A Bridge Between Brothers

by Rammy

That Marvels

ബഐബഐബഐ Garble ബഐബഐബഐ

"Dragon scales!? That's it?! That's what makes Leafcutter so sharp, so deadly?!"

The white dragon shrugged as he took the box from me. "If that is what you think..."

"You said you had' neither the skill nor the time'" I growled, frustrated at him once again treating something he, himself, said was serious as a joke. "So how about instead wasting time having me play guessing games tell me how to make it since you seem to know so much about it. Aren't you the phoenix like reincarnation of H.K. or something?"

"In a way I was suppose to be... but I am not." The white dragon whispered as he ran a paw over the armor. "H.K. died before it could be completed."

What? I nearly fell over in shock. He didn't snap? The white dragon not being H.K. but looking/acting just like him and having that pointed out had been touchy subject before now. This was the first time that he responded with subdued sadness over frightening rage. He was still spouting confusing nonsense though.

"Not that it matters as the armor and sword weren't made by him. It was made... made by... it doesn't matter..." I could almost swear he sniffed at least once as he explained. "The point is I don't know anything other than the armor and Leafcutter have something to do with dragon scales and steel alloy. How exactly is something you will have to figure out..."

I grumbled in irritation as the white dragon took hold of the armor without another word and walked out of the room.

---

"You ready?"

I sighed as I looked over at the small pile of scales that I had gathered from hours of scouring all the halls and rooms that I had been in during my days under H.K.'s 'care.' There was barely enough to fill a typical water bucket. It was a... pitiful amount. I suppose that I could remove scales the hard way but I'm not sure freshly shedded much less forcefully removed scales would become brittle or flammable enough to work with. I really hope that it will be as simple as 'melting' scales in the alloy and I don't have to do anything special to them beforehand...

"Yeah, I guess so..."

The white dragon looked me over before leading me once again through the maze of chambers and tunnels that I was unfamiliar with, dragging the armor with him.

This mountain is emptier then the space between Crackle's head! I snort in amusement as I followed.

My jaw dropped when the white dragon finally stopped. He had lead me to a forge and not just any forge but the forge of my dreams. It had everything one would want as a blacksmith and more! Not only was there what looked to be a mini blast furnace to go with several more basic ones but there was one on the end that really got me excited: a crystal forge. A crystal forge! It was the only type of forge that could handle any metals that were magical in nature without damaging said nature of those metals, mostly gold, silver, platinum, oscillairum and mithril. Not that I cared for any of those besides the last two as the first three were too frou-frou and soft for anything other then food or bedding.

If anyone ever asks I crackled heartily and not like a girl as ran my hands over the crystal forge feeling the coolness of the crystals. I licked my lips in anticipation. What marvelous things I could forge here! But that won't mean anything if I don't have fuel and raw materials. I can only do so much with my own flame.

I slowly gazed around the forge, hoping to see where the storage was. Let's see... The forges lined one wall with the anvils in front of them the tools were hanging either above the anvils or near the forges. In one corner there are series of polishing wheels. It was in the other corner next to the passageway that lead to the forge and behind what I would call a pile of junk that I saw a door leading, I hope, to a storage room.

I slowly opened the door and stepped into the dark room. I whistled as the crystal lights glowed, lighting the room. It was a storage room just like I hoped, but, man, was it huge! At first glance, I counted over two dozen large hoppers that, judging from their sizes, could have easily held the hoard pile that I and the rest of the teenage dragons had back on the Migration. Along the back wall was a line of barrels each over flowing with different gems.

As I examined the hoppers to see what they contained I found myself even more envious of H.K.s forge. Every hopper was full to the top with either fuel, ore, or chucks of metal ready to be forged. No self respecting forge would not, at least, have a bit of everything... but at to have them at such quantity?! I don't want to know how long it took H.K. to stockpile all of this. With a heavy sigh I loaded chucks of steel that I wanted into a bucket and walked back into the forge.

"Here are a few books on blacksmthing that I found in H.K.'s library." The white dragon spoke, holding out some books as I put down my bucket next to the crystal forge.

When did he get those? I don't remember seeing him with any books. I shoved that question to the side as I happily grabbed the small stack of books from the white dragon, eager to see what I could learn from them. Maybe I could finally get some useful information. Sure, the books that Spike got for me were okay but they were sorely lacking on information on weapon and armor crafting. My excitement evaporated when I found that the books proved worthless as they were written in languages I was not familiar with. I was about to give up on the last book and put it to the side with the rest when I saw a diagram of a sword that gave me pause. It looked just just like a simple, stripped down version of Leafcutter.

"Can you read this?" I displayed the book opened to the page in question for the dragon to see.

"Every fourth word at best..." The white dragon shrugged, laying down next to the armor that he brought from the secret hoard room. "I never saw a reason to learn to read."

"Grrrreat..." I snarked. I would ask how he managed to figure out that these were books on blacksmithing but I don't want the headache of another strange answer, I had enough to do as it was. Like figuring out how to combine dragon scales with steel in the right way to recreate the metal that comprised the armor and Leafcutter...

Speaking of figuring out... how do crystal forges work again? I remember reading the details once but it had been a while... Something about crystal forges didn't use normal fuel like wood or charcoal. I grit my teeth as I struggled to remember. As my mind remained blank my anger flared.

"YOU STUPID FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!" I roared, clenching my fists hard and kicking the ground in frustration. "HOW DO YOU WORK!?"

My anger evaporated when I remembered that I wasn't alone. "What are you looking at?" I growled at the white dragon, trying to masked my embarrassment.

The white dragon blinked slowly before turning his gaze fully to me. "I am meditating, not 'looking.'"

"Meditating?" I deadpanned, crossing my arms.

"I don't dare interfere with what is yours by staring you down like a hawk stalking her prey." The white dragon waved a paw before sighing and lowering his head onto his forepaws. "Also, I'm still trying to figure out who I am..."

You and me both... I rolled my eyes as I turned back to the forge.

Author's Note: