Stuff of Legends

By C. Marry Hultman

In the expansive and legendary world of Wargia tales of heroism, war, and danger spread like the Web, the name given to the magical force interlinking every living thing in the realm. Here nations fight each other for dominance when they are not engaged in bloody civil wars. The tales from the Web span eons and are as vast and varied as

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fables
• Release date: Jul 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9789189853119

Book preview

Legends of the Shapeshifter I

C. Marry Hultman

A black silhouette of a person holding a bow and arrow Description automatically generated with medium confidence Fables is an imprint of

Nordic Press

Kindlyckevägen 13

590 43 Rimforsa

Copyright 2023 by C. Marry Hultman

Stuff of Legends was first published in

Fields of Ruin from Black Ink Fiction 2021

978-91-89853-11-9

Cover by Plus Edlund

Formatting and setting by C. Marry Hultman

Publisher enquiries

www.nordicpresspublishing.com

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Stæph, I hear something, Ala whispered in the dark bedroom.

Only the embers, smoldering in the fireplace, gave off any form of light. Not enough for the ageing blacksmith as he turned over to face his wife.

Did you say something, dear? His voice thick with sleep.

I heard something, she repeated.

Stæph looked through the narrow window on his side of the rickety old bed. Ala had forced him to put it in. They could ill afford the price of glass, but she insisted, if only to impress the other women in the village. Secretly he enjoyed looking out over the open landscape as he lay waiting for sleep or waking to the morning sun. His father had built the blacksmith shop at the edge of the village, partly because he wanted to avoid black smoke enveloping other house and partly because he hated people. It meant that Stæph surrounded himself on three sides with uninhabited wilderness.

’Tis nothing but the world outside dear, he patted her on her leg and made to turn back on his side.

I know what wild animals sound like you fool, she bit back. Something is in the smithy.

With a groan, Stæph sat up, cocked his head to the side and listened. He could hear the crickets playing their minstrel songs amongst the blades of grass. The window caressing the leaves on the solitary fruit trees in his yard, but something else made a noise. A soft sound, barely audible, yet in the stillness of the moonless night almost a cacophony. Steps on hard stone floors and the only place that might be possible would be the smithy.

Stay here, he said to Ala, extending his arm towards her as some protective ward.

Be careful, she replied in a hushed voice. Whatever you do, make sure whatever it is does not get to the children.

Stæph nodded and picked up the warrior axe he kept by the side of the bed. It felt familiar, as his hand embraced like an old friend from long ago. Years had passed since he last wielded it, but reckoned he still knew how.

As deftly as he could, he moved from the bedroom, past the children’s room, quickly peering at them nestled in the large bed they shared. His eldest lifted her head and looked back at his giant frame, barely visible in the dark. Stæph put a finger to his lips, and she nodded in reply.

Slowly, he opened up the thick oak door that separated his dwelling and his workshop. The door swung with ease. Not a creek disrupted the night thanks to his near religious need to grease every hinge in his home. It gave him the advantage over whoever had invaded his private sphere. The large shutters he closed at the end of a workday to signify the business day done were still down, making the space dark. A few lonely embers glowed in the forge, but the night sky which usually seeped in through the hole above the forge did not cast any additional light. Monitoring his own breathing, he listened for the telltale signs of life.

When nothing materialized, he moved past the threshold and into the shop, taking a stick from a table and placing it in the forge. It burst into flames, taking more time than he would have liked, leaving him open to all would be intruders, but the warm illumination of fire made a great companion. The orange glow created long shadows along the walls, perfect for a body to hide