243 years old!?

Greenie, can you set me down? I ask the goblin who stares at the shorter dwarf with arms crossed. He wasn't exactly jumping with joy at the two new members of our group.

Though he doesn't respond, he does gently set me down upon the ground, making sure the clay holding my wing in place doesn't crack.

Move soft, master, ok? After he reminds me, he picks up the hoe we'd made. He was off to prepare our lunch.

I, on the other hand, was busy circling around the blind dwarf as he continued to cradle the sword in one arm. his face was too covered with dirt and flecks of clay for me to be able to tell if he had wrinkles. my image of a dwarf was of a hearty man with ruddy cheeks, but this dwarf before me had sunken in cheeks, colored and enough for me to not notice just how malnourished he was.

Gurrrrrrgle.

Not just him. I was hungry, and Greenie probably was too.

Master! Meat!

Greenie throws in one of the leftover rats he'd recovered from the siphon bush for me, which I begin to de-skin with my beak and claws. This was easy enough to do even if my movements were restrained by the splint and clay covering.

Just as soon as he'd entered, Greenie leaves the cave again, probably to collect more of the rats.

I wonder if I froze in place, would half of me look like a sculpture belonging in a museum? I think as a bird I was on the handsome side. The glimpses of my own wings I'd caught in the lake showed a much shiner set of honed blue-black wings groomed even better than Mother's.

No offense to Mother.

I couldn't wait to see my body in the lake properly after I healed up.

Ufufuffu~

I hum as I peel off the rat's fur from the head straight to it's tail. It took a lot more tugging after it's carcass had lost it's moisture thanks to the Siphon Bush, but it did peel off a lot more cleanly.

With the combined effect of the Progenitor title, I might have become the prettiest bird in this world.

Plucking out the rat's remaining organs, I set them in a pile for Greenie. He liked the innards the best.

So. Andvari, you're 243 years old.

That was definitely way more than my current and previous lives combined. I stare up at the dwarf in awe, my beak falling open. He was starting to look shiny to me. Andvari must be full of all sorts of wisdom like some sort of wise hermit, his ragged beard and dirty cloth tunic matching the part.

You must have experienced a lot…

More than I'd like to admit. Shrugging, Andvari scratches at the light silver scars under his eyes. I hadn't noticed them until now. The lines could pass as wrinkles under his bushy brows, faintly crisscrossed around his eyes. This blindness was not something he was born with. Someone or something had made him blind.

Wincing as some remaining blood in the guts spatters on my face, I pause, blinking up at Andvari.

My heart clenches seeing the way his face smoothes clear of all emotions as he spoke. Uh-oh. I hadn't meant it in a bad way, but my words seemed to have reminded Andvari of something.

Life is full of all sorts of experiences. Not the good kind, especially if one is born a particular warped alloy.

He turns away from me, staring at the back of the cave towards the dark gaping hole. But why did his back appear so small?

Yes, he was a dwarf, so he was short, especially in comparison with Greenie and the Minotaur. Yet he seemed to be shrinking before my very eyes with each word that came out of his mouth, picking up the chipped sword from the ground and tracing the metal.

I knew that look.

I'd had that same look in the train window coming home from work. When the load got too heavy to bear. When one harsh word from the boss piled upon the small negative occurrences of the day, settling together like snow.

It never had to be one big thing to tip you over the edge. Just one moment, when you're tired of it all. When you want to be free.

And you see an easy way out. For me, I'd used music to draw me out of that bottomless pit.

Blinking my eyes hard, I hop even closer to his feet, never taking my eyes off him.

I really didn't like the way he was eyeing that sword.

It was only a chipped, warped sword, but he kept it close to him at all times. Even in the cave, where it should be safe..

I-

That sword was not just for self-protection. Andvari was also keeping it as his way out.

At that revelation, I freeze. The common response should be I do my best to encourage him, try and bring him out of the slump. But I didn't know if I had any right to do that.

"Kraawk!" Clearing my throat, I try to divert Andvari's attention from the large sword in his arms.

You must have had some good experiences too! I think back to Andvari's status. You-, you're as smith, aren't you? I just know you must have created some amazing work!

Phew. I breathe out a sigh of relief when I see him loosen his hold on the sword.

Ahhh, Yes Lady.

Luckily Andvari doesn't seem to notice me subtly pushing my own small happiness derived from moments with Greenie and excitement for the future towards him.

I've woven chains tighter and smaller than an Arachne's web, forged swords sharp enough to rend the air. My forge was the greatest of them all! The fires that burned within would rival even Mighty Hrothgar's hearth in its ferocity!

Gesturing with his hands as if his body could share just how powerful a flame burned in his forge, Andvari's voice rises in his excitement.

That sounds wonderful!

Ignoring my desire to clap my wings together, I hop from one foot to another.

Not just wonderful, Lady. My work is magnificent! It is Art!

Andvari was filled with vigor again, puffing out his shoulders as he traced out the weapons he'd crafted in the air.

When he spoke about his work, he carried a confidence that was enthralling. It was making me excited. Now this was a dwarf! The race of master craftsmen!

And now that he was with us, a whole new horizon had dawned before me. We were getting closer to the comfortable life I was dreaming of! All I wanted was a safe place to sleep, delicious food, and entertaining books to read. If I played my cards just right, we might achieve that goal faster than I'd thought!

Well, we're Blood now. You're my Kin, family.

As the words transmit themselves directly out of my brain, I nod to myself.

Yes, that sounded right. Andvari wasn't just a stranger. He was my Kin, someone Caïssa had tasked me with taking care of. If he was my family, there should be nothing wrong with me trying to save his life.

And alloys are super useful too! You're a dwarf! Don't you know that alloys can be purified??

I didn't care if I sounded way too overly enthusiastic. And I was quite proud of myself, puffing out my chest as far out as I could without hurting myself. I'd just remembered something that I'd learned in my high school chem class.

What do you mean, alloys can be purified!???

Face twisting, Andvari drops low to the ground, scrabbling till he finds me and clutches me to his chest, dropping the sword in the process.

My neck pulls backwards, leaning my face far away from him as I could at his extreme reaction.

Erm, you're a dwarf right? I thought smelting was a common thing?

Andvari's eyes open wide, the scars tightening around the clouded eyes in a frightening way as he draws his face closer to mine.

Smelting the impurities out of one metal yes, but an alloy? He shakes his head. That we've never done. We have an affinity with the earth that allows us to detect large amounts of pure metals. There was never any need to purify an alloy once combined, when we could already locate the purest of metals and mine them instead.

Hmm. Seemed like the dwarves had some sort of natural metal detector that could lead them straight to the ore they wanted.

What did you do with the bad alloys then?

Andvari runs thick fingers through the top of his mangy head. We threw them away.

With as much confidence as I could muster, I respond.

But- that's such a waste! I'm sure you can seperate them again. There's even multiple ways to do it!

I don't know why this dwarf was fixated on alloys so much.

The crinkles around his eyes deepen as he stares in my direction.

Hahahaha!

Uhh--m. I didn't get what the joke was. Why was Andvari laughing so suddenly?

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

With large, belly-shaking laughs, Andvari opens his mouth widely in a happy grimace.

AND THEY THOUGHT IT COULDN'T BE DONE!! THE FOOLS!!

HAHAHAHAHA!

And- HA! to think! a raven- BAHAHAHA! knew how! HAHAHAHAH!!!!!!

Fluttering my good wing, I break my fall as he accidentally lets me go, cradling his stomach as tears leak out of the corners of his eyes.

For all his laughter, his tears seemed to have some anger mixed in as well.

Settling down on a nearby rock, I try to wipe off some of the left over rat blood on my beak. It takes a while for him to finally calm down, with Greenie and the Minotaur both poking their head in at different times to check what the fuss was about.

Haaaaa! That was too good.

Muttering, Andvari wipes the tears off his face with his dirty tunic. It doesn't do much to clean his face. Basically, he'd just added another layer of grime atop the clear streaks his tears had left.

Welp, I guess Operation: Distraction could be marked as a success.

I'd wanted to distract him from the dark heaviness that seemed to weigh on him, and the talk about the alloys worked much better than I ever thought it would.

The trick when your thoughts got too loud and overwhelmed you was to focus your mind on other things. Happy things, memories, the unknown future possibilities of what you could do.

But we would need a forge to separate an alloy, and metals to test with. We could explore the hole..

Ahh yes. A long while had passed since I last felt the earth surround me. Comforting, like a babe in his mother's womb.

Andvari's expression settles into his usual surly look, bushy eyebrows back in place as he responds to my offer.

So, when my wings heal, let's explore the hole together!

Andvari's brows draw down deep, the bushy ends touching the bridge of his nose. I hop backwards a bit. Was he mad??

Slowly, he brings his hand to his mouth.

Had I offended him somehow? Why was his expression so fierce?

But then he presses the pad of his thumb to his lips and out towards me in the same gesture he'd done at the lake after I'd made him my Kin. Throwing up his arms in a clear gesture of 'I give up!', Andvari points his palm back out towards me.

Lady. That hag was right. There is nothing else like you.

And then with a strong, booming voice, he speaks. It surprises me because we'd been talking with Thought Transmission in silence. Drawing himself up to full height, pale eyes blazing with life.

Geallaim iad seo

Boom! The cave echoes as he pounds the center of his chest with a clenched fist.

Le fuil agus cloch

Le lámha Hrothgar, Coimeádaí na Lasrach, Uile-Athair na nDumhach.

Cuspóir nua

Stuck frozen under the intensity of the presence that emanates from his I listen to the melodious low timbres of his voice as he speaks in a lurching cadence in an unknown tongue. It wasn't the one he'd been using with Crixus.

Geallaim iad seo

Boom! He pounds his chest again, hard enough to make his beard shake.

A mhúnlú le mo lámha mianach

Ionstraimí beatha

Geallaim iad seo

Boom!

Le caitheamh leis an lasair

Airm an bháis.

Geallaim iad seo!

Two final beats, and his chant ends.

I watch in silence as his chest heaves heavily in and out, until he coughs.

Ahem!

Seems like his throat was ticklish after the beautiful chant..

We also need to find some way to store water soon, I consider offhandedly.

Ahem!

Cocking my head i hop forward and pat the back of the dwarf's leg. It wasn't like i could pat his back, but it was the least i could do.

Ahem!

Andvari coughs again.

Are you ok, Andvari?

Shaking his head, Andvari kneels and pats me on the head with an exasperated look.

Lady, could you repeat these words after me.

Glacaim leis an ngeall seo

Uhhh..Ok.

Shrugging, I repeat the words after Andvari. It was cool I got to be a part of this dwarven chant too!

Glacaim leis an ngeall seo

The words echo out in the cave as I repeat Andvari's words. For the occasion, I tried emulating a certain Hollywood star from the large cat movie. For a response to a dwarven chant like this one, it sounded perfect.

And I did a good job mimicking it too, with the new skill from me evolution: [Mimicry].

Though Andvari looks quite surprised as the heavy voice of one King (from a movie about large cats) issues out of my throat with a weighty gravitas.

Ding~!

[High Mountain Dwarf Andvari has released all ties with the High Mountain. New evolution paths have been made available.]