Jesse set the snare he had made. It took him a few attempts and some trial and error to figure out but he managed to create the thing.

  Golem and his database of knowledge provided the basic design but getting the execution right wasn’t as easy as it seemed on paper, or well on digital format overlaid on his vision. It was a simple loop of wire with the other end wrapped around a stick. He then tied it to a sapling and secured it loosely to the ground. Anything that disturbed the loop would get caught by the trap and boom, they would have dinner and some essence for Tormund. He set a couple of these and put some berries they had found as bait.

  “That’ll do.” Jesse said to himself. None of his companions were around at the moment.

  Jesse didn’t know the first thing about the local plants but Tormund had assured him the berries were safe to eat. He even ate some first as proof. The two had spend the morning scavenging for supplies and building their snares. Between Tormund and Jesse they had found a few random lengths of rebar, some sheet metal, a lot of wire, and a little bit of cloth. They, of course, also had various sticks and rocks. Jesse pondered what he should make with the resources they had as he setup the final of the three traps as he walked back to their camp.

  “All set.” He told Tormund.

  “Glad to hear it.” Tormund said with a mouth full of berries. He lounged against a tree nearby, munching on the sweet tasting fruit.

  Couldn’t hurt you to help. Jesse thought to himself. He then admonished himself. The man had saved his life.

  Nearby Aegis happily loped around with her tongue out. She seemed to enjoy the natural environments this new world offered them. If he was honest Jesse did too, aside from all the violence and danger. The desolate but ultimately safe world he came from was a stark contrast to this new one he found himself in.

  “I think I should make a couple of weapons. Maybe some torches too, though we don’t have any oil.” Jesse said.

  “I’m not much in the way of a craftsman. Not a warrior either if’m being honest.” Tormund said. “I spent my life training to use magic. To be a scholar and whatnot and a true arcanescent. Well at least until the Archon came.”

  “Wait, he hasn’t always ruled these lands?” Jesse said, his eyebrows shooting up.

  “Nah he arrived out of nowhere a year and a half ago, the bastard, and forcibly and ruthlessly took power from the former king.” Tormund said. “That’s part of how the resistance is so strong. He hasn’t had long enough to legitimize his rule in the mind of the people.”

  “So uh, asking him nicely to release his prisoners probably isn’t going to work?” Jesse said with a small smile. He was trying to make light of the situation but in reality the thought of confronting this Archon person sent a shiver down Jesse’s spine. He didn’t sound like the sort you wanted to mess with and who knew what he himself was capable of. Jesse imagined only the strong ruled here.

  “No, I’d probably save that for a last resort.” Tormund laughed.

  “Is that when you joined the resistance?” Jesse asked.

  “Yeah somethin like that.” Tormund said noncommittally. Jesse couldn’t help but feel like his new ally was hiding something but decided not to press the issue.

  “What was it like before he came?” Jesse asked.

  “Well it’s not like it was a perfect world then now either. The king before ruled the land with an iron fist, but he didn’t reject magic and such now either. In fact he had a court full of arcanescent. They studied magic and how it could be used to benefit the kingdom. Things like conjuring rain for crops or molding the earth to help with construction. Like I told you, there were many specialties of arcanescent. I use pure elemental, which is arguably the easiest, but others have…” He hesitated. “Or had other skills.” His happy demeanor dropped at the last sentence.

  “Were they all killed? When the Archon came?” Jesse asked.

  “Somethin like that.” Tormund replied. “You know, I think I’ll go try to find some more food. We are going to need to stock up. We don’t rightly know how long we will be down there.” He said, walking off into the woods.

  That wasn’t the most sensitive way to ask if his friends were brutally murdered Jesse. He told himself.

  “Okay Golem. I think first things first we need to make a spear. I’m thinking some wire and sheet metal with a rebar as the shaft.” Jesse thought aloud.

  “That sounds like a reasonable plan.” Golem replied.

  “So I just need to figure out a way to cut the spearhead shape.” He said, looking at his large rather inflexible piece of sheet metal.

  He decided he would start by scoring the basic shape of the head. He then used a short length of rebar they had found to beat around the scored shape, creating an indentation. With enough back and forth of this the head eventually started to split off from the larger sheet. It was grueling work however. Once the piece was free, he secured it to a several foot long length of rebar. It was heavy but serviceable. He then used the smaller rebar to hammer the heads shape a little bit more, to make it more pointed. What he ended up with was closer to a pole-axe. The metal “spear” was sharp on the end with a sharp side to it as well and a more or less flat top. It looked like a formidable weapon.

  Nice, I’m starting to get the hang of this! Jesse thought to himself.

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  Not long after Tormund came back. His mood seemed to have improved and he was back to his jovial self. “That’s a nasty looking weapon!” He said. “What else have you managed to make?”

  “Uh just the spear. It’s a slow process.” Jesse said, sweat still trickling down his face. “But maybe you can speed that up.”

  “I’m told ye I’m no craftsman.” He replied.

  “No but your elemental control will make this a lot easier. If we use it in small concentrated ways. Hopefully that will help preserve your essence.” Jesse suggested. Tormund gave him a nod and followed.

  “I really wish I could make a crossbow.” Jesse noted. “I just think it’ll take too long without better tools.”

  “What’s a crossbow?” Tormund asked.

  “Uh it’s like a regular bow but uh mechanical…” Jesse said, not really sure the best way to explain it. He took for granted the technology that seemed so trivial to him still hadn’t been discovered in this new place.

  “Well that sounds quite useful, true, but we’re really needin to move quickly.” Tormund said.

  “Well I think I can at least make a shield out of some sheet metal and rebar. I’ll just need to make use of your magic to bend the metal.” Jesse said.

  He laid out the metal sheet and scored it like before. This time though, after the scoring he had Tormund spew fire onto it until it glowed red, he then used the makeshift rebar hammer to smash the now weakened metal free. With a little more hammering he got it into a rough dome shape. He then braided some of the fabric into an arm strap and handle, attaching it to the shield with wire pulled tight around the makeshift dome. It was ugly and pretty heavy but it would do in a pinch.

  Jesse rubbed his chin. I wonder if I could use the crystals with these somehow?

  “What sort of weapon would you like Tormund?” Jesse asked.

  “Well I’ve never used weapons before aside me magic. I think I’d probably just stick with a club.” He said with a shrug.

  “Easy enough.” Jesse said, taking their last length of rebar and wrapping most of the last of the cloth around the base as a handle.

  He presented the finished club to Tormund, who hefted it. “Pretty heavy.” He said. He gave it an awkward swing.

  “Listen, I don’t know much about fighting either but I do know a couple things. You need to follow through with your swings. Like this.” Jesse took the club and demonstrated a swing with a full follow through.

  “When you hit something you will have an instinct to pull back just before you connect. You don’t want to do that. You want to swing as if your strike will pass through whatever you are swinging at. You’ll also do more damage with this rebar if you hit with the tip as opposed to close to the handle. It allows you to apply more leverage in the swing.” Jesse explained. That pretty much exhausted his knowledge of fighting. It was just physics after all.

  “I do think we should try to make you some armor though.” Jesse continued.

  “Why not yourself?” Tormund replied.

  “We don’t have enough material to make some for both of us.” Jesse offered.

  “Yeah but you have yer family to get back to.” Tormund rebutted.

  “I have the spear and shield. I gave a defense and range. I also can’t hold that much more weight. You need some means of defense too. At least a breastplate.” He said.

  “Aye I’ll take some then. If you can manage it.” Tormund relented.

  Jesse had Tormund lay down on some sheet metal for some basic measurements. He then had him heat where he planned on puncturing a hole. After a few hard hits straight down into the sheet he managed to punch a hole. He moved on to the next spot until he had two seperate sheets of roughly the same size, each with two holes on the top. He then used his rebar to hammer them into a more curved shape. Lastly he took some wire and fabric and fashioned them together.

  Jesse fitted it onto Tormund. “Well I look a bit ridiculous don’t I?” Tormund commented.

  The armor looked… bad. It was lumpy and a little too long, reaching past Tormund’s waist. It looked uncomfortable too, with the straps digging into Tormund’s shoulder. It completely lacked shoulder guards or side protection. It was also the best he could do with his limited resources and tools.

  The sun was starting to set at this point. “We should check the traps.” Jesse noted.

  The first trap they approached was missing entirely. “Well shit.” Tormund said looking at the spot where it used to be.

  “Well I guess the bait was effective.” Jesse commented.

  The next trap, much to Jesse’s amazement, had captured something! It was a plump rodent like creature about the size of a beagle. It had gotten caught in the loop and then in its struggles managed to tangle itself in the wire before breaking the sapling that held it in place. By that point it couldn’t effectively move however. The thing squirmed on the ground.

  “Well we have dinner!” Tormund exclaimed. “I’ll take care of this one.” He said raising his club. Jesse looked away. He didn’t want to see more death than he had to.

  After a moment Tormund joined him to check the last trap. It had a rabbit in it and Tormund quickly dispatched it. They returned to their “camp” and Tormund lit a small fire. They cooked the rabbit first and ate it.

  “Well that replenished a little bit of my essence, though of course those were small animals so not much. I’ll have to be careful with how much I use.” Tormund said over a mouthful of food.

  Jesse tossed a piece of meat to Aegis, who quickly ate it and sat patiently for another to be tossed her way.

  “We should probably move first thing in the morning. We don’t know where those soldiers might be.” Jesse said.

  “Aye, we should.” Tormund agreed.

  “If we could find out some way to contain it, the fat in that other creature could be used to make some torches.” Jesse noted. “Maybe if I bend some metal into a rough bowl shape it’ll be good enough.”

  “Worth a try.” Tormund said.

  The two hammered at another piece of sheet metal, not trying too hard for perfection. Next they used it to roast the rodent creature, which contained a remarkable amount of fat. They ate the meat off it and let Aegis have a hearty portion.

  With the fat simmering Jesse wrapped some fabric around a thick piece of wood, securing it in place with the wire. He then dipped it and allowed the torch to soak as much of the fat as possible. He repeated this with a second makeshift torch.

  “That should do it.” Jesse said. “I think that’s as equipped as we are going to get for this. Let’s try to get some sleep.”

  Jesse’s dreams were plagued with images of the monsters they had faced. The necrescent were horrifying creatures. Behind them in his dreams stood a man with blonde hair and a clean shaven face. He watched Jesse with an intense gaze.