Everyone relaxed and we all removed our face coverings, since the bears didn't have their faces covered and we didn't want to insult them. Surprisingly, none of them reacted to seeing four uninfected humans among our group.
Sure that they would be safe, I left the others with Angel in the clearing, to make sure she was okay and that the cubs weren't hurt. The slightly armored honey colored bear led away from the impromptu gathering of his people. It took us a while to get back to his area and I was surprised when we reached what looked like a giant hut.
Above ground cave. The bear said. It keeps the heat in better than working outside.
I nodded my head and we entered the very large structure. I wasn't surprised to find a forge that was gigantic, a slter that was nearly as big, and tools that I could never wield.
How long have you been doing this? I asked, genuinely curious.
Half my life, or about twenty growls. The bear said with a grunt. Do we need to heat your plate?
I'm not a blacksmith, so you tell . I said and took it out again and handed it to him.
Hmm. Very nice. What kind of tal is this?
Mithril. I said and the bear jerked a little. Sorry. It's a tal that's pretty rare where I co from.
I can't tell what it is, so perhaps just hamring it out will work. The bear said.
I'll need an anvil and probably your smallest hamr. I said and showed him my hands.
The bear let out a growling laugh. You can use the cub's hamr. He said and pointed to the rack of tools.
I walked over to them and saw the size of the hamr. Thankfully, cubs were about my size, so the hamr wasn't too big to use. I still had to hold the handle with two hands to keep it stable, because the top of the hamr was about the size of my head.
How big is your cub? I asked as I lifted the huge hamr and made the bear laugh again.
You poor thing. The bear laughed. You would have trouble suckling a woman's breasts! Ha!
I laughed as well and he showed an anvil that was the size of a compact car.
This is the smallest one. Mine is over there. The bear said and I saw one that was the size of a railroad boxcar.
Nothing is small around here. I said and the bear put my chest piece on the anvil. He held it and told to try striking the tal. I turned the hamr slightly, hoping I would get it to swing properly, then brought it down onto the inside of the dent.
*CLANG*
Nothing happened.
Harder. Do not hold back. The bear said and I nodded. I dug my fingers into the wooden handle of the hamr and used about half of my full strength.
*CLANG* *CLANG*
The dent moved down a little and the bear nodded. I kept going and increased my strength a bit more each ti I swung the hamr. The dent moved lower and lower and I worked it out from the edges and towards the center, like the bear instructed. It had to be flipped over and moved to the side of the anvil to start properly returning it to the right shape.
The bear never offered to take over or grumbled when I made a mistake. It took nearly an hour to get it to a point that it was close to where it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything with the deep furrows into the tal.
Why would you want to remove them? The bear asked. You fought a battle and lived. Wear the mark with pride.
I nodded and equipped it to check it. It was pretty close to where it should be and I told the bear the differences. It took us another hour of hamring very lightly and only in specific spots to get it to sit properly.
Thanks a lot for your help. I said and stored it. I don't suppose you know how to enchant anything?
What is in-chant? The bear asked.
It's what certain skilled craftsman can do to tal to imbue it with magical properties. I said. My armor had a lot of complintary enchantnts that were essential to my survival when I first ca to these lands.
Are they gone? The bear asked.
The main component that had the most work done was the chest. I was a bit surprised that the self-repair and reinforcent enchantnts were the first to fail.
The bear chuckled and took off one of his small armor plates on his belly. It was three inches thick and half the size of my chest plate. Watch. He said and put the plate on the ground. He then placed one of his claws on it and pushed. His claw sunk into the tal an inch and then he flicked his pawed finger. The sound of tearing tal was loud in the nearly silent hut.
Jesus. I whispered as the plate had a huge gouge taken out of it. That was a Rending skill.
You were very lucky that you were hit squarely and not just by the claws. The bear said. You wouldn't have had much of a chest plate left... or much of a chest.
I rubbed my chest where the chest plate had only crushed my sternum. Yes, I agree. I was very lucky. I said and stopped rubbing my chest. Even though I was healed, I was going to rember that feeling for a while. What can I do to thank you?
The big bear laughed. You can't wield a cub's hamr properly with such small hands, not without damaging the handle.
I'm sorry about that. I said.
I can easily replace it. The bear said. My point is that I doubt you could help forge anything.
I looked around and everything I saw was much too big for to use. I don't see any ore around. I comnted at the large empty space where I suspected it should have been.
I am wearing all I could scrounge from the river. The bear said and picked up the damaged armor plate. I wear this as penance for not wanting to fight. He said and grabbed a large hamr and went to his anvil and with three strikes, had the dent and tear beat out flat. He didn't bother trying to fix it and just hung it up on the wall. I will look for more ore later and slt it again.
What kind do you want? I asked and he looked at with concern.
You won't be allowed to return if you go looking for ore.
Ha. No. I have a pile on . I said. I've got gold, silver, iron, copper, nickel, lead, aluminum, zinc, platinum, and tin.
The bear stared at with his mouth slightly open. A big glob of drool slid out and plopped onto the ground.
I had to jump back to avoid the splash. I guess you like that, huh?
You would hand so over? The bear asked, in the sa disbelieving tone as the female had when asking about the bear's head.
I can't give much, since I need so for when I go back ho. I said and pointed to the spot I thought the ores went and the bear nodded. How about one percent? I asked and as I walked along the empty space, I dropped several tons of ores into piles. The iron one was the biggest, since I had the most of that one. A large puddle of drool was on the floor when I was done.
You must et my family! The bear said, scooped up as if I was a cub and held to his chest, then dropped to all fours and ran on three legs. We moved really fast and the wind whipped my hair around my face. After a couple of minutes, we were at a huge cave that was inside a little hill. Well, it was a little hill to them. To , it was a huge mound of dirt and rock.
The bear let out a short growling bark when he stopped at the entrance. He stood up and put down without moving inside the cave or saying anything else. I heard claws on stone and turned to look into the dark cave as a very beautiful bear woman walked into the light. She was fifteen feet tall and covered in fur. Her face looked young and untouched by age, even though her breasts where several feet wide each. I grew hard, just from looking at her, even knowing she would probably eat whole if given the chance.
Mother. The bear growled in greeting.
Mother! I exclaid. The blacksmith said he was about forty years old, which ans she was twenty years older than him or more. I thought with surprise as the woman looked down at . Please forgive my outburst. I said and bowed slightly.
Her nose twitched and a smile appeared on her face. You are presumptuous. She said and then her womanly sll hit in the face.
Oh, fuck. I whispered as my erection beca quite pronounced. I didn't even try to hide it as I looked up at her face. Please tell you're not thinking what I think you're thinking.
You an the sa as you? She said in a low growl.
I can't stay and I have to leave tomorrow night. I said. I also have to et an elder...
Then you are in luck, little one. She said and picked up. That's .
I opened my mouth to say that she couldn't be the oldest bear in the settlent and her huge tongue was suddenly in my mouth as she kissed .
Mother! He is a guest! The blacksmith exclaid and the female bear growled while still kissing . It went right through and made my whole body vibrate, even more than the cat won's purrs did, and I felt like I needed to do her right away.
I grabbed the fur on the sides of her chin and pulled her face away to break the kiss. We need a bed!
She growled again, dropped to all fours as she held tightly to her chest, and ran into the dark cave on three legs.
MOTHERRRRRR! The blacksmith yelled after us. He was not stupid enough to enter her cave without permission and stood there with a forlorn look on his face.
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