Forge And Fire

Gemini began to fiddle with several of the tools on the cobblestone table until he looked satisfied, holding onto a pair of steel tongs.

"Alright, could you please go over there and shovel some coal into the forge?"

He said, pointing to the large furnace-like structure made of seared bricks, standing nearly as tall as the ceiling.

Chase nodded in response as he casually made his way over to the central forge.

Internally, however, he was regretting accepting the boy's proposal for one reason and one reason alone.

The heat was truly insufferable.

Chase found himself struggling to even breathe, while standing still and only conversing with Gemini. But to think that he had to do labor inside of this damned place?

He promised himself that next time he would just find a library on his own as he picked up the shovel that lay lifelessly on the ground near the forge.

Sure enough, as Chase walked around the furnace, he spotted a large pile made of hundreds—maybe thousands—of chunks of coal.

Cursing the gods, he began to shovel coal into the small hatch on the backside of the furnace.

Sweat began to swiftly cloud his vision as he loaded coal into the monstrous forge.

"Alright, that should be good!"

Gemini called out from the other side of the furnace.

Chase set the shovel down and quickly made his way back over to the demi-human.

"What next?"

He said, between short gasps of air, as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Gemini did not answer and instead began to unhinge some notches on the large hatch that Chase had assumed would be where they would melt down whatever ores they were going to use.

As the shorter boy pulled open the hatch, an unbearable amount of heat escaped the chamber.

Chase turned away from the furnace, worried that it would burn his eyebrows off.

Gemini let out a laugh as he pulled over a wheelbarrow filled to the brim with metallic ores.

An annoyed sigh escaped from Chase's lips as his eyes adjusted to the bright light inside of the furnace.

A strange bucket made from seared-black bricks hung from a metal rod inside the forge.

Gemini began to adjust a bunch of different notches on the base of the furnace. He then paused for a moment and pointed at the wheelbarrow.

"While I preheat the crucible, could you please take the cobalt ore over to the crushing station?"

Chase looked down at the boy and gave him a confused look.

"I don't even know how to crush an ore though."

Gemini cleared his throat.

"Don't worry, it's the easiest part. All you need to do is take the hammer and smash the ores down. It won't break the cobalt, just break away any unwanted minerals."

He paused for a second.

"Then you take what's left and you use the mortar and pestle to grind it into powder."

Chase quickly tried his best to mentally take notes of everything Gemini said, as he began to push the wheelbarrow to the northernmost side of the room.

Once he reached a small round table made of similar bricks as the crucible, he set the wheelbarrow down and retrieved the shovel once again.

Chase hunched over and set his hands on his knees as he gasped for air.

'Damn, this place is insufferable.'

As soon as he gathered himself, he began to shovel the cobalt ore onto the table. Then after he had gathered all of the ore into a pile, he picked up the large sledgehammer that rested against the table.

He lifted the heavy hammer above his head, struggling to gather the strength—he quickly brought the hammer down onto the pile of shiny cobalt.

SMASH

His breath staggered, but he shakily brought the hammer up once again.

SMASH

'No wonder that kid needed my help.'

Chase thought to himself, as he mentally demanded his body not to give out.

Even after surviving the circumstances he had found himself in so far, swinging the damn hammer had been one of his hardest endeavors.

After he had crushed the pile of ore down to mere clumps of shiny gemstones, he threw the hammer down and leaned against the table.

Gemini had also made his way over and began to help shoveling the ore back into the wheelbarrow.

"Good job, you can take a break now. I can do the rest here."

He said to Chase as he began to push the wheelbarrow over to the grinding station.

...

As Chase sat tiredly next to the round table, Gemini finally made his way over again.

"Come on, I have everything set up for the next part."

Gemini offered a hand.

Chase accepted it and let the shorter boy help him up.

'Strong...?'

Chase mentally questioned the boy's peculiar strength as he effortlessly pulled him up.

'But he said he wasn't that strong, and he doesn't look it either... Weird.'

Gemini pulled a canteen off of the leather belt that hung around his waist and handed it to Chase.

He accepted the canteen gratefully as he waterfall drank nearly half of the water inside.

"Thanks."

Chase said, breathing heavily.

Gemini nodded and turned, walking over to the large furnace, with Chase following behind.

"Now, we melt everything down into an alloy."

When they returned to the furnace, the wheelbarrow had been replaced by a small bucket filled with shiny navy-blue powder.

Gemini casually lifted the bucket and began to pour it inside the black crucible that hung from the steel rod.

Once it was empty, he tossed the bucket aside and pointed to a small wheel that attached to the furnace.

Chase knelt down and began to push the wheel in a counter-clockwise direction.

He then heard a sizzle inside the furnace, assuming that the crucible had been lowered down into the molten lava.

"You don't seem new to this."

Chase said loudly, speaking over the loud forge.

Gemini did not answer for a couple of seconds, instead focusing on something on the other side of the furnace.

"I used to help my dad do this."

He said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Chase did not press on the matter and instead stretched his sore arms above his head.

"Now we wait."

Gemini said, pressing down on a large bellow, blowing hot air into the forge.

Chase watched the crucible come to life as flames and sparks ignited within the fiery furnace.

...

It had been about ten minutes or so since they began to melt down the cobalt.

The two did not exchange any words in that time, as Chase had mainly just kept to himself, sitting against the hot stone of the furnace's outer wall.

Finally, though, he decided to break the silence.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Chase said, hoping that what he planned on asking wouldn't come off offensive in any way.

Gemini, who had returned to adjusting the switches and notches on the furnace, nodded in response to his question.

He took a tired breath before he spoke again.

"You said you were half human... No offense, but could I ask you what you are?"

Gemini paused for a moment, showing slight hesitation in response. Then, a sort of half-smile found its way onto the shorter boy's face.

"You mean you couldn't tell already?"

He asked jokingly.

Chase looked up at the ceiling of the large academy forge room.

"I have my guesses, but I didn't want to assume anything."

Gemini looked over at the boy and grinned.

"Alright then, what am I?"

Chase continued to study the beautiful architecture of the forge until he finally spoke in a serious tone.

"You... are definitely... half elf."

Silence filled the forge, leaving only the sizzling that continued on inside of the furnace.

Suddenly, the two boys erupted with laughter.

"An elf!"

Gemini gasped between short attempts at gathering his breath.

Once the two regained their composure, the shorter boy returned to his focused management of the crucible.

"I mistakenly took you for the serious type."

Gemini said behind a grin.

Chase let out a small chuckle before taking another swig of water from a spare canteen they had found.

"You do know what I am though, right?"

Gemini said in a more serious tone.

Chase nodded in response.

"I've never met a dwarf before, but I do know that not many humans know their way around a forge like you do."

He said, pointing to the interior of the forge as the lava inside began to bubble.

Gemini shrugged.

"Not many fourteen-year-olds can swing an ore hammer like a dwarf can."

He said, looking into the crucible, before beginning to speak again.

"Who are you really? Chase the nameless..."