^^^Dark Smith/Adelbertskrieger^^^
(Mähe is pronounced 'Me-Yah-hey'. The 'ä' is 'ee-yah', and 'he' is 'hey'. Sry for the confusion. I don't know if that's a real word in some other language, I made it up, so I'll pronounce it as I please. ((Though 'Ä' is pronounced 'ee-yah' in certain languages)) so yep.)

To the story!!!

A giant lumbered over, holding a hammer bigger than my head, and a scowl darker than hell. "Who Dares?" He intoned, the dirt shaking with the power in the two rumbling words.

---

I gulped nervously, and took a small step back, preparing to flee, before Alex placed a hand on my back, shoving me forward. She spoke up, grinning. "I'm Alex, and that's Sam. He was told to find a Dark Smith and the Slayer of St. Adelbert. One down, one to go. You are the Dark Smith, yeah?" She asked, unflinchingly staring into his black eyes.

He grunted in what I supposed was affirmation, and turned his gaze to me. "And why does the little Mutt not speak? Are you afraid, boy?"

"Very." I replied honestly.

He blinked. "I see... and who sent you here?"

"Nimueh told me, ten years ago, that when I needed sanctuary and guidance, I'd come find the Slayer of Adelbert, and then Amir told me the Dark Smith would help me. So I figured you'd help me find this Slayer. I was told he (or she) owed me a debt for something, but not what. I figured I'd call in the debt, in return for help with the people trying to kill me-" I was rambling, and he lost patience, grunting in annoyance and slinging his hammer at me.

I caught it with a groan, as my right hand started burning, just by touching it. Then it melted, my hand eating it. I blinked. "Oh shit... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, it eats all metal it touches..." I stepped back away from him again.

He blinked, and then laughed uproariously. "HA! I don't care about the hammer, child. But you're confused. I'm the Slayer of Adelbert, and the Dark Smith. My name is not yours, but you may call me Smith. And as for your arm... I am very interested. How did you do it?"

"I... I just pulled Orsinium and Iron and Silver from the ground, and melded them with the charred remains of my arm, then built a new one, binding it to me with my blood and bones. It was actually really simple... Why are you curious?" I asked hesitantly.

He hummed and sat down solidly, making the dirt shake. "My child is missing a leg. To make a new one would be a blessing. I'd be in your debt if you helped. I believe that is the debt that your Nimueh mentioned."

I blinked. "Ah. I see. I'd be glad to, honestly. It wouldn't be like mine, with the iron and Mähe, of course. I assume the child is Fae?"

He nodded.

"Then iron is definitely out of the picture... Do you have any magic metal? Orsinium, Dwarf Gold? Dragon Scales?" I asked, rolling up my sleeves.

He hummed and shook his head. "No. But I can make some." He stood, and lumbered off into his forge, and I followed, curious.

"Isn't it impossible to Make magic metal?" Alex asked.

"Yes." I responded, waving at her to shut her up.

The behemoth of a man picked up a new hammer, which began sparking with real magic. Completely pure, something that wasn't truly even magic anymore, just power in it's basest form.

Then he picked up a block of pure iron, and started hammering, pouring the magic into the metal, which ate it up readily. Soon, the metal changed color, and took on a red coloring, before turning white as snow.

He put down the hammer, and held out the metal to me. "Would this work?" He asked.

"Perfectly." I ran a hand over the metal, then picked it up. "Retrieve your child. I'll make the leg as soon as I know what it is supposed to look like."

He nodded and sidled off with a level of grace I hadn't seen in him, and entered the hut I hadn't seen until now.

I sent the metal into the dirt, and concentrated, giving it the base form of a leg, and keeping the snowy coloring. It positively hummed with magic, the last traces of iron completely ripped away.

It's new elemental makeup was something like dragon scales, or Orc bones. (Orc Bones are magical metal, from birth, making most orcs almost indestructible, hence their battle prowess, or one aspect of it.)

Alex had decided to take a seat by the forge wall, and blinked when the giant returned with a small female in his arms.

I blinked in shock, and addressed him. "I thought you only had a son?"

He nodded. "This is he." He set the small... (Boy?) Down, and I cracked my neck.

"Alright. You'll feel a great deal of pain, throughout this, so I suggest you either bite something, or have your father knock you out. Choose quickly, my patience may be limitless, but your fathers isn't." I addressed the child.

He blinked slowly, and nodded, tapping the giants knee. Smith leaned down and tapped the boys forehead, his fingertip sparking, and the boy fell, unconscious.

I nodded. "Good." I walked over, and moved his leggings up, so I could see his wound and also feel the anatomy of his legs. They were a bit different than mine, but that was fine.

I crafted the magical leg to match his whole one, and slowly pushed his wounded limb into the soft, fertile dirt of the clearing. The metal came up, and then started melding with his body, using his blood and bone as catalysts, like mine had.

His was different, for obvious reasons. My wound had been made by an explosion. His was clearly made by a blade of some kind, and so his nerves weren't scorched closed.

I had to rip open the nerves, so I could connect them, which would've caused him endless pain, had he been awake. Once done, and his leg was finished, I pulled his new limb from the dirt, stepping back.

"That should do it. Just add more metal as he grows, it'll magically grow with him." I nodded, sitting down heavily. I could barely see, I was so drained.

"Are you alright?" He asked, raising a blurry eyebrow.

"I'm... Finzxz." I stumbled over my words. Then I passed out.

--- Alex's POV ---

I caught Sam as he fell, and sat with him, laying him in my lap.

"Just exertion. It takes a lot of energy for a regular Claiborne to manipulate metal. For a halfling..." I shrugged.

"So he's going to wake up?"

"Oh definitely, maybe tomorrow. Working on his own arm was relatively easy, because he used real Orsinium, or Orc Bones, and because he had his old limb to work with. He had to create a new one for your son, hence the greater cost, magically speaking." I sighed and pulled him further into my lap, hugging his back to my chest.

He nodded slowly. "I think I understand... I don't know much about magic, so it's new for me." He shrugged. Then he picked up his son, and turned to the hut. "Come on, he'll be safe in here."

The barrier around the clearing re-erected itself, being made of silver thread and pure magic.

I picked Sam up and followed the giant, setting my lover on the bed I was pointed to. "I am... confused." I said slowly, and sat down across from the giant at a large table clearly designed for people his size.

He nodded. "Ask."

"Whose son is that child? That's my first question. He doesn't smell like you. He smells like pure Fae, and you smell like... something else. What are you? Is my second question. And third, What do you know about Sam?" I asked concisely.

He nodded, and rubbed his beard. "He's my son, but my mate was not the same type of Fae as I. I am what is known as a 'Gremlin', a Fae who can work Metal of all kinds, and create Magical Metals. That's why I can handle Iron. She was a Nymph, which is why he looks the way he does, and not like me." He gestured at his wide, stocky features, and leathery skin.

"I see..." I nodded slowly, processing that information. Then it came to me. "The Nymph from the edge of the forest?" I asked incredulously.

He nodded. "Yes."

"But... Why does she hate you?" I asked cautiously.

He winced. "Well... I'm not the most... romantic type. One night with her was all I wanted, and what I got. But when she came back, and handed me a child, I knew I had no choice. Hector is my pride and joy, I don't regret claiming him. But I wasn't interested in a relationship with her, and she knew that. And when Hector lost a leg... well, that was the breaking point, I think. So she left." He shrugged, sighing. "Hector still sees her, quite often, but she's never laid eyes on me since."

"I'm sorry." I sighed, looking away. "I didn't mean to bring you pain."

"Mm. And as for your third question... I know nothing, except he is a Mutt. Claiborne, Faunus, and Fae... or blessed at least by all three." He said.

"Correct... we only know one, and that's Nimueh, who's probably dead now. A Wolf Faunus named Haden Cristopher burned the entire forest down with Mähe lightning, and killed Sam's adoptive parents, as well. We wounded him, and he ran away. Then we came here, after Sam had healed, to find you and ask for help and sanctuary." I summarized.

He hummed. "Haden... I know of him, at least. A mercenary. His employer is whom you should target your vengeance, if you can find out who or whom that is. I'll gladly give you sanctuary, if you need it, but help... what is your goal?"

"Mine? To stop the assassination attempts, and build a family with him when he gets older... His? I think he just wants peace. He's a forest Faunus, and so he prefers sitting in one place. Moving around... Unsettles him. To manage that, we have to stop the assassination attempts. So. Here we are." I shrugged.

He tapped his thick blacksmiths fingers on the table slowly. "Hmm... do we know why they're hunting him?"

"Something Haden said stuck with me. He called Sam 'Little Bastard Prince', and mentioned that his employer wanted Sam's bloodline extinguished, and Sam was the easiest target." I hummed.

He blinked, then stood, picking up a nearby dagger. He walked over to Sam, and I blocked him, drawing my sword slowly.

He waved me off. "Be calm, I only need a sample of his blood." He pricked Sam's left hand, and collected a few drops on the blade, letting it dry and heal quickly. He thrust the dagger into the hearth, muttering in German.

The flame blazed a deep green, and then grey, before seeming to shed a layer of skin, and turning black of the deepest pitch, and finally flaring the most brilliant white I'd ever witnessed, completely blinding me.

He grunted, and I looked around, blind, until his fingers touched my eyelids, and my eyes started clearing. I shook my head, snorting, and sat down again. "What was that?" I asked.

He hummed, deep in thought. "He's not a Mutt." He said in explanation, and leaned back, watching Sam with an interested expression. "No... He's something much more... Dangerous. I can see why people would want him dead... if I didn't owe him a debt, I'd want him dead too." He said thoughtfully.

I stood, and glared down at him as best I could. Standing, I was only an inch above his eyes. "Why?!" I snapped.

"He's something very dangerous... as I said. A half-Fae, half-Faunus, with the blessings of a Claiborne, and another Fae... So very dangerous..." he muttered, growling gently.

"How does that make him dangerous!?" I demanded.

"That in itself doesn't. But who his parents are does."

"And who might that be, almighty soothsayer!?" I growled.

"King Oberon and Queen Selene." He said quietly, and stood, walking away.