Title: The Kelan Broom
Scene: ---
After they had eaten their mid-day meal, Melif and Alia once again hit the
street. This time Melif led the way having gotten directions from
Stonebeard ahead of time. Their travels brought them to a blacksmith's shop
with a hammer hanging over the door.
Melif stepped inside the door and called out "Anyone here?" He was answered
by the rhythmic ringing of hammer on hot iron from the back of the building.
In the back they found a dwarf swinging away with great power at a rod held
by tongs as it lay across the anvil.
"Nothing but weapons, Ironhelm." the dwarf muttered as he flattened the rod
"Doesn't anyone in this town need horseshoes?"
"Do you make wolf shoes?" asked Melif.
The sweating dwarf turned and eyed Melif, Alia and then Fireheart with
interest. "I'm going to guess that you are the Wolf Rider I've been hearing
about, Melif Darkstone is it?"
"Yes it is," nodded Melif smiling "And you'd better be Keldar or he's going
to quite angry when he gets back and find you in his smithy."
"He can have it." grunted Keldar as he quenched the flattened rod. "Please
tell me you don't want a sword."
Melif took a seat on a pile of wood and scratched Fireheart behind the ears
"Not quite, when's the last time you made a Kelan Broom?"
"A Kelan Broom?" whistled the blacksmith as he reheated the flat metal "That
sends me back a few years! You must be older than you look, Melif, to
remember those."
"I was quite young when I saw them, that is true. And they were considered
oddities even then." agreed the Wolf Rider.
"I still don't know what a Kelan Broom is and why I need one." complained Alia.
Keldar raised an eyebrow at the young girl. "This is for you is it? Why
would a young lady like you need a weapon?"
"Oh it's a weapon?" brightened Alia "I asked Mr. Darkstone to teach me how
to fight, I was tired of being afraid of everything."
Keldar began to beat the heated metal again, folding it over and flattening
it even more. "Kelan Brooms, now there a weapon with a story behind it,
girl. Surely you know of the great war against the Evil One?"
"Oh, yes, Mr. Keldar" nodded Alia.
"There was a town called Kelan, it's gone now - washed away by the nearby
river, that was know for its militia. These where fightin' people. When
the troubles began in earnest they sent a large part of their men folks to
help head off the advancing horrors. The only problem being that a small
force of those horrors found Kelan and took a dislike to it. Well, the
women of Kelan had two choices, run or fight." Keldar stopped a moment to
inspect his work. "Running was not in the Kelan book of tactics - so they
fought."
"The women were never really trained for that sort of thing, fighting was a
man's business, so the few men that were left in town had to teach them
quick before the hordes reached them. They tried some of the simpler
weapons like pole arms but the ladies really didn't take to them. Then one
old lady had a stoke of inspiration and she shortened her pole arm and tied
two rods a little from the end like a double cross. The men were dubious
until she used it in practice. The two rods were perfect for catching and
restraining the enemy's weapons. A simple twist and pull and the enemy had
no weapon in its hands."
Melif took up the history lesson as Keldar requenched the emerging blade.
"The small horde that reached Kelan ran into an army of angry, protective
mothers with those new weapons and discovered quite quickly that Kelan
wasn't any safer just because the men folk were out chasing shadows. To
make a long story short, the men returned to a defended village and took a
liking to the ladies new weapon. When the call to defend Freiwald went out
they took the new weapons with them, or better made versions of them anyway."
"The other soldiers were quite amused when they learned the story behind the
Kelans strange weapon and jokingly called it a Kelan Broom. The name stuck,
but the amusement didn't when the Kelans plowed into the Horde with them."
finished Keldar as he started shaping a blade out of the folded iron.
"Oh," replied Alia "So this is a good weapon for someone like me?"
"If you insist on arming children, yes" nodded Keldar.
"But I'm 14!" insisted Alia "I'm almost an adult!"
"This is true, by Human standards she is only barely a child." explained
Melif "and if she's to travel with me, she'll be needing a weapon."
"And were would you be traveling, Wolf Rider?" asked the blacksmith "I just
posted a notice in for traveling companions to search out some better
materials."
"I'll be headed north." answered Melif "My quest is some were out there."
"And this quest is?" prodded Keldar.
"Justice, I'm searching for a murder." explained Melif.
"Shall we travel together then? It's getting quite dangerous out there,
even for Wolf Riders." winked Keldar playing on the Wolf Riders reputation
for ignoring personal danger.
"If it will make you feel safer." shrugged Melif with a grin "I'll escort you."
Keldar laughed "Let me make the girl her Broom, it'll take about two days.
Then we'll work out the details of our trip. But first I need to make some
measurements."
Keldar had Alia stand with her arms stretched out and pulled a string from
fingertip to fingertip. "That'll help me get the weapon's length right." he
said as he knotted the string to mark it off. Then he measured her hand
from the wrist to the fingertip also.
"Excellent." nodded Melif "Here's some coin to pay for the materials, I'll
pay the rest when the Broom's done." Melif set a small sack by the anvil.
As they walked back to the inn, Alia practically skipped along beside Melif.
"Oh how will I ever thank you, Mr. Darkstone?" she gushed.
"For starters, you are about to learn the joys of proper saddle
maintenance." smiled Melif "That Kelan Broom isn't going to be cheap and I
intend for you to work it off."
"Oh of course," agreed the young woman "I didn't expect anything else."
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The Chronicles of Varholm by Ian FitzPatrick (Bulldog)
The Battle of Freiwald by Arjan de Jong
Artwork by Arjen Pilon
No part of these stories may be used without the author's prior authorisation.