Ironheart part 1
"Come on, Koga, play something!"
"Give me a second. I'm reading the card!"
"You didn't read over your deck when we gave it to you?"
"I'm not going to remember what all of these things do,"
It was a Friday evening, and the knights were all gathered in the barracks playing a game of Disenchanted, a popular card game currently making the rounds around the lands. Pendergast, Mertz, Turbish, and a few other knights were watching Koga and Stryker play against each other. Stryker had a whole field of Goblins, while Koga only had two elves. Mertz and Turbish were looking over Koga's shoulders and staring at the cards he had in his hand.
"Play this card," Turbish whispered.
"No, no, play this card. You can make an easy comeback," Mertz whispered.
"Will you two shut up?!" Koga snapped.
"Hey, hey, no backseat coaching!" said Stryker.
Koga's hand hovered over the cards. He picked one of his elves and placed it on the field. "Uh…I guess that's it?"
Stryker smirked and let out a confident chuckle. "Wrong move, Koga! Your immature skills will be the end of you!"
Koga stared blankly at Stryker and said, "Just get on with your move already…"
Turbish rubs his chin. "Wait…I forgot what I came in here for…"
"Didn't you want to watch them play?" Mertz asked.
"No…there was something really important I needed to tell everyone," Turbish snapped his finger. "Oh yeah! The Kingdom is under attack by the Bozak army!"
Everyone snapped their eyes onto Turbish.
Turbish stared at everyone. "Sorry, it slipped my mind!"
There was a loud BOOOM That shook the whole castle. The knights hurried from their rooms and made their way outside. The courtyard was in chaos. Many of Dreamland's Nobel Knights were dead on the ground. Others were trying their best to fight off the Bozak army. Bean, Elfo, and a few other knights were fighting a group of Bozak soldiers. Elfo was on the back of a Bozak soldier, stabbing him in the back and crawling around his body to stab him in his side and stomach with his small knife.
"HAND OVER THE PIG KNOWN AS MERKIMER!" roared the large Bozak, wearing spiky silver armor. "WE WILL FEAST ON THE MAN THAT KILLED OUR GENERAL!"
"You will never get me!" said Merkimer, staring down from a balcony. "My fellow companions will protect with their lives!"
"WE'RE NOT FIGHTING FOR YOU ASSHOLE!" Bean screamed. Bean continued to clash with a Bozak soldier, parried his incoming attack, and stabbed him in the heart. Another Bozak soldier rushed towards Bean, ready to strike, but Koga leaped in and blocked his incoming swing with his colossal sword.
"A little late to the party, aren't we?" said Bean, panting with sweat running down her face.
"Oh, shut it!" Koga shouted. He pushed the Bozak back and sliced him in half.
"NOICE!" shouted Luci from above. He sat on a ledge and watched the chaos from above.
The remaining Bozaks in the courtyard all rushed after Koga. With just a few swings of his mighty sword, Koga cut down one Bozak soldier in half, leaped into the air, and, with one swing, cut down the remaining soldiers, causing parts of their bodies to scatter around the courtyard.
"Annnd, done," said Koga confidently, with a smirk on his face.
"KOGA LOOK OUT!" Elfo cried.
Koga turned around. A Bozak soldier stood behind him, and he swung his large bunt mace at him. Koga held up his colossal sword and blocked the attack. The impact of the Bozak's swing sent Koga sliding back on his feet, leaving tracks in the dirt. Koga glared forward, and the Bozak soldier rushed in for another attack. Koga leapt forward. With one swing, he cut down the Bozak soldier, and blood gusheshes from his side, and he fell face-first on the ground.
"Ok, now we're done," said Koga, holding up his sword and resting it on his shoulders.
"Bravo Koga! Bravo! If I had normal hands, I'd applaud you right now!" Merkimer cheered.
"How the hell is he still alive?" Koga said, confused.
Clink
Everyone gasped as they stared at Koga. Koga looked at everyone, confused at their shocked expressions. "What?" He asked. That's when he noticed that his sword felt lighter. He looks at the sword. The top half had broken off. Koga stared at it, transfixed.
"Hey, Koga," said Luci. "Your sword is broken."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Koga screamed at the top of his lungs.
After the battle, the Dreamland knights took the bodies of the Bozak army off the courtyard grounds and tossed them into the ocean. The group then met in the knight's barracks to check on Koga. His broken sword was lying on the dinner table.
"Koga, come on, it's not the end of the world," said Bean, sitting at the table with Elfo and Luci, watching Koga repeatedly tap his head on the wooden table they were sitting at.
"Yes, it is," said Koga miserably.
"I can't believe it broke, though," said Elfo, looking at the mighty blade. "Considering how Koga uses it, I always thought it couldn't break."
"Any sword can break, even large swords like this," said Pendergast. "How long have you had this blade, Koga?"
"Since I was sixteen…" The wanderer replied, groaning at his loss. "Fergus gave it to me…"
"Oh…" Elfo frowned. "I see why you're upset it broke. It has a lot of sentimental value."
"Ugh…" Koga mumbled. "It's not just that…It was my thing! My aesthetic! And it helped me deal with a group of people with one swing!"
"You're saying that like can't do that with a normal sword, though," said Bean.
"Yeah, I can, but I looked cooler with the colossal sword…" Koga placed his face against the wooden table and groaned some more.
"Oh my god, Koga," Bean rolls her eyes.
"Hey, guys like their big swords," Luci shrugged.
"You can go take it to the blacksmith and see if he can fix it," said Pendergast.
Koga raises his head. "Wait, there's a blacksmith here in Dreamland?"
"Yeah, Willy's Metal Bargain Outlet. I'm surprised you've never seen it," said Bean.
"Is he the guy that makes the crap swords you all use?"
"Hey, Willy's cool! He does the best he can!" The princess said, shooting a glare at Koga. "Don't you want to use your big boy sword, Koga?" She said with much sass behind it.
Koga sighed. "Fine, but you better not make me regret this,"
"I am so going to regret this…" said Koga, with much dread in his voice.
Bean, Elfo, Luci, and Koga stood before Willy's Bargain Metal Outlet. The building looked abandoned, and the sign's letters barely spelled out the blacksmith's name since it was missing the W and the B, along with the scratches on the wooden sign above. One thing that Koga noticed was that there was no smoke coming from the chimney.
"Is he even here?"
"I think? Come on, let's go in," said Bean, dragging Koga inside. Elfo and Luci followed close behind.
The inside of Willy's Bargain Metal Outlet wasn't any better than the outside. Swords with holes sat inside barrels on the side, and the tools that belonged to Willy looked worn and rusted. A man, who looked dirty and wore a dingy brown tunic, was asleep in his chair with a sleeping raccoon on his face.
"Hey, he reminds me of my friend Hobo!" said Elfo.
"You sure that's not him?" Luci asked.
"Oh no, he's an Elf, his name is Hobo,"
"What the hell did you bring me into?" said Koga, staring angrily at Bean.
"Guys, stop it!" said Bean. "Hey, Willy!" She shouts.
The raccoon wakes up and blinks. The grey and black critter hops off Willy, leaving a scratch on his face. Willy opens his eyes, sniffs, and looks over at the group. Willy was a heavyset man who had a mustache that covered his mouth. He wore what looked like a squirrel's hide on his head for a hat, and around his waist was a belt that carried some of his smithing tools. He sniffed, "Hey, Bean,"
"Morning, Willy!" The princess said happily, "I hope the invasion didn't bother you too much,"
Willy sniffled. "Eh, didn't bother me,"
"That's good. Hey, my friend here has a broken sword, and we were wondering if you could fix it?"
Willy sniffled. "Sure,"
Bean nudges Koga. Koga takes out his broken colossal sword and places it on the stone table. Willy grasped the handle of the broken blade and stared at it. He rubs his chin as he examines it. "Hmmmmm…" He squinted his eyes. "Mhm…hmmm…hmm…mmmmhmmm…hm."
Koga was growing impatient. "What the hell is this guy doing?"
"Shush, let him work," Bean whispered.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm," Willy would lick the sword and click his tongue. "Ah…I see."
Koga blinked a few times. "Bean…the man licked my sword,"
"Koga—"
"He just licked my sword, Bean!"
"This could be taken in so many ways," said Luci.
"Guys, let him work!" said Bean as quietly as she could.
Willy nods slowly. "I'll be back in an hour," He walked off to the back.
Koga turned to Bean and scowled at her.
Bean stared back. "What? Let him do his thing!"
"Since when does fixing a sword like that take an hour?!"
"Are you sure this guy can fix his sword, Bean? He seems off," said Elfo cautiously.
"Willy is one of the best blacksmiths Dreamland has to offer! That, and he was always there for me when I was little. No one is better than Willy," Bean assured.
"I better not see a bite mark in that sword," Koga grumbled.
After an hour had passed by, followed by a bunch of delayed clinging noises and sniffling, Willy had returned with Koga's repaired sword. The lower shaft of the sword looked the same as it was when they brought it here. But as Koga's eyes wandered up, he saw the rusted-holed, riddled sword that replaced the broken part of his blade. The size of the blade now looked off; the new hole-riddled sword didn't match the original size of his sword. Koga snapped his eyes onto Willy.
"You can't be serious…"
The blacksmith sniffled. "Go ahead, give it a swing,"
Koga took his sword by the handle and lifted it. Koga swings the sword. He looked at the blade again and saw that a new piece was missing. Everyone looked around for it and saw it was nowhere in the building.
"That'll be ten zog coins," said Willy.
[In Dreamland]
"One apple, please!" said a Dreamland civilian.
"Sure coming right u—"
"ARGH!"
The Vendor looked at his patrion. A hole-riddled blade was logged in his back. The Vendor looked around to see if anyone was watching. He reached down, took the man's coins pouch, and slowly hid it under his stand. "Come get you fresh grown apples!"
[Now, back to our dysfunctional adventures main characters]
Once Bean had calmed Koga down from almost murdering Willy, they returned to the castle. Koga sat at the dinner table, banging his head against it with his broken sword in a corner. Bunty brought Koga some pudding and placed it on the table beside him.
"There there, Koga, it'll all be ok!" She softly pats his head.
"I gotta admit, seeing you miserable is a treat. You should do it more often," said Luci,
"You know, Koga, this could be a good opportunity to try some new weapons!" said Elfo cheerfully. "Have you ever thought of using a spear? I heard those are more efficient than a sword."
"Spears are for losers," said Koga bitterly.
"Hey…" said a guard carrying a spear and frowned at Koga.
"Except for you, Bill…you're cool…"
"Thank you," He smiled and walked off.
Once the guard left, Tavish entered the room. "Bean, you didn't drink the whole bottle of wine, did you?" He asked, looking into the cabinet.
"Not yet. Check the top shelf," Bean replied.
"Ah yes, here it is," said Tavish, grabbing the bottle. "What was all that racket earlier? Did father fall down the stairs again?"
"Nah, the Bozak army invaded the Kingdom. They tried to take Merkimer away because they think he killed their general or something," she explained, biting into her apple.
"Oh, I forgot all about that," Tavish would shrug. "Oh well, maybe we can give him up if they come around next time."
"Annnd Koga's sword got broken in the fight," said Elfo. Koga let out a loud groan at the mention of it. "We tried taking it to his weird blacksmith named Willy. It just made things worse."
"Oh dear, you took him to Willy's Bean? You know he's not as good as he used to be," Tavish sets the bottle of wine down and looks over at Koga's sword.
"Hey, blame Zog for the economy being crap!" said Bean, frowning. "If it weren't for that, he'd be able to get more resources! It's not like he's a bad guy or anything!"
"Yes, but it doesn't help that his skills have also deteriorated over time," the prince said, examining the blade's lettering closely. "Koga…do you know who made your sword?"
"A blacksmith that knows what he's doing?" Koga replied.
"No—well, yes, an excellent blacksmith, Gregory Ironheart,"
"WOOW!" Elfo gasped. "I've never heard of this person before. Who is Gregory Ironheart?"
"He's one of the most skilled blacksmiths in all the lands. And it seems you had one of his colossal swords," said Tavish. "Making a colossal sword is no easy task. Especially when it comes to the suitable ore, time, and—"
It was Luci's turn to groan. "Please spare us the nerd talk…" He pleaded.
"And exactly where is this Gregory Ironheart?" Koga asked.
"He's located in the outskirts of the bedrock kingdom. If you ask around, I'm sure you can find him," Tavish explained.
"Thanks for the information," Koga said, getting up from the table, grabbing his pudding cup and sword, and leaving the room.
Beans looks over at Tavish. "Hey, wait a second. Tavish, when did you start drinking?"
"What? I want a sip of wine," Tavish replied.
Bean looked at her brother's appearance. Tavish's hair was ruffled, his cheeks were flushed, and his tunic was undone around his chest. She also saw a mark on his neck. "Is…that a hickey on your neck?"
Tavish covered the mark on his neck with his hand. "No further questions…" He quickly left the room.
After that, Bean, Elfo, and Luci hurried to the knight's barracks and saw that Koga was already leaving his room with his bag over his shoulder.
"Koga, you're not just going to leave without us, are you?" Bean asked, with her arms crossed.
"Um, yeah?" said Koga, walking past them. "Besides, it's been a while since I've traveled alone. I'll be back soon. Don't wait up."
Once Koga walked out of the castle entrance, he paused. Bean, Elfo, and Luci stood outside waiting for him, with a horse by their side and bags packed with supplies.
"You three weren't going to take no for an answer, were you?"
"Nope," Elfo shook his head no.
"Nuh-uh," Bean shook her head.
"You should've seen this coming," said Luci.
"Ugh…alright…let's go," Koga slumps.
"WOHOOO!" The three of them cheered.
And so, the travel to the Bedrock Kingdom had begun.