Page 99 of Soul Forge

“No, thank you,” Elda squeaked, her cheeks burning.

The Soul Forge chuckled. “We just came down to have something to eat before we travel.”

“Well, say no more!” Genevieve boomed, a bright smile splitting her cheeks. “I have the best breakfast menu on Valerus. What takes your fancy? Poached eggs? Bacon? Berry porridge? I can even make you pancakes.”

Elda frowned. “What’s a pancake?” Genevieve’s hand found her forehead as though she might faint.

“You mean to tell me you’ve never heard of apancake?” she gasped. Elda shook her head. “Then let me amaze you with a whole stack of them. You two find yourselves a seat – anywhere except the one Errud drooled all over, and I’ll bring themright out as soon as they’re ready.” Before either of them could protest, the orc disappeared through a door behind her bar with a cheerful whistle.

“Genevieve is a big personality,” Elda noted. “And she has a strange name for an orc.” A frown creased her brow. “So does Edward, actually.”

“Orcs that are banished or choose not to live in the citadel tend to abandon their birth names. Genevieve used to be called Ul.”

“Why did she leave?”

“She refused to be a breeder,” Sypher replied. “Every orc female is expected to carry at least one child if they want to live within the community. She declined, and they made her leave, but it did her good. She’s essentially in charge of this town. She runs the only inn, she’s one of the co-owners of the brothel, and she has a prominent seat on the village council.”

“Did Edward ever have another name?”

Sypher shook his head. “He never knew it if he did have one. His mother died trying to get him to a safe village. He was picked up by a human family when she collapsed on their doorstep, and they took him in.”

“Why did he end up in Kilmarthen and not here?”

“The inn he runs was owned by the family that raised him as their own. They left it to him when they passed.” He cast his eyes over the chaos of the tavern. “I don’t think he’d do too well here, in any case. He’s a peaceful man, and this village is the opposite.”

“You seem to know a lot about this place.”

“I make my rounds through all the villages across Valerus whenever I have the chance. Grimgarde tends to stick in the mind after only one visit. I’ve been here many times before, but I rarely stay overnight.”

“Why?”

“Bar fights. Drunkards. Women trying to get a hold of my imaginary riches by offering their services. The eroni demons constantly moving in the soil. Take your pick.”

“You didn’t seem to have that much trouble with the demons last night,” Elda said, following him to a table in the corner and sliding into the chair opposite him. He turned his own chair back onto its legs and sat down.

“They’re a shade smarter than the average demon but relatively weak in small numbers. Once they realise the fight is lost, they retreat as a group. The problem with them is that they reproduce like wildfire. Tonight, there’ll be almost as many as last night.”

“Why do they appear outside the village if they can burrow through the ground? They could easily come up behind the wall.”

“I paid a high price a very long time ago to have a protective barrier placed beneath the soil.”

She frowned. “I thought you didn’t have money.”

“I tend to work in favours if I don’t have enough gold. The runes involved in creating the protection were ancient and powerful, the favour in question was reasonable, and the women that founded this town needed my help to purchase them.”

“Errud’s great-great-granny was one of those women,” Genevieve announced, already reappearing with a towering plate of food balanced aloft on one muscular arm. “She was forever telling stories of the rich soldier that saved the town.”

“I paid for a service,” Sypher shrugged. “I didn’t dig the soil to place the runes, and I didn’t build the wall. I didn’t even use gold to buy the protection runes.”

“Aye, but you kept the worms at bay while other people did all that. His granny made sure to tell everyone who’d listen. She married the man you made the sword for, you know.”

“I hope Rasputen treated her well.”

The orc beamed. “He spent years protecting Grimgarde with his special sword. Once he fell in love with her, he never wanted to leave. I still have it upstairs.” She waggled her eyebrows. “I won it from Errud in a game of cards.”

“I see it more than paid for the runes.”

She set the steaming stack of food in front of them, and Elda’s eyes widened. She gently prodded one of the flat, fluffy disks with a finger, savouring the sweet smell wafting from them.

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