Finding The Soul Bridge (The Soul Fire Saga Book 1) by Zax Vagen Read Free Book Online

what to do.”
    Kelvin led Jem to a corner of the forge. He was tall and muscular with straight brown hair clinging to his sweaty forehead. He wore a leather apron and seemed surefooted in the forge. There was a low workbench with stools around it. On the bench were several sets of small anvils, hammers, chisels, pliers and a massive pile of small steel rings. “As you can see,” said Kelvin pointing to the pile of rings, “we have a lot of raw material here, and precious little finished product here.” Kelvin pointed to the far end of the workbench, at several vests of ring mail.
    “So what do we do?”
    “Nothing exciting.” said Kelvin. “Grab a stool and I’ll show you.”
    Kelvin sat down, took five rings and put them in front of him. With the chisel, he cut a slit in one ring and threaded the other four rings into it using the pliers. Then he took the small hammer and annealed the slit shut. It took him about a minute. Kelvin showed Jem the little flower he had just made and said, “When you have several little flowers like these I will show you how to join them to make a vest.”
    Jem started to work with his set of tools copying Kelvin as he watched him step by step. The first few times he tried, his tool either slipped and he stabbed himself in his hand or he pinched himself with a pair of pliers.
    Kelvin giggled, “Hold it like this. Always keep the sharp parts facing away from yourself that way, when they slip then you don’t end up juicing yourself.”
    “Thanks.” said Jem. “Is there anything else?”
    Kelvin raised his eyebrows and nodded, “Oh yes…pace up, you’re working way too slowly. The trick is to get into a rhythm that is constant and repetitive so that your muscles can learn; Mr. Iron taught us that, he has a special word for it.”
    “What?” asked Jem.
    “Work.” said Kelvin.
    Jem shifted his position on the stool to get comfortable, sweat pouring down his face as the heat of the forge penetrated him. He focused on the first part of the task to try to master it and then the next while trying to remember exactly how, then he repeated it.
    Jem was just getting into a rhythm when Maxwell Iron surprised him from behind. He slammed a steel rule on the work table and shouted at Jem’s head. “Pace up, this is not a cretin’s holiday resort!”
    Jem was so startled that he fell off his stool and landed on his back with feet flailing in the air. A cascade of small metal rings poured off the workbench onto Jem, almost covering him. The forge erupted in laughter as Jem scrambled to his feet in confusion, tears flowing down his cheeks. “Sorry Mr Iron, I’m sorry.”
    Jem franticly started to pick up the rings, putting handfuls back on the table only to find them rolling off again.
    Maxwell grabbed Jem by the tunic and shouted. “What you are doing is brain dead, look at this mess.” He pointed at the floor and the table.
    “If you want to work in this place you have to step up. Your first assignment from me is to find a solution to this by the end of the day, fail me and you will shovel coal, do you hear me?”
    Jem stammered. “S-Sir.”
    Maxwell turned and left, Jem watched him for a moment as he tried to compose himself. Kelvin, where are the ablutions?”
    Kelvin pointed behind him with a pair of sharp nosed piers in his hand but said nothing.
    Jem went to the back, washed his face and drank some water. There was a large polished mirror in the bathroom which he found odd. He looked at himself. He had only been working at the forge for two hours and it looked like he was already worse for wear. He washed his face again and drank more water; he glanced over his shoulder to check if Maxwell was coming up from behind him again.
    Jem looked deep into the mirror at his own eyes and asked himself. “Where is the fire?”
    As he stared at himself he realized that this couldn’t be it, he wasn’t going to work in the stupid forge for the rest of his life. He needed to make a