"By all means," the bard panted, dancing around their opponent. "I was leaving that one for you. I'm a gentleman... like that--look out!" Luckily the Launcelyn scion dodged the incoming blow, and the battle rumbled, stumbled, and fell with a crash to its conclusion a short time later.
"Ah, forgive me, Your Ladyship," Jigano corrected himself with a grin as he stood. "Though I thought ships and fire didn't get on so well. Or at least, not for long. But you'll be my 'Lady of the Flames' as long as you keep saving me like this!" He grinned back at his friend, tipping her a little bow, and giving Bobi a wink as well. He'd have to find a little treat for the kitten when they got back... which, given how tired Edy looked after that monumental effort to fell the golem, would probably be sooner rather than later.
"Well, you know a bard always appreciates a good audience," Jigano shot back with saintly innocence, stifling the laughter that threatened to shake his shoulders as he picked his way carefully back into the cleared and partially dried foundations of what had definitely been a smithy of some sort, long ago. With the snow gone the shapeless lumps resolved themselves into piles of debris, or a sturdy block with a cracked anvil on it - and, in the back corner, beneath where the stone golem had been resting, a metal ring set into the stone paver on the floor. Jigano eyed it suspiciously, then went to tug on it, expecting to find the weight too great.
Much to his surprise the trapdoor-paver opened - well, not easily, on rusted hinges, but with a counter balance that had survived the centuries largely intact, hidden away beneath the earth and stone. He grunted as it flipped open, and peered down cautiously into a protected space two feet deep, with crates of aged but solid wood still inside. Reaching down cautiously to lift the lid on one, Jigano's eyes lit up at the gleam of metal ingots reflecting dully in the clouded afternoon light. It wasn't a full crate, likely the last shipment the ancient smith had received before the barrier had cut off the hollowed grounds from the rest of the world, but it was better than Jigano had expected to find. He slipped two silver bars out, reached for another crate, this one much emptier, and selected one golden ingot. A third crate had only two ingots left, and after a moment's hesitation he took them both, eying his heavy pile of goodies. The fourth crate he peeked into and then left alone, closing them all and then gently settling the trapdoor down again, wincing as the hinges squealed protest.
"Luckily," he murmured, satisfied as he stood and dusted his hands off, "I think we're done here." He grinned at Edy as he went to retrieve his cloak to wrap the ingots in, lifting it over his shoulder with a grunt of effort and trying not to stagger under its weight. "So, my Lady of the Flames, shall we head back to town so I can buy you and Dame Bobi a meal?" His wink was tired but game for more banter to pass the time, if Edy was up for it.
"Ah, forgive me, Your Ladyship," Jigano corrected himself with a grin as he stood. "Though I thought ships and fire didn't get on so well. Or at least, not for long. But you'll be my 'Lady of the Flames' as long as you keep saving me like this!" He grinned back at his friend, tipping her a little bow, and giving Bobi a wink as well. He'd have to find a little treat for the kitten when they got back... which, given how tired Edy looked after that monumental effort to fell the golem, would probably be sooner rather than later.
"Well, you know a bard always appreciates a good audience," Jigano shot back with saintly innocence, stifling the laughter that threatened to shake his shoulders as he picked his way carefully back into the cleared and partially dried foundations of what had definitely been a smithy of some sort, long ago. With the snow gone the shapeless lumps resolved themselves into piles of debris, or a sturdy block with a cracked anvil on it - and, in the back corner, beneath where the stone golem had been resting, a metal ring set into the stone paver on the floor. Jigano eyed it suspiciously, then went to tug on it, expecting to find the weight too great.
Much to his surprise the trapdoor-paver opened - well, not easily, on rusted hinges, but with a counter balance that had survived the centuries largely intact, hidden away beneath the earth and stone. He grunted as it flipped open, and peered down cautiously into a protected space two feet deep, with crates of aged but solid wood still inside. Reaching down cautiously to lift the lid on one, Jigano's eyes lit up at the gleam of metal ingots reflecting dully in the clouded afternoon light. It wasn't a full crate, likely the last shipment the ancient smith had received before the barrier had cut off the hollowed grounds from the rest of the world, but it was better than Jigano had expected to find. He slipped two silver bars out, reached for another crate, this one much emptier, and selected one golden ingot. A third crate had only two ingots left, and after a moment's hesitation he took them both, eying his heavy pile of goodies. The fourth crate he peeked into and then left alone, closing them all and then gently settling the trapdoor down again, wincing as the hinges squealed protest.
"Luckily," he murmured, satisfied as he stood and dusted his hands off, "I think we're done here." He grinned at Edy as he went to retrieve his cloak to wrap the ingots in, lifting it over his shoulder with a grunt of effort and trying not to stagger under its weight. "So, my Lady of the Flames, shall we head back to town so I can buy you and Dame Bobi a meal?" His wink was tired but game for more banter to pass the time, if Edy was up for it.
