Chapter 2

Once Varzoth was woken up, by a more then loud yell into his ears by Lilith, it was time for them to become the guardians of the forge. Officially at least. Lilith and Varzoth walked out of his room to the lower forge, and met with Selene, Zaroth, and Malakath on the way there.

“So, what will this exactly do?” Selene asked, she was an apprentice of Azazel and Varzoth. Them both teaching her at times.

Lilith responded before Varzoth could, “Well two things, it will cement us as the guardians of the forge and it will help the village.”

They reached the forge room, Varzoth hadn’t been in here in a long time believe it or not. Not in his normal form at least. Once he crossed the threshold of the door, he felt the magic of the forge flow through him. He grew into his Fire-Emperor form, which he did not mean to do.

Malakath looked at him weirdly before saying, “Um, I don’t think this is the best place to go like that buddy.”

“I can’t be in here without being in this form, the power of the forge forces me to be like this.” Varzoth said in his deep voice the form forced him to have.

Lilith shook her head, almost in disapproval. From what? Their bickering? “Doesn’t matter, you can hold the forge power like this, yes?”

Varzoth nodded, “Yes, but for the guardians to be formed I must send all of the forges energy through all of us.”

“Perfect, then come on you three.” Lilith pulled the three children to the forge and they formed a circle. 

Varzoth started to pull the power that forced him into his state and focused on the forge itself, then he felt the feeling of an idea and he smiled. “I need you all to focus on the town, and the pump needed for it to work. We shall mold it with our thoughts when you're ready.”

Slowly his friends nodded, Lilith nodded straight away of course. “It’ll be easy! Just a quick mind mold.” Varzoth wanted to laugh so badly, but he couldn’t even smile. His thoughts were all in control of the forge.

An item came from the heart and slowly shaped itself in front of them, it twisted and turned. It stopped moving once it was fully done exactly to Varzoth and Lilith’s design. They all let go of each other and stared at what they just made, Varzoth explained what it was but not entirely how it worked. It would control the water underground to move toward it and upward with the spout. It should work as long as it is formed properly. Varzoth grabbed it with his large hands, and inspected it. He was worried somehow the connection between the item and the forge would falter, but it seemed to be intact. He held it into the air, and pronounced it happily. “We have made our first item, and announced ourselves the guardians of the forge.” He said, just as he said that the forge glowed. It made a holographic image of a demon who Varzoth hatted highly, one probably just as evil as the Emperor. Karnyx. The forge went on to show a little demon, not much younger than Zaroth, Sorra or Malakath. Whoever they were, they were being chased on hoppers by Karnyx, and they held an item in their hands. An item that Varzoth found very interesting.

“Is that what I think it is?” Asked Lilith.

Varzoth looked to the forge, then back to the image being shown. “Another forge.” The person seemed to be holding a strange box, but they were able to see through it to see another forge. The image turned to a line of words. A Heart is nothing without its body. Whatever the forge was telling them, it seemed that forge was the answer.

Zaroth read the words, “A Heart is nothing without its body? What does that mean?”

Varzoth was intently staring at the shown picture now, “It means the emperor did something else to the forge, and it’s about time we undo it.”

Varzoth, now back in his usual form, dragged his friends to where he believed the chase happened. It was just outside their camp, about a few miles east. Whatever was happening was very strange, a random demon finds another forge? There has only been one in the last hundred thousand years! Varzoth didn’t know what the forge was talking about, but whatever it was it couldn’t be good. Varzoth had only brought Lilith and Malakath, Zaroth and Selene were back at the village getting the well set up. Malakath had brought a new sword Varzoth had made for him, a greatsword that bridged off into two other swords. He basically had three swords instead of one, you’ll probably get it. Lilith brought her daggers Varzoth had made for her, they were made of pure pyromite and had loose cable strings on the handles. They can do some cool things like… Well you’ll see.

“So how long should this take?” Lilith asked, bored. She lay on a rock, waiting for the important’s to appear.

Varzoth shrugged, “Don’t know, all I know is the forge told us to come here.”

Lilith pulled out her daggers, they were short and sharp. They had rings that hung loosely from the handle. Malakath played with his sword making himself look scary, and held it weirdly. They had hid their hoppers behind a large rock hill, and prepared sand bags. They were small bags that could easily hide a person, and blended in perfectly into the ground. They only saw each other because they were all under one big one. Covering multiple rocks, it was like a tent covered in sand.

Malakath threw up his hands, “Nothing in sight might as well leave.” Just as he said that Lilith motioned for us to get down, they’d all learned sign language from all the people they were taking in. They learned to speak it fluently and used it on all their missions, once Malakath and Varzoth had gotten down they went over to the tents windows. Through the sand they saw shadows and glimmers of light and dark, but once Varzorth moved a little he saw important’s. Chasing what seemed to be a small boy, he was the one the forge told them to find. Varzoth gestured for them to see that he was the boy they were after. Lilith put a thumbs up.

“I only did sign language because I didn’t know if we were being heard right?” Lilith asked.

Varzoth shook his head, “No idea.” He came out from behind the tent, and put on his hood. He grew to full size, and started walking to the coming people. Immediately most of the men stopped, remembering the legend that Varzoth now was. Lilith and Malakath came from behind him, hooded and masked as well. The soldiers neared, the one in front didn’t stop. Not until they were in front of Varzoth, he got off his hopper. And held the makeshift box that Varzoth had created three years ago, “How did you make this.” Varzoth asked in his deep voice.

“I found blueprints of them.” The person was a girl definitely smaller than Varzoth’s friends.

Varzoth held out his hands, “Give it to me.” The girl was reluctant, but handed it over slowly. “You are a smart girl, we will defend you.” Lilith and Malakath walked ahead of them. “Do you know who I am?” Varzoth asked. The girl nodded. “Who am I?”

“You are Varzoth Soulrender, leader of the rebellion. Feared by all important’s, and keeper of the forge.” She said,

“You know who I am, but who are you? All questions I hope shall be answered,” Varzoth pulled off his hood, and showed his forge form face. “Stay. Watch, hopefully enjoy! We’ll talk soon.” Varzoth turned to the soldiers, and pulled out his powerful weapon. The Sword of Flame. He pointed it to the soldiers, “What is your business here!” His voice echoed through the valley, he still held his old contraption.

Finally a soldier stepped up, “None of yours! Give the box and the girl to us and we’ll be on our way!”

Varzoth considered this proposition, but only for a moment. “You have taken enough from the land of Romania! You shall take no more! We take the girl and the box!”

Lilith leaned in, “Why are we taking her? She could be a spy.”

“She was running, why would she run?” Lilith nodded.

“What do you want with the girl?” Asked the soldier.

“We see she is not happy in this world, as are we. We help those who can’t help themselves.” Said Varzoth. The soldiers readied their weapons, and Varzoth just smiled. “I see! Let’s see what you can really do.”