Pool of Twilight - James M. Ward [39]
"It's beautiful," he said reverently.
"Actually," Primul countered, "it's flawed. I was trying to forge a new alloy of hard steel and enchanted silver. But the two refused to mix. I can't guarantee that, given a hard enough blow, the hammer won't shatter. Still, if it's magical foes you're fighting, you'll find no weapon with a more potent enchantment than this. It's yours…"
Kern's eyes lit up in excitement.
"… if you pass a small test," the elven smith finished, displaying pointed white teeth in a sly smile.
"A test?"
"That's right," Primul replied. "After all, I'm not going to give a hammer to just anybody who wanders into my workshop, friend of Listle or not. I have to find out if you're worthy of such a hammer. Will you agree to the test?"
"Kern," Listle warned. "You might want to hear what the test is first, before you-"
He cut her off. The warhammer was too wondrous; he simply had to have it. "I'll accept your test, Primul," he said boldly, "and I'll pass it, too."
"Kern!" Listle groaned.
"We'll see," was all Primul said.
The big elf strode to the other side of the chamber. He halted before a table bearing a huge, rune-covered axe. The weapon gleamed eerily in the crimson forge-light.
Listle shifted nervously from one foot to the other. "I could have negotiated for the hammer, you know," she hissed to Kern.
"Bargaining isn't honorable," he whispered back.
"Would-be paladin!" she snorted.
"The test is simple, human." There was a deep, rumbling mirth in the elven smith's voice. "All you have to do is pick up that axe and lop off my head."
"What?" Kern thought he had heard the elf wrong.
"I'll even kneel to make it easier," Primul added. "And I won't resist you in any way. All you have to do is swing the axe. If you're strong enough, my head should come off quite nicely."
Listle crossed her arms, regarding Primul suspiciously. "That's it? That's the test?"
"Well, there is one more part," the big blond elf confessed. "After Kern has his swing, if I'm still alive and able, I'll try the same on him. Blow for blow. That's honorable enough."
"But my blow will kill you," Kern protested.
Primul shrugged his monumental shoulders. "Then the hammer will be all yours, human." His brow furrowed in a scowl. "You're not reneging on your word of honor, are you?"
"Never!" Kern didn't much care for chopping off the head of his host, but he didn't know what else he could do. He had agreed to the test. Perhaps Primul doubted Kern was strong enough to wield the heavy hammer. Was that the point? If so, Kern would prove him wrong, with fatal results.
"Let the test begin!" Primul bellowed. He knelt before Kern, bowing his head and holding aside his long golden hair so that Kern would have a clean view of his neck.
Kern hefted the heavy battle-axe. It wasn't his usual weapon, but he handled the weighty axe with ease. Besides, how much skill did it take to cut off someone's head? He certainly knew how to chop wood. How different could it be to chop off a head?
"Kern, you can't do this!" Listle hissed in desperation.
"I don't seem to have any choice, Listle," he said reluctantly. "He's the one holding me to my word."
Listle chewed on her lip in frustration.
"Do it, human!" Primul shouted.
Kern lifted the axe above his head, its sharp edge gleaming wickedly. He took careful aim at the elf's neck and steeled his will. Tyr forgive me, he murmured inwardly. Then he tensed his shoulders and swung the axe.
It was an exquisitely honed weapon, and it passed through Primul's neck cleanly.
Green blood spurted out in a fountain as the big elf's head bounced to the floor. Listle clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. Kern dropped the axe, feeling more than just a little sick. He wished he hadn't gone through with it. He had liked the burly elf.
"Well, at least we've got the hammer," he said grimly.
"I wouldn't count on that, human."
It was Primul who had spoken, or rather, the big elf's head.