Snapping the reins, Mirage brought Pudding to a halt at the top of the narrow ridge. He leaned forward, intently scanning the horizon, and Victor gazed in the same direction as well.
It didn't take long before he saw it – tucked at the base of a steep cliff, a small round hut made of dried mud. Next to it, a forge with a smoking fire.
Mirage whistled. "Just as I thought. Let's pay Smith a visit, shall we?"
"Smith?" Victor said, blinking.
Mirage threw Victor a familiar cheeky smirk over his shoulder. "Yes, that's her name. Fitting, no?"
Well...Victor supposed he couldn't argue with that.
"Now, before we get on our way…." Mirage hopped off Pudding and crouched down to pick at the rocks on the ground. Victor held in a sigh; after all, it wasn't like he had any better ideas for payment.
His task done, Mirage stuffed the illusioned rocks into his pouch and they set off, Pudding squelching its bumpy way across the rough ground. As the hut and forge came closer, Victor's heart beat faster, and he felt the Levia in the armor crystal come alive with interest as well.
After three days of traveling, they were finally here. In a strange way, Victor had almost enjoyed it. Despite the desert-like landscape, plenty of tiny streams provided a steady water supply. The barrenness seemed to come more from a lack of greenery, which he supposed made sense; the few small, shrubby plants he'd encountered all pulsed with a faint Levia inside. It seemed on Tielos, the ecosystem depended on Levia more than anything else.
And where Smith's hut was, the Levia felt especially dense and concentrated. A fully-grown tree, the first he'd seen in Tielos, even shaded the forge. His own Levia throbbed in response, the icy purple fire racing through his veins. But even it couldn't drown out the dark power gathering within the crystal, stronger than it had been in days.
He sat up straighter. Any doubts Smith could repair his armor were well and truly banished.
~*~
Up close, the smoke gathered so thick and heavy Mirage struggled not to cough. He waved an impatient hand, trying to cut through the noxious cloud.
As the smoke billowed aside, he made out a hunched silhouette emerging from the hut. Mirage swiftly dismounted Pudding, followed by Victor, and swept into a formal bow.
"Good morning, my lady. Might you be the legendary Smith?"
The demon stopped a few yards in front of him, squinting rheumy eyes. Not an inch of her tough, leathery skin wasn't gnarled and wrinkled, and one of her horns had broken clean off at the base. Mirage lowered his bow further, which had the benefit of bringing his face closer to her eye level.
A few more blinks. Then the demon coughed, a disgustingly wet sound, before spitting out a wad of chewed-up tobacco. Mirage stepped backward, only well-honed practice keeping the polite smile frozen on his face.
"That'd be me," the demon said in a voice so raspy it was like someone had taken a rusty grater to her throat. "What brings you handsome boys to my house so early? Don't tell me you've come to whisk me away to your castle."
She let out a high-pitched giggle that sounded rather like a pack of sick hyenas. Despite his best efforts, Mirage felt his smile slip a fraction.
"If only, my lady," he made himself say. "Unfortunately, that must wait for another day. We've come for business."
"Business!" Smith slapped her thigh. "That's what they all want!"
"It may not be a castle, but I hope you will accept these as a token of my appreciation." With a flourish, Mirage pulled the fake jewels out of his pouch. "Of course, their beauty pales even to yours."
"I sure hope it does, since those're just rocks. Don't even have any good ore in them." Before Mirage could figure out what was going on, Smith swiped the rocks out of his hand and sent them clattering to the ground. With the illusion gone, they blended right in with the other rocks lying about.
Mirage could only stare in silence. Smith wiggled claw-like fingers at him. "Silly boy. Got the looks, but no brains. Think you can trick ol' me with an illusion that basic?"
"I...uh...well…." Mirage's head buzzed. To be perfectly honest, he had not come up with a backup plan in case this payment method failed.
Footsteps crunching behind him. A surge of icy Levia. Victor came marching forward, his face like stone, and seized Smith by the straps of her leather apron.
"You will fix this," he said, yanking the armor crystal out of his pouch. "You don't have a choice."
"Victor!" Mirage cried, aghast. Did that idiot seriously think he could threaten Smith with violence? Tiny and unassuming as she might appear, her Levia was no joke. That she'd so easily seen through Mirage's illusion made it more than clear.
But to his surprise, Smith made no effort at escaping Victor's hold. Instead, she stared so intently at the broken crystal her eyes almost crossed.
"Well?" Victor said roughly, giving her a shake.
Smith blinked, then shook her head as if coming out a trance. Mirage held his breath, not exactly looking forward to seeing her plaster his soldier to the wall.
Yet nothing happened. Instead, Smith smiled up at Victor. "Where'd a whelp like you get this? A black dragon scale...it's been decades, nay, centuries, since I've last laid mine eyes on one."
"Can you fix it?" Victor snapped.
"Can I!" Smith snickered. "Tell me, my boy, is this armor yours? Somehow I can't imagine your pretty boyfriend over there making any good use of it at all."
"B-boyfriend?" Mirage sputtered, all attempts at maintaining his composure banished. Suddenly he wouldn't mind one bit if Victor decided to deck Smith in the face.
Sadly, Victor chose not to. His face remained stoic as ever, though a muscle in his jaw worked. "It's mine."
"I see, I see!" Smith crowed with laughter, kicking her tiny feet back and forth. "Even though you're a human?"
"That doesn't matter." Victor tightened his grip on her apron. "This armor lets me fight, so hurry up and fix it."
"Hm." Smith's eyes narrowed, and her smile became sly. "Why must you fight at all, boy? Why not have your familiar do it like a good little wizard?"
"You – " Victor snarled. The rage in his eyes took Mirage aback; how did this cross the line when the 'boyfriend' comment didn't?
"This armor wasn't made for a human, you know," Smith went on talking, a new edge entering her voice. "It feeds on the Levia of its bearer in order to sustain itself. With a demon's vast Levia stores, it can easily satisfy its gluttony. But you're just a human, even if you are a wizard. Your Levia in comparison is but a wee puddle. I can tell it has already drained years off your lifespan, years you'll never get back."
By the time she finished, her gaze held not a hint of amusement. Victor gazed back, just as stony. All Mirage could do was watch the scene, heart thumping.
'Already drained many years off your lifespan. Years you'll never get back.' Intellectually, he'd always known the armor demanded a brutal toll, but this was his first time hearing it laid out in such stark terms.
He thought of the pointless vigil Victor had endured when they had first arrived in Tielos, and his mouth went dry. If...if that had stolen even more years….
"You think I don't already know that?" Though quiet, the resolve in Victor's voice sliced like a knife. "Nothing you're telling me is new. But I'm not going to give it up. I never will."
"My." A strange, almost sad smile crinkled Smith's face. "And why is that, boy?"
"Because there's someone I have to protect. That's all."
For a while, Smith kept smiling at Victor. In the silence, Mirage's heartbeat pounded like a snare drum. Yet through it all, Victor didn't move an inch. His eyes were just as fierce and hard as his Levia.
A sudden flash of movement. Mirage blinked, and the next thing he knew Smith was no longer in Victor's grip. Instead, she stood on the ground clutching a jagged black crystal in her hand.
Victor lurched. "You – give that back!"
"Oh, really?" Smith cackled. "And here I thought you wanted me to fix it."
Victor dropped his raised hand, his surprise echoing through the contract. A surprise that matched Mirage's exactly.
"That's right," Smith said, a gleam in her eye. "You boys just sit back and let ol' Smith and her forge work their magic."