Rise of the Living Forge

Olive stood as still as a statue in the shadow of the alleyway behind the Devil’s Den, determination gripping her features. The wooden arm pressed against her shoulder, silent. Arwin and Reya stared at her in anticipation and worry as they all waited to see what the Cursed item would do.

A second slipped by.

Confusion started to make its way into Olive’s expression. A tiny frown played across her lips and she scrunched her nose as she looked down at the arm and gave it a small tug. The wood didn’t budge. It seemed to be stuck fast.

“Huh,” Olive said.

“That’s it?” Reya asked, blinking in surprise. “It’s done? I totally thought it was going to stab you or something. That’s almost a little bit disappointing. Don’t take that the wrong way. I’m glad it didn’t stab you. I just expected it to.”

“Thank you,” Olive said dryly. “I’m sorry to hear you’re disappointed. I…”

Olive trailed off, a frown stretching across her lips. Her head tilted to the side as if to hear a song playing far in the distance.

“What is it?” Arwin asked. “Do you feel something?”

It was several moments before Olive responded. “No. I… I don’t think so. I don’t feel anything, but I think I smell something.”

Olive, who Arwin strongly suspected had been the one to infect Reya with that particular brand of humor, didn’t so much as respond. Her mind wasn’t with them in the alleyway. The confusion in her features only grew stronger as she sniffed the air.

“What is that? I—”

Olive stiffened mid-sentence. Her eyes went wide and she took a step back, her eyes staring up into the air above Arwin’s head.

He instinctively followed her gaze. There was nothing there. Unless she was looking at some of his stats, she was seeing something visible only to her. Arwin and Reya exchanged a glance.

“Should we do something?” Reya asked.

“I’m trying to figure that out,” Arwin replied. He was fairly sure the arm couldn’t be hurting her yet. Not unless Olive had decided to try to activate it at full strength for no reason. He approached her carefully, holding his hands out. “Olive? Are you okay?”

Olive didn’t respond. Her arm rippled as roots roiled beneath it and pressed against her shoulder. Wooden fingers twitched once, twice. They curled, closing into a fist like an old machine being used for the first time in years, then unfurled once more.

Muted creaking filled the alley as her arm curled upward toward her chest. She then extended it before her, her eyes focusing on the new fingers. Roots bulged within the arm as she clenched her hand back into a fist. Every motion she made came easier than the last, though the arm still moved far slower than a normal one would have.

There was still something distant in Olive’s gaze, as if she could see something that wasn’t there.

Arwin watched her, stuck between decisions. It didn’t look like she was in pain, but given the arm’s nature, he was a little concerned that Olive wasn’t currently the one in control of her body. There was no way to tell for sure yet, and that shouldn’t have been possible, but he’d been caught off guard too many times as of late to risk not being prepared.

Olive craned her neck back to peer into the sky. Her hand extended, lifting toward it as if attempting to grasp the clouds.

“Olive?” Reya asked, warily approaching the other girl and reaching out to touch her shoulder. She remained on the tips of her toes, ready to dodge back at the slightest notice. “Are you okay?”

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Something passed over Olive’s features. Her hand lowered, and when she turned to Reya, her gaze was hers once more. Her face was awash with awe and disbelief.

“Look,” Olive whispered. A tear trickled down her cheek as she held her new right arm out. She flexed her fingers one by one, then straightened them all out again. “I have an arm. I have a hand.”

“You already had one of those,” Reya said with a relieved smile. “You’re not mind controlled or anything, then?”

A snort of laughter burst out of Olive and she wiped her eyes with the back of a sleeve. “Way to ruin it. I’m not mind controlled. I think. I feel normal. It was just a very weird few moments.”

“What exactly happened?” Arwin asked cautiously. “And you are okay, right?”

“I’m fine. It was like I was speaking to something in my mind,” Olive replied after a moment of thought. She glanced back down at her hand and trailed off, staring quietly at it.

“Olive?” Arwin pressed.

“Oh, shit. Sorry.” She tore her gaze away from the arm and shook her head. “I’m fine. I saw… visions, I guess. Not actual visions. Emotions. Desires. The arm showed me what it wanted from me, I think. I don’t think it’s a very nice arm. Well, it’s a nice arm, but it’s not a nice arm. It wants to kill things. A lot of things.”

“As expected,” Arwin said with a relieved nod. As strange of a thing to be relieved about as that was, it was basically exactly what he’d been expecting. It sounded like Olive had used a very similar form of communication to interface with the arm that he did when he spoke with his materials.

“Are you feeling any murder-y urges?” Reya asked. “Do you have a sudden desire to stab anyone?”

“Not yet. I’ll keep you updated,” Olive said, completely straight faced. She glanced back down at her hand, then ran her left hand over its wooden surface and swallowed. “I — I have my other arm back. This doesn’t feel real. Is this really permanent? It won’t fall off when I go to sleep?”

“It’s permanent as far as I’m aware,” Arwin confirmed. “Just… don’t go testing it too aggressively yet. I would avoid activating its full power for at least a little while. Get used to it. I’m sure you’re going to need a lot of adjusting to get used to fighting with two hands again.”

Olive nodded slowly, but it seemed her mind had started to wander again. She just stared at her new hand, opening and closing it as if to remind herself that it was there.

Arwin couldn’t blame her. If he’d lost his arm and then suddenly gotten it back out of nowhere, he had no idea how he’d react. He was pretty sure he’d be double-checking that it was still there for the next few weeks.

“Do you want to sit down for a bit?” Reya offered. “Maybe we’re done with sparring for now. You’ve got to get to used to your new hand anyway. Have to remember how to walk before you can run… or how to grab things before you can punch, I guess? I don’t know. I don’t really have a good analogy for this.”

Tearing her eyes away from her new arm, Olive glanced to Arwin. She swallowed heavily. “I don’t know how to thank you, Arwin. I wasn’t prepared for a gift like this. It doesn’t feel real. There isn’t any amount of gold in the world that could pay for this.”

“You’re a member of the Menagerie,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “I don’t expect payment for that. My role as guild leader is to do my best to make things better for everyone, and making items is the best way I can do that.”

“Godspit, man. That doesn’t change the fact that you just made me a fucking arm.”

“As long as you put it to good use, I’ll be satisfied.”

“I will,” Olive swore. She hesitated for a second, concentration crossing over her features. Her left arm twitched, but she brought her new limb up to her chest and pressed her wooden hand to her heart. “I swear I will. I’ll do the guild right, and I’ll find some way to pay you back for this.”

“I already told you not to worry about it,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “I’m not one for extended shows of appreciation. A gift is a gift, and attempting to treat it as anything else is just an insult. Seeing a friend happy is more than enough for me. Now go get some rest and get ready to use that arm of yours. We’re going to need it soon enough.”

Olive let her hand lower. “If those are your orders, then I won’t say no. I’ll do everything I can to be ready for when you need me.”

I suppose that’s the best I’m going to get her to settle for.

“Then I’ll be counting on you,” Arwin said with a smile. “And make sure you do actually get a little rest. Sticking a whole new limb onto your body can’t be an easy experience, even if it was surprisingly painless.”

“Are you going to take your own advice?” Reya asked. “Making an arm couldn’t have been that easy either. Don’t work yourself to death before we even get a chance to fight Twelve.”

“I’ll rest for a little,” Arwin allowed, glancing up at the darkening sky. “But there’s a lot to do and not nearly enough time to do it.”

“What’s next, then?” Reya asked.

Arwin turned to look back at the wall of the inn rising behind them. “Possibly the most important step. I don’t know if we’ll be using the heart or not yet, but I need to make sure every piece is prepared for the situation that we do. I’m going to going to prepare the Devil’s Den for a war.”