Desire

[WP] The young woman had spoken to everyone in town, asking them to teach her to fight. The warrior, the hunter, the knight, all had declined. Finally, in desperation, she spoke to the dwarven blacksmith. Lowering his massive hammer he looked at the fire in her eyes and said "Aye. I could do that."

*****

"Please, teach me to fight." Looking up from my work, I stared into the young woman's eyes. She'd asked everyone in the town before coming to me, and while some might be offended, I was used to such treatment here. People may prize me for my talent, but dwarves still weren't widely accepted in society.

There had been desperation in her voice, and as I stared, I could see why. Her eyes were lit with fire, and determination, but behind those emotions, darkness lurked. I'd seen that combination only once before in my life, and I knew what it denoted.

"Aye. I could do that." The words dropped into the still air, the only other sound the roaring of the forge. "But I warn ye. It won't be easy. And it won't be the same as what you'd have gotten from those other folks. It will be dwarven teaching. Not normally meant for humans."

She laughed, a bitter noise with no happiness attached.

"Then it will be perfect for me. As I seem to not be meant for humans." I let the comment go, knowing she needed to say it, but wanted no response. Quietly, I picked up my hammer and gestured towards the smaller one on the wall.

"Can ye lift that?" I asked. She walked there with a strange lightness of step, as if her feet didn't want to touch the ground. That was further proof of what I'd seen in her eyes, but I banished the thought to the back of my mind as I watched her try to raise the hammer. She got it about a foot off the ground before it crashed back. Turning to me, her head raised defiantly, as if she expected laughter. Instead, I nodded.

"Not bad for a first-timer, lassie. Some men in this village couldn't lift that more than an inch. But we still need to work on yer strength." A smile so fast I doubted what I'd seen, flashed across her face at my praise but all she did was nod back.

——————

Our days settled into a rhythm that stretched the weeks into months, then into years. I grew used to her lightning-quick sense of humour, and fiery temper. And she for her part, put up with my penchant for not talking for weeks at a time. She trained with determination, focus and speed. Teaching her was a joy; at times, I chuckled at what talent others had missed. But then, perhaps she wouldn't have liked their training. None of them were as tied to the forge and fire, as I was. And fire, was important for the lass, I knew that now even more than before.

It was the third day we'd worked together, that she picked up a hot iron bar with her bare hands. She didn't seem to notice the heat, and I didn't remark on it. Her comment about being not meant for humans reverberated in my head though.

On the sixteenth day, she'd come into the smithy, and I'd noticed the fire flare up a little more, as if excited. Again, I didn't say anything. It could just be my own inferences, but deep in my soul, I didn't doubt I was right.

The strange occurrences grew closer and closer together, as her training continued. She wanted to spend more time in the smithy with me, rather than work on her exercises. I made a token resistance, but not much. The day would come soon, and I wanted her to trust me. But I didn't expect what happened when it appeared.

We'd started work, as usual, her assisting me with a particularly difficult piece of ironwork. There was a cough from the doorway, and a tall man came inside. I could feel the lass stiffen, and move back towards the forge.

"And what can I do for ye?" I asked, but I shifted my hands on my hammer. The man smiled, but he didn't look at me. He was looking toward the forge.

"I've come to take back my property. She led me a merry dance, but I'm afraid that's over." He took two steps further inside, passing me. Before I could respond, a loud shout cracked through the air like a whip.

"NO!"

I turned, crouching behind the anvil just in time, as fire flashed out from the forge, filling the back half of the smithy with a wall of yellow, orange, and red. The heat skyrocketed, and I could feel fire licking over my toughened skin. Squeezing my eyes shut, I clamped my hands closed on my hammer. If I was to die today, I wouldn't die empty-handed and be cursed to wander the Forbidden Realms.

It was over in seconds. The tall man had been completely incinerated. Nothing could have survived that, yet when I opened my eyes, it was to my lassie bending over me concern on her face.

"Are you all right? I didn't mean..." She stopped, miserably. "I don't know what happened."

Standing up, I patted her shoulder.

"I'm fine lass. Ye didn't hurt me. Maybe singed me a bit, but that's a hazard of the profession." Staring into her eyes, lit as always with an inner fire, I smiled. "And I do know what happened."

We went to our attached house and I sat her at the table with a cup of dwarven tea. She wrapped her hands around the mug as if she was cold.

"Years ago lass, I used to work in the mountains with the rest of my kin." I sat on the opposite side of the table. "And one day, we delved too close to a volcano. We were young, we didn't know better. Our tunnel filled with heat and we were sure that death was near."

I shook my head, remembering the terror of that day, the heat, the stench of sweat and panic.

"But then, as if by magic, a woman appeared in our midst. She was tall, and when she walked it was as if she didn't want to touch the ground. The heat vanished, the pressure, everything. And when she looked at ye," I raised my eyes to my young apprentice. She looked at me steadily. "Ah, lass, her eyes were exactly like yers. Fire and darkness, neither consuming the other. She told us to leave, to turn back. We didn't belong in her, couldn't survive her lava."

Summoning a bit of courage, I reached across the table, tapping the young woman's hand. I'd never asked her name, and she'd never offered.

"She was the life-essence of a volcano, lassie. And I believe ye are too. But somehow, ye've been separated, taken away from it. And I think ye need to go back and find it. It will be the only way to feel whole again." Hot tears started to fall from her eyes, hissing as they found the table's wood.

"And leave you? You're my only friend." Her voice quivered. I smiled, rising from the table and picking up an empty sack.

"Of course not. I'm coming with ye lass. It's been a long time since I've seen the mountains. And besides. This is the adventure of a lifetime. I wouldn't miss it."

And then for the first time in years, for the first time since I'd met her, something happened I would have to tell my grandchildren about.

She smiled.

*****

THE END.