The Contention by Jeremy Laszlo

was burned to varying degrees in several places, when the sun disappeared again, and I was able to think straight through the pain, I realized that the pattern of the window had been etched temporarily upon my flesh. Some areas were burned just as badly as if I had walked outside at midday, but others were injured to a lesser degree. One portion showed little damage at all. That was the portion that the sun had shone through this.” Sara held up the shard of dark red glass again.
    Seth took the shard from her hand and inspected it with both his vision of the gods and his own eyes. The object was not enchanted, simply tinted to a dark, blood-red hue. There was nothing impressive about the glass at all. In fact, any glass maker in the city could replicate the piece in very little time at all.
    “You said that through this the light injured you only a little?” Seth asked. “But it did still injure you? So regardless it caused you pain and cost you energy to heal,” he both asked and stated.
    “Yes, but when I put one piece behind the other, doubling the thickness, I could withstand the light without getting so much as a tan,” Sara smiled.
    “Really?” Seth asked.
    “Truly!” Sara replied. “Though the process was a little painful. I tried several different color combinations, and doubling the red worked better than any other pairing.” She added.
    “What else did you learn?” Seth asked, excitement creeping into his own voice.
    “How much the window cost to replace,” Sara laughed, being joined in her laughter by everyone else in the room.
    “I see,” Seth said after a moment. “We will have to get a slightly larger supply than this shard, and I will see what I can do to fit it into your helm.”
    Sara smiled at Seth’s latest statement, and turning to face Jonas she grinned again as she spoke to the giant werewolf.
    “Have they found it yet?” Sara asked her personal bodyguard, then waited a moment as the wolfman communicated with the others of his kind telepathically.
    “They are returning to the temple now, your majesty. They have brought several small panes of the glass, and the weapons you requested as well,” Jonas responded in a thick, guttural tone.
    Sara turned around yet again to smile at her husband.
    “I’m all over it,” she said, grinning knowingly. “Though the glass is not important tonight, I had a couple of your men locate me a few weapons that may be suitable for tonight’s training. I was hoping you would alter them to fit me better if they require it,” Sara added.
    “Of course,” Seth said, winking at the small woman he loved. He could hardly believe that where months ago she was seemingly meek and vulnerable, now she would be training with one of the most elite warriors in the kingdom to fight in a battle that was as yet unwinnable. “Let me finish with these two sets of armor, and before I do the next pair I will show you what I have discovered, and make any alterations you need before you start your training,”
    “OK,” Sara replied with a smile, and plopped herself down in a chair unceremoniously, perfectly content watching her husband work in ways no other man could.
    Without further hesitation, Seth returned to his men and began using his power to alter the armor and weapons they had brought him. The armor was little work, as most of it was basic and only needed alteration to fit the men’s more-than-human bodies. Time and again, Seth focused his power upon a piece of the hard steel. Pouring both his power and his will into it, the object began to stretch and flow as if formed of putty. Having achieved the shape he required, Seth would shut his power away once again, and have his men test fit each piece before moving on to the next or making a final adjustment. With his common troops he did not create full suits of armor as he had done with his captains. There was simply not enough time. Instead he created for them each a breastplate with a backplate as well. He