Temple Hill - Drew Karpyshyn [86]
"But Lhasha just gave you the down payment a couple days ago," Corin said, slightly confused.
"The idea of building a working prosthetic kind of tweaked my imagination," the gnome explained with a rueful smile. "And I knew Lhasha would eventually come up with the gold for the rest. So the day after I first met you I went out and purchased the materials. I've been refining and tinkering with it the past month-things are always pretty slow around here during the Claw of Winter anyway. I think it's finally ready."
"I… you know I can't pay you. Not yet, at least," Corin said.
"This isn't charity, Corin. Getting Lhasha back isn't going to be easy. Every advantage helps. Besides, I know youll pay me back. If we survive.
"Here," the gnome concluded, handing the artificial limb to the speechless warrior, "try it on."
With his left hand, Corin raised the prosthetic for a closer look. "It's light," he said, hefting its weight.
"But sturdy," Fendel assured him. "The alloy is one of my own making. Harder than mithral. Maybe even stronger than adamantine."
Corin examined the finely crafted limb in more detail. It was about the same distance from Corin's elbow to where the tips of his fingers would have been. The base was hollowed out and contained a complicated leather strap to secure the piece over the small stump of forearm protruding from his elbow.
The hand had five distinct digits. The thumb was even opposable. The knuckles were made of a fine mesh, while the rest was made of solid metal. The wrist contained an odd hinge that allowed the hand to twist, bend, and rotate on the end of the metal arm.
"How do I keep it from just flopping around?" Corin asked curiously.
"Don't worry, I've thought of that," the gnome replied. "Just put it on and see how it works."
Corin slid his forearm into the base, lashed the strap around his elbow and pulled it tight. He felt a warm tingle shoot from the end of his stump and up right through his shoulder, and the hand sprang to life. The metal fingers began to clutch, clench, and twist. The hand writhed in circles on the end of its wrist. Corin recoiled in surprise.
"It's all right," Fendel assured him, "that's supposed to happen. Give it a few seconds to adjust to you."
Heeding the gnome's instructions, Corin stood still while the alien appendage slowly ceased its spastic motions. With a hint of trepidation in his voice, Corin asked, "What next?"
"Try making a fist."
"How?" Corin was unfamiliar with even the most mundane of magics, and Fendel's invention was obviously an artifact of tremendous enchantments.
"Just make a fist. Like you used to. Clench the other hand, too, if that helps."
Corin did, clenching his left hand into a tight ball while staring at the right. In unison, the metal fingers curled in, and the thumb overlapped them. Corin uncurled his left hand, and the prosthetic did the same. Then he tried clenching a fist with just his artificial hand. To his amazement, it worked.
"Praise the Wonderbringer," he gasped.
"Try picking something up," Fendel urged.
The warrior walked over to a hammer on one of the workbenches. Instinctively, his left hand started forward, but he pulled it back. He extended his right arm, concentrating on opening the fingers. They responded to his mental commands and wrapped themselves around the handle. He raised the tool up, and brought it down on a slightly protruding nail, pounding it back into place. The wrist moved with a natural, fluid motion as he swung the hammer. He didn't even have to think about it.
"Well, what do you think?"
There was no reply from Corin, though not because of his usual taciturn nature. He was truly speechless.
"Not as good as the real thing, 111 admit. You can't feel anything with it-I never could figure out how to incorporate a tactile component. And it'll take a long time before you have any sense of how hard you're squeezing something. I wouldn't shake anyone's hand for a while."
Gripping