Terveta-Chapter 3: Payment (Part 4)
The Terveta settlement was at the bottom of a wide valley, and the giant hills acted like a primitive first line of defense to any attackers. Fatigue had set in rather harshly in the past hours, and their pace was half of what it once was. They reached the peak, the time being close to noon but still early. It was the only time in their run that Blizzard slowed to a stop at the very top and then stared down at his home. It was small but close and cozy, a hundred or so structures connected by roads too minute for carriages.
The others came up from behind and stopped, panting and breathing hard for their moment of break. The blue husky stared out through his visor for just a second before he turned breathless to his comrades and swung his arm foreword to start running again. They all moaned and grunted before they started up like before, but it was so close they could each taste the sanctuary of a warm bed and food. They raced down the sheer decline and finally came to level ground just minutes later, fast approaching the settlement limits. They came from the west heading for one of the biggest structures, their first stop in the settlement.
As they came closer there was a loud banging sound that came from the huge structure and only increased in volume the nearer they became. The five strode up to the side of the building and worked their way to a very big garage door sized opening that showed four other working Terveta.
The pounding sounds came from a large well-built stallion slamming a giant hammer onto a thick red-hot chest plate of armor. As the metal began to cool and go back to its original gray shade his eyes lit to a cherry red and a thin red light shone from them in a beam of microwaves. The steel lit right up to a scarlet color like before, and he started to pound on it again.
Another worker, the shape of a tiger, was being fit with armor. The big cat was able to turn his body into what looked like Mercury, but it was solid from how the metal clanked and scraped when it would slide against his body. He had the ability to shift his body into any shape and have any build he wanted, even being able to make spikes form all around his form or transform his arms into blades to attack. The two others were fitting the plates of armor to the feline while he stood still for the duration of time it took.
The five Terveta soldiers walked up into the room with their sleds climbing up onto a concrete floor, making a loud grinding noise. All four of the personnel looked up to see the five in a start but then smiled.
"Blizzard!" the stallion yelled happily. He left the armor plate cooling on the anvil he was using and trotted to where the alpha stood. He brought his arms out for a brief moment but then stopped and stared down at the dent that was in his chest armor.
"What the hell?" he gasped and his mouth fell open.
"A hostile managed to land a nasty hit but I killed him before he got too much deeper," Blizzard answered his unpronounced question.
The equine blinked for a moment and peered closer at the mark. There were other dents and dings across the surface of course, all of their armor was damaged but he held the largest infliction of them all. The blacksmith began to brush his hoofed fingertips across the surface. The tips dipped down into the depression as best they could. He had a big hoof but even with as long of fingers that he had he couldn't touch the end. He pulled out with a start and his frown deepened.
"That's way too close for comfort, Blizz. I know the armor is there for your protection but it's not impenetrable," he said a bit harshly.
The blue husky unlatched his helmet and pulled it off his head. "Enough with the lecture, Keith. We came here to drop the gold and our suits off for repairs."