Two years had passed since Fenris had met Sarah. He was working as her assistant, doing errands for her, such as delivering products like swords, knives, and armor sets to customers.
Sarah never let him work at the forge; she said he was too young. But he watched her. Sarah worked hours on her projects, sometimes for a whole day.
She lived alone in the city of Flaming Wings. It was quite a wealthy city, watched over by the Asura noble family. They were known for profiting from selling the best weapons in their city.
So, it was a place where blacksmiths like Sarah competed to win the favor of the Asura family. Sarah was very impressive as a blacksmith, especially being a woman.
That was almost never heard of. Because of that, most wouldn't give her work a chance. Most thought that because Sarah was a woman, the weapons she made couldn't possibly be top quality, but they were wrong.
The very few customers who had decided to purchase Sarah's weapons claimed they were better than the weapons they had received from other blacksmiths.
The bias that said, "A woman blacksmith couldn't possibly be better than a man blacksmith," had made Sarah truly bitter. She poured her sweat and blood into her craft, and none would take her seriously because of her gender.
Fenris had just arrived at the house where he and Sarah lived. It was a storey building made completely out of fine wood. It was Sarah's family home. She came from generations of blacksmiths who had settled here during the creation of the Kingdom of Pyros.
Fenris walked in the door. "Sarah!" Fenris yelled. "I'm back from delivering your axes. They seemed really happy with what you did!" Fenris heard no reply from Sarah.
"Maybe she's at the forge. She really doesn't know when to take a break." Fenris walked inside Sarah's home. Sarah would often remind Fenris that it was THEIR home, but Fenris never felt that way.
He was grateful to Sarah for taking him in when others didn't even take a second glance at him. It was just that he never felt at home with Sarah. Something was missing from him, and he always felt deep in his heart that he would never be complete without it.
His memories. Two years, and he hadn't gotten them back. Nothing came to him—not even a faint memory explaining how he wound up in the forest.
As Fenris walked in Sarah's home, he took a look at his surroundings. He saw what he saw every day as he walked in: paintings of Sarah's ancestors with weapons hanging right next to the paintings.
The weapons were her ancestors' greatest works. It was a tradition in Sarah's family to hang their greatest works next to their portraits after they passed.
They were all respectable blacksmiths for the Asura family. All the weapons—axes, swords, shields, and other works—had the Asura family stamp. It meant that the Asura family recognized the weapon the blacksmith made as top-notch.
An honor only a few blacksmiths would ever get.
"Oh Lord Pyros!" A voice screamed. Fenris recognized the voice. It was Sarah's. He rushed to where it came from.
Fenris's mind raced with negative thoughts, imagining what might have happened to Sarah. 'Did she hurt herself while making a weapon? Did someone break in? Is she fighting them right now?'
Fenris burst open the doors of the forge and found Sarah in her blacksmith outfit—a leather apron, a black shirt, baggy trousers, and some heavy gloves. Sarah wasn't hurt as Fenris had feared.
She was holding a piece of paper and had her right hand over her mouth. She had tears rolling down her face. 'Did someone break up with her? I didn't know she was seeing anyone. I might need to console her.'
Little Fenris walked over to Sarah and tugged her apron. Sarah turned to look at Fenris. "I'm sorry," Fenris said. "Sorry? Why would you be sorry?" Sarah asked.
"For getting your heart broken," Fenris answered. Sarah burst into laughter after hearing what Fenris had said. 'Has she lost it?' Fenris thought.
"Oh, sweet Fenris," Sarah said, as she patted Fenris's head.
"I didn't get my heart broken. Besides, I don't have many suitors."
"Or any," Fenris muttered. "What was that?" Sarah asked, her eyebrows furrowed. "Nothing. So why were you crying?" Fenris asked, trying to change the subject.
Sarah showed Fenris the paper she was reading. It had the Asura family seal on it. "The Asura family is throwing a party in honor of talented blacksmiths, and I've been invited as one of them."
"Really? That's huge!" Fenris exclaimed. "But how did they learn about you?"
"Remember a few months ago when we delivered that sword to the guard? Turns out he was so impressed that he demonstrated how good my weapon was to the Asura family, and they liked what they saw."
"So they're going to test my weapon against the other top blacksmiths in the city," Sarah explained. As she did, she seemed so joyful. It was a good change of scenery compared to the bitter and hardened look Sarah had grown accustomed to.
Fenris smiled after hearing Sarah's explanation. The tears he saw earlier weren't tears of sadness from a breakup. They were tears of joy from finally getting what she deserved after years of hard work and being overlooked.
"Congratulations, Sarah!" Fenris said. "Thanks, Fenris," Sarah said, "Let's go shopping." "Shopping? For what?" Fenris asked. "I already bought the materials you needed."
"Not for blacksmithing materials, dummy," Sarah said. "For the party. We need to look fancy."
"We?" Fenris asked, surprised. "Of course WE," Sarah answered, "You think I'm going to this thing without my little helper? Not a chance. The invite allows you to bring a plus-one, and you're coming with me."
"Wait, I've heard of those. They're meant to be reserved for lovers. I'm flattered, Sarah, but aren't I a bit too young for you?" Fenris joked. Sarah didn't say anything; she just stared at Fenris.
Then she punched him in the head. "Ow! That hurts," Fenris scrambled. "Couldn't you have held back a little? You know how muscular you are."
Fenris' head started to swell. He held it with both hands, and a tear started to fall from his right cheek. "I did hold back," Sarah said. "Next time, don't joke about that sort of thing."
"All right, all right," Fenris said, still holding his head. "But seriously, Sarah, I want you there with me. You've been a great help to me during the past two years. It wouldn't feel right being there without you."
Fenris' stomach felt warm as he heard these words from Sarah. He smiled at her. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," Fenris said. Sarah knelt and gave Fenris a hug.
The relationship between Fenris and Sarah wasn't that of a mother and son. It was more like a relationship between siblings. Fenris hugged Sarah back. He felt truly at peace.
"All right, that's enough of that," Sarah said. She stopped hugging Fenris and stood up. "So when's this party happening?" Fenris asked.
"Three days from now."
"Three days? That's the day of the full moon," Fenris said. During the first days of Fenris staying with Sarah, she had quickly taught him never to go out on a full moon because of the fear of werewolves.
So Fenris was shocked when Sarah said the party was happening on a full moon. "It's not at night, right?" Fenris asked.
"It is actually. But don't worry, we'll be at the Asura family manor before the moon rises."
She patted Fenris on the head once more. "Don't worry. Those mean, scary werewolves won't hurt you. I promise," Sarah said. Sarah noticed that Fenris' temperature was high.
"Fenris, you're burning up. Are you sick?" Sarah asked. "I'm not sure. I've been feeling a bit nauseous, and my teeth are starting to hurt," Fenris said.
Sarah looked at Fenris' teeth. "You might have caught a fever. Why didn't you tell me you weren't well?" Sarah asked. "I didn't want to worry you," Fenris answered. "You're always busy at the forge, and I didn't want to distract you."
"Oh, silly Fenris," Sarah said. "It's my job to worry about you. You're not an adult yet, so anytime you feel sick, just tell me. Okay?"
"Okay," Fenris answered.
"All right, good. Now go upstairs to your room and take a nap. I'll get you some medicine." Fenris left Sarah and headed upstairs to his room.
It wasn't big, but it was quite spacious for a boy Fenris' age. Fenris got on his wooden bed and tried to sleep. It proved quite difficult because Fenris started to sweat. A lot.
He began feeling hot, then cold, then hot again. His ears started to ring loudly, which caused him a great headache. His teeth started to hurt more than they already were. He started to smell things that weren't in the room, like food, fire, and dust.
"What's happening to me?" Fenris grunted. Fenris turned and turned in his sheets, trying to ignore the pain, but that proved to be impossible. It hurt so much that he wanted to scream but did his best not to. He didn't want to worry Sarah.
Although she said it was okay for him to let her worry about him, a part of Fenris didn't agree. She had already done so much by taking him in. The pain would go away. Eventually. He just had to bear through it.
Hours passed, and the pain hadn't disappeared as Fenris had hoped it would.
"Ah!" Fenris let out a short scream, got up from his bed, and opened his eyes.
Fenris didn't realize it, but as his eyes opened, they were glowing bright yellow.