{"sf1_id":755894,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Testing the Metal and Testing Their Mettle","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2324,"posted_at":"2014-09-12T12:04:00.000Z","tags":["Discovery","FAMILY","Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","danger","silver"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/755894-testing-the-metal-and-testing-their-mettle","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/755894","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=755894\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#34 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"         Edward lifted up the metal bottom\nand exposed the contents. Inside was a folded piece of leather, worked thin and\nsewn like a little envelope. He pulled it out and opened it up. The contents\ndropped into his hand.It was a lone ring, and not an\nattractive one at that. It wasn't ugly; but it was silver in color and he\nwondered immediately why it wasn't burning him. It felt cool, like all metal\ndid, leastwise before his transformation had soured him on silver.  To him, it looked more like a something made by\na modern craftsman. In days gone by it was all ornate gold and gemstones, not a\nsimple piece of polished...alloy?Maggie was the first to note that\nit didn't burn. \"I take it it's not silver.\"He held it up and looked through\nit, seeing if there were any marks on it. It seemed to be seamless. It was\nsmooth inside and out. \"I don't think so.\"\"Put it on!\"\"Here goes nothing!\"He slipped it over his ring finger,\nknowing full well his finger was too large to allow it to fully seat itself. It\nslipped over his knuckle and landed just where it should.\"\"What the hell?\"\"What?\"\"Didn't you see that? This ring\nshould never have fit, but it just did.\"Maggie touched it. \"Do you feel any\ndifferent?\"\"No, not really.\" He slipped the\nring off. It very distinctly shrunk back down to size. Maggie put it on. Again,\nit changed, becoming smaller to fit her finger. Billy tried it next, but\nnothing happened.  \"Figures!\"Everyone tried it on, and with the\nexception of poor Billy, it changed to fit the wearer's finger. But outside of\nthis unnatural trick, it did nothing else. It was Maggie who put her mind to it.\nShe held the ring in her hand and thought and thought. Everyone waited\npatiently while she pondered.All at once she flipped pages in\nthe book. \"Can anyone read this?\"Rey took the book from her. \"This\nis pointless Maggie dear. It has nothing to do with...\"\"Read it!\"\"Fine dear. No need to get snippy!\"He cleared his throat and read ahead\nto get an idea of the contents. He had read this page a long time ago, but it\nwas just as pointless as before as it was now.And\nthus the Baetylus was carried to Pessinus, where it resided for many years. It\nwas later removed to Rome by Marcus Aurelius Antonius and worshiped there until\nhis death. The Baetylus  was then removed\nby the kind for safekeeping. Except for one small fragment retained by the\nMedici family, the stone has been ordered to be buried in an undisclosed\nlocation.\"That's it. That's all it says.\"\"What's a baetylus?\"\"It's a rock superstitious people used\nto worship.\"\"A rock. What kind of rock?\"\"I don't know dear. In some cases,\nit was thought that they were meteorites.\"She pointed to the ancient illustration.\n\"Like this, falling from the sky?\"\"Yes dear, just like that.\"And what's this supposed to be?\"\"I assume that's the moon.\"\"And where does it look like this\nstone is falling from?\"\"I guess you could say the moon.\"\"Right. So, to someone out there, a\nmeteorite might very well have been considered to be from the moon. A\nMoonstone.\"\"I don't get...\" Rey looked like he\nhad been stabbed through the heart with a dagger of silver. \"Young lady, outside\nof Billy here, you have got to have one of the brightest minds in the werewolf\ncollective.\"Edward shrugged. \"I'd have to agree\nbecause I didn't follow a damn thing you guys said.\"Billy caught on. \"I get it. This\nring was made from a chunk of meteorite. And for some reason it can change to\nfit the size of the wearer's finger. Weird. It's a neat trick and all, but\nwhat's the point?\"Rey closed the book. \"A good\nquestion. That it has power is obvious, but it has no practical value outside\nof being sort of a parlor trick. And even then, it only works on those who can\nchange. It won't react for Billy. So what does it mean? Any werewolf can wear\nit, but outside of that, it's useless.\"Maggie stomped her feet. \"You old fogies\ngive up too easily. If people were willing to die to protect this ring, then\nthere is more to it than you seem to know. Why would a ring change size?\nObviously so that more than one person could wear it. Why?\"\"We don't know dear, but something\ntells me you're going to figure it out.\" It was Sophia and her smile was huge.\"A fairly normally person, no\noffense intended,\" she nodded to Billy, \"can wear it, but it won't accommodate\nto fit his finger. Why?'\"Go on...\"\"Because as a human, or something\nclose enough to it, he doesn't need it.\"\"Need it for what?\"\"I don't know!\" She put it on and\nwilled something to happen. Nothing did. In anger she smashed her hand down on\nthe table. Edward's small box of personal effects, which had been sitting there\nas part of the explanation of events, went flying through the air. Maggie\nrealized her error and grabbed for it as the contents flew out in an arc. She\nsnatched a few items, and after the stuff finished scattering, helped to put it\naway again.She dropped a few items into the\nbox and scrambled to gather more. Her father was sitting there dumbfounded. \"Maggie?\"\"What?\"\"Did you see what you were just\nholding?\"\"No. Did I break something?\"\"No. Pick up one of my dimes.\"\"Why? Are you feeling sadistic?\"\"No. You just dropped one of them\ninto the box.\"\"No way!\" She reached in, and\nturning her head so that she didn't have to see her flesh burning, gingerly\ngrabbed one of the coins. Her eyes were pressed tightly closed. Then she\nstopped and relaxed. \"It doesn't burn!\"Billy was wearing some of this\njewelry and she grabbed it and squeezed it in her hand. No reaction. \"The ring!\nIt protects the one wearing it from harm! I can touch silver and I'm fine!\"Marcus shook his head. \"What a\nwaste!\"\"Come again?\"He looked up and realized how what\nhe said sounded to their ears. \"Sorry. I was just thinking that if Jack and\nMary had this on, they'd still be alive today.\"Sophia hushed him. \"Only one person\ncan wear it at a time. Would you wear it if you couldn't protect me at the same\ntime?\"\"You have a point. If you died, I'd\nrather die too.\"\"Then leave it be. What has\nhappened; happened. We can't change it. \nI'm guessing that all along this was meant to be for Edward here, and by\nchance of by fate, it has finally come to him.\"Maggie handed the over to her\nfather. \"But what for? Why would I ever need it?\"\"Son, that remains to be seen.\"\"OK, a better question. I get that\nit protects from the one thing that can kill a werewolf outright, but who did this\nbelong to originally? And why did it come down through my family to me?\"Maggie was grinning. \"I think I get\npart of it. I don't know who made the ring, but aren't the Medici's from\nItaly?\"\"Yes dear, that's right.\"\"So doesn't it make sense that\nsomeone from back then made it after, oh say; someone was holding that chunk of\nrock and found that they were protected from the harms of silver?\"\"Yes, I guess it does.\"\"Then it somehow got passed down to\nthe Bourbon family. Why did it take three years to finally kill the Beast of Gévaudan?\nBecause as a werewolf she was wearing the ring! I'll bet that the guy who killed\nher in the end had to get the ring off before he could finish the job.\"Reynaud was impressed. \"It would\nanswer few questions. The ring would change with the changes in body size. And especially\nif she was wearing as a feral, she would have been nearly invincible. So your\nhypothesis has credence.\"\"Ok. So then here's the million\ndollar question? Why did someone want it to be so far away from France? It\nseems like an awful lot of bother to hide it away.\"Marcus threw up his hands. \"We\ndon't know. But if you think about it, it does make some sense. It could be\nused as a weapon. A werewolf equipped with this ring would be invincible. No\none could stand up to him.\"\"Or her.\"                Edward\nraised his eyebrows. \"Does someone suddenly have aspirations?\"                She\ngiggled. \"No. But you have to admit, this thing could come in handy. Can you\nimagine being a werewolf loaded down in silver like Billy here, only in full\ntransformation? Now that would be bad ass!\"                \"That\nmay be, but I don't think that anyone is going to be doing anything with it for\nnow. It's nice that you figured it out sweetheart, but I think that maybe we\nshould put it back in the box and lock it away. I don't foresee a problem but\nyou just never know what might happen if it's out and about. So until there\nhappens to be need for this, I say it goes back into hiding.\"                Rey\nseemed to agree. \"I hate mysteries, but this one seems to be cleared up as much\nas it's going to be. I agree with Edward. We need to find a place to hide it\nagain and separate the key as before.\"                Maggie\nvoiced a dissenting opinion. \"That seems sort of stupid. What harm is there in\nkeeping it available?\"                Edward\nruffled her hair. \"Nothing dear. But since people died to keep it hidden, don't\nyou think that it would make sense to following their footsteps?\"                \"No.\nBut I'm sure I'll get outvoted.\"                Edward\ntook the ring and slid it into the leather pouch. He set it down on the table\nand leaned back against the couch. \"I think the bigger problem is figuring out\nwhere to put it. We'll all have suggestions, but if one of us dies, and none of\nthe other's know where either the key or the box is, then we're back to square\none.\"                \"I\nthink we'll be fine son.  We haven't had\na problem here in decades. Take it with you when you leave, and hide it\nsomewhere near you. While I doubt anyone would come looking for it anymore, you\nnever really know. If there are others out there that know of its existence,\nthen there is still some danger in having it around. But all life has an\nelement of danger to it, human or otherwise.\"                Maggie\npicked up the pouch and rolled it around in her fingers. \"I think that's a\nbetter solution than hiding it outright. Then you'd never know where it was.\"                She set\nthe pouch into the hidden compartment and snapped the inside lid down before\nclosing it and locking it. She was just about to hand over the key when they\nall heard a voice.                \"Well\nit's about time.\"                The\nstranger standing there was packed to the gills with bright shiny metal. Both\nof his pistols were museum antiques. And they were pointed right at the group.                No one\nmoved.  \"I had given up hope of finding\nany more werewolves. It seemed to me that they might have all been killed off.\nThe league has dwindled as the number of the kind has dwindled, but as long as\nsome of you remain, so shall we.\"                Edward\nsquinted at the man. He had never seen him before in his life. Billy hadn't\neither but he knew the voice. \"You. You're the guy from the diner!\"                \"Yes my\nfriend, that's right. If you're patient and wait long enough, the world in its\nspinning brings you to where you need to be. I have waited a long time, and was\ntorn between here in the boondocks or searching the city of New York. Not as\nmuch as a crumb for so long and then a plethora of choices. I took a lucky gamble\non this place since rumor had it there was once a community of your kind living\nout here. So it seems that tale was true. So I must thank you for making my\ntask easier. I know every werewolf hunter there is, and you are not among them.\nI am not so easily deceived.\"                \"Who\nare and what do you want?\" Edward was feeling his rage starting to build.                 \"I\nhaven't used a name in a very long time. I am; in dextera Dei.\"                Maggie growled. \"What does\nthat mean?\"Rey spoke out loud in a clear\nvoice. \"The Right Hand of God.\"\"Yes. And I shall relieve you of\nMaster Da Vinci's box. I have no desire to kill any of you. I am tired of\nkilling. But the Order has been given the duty of recovering the ring of the\nMedici family and returning it to Rome.\"\"And why would the pope want the\nring?\"The man lowered his voice. \"The\npresent pope knows nothing of the ring, nor did the pope before him, nor the\none before him. This papal bulla goes back to Alexander the Sixth and is\nirrefutable until completed.\"Maggie was starting to sprout hair.\n\"So you've been killing people for centuries to fulfill the order of some old\nreligious guy who has been dead for centuries?\"\"Little one, I do not argue with my\nfate. I have a sacred duty. Now if you will please hand over the box, I can go\nand you may live in peace.\" Edward was watching the man's arms. His\nstrength in holding up those ancient firearms was extraordinary. He wasn't\nwavering in the least.  He reached down and picked up the\nbox, throwing it sharply at the man's head. At the same time, and unexpectedly,\nMaggie dived at the man. He dropped one gun to grab the box, but his other hand\nsqueezed the trigger. The boom was deafening!When the smoke cleared, the front\nwindow was broken out and there was no sign of the intruder. A gun was lying on\nthe floor, and next to it, Maggie. She wasn't moving."}