The son of Adam, they say he was a great man, but aren't we all Sons of Adam in our own rights. We're all the same, and Adam was the father of us all. we should love and appreciate all those we see, for they are our brothers in heart. Look around you, at those sitting near you. even if you have never seen them before, they are your brothers. Embrace them like brothers. Does that feel right?
"Err, excuse me, but I was wondering if you could help me with something."
"What? Do you want me to tell you the way up to that there castle on the hill? Folks usually do. Yes? That'd be grand and easy then; you go down the main street, across the bridge at the edge of the village and follow on straight up the hill. Take the first right and you can't miss it." The old blacksmith smiled at Will and Mary cheerfully. "It's a grand sight to see a young lad like yourself out enjoying the land with mother, and on a day like today."
"Oh, err, no. My name's Will Parry and this is Mary, she's a friend, not my mother." Will smiled nervously. He and Mary were in a dirty blacksmith's room in a small village in god-knew where. They hadn't been travelling long, only about three days, because it hadn't taken long for them to find a place that claimed to have a blacksmith who was good with unusual weapons and tools. He didn't know what Category the Subtle Knife would really fit under, but he reckoned that unusual would probably cover it.
"No, I was wondering if you'd be able to fix my knife for me. See it was broken a few years ago, and I've never really felt the need to repair it until now. The, erm, the old lady who gave it to me wants to see it one more time before she died." He lied; quickly coming up with it on the spot, as his reason for wanting the knife fixed was something that had slipped both their and their daemons minds.
"Aye, I could help you fix the knife of yours." The blacksmith smiled. "Bring it out and I'll do my best."
Will took out the pieces of the knife from the special bag the angels had given him to keep it in and laid them on the table before them, not anticipating the reaction of the old man.
"How did you come by this knife?" He asked. "This knife is dangerous, you shouldn't be carrying it around." And then, as if on an afterthought. "Boy, Will is it? Show me your hand child." Will looked up, shocked, but held out his hand with the two fingers missing, which the blacksmith took and examined closely, then looked up and muttered something to himself, which sounded to Will something like 'so you are, I thought as much.'
"What?" he asked. "I didn't quite hear you."
"Will, I know what you are and I know what this knife is. Does she or would you prefer to talk somewhere alone?" they looked into each others eyes for a second, and Will felt nothing but truth coming from this man's silent figure, so answered him. If he had seen anything else there was a chance he would have turned and fled.
"I don't know how you know about these things, but we can talk in front of Mary. She is trustworthy, and she was there when it came to me. There is only one person I would trust more than her." The blacksmith held out his hand to shake with Will, and he noticed that it was his left hand.
"My name is Raymond. I think I need to tell you what I know of this knife before I agree to fix it. You have to understand that the Subtle Knife isn't all good or all bad. It has its bad side, but for the most part it can be used for good. It just depends on what the bearer wants to use it for."
"Err, sorry to be rude, but how do you know these things?" Will asked, and the old man nodded gravely.
"I am older than you think. I am the last remaining grandson of Adam, who this knife once belonged to, and his wife Eve, who died long before her time. I suppose you're wondering how that can be so, so I think it is best if I just tell you the story of the knifes.
The history of your destiny started many years ago, at the true forging of the knifes known as the Dust Maker and the Subtle knife. Although the story was changed when the subtle knife was left in Citta-Gazzé the true origins of them are still known by the ancient people who now live in our world and the world of Eve.
Of course you know the stories of Adam and Eve, the two first humans, but not many people know of the gift given to them by the angels, for the almighty, who was at that time young and healthy. He believed that each animal created on earth should be given something special to help them on their way. To the bears he gave the power to make armour, and the power to be solitary, to the Mulfea he gave the power to control the other animals of their world, and to ride on wheels, and to the humans he gave daemons and the two knifes. These two knifes were to give the humans a power to move between worlds, and so populate everywhere, but there was a 'mistake' during the forging of the second of the knifes, the brother called the subtle knife. The almighty made it so that every time the knife was used to cut through worlds it created a dark creature to destroy the human race. This creature wouldn't kill, for at that time the almighty was completely against killing, but it would take the soul of adults and so leave them helpless with nothing to do to them.
He gave the Subtle Knife to Adam, and the Dust Maker (or Gonséither) to Eve, and over the years both used their knifes to do good in the world, for what bad the Subtle Knife did the Dust Maker corrected, for the Dust Maker was capable of no evil.
There came a time, many years after the creation of the knifes, when Adam came to his grandsons in the settled world. He could tell that his time was nearly gone, and asked us to keep his knife safe until the time when his own soul would walk the earth again. Unfortunately my grandfather's plans went astray and the knife found its way to Citta-Gazzé, where it was passed among people who resembled Adam in any small way. Until you came along and took the knife away, used it for its true purpose again and reunited it with the bearer of its sister. You might know already that the child you were travelling with is the re-incarnation of Eve, the mother, but you possibly didn't know that you yourself are of Adam, the father."
"I'm not. It's a lie. I'm no relation of Adam, no more than anyone else anyway."
"I never said you were a son of Adam, I said that you have a lot in common with him, and no matter what you say you cannot argue with that."
"But…But…" Will stuttered,
"No buts." Raymond held up his hand to stop Will. "Once I've re-made your knife you must be on your way, William Parry. You must go and find Lyra. She will be waiting for you."
"How did you? How do you?" Will asked, but Raymond held up his hand again and shook his head.
"The knife, Will. Hand me the knife."
Will took the knife from its sheath, and handed it to the old Blacksmith. Then he stood back as Raymond set to work, re-forging the knife for the second time since it's creation.
Chapter seven done and dusted, I know its all about Will, but it started with the chapter all about Lyra and then I decided to swap this chapter (Son of Adam) with the chapter I had previously written as chapter seven (Daughter of Eve). As you can probably tell from that, the next chapter's called Daughter of Eve and it's all about Lyra. Anyway, thanks for reading. Love, Stargazing Maiden.