THE EAR ARCHER Part 1 (Completed) #wattys2022

Amateur

"Awake from From your slumber boy ''.
Yart ordered, Gob winced and continued sleeping.
Yart emptied a jar of water on the ear archer.
Gob sprang, visibly shocked.
'' You consent to going blacksmithing with me and what do you do, Snore ya ass out'' Yart bellowed
'' because you have no ass to snore doesn't mean I can't snore mine''.
The ear archer fired back.
He then got his sanity back, he possibly couldn't argue with the man who saved his life and was presently feeding him,
''Come on Yart, we are too old for this and if we don't get going well definitely be late"
Yart knew the kid was playing him, he sighed
"but for my love for the gods'' he muttered as he walked away.
''right, but for my horse '' Gob snarled quietly
''let's have breakfast then'' Yart suggested still growling.
They ate the usual in silence and soon, they were both in a wooden cart pulled by a lone horse, headed for the forge.
Prior to their previous squabble, they did not speak to each other.
''so how much did this cart cost you''
Gob asked trying to clear the air.
" Two hundred and fifty brass coins for the horse, I made the cart myself''
"How ingenious of you, you are a black smith and also a carpenter.
you are amazing Yart'' Gob exclaimed.
Yart stroked his beard in kingly fashion, he felt good about himself.
Of course he knew the game the little devil was playing, still, he enjoyed the praises.
''of course I am''
he chuckled still stroking his beard. His hand released the reins of the horse and reached into the inner pocket of his skin jacket to fetch ''the toy''.
They were both laughing, Gob was laughing at Yart for being so gullible while Yart laughed at Gob for thinking he was gullible.
Suddenly, Yart tightened his grip on the horse, the beast stopped abruptly.
There was a crowd gathered in front of them. Gob and Yart highlighted from the cart.
They had to push their way through to get to the fore.
Gob's face showed shock then anger, while Yart showed only realization.
For buried neck down in the ground was an unconscious man with blond hair; blood oozed down his nose.
The robbers had struck again.
Gob made a motion to help but Yart quickly stopped him
''Yart what are you doing we have to help him''
''yes, but not now'' Yart replied sternly as he shoved Gob back to the cart.
They used an alternate path and went on their way.
They highlighted at a rickety structure with a chimney attached.
''Welcome to Xan's greatest forgery''
Yart announced
'' This? ''
Gob asked visibly amused. ''that's indisputably the irony of the century''
Yart unlocked the heavy metal padlock
"Welcome to my work shop''. Gob walked in conscious of the fact Yart allowed him in first so he could feed his eyes.
Granted, it was his first time at a forgery but like Yart's home,it was practically empty.
At one end of the room, a heap of junk metal lay beside a wall. In the middle of the room a metal furnace lay with a pipe connected the chimney.
Work tools were properly arranged on a nearby shelf, moulds of various shapes and sizes littered the floor. At another end, hammers of different sizes braced the wall. Directly opposite the door was Yart's exhibitions.
''what now? ''
Gob asked innocently.
''are you going to teach me how to make metal?''
''Not today boy. Now if you will be so kind to start up the furnace, I'll teach you how to forge''.
'' is there a difference? '' Gob asked puzzled. Yart shot him a look.
'' Fine. But what do you use in fueling this thing''.
''that thing is called a blast furnace and its fuel with coal. You can find it out back".
Gob did as he was instructed.
''its ready, now what?''
''we make it hot''
Yart blared as he stuffed tobacco into his pipe
'' how do we do that? ''
''we, no. You. You make it hot by adding more air''
Gob swallowed hard. He knew it would be bitter work. The old man was making him perform the difficult tasks just for his amusement.
When Yart handed him the pump, he snatched it from him.
Yart ignored the demonstration as he perched on a stool close to the shelf. Gob went on his knees and set to work on the pump. He pumped over and over but Yart never seemed to be satisfied, he kept barking
''keep going the furnace needs more air'.
After what seemed to Gob as eternity, Yart spoke.
''that should be enough ''
The ear archer looked up; his eyes were reddened and his nose drooling
Yart laughed inwardly.
"Now to the next step"
beside the heap of junk were bags of rocks. He dragged one to the middle of the room. From the strain Yart took to drag the bag, Gob knew it was quite heavy.
''What the hell is this? ''
Gob questioned
''this the hell is......'',
Yart paused and untied the string that bound the neck of the sac.
All Gob saw was earth and rock.
''iron ore''
Yart exclaimed in glee
''Iron ore? ''
Yart shot another look at Gob. The kid really was dumb.
''yes iron ore from which we have the back bone of any war, metal''.
"How is it possible to turn earth and rock to metal''.
''Let's find out shall we ''
From the top shelf, Yart produced a large clay bowl.
''Place some of the rocks in this' He ordered
Gob lifted a rock; he shuddered at its weight. He filled the bowl with three large rocks and inserted the bowl into the furnace.
''Now what''.
''We resume our work on the furnace".
Yart replied while filling his pipe with tobacco.
''You mean I resume my work on the furnace?''
''Exactly''. Yart muffled through his toy.
An hour later met Gob still pumping. His knees were sore, his muscles ached, his eyes were reddened and his nose drooling like a two year old crying over a spoilt toy.
Yart felt at ease sitting on his stool all the while dishing out orders to the ''insolent boy'', while smoking his favorite leaf ''tobacco''.
''Alright I think it's done'', upon hearing that, Gob fell flat to the ground in exhaustion.
''Come on boy, there is still much work to be done''.
Gob stared at him wide eyes ''Tell me ure joking''.
'Do I seem to possess a good sense of humor,now on your feet''.
Grudgingly, Gob did as he was told.
Yart poured the hot liquid metal into a sword shaped mould.
'' We have to wait for it to cool, meanwhile I will resume .....''
''Your hobby'' Gob finished for him.
Yart chuckled ''If you see it that way so be it.'' Soon, he was creating shapes in the air.
Yart refilled his pipe thrice before he motioned to Gob.
''fetch me a bucket of water'', he ordered his attendant. With a sigh he did as he was told.
Yart dipped the red hot iron into the water by aid of pliers, the water bubbled violently.
Then, he laid the piece of metal on an elevated platform.
''now to the hardest part boy. Get a hammer''. He ordered
Gob stride towards the wall and browsed through the variety of hammer on display, most of them were ridiculously heavy.
He picked up one he could easily wield.
Yart tightened his grip on the pliers which in turn gripped the metal.
''Pound boy''.
Gob raised the hammer and brought it down hard on the metal each time causing a clang. The first twenty strokes were fun and easy. After he had struck the metal fifty one times his back began to feel the effects.
''put your back to it boy'' Yart yelled.
Gob struck the metal more times than he cared to remember, he felt his waist breaking into two.
Sweat drenched his body, still, Yart wasn't at all satisfied.
'' Pound boy, pound''.
Just when he thought he was going to pass out, Yart stopped the operation.
Gob slumped to the ground and with that, he slept off.
As it was usual with Gob, his other sense organs woke before his eyes.
This time his nose smelled something familiar, ''tobacco''.
He opened his eyes to see the wooden ceiling boards of the iron shop. He looked sideways; Yart was fiddling with the blade trying to polish it while balancing his toy in his mouth.
''The sun is almost down, its time to go"
Yart notified without looking in Gob's direction.
Gob noticed everything was arranged and packed.
Yart stuffed the blade into his duffel bag and threw it to Gob.
''get the cart while I lock this place up''.
'' drive''
Yart ordered as he settled into the cart.
Gob wondered why the old man enjoyed dishing orders. He grabbed the horse reins and smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth signalling the horse to begin it's motion.
Yart enjoyed smoking, in the cold breeze of the evening, he was humming his favorite Brisbane town song when Gob nudged him,
''look, he's still there''.
Yart looked ahead, the poor blond they had encountered in the morning was still there, no one had helped him.
Before Yart could utter any word of caution to Gob, the latter highlighted and raced towards the blond.
Yart hurriedly highlighted. Gob touched the blond's head; the fore head was unusually cold.
He felt his neck for a pulse and found none
''he's dead''
Yart declared from behind. Even from a thousand yards, he could easily spot a dead body.
''let's give him a decent burial'',
Tears ran down the ear archer's face, he understood what it meant to die unjustly.
No more than four days ago, he was hanging between heaven and earth, if only he had come to his aid earlier.
'' This is your entire fault''
he bolted
''if you had let us rescue him earlier, he'd still would be breathing".
''it doesn't work that way my boy, saving him in public would make us a known enemy to the robbers, and that would be no good for us''.
Lightening flashed above them, accompanied by its close friend thunder.
'' So in the end it was all about your safety''. Gob roared
'' we would have been no use to him If we too were dead''. Yart replied with calm in his voice.
''shut it old man, do you realize what you've done?''
''you had the ability to save a man's life today but you refused just for personal safety.
Uve murdered a man today. Damn it''
It seemed the heavens joined in the anger, it started raining, like darts the rain hit the ground, chasing all creatures to shelter.
Yart reflected on Gob's words.
''The least we can do then is bury him''.
Gob transported the body to the side of the road; there was no shovel in sight, so improvising was needed. Wooden planks from the cart were used to dig.
The ground was wet enough thanks to the rain,when they made a hole large enough to accommodate the body, they lowered the body.
After the activity, they returned to their home.