The Smith

The sound of waves crashing. It’s enough to lull you to sleep. 

Suddenly your eyes open, and you run into the water, spear in hand.

In only a few moments you see your prey, shiny, black, and darting past you.

You bring your spear around and with agility borne of years of practice, and bring it down on it, causing blood to blossom in the water.

You raise your head above the water and stare back at your hovel, at the adjoining workshop. Good, you think, it’s not there.

You return to land, and place the fish on the anvil. Taking a knife from it’s hook on a nearby wall, you deftly start to gut and remove the scales.

You’re so busy doing this you don’t even notice the temperature dropping, until you shiver to yourself, the water on your body freezing suddenly. 

“Have you changed your mind, then?”

The sound jolts you, and in your spasm, the knife flies from your grip and lands in the sand. You look up to see your guest. It has four legs now, though the face remains the same. The legs are different too, they seem to taper down to a point, starting from the knees, and there are four of them. This creature appears to be like a perverse drider, a torso supported by four opposing legs.

“What? I’m just--”

“Don’t be coy, I see the substance over there, where I left it last. Have you reconsidered our arrangement?”

“Well, I just realized I’m out of practice, I’m not sure I can fulfill the design…”

You watch as the entity before you raises an accusatory finger at you, and you notice its long nail.

“Lie. You just thought it a bad dream when I came to you. You tried to ignore my request, in some perverse way, you thought if you didn’t think about it, then it wasn’t real.”

You shake your head, “I hate the gods as much as you do. My life is drab and wretched compared to my brother’s, but a weapon that can bind souls to service? Would you not be godlike then? Would my hand not be bringing that which I despise above all others?”

“That is why when this business with those pretenders is done, I’ll destroy the weapon, you have my word.”

“Really, and how can I trust you?”

The figure snaps its fingers, and a rift about your height forms beside it. It oozes black tendrils, and you feel...warmth, strangely. From within it’s black maw, you see a face, one you recognize. Its eyes open, it’s her.

“Oneras? Is that y--,” Her question is muffled by your kiss. As you wrap her naked from in your embrace, you feel the tears welling up. You bring her to arms length and stare into her eyes. You hear the chilling voice once more.

“Do we have a deal, Oneras?”

You take one look at the black thing, and nod your head. 

“Beloved, who’s―,” she begins to say, before she realizes the creature is gone.