Bloodfang And The Arctic Changelings

Our first night with the Neomorphs was a busy one. They seemed to have more questions about us then we could answer in an evening. Mostly they wanted to know what we were and where we came from.

There was one Neomorph female who seemed particularly interested in me. Her name was Little Jewel and, as Bloodfang and I sat talking with Star Storm, Full Moon and others, she kept staring at me for most of the night. It made me  uncomfortable and I did my best to ignore it.

Bloodfang got most of the attention, though. In a way I was glad of that since I was tired after our long journey through those frozen wastelands but seeing Bloodfang trying to deal with all of this unaccustomed attention bothered me just as much. I didn’t like seeing her discomfort trying to deal with something she just wasn’t used to.

Finally, after a few hours of this, Bloodfang simply rose to her hooves, smiled as best she could and announced that she was tired and it was time for her to rest.

That was Bloodfang, a creature of few words and the Neomorphs seemed to appreciate this. We were taken down a corridor and shown a sleeping cell. It wasn’t very big, maybe six feet by nine feet but it was enough to sleep in. We settled in for the night.

Warm and well fed but exhausted it took me almost no time at all before I was drifting off but Bloodfang was restless, kept tossing and turning. Something was bothering her. After an hour of that I realized she’d be doing it all night, she’d keep me awake and I wouldn’t get any sleep.

“Okay, what is it?”, I asked her rising up on my elbows sounding a little annoyed. She studied my eyes for a moment.

“You are mine”, she said, as if that explained everything. I wrapped my arm around her neck, drew her closer to me, snuggling her.

“Yeah, I know I’m yours. So what’s the problem?”, I said.

“Little Jewel wants you”, she said.

“That one who kept staring at me all night?”

“That one. She wants you.”

“How can you tell?”, I asked, “I mean, she might just be really curious. I mean, we’re not exactly a common sight around here.”

“I can tell”, she said. She looked concerned.

I sat up so we could face each other. She rose to her knees. I took her face in my hands and looked deeply into her blood red eyes.

“I have marked you. You are mine”, I said with all the sincerity I could muster. She gave me a look than giggled. To see this seven foot tall creature which had the appearance of something out of a nightmare giggle was something no one was likely ever to forget.

“Silly monkey! That’s something only mares do”, she said, still snickering.

Apparently in her mind my having done that was pretty much akin to Bulk Biceps showing up at the Grand Galloping Gala wearing an evening gown and heels. Still, I could tell she deeply appreciated the gesture and my reminder that I’d done that. Plus telling her directly to her face reassured her and we were finally able to settle down and get to sleep.

...

I was awakened the next morning by shouting at the entrance to our sleeping cell. I was alone. Bloodfang must have gotten up, already. I opened my eyes to find a rather grizzled and unusually muscular Neomorph smiling in at me from the entrance.

“Come!”, he smiled enthusiastically, “There’s work to be done.”

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stepped out into the corridor.

“I’m Slag. You’ve been assigned to work with me and my son, Jevith, today”, he smiled.

Maybe it was just me but I was surprised by his seeming friendliness which seemed beyond that of those Neomorphs I’d already met, an idea I was still trying to wrap my head around. After my own experiences in the Everfree forest friendly changelings of any kind struck me as odd.

“So, what’re we doing?”, I asked.

“You’ll be working with us in the foundry”, he smiled, giving me a pat on the back as we headed down the corridor.

“Jevith?”, I asked.

“My adopted son”, he said, a proud smile spreading on his face. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’d seen all the iron stuff, the table and platters and all”, I said, “I was wondering about that. How’d you get the iron for those?”

“We’ve been digging these caves out for decades”, he said, warming to the subject, “we found large veins of iron while we were doing that and, so, all the iron things we have.”

“That’s pretty lucky!”, I said.

“That it is! That it is!”, he said, pleased, as we entered the enormous main chamber.

I was amazed and slightly confused when I saw Bloodfang on the other side of the chamber happily romping and playing with dozens of laughing, giggling and joyfully squealing Neomorph foals.

My jaw dropped. I stopped and stared. I could never have imagined her like this, never thought I’d ever see her truly happy before but now she looked downright ecstatic as she settled down on some pelt pillows, gathered the little foals around her and began telling them stories, the toddlers gleefully hanging on her every word.

Seeing me across the chamber she smiled, raised and waved a hoof at me. Was I seeing things? Were her eyes sparkling? I smiled weakly but kept staring.

“Your mate?”, asked Slag.

“Yeah”, I said, nodding while still staring.

“You’re a lucky little monkey. I can tell already she’s a good one”, he said smiling and giving me a pat on the back before we turned and continued on to the foundry.

Then it hit me... Could it be? Had we, or at least she, found what we’d hoped to find on the other side of this world? I was definitely pleased by the thought. I wanted nothing more than for Bloodfang to be happy and, today, she definitely looked that way. I wondered as we crossed the chamber and headed down one of the corridors.

A short time later we entered a large, high ceilinged, hot and smoky chamber. The ringing clang of hammers on metal, the crackle of forge fires and the hiss of quenched metal filled the air.

Near the center of the chamber was one Neomorph who stood out. He was taller than the rest, more muscular than the rest and he had rather reptilian eyes with slitted pupils. He smiled when he saw us coming, started walking toward us.

“This is my son Jevith”, smiled Slag when the huge Neomorph joined us, greeted me. I didn’t notice it before because he was too far away but now that he was closer I could see that he was a very dark green, almost black and his skin was covered by tiny, overlapping scales.

He extended his hand to me. I shook it, surprised, since that was something none of the other Neomorphs were in the habit of doing.

“I’m Rick”, I said. Jevith pumped my hand enthusiastically.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m glad you could join us today”, he smiled, looking me up and down, “So, do you feel up to doing some hard work?” I suspected he thought I might not be up to it.

“Well, good luck to you, little monkey!”, smiled Scrag, patting me on the back before heading off across the foundry.

“Follow me”, smiled Jevith, as we walked over to a large, stone oven with a broad mouth in the front. Taking a deep breath, Jevith blew into it. White hot flame shot out of his mouth through the mouth of the forge and a second later the stones within glowed orange-white hot.

Stepping over to a table he grabbed a large, iron mallet, a pair of tongs and a scrap of metal bar. Returning he shoved one end of the bar into the white hot stones, handed a pair of thick, skin mittens. I slipped my hands into the mittens and waited. He then handed me the mallet.

I grabbed it but the weight of the mallet almost pulled me to the floor and it was everything I could do to keep from falling on my face and recover.

Others in the foundry who’d paused to look at us chuckled, amused.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”, asked Jevith, arching an eyebrow at me.

“Yeah! Sure!”, I grunted, hefting the mallet in my hand, getting used to the weight of it, “I just wasn’t expecting that.”

“Good! Then let’s get started!”, he grinned, pleased, giving me a pat on the back. A habit he’d gotten from his father, I thought?

A moment later he took the bar from the forge, it’s end now glowing orange, laid it on the tongue of an anvil.

“Let’s see how well you can do flattening that out”, he said, holding the bar for me.

I raised the mallet over the hot end of the bar, swung it downwards. It struck the bar at a slight angle, leaving an awkward dent.

“Here”, he said, taking the mallet from me, “Grip the handle closer to the center. That’ll give you better control.”

I took the mallet back, held it like he’d shown me, swung again. This time the mallet face struck the metal straight and true. I did it again. Again.

“Not bad for a beginner!”, he said with a pleased grin as he placed the bar back in the forge then handed me a pair of tongs.

“I think you’ll do well here”, he smiled, as he handed me the tongs, instructed me on how to handle the metal in the fire, what to watch for to let me know when the bar was hot enough to work.

He stepped back, put his arms behind his back and carefully watched me as I worked, giving correction and instruction when I needed it.

Even though my arms ached from the unaccustomed work and weight of the mallet I kept working, determined to show everyone that I was no weak little monkey, that I could work just as hard, just as well and just as long as any of them.

Within fifteen minutes I was sweating profusely, the sweat raining down off my forehead and running into my eyes. I had to stop several times to wipe my brow just in order to see what I was doing.

Jevith said nothing but stood with his arms folded across his chest, pleased to see that I was putting in a real effort.

“Break time!”, he said, patting me on the back again before handing me a soft, skin rag. Gasping from the effort, I wiped my face, glad for the bit of rest.

Taking a tong he picked up the bar I’d been hammering, inspected it.

“Good work!”, he smiled at me, “Not bad at all for your first day. You’ll need to watch your dimpling, though.” He was referring to the uneven rippling the hammer had left on the metal surface that made the surface look slightly wavy.

So, maybe it was the way I glanced at him from time to time, maybe it was because it was a question he always ended up being asked by strangers but, as we headed for a break table for water he said something to me that I’d found myself being curious about.

“My father was a changeling and my mother was a dragon”, he said casually, as if he’d said it a thousand times before, “I don’t know how she found this place but she left me here as a tiny drake.”

That’s when a thought hit me; Jevith was a halfling just like Bloodfang. No wonder the others had so openly accepted and welcomed her and, by extension, me. Halflings weren’t unknown to them after all.

“Oh!”, I said, a bit but not really surprised that he’d brought it up. After all, I had been curious about it.

“No one else here knew or was sure what to do with me when she left me”, he said, “Slag took me in and raised me as his own. He’s been a good father to me. I’m grateful to him for that.”

I smiled, nodded, glad that he’d told me this.

A moment later we took a seat at the break table. Jevith poured water into an iron mug, handed it to me, poured one for himself. Smiling, he held it up in front of him.

“To our new foundry worker”, he grinned, “May your hammer always strike true!”

“Thanks!”, I said, clinking my mug to his. Several of those sitting near us joined in with a cheer of their own. A moment later some of the other foundry workers joined us at the table, began talking with us. They seemed skeptical that I could go on doing the work. I even wondered, myself. My arms ached like crazy after doing this for so short a time and I dreaded to think what they’d feel like after a day of this.

Jevith reassured them that I was doing well so far and they seemed to relax, be more welcoming toward me. Before long we were all chatting and joking, having a good time, even though they thought it funny to tease me a bit about my being a ‘funny, pink monkey’, as they put it. I didn’t get offended as they didn’t mean anything bad by it since it was just good-natured joking after all.

...

I was glad when that work day was over! I’d done my best to keep up with the work I’d been given but after six hours of it my arms burned from the unaccustomed strain. Jevith had been very helpful, taking my arms in his hands and rubbing them vigorously to help ease the pain in my muscles. I appreciated that and thanked him for it.

Still, I found myself wondering how long I could do that work before I just had to quit and move on to something else.

“It takes everyone a while to get used to it”, Jevith told me reassuringly, “there isn’t anyone in that foundry who hasn’t gone through what you’re going through, now, so don’t let their teasing bother you. They’ll respect you when they see you’re willing to stick with it.

Yeah, I was really beginning to like this Jevith. He was not only friendly but very helpful and encouraging and it was clear to me he did want to see me do well here. I was grateful for that.

My heart melted as we stepped into the main chamber and I saw Bloodfang on the other side nestled into those pelt pillows, napping along with dozens of little foals either snuggled up against her or gathered close on little mats of their own. The look of peace on her face was angelic. I’d never seen her face like that before when she was sleeping.

Those working around her were making an effort not to wake her or the little foals, appreciative of her baby-sitting.

“She’s quite the babysitter”, smiled Jevith, nodding toward Bloodfang.

“Yeah”, I said, surprised. Jevith eyed me.

“You’ve never seen her do this, before?”, he asked.

“No”, I said, “we’d always been by ourselves, just us two, so I never had the chance to see what kind of mother she’d be.”

“It’s a changeling trait, it’s strong in her”, he smiled, as we headed out of the chamber and down another corridor. All I could do was smile at the thought that she’d turned out to have such a gentleness in her, something I’d gotten hints of but had never seen before now. It pleased me a lot more than I ever thought it would.

A short time later Jevith turned into a large high-ceilinged chamber. The air was hot, steamy and damp. It was then that I saw the pool that took up most of the floor and the stone benches that lined the walls, work clothes piled on various places on those benches.

Sitting in and around the steaming pool were other Neomorph stallions and mares soaking in the water. Some lay with their heads lolled against the rim napping, others chatting, relaxing.

“Now comes the best part of the day!”, said Jevith, a happily expectant smile on his face as he sat down on one of the stone benches, stripped off his work clothes and stepped into the steaming pool with a huge, happy sigh. Turning back at me he nodded for me to join him.

Well, this was just too good! How could I resist? I stripped off my own clothes and joined him.

The feel of that stinging hot water hitting my skin, slowly soaking into my muscles was sheer heaven as I settled down on the stone seat next to him.

He threw his arms over the rim, closed his eyes, laid his head back and I could practically hear him purring. Hell, I was practically purring, myself, as I followed suit, letting myself completely go and relax in that wonderful, comforting warmth.

The others in the pool either glanced at me and smiled or, engaged in deep conversation with others, paid us no mind and I was glad of it. After so long a day of hard work I didn’t feel up to answering a lot of questions.

I closed my eyes and settled down.

A short time later I heard the soft pad of Neomorph hooves on the stone floor as someone entered the chamber. I opened my eyes to see who it was.

It was Little Jewel, the filly who’d been staring at me the night before. She smiled and nodded at me before taking a seat, stripping down and settling into the pool opposite from us. Again, she sat staring gently at me, an odd look on her face that I couldn’t quite make out.

Jevith opened one eye, looked across the pool at her, closed his eyes again.

“Little Jewel”, he said softly.

“What’s with her?”, I asked, “she keeps staring at me.”

“She lost both of her parents in the last hoard attack. She was still very young. It devastated her.”

I looked at Jevith.

“Hoard attack?”, I asked, startled and now concerned.

“The Vile One found our colony some time ago. It brings its hoards from time to time to attack us, try to wipe us out. It never succeeds, though. We’ve managed to fight that thing off every time but each time the monster returns with a bigger, stronger force. We don’t know how long we can keep defeating her” He said in a sad, quiet voice.

“When you say The Vile One I’m guessing you’re referring to...”, I had to catch myself, stop myself from saying the name,  “The Changeling Queen?”

He nodded.

“So, what’s that got to do with Little Jewel staring at me?”, I asked.

“Many of the families here tried to adopt her but she refused, saying she was waiting for her father to arrive.”

“What, did she go crazy or something?”, I asked.

“A lot of us thought so at first but, other than that one thing, she didn’t seem crazy, just went on doing what she’d always done every day so, after a while, we just forgot about it, let her live her life”, he said.

I closed my eyes, laid my head back on the rim of the pool, trying to ignore Little Jewels stares and relax.

A moment later I heard the sound of water moving, the sound growing closer to me.

I opened my eyes to see a sweetly smiling Little Gem half walking, half swimming toward me. My stomach knotted with sudden nervousness as she sat down on the bench directly next to me, took my arm in her hands and, with a gentle sigh, laid her head on my shoulder.

Jevith was staring at us now, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

“Looks like from now on we’ll have to call you daddy instead of little monkey”, he joked, winking. All I could do was sit and stare down at the little filly now happily snuggling against my arm.

...

Relaxed and feeling a thousand times better after a long soak, I, Jevith and a now quietly following Little Jewel returned to the main chamber to find that the evening meal was being served, something I was glad about since I felt starved after the days work and could hardly wait to dig in.

I looked around, saw Bloodfang sitting on one side of the table happily eating and talking with several of the little foals I’d seen her with earlier in the day along with their parents. Again, she looked ecstatic and I was happy she was finding a place for herself among these Neomorphs.

I walked over, took a seat next to her, kissed her. She then started introducing me to the little foals and their parents. They seemed honestly happy to see me and greeted me warmly.

I then introduced Jevith to her and he took a seat with us at the table.

That’s when Bloodfang saw Little Jewel standing near us, staring at us again but not sure if she should join us.

“Your new lover?”, scowled Bloodfang at me.

“No, potentially our new daughter”, I said, shrugging. Bloodfang stared at me, confused. I then told her what Jevith had told me, about how she’d lost her parents and was ‘waiting for her father’.

Although Bloodfang’s face remained blank I saw tears welling in the corners of her eyes. It was clear that she was deeply touched by what she was hearing and was also feeling the renewed sting and pain of the loss of her own parents.

I finished telling her the story. She sat and looked down at the table for a moment before rising, stepping over to Little Jewel and began talking with her.

A moment later Bloodfang wrapped her arms around Little Jewel and hugged her, Little Jewel throwing her arms around Bloodfang’s neck and squeezing her tightly, looking like she didn’t want to let Bloodfang go.

A moment later both of them returned to the table and joined us. Bloodfang sat next to me again. I looked at her.

“I have claimed her. She is ours, now. We will keep her”, Bloodfang said with absolute certainty as Little Jewel happily settled down between us and we all began to eat.

Well, what could I do but smile? It obviously made Bloodfang happy to claim a daughter and I couldn’t help but feel good about suddenly finding myself with a brand new family.

Everyone around the huge table who’d been watching what had happened, seeing us all together now nodded and smiled their approval, obviously pleased that Little Jewel had finally found the one she’d been so patiently waiting for.

Again, I smiled. Perhaps Bloodfang had found the home we’d hoped we’d find. Only time would tell as how true that was.

Happy and content, I dug into my meal and ate heartily and couldn’t help but enjoy the thought that me and Bloodfang were finally home.