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Chapter 64: Killed

“With gear,” Arwin replied. “I’ll make armor for both of us. A weapon too, if you need it. Something enough for us to challenge the Journeyman level members as long as we catch them alone. We can’t storm into their guildhall, but we can take them one at a time.”

“Armor would work for you, but I don’t think it’s something I can rely on anymore,” Lillia said bitterly. “I’m an innkeeper, Arwin. I don’t have the strength that you do as a blacksmith, much less what I used to have. I won’t be able to move in anything heavy enough to let me survive an attack.”

“I’ll work around it,” Arwin said. “I’ll make chainmail, or I’ll make armor with magic that makes it lighter. We can’t bring the rest of the guild into this.”

“They’re not ready for it,” Lillia agreed. She swallowed, a wave of emotion passing over her features. Arwin said nothing as she gathered herself, keeping the pain buried beneath the surface and refusing to let it seep out. Lillia had been there for him in the dark, and he would return the favor. “We will be. If you can make me armor–”

“I can.”

“Then we’ll kill them together,” Lillia said. “And we’ll do it before they can destroy any more lives. We’ll rebuild the smithy or find enough of it for you to work with – at least until we can take the rest of what we need from the ones that killed Zeke.”

“At least we won’t have to worry much about the guards given what I’ve heard about them,” Arwin said with a flat, emotionless smile. “We have to do this the right way, but I’m not letting a single guilty person walk free.”

Lillia nodded. She let out a slow breath and rose to her feet, keeping her hold of Arwin’s hand and pulling him up beside her. The darkness in the corner of the room shifted and a Lesser Imp emerged from within it, holding a burnt metal helm in its hands.

“I had one of my imps grab this,” Lillia said, taking the helm and holding it out to Arwin. “I thought you might want it.”

Arwin’s throat tightened as he took the helmet in one hand. He swallowed, blinking hard. “Thank you.”

Lillia just nodded. “I suppose we have to leave now. It’s been a while, and the others are probably worried. I haven’t been cooking recently.”

“Yeah,” Arwin said, nodding once. “Thank you.”

“You already said that.”

“That was for the helmet.”

Arwin released her hand, taking one last moment to steady himself. The darkness around them peeled back just enough for Arwin to recognize that he was in Lillia’s room. They walked out together, stepping back into the main room of the tavern.

Reya, who sat between Anna and Rodrick at the counter, looked up at them. She started to rise from her chair, then stopped halfway up, her shoulders hunching.

“I tried to clean the smithy up a little,” Reya said, staring down at the counter. “I tried to find Zeke’s body, but–”

“He already had just about the best burial I think we could have given him. It’s hard to beat a pyre,” Arwin said, his jaw clenched. “That’s more than what the people that did this to him will get.”

“I’ll help you find them,” Reya said.

“No,” Arwin said. “This isn’t your fight.”

“Are you kidding?” Reya demanded, pounding a fist against the counter. “What, do you think I didn’t care about him? He joined the guild! He was one of us!”

“And I don’t want you joining him in the afterlife,” Arwin snapped. “You aren’t ready to go against a real guild, Reya. I’m not going to lose you too.”

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“A guild?” Reya asked, taken aback – but only for an instant. Her eyes narrowed. “The ones that came after you. The Iron Hounds?”

“Don’t,” Arwin said softly. “Lillia and I are going to handle this ourselves. You can help from the back, but I don’t want you on the frontlines. Not this time.”

“Why not? I know how to fight. I’ve got a class! I’m not just going to sit around while you take revenge!” Reya yelled, striding up to Arwin, the hurt clear in her eyes. “You aren’t the only one that cared!”

“I know that,” Arwin snarled. “Do you think your class is going to save you, Reya? Do you know how many people I’ve seen die with stronger classes than you? Do you know how many of them I’ve killed myself?”

“I–”

“Hundreds,” Arwin said, not giving Reya a chance to speak. “I’ve watched men die avenging their partners. I’ve seen parents die for their children and children die for their parents. Their classes didn’t fucking matter. Everyone dies the same with a piece of steel through their head – especially ones that only got their class a short while ago!”

Reya took a step back, a flicker of fear passing over features. Arwin realized that his tone had been steadily raising into a yell, but it was too late to take his words back now.

“What kind of smith are you?” Reya demanded. “Why do you talk like you were a soldier? What did you do?”

“I killed,” Arwin let out an explosive breath. “That’s all that matters.”

“Fine,” Reya snapped. “Keep your stupid secrets and keep letting your enemies kill all of us. Maybe you can come get revenge for the rest of us after we all get killed too.”

Reya spun and stormed out of the building without another word. Arwin made to go after her, but Anna stepped in front of him and shook her head.

“Not right now, Arwin,” Anna said. “I’ll speak with her, but you have to understand how she feels. I know why you’re keeping her out of this, but you’re keeping her from getting revenge for a friend.”

“Revenge doesn’t heal wounds. It just makes sure that someone can’t make more of them.”

“Spoken like someone who’s taken it before. She hasn’t,” Anna said. “And I know you’re trying to protect her from that, but shield her too hard and she’ll set out on her own instead of doing it with you.”

“What do you want me to do?” Arwin demanded. “She’s not ready for this.”

“For now? Nothing. I told you, I’ll speak with her,” Anna said, putting a hand on Arwin’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “She’s hurting. Just like you are.”

Anna turned and headed out in pursuit of Reya. Arwin watched her leave, his jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles in his face ached.

What am I supposed to do? I can’t let anyone else die. Not now. I don’t think I could take it.

“Reya didn’t mean what she said,” Rodrick said as he slipped down from his stool. “Anna will handle her, don’t worry. We’re all mad about this. I don’t know what your background is, Arwin, but I’ve seen men like you before – and they never spoke about what they used to do. Just… don’t forget we’re here, okay? Anna and I joined this guild because you seemed like you cared. Don’t get so caught up in protecting people that you forget to let them grow.”

Arwin let out a heavy sigh, wishing that there was something he could punch in the area. “I know. If Reya shows back up while I’m working, can you tell her to come speak to me? And please keep an eye out. I don’t know if those Iron Hound bastards will come back, but if they do, I don’t want anyone else dying.”

“Oh, I will,” Rodrick said, his features as cold as ice. “I assume you plan to pretend to be dead?”

“Yeah,” Arwin said. “At least until I can start hunting the Iron Hounds, they need to believe they succeeded.”

“What about the Wyrm problem?”

“That’s still well over a month away,” Arwin said, anger sparking within his chest before he snuffed it once more. “And if you think I’ll let the bastards that did this live that long, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Rodrick gave Arwin a nod and stepped past him, heading toward the door. He paused right outside the tavern, glancing back over his shoulder.

“Make it painful,” Rodrick said. “Zeke was a good kid, but I know I’m not strong enough to handle anyone that could blow up an entire building. Anna and I pooled some funds to help you recover, and we’ll do anything we can to help from the sidelines. Just… promise you’ll help us get strong enough to fight alongside you at some point. I hate sitting around doing nothing.”

“You will,” Arwin said. “I swear it.”

“Good,” Rodrick said. “Send them to the Ninth Underland for me. I’ll make sure Anna and Reya are okay. I don’t think it’s a good idea to travel without protection right now.”

With that, Rodrick stepped out of view. Arwin and Lillia were left in the darkness of the tavern, staring out into the light pouring through the doorway.

“I’ll help you make the armor,” Lillia said. “I don’t know how much I can do, but I want to be involved if I can.”

“I’ll find something for you to do,” Arwin promised, the knot in his stomach growing tighter as his thoughts drifted to Reya. He hadn’t handled that conversation well. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt even more of his friends. “I’ll probably need materials, and parts of the smithy will have to be rebuilt if I’m going to do anything with it. I don’t know what’s left.”

“Maybe that’s something we can all help with,” Lillia offered. “It would give the others something to do so they don’t feel like they’re being completely sidelined.

That was a good idea – and it was one Arwin wished he’d had just a few minutes earlier. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything to wind back time. All he could do was forge onward.

“That could work,” Arwin said, looking out into the daylight pouring through the doorway. “Let’s go. We have work to do, and I’m not going to sleep properly until this is done.”

They stepped out into the street, heading to the remains of the smithy. Arwin had armor to create, and he was going to start with the burnt helmet clenched in his white-knuckled grip. He hadn’t thought that he’d have to kill after he became a smith.

Now he just hoped he’d be able to stop.