Chapter 20
979 Words
20
The next days passed in a haze where everything was a blur except for Ryoko. The world around me was made out of clouds and I was soaring through them, always on my way to the next kiss.
There was sun in my heart and nothing anyone could do or say made it set. It was the best feeling in the world, better than travelling to the Veil, better than seeing the Gates of Valhalla, better than a blessing from Odin.
“Ylva.”
A voice shook me out of my thoughts and I looked up at a pink-haired blob. “Huh?”
“Are you alright?” She gestured to the pair of tongs. “You’ve just been staring at the kiln. You need to put your crucible in the fire if you’re going to melt the copper.”
“Right…”
I should’ve been over the moon that we were all making progress on our keys, but I just couldn’t keep my attention before it drifted off to Ryoko and everything about her. Her touch, her smell, the way she kissed me in the morning or—
“Ylva.” Aellyn snapped her fingers again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, no need to be concerned.” I finally put the cup-shaped crucible in the kiln and put my heavy gloves back on the rack. Now I’d just have to wait for the copper ore to melt and the excess iron and other particles to burn away.
It was all very technical, but Professor Eireen insisted we should have a hand in the entire process, just shy from mining the metal ourselves. If it was up to her, we’d be going into the mountains with pickaxes, but an unfortunate incident a hundred years ago put a stop to that tradition. Everything else was still allowed, from crushing the ores to tempering the metals and casting or shaping them. All in pursuit of making the perfect key.
I placed the tongs back on the rack and sat down behind the workbench. While I waited for the copper, I had to concentrate on the design, which was the trickiest part.
Aellyn sat down next to me, her pink hair springy from the heat. “Have you made a drawing yet?”
“Yes.” I pulled my notebook from my bag and presented her with my first design. “A simple skeleton key with one bit.”
“What’s a bit again?”
“The little piece at the end.” I gestured to my drawing. “I’m making one with a simple notch. It’s unlikely it’ll fit, but I have to start somewhere.”
“True.” Aellyn rested her chin in her hand. “At least you know what material to use.”
“Still undecided?”
She nodded. “I’ve touched loads of materials. Steel, gold, silver, stone… None of them scream at me, or whatever it is that you’re feeling.”
“Hmmm.” I had some theories on why the key-making wasn’t going well for her, but I wasn’t going to voice any of them. I didn’t know the rules on why certain Wind Children were or weren’t allowed in Valhalla and it wasn’t my place to judge. I just knew there weren’t any Valkyries that were another species. There was probably a good reason for it, but if Aellyn wanted to serve Valhalla, it was her prerogative to try.
After the copper ore was transformed into a flaming liquid, I poured it into a small receptacle. If I had a mold for it, I would’ve used that, but I hadn’t gotten around to that yet.
“Oooh, looks good,” Aellyn grinned, leaning over my shoulder so she could get a good view.
“Careful,” I warned her. The copper was quickly losing its reddish hue, but it would be a long while until it was cool to the touch. Class was about to end, so shaping would have to wait until next week.
I placed the cooling metal on one of the racks and made sure to scribble my name on a piece of paper serving as a label. After all the hard work it took to make a little cube of copper, I didn’t want anyone running off with it.
As I turned back around, I bumped into a blonde figure.
“Is that all you did today?” Astrid asked. “You’ll have to do much better, Ylva.”
Before I could speak, Aellyn stepped between the two of us. “Mind your own business.”
“Hey, we were having a conversation and you weren’t part of it.” With one finger, the blonde pushed the Wood Elf back as far as her arm reached. “What metal are you using, Ylva? Is that copper?”
“Yes. What’s yours?”
“Aww, cute.” She lowered her box. “Gold, the metal of the gods. What else?”
I rolled my eyes as dramatically as I could. “Of course.”
“Whatever.” Astrid shot me a toothy grin before striding away to her group of friends waiting at the entrance. She saluted me, earning lots of laughter, and with the sound of their mocking, they left.
Only when they were gone, Aellyn reappeared again. “Wow… Rude.”
“Very rude,” I replied, but I wasn’t too bothered. We were used to getting on each others’ nerve, but the venomous tones and vicious attacks had been replaced by a definite friendliness. Maybe it didn’t look different to the Wood Elf, but it definitely was.
We left the workshop and routed to the dining hall for lunch. After a hard morning crushing ores and hauling heavy tools back and forth, I’d worked up quite an appetite.
“Are you in a hurry?” Aellyn commented, jogging to keep up with my brisk pace.
“Huh?”
“You’re walking really fast.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t noticed that, but my body must have started to act on its own. Drawn by the promise of seeing Ryoko, there was nothing that could stand in between me and the dining hall. Of course, I couldn’t tell Aellyn that.
I shot her an innocent smile. “I’m hungry.”
“Okay…”
She didn’t seem exactly convinced by that, but that wasn’t my problem. I just wanted to go there as fast as I could, just to get a glance at her. That was all I needed to make my day brighter.
- Writer
