This story was originally started as the background Lore of a mod that is currently in development. As I worked on the characters however I decided to flesh out the story more in depth and turn it into a full fledged story rather than as a small piece of lore. Please be sure to check out the mod that was the original source of inspiration, and leave a comment with your opinions and thoughts. Please Also be sure to leave a diamond if you feel the story is worth it.
Thank you much for taking the time to read, and I hope you enjoy.

---

The Original Inspiration

---

The light shone through the window, casting a dim glow across everything
it touched. My wife laid beside me, resting quietly as the world
around us was waking up and preparing for the day. The sounds of the
townsfolk outside could be heard, small greetings as they began
reading themselves for the chores ahead. I rolled my legs off the
side of the bed as I sat up, stretching myself and feeling the
pleasures of having had a long nights rest. Standing I began
tightening my belt, refastening it in place. I walked over to the
chair that sat in the corner and picked up yesterdays shirt, the
sweat had dried and it didn’t smell incredibly foul so I deemed it
worthy of one more days work. As I gathered the last of my things I
walked over to my bride as she slept and kissed my fingers, brushing
them against her cheek softly so as not to wake her. Once I had
settled that I had everything I might need I opened the bedroom door
and walked out into the main room.



“Can I stay home today, Dama?” The small voice came from behind me,
startling me a small amount. Ferra was a quiet girl herself, much
like her mother. If it were not for the fact she insisted on wearing
an old pair of hide boots I’m certain I might just lose her.



“No, Ferra, You turned eleven yesterday. It is time you start working like
the rest of us.” I tapped on my leg with my hand and she came to my
side, grasping onto my arm like it was the only security in the
world. As I walked towards the front door she kept pace and followed
me outside.


“I’m scared.” She huddled behind my leg, shielding herself from
everything outside. I pulled her out and held her in front of me,
taking a knee and looking her in the eyes.



“Would you like to work with me? It isn’t easy, but it will spare you the
trouble of going to the townhall and being assigned any job in the
town.” I did my best to make it sound sincere, but I would much
rather she work anywhere but in the blacksmith’s forge. A young
girl like her would attract unacceptable attention from the numerous
clients. To them age was irrelevant once you started working. She
nodded her acceptance however, and I realized I had just made myself
an unwelcome apprentice.



The gravel road crunched under my boots and she did everything she could
to collect herself as we walked across to the guard barracks. The
doors swung open easily enough, and just as I had predicted a few of
the guard locked their eyes onto Ferra. I shot them a glare that can
only be described as primal and they looked back to their cabinets,
pulling out armors and tools and attempting to make themselves look
busy. With each step I felt her sink deeper into me, trying to hide
herself from reality with no success. As I turned at the end of the
bunk hall I used my forearm to push open the door to the forges.



“Silas! Morning to you, my friend, and Ferra as well! Good morning, lass. Are
you planning on joining us here?” Ketler’s smile was incredibly
fake, but I couldn’t help but wave back in acknowledgment. Ferra
released my hand and ran up to him extending her arm to the side as
she bowed.



“Good morning, Sir Ketler of the RaskWood Forge. My name is Ferra Delm and
I request an apprenticeship under you and Sir Silas.” My eyes grew
wide as I heard her say her students welcome so clearly. It was
obvious she had been rehearsing it, yet I could hear the shiver in
her voice as each word left her mouth. Ketler looked at me in shock,
impressed with how she had conducted herself already. I motioned
towards her as a way of reminding him that he needed to accept her
request, which simply caused him to look at her with his mouth open
unable to believe what was happening already.



“Ferra,” he coughed loudly clearing his throat before continuing, “you are
the most upfront young woman I have ever met, and may I say I am
quite surprised at your desire.” He placed a hand on her shoulder
and turned on his seat so that he may face her directly. “Young
one, I have not felt this much respect from a student since your
father walked in here before daylight on his assignment day
requesting the same. I would be honored to have you train under him
and I both, and I anticipate you will be a great asset for us as you
have already proven your dedication with such a well rehearsed
welcoming!” He pat her on the shoulder once more. “Very well,
first things we need done is getting you dressed.” He stood from
the stool and crouched in front of her. As she stood up her face was
red and tears were running down her face. She used her arm to wipe
them away and calmed her expression.



“Come here, Ferra. Let’s get you in to your new leathers.” I gestured
her towards me and she came walking over slowly. Her lips kept moving
and I could tell she was saying the same thing over and over again,
though I couldn’t quite make out the words. She followed me over to
the small chest we kept in the back of the workplace and I pulled out
one of our smaller sets of gear. Two insulated hide gloves, a leather
apron, white shirt, and a pair of reinforced leather boots with iron
soles. Leaving her to change I walked back over to Ketler and picked
up my own pair of gloves from the table he was previously sat at.




“Her choice?” he asked over his shoulder towards me, returning to his
wrapping cloth around the handle of one of the guard’s swords.




“Aye, it was.” I knocked his back with the rear of my hand and pulled his
attention to her. “What do we have her start with?”




Ketler let out a laugh loud enough I’m stunned he didn’t knock himself
backwards from the force of air he was ejecting. “Same as you! Hand
her a tongs and have her turn the ingots while you prepare the
anvils.” He set the sword down and turned completely, “Unless you
would prefer start with something else, young smith?”




Ferra walked towards the shaping anvils and placed her hands on one of the
hammers. Lifting it she inspected the seams between the head and
handle, then turned towards the two of us. “Your equipment is old,
sir. We need to refasten this head on a new grip before we can begin
crafting anything new.” Ketler once again had a look of dumbstruck
amazement on his face as he attempted to process the fact a child had
just pointed out that he was using faulty tools. He extended his
hands towards the girl beckoning her to him and took the hammer from
her grasp.



“By the Saints themselves.” He handed me the hammer and looked back to
her. “Can you fashion a new handle then, young smith?” Ferra’s
eyes lit up as she ran back towards our storage and brought out a
wood blank and a carving blade. She hopped up on the stool beside
Ketler and laid her tools out before her before running back for a
clasp to secure the blank in place.



We spent the day like that. Ketler handling the hides and leathers,
Ferra working the woods and crafting us new grips and handles for all
our tools, and I ran the furnace keeping the coals hot and correcting
damaged plates in the guard’s armors. She fashioned each piece of
wood as carefully as she could, finishing each piece with her own
symbolism in the form of a small rose head carved into the bases.
Claira stopped in to drop off meals for us each, and expressed shock
in the fact we would allow a young girl to work in such a harsh
environment. Regardless of how we argued with her however, she
refused to accept our explanations and told Ferra that should she
decide she wants another job she was welcome in the kitchens of our
townhall.



As evening rolled in we began raking the embers to help the heat
dissipate and placed all our tools back in their places. Ferra
struggled with getting one of her gloves off but otherwise was able
to handle herself well. Ketler smiled and held the door open for her
as she walked past him, but stopped me as I went to follow her.




“How is it at home?” He waved to Ferra, “Don’t you worry, young
smith! I’ll send him home soon. We just noticed the furnaces were
still hot.” She shrugged and left out the bunk house, walking with
a confidence I had never seen in someone so young.




“Kara is not getting better, Ketler. She hasn’t been to the docks in
weeks. I honestly doubt she has much longer.” I leaned back against
the closed door. Ketler shuffled his feet about in place as he
contemplated his response. He’d been asking about Kara since she
fell ill a few months ago. My wife had been staying home to watch
her, but she wasn’t getting much better. We never would have taken
her in if it weren’t for Ferra saying she was one of her best
friends from care. It wasn’t until last month when I told Ketler
that he told me she was his niece, and she had been thrown out of the
house for unexplained reasons.



“And Chaisa?” He looked up at me, expecting some form of annoyance or
something from him asking about my wife.



“Fine.” I stood up and turned to grab the handle door. “She’s fine.” He
placed his hand over the pocket on the sleeve of my shirt. I felt him
slide something in it but I didn’t see any reason to concern myself
with it at the time. I opened the door and made my exit from the
barracks. Stepping out the front door I was greeted by my lovely
Ferra, who had found herself a small wooden branch and was holding it
straight alongside her legs.



“The fires were cold, dama.” She stated in an annoyed tone. “What did
he want?”



“I don’t have to explain it to you.”



“But I want to know!” She stomped her foot down on the ground and kicked
up a small dust cloud. Her look of defiance was admirable but
misplaced, something she soon realized as I picked her up and made my
way back towards the house. “Put me down!”



I kicked the door open and set Ferra on her bed in the main room.
Chaisa heard the commotion and came from the back of the home to
investigate, and upon seeing Ferra’s face instantly shut the door
and went to sit next to the table on the opposite side of the room.
While Chaisa was one to question my every move outside of the home,
she never got involved in situations involving our daughter. Ferra
hated her for it, but wouldn’t argue it for another way. She knew
her mother loved her.



“Chaisa, how is Kara?” The words left my mouth in pure monotone, cold and
drifting over my shoulder towards her as I kept my gaze locked on the
child.



“I will go check on her once more.” She hustled out of the room and
closed the door behind her. She knew something had happened and
didn’t dare listen.



“Ferra, Kara has to go.” I sat on the chair beside her bed, placing one
hand on the covers beside her. “You know we can’t keep her here
much longer.” Ferra looked at the floor, ashamed of the scene she
had caused outside, but also thinking about the words I just said.



“She’s dying.” It wasn’t a question but a statement that left her mouth.
She simply stared into the floor, never breaking gaze with whichever
nail was holding her focus. “I apologize for my behavior outside.
It was outside my-”



“It’s fine. It was wrong, but I understood why you asked.” I took a deep
breath and collected myself before continuing. “Ketler is Kara’s
uncle, and from what he told me she should not be allowed to stay
within the town borders, and most certainly not in our house.” I
adjusted myself a small amount and leaned forward. “I’m sorry,
Ferra. She is leaving tonight.”



Her eyes grew wide and she stared at me with anger behind them. She had
plenty to say, of that I am sure, though I doubt she would be foolish
enough to say anything to me directly about it. After a few moments
she reached under her bed and pulled out a small stone.


“This is leaving with her.” She placed the stone in my lap and I saw the
blue shine radiate off it as if casting its own light. I grabbed the
stone and stood, placing my hand on her back, holding her close to
me. Once her breathing had begun to settle back down I let go and
went back to the guest room and looked at Chaisa. She returned the
solemn look I had and moved out of the way allowing me to pick up the
young girl and carry her out of the house.




After walking down the road for a few minutes I felt I was safely outside
of town and turned into a small cave hidden within the cliff side
that ran beside the merchants road I had been walking along. Once
inside I sat Kara up against a small boulder and walked up to one of
the rectangular forms that had been cut from the wall, examining it
for cracks or faults that would make this difficult to do first try.
I ran the blue gem between my fingers and stared at the base of the
makeshift frame, before crushing the gem upon the stone and watching
as a blue energy began to swirl before me.



I looked back to the girl and smiled. “You’ll be just fine.” I
muttered to myself. Lifting the girl I ensured my balance and stepped
towards the portal. As I walked through it I felt every cell in my
body tingle with a strange energy and then, I was through.