The return trip to the cave took Enzo a bit longer than he’d expected. To start with, he hadn’t really done enough exploring of the area to have a good mental image of it. His first time finding the cave had involved following animal trails, and those had all but been washed away in the storm the other day.

In addition to that, his pack was heavy. He needed everything he’d bought, but the work at the forge the day before was telling. His arms and lower back were sore and quite displeased at the additional weight on the hike. I’ve got to make a map or something. Especially if I’m going to be making regular trips, I can’t just get lost every few days when a storm blows through.

He’d left town in the late morning and had already been wandering for a few hours when he finally spotted something familiar. A thicket of black berries, grown around several large oak trees. Didn’t I see this patch on my first day here? So that means the stream near the cave should be relatively close. He continued his search and eventually found the stream. From there, finding the small plateau and the cave proved to be fairly easy. As the sun was dipping into the tree line, Enzo finally returned home.

He approached the cave cautiously. Don’t want to startle Talwen. Images of his first night, pinned down by the might of the dragon, flashed through his mind. Yeah, don’t need to relive that. He shook his head and continued into the cave.

“Talwen! I’m back!” Enzo called out as he entered. At first glance the cave appeared to be empty, so Enzo continued down into the second chamber. He set his pack down inside and, in the dim light that descended the passageway, he could make out small indentations in the wall that he’d missed before. On further examination, they appeared to be rudimentary sconces. He returned to the woods briefly and gathered up some branches.

Enzo returned to the cave with his branches and found Talwen perched on the entrance that overlooked the ocean. She cradled the egg in one arm and turned to face him.

“Good to see you return. What are the branches for?” she asked him.

“Was going to light some torches in the lower room,” responded Enzo. “I wanted some light while I organized the supplies I picked up.”

“No need. This is a good opportunity to practice your control,” Talwen replied. “The elders of our clan studied for many years in underground caves. Simply generate a small flame and place it where you want the light. Extinguish it when you move on.” She demonstrated, creating several small fires around her, floating through the air. She then blew, and the little fires spread through the room and landed on various parts of the cave walls, illuminating the entire cave.

“Simple as that. They burn on your mana at a slow rate, so long as you keep them stable, you will hardly notice their drain,” she continued, a toothy grin spreading across her face. “When you are as good as I am, you can have them brighten and dim as you pass through an area.” As she said that, she moved through the cave, and the fires brightened and dimmed as she moved past.

“Show off,” said Enzo. He pooled a small portion of energy to the palm of his hand and a small fire bloomed. He then reached over to the cave wall and willed the fire to stay. Miraculously, it obeyed.

“I take it that things went well in town?” Talwen asked, as she placed the egg in her ring of stones and ignited a warm fire.

“I was able to sell the scale and gather some supplies, yes,” replied Enzo. “I ran into someone interesting though, I’d like to get your thoughts on him.”

“Oh?” she asked, waiting for him to continue.

“I met a man named Tobias, he’s the one I sold the scale to. He’s the smith in town and I worked at his forge for a bit. Got some practice controlling heat while I was there and he was impressed with my work,” Enzo explained as he removed the gloves from his hands. “He also saw the crest and knew what it was immediately. He made me wear gloves the rest of the time I was in town to cover it up. After some prodding, he admitted to having a crest of his own and showed me.”

“What did it look like?” Talwen asked, suddenly on edge.

“A hammer and anvil,” Enzo replied. “I asked about his clan, but he didn’t want to talk about it.”

“I haven’t heard of anyone from his clan in years…” replied Talwen, contemplatively. “They were a clan of diminutive black dragons, the Schmied. Weak in terms of fighting prowess, they were a clan of dragons with close ties to Chenrel. It is said that they could melt and mold any material and could bring out it’s true potential. They were the only smiths skilled enough to weave mana into their works.”

“He wants me to become his apprentice,” stated Enzo.

“Take the offer. If he is truly Schmied, he is one of the last of his kind. His knowledge alone is priceless,” she responded immediately.

Enzo was taken back by her prompt response. “But what about you and the egg?” he asked.

“We will be fine, it is not like you are going that far. You will commute in the mornings and take duty here in the evenings,” she stated matter-of-factually. “It will be good for you. You need practice and you need to build strength. This will do both.”

So much for free time. “He is aware of your presence. It was unavoidable, once he saw the mark on my hand, there was no way to not tell him,” said Enzo. “He implored me not to say anything in town about you though and agreed to keep you a secret.”

“That is… less than ideal,” Talwen replied. “I will have to be careful for a while to not be seen.”

“I also heard that this area has been rather barren of prey lately,” Enzo continued as he retrieved the mead from his pack. “Anything you know about that?”

“No, but I was seeing the same as their hunters were. I suspect another predator has laid claim to the area. I might have to evict them,” she responded, a fire brightening in her eyes.

“I’m sure that would improve your reputation here as well,” Enzo responded, popping open the bottle and settling in by the fire. “I told Tobias I wouldn’t return to town for a few days, so if you’re in the mood for an extended hunt, I don’t mind staying here with the egg. I was able to acquire a bow and some arrows, figure I can try my hand at hunting some ratkel while you’re out.”

The refreshing fragrance of the mead filled the cave as Enzo took a sip. Talwen watched him greedily. He glanced over at her, and offered the bottle.

“Wasn’t sure you could drink any, it’s quite good,” he said. “The local innkeeper makes it herself.”

Talwen took the bottle and drained it entirely. “A good drink, to be sure. Just enough to wet the tongue. I will have to find this innkeeper and request more,” she said happily.

Enzo took the empty bottle back and sighed. Glad I took the first sip I guess. He looked back over to Talwen. “So, I take it you’ll be off hunting then?”

“I will wait until the morning. Rest, I will wake you before I leave,” she said as she settled in around the fire.

Enzo nodded and climbed down the narrow passage to the room below. He lit a fire on the wall in the sconce nearest him and retrieved the ratkel pelts from the pack. He laid them out on the old bear pelt and drifted to sleep, the fire on the wall dwindling as he lost consciousness.