Chapter 4: Meeting Mentors

Chapter 3

Meeting Mentors

 

June’s eyes filled with a stunning flash of purple light, silently enveloping her form. The flare lasted but an instant, and that same pulling sensation from the scanner returned. June was gone from the ceaseless void she had just left. June stood somewhere new, again.

June swayed slightly. She tried to adjust to being thrown into another unknown chamber, at least she didn’t have a stomach to hurl food out of, thank god for small graces. As she took in the stonework around, her eyes adjusted to the green glow dominating the area. The light spilled from the single largest feature in this space, a giant structure made from fused, oily, black stone.

June’s senses registered something new: warmth. This room was hot, almost searingly so, burning against her bones in a tight embrace. This place felt though it was closing in on her, threatening to wrap her up in a blanket of suffering.

Amid the burning hatred of the forge’s heat stood a twisted shade, warped by the light of the forge. An enormous bulk of muscle and fat. This monstrous form was swinging a gigantic hammer against an anvil, striking a nondescript piece of metal. The gargantuan shadow cast by the looming beast held scary possibilities in June’s panicked mind. The huddled creature looked vaguely humanoid to June, although it was buried beneath a layer of dense leather garments. The hunched figure snapped its head up from the anvil it focused on, registering an intruder in its space. It had stopped mid-swing, and was now staring at June through a heavy pair of darkened goggles.

With how tightly the covers were tied, she could see little tufts of dark cobalt flesh poking out from under gaps. The seams of the garment strained against the rotundity of the smith. The browns and other various colors of the leather outfit clashed with the deep blue hue of visible skin. To June, he looked like a bulging piece of moldy fruit.

“Who in the name of Jergal’s old rotten ass are you?” shouted the hunched form. The words sounded raspy and torn, like the form’s vocal chords hadn’t seen any lubrication other than molten glass in fifty years.

“June, who the hell are you?” She shouted back at the scruffy-looking hulk.

With a gruff, the arm holding the hammer dropped and laid the tool on the anvil. The form removed the goggles and other elements covering its face, revealing what June could see was mostly a stereotypical dwarf, ripped right out of fantasy novels and games. Except for the blue skin. Even his scraggly black beard reminded her of classical figures of that fantasy race.

“Bullin Goldtooth’s the name, craftin’ is ma game,” said the dwarf with a crazed grin. The few teeth showing in his mouth were rotted and pitted. It was a small wonder he had any at all.

June had a ton of questions, and she needed answers, and fast. “What in the fuck is going on?” She shouted at the dwarf. His expression soured as the smile dropped from his face.

Holding up his hands in a placating gesture, Bullin continued. “Not a fan of being yanked into undeath, I guess,” said the dwarf in a plaintive tone. “Right, time fer you to learn sumthin,” spat Bullin, as he stared straight through the skeleton in front of him. The grit in his voice had intensified, making his contempt plain as day.

“No, you’re going to let me talk now! I haven’t been able to even figure out where the hell I am.” The shrill noise rattling from her open skeletal mouth rung off of the walls. “I’ve barely spoken a word since I got to wherever the hell this is, so it’s my turn to ask some questions,” shouted the infuriated skele-woman. “First things first, why the fuck am I a skeleton?” June wasn't going to be a pushover.

“You’re dead, innit kinda obvious?” stated the blue-skinned dwarf.

June knew she wouldn’t get anything more than snarky nonsense from the overgrown beard of a man. She decided to drop the question. “No shit sherlock, but I wasn’t before I came here.” June countered with venom in her voice. “OK, how the hell can I even talk right now?”

“That’s easy,” said the dwarf through a cheshire grin. “Since we summoned ya here, ya get a few basic abilities the average undead doesn’t. After all, it wouldn’t do well to have a skeleton that can’t figure their ass from a hole in the ground.”

The dwarf looked her bones up and down. June covered herself out of reflex, before dropping the futile gesture. She was just bones, after all. The man’s black eyes flashed to blue, and fixed upon her.

“And to answer your other question, you’re in the lair of the S-man, Sharth’ax.” he stated. “Now, let’s get to work.” The cobalt flash in his sockets was gone, but the humanoid was still regarding June with a studying gaze. His gaze walked over her face, stopping on her eyes and squinting harder. “I see you met Varric,” spoke the dwarf flatly. “I guess you got your Class Gem from ole Lazar, too?” asked the walking blueberry.

“Who?” asked June. “Wait, Class Gem, you mean this?” June held aloft the Gem she had received from the skeleton in the void.

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The dwarf held up his fist and pulled off his heavy leather glove. Buried within the midnight blue flesh of his meaty hands was a familiar uncut gem. This one glowed purple, just like the one June was still holding.

June engaged in a dance of glances at her right hand and back up to the now exposed gem. She was just confirming her suspicions. “Right, I guess what you’re saying is, that I’m magical?” asked the girl. A nod answered her question.

“Old man, creepy. Looks like he fell outta the ugly tree and hit every branch?” Said the fat man, smiling and answering her other question.

For the first time since whoever had dragged her to this nightmarish place, June cracked a smirk. Hearing someone actually be less of a standoffish weirdo was refreshing. “Listen, before we continue whatever this is, could you turn down the heat in here?” June gestured wildly to the stone room around her.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” gruffed the leather-covered humanoid, before turning back to the forge. He held a hand to a small crystal set into the stone furnace, and the green glow died down. After a few seconds, the suffocating haze abated with it. The dwarf removed his dark leather apron, draping it over a nearby box.

After finally overcoming the searing light and heat, June could visually explore the place in a more thorough way, casting her gaze to numerous objects. This was a simply adorned room made of carved stones; littered with tools, metal scraps, and a host of other junk. The rough-hewn stone walls formed a long rectangle shape, with the forge dominating the space. Arranged against some walls rested barrels filled with unknown liquids and many stacks of diverse materials. Some were metallic, others came from natural sources she could vaguely recognize, plants and such. There was a box of what appeared to be leathers and fabrics in one corner. A bunch of other crates sat stacked among the mess.

The larger humanoid let June take a moment to glance around, standing with his arms crossed, watching her closely.

After her cursory exploration was done, June wanted to get right to the point. “So I’ll just make it plain. Why am I here?” asked June.

“Since you’re being so forward, I suppose I should too,” said the dwarf gruffly. “Whatever you were before, that’s not you now. You’re a servant, and you’re gonna to do the job ya been given, without question.” Bullin punctuated his sentence with raised eyebrows. This wasn’t up for debate, but June was fierce, and didn't feel like just rolling over.

“And just how are you going to make me do that?” inquired June, sassing the rotund man.

“I could think of a few ways,” spoke Bullin, before closing the gap between the two in a single step. For a moment, Bullin’s eyes burned and peered right through her. “But mostly because I know you don’t want to join some of the more uppity bones behind you.” The dwarf pointed to the same stacked crates she had seen earlier. Following his finger, June saw burned and blackened bones piled high in one set of crates. “And if you doubt my capability, let me show you somethin’,” the dwarf held out his fist, and the gem embedded there glowed. A status window appeared before June.

 

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