Fenril, the Enchanted Blade. That is his name. The one who is ruining my life. My name is Robin Jorstore. I’m a coast elf, he’s a high elf. Of course, the two are really the same species, but so very culturally different. Elves, if you didn’t know, are not just known for our pointy ears. We have very long lives, our hair is rarely any shorter than our shoulders because of this, and we tend to acquire impressive amounts of knowledge by the time we are considered the human equivalent of a teenager.

    High elves lived in the great forest of the west, one of the few places men had yet to occupy. They were slightly taller and often more nimble than their counterparts, us coastal elves. They are also significantly more “sophisticated”.

Their songs were long, sorrowful ballads of tragedy or flowing tales of great heroic elves of the past. My particular pain in the rear, Fenril, is one of those heroes. He was commonly recognized as one of the greatest elven warriors of the age. His sword was, of course, magical, and it allowed him to complete amazing feats. I remembered in my childhood hearing the mirthful and spirited tunes of the coast elves that told the same tales. How he had defeated the great stone golem of Ash mountain, his success over the armies of Thannvule, or even his epic story of sailing the seas to slay the great water dragon of the east.

    I was in complete contrast to the green clad elf with his wide brimmed hat. I was a coast elf, and we enjoyed ourselves. We were known for our songs that we sung to cheer ourselves up around the fire on the beach at night. We lived on the eastern and southern coasts of our land. Our hair often came in brighter colors, whether a fierce red or golden blonde. Of course, while Fenril was a well known hero, I was unknown. I loved it that way too.

    I am presently employed as the royal craftsmen for Glandarin, the central human kingdom. What everyone but my supplier doesn’t know is that I am actually a con. I convince someone to purchase faulty craftsmanship that fails quickly. I have been caught once or twice, but my skills with channeling magic allowed me to slip out of the greasy grips of whoever managed to figure me out. Fenril is the first to not give up when I tell him off and try to prove him wrong. I remember how I met him only a few days before.

    He had stepped through the door, radiating an air of authority. I immediately despised him. He strode past the line of peasants waiting to talk to the king, evidently just a twing prideful about his accomplishments. His long white hair flowed out of a gaudy wide brimmed hat that came to a point high above his head. The dark green cap clashed with his leaf green cloak that hung from his firm frame. His long nose, firm jaw, and pale skin made him look like a ghoul. I’d seen my fair share of the undead, and only this elf’s hair seemed to distinguish him from them.

    He swooped his hat off and gave a deep bow before the king, and i could help thinking he was something of a suck up. I didn’t blame him, of course. I did the same thing every time the king called on me. He offered the king a roll of paper, and I found myself wondering if it was a magical contract, though I hadn’t ever heard of The Enchanted Blade using contract magic. I wasn’t even one to risk contract magic. Enchanting on the other hand…

    The king took the scroll and opened it. He seemed to consider it for a moment, then nodded. A few grunts and mumbles later, the king spoke.

    “The royal line of Raegis accepts the elf lords’ offer. It sounds as though I have a new warrior.” I wondered what offer he could possibly be accepting, and who the new warrior was. I didn’t have to think long. Princess Theo Reagis approached her father from the side of the throne where she had been standing. She whispered something in his ear, and he nodded.

    “My daughter reminds me that her last bodyguard was recently executed for treason and theft of royal property. I believe this to be just the assignment for you, Lord Malorne.” What? He just got here and the king was calling him Lord? I also remembered the last bodyguard the princess had. He was certainly an unsavory creature, not unlike how this elf seemed to be.

    Fenril bowed to the princess, sweeping off his massive hat once again. I wondered just how long he would last as her guard before the king decided to end that task. Theo was known for her rebellious streak, and being able to give guards the slip. Perhaps Fenril Malorne would be a change to that. I turned and exited the throne room, not really caring to deal with watching this wood elf be so honored just because he offered the king some deal from the elf lords of the high woods.

    I headed down to my shop which was under the castle. I needed to smack something with a hammer. I started mindlessly working on one of my more legitimate products, just a plain dagger. I guess that brings me to right now. I glanced up eventually to find the ghoulish elf standing in the doorway next to his new assignment. The princess approached my counter, and Fenril took off his pointed hat and hung it on one of the pegs that was next to the door. My workshop had at one point been a bar for off duty soldiers and aristocrats, so many of the hospitality items were still present.

    “Um… you’re the royal craftsman, right?” Theo asked me.

    “I prefer craftswoman, but yes.”

    “I would like to order an item to be made,” she said, stiffening as though she was trying to seem more like a normal princess.

    “What item might that be, your highness?” She fidgeted for a minute and made up her mind.

    “You do enchanting, I know.” Fenril’s eyebrow raised at this. “I’ve been having some really bad dreams as of late, and I wondered if you’d have something that could fix that.” I smiled at the princess. This was actually a common request in every town or city I managed to set up a shop in. The solution was actually a simple mental limiter that acted when the wearer was asleep.

    “It’s quite a difficult enchantment, your highness. Payment will be significant.” Fenril stared me down once again, and in this lighting I noted that he didn’t actually resemble a ghoul so much. Was I just mentally biased? What I originally thought was ghoulish was actually sharply cut jaw lines. Without the hat, he looked so different. Was there more to that hat than I knew?

    “But, I also have it already made,” I noted. I reached under the counter and pulled up a necklace made of a simple bronze chain and a deep blue sapphire. Her eyes widened at it and she smiled, likely thinking of the idea of a good night’s sleep. What she didn’t know is that the enchantment was actually limited to a few days. The princess would be back in a few days complaining that the dreams had returned, and I could charge her again to “strengthen the enchantment”. It was a con I had pulled on more than one magicless fool.

    “Princess,” Fenril suddenly spoke up, “That necklace doesn’t need the fancy stone to be enchanted, which it is. She’s trying to rip you off by adding something fancy to an enchanted chain.”

    “Well,” Theo said with a smirk, “Thank you for warning me, Sir Malorne, but I happen to like the look of the blue stone. I have several dresses that will match it perfectly, and it’s a perfect match for my spear.”

    “You have a spear?” I asked. She certainly was a strange princess.

    “Yup. Bronze with shadesteel plating and high oak shaft. It’s a marvelous weapon.” I gaped at her for a moment. That wasn’t just a marvelous weapon, but it was worth almost everything in my workshop at the moment, maybe even the workshop itself as well.

    “Another note to make,” Fenril piped up again, “Coast elves are not known for their enchantment’s stability. It is likely the necklace is weak or even dangerous.”

    “Okay, what do you have against me, Mr. High and Mighty?” I growled. He simply smirked at me.

    “You’re a coast elf. What don’t I have against you?”

    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I suddenly shouted. Why did this elf tick me off so much?

    “Don’t yell in my presence,” Theo snapped. I was so flustered by the high elf that I forgot the princess was even in the room. I silenced myself and bowed to her. I hated having to bow.

    “For that, I’m cutting the price in half,” she scolded. I wanted to protest, but accepted the pay and stayed silent. Before the princess left, Fenril turned back to me.

    “I know you’re up to something, ‘craftsman’. That was not such a difficult enchantment for even a low strength enchantress. Even the price she paid is a great profit for you.” I held his stare for a minute, having faced more than a few of his type. He turned with a sweep of his emerald cloak and picked his hat off the hook, following close behind the princess. As soon as he slid the hat onto his head, he seemed like the same, terrible ghoul I had seen in the throne room.

    I stared at the door for a few moments after they left. I knew I should get back to work on that dagger, but before I turned, another form popped in from the hall. I let out an involuntary groan. It was Jermaine, the court mage.

    Jermaine had been one of the few people that had come down in the first few days when I had rented out this shop from the royal family. The others had been curious investigators of my work, or simply well wishing servants, but Jermaine was different. It had only taken him one sentence for me to hate his guts. The scythe wielding mage had entered under the pretense of needing to see the pretty elf girl who had set up shop in the royal castle. I hated when guys presumed I wanted to be called pretty. I wasn’t sure if I hated Jermaine’s guts or Fenril’s more.

    “What do you want, Jermaine?” I asked, not even trying to hide the venom in the words.

    “Can’t I just stop by to see a fellow member of the royal court?” he asked with a smirk. I was very tempted to bash my hammer into his skull, but I held myself in check.

    “If you’re here to make more comments about how I look, get out of my shop.”

    “Believe it or not, I actually have a legitimate offer for you.”

    “I’ll take not,” I grumbled. I watched as he reached up to the massive blade on his back. He gripped the massive ruby and gave it a twist. It popped out of the scythe and he held it out to me.

    “This is massive,” I noted, “but what do you want me to do with it?” He gave me the same smirk he always did.

    “I would like to pay you to make this ruby into a focus. What will you charge?” I gave him my usual price. Well, my usual price for conceited jerks that feel like trying to flirt with me. So about my normal price with another half added on top.

    “Urgh…” he groaned. “Fine, but this has to be some of your best work and be done within a few weeks.”

    “Alright, deal. I’ll do it,” I told him. I picked up the hefty ruby, thinking about how the hell to make a focus. I knew what they were, but I had never made one before. A focus makes enchanting significantly easier, especially if the item already has enchantments. I always imagined it like this: when an item was charged with magic, it would begin to vibrate with that magic’s resonating power. To add another enchantment, you had to either match the new one to the old one’s current resonating power, or have them meet somewhere else by manipulating the vibration of the original magic. If they didn’t match frequency… boom. A focus simply made it easier to identify those vibrations, which are actually just the charge style of the mana used to enchant the item.

    I guess this was a challenge I would have to actually take on as a true enchantress. It wasn’t often I did that. I would have to visit my supplier soon to get a few make up items for the time I was bound to lose as I worked on this focus. I thought once I was done with Jermaine’s deal, he would leave, but he simply stood there.

    “What else do you want, court mage?” I decided to not even give him the pleasure of hearing me say his name. He frowned at first, but eventually responded.

    “Well, when you have finished the focus, I was wondering if perhaps you would be interested in a celebratory dinner?” He smiled his wry little smirk and I scoffed at him.

    “If I said yes to that,” I started, letting him perk up for a second, “I would have to make sure to never finish this focus.” I watched as the smile fell from his face with satisfaction. I don’t know why he thought such blatant advances would be accepted by an honorable business woman such as myself. Well, mostly honorable. “Now get out of here or I might reject your request. I have plenty of other clients as well.”

    “Alright, alright. I’m going,” he said, “But I’ll be back tomorrow to check on your progress.”

    “Don’t you dare come and check in on my work daily, you little-” I wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence, so I opted to throw a hammer at the door as he left. Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest decision. I heard a squeak of surprise from the door as I realized I had almost hit another potential client that was entering. I discovered that it was not a client and I had, luckily, not hit them with the hammer.

    “Oh, I’m sorry Kara. I was aiming for Jermaine, that stuck up little narcissist.”

    “You know it isn’t nice to throw hammers at people,” The eight year old princess commented. She was perhaps the kindest soul I had ever met, and her blue eyes sparkled with joy every time she came to visit. I often wondered how her mother and father must have looked, considering her tall stature for one her age, and the flowing blonde hair she wore freely. I had never seen it tied back or in a braid. I was a little jealous as my own blonde locks were almost always up in anywhere from one to three tails on her head for the sake of not wanting to singe them on her projects.

    Kara, while still technically a princess, was in no way related to Theo. She was a princess of the last rulers of the central kingdom, King Roland and Queen Alura. That I knew of, she didn’t have any living immediate family, as her sister, brother, and both her parents were killed in the invasion that was led by the now King Raegis. I wasn’t sure how Kara felt about him, but wouldn’t be surprised if behind all of her joy and happiness, there was a little hatred for the tyrant.

    “Besides,” Kara continued, “Jermaine isn’t all that bad. He keeps the king from making poor magical decisions and is helping him bring magic back to the land after my mother banished it from Glandarin.”

    “I never understood that decision. Queen Alura always seemed like a kind ruler, and yet she suddenly hates magic.”

    “I won’t pretend to understand why my other made that law and banished my aunt,” Kara said, “I was only three.”

    “A fair point indeed, little princess. Now, why are you here? I don’t often get visitors that don’t want something.”

    “Then I guess I get to be special,” she said with a smile. Sometimes I forget just how young Kara is and that she could be a little childish sometimes. I have to say I enjoy her company when she comes by, and ever since she had come into my shop the first day I arrived I’ve considered her someone I cared about. How disappointed would she be when someone found my schemes out?

    I decided it would be best to simply get to work on the focus for now, telling Kara I needed to work for now, but I would try to find her when I was done for the day. I considered Jermaine’s ruby and made a decision. I needed to visit my supplier soon, though I would need to be extra careful. I didn’t need that high elf jerk figuring me out because I got careless. I would wait until the end of the week. I needed only endure the torture of Jermaine’s visits for three days, then I would be back to my fully capacity of business. I hit my present project with one last blow, then set my hammer, which I had retrieved while talking with Kara, and examined my last project for a while. Before I visited my supplier, I needed to have a talk with a goddess, and this dagger would make the perfect offering for Adelay, the goddess of vision, schemes, and prophecy. I considered her my favorite for that middle one, cause I had quite the plan for this kingdom.

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Hey Y'all!

Feel free to hit that vote button to let me know that someone liked what I wrote or comment any thoughts, comments, or questions! I hope to update this story at least weekly, but may fall behind.

  First chapter of this story is complete! I don't have an editor, so I may have missed something in my one read through, so don't be afraid to point anything out to me. It likely will get changed if you do.

Stayin' chill,
M.J.S.