Padraic Whitehelm's POV.
I cracked my neck as I sat back to filing down the metal. There was a certain amount of joy to be had watching a chunk of nothing become something entirely different. Never in my life had I made a gear, as I simply had no reason to.
But the allure of this fabled "drills press" was far too great to pass up. The idea that a simple hand-cranked machine bolted to the floor of a smithy could create perfect holes in wood or metal every single time, without failure, and even change the diameter on a whim with absolute precision seemed just too good to be true. However, Kaladin ensured that it was the "basics of basics", and although his idea of simple was clearly warped, it didn't dilute the usefulness of the tool.
"Too bad this is the roughest sketch I've ever seen in my life. Should have spent less time killing people and more time learning…" I grumbled to myself.
There was a clear difference between Kaladin's expertise and not having it. The drill press was obviously not his strong suit, but with a general understanding of it, I could make it work. Maybe. Maybe after a year or two…or three.
Doubt I have that much time, though. I—we need more hands on these projects. I'm just one man after all.
It made sense why Kaladin was so hesitant to share this knowledge. Changing the world with these things was a given, and with recent events, if they fell into the wrong hands too early, before we could monopolize them, we could be in real trouble. Even so…
Yeah, a core group will be needed if we want to make decent progress in this lifetime. Master has his own tasks to dive into. It can't just be the two of us. That facility can't be set up any faster.
There was a knock at the door, and a familiar voice announced they were coming in. I frowned and clicked my tongue as I kept filing away.
"What do you want?" I asked without looking back.
There was a pause before Alanis said, "I just happened to be around, so I figured I'd see how you were doing."
Seems like a lie. Perhaps he is feeling guilty. I know I would.
"Is that so?" I muttered while continuing to file.
"Yes…what are you working on?" he asked.
"A gear for a project. You'd know more about it if you talked to your son," I said curtly.
"Padraic, it's—"
I set the file and gear down with a thump as I interrupted, "What? Are you going to try to tell me it's complicated or that I don't understand? You're not going to find sympathy with me if so."
When I finally turned to face him, I realized that it had been a long time since I'd seen the man face to face. He honestly didn't look very different from when I was a boy, but there was something in his gaze that made it seem as if he had aged decades. He averted his eyes in what was either shame or pain, or maybe both.
I shook my head at him and sighed. "Listen, I won't sit around and pretend that I understand what it means to be a father, and I'll admit the situation is beyond the norm. But so what? There's no world in which you can convince me that Kal isn't your son and the two of you aren't his parents. He calls you Dad, not out of obligation, but because he genuinely means it. His feelings and actions…they're real, you know?" I said.
Alanis continued to hesitate, so I piled on why I had the chance, "I understand you Elves see time differently, but I know you aren't going to ignore your granddaughter and your future daughters-in-law forever. Also…what did you expect when you made a deal with the literal empress of chaos to have children that should have been impossible? Sunshine and flowers? Honestly, I think you came out of that whole ordeal a whole lot better than most would."
He chuckled in a self-deprecating way as he weakly shrugged his shoulders. "I—I can't say that you're wrong," he muttered.
"I know. I tell Kal all the time. I'm often right about many things. You're welcome, by the way," I said with a grin.
"Yes…perhaps you're right. Maybe I just needed to hear it. I—I mean, Seana and I already decided to have a conversation with him. We…reacted poorly when we shouldn't have.
I wiped the shavings off my apron and hopped off the stool. "So you did come to me just to get berated. Honestly, never knew you were into those kinds of things, Mr. Shadowheart," I chuckled.
Alanis looked shocked for a moment before shaking his head and laughing. "You are definitely your father's son, Padraic. I should have requested that your mothers discpline you more as a child. Or maybe I should have when I had the chance."
I put my hands up in defense and said, "Yeah…no, thank you. I'm very aware that you could stride across this room and rip my handsome head off. Besides, my folks disciplined me plenty. Mostly because I deserved it, mind you…but that's besides the point."
Alanis grinned, and I made sure to return it. I wiped my hands clean and offered, "Well, since you're here and you saved me the trouble of finding you myself. Why don't we go get some lunch, yeah?"
—
Kaladin Shadowheart's POV.
I kicked the corpse of the small creature off my spear that rushed at me. It resembled a deformed rodent, and they were nasty things full of diseases, or so I was told. But they were rather weak creatures, just highly territorial.
Another week and a half of hiking and camping, and we were finally making decent headway into the zone of control that these Wardens occupied. Of course, it wasn't just a straight shot. There were many detours around areas marked as far too dangerous to traverse. The monsters we fought were either because they ran into us and we had no choice but to fight, or if a group was small enough that removing them was just more beneficial than leaving them be.
As the last of the creatures were dispatched, everyone could take a short breather. We hadn't even broken camp for the morning, and it was already the second wave of these things; hopefully, it would be the last of them. Durak gave the orders to pile the bodies and get ready to burn them, and leave, so my work was done for the time being.
I enjoyed the chilled water from my waterskin and looked up through the canopy of orange-leafed trees. The mountain range that once seemed so distant was now upon us. With another day or so marching, we would be at its base. I just hoped we ran into this mysterious group before we had to go searching for them ourselves.
As the group was piling the corpses for disposal, a loud screech pierced the air. The faces of everyone around twisted into concern. We were close enough to the mountains that higher threat level monsters could start appearing, and amongst the most dangerous, wild Gryphons happened to be a real threat.
Durak's orders were swift and precise as he barked for everyone to dive into nearby foliage. The scent of blood would undoubtedly attract the beast, and it was clear he hoped the pile of bodies would be a sufficient offering to satiate the creature without our interference. As the Gryphon let out another screech into the morning air, it burst through the trees above us, and I managed to catch a glimpse of it.
I chuckled and stood up and started to head back toward the camp as Geoffrey let out a loud whisper, "Sir—Kalaidn! Please, come back!"
"It's fine. Wild Gryphon don't exactly carry riders now, do they?" I said.
I shot a Fireball into the sky, and in response, the monster let out another screech as it banked in the sky back toward us. Everyone crawled out of their hiding spots as the rider and his mount descended through the trees. The flaps of the Gryphon's wings kicked up a dust cloud as it landed softly.
The rider in bright red, with a golden Griffin emblazoned on his tunic, took off his goggles and glanced at us before his eyes went directly to me. He smiled brightly and hopped off, jogging straight toward me.
He bowed deeply before me. "Lord Shadowheart, I'm pleased to have finally found you and thank you for the signal," he said politely.
"It was only natural. But what brings a messenger this deep into the woods? Has something urgent happened?" I asked.
"No, my Lord, not that I am aware of. I believe things are normal in the kingdom currently. But I do bring an urgent message from Lady Paine for your eyes only," he said as he fumbled in his satchel and pulled out a small box, handing it to me.
Lin went this far to send me something? I'd hardly classify that as normal…
I went to the side and opened the box, and it was filled with various papers, but at the top, there was a note. I scanned it top to bottom, and my eyes widened in surprise. I even thought I had misread it myself, but Lin was not one to joke, nor make a mistake.
Talgan is from Earth? And from a time period long before ours? Sylvia needs to be informed of this.
"It's not surprising. The age-old saying that time is relevant does have merit. The passage of time in this reality could be far different from ours," Krono's voice echoed in my head.
It makes sense, but…things do make more sense. Those needles, he must have been the one to manufacture and create them due to his past knowledge. But how does Talgan being the first Vampire relate to that?
"Is that also so odd? Are you not the first half-Dark Elf to ever exist?" Kronos countered.
But Lin isn't the first Human ever. Nor is she anything abnormal in that case.
"Either way, it doesn't matter. What is of more concern is the latter part of her message," Kronos warned.
Yes…a feeling of unworldly dread. This mention of an Agent. These are not normal, are they?
"No, they are not. Write to her and have her cease the translations. There are things she or others should not be exposed to for any reason. You can undertake it upon your return. You will have a certain resilience to it that she won't. And one day, you will need to learn of these things, one way or another," Kronos said gravely.
Understood.
I kept the papers she gave me, and with the blank one she provided, I took out my writing supplies and scribbled a quick but direct response. There was much to consider, and those ancient journals and books may hold information that far exceeded our initial guesses. But now was not the time to investigate further; the task at hand needed to be completed.
Once I was done, I neatly folded the letter and handed the box back to the courier. "I appreciate it. Please send this back to Lady Paine as soon as possible," I said.
"Yes, my Lord, I will see to it that your message is received promptly," he said with another bow.
As the courier began to mount back onto his Gryphon that was enjoying a monster corpse snack, he stopped himself and addressed the group. "While flying, I noticed a rather large group of smoke trails to the east, a little more than half a day away on foot from here. Seemed like a rather large camp," he said.
Durak nodded to me, and I thanked the courier again. This far north, there shouldn't have been any large groups of people. This was thoroughly monster territory now, not even the kingdom could maintain a mining or base camp this isolated. And according to Durak's map, the east was another no-go zone.
Seems we will be finding out if they are friend or foe soon enough.