Finding A Smith

 Millie wasn’t entirely sure how much time had passed when the group stopped to rest. Sleep happened at some point, each of the party doing so in shifts. They were wondering where they might find the source of these eldritch creatures. Those damn things had to be coming from somewhere, right?

But before they went looking for this source, they needed to find the nearest blacksmith. There were a few of them in the next town over. They’d go to the first one willing to craft a ginormous scythe blade for them. Bonus points if they could also get a long enough strip of rubber somewhere.

During the trek to this aforementioned next town over, Millie started to wonder if maybe this scythe idea was a bit too much work. It seemed like a good idea during the conception, but had she bitten off more than she could chew with the endeavor?

Well, she had the shaft for it, at any rate. During her lookout shift, she’d killed some time by trying to will the graphite into existence. That took her about ten attempts to get right, and she had no trouble going back to sleep afterwards, but she’d managed to create the huge pencil’s lead. Amaia had been the one to get it in place and glue the two halves together.

Nibbles was the one carrying the giant pencil this time around, it being strapped to the werewolf’s back, as they strolled into the town. This was more of a mid-sized village than the last city. Most of the buildings seemed to be residential dwellings, and Millie noticed the somewhat familiar sight of children playing. Less familiar was the fact that one of them had tentacles (which she hoped weren’t of the same species as that dish she’d had in the larger city; she’d feel horrible if this kid had a missing sibling that was harvested for food). Another had two heads, and both kids were playing tag.

Passing by more residential spots, they found the first blacksmith’s establishment. On the sign, right below the “Gorgon’s Forge” logo, was an extra bit of text reading: “Yes, there is a real gorgon here. Do not make direct eye contact.”

“...Should we go to one of the others?” Millie wondered aloud, that threat of petrification not really something she wanted to deal with.

Talia tapped her chin, trying to find some way around this. “There’s some way to work this. There has to be.”

Nibbles looked up, having been scratching herself a bit. Sara was checking her nails.

“Hey, if I webbed someone’s eyes, would that help?” she asked.

It was a possibility, definitely. None of them argued against that. Nibbles might be the best candidate for that one, given that her sense of smell was naturally stronger than the others’. But she’d also probably get distracted from the task at hand and not get them what they were after. Which was when Amaia pitched their idea.

“Well...within a certain range, my body can sense whatever my head sees and vice versa,” they said. “So, if I send my body in there with some written notes, that might help. I’d be able to see the blacksmith and communicate with them, but no eye contact required.”

Millie immediately brought out the sketchpad, handing it off to the dullahan. Amaia, in turn, handed their head off to Millie to hold onto. Their eyes took on a mild green glow as the body headed in, the others waiting outside to avoid an accident with the gorgon’s gaze. They would wait for any indication that it was time to head in for Talia to pay the tab, or Nibbles to head in with the pencil, or Millie to give any extra information.

After several minutes, though, Amaia’s body came running out, the glow disappearing from their eyes. Instead, a look of annoyance crossed their face.

“We’ve got a problem in here,” they said.

Millie looked them in the eye. “What kind of problem?”

“Well, nobody has to worry about the petrification thing, because the actual gorgon’s dead. And one of those things is behind the counter.”

Nibbles and Talia looked up, and Sara just looked confused. “One of those monsters you mentioned earlier?”

“Yeah.”

Amaia rushed back in to fight it, Talia following suit. Nibbles, seeing two of her friends running, decided she needed to run in, too, to see what was going on. Amaia’s eyes took on that greenish glow once more. And that left just their head, Millie, and Sara outside, unable to do much of anything to fight it at the moment.

Sara had no clue how to fight one, and Millie’s weapon wasn’t quite ready yet.

Inside, there wasn’t just one false gorgon shopkeeper. No, at this point, there were three of them. All were based upon the corpse on the floor, but all three looked just a bit off, compared to him. The one with the wonky nose was in the middle, phasing through the counter to leap at the werewolf, its hair snakes going for a bite.

Nibbles, for her part, growled and went to bite the “gorgon’s” face. The blow did a bit more damage than one might have thought, the creature’s yellowish blood spraying the room. The others had just missed getting hit with the fluid, and Nibbles chewed on the face she’d removed.

Meanwhile, Talia had been slashing at one of the other faux-gorgons with Shade’s Fang, dodging its attacks toward her, and finally landing a nice solid stab in what should have been its heart. She panted a bit, tucking the blade back into its scythe as Amaia faced off with that third one.

Outside, Millie had been watching Amaia’s face react to the fight their body was involved in. It almost looked like they were having a horrific dream, one they couldn’t wake up from without help. But she didn’t dare disturb them right now. Not when they had that link going between head and body.

Eventually, the trio returned, Nibbles’ tail wiggling as they did. Amaia’s eyes stopped glowing, and Millie handed their head back to them.

“So, second smithy, then?” she asked, a bit guilty that she hadn’t been able to assist in the battle.

Talia sighed. “Yes, that shouldn’t be too far from here.”

They resumed their walk through the village, searching for that second local blacksmith. When they found it, this one also had a warning about a gorgon. This gorgon was an apprentice, though, and the head blacksmith was a vampire. Said apprentice wasn’t in at the moment, so Millie and Talia were able to head in, this time.

The vampire in question was behind the front counter, flipping through a magazine, when he saw that he had a client. His red eyes lit right up...right until he saw Talia there. He backed away, muttering a few curses, and Millie could swear she picked up on a “Not her...please, for the love of hell, not her…”

Millie wasn’t sure if it’d help or hurt anything if she mentioned that she was the client, and Talia was merely paying for his services. Noticing his discomfort, Talia stepped back outside.

“Call me back in when it’s time to check out, dear,” she said.

Millie watched as the blacksmith immediately calmed down.

“So...what can I do for you?” he asked.

She showed him the design for the scythe, and had brought in the giant pencil she’d made for it. “I’d need the blade to be able to fit this, at roughly these proportions.”

“...Well, that looks unwieldly as hell,” he stated.

That said, it wasn’t exactly a no, either. Bram, as it turned out, saw this as a challenge, and he did always enjoy a good challenge. The part that gave him pause more than anything was that one where Millie seemed to be on friendly terms with Talia.

Millie was, of course, curious about what had happened between those two. Was his apprehension around her more of a class warfare sort of deal, or were they exes?

When he went to his forge to craft the blade, he gestured for Millie to follow. He handed her a set of safety goggles, before donning his own and getting to work with the steel. She watched him pound out all of the metal’s impurities, so engrossed in watching that she didn’t register him asking her a question.

“So...why were you hanging around her?” he asked.

She shrugged. “She recruited me for a mission. What’s your problem with her?”

He kept working. “We’ve got a history with each other, and it’s not exactly good.”

Somehow, she’d gotten that vibe pretty soon after seeing their reactions to each other.

“So, ex-wife?”

“Nah, we were just friends,” he said. “Though I’d tread carefully around her. She’s recruited so many others before you, and all of them have either disappeared or been killed.”