We Need a Forge

  After collecting a large amount of Moon Iron, Elanor and the boys return to the village. They'd taken a little over a week to reach the cave and return. By the time they return, Rosie and Kendra have already left. It seems that Mellisa demanded to go with Laurel to the Sunny Spring sect.

  The boys all have bright smiles as they return home. They all jump into their mother's arms as soon as they see them. All but one mother cries at the return of their boys. Anna just smiles and gives the boy a gentle hug. "Did you gain some good experience?" Anna asks.

  "Yeah! But better than that, we got this," Franklin says as he pulls a shining piece of metal from his pocket.

  All the boys happily tell their adventure story while leaving out the part that didn't happen. Then after calming down and eating a good meal, they find Wilbur to show what they'd collected. When Wilbur sees the metal, his eyes nearly fall out of their sockets.

  As Wilbur holds the metal, his breathing speeds up, causing his black beard to puff out, "How did you boys get this?!" Wilbur exclaims in amazement.

  "The treasure cave," Louis says with a bright smile.

  Franklin observes Wilbur's excitement and asks, "you know what it is?"

  "Indeed, this is Moon Iron! I only saw it once as an apprentice," Wilbur replies. He then shakes his head, recounting, "He wouldn't even let me touch the small stone. He said it was worth more than our lives."

  Wilbur turns the chunk of metal in his hands and sighs. "It's too bad we don't have a forge. I could make a small knife out of it. I would have been a famed blacksmith back in town," Wilbur speaks wistfully.

  "Pfft," Elanor fails to hold in her laughter, "Hahaha, this garbage a treasure wheeze."

  Franklin scratches his head awkwardly. "Elanor threatened to blow up the whole mine since the metal was junk to her," Franklin informs Wilbur reluctantly.

  Wilbur's bright face turns sour as he looks at the woman rolling with laughter. "Lass, are you trying to kill me?" he asks while holding his chest.

  "Please, it's not a big deal. Just this one mine has enough metal in that even if you worked your whole life. You wouldn't use it all up," Elanor explains while waving her arms in front of her suppressing her laughter.

  "What!? There's more than just this?" Wilbur huffs.

  "That's right! We all got a few chunks," the short Douglas exclaims while digging out his couple pieces of Moon iron from his sack.

  Roy also pulls out his and says, "we could barely get the stuff out of the wall, but Elanor just grabbed it out with her bare hands. She gathered a bunch for us."

  Wilbur looks at Elanor with his jaw-dropping to the floor. "Is this true?" he asks in a murmur.

  "That's right, thanks to me, Elanor! You will no longer have to use literal garbage as equipment," Elanor boasts while slamming the center of her chest with a palm. Elanor's smug face and now bouncing mountains make for a unique visual experience.

  Wilbur shakes his head and responds, "Moon iron is pretty unique. It's not easy to forge. We'd need to build something able to produce quite a lot of heat."

  Elanor shrugs, suddenly losing interest. "I don't know anything about it," she dismisses.

  Later that day, the men gathered to discuss the new wealth the village has gained. Arron, Gregory, and Wilbur sit around the fire with serious faces. To create a forge out here will be a tremendous endeavor.

  Gregory sighs and rolls his old shoulders. "I think there is value in it. But can you even forge Moon iron?" Gregory asks Wilbur.

  "If we just had what the kids brought, I wouldn't dare. But since we have plenty of practice material…" Wilbur says, a bit embarrassed. 'I would be wasting a treasure… Will, my teacher, come back from the dead and curse me?' he wonders to himself.

  Arron frowns with his head resting in his palm. "The metal is rare, right? In the future, if the Red River Empire finds out about the mine…" he reminds.

  Gregory nods at this and mentions, "Even if it becomes troublesome in the future, our current predicament can't go on forever."

  "With our guardian spirit and the kids growing up, I doubt they'll want to fight us… We may even be able to make a deal," Wilbur reasons optimistically.

  Gregory scoffs, "would we be out here if they were so benevolent. No, they'll definitely send tens of thousands against us."

  The mood around the fire dips dramatically as all three men brood. After a short time of staring into the fire, Arron sucks in a deep breath. "Either way, it seems like we're in agreement to build the forge," he says resolutely.

  The next day they clear an area of snow and contemplate the structure. Wilbur draws up a simple schematic for the furnace. Still, they were at a bit of a loss.

  "Where are we going to get the stone for this?" Gregory asks while rubbing his head in frustration.

  Arron jumps in, "It's the shaping I'm worried about."

  "Without tools, even a great craftsman can't start building," Wilbur agrees.

  At this moment, Elanor wanders over as carefree as ever. Seeing the men bent over in despair made her laugh. "What's the problem now? You guys always seem to have something weighing you down. You will all become hunchbacks at this rate!" Elanor teases with a giggle.

  "We just don't even know where to start," Arron informs Elanor.

  Elanor hops and skips over until she leans over Wilbur and Arron's shoulders. Her hair and chest flop over them as she looks down at the drawing. "You guys want another hovel? Don't you have enough of those?" she questions the men.

  "It's the forge," Wilbur states, even more, depressed than before.

  "If you say so," Elanor says, rolling her eyes. "Why don't you just build it out of solid stone? I don't know why you guys like building things out of the garbage you pick up off the ground," Elanor derides.

  Gregory shakes his head and strokes his grey beard. "It'd be nice if we could. But there isn't any stone near here. Even making bricks is quite the process," he contemplates.

  "And everyone calls me lazy," Elanor complains with a harrumph. She then waves her finger in front of her and declares, "I will be your savior once more today. Just you wait!"

  Before anyone can comprehend, Elanor bursts into the distance. A half-hour later, the colorful woman returns with a bright smile. Elanor extends her hand, and BOOM, a building-sized slab of stone lands in the cleared area. The whole ground rumbles, and the stone sinks a few feet into the ground. The men have trouble keeping their footing, giving Elanor another reason to laugh at the funny men.

  "What are we suppose to do with this?" Wilbur inquires as beads of sweat fall down his forehead.

  "Carve it, of course. Once you do, it'll be way better than whatever you idiots were planning on doing," Elanor explains simply.

  Arron wants to cry, but he holds it in and reminds Elanor, "If we had those kinds of tools, we wouldn't be in this predicament."

  "Tools?" Elanor asks as she looks down at the drawing. It now is shattered apart due to the ground cracking. "Just use your hands or control the earth energy…" Elanor tells the men.

  Gregory pats the woman shoulder and informs her, "I think you're the only one who can do such feats."

  "No, I'm pretty sure it's normal," Elanor denies. "Well, something like this is easy for me, so I can just whip something up," she yawns.

  Elanor then shifts her footing and turns her hands. Sucking in the cold air, she forms two fists at her side. Then she reaches out, and the sizeable house-size slab of stone creaks. It then becomes a bit like mud as it slowly becomes the shape drawn on the ground.

  After completing the basic shape Elanor then roles up her sleeves. "Ok, now it's time to carve it out!" Elanor exclaims. She flattens her hands, and energy forms around them. They start to glow red as she chops the outlines out of the building. Then with one last exhale from her nose, she punches the front door hole. With that, the inside turns into lava flowing out of every cut and opening. Elanor then kicks the ground forming a large ditch for the heated stone to pool in.

  "All done," Elanor announces while smacking her hands together as if to clean them. However, not a bit of dust falls off them since they were untouched.

  The whole village didn't have any words. Wasn't this kind of construction a bit much?