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“Of Heart and Stone” by Solomon Harries (read by the author)
A fox and a bear take a hard look at whether the adventuring life is still for them. The bear tries out some enchanting skills and realizes perhaps he has another passion too…
Today’s story is “Of Heart and Stone” by Solomon Harries, who’s really just glad to be here. You can find this tale in an interactive form on Itch.io, and you might eventually find more of his stories on SoFurry.
Read by the Author.
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https://thevoice.dog/episode/of-heart-and-stone-by-solomon-harries
Transcript
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:This is Rob MacWolf, your fellow traveler,
Speaker:and Today’s story is
Speaker:“Of Heart and Stone”
Speaker:by Solomon Harries,
Speaker:who’s really just glad to be here.
Speaker:You can find this tale in an interactive form
Speaker:on Itch.io,
Speaker:and you might eventually find more of his stories
Speaker:on SoFurry. Read by the Author.
Speaker:Please enjoy “Of Heart and Stone”
Speaker:by Solomon Harries
Speaker:“You know those magical eyes of yours really creep me out,”
Speaker:the tall hooded fox says as he runs toward the sludge-covered creature.
Speaker:He flings two daggers in quick succession.
Speaker:Each dagger makes a satisfying squelch sound as it sinks into the chest of the creature,
Speaker:which lets out a gurgling, painful scream and curls its eerily long, clawed limbs.
Speaker:In response, the sludgewraith begins to exude even more dark, earthy, ichorous sludge from every pore.
Speaker:The sound of a short sword rings as Thorn pulls it free of its scabbard.
Speaker:“Yeah, well, you try seeing behind you without them!”
Speaker:his nearby burly bear companion grunts as he spins his staff around.
Speaker:A ghostly halo of translucent green, slit-pupiled eyes rotates rapidly above his head,
Speaker:each pointing in a different direction, tracking the five wraiths as they threaten him and his traveling companion.
Speaker:Sure, it’s a little creepy.
Speaker:Sekyr’s rear claws sink into the dirt and twist.
Speaker:The bear raises his staff to strike the ichor-dripping enemy in front of him.
Speaker:Sludge splashes and another gurgled scream echoes off the stone walls.
Speaker:His left paw then flies off the staff and he points his palm directly behind him,
Speaker:releasing a fine beam of green-white light square into the chest of another one.
Speaker:Black sludge flies in all directions as the creature explodes,
Speaker:momentarily lighting up the cave’s dark stone walls.
Speaker:“See?” Sekyr calls out.
Speaker:Thorn’s short sword flashes as it flies left and right;
Speaker:the brightly reflective blade is immediately soiled by the dark goo.
Speaker:“I’m kinda busy right now, buddy, but I’m sure that was very impressive.
Speaker:What did the badger need those rocks for, anyway?”
Speaker:“He explained it at length, weren’t you listening?”
Speaker:came the reply from the bear
Speaker:as he throws his weight into a palm strike square to another wraith’s chest, sending it staggering backwards. “Alphonse said he needed sylvanite to amplify the influence fields from the-” The fox interrupted,
Speaker:“Nevermind, sorry I asked.”
Speaker:His short sword cleanly lops off a wraith’s head,
Speaker:sending it spinning into the air.
Speaker:Muck flies in all directions.
Speaker:“Oh, gods, some got in my mouth,”
Speaker:he gags and spits out the earthy, moldy taste.
Speaker:The bear ducks an incoming slash from unsettlingly long, sludge-drenched claws and takes a quick step forward, staying low.
Speaker:He checks his positioning with a glance and bursts upwards,
Speaker:using his sizable ursine belly to bounce the monster straight backward.
Speaker:Its dripping mouth opens in surprise as it impacts the cave wall.
Speaker:Sekyr says, “Hey, I bet you like having goo in your- AAAAARGH!”
Speaker:His sentence cuts and transitions into a deep roar as he feels the pain of claws gashing across his back.
Speaker:His cheeks grow hot, realizing the careless risk he’d taken by becoming distracted.
Speaker:The magical halo of eyes winks out of existence as Sekyr’s concentration breaks.
Speaker:The wraith’s dark oozy claws ready for a second strike,
Speaker:but then a short sword pierces the creature’s chest from behind.
Speaker:“That’s a low blow, buddy,”
Speaker:the fox smirks as he pulls out.
Speaker:The statement is lost on the bear, who’s already facing the last sludgewraith on the cave wall.
Speaker:Sekyr’s eyes burn with intensity as he roars and slashes repeatedly at the sludge-beast’s chest,
Speaker:until its shredded lower half slumps to the ground,
Speaker:its upper half staying glued to the wall half due to the sticky sludge and half because the bear’s clawed impacts
Speaker:keep pressing it back as it begins to slide down.
Speaker:Thorn’s soft voice rings in the cavern.
Speaker:“Hey, hey, hey. Buddy.”
Speaker:The fox touches Sekyr’s shoulder.
Speaker:The bear turns quickly, teeth bared and claws stretched.
Speaker:Thorn barely has time to twitch, let alone dodge -
Speaker:Rage-filled eyes turn to fear as Sekyr realizes whom he’s attacking.
Speaker:The large tense muscles under the fur soften and go slack.
Speaker:The paw falls. Their eyes meet.
Speaker:Dozens of old conversations between them echo in their heads.
Speaker:The bear turns away, ashamed.
Speaker:Thorn says sheepishly,
Speaker:“You’re fine, big guy,”
Speaker:and walks over to stand on the chest of one of the defeated wraiths and pulls his daggers out with a squelch.
Speaker:“Ugh.” There’s no time to wipe the daggers off, though -
Speaker:his ears perk and pan toward the heart of the cave.
Speaker:He hears what sounds like a very heavy bipedal creature coming at a full run.
Speaker:Each step is punctuated by loud squishing sounds,
Speaker:leaving no doubt in his mind where the daddy sludgewraith is.
Speaker:“Hey Sekyr? We got incoming.”
Speaker:The bear quickly wipes the sweat and sludge off of his brow, sending more black ichor flying and splattering into the cave wall
Speaker:as he peers into the darkness.
Speaker:A deep gurgling roar shakes the cavern.
Speaker:Sekyr picks up his staff as he raises an eyebrow.
Speaker:“I think we can take him.” ~
Speaker:Hackles rise, wraith
Speaker:roars. Fears form,
Speaker:claws maul. Two dance,
Speaker:muck flings. Knives fly,
Speaker:swords slash. Staff swings,
Speaker:lights flash. Hands join,
Speaker:hope soars. Fears fade,
Speaker:wraith falls Eyes meet,
Speaker:souls sing. ~ Later that day, as the evening sun threatens sunset,
Speaker:the tall fox and the rotund bear arrive at the shore of the river they had crossed earlier,
Speaker:the bear now also carrying two large sacks of the green rocks they’d collected from the cave.
Speaker:Partially dried muck adorns their faces and their robes,
Speaker:in many places mixed with blood from their wounds.
Speaker:The tall amber grass field waves slowly in the distance as they find a sandy area to wade in.
Speaker:Thorn unbuckles his leather armor, weapon sheaths and satchel and leaves them in the dry sand,
Speaker:then strips to his loincloth.
Speaker:His lithe yet muscular body is covered in tan fur,
Speaker:with several scar lines of missing hair where he’s been injured over the years.
Speaker:He looks down at his robe.
Speaker:The dark green of the coarse fabric is barely visible under the accumulated filth.
Speaker:The fox dips his robe in the water repeatedly and watches the sludge dissolve and drift away downriver as a black cloud in the water.
Speaker:Sekyr drops the sacks of rocks, his staff, pouches, and their bedroll next to Thorn’s things, and he unties the rope securing
Speaker:his robes.
Speaker:Sekyr’s got a stouter build, with heavily built arms and legs and a big, round, tight gut.
Speaker:He clearly does not believe in the utility of undergarments.
Speaker:The bear squats down and also begins the slow process of removing the sludge.
Speaker:They wash in exhausted silence,
Speaker:comfortable both with their victory over the Sludgewraiths,
Speaker:and with each other’s present company.
Speaker:As the sunset turns a deep orange-red,
Speaker:with their garments clean and hung on a nearby tree
Speaker:(Thorn’s loincloth included),
Speaker:the pair see to each others’ muck-caked fur.
Speaker:Sekyr sits up to his neck in the cool water as Thorn rubs the fur on his shoulders,
Speaker:releasing more clouds of gray that swirl and drift in the water. “Yikes, that muckfucker really did a number on your back here,”
Speaker:the fox says, gingerly cleaning the long gashes on the bear’s back.
Speaker:Sekyr doesn’t respond,
Speaker:doesn’t even flinch when Thorn touches the wounds.
Speaker:Sensing something wrong,
Speaker:Thorn moves around and squats in front of the bear.
Speaker:Sekyr just looks down into the rippling water,
Speaker:not making eye contact.
Speaker:Thorn recognizes the blank look on his face.
Speaker:“Hey buddy. What’s got you down?”
Speaker:he asks. After a long pause, the bear responds, still not making eye contact.
Speaker:“Back in the cave…
Speaker:I did it again. I’m sorry.
Speaker:I… I don’t want to be angry, Thorn.
Speaker:I really, really don’t like it.”
Speaker:The corners of his mouth tug down. Sekyr’s mind is suddenly filled with grim memories,
Speaker:his old cycles of alcohol-tinged rage feeling far too close to the surface.
Speaker:The bear’s eyes squeeze shut as tears begin to flow.
Speaker:Thorn cups Sekyr’s face with his paws.
Speaker:“Hey, hey. Buddy. Look at me.”
Speaker:A moment passes as the bear takes a breath.
Speaker:Thorn continues,
Speaker:“You did great, okay?
Speaker:Everyone gets angry. It happens.
Speaker:You can’t stop it.
Speaker:Remember what your shifu said.
Speaker:What’s important is what you choose to do with the anger, right?
Speaker:You didn’t hurt anything that didn’t deserve it.”
Speaker:The bear can’t articulate,
Speaker:but he looks urgently into Thorn’s eyes.
Speaker:“Not this time”, his look says.
Speaker:“But what about next time?
Speaker:What if it’s you?” Sekyr’s eyes squeeze shut again
Speaker:as the river ripples with his quiet sobs.
Speaker:Cool water gives way to gentle warmth as Thorn pulls the bear in for a hug.
Speaker:The last of the grime from their fur drifts lazily down the river as their bodies meet.
Speaker:The fox holds the bear tight
Speaker:as the tears flow.
Speaker:A warm breeze picks up,
Speaker:ruffling the fur on their ears.
Speaker:Cave swallows flit back and forth overhead,
Speaker:catching their evening’s meal.
Speaker:Sekyr opens his eyes, snorts indecorously,
Speaker:then says “I just… Do we have to keep doing this?
Speaker:Is our life only fighting dirty cave monsters?
Speaker:When will we find a place where we can relax and just…be?”
Speaker:Thorn takes a moment.
Speaker:His best friend is an amazing fighter,
Speaker:but it seems every job takes a bigger toll on him.
Speaker:It’s time for a change.
Speaker:The fox says, “I hear you buddy.
Speaker:From this job, we’ll have enough to live on for a while.
Speaker:We don’t have to keep clearing out monsters,
Speaker:we’ll find something else.
Speaker:Starting right here,
Speaker:right now. Let’s just be.”
Speaker:Silence falls as the fox and the bear breathe together,
Speaker:relaxing into each other’s warmth.
Speaker:The last of the sunset colors recede to a dim blue.
Speaker:Sekyr takes a few more deep breaths in Thorn’s embrace.
Speaker:“No more monsters?”
Speaker:“No more monsters.
Speaker:Hey, maybe we can see if the enchanter wants to take on an apprentice.”
Speaker:The bear smiles at the idea.
Speaker:“I’d like that.” Cool water ripples around the embracing pair as the last of the daylight wanes. ~
Speaker:Weary heart, plans made.
Speaker:Tears clear, fur dried.
Speaker:Crickets chirp, birds nest.
Speaker:Tent pitched, fire lit.
Speaker:Food cooked, friends sit.
Speaker:Wounds heal, scars fade.
Speaker:Laid down, inside,
Speaker:Bodies warm, souls
Speaker:rest. ~ After a few days’ travel,
Speaker:the tall fox and the heavyset bear find themselves in Alphonse the badger’s workshop,
Speaker:watching intently.
Speaker:The badger frowns as he sits down.
Speaker:He picks up one of the green rocks from the sack and holds it up to an eye.
Speaker:It’s actually a fairly large cottage,
Speaker:made to appear small by shelves upon shelves of parts -
Speaker:gears, tubes, glass containers of all sizes,
Speaker:some empty but most containing sorted samples of minerals, crystals, and herbs.
Speaker:A fireplace burns at one end of the cottage,
Speaker:one lone easy chair adorning the worn rug.
Speaker:The badger’s workbench sits in the center of the large room,
Speaker:various bins of gears and tubes on its surface and a pile of parts off to the left.
Speaker:Lowering a purple lens over his goggles, the badger squints.
Speaker:“Can’t see a thing,”
Speaker:he says, and presses one finger to his nose.
Speaker:His eyes close for a moment.
Speaker:He breathes out the Luminance spell,
Speaker:and the tip of his nose starts to glow with a pure white light.
Speaker:His eyes open wide, a look of…
Speaker:perhaps disgust on his face,
Speaker:and he turns quickly away from the workbench and releases an intense sneeze. A sparse trail of luminous mucus appears on the floor.
Speaker:A cloud of bright mist hangs in the air beside him.
Speaker:The onlooking fox,
Speaker:who just previously had been quiet and tense,
Speaker:attempts now to suppress a snicker. “...
Speaker:is that supposed to happen?”
Speaker:asks the bear, his cheeks growing hot with embarrassment for his buddy’s lack of decorum.
Speaker:He steps in front of Thorn, who begins to howl openly with laughter.
Speaker:From behind a still-glowing nose,
Speaker:Alphonse responds,
Speaker:“Technically no,
Speaker:but it always seems to make me sneeze.
Speaker:It’s worth it, easier to see this way.”
Speaker:He looks down at the chunk of sylvanite and says,
Speaker:“These are all really high quality.
Speaker:Usually half of them are unusable.”
Speaker:The badger turns to Thorn. “How did
Speaker:you know which ones to get?”
Speaker:The fox, who immediately stops his laughing fit, holds up his paws.
Speaker:“Don’t look at me! Sekyr did the gathering.
Speaker:I was on the lookout for more of those awful mud monsters.
Speaker:monsters.” The bear offers, “You said they were for influence fields, so I tried channeling a little chi-energy push through each one.
Speaker:Some of them didn’t respond.
Speaker:Some of them exploded.
Speaker:These ones seemed to amplify the push, so I figured they were the ones you needed.”
Speaker:The badger’s eyebrows raised.
Speaker:“Well, color me impressed.
Speaker:Here, I want you to have a look at something.”
Speaker:He clears an area in the center of his workbench,
Speaker:placing a fist-sized bright red crystalline stone onto a little brass pedestal.
Speaker:The stone glows from within,
Speaker:swirls of pink hues mixed with deeper scarlet,
Speaker:refracted into geometric lines by the rough faceted surface.
Speaker:The badger beckons.
Speaker:“Come get a closer look, Sekyr.”
Speaker:The bear takes a few short steps to stand behind the badger.
Speaker:“What am I looking at?”
Speaker:he asks. “You tell me,”
Speaker:Alphonse responds,
Speaker:as he vacates his seat.
Speaker:Sekyr sits down on the stool gingerly,
Speaker:aware of his heavy body,
Speaker:and takes a close look at the red crystal.
Speaker:As he leans in, thin lines of golden runes reveal themselves etched into the surface of the stone.
Speaker:The bear says, “I see…
Speaker:oh, this one’s a trans-planar binding, looks like it flows into…
Speaker:oh, that’s the near-field kinetic influence here,
Speaker:okay.” Wonder fills Sekyr as he continues to read the runes.
Speaker:He would never have thought to combine the sequences in this way.
Speaker:The badger has such a unique style.
Speaker:Sekyr can feel the way the lines direct the magical energy,
Speaker:the multidimensional fabric of reality bending along them. “...
Speaker:“...and there are a dozen sequences I can’t begin to identify.
Speaker:How long did it take for you to come up with all of this?”
Speaker:the bear says, with palpable amazement.
Speaker:Alphonse looks away and scratches his chin,
Speaker:the white hair on his otherwise black-furred snout
Speaker:quite evident. “Longer than I’d care to admit.
Speaker:Want to see it in action?”
Speaker:Thorn, who suddenly starts paying attention again,
Speaker:says with concerned eyes,
Speaker:“It’s not…dangerous, is it?”
Speaker:Alphonse holds up his mechanical left arm, the dark metal gleaming in the light from his nose.
Speaker:“You’ll probably be fine,”
Speaker:he says with a smirk.
Speaker:Then, to Sekyr he asks,
Speaker:“See anything else interesting in there?”
Speaker:Sekyr considers for a second,
Speaker:turning his attention back to the red stone.
Speaker:He reaches up to indicate a rune sequence.
Speaker:“This one in particular,
Speaker:it feels… I don’t know how to say it. Crunchy, maybe?”
Speaker:The badger smiles.
Speaker:“Aha! I’m glad you pointed that out.
Speaker:That sequence took me a very long time to figure out.
Speaker:You see, the Summoning spell I anchored into the heartstone is by its nature ephemeral,
Speaker:but we want to create something more permanent.
Speaker:Generally you’d slowly create that permanence through continuous enchanting over time.
Speaker:But the sequence, with the incomplete termination markers,
Speaker:it captures some of the receding energy and loops it back in,
Speaker:enabling the enchantment to strengthen over time.”
Speaker:The bear’s eyes go wide with realization.
Speaker:“That’s genius!” he exclaims, getting up from the workbench.
Speaker:His eyes then suddenly narrow with confusion.
Speaker:“But wait, wouldn’t that
Speaker:-” “Yeah, it makes it considerably more tricky to activate,
Speaker:but in the end
Speaker:I think it’s worth the extra trouble.” “Alright, let’s get started.”
Speaker:Alphonse picks up what looks like a small harness made with loops of gold,
Speaker:and nestles the heartstone inside.
Speaker:Tightening the loops, he grabs the crystal in his paws,
Speaker:with each claw tip in what looks to be a specific locus where the rune lines intersect.
Speaker:His eyes close, his brow furrows.
Speaker:A chant slowly rises under his breath,
Speaker:an ancient language with a rhythmic, singsong quality to it.
Speaker:A breeze picks up in the room,
Speaker:accompanied by a hint of ozone,
Speaker:and his claws begin to glow white.
Speaker:Beams of light begin to bounce around inside the crystal,
Speaker:and red rays shoot outward.
Speaker:The light twists out of the crystal
Speaker:and starts to form shapes in the air.
Speaker:Vague hints of gears and lever shapes appear,
Speaker:moving about but still attached to the heartstone’s faceted surface.
Speaker:The light within the heartstone changes shape,
Speaker:orbiting around the center.
Speaker:It tightens, laboriously,
Speaker:until it’s a red core of energy right in the middle.
Speaker:One of the wisps of white light radiating from the stone suddenly turns jagged,
Speaker:red. Its motion stutters,
Speaker:arcs behind Alphonse’s back.
Speaker:Sekyr’s eyes widen as he sees it and frowns.
Speaker:The bear does a quick calculation and steps forward.
Speaker:Fingers of each paw bend into a very specific shape.
Speaker:His foot claws tighten and dig slightly into the floorboards as he grounds himself and his hands rise to meet the errant red energy.
Speaker:His claws glow red as the capturing shapes anchor the wisp,
Speaker:binding its chaotic essence as it fights to break free.
Speaker:Almost got it, he thinks,
Speaker:as he musters his chi energy and focuses.
Speaker:His grip tightens.
Speaker:A slow, labored twist of his wrists causes the stuttering motion to weaken,
Speaker:softens the bent lines,
Speaker:turns the red back to white.
Speaker:The bear releases the now-calmed wisp and takes a breath.
Speaker:He steps back, keeps his attention up for any more errant magical energy,
Speaker:and looks to the badger, who’s still chanting slowly.
Speaker:From the shelves, various gears and tubes rise from their containers and swirl lazily around Alphonse.
Speaker:Alphonse opens his eyes;
Speaker:his pupils glow white as they reflect,
Speaker:infuse the energy of the glowing core of the heartstone as he picks a brass gear from the air.
Speaker:Without releasing his focus, the badger takes it with one hand and brings it close to the heartstone,
Speaker:and it gets pulled,
Speaker:almost magnetically,
Speaker:to float about an inch away from the surface,
Speaker:and it starts spinning regularly to the same rhythm of the chant.
Speaker:A few more gears and a few tubes, delicately placed,
Speaker:and each snaps into position.
Speaker:The bright glow from the stone subsides to the familiar dull red,
Speaker:and the breeze dies down.
Speaker:He lets out a long, exhausted breath. “There we go. Looks like it worked.”
Speaker:He hefts the heartstone with its gears and tubes floating,
Speaker:and brings it over to a spot on the floor,
Speaker:to a heap of leather and brass that before looked like a pile of spare parts but now it appears to actually
Speaker:be a mechanical body,
Speaker:four-legged, about the size of an adult feral wolf.
Speaker:The badger pulls up a panel on its chest,
Speaker:revealing a cavity in the center of the torso,
Speaker:and lowers the heartstone into it.
Speaker:The tubes on the stone seem to reach for the inside of the opening,
Speaker:and as he puts it in,
Speaker:the tubes connect on their own,
Speaker:and the gears mesh with gears inside and begin to rotate.
Speaker:Puffs of steam pop gently out of the exhaust vents in the torso.
Speaker:Alphonse stares into the wolf-thing’s eyes as they slowly start to glow a blue-green color.
Speaker:“Wolf. Do you hear me?”
Speaker:At first, there’s no response, no movement except for the slowly reciprocating gears inside and escaping steam.
Speaker:The blue-green eyes twitch now, and focus on Alphonse.
Speaker:“Good. Okay, Sekyr, I need seven of the sylvanite stones,”
Speaker:the badger says. The bear hurries to the sack, grabbing a large pawful and spreading them out on the workbench.
Speaker:He knows that even though they’re all good quality, each stone has its own energy
Speaker:and they have to play well together.
Speaker:He holds his paw above the table and closes his eyes.
Speaker:The residual heartstone energy in the surface of the workbench interacts with the stones.
Speaker:He feels the resonance of each stone as he passes over it.
Speaker:Thorn looks from the bear to the badger.
Speaker:Alphonse is looking intently at Sekyr,
Speaker:with a big smile on his face.
Speaker:The fox thinks, “Was that a test?”
Speaker:The bear gathers up the seven most resonant stones and brings them to Alphonse,
Speaker:who switches quickly back to a stoic expression when the bear looks up at him.
Speaker:“The stones go in each of these little chambers,”
Speaker:the badger indicates with a claw,
Speaker:two of them along the spine,
Speaker:one each in the elbows and knees, and one in the neck.
Speaker:Hesitantly, Sekyr closes his paw over the stones,
Speaker:which he had been holding out to Alphonse.
Speaker:“Oh. Um, okay.” The bear moves forward and places a stone in each slot.
Speaker:The stones glow momentarily and flicker out.
Speaker:That doesn’t seem right.
Speaker:Sekyr looks to Alphonse.
Speaker:The badger just looks back,
Speaker:and doesn’t move.
Speaker:He raises an eyebrow and gestures as if to say,
Speaker:“Well? What are you going to
Speaker:do?” Sekyr looks from Alphonse back to Thorn, then to the mechanical wolf’s body.
Speaker:Tentatively, he places one claw on the heartstone -
Speaker:on a spot where the rune lines intersect -
Speaker:and one claw on the sylvanite stone in the middle of the back.
Speaker:He closes his eyes and clears his mind.
Speaker:He can feel the pulse of the heartstone,
Speaker:the rhythmic chant that Alphonse infused into it.
Speaker:And there, the sylvanite has its own rhythm,
Speaker:pushing and pulling in strange
Speaker:disordered syncopations.
Speaker:The bear lets out a breath.
Speaker:Every few seconds, there’s a moment where the sylvanite’s rhythm lines up with the heartstone.
Speaker:His intent focuses on amplifying the concordant beats,
Speaker:and adjusting the others,
Speaker:until the green rhythm and the red rhythm are in perfect synchrony.
Speaker:He opens his eyes.
Speaker:The sylvanite he’s touching is glowing a brilliant green.
Speaker:Alphonse claps and exclaims, “Aha!
Speaker:Good! Was that just beginner’s luck?
Speaker:Let’s see you do it with the others.”
Speaker:The badger’s wearing a broad smile openly now.
Speaker:Sekyr repeats the task five more times,
Speaker:and each time gets a little more difficult.
Speaker:He feels the rhythms from all the previous stones,
Speaker:each time having to line up the new stone’s rhythm with the ones before.
Speaker:Thorn watches the badger intently while Sekyr is working on the stones,
Speaker:and Alphonse looks over to Thorn after the sixth.
Speaker:The badger gives him a look as if to ask
Speaker:“Where did you find this guy?” -
Speaker:and the fox just shrugs.
Speaker:The neck stone gives Sekyr some pause.
Speaker:Eyes closed, he feels the heartstone’s rhythm
Speaker:and the other six stones,
Speaker:the power of each amplified and overriding the newest stone.
Speaker:The intensity begins to overwhelm him,
Speaker:and he hears a pop. Looking down,
Speaker:the green neck stone has cracked in two, and a puff of luminous smoke drifts away.
Speaker:Thorn sees the disappointment on his buddy’s face,
Speaker:the flash of anger.
Speaker:The bear closes his eyes,
Speaker:takes a breath, and looks up at Alphonse,
Speaker:who’s already holding a new sylvanite stone out to the bear.
Speaker:“Try again,” the badger says gently.
Speaker:Sekyr takes the stone, the self-doubt loud in his mind.
Speaker:It tells him he can’t do it,
Speaker:that he’ll always be stuck fighting for his life.
Speaker:That he’ll never make anything good,
Speaker:and no one will truly appreciate him.
Speaker:He looks at Alphonse,
Speaker:seeing the gentle encouragement on the badger’s face.
Speaker:He looks at Thorn,
Speaker:and his heart lifts a little bit.
Speaker:His buddy, through thick and thin.
Speaker:All of the adventures they've shared,
Speaker:both the tense moments and the tender ones, come to mind.
Speaker:It seems as long as he can remember, they've
Speaker:been there for each other,
Speaker:tending to each other's every need.
Speaker:And here Thorn is
Speaker:yet still, ready to give up the adventuring life that he loves so much,
Speaker:to join his - the word ‘friend’ doesn’t really capture it any more -
Speaker:to join his partner
Speaker:on this new journey.
Speaker:In that single moment,
Speaker:Sekyr feels the rhythms of his own soul finally lining up,
Speaker:finally in sync. Thorn,
Speaker:the thought of his name now quickens his heartbeat.
Speaker:I love you. The bear accepts the new stone from Alphonse’s paw, and replaces the broken pieces.
Speaker:Then, with his finger still on the stone, he looks straight into Thorn’s green eyes.
Speaker:The rhythms line up immediately.
Speaker:The neck stone glows with an intense brightness,
Speaker:and Alphonse pulls a lever that closes a brass iris over it.
Speaker:The bear looks into the wolf’s glowing blue-green eyes.
Speaker:The mechanical wolf’s tail finally makes a feeble bounce.
Speaker:“Can you get up?” the badger asks the wolf, gently.
Speaker:The wolf body starts twitching,
Speaker:like a newborn pup yet ignorant of how to use its limbs.
Speaker:But slowly, steadily,
Speaker:as the blue eyes dim with the effort,
Speaker:it seems to find its footing and stand shakily on its four feet.
Speaker:The metal jaw opens and a leather tongue hangs out.
Speaker:Its tail begins to wag back and forth.
Speaker:The badger sits on the floor with a grunt.
Speaker:“Come here, you.” He gently strokes the leather panels on the mechanical wolf’s neck as it looks around,
Speaker:ears panning this way and that.
Speaker:“Thanks for your help, Sekyr.
Speaker:You seem to have quite a talent for enchanting.
Speaker:Do you do this a lot?” The bear steps forward to greet the new wolf.
Speaker:“Not at all, I’ve really only read about it.
Speaker:I’m just glad I could contribute.
Speaker:I wanted to ask, though -
Speaker:do you think you might consider taking on an apprentice?” Alphonse gives Sekyr a thoughtful look,
Speaker:but needs no time to decide.
Speaker:“I’ve never met anyone else with such a knack for enchanting.
Speaker:I’d be happy to teach you.”
Speaker:A huge smile grows on the bear’s face and tears fill his eyes.
Speaker:“Thank you,” he manages to choke out.
Speaker:“Thank you so much!” ~
Speaker:Some time later, the fox, bear, and badger sit by the fireplace,
Speaker:eating Alphonse’s deliciously prepared biscuits and gravy for dinner. The badger and Sekyr talk animatedly about runes and enchantments.
Speaker:Thorn had taken an immediate liking to the mechanical wolf,
Speaker:and the two had played together as the wolf gained strength over the course of the day.
Speaker:The mechanical dog now lays in front of the fire, resting.
Speaker:Its chest rises up and down as its steam bellows fill and release.
Speaker:Thorn’s thoughts turn inward.
Speaker:It feels good, here with his belly full, and his body warm,
Speaker:after a day filled not with the intensity of battle, but rather the gentler stresses of running around with a quick-learning mechanical wolf.
Speaker:This could work, he thinks.
Speaker:The fox suspects he may come to miss the excitement of a good fight,
Speaker:but if Sekyr is happy here,
Speaker:that’s more than enough reason to stick around.
Speaker:Thorn looks up at his partner.
Speaker:The bear smiles as he converses with Alphonse,
Speaker:something about stabilizing an energy vortex.
Speaker:Sekyr looks over at Thorn and his grin grows ever so slightly larger before he looks back at Alphonse to continue the conversation.
Speaker:The fox continues to eat his dinner with a contented smile on his face.
Speaker:He looks down at the gravy and thinks,
Speaker:“Well, as thick oozes go, this one’s a lot better.
Speaker:And maybe he’ll stop using those creepy snake eyes.”
Speaker:He chuckles quietly to himself.
Speaker:And something’s different about Sekyr.
Speaker:Looks like that little job interview had a big effect on him.
Speaker:Thorn would have to make sure to ask him about it later. ~
Speaker:Eyes meet, beat drops.
Speaker:Stones glow, wolf wakes.
Speaker:One bear, one Thorn.
Speaker:New home, safe space.
Speaker:Each day, embrace.
Speaker:Mind sees, time stops.
Speaker:Hearts beat, earth quakes.
Speaker:Souls join, love born. ~
Speaker:This was “Of Heart and Stone”
Speaker:by Solomon Harries, read by the Author.
Speaker:You can find more stories on the web at thevoice.dog,
Speaker:or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker:Thank you for listening to The Voice of Dog.
