I crouched beside it and ran my hands over the damaged leather, the warped frame, and the tangled pulley system. My engineer brain was already piecing together the why behind the failure.
The smiths had tried to fix it, but they obviously didn’t have the right tools or understanding of load distribution. Their attempted repairs were rough—layers of mismatched stitching where the leather had torn, splintered wood reinforcing already warped beams. They’d done what they could, but patching something without knowing why it failed in the first place only delayed the inevitable.
It wasn’t just the leather. It was the entire system.
The wooden support beams had warped due to uneven weight distribution, which meant the bellows couldn’t expand or contract properly—they were misaligned. The pulley system was tangled because the counterweights weren’t functioning correctly, making it impossible to pump enough air.
No air, no fire. No fire, no forge.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and turned to Silla, who was watching me with the kind of expectant patience that only someone in charge could pull off.
"Can you fix it?" she asked.
"Yeah. But I need a few things." The blacksmiths exchanged doubtful glances with each other, but I ignored them. "First, I need rope. Sturdy, thick rope."
A few hesitated, still unconvinced I wasn’t about to make things worse. But when Silla simply lifted a brow, the smiths scrambled to get what I needed. A few hours later, I had it fixed. I pulled on the pulley, a rush of air blasted into the struggling fire, and suddenly, the flames roared back to life. The forge exploded with even more heat, licking at the iron, turning the dim orange embers into a raging inferno once more.
I exhaled hard, wiping soot from my face with the back of my sleeve. "There," I said. "That should hold."
"Impossible," one of the smiths muttered, eyeing the now-functional bellows like it was some kind of miracle. Every face was filled with gratitude and excitement. It reminded me of when I used to work in the garage and fixed a car whose owner had been sure this was their last visit before they would have to buy a new car they couldn’t afford. The same strange sensation of warmth creeping through my chest I experienced then ran through me now and brought a genuine smile to my lips. Yes, I could live here, and I would like it too.
"Thank you," Silla said, pressing my shoulder.
I smiled deeply at her, "No, thank you. This reminded me of how useful my work used to be."
She grinned. "I think you'll fit right in. Come, let me show you your new room; you can get cleaned up there too. I'll have clothes brought up and whatever else you might need."
To my surprise, she took me back to thepalace. I wasn't sure why I called it that, probably because she and the Lord Protector lived here, or maybe because it was the biggest root around. Either way, it was getting dark, and I saw many other Pandraxians and humans going into their smaller root houses.
"Am I staying with you?" I asked.
"I have a feeling your work here will be very important to us. So yes, if you don't mind, you'll be staying with us," She replied, and we walked over the moat.
"So, this moat…" I drifted off.
"We have some nasty critters come out as soon as it gets dark. That's why we have all these precautions. They can't enter the rootrocks, but the moat provides a second layer of defense and will keep other enemies out, too, if they ever come."
"Reassuring," I muttered.
She laughed. "Life here isn't easy sometimes, and it can be dangerous, but it's also very rewarding."
"I'll take your word for it."
She grinned and led me back inside and up a set of stairs, so many, my legs ached for the last part of it, and I had to take a break.
XYREK
The ship was quiet.Oh, so perfectly quiet. The cleaning drones had already cleaned every last reminder of the humans away, and I was finally alone with my course set for Pandrax. The ship moved steadily through hyperspeed. It was familiar and reliable—nothing like her.
I should have felt relief leaving her and the others behind. And I did! But something felt off about being alone. Especially in my quarters, where my bed—mybed! Finally, I was able to lie inmybed again—and it still smelled ofher.
Alice.
The female I absolutely, without question, did not miss. I scowled and shifted uncomfortably on the mattress. Tomorrow morning, I would be in Pandrax's orbit. Then, I would let loose. I would get drunk and fight, probably for days. I would celebrate finally being free again.
I closed my eyes, only to see green orbs float in front of me. I groaned and turned around. I needed to focus on something else, something that mattered—like Garth’s intel about the Ohrurs and the secrets they’d been keeping—most of all, about Darlam.
I had already read up on it. According to the records, the planet belonged to the Ohrurs but had been placed under quarantine for the past twenty thousand years.That's a long time to keep a planet under quarantine, I mused. A very long time.
