Element. Flame of Elisar. Marie K. JETH

resembles the color of sea water, i.e., from light to deep blue. Belongs to the group of the most powerful gems in magic, which are able to enhance the man’s potential. Topaz corrects human thoughts making them clearer; concentrates magical flows and energies. Good only for the water element; gets destroyed when used by other elements,” I quoted a paragraph from the Book of Elements.

      “Wow! You aren’t that hopeless!” Truvle gave me another sly smile as he was taking the

      red-hot blade to the anvil. “I think Nargara is a little wrong when she calls you numbskulls! There is at least something that fails to get lost in your young red heads!” He was definitely mocking me now.

      I grimaced trying to show my discontent with the irony, and was just about to retaliate with another joke when the blacksmith said something that made me forget everything and stand still in anticipation of a miracle:

      “Let’s start, then?” He stretched out his hand in a demanding gesture. I obeyed putting the flask with the elixir into his huge palm. “And remember, whatever happens, don’t even think about touching it!” he warned me pointing to the blade that looked so peaceful at first.

      “Got you!” I snapped.

      The blacksmith nodded and took the lid off. He carefully brought the container to the weapon and started pouring the liquid onto the blade moving his hand slowly from the handle to the point.

      The hot metal hissed furiously as it absorbed greedily the dark liquid. Nothing was happening in the next few minutes, and then…

      The blade surface ruffled as if a wave was passing through it. The ornament of curls gave some bluish radiance, and then suddenly the blade spread… just spread like mercury, wrapping the bright blue topaz. And the metallic liquid froze still.

      I gave a scream of surprise and stepped back. “Wow! Is it going to remain… like this… errr… blur?!”

      “Wait a minute! Now the elixir is bringing structure to the metal! Just wait,” Truvle was piercing the work of his magic blacksmith art with his gaze now.

      And there we were waiting… a minute… two… and three… After a while I got really bored so I decided to find something more interesting looking through what the Honored Master Truvle had made in the past days. The table at the opposite wall was full of weapons ready to go – all types of swords, daggers, stilettos and lots of other stuff I did not even know the name of. And the throwing knives, of course! I knew that most of them had a secret – a little hollow in the blade, filled with mercury through forging. When turning in the air the mercury would hit against the wall from inside thus adding to the knife’s power and straightening its course. No magic, actually! And yet, Truvle never had trouble attracting customers willing to buy that deadly weapon.

      As I was lost in my thoughts Truvle’s voice broke the silence. “Here it starts!”

      I turned round to see the blot-shaped thing on the anvil get back in shape turning rapidly into a blade.

      The curly pattern glowed even brighter than before, and the gem turned deep blue. But that was not the end of transformation. The blade was streaming again, and for a few moments flickering metal streams rushed to the hot gem gathering into something looking like an octopus, which wriggled and coiled. And as soon as the metamorphosis was complete we could see a bracelet – wide and beautiful, featuring the same curls and the bright blue gem right in the middle. The shape and size – slightly rough and tough – were proof that it was all designed to serve a man.

      As I bent down to get a better look at the shining ring Truvle shouted, “Ricka! I told you not to touch it!”

      “Yeah, I know! Didn’t even think about it!” I said as I jerked my hand back.

      He gave me a look of mistrust and frowned while I was trying to compose a totally innocent and attractive face, as if saying, “Well, it wasn’t even me!”

      “You can’t touch it before I add the fixer. Otherwise all work is a mess!” he mumbled and turned to the cabinet to take some flask. This time the bottle was of an unusual red color.

      He opened it, came up to the anvil and splashed the bracelet with the liquid that turned into red streaks.

      “It’s blood!” I realized.

      “Blood…” Truvle replied, “its future owner’s blood.”

      “Do you mean it’s a Vernor?” I was shocked now.

      “You beeet!” and the man gave a happy chuckle again.

      A Vernor was a weapon that remained faithful, and submitted to, one master alone. Should the master’s enemy get such a thing… well, all we can say is it would never make that enemy happy. It might remain safe only if given by the owner himself to someone else, yet it would lose its magical powers immediately.

      “Well, finished now!” Truvle was definitely happy as he patted my shoulder with his enormous hand. All I could do was just utter a squeak – his hand was heavy enough to kill a bull. And then, realizing he had nearly crushed me, Truvle said, as if by way of apology, “You know, I’ve got you a gift!” I could see his eyes full of sparkle. “Sorry to come a bit late with this, just had to find the right metal.”

      The Master went back to the same closet in the corner and took a midsized box. I rubbed

      my shoulder and stared at what he had in his hands, all fascinated. What did he get for me this time?

      We had known this man since childhood. And when in Karun, he would visit us bringing inevitably all sorts of yummies. Elcha and I used to look forward to his visits that always seemed something of a miracle – we were rather poor those days, so sweets were a luxury we could never afford. And for our birthdays he would always make something beautiful for us – bracelets, hairpins or earrings.

      I leaned over the box that had already been opened for me, and as soon as I looked in my eyebrows went up – two blades at the bottom of the box.

      “Star Ore!” I exclaimed.

      “Well, that’s what I meant saying it was no easy job to get it!” Truvle smiled totally delighted with the effect his gift had produced.

      “How would you ever get it?!” I was ready to jump with delight or hug him like a five-year-old girl getting her best doll for birthday. But as soon as I could get back to my normal senses I looked at him with sincere regret and said: “Truvle, I can’t take the gift. Too expensive…”

      Star ore was really expensive stuff as it was nothing short of cosmic iron. And that was far from a common thing in Elisar.

      “Stop being stupid! Take it … Should have done it long ago, actually! Perhaps nothing would have happened if you had had something to protect yourself!” he spat out and stopped immediately.

      I lowered my eyes as I knew perfectly well what he meant…

      The Beast

      That day…

      I was on my way back from the fortress that belonged to an extremely powerful man, of a disgusting appearance and the worst temper you could ever imagine.

      Well, of course, I was talking to him with a broad and happy smile on my face, and

      agreed with all his silly remarks, nodding all the time yet deep down inside burning with the desire to get out of there as soon as I could.

      Finally, taking a hefty fee for the elixirs I had delivered, I dropped in a small local market to buy some bread and milk, and left the place. The Sun was about to set, and half way through I stopped to have a bite. I stepped off the path leading to Karun and sat down on a small rock.

      The tame Sun was sending its rays down bringing some dim light to the mountains whose snowcaps created the feeling of a surreal picture once painted by an unknown artist and stuck to the horizon…

      I was sitting there admiring the landscape and listening to the mountain river roaring nearby. That was a place I often