Unto Metal Revealed – Kumara – Chapter 6 Part 2

“Oh, it seems like sometail brought back a foul mood,” Amethyst said as I stormed into the store.
I gave her a grunt and pushed on, beyond the back of the store, outside where the forge now stood. Garron had stopped after coming in, and talked to Amethyst. I could hear his low tones as I moved away, and I guessed he was filling her in. I could not find it in me to care.

At the moment, I really did not want to talk to anybody. I needed time to think, to let things sink in.
The sack of ingots clanged loudly against the stone floor and I threw some coal into the forge. I stocked the fire, prodded the coals and worked the bellows to breath life into the embers. With each blow of the bellows, there was a roar of fire and a shower of light. The sound, the heat, the brightness that could blind you… it was cathartic to me. Always had been.

Shoving a ingot into the fire, my mind started to wander ever so slightly. The meeting we just had… they needed my help.

Hammering the steel on the anvil, willing shape into the metal, I thought deeply. I did not want to help them. The only reason I accepted their plea was because Garron asked me to. I was unfit to help anytail. My greatest mistake still weighed heavily on my heart, as did all the deaths I had seen—if not caused.

Heating the metal again, I did accept that yes, I also saved some lives. True. But still… it was not enough. Never enough for absolution. Now, they want my help to save a city…

For hours, I hammered and heated, engraved and cooled in a daze as the sun arced overhead, eventually returning to its cradle of embers. Thornfang kept watch over me from a distance, careful not to get too close to the forge. Occasionally I saw Amethyst or Garron standing nearby, staring at me. Thankfully, they did not interrupt me. Did not speak as I poured all my anger, my frustration and my despair into this work.

By the time the dying light colored the sky with reds and oranges, I was finished. Done with the smithing, yes, but above all, I was done thinking. When I started, I had no idea what I was going to make, so I was somewhat surprised to see myself holding a mace. Nobody in my warband used such a weapon, so I never crafted one before. Now, though, something must have steered me towards making it. Everything I crafted was meant for someone, whether I was aware of it at the time or not. It always worked out that way.

The mace was flanged, and each of the four flange had an engraving it, as did the mace head itself. One of the flanges was engraved with images of snow, another with motives of vines and fire. The third one showed waves, wind and blood. On the top of the mace head was an engraving of a gem, radiating fire… Hope.
There was only one person I knew who would wield a mace: Amethyst. Why I wanted her to see all of this, was beyond me, or at least beyond anything I wanted to admit.

I let my claw slide over the engravings of the fourth flange. Seeing the small figure that was meant to represent me there, made me shuddered. Thornfang padded over and sniffing at my claw, yipping quietly.

Rustling his ‘fur,’ I muttered, “It had been too long since I worked at the forge. Really worked, not make a few pre-designed part as we did for the asura. Now see what secrets I revealed to this metal.”
With a deep sigh I sauntered towards the shop, feeling the effects of not taking lunch while working hard, knowing full well that I should give the mace to Amethyst. I would become restless if I did not. In the shop, I walked upstairs to where we all lived.

“Oh, you’re done, I see?” Garron said, putting down a tankard on the table while basking in the heat of the hearth.

“Hmhmm.”

“You made… a mace?”

I nodded. “Yea. Do you know where Amethyst is?”

“I’m here,” she said walking in. “What’s the matter?” She looked concerned. Not sure what to say, I just held the mace out for her to grab. She looked at it and raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t know you were annoyed enough to clobber me,” she said with a sly grin.

“Just take it,” I said through gritted teeth.

She cocked her head and reached out to grab it. As she did, I turned my head away, towards the wall, looking at her from the corner of my eyes. Amethyst took the mace, and examined it with playful curiosity. As she looked at each flange, her expression became more serious. By the time she examined the fourth flange, she was dead serious.Not being able to bear what she might say, I turned and walked off.

“I’m going to bed.”

“Uh, yes, yes, what about dinner—” The door slammed shut behind me as I dropped myself on the bed, Thornfang jumping on the bed, next to me. He nuzzled my face.

“Why did I show her the mace,” I sighed, stroking his head. “And before dinner, too… If only I had the courage to fully face what I had done, instead of hiding like this…”

—

The next morning I was out and about before Garron or Amethyst had awoken, roaming the empty streets of Lion’s Arch. It was chilly and a thick fog left my fur damp, however, it still could not fully mask the damage to the city, despite the repairs they did. The smell of burnt wood and decayed flesh still tainted the air. The city was one big open wound. I had seen far too many of these. Thornfang bounded around me, far too happy about all this moisture. I often forgot that he was a plant-like animal from the forest.

In the distance I vaguely saw two Lionguards running towards an alley. With a deep sigh I decided that it was time to get the whole ‘help the city’ investigation going. Going down on all fours, I dashed after them, Thornfang following behind. Only seconds after the guards entered the alley, I arrived as well. One of them, a human was standing with its back to me while a norn guard was kneeled next to the body of some poor sylvari. Even from this distance, I could see the dagger protruding form the victim’s chest.

The human turned around, saw me and said with a deep frown, “Turn around, civilian.”

“I might be able to help,” I said.

The norn looked up and squinted at me, as if deep in thought.The human rolled its eyes. “Oh, yea. Like we never hear that in Lion’s Arch. Beat it, big guy.”

Baring my fangs, I could not help but curse the Order of Whispers, as they had not given me any sort of clearance to make this job easier. They said that their involvement, and indeed their existence, needed to remain a secret. But, really, what were they expecting? That I started breaking the law? I lived here now, so there was no way I could afford to act so reckless.

The norn, meanwhile, had stood up and walked over. “Steingrim?” the human asked.

“A charr,” the norn muttered, looking me up and down. “With a planty wolf… Are you Kumara?” Both the human and I arched our eyebrows.

“Yea?” I asked, unsure what to say.

“You know him?” the human asked.

“I know of him!” the norn said, laughing loudly. He slapped his hand onto my shoulder, almost driving me towards the ground. “This is Kumara Icebreaker, hero of the Serendipity!” I made a noise that must have been a cross between a chuckle and a groan. It was weird, and it earned me a disapproving glare from the human.

“So…?” it said, gesturing towards the norn.

“So! He can help!” the norn said.

“Because he… what?”

“He helped solve a murder before!”

Standing there, I watched the exchange with no small amount of amusement. Although it felt strange to be praised in this manner, this argument amused me.

“This isn’t just one murder,” the human sighed. “And you know it!”

Scraping my throat, I said, “What’s the problem, though? Just let me look along with you and I’ll be out of your fur.”

“Hair,” the human said, its lips pursed.

“Outstanding idea!” the norn said, clapping his hands, rustling his armor.

With a grimace, the human said, “If it means you’ll go away sooner, so be it.”

Grinning toothily, I followed the norn towards the corpse. Kneeling down next to the corpse together with the norn, I took a good look at both the dagger and the wound. “Seems like he was stabbed,” I said. I heard the human scoff behind me. “Oh, really. Thank you, you genius.”

Suppressing the urge to draw the dagger and chug it at the human, I said, “As in, the stab was the cause of death. It wasn’t jammed in afterwards.”

“He has a point,” the norn said.

“Why would somebody jab a dagger into a corpse,” the human said.

“Framing,” I said. Its lack of response told me enough. “So, do you know him?”

“Not really, no,” the norn said, scratching the back of his head. “But this isn’t the first murder we had in the last time.”

“Steingrim…” the human said warningly.

The norn, however, ignored it. “Like this one, though, they’re all sailors.”

“Sailors?” I asked.

“Yes. Their clothing, for one, is a clue. The items they carry. And I’ve seen them on the docks, it’s where I usually patrol.”

“I see… all of them of the same vessel?”

“Good thinking, but no. That would have been easy.”

“Same race?” The norn shook his head. “What about their rank?”

“Their rank?” the human said.

“Well, yea,” I said. “Were they all sailors, or were there higher ups murdered as well?”

“Mostly sailors, but not exclusively,” the norn sighed.

“So it’s seemingly random except for the fact that they come from ships.”

“This is Lion’s Arch, charr. Most people here come from ships.”

“She has a point,” the norn whispered.

“It’s a she?” I whispered back.

The norn led out a loud, hearty laugh, shaking his head. “You’re something, you know.”

“I have been told as such, yea,” I grinned back.

“What are you two on about,” the human said angrily.

Standing up and looking around, I couldn’t really see anything of interest around. Actually, nothing of interest at all. Even Thornfang was just staring around blankly. “There’s no blood,” I said, frowning. The guards looked around.

“Hmpf, you’re right,” said the norn. “That’s strange. His clothes are covered in it.”

Nodding, I said, “His body must have been dumped here.”

“Then there’s little to be seen here,” the human said. “So you can piss off.”

“If you find anything,” I said to the norn, “could you keep me posted? I live at the Silver Robe nowadays.”

“I’ll see what I can do, friend,” the norn said.

“No. You. Won’t.” the human said, fire in her eyes.

“Oh shut up, will you,” the norn said. “These are murders we’re talking about. Lots of them. Stories being cut short, legends that will never be lived! The guard has been trying to find the culprit for over a week. We need all the help we can get.” The human looked seriously taken aback by that. Not wanting to worsen the situation between these two guards, I waved the norn goodbye and walked out of the alley.

Someone was going around, killing. Seafaring folk, oddly enough. As the human rightfully implied, the sailors were this city’s lifeblood. If someone was targeting them, and they started to panic, it could ruin Lion’s Arch.
Which would be typical, considering I just decided to live here. With a deep grunt I headed for the docks, determined to finally find some food; my stomach was aching by now. Oh, and to solve a bunch of murders. Yea…