had a cold feeling in my chest.

Then, the blacksmith seemed to come into control of himself, and he stopped before he looked with a burning gaze at the golden lump and back at me.

Cautiously, afraid that he'd go on a rampage if I made any wrong move, I spoke; "Big rock. Found this inside it."

Silence fell inside the forge before the blacksmith seemed to grow taller before shrinking rapidly. Then, with a defeated look, he walked to the forge and stared at his hammer, lost in thought.

Speaking up, I asked, "Is this valuable?"

Lifting his head up, and looking at me with the same burning eyes, the blacksmith spoke for the first time.

"Priceless," He said in a hoarse voice that sounded like weathered sandpaper.

Stunned, I looked at the golden lump that lay innocently in my hands and it seemed to transform into a pile of gold coins. An unending pile of gold coins, that is!

Priceless! That's a word you don't hear often.

Drooling, I stared at the lump of metal affectionately before I looked up, only to see the look of yearning that crossed the blacksmith's face as he stared at it one last time before he sat down and stared at the hammer in his hands.

Clearing my throat, I said probingly, "I can sell it to you, if you want?"

Raising his head toward me hopefully, the man then deflated as he shook his head, "Told you. Priceless."

Staring at the lump of metal again that was now feeling like a mountain despite its weightlessness, a multitude of thoughts flashed across my head.

Then, I stared at the blacksmith and asked, "Is this useful to you?"

Clenching his fists around the hammer, the blacksmith spoke softly, "It is."

Staring at the lump of gold for a moment more, I threw it to the blacksmith and spoke, "it's yours."

Stunned, the blacksmith caught it reflexively and then tenderly holding it; He stared at me with his eyes wide open as the red flame of the forge flickered in the recesses of them.

"It's yours," I spoke again, more firmly this time.

"Why?" the blacksmith asked in a choked voice.

"It's useful to you, but it's useless to me." I said with a smile.

"It's priceless. You could have gotten more gold coins than you can imagine," the Blacksmith repeated, saying the most words I have ever heard him speak.

As the vision of endless gold coins ran through my head, I swallowed hard and then wistfully banished the thought before speaking; "I have no need of gold right now. On the other hand, you look like you need that golden lump."

Nodding slowly, the man spoke out as he lovingly caressed the golden lump, "More than you can imagine."

Grinning now, I spoke cheerfully, "Then it's settled. Now, can you help me find every piece of equipment that can fit me in the forge? I'll buy it all."

Placing the golden lump carefully inside a pouch, the man rose up to his full height; a height which towered above me, and then his hands darted around as he moved. Soon, a mountain of equipment had formed in front of me.

Sorting through the equipment, I saw the same leather armor set that I had purchased earlier. There were 7 sets of it. Then there were 3 chainmail vests, with close to two dozen gambesons of different colors.

Pausing, the blacksmith asked, "Do you want weapons as well?"

Nodding, I said, "Swords please."

Soon, a pile of swords was in front of me, and wielding each one in turn; I gazed at the blacksmith in shock.

For every sword seemed to be of even better quality than the one I was currently wielding. All common equipment, but incredibly well made.

Clicking my teeth, I hoped I wouldn't be bankrupted as I chose 12 swords to go along with the armor purchases.

Asking for the total, I prepared myself mentally and gasped as he told me the total.

60 gold.

That was it.

I had enough equipment to last me for the next few years. And all it cost was 60 gold.

Stunned, I stared at the blacksmith and then forcefully I spoke, "Look, you don't have to give me a discount just because I gave you that thing. I told you, it's useless for me!"

Silently, the blacksmith stared at me before he jerked his head toward a board that I hadn't noticed.

Looking at it, I saw scrawled in big elegant writing;

"Daggers: 50 silver each

Swords: 1 gold each.

Spears: 2 gold each

Broadswords: 3 gold each

Great swords: 5 gold each

Battle Axe: ….

Mace: ….

Flail: ….

Pike: ….

Greataxe:....

Warhammer:....

Quarterstaff: ….

Lance: ….

Longbow…

Crossbow: …..

Arrows:....

Gambesons: 1 gold each

Leather armor set: 2 gold each

Chainmail vests: 3 gold each

And on, and on…"

There was practically every weapon and every armor piece written on that board, crammed neatly in that elegant script that seemed so odd given the bulk of the blacksmith and the wildness he exuded.

Checking my money, I quickly asked the blacksmith for a series of items and, gesturing, conveyed the sizes that I wanted.

Not asking any questions, the blacksmith quickly collected a pile of items in front of me.

Counting out a grand total of 102 gold - including the previous 60 gold -; I wiped away the sweat that was dripping from my brow as the weight of the transaction affected me.

Then, I bid the blacksmith goodbye and walked to my next destination, followed off by the blacksmith's gaze.

102 gold spent, but I felt it was worth it.

As for the priceless golden lump?

For some people, it might be priceless. For others, it might be junk.

For me, it certainly wasn't junk.

But gold wasn't priceless to me.

What was priceless was the path that I walked. And I would walk it firmly and not look back.