“You picked the wrong house to mess with, bub,” the salamander said, the narrow slits of his eyes glaring down at Giu. They shot in Tea’s direction. “I said back off, you. Don’t think I won’t cut ‘em!”
Tea narrowed at the kid, their bottle still held high as Giu could see them debating the murder. Knowing them, the salamander had all of three seconds to stand down before he was lit ablaze like so many others. Giu tried to buy him a few more.
“Hang on, let’s not be-”
“Who said you can talk, canine?” the salamander kid said, a squishy hand pressing against Giu’s mouth. “I’m in charge here, and this is how it’s gonna go.”
Giu could already hear Tea counting down in their head, the pixie slowly taking the cap off and channeling magic.
“Go back to your goons and tell ‘em to stay off our land,” the salamander kid said. “I don’t wanna see another one of you on our property. I swear the next time I do, heads are gonna start rolling. Don’t think I’m-”
“That’s good enough, Elexy.”
In the middle of the salamander’s tirade, they were abruptly grabbed by the collar and hoisted off of Giu. Tea frowned, reclosing their bottle and vanishing it away. Suddenly, there was a much larger salamander standing in front of the both of them. Elexy was struggling to break his grip.
“Ugh, Dad!” he shouted. “I’m in the middle of a hostile negotiation!”
The larger salamander held the kid afar as he kicked at the air. Looking between the two, it was easy to see the resemblance.
While the smaller of the two was a tad darker, they both shared the same red-yellow color to their skin. The father salamander’s tail was curled around his child’s, whose fighting eventually subsided as he instead began to huff in frustration. He tucked the kid under his armpit.
“Apologies,” he said. “Elexy’s taken it upon himself to act as security for the shop. Don’t mind him.”
Elexy continued to glare, but it seemed he’d resigned to submission. For the time being, there wouldn’t be charred reptile to deal with. Giu sighed, dusting himself off as he got up.
“I take it you’re the one everyone’s been hollering about,” he said. “Imona said you’d be by eventually.”
Giu instantly lit up.
“Immy? You’ve spoken to her? She’s here?”
He shook his head, the canine deflating.
“Haven’t seen her since she disappeared,” Mr. Stone said. “But she did tell me a friend of hers would be coming by.”
He gestured for them to come inside, the stone shack a little smaller than Giu imagined, though he didn’t say anything. Even as they entered into a world of shining silver and gold.
Stones n’ Swords was more than a mere monicker. The minute he was inside, Giu was greeted by hundreds of blades from thin rapiers to enormous great swords. Gems and minerals shined along the walls, each with their own labels attached. Most of which Giu had never heard of. What the heck is elizium? The cyan gem seemed to radiate the closer he approached.
Mr. Stone led them past it all, stopping by a furnace decorated with forgery tools. He finally let go of Elexy then, the kid huffing and scurrying away.
“You’re a lot bigger than the picture Imona sent over,” Mr. Stone said.
“She sent you a picture?”
The salamander smiled, gesturing over as Elexy came back. The kid was holding up a photograph which instantly made both Giu recoil and a smile spread across Tea’s face.
His twelfth birthday. Back when Immy had made him a stuffed Maria toy. Complete with a tiny sword.
“Oh my god.”
Tea snatched up the photo, much to Giu’s dismay.
“Oh my god. Gi you…oh my god.”
“Why did Immy give you that of all pictures?” Giu groaned.
“I figure she chose the most convenient photo,” Mr. Stone said. “Though, she also gave me a name for confirmation. Said you’d answer to…Tiny Paws.”
His heart dropped.
“Tiny- Oh my god.”
The thought of digging the biggest hole he could find and jumping inside didn’t seem nearly enough at that moment. He knew he’d still hear the pixie’s laughter in his head even then. Immy, you stupid annoying jerk. He managed to pull his face from under his hands.
“It’s Yisto, actually,” he said. “Or Giu. Either works.”
“No no, please feel free to call him Tiny Paws,” Tea said as their laughter died down. “I won’t object.”
Giu wanted as much to throw Tea down the overly large hole. They were lucky he didn’t start calling them Pint Size out of spite.
“Anyway,” Giu said. “Immy mentioned that you would be making me a weapon.”
“Which I can. Or- I would if not for the fact that we’re booked solid.”
He gestured to the many different weapons scattered along the walls.
“Those are just the orders we received last week,” he said. “With that Syd-Villa war going on, there’s a lot of folks looking for some extra arms.”
“They’ve got Dad working around the clock,” Elexy added. “That’s why I’m here to keep the place safe. Maybe a little too safe.”
He looked over to Giu, dipping his head in apology. Given he was only trying to help out his dad, it was hard to stay mad at the kid. And he for better or worse, he’d earned Tea’s forgiveness with that horrible photo. Stupid annoying pixie. They’d already vanished it away.
“So you’re saying I won’t get a sword?” Giu asked.
Mr. Stone pulled on his working gloves.
“I’m saying it’ll be a while before I can make you anything custom. That doesn’t nothing here for you, though.”
Giu’s ears rose, his tail uncurling from around his waist.
“Imona had her fair share of connections,” Mr. Stone said. “When she disappeared, she ended up leaving something important behind. And after being passed along for a while, it ended up back in my possession.”
He moved to the side of the furnace, reaching under it and dragging out a long black case. The top was secured with a translucent gem. Mr. Stone mumbled an incantation, and the gem shattered into dust.
“This is perhaps the most versatile weapon I’ve ever created,” Mr. Stone said. “It would be a shame for it to get stolen. Would be even more of a shame if I just left it here to rot.”
The case popped open, Giu’s tail beating against the ground as soon as he caught sight of the silver blade. The sleek metal. The pale reflection it cast from the light of the furnace. Its almost ethereal glow.
“Immy.”
Mr. Stone raised the sword from the case, holding it out towards Giu. Even after seeing all the weapons the salamander had on display, nothing quite shined the same as Immy’s sword. Nothing else called to him quite like it.
Heck no! This is my sword only!
His hand stopped at the hilt.
“Right.”
He smiled, Immy’s voice echoing in the back of his mind.
You said you want a sword like mine, right? I’ve actually had this thing since I was kid.
As beautiful as the weapon was, he knew it was even more amazing in the hands of its original wielder. The same person who had held onto for far longer. Since she was a small fox. He picked up the sword but sheathed it almost immediately.
“Unfortunately, this doesn’t belong to me,” Giu said. “And I’m pretty sure Immy’s gonna want it back when we find her.”
Mr. Stone narrowed at the decision. Though he doubted getting it had been easy, after a few seconds, Giu saw understanding in the salamander's eyes. He gave a small nod.
“So that’s why she wanted you, huh?”
Giu grinned. Knowing Immy she would have been fully prepared to lend him the sword for good if she were really dead. But she wasn’t. He could feel it. Somewhere out there, a fox was missing her most precious weapon. And she couldn’t have asked for two better people to take the job of returning it.
“Consider us on delivery duty,” Giu said. “Me and Tea here are gonna make sure this gets back to its owner. Right, T?”
The pixie shrugged. “As you wish…Tiny Paws.”
He recoiled. That wasn’t going away anytime soon, was it? Mr. Stone shut the empty case, sliding it back under the furnace.
“A tall task,” he said. “I don’t envy you, canine. But I can respect your choice.”
He stood back up, extending a gloved hand.
“You make sure to take care of that sword, canine.”
