“I want to buy something a lot more expensive than a game. Call him up, or cast a spell, or whatever you need to do because I’m not leaving until the Gnome shows up.”
The man heaved a weary sigh. “And what would you need from a Gnome, anyway?”
“I have a job for him. I can pay and he’s the guy I need.”
“What sort of job?”
“Metal working.”
“I see.” The man nodded toward a door in the back of the shop. Shay followed behind him and he stopped at the door, stepping aside to motion to her to go in.
It was a small breakroom with two metal chairs around a plastic orange table. A wooden bookshelf stood in the corner of the room, filled with dogeared books. Shay scanned the titles but didn’t see anything current. There was a row of Encyclopedia Brittanica taking up the entire bottom row. Now, that is old.
She turned around to ask the man a question but he was gone, replaced by a Gnome standing three feet tall and wearing a tidy dark suit and a fedora but no shoes on his large, bare feet.
The Gnome stared at her as his large, bulbous nose twitched. A red poppy on his bowler opened its petals and bared sharp little teeth, growling. “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to find me, human.”
“You’re Tubal-Cain?”
“You can call me that… yes. And you are?”
“Shay.”
“Why are you really here, Shay? Metal working? You don’t need a Gnome for metal working.”
“I need something special. A certain kind of knives. It’s not like I can get what I want from the Cutting Edge on the second floor.”
“Knives? That’s it? How boring.”
Shay watched the Gnome, taking in every move. He was testing her, looking for her soft spots.
“Depends on the knives, don’t you think… I’m interested in three knives. They need to be lightweight, never need to be sharpened and will never break.” Shay counted each item on her fingers.
“Finding something like that depends on a lot of different factors. What do these knives need to cut?” Tubal-Cain tilted his head, staring at her with a scowl. The poppy let out a short, high-pitched howl.
“Throats mostly. Mostly humans, the occasional ice witch, a dragon somewhere in my future.”
The Gnome gave a light chuckle. “Did a knife you own break in the throat of your enemy, lovely lady?”
“Something like that.”
“And did this enemy deserve to die?”
Shay narrowed her gaze. Another test. “That’s a philosophical question. I’d say yes, but a lot of people might disagree.”
Tubal-Cain’s scowl deepened, but he didn’t say anything.
“Can you do it?”
“I can. But why should I? Why do I care if you have a sharp knife that never breaks?”
“You have a shop and I can pay. Seems pretty basic.”
Tubal-Cain snorted. “With money? Your money isn’t of interest to me. I have treasures you couldn’t even begin to imagine. I’m not on Earth to earn dollars, that much I can guarantee.”
Negotiation. Shay didn’t have to be a master of magic or an expert on Oriceran psychology. He likes the barter as much as the sale. Okay, let’s go.
Shay shrugged. “If you don’t want money, what do you want? Everyone wants something.”
“I should ask for your first-born child?” Tubal-Cain gave her a thin smile.
“Is this the part where if I guess your true name, you disappear in a huff after stamping your feet?”
The Gnome let out a cackle as the poppy hissed. “A feisty one, hmm?”.
“Something like that.” Shay smiled, resting her hand on the counter. “Look, you’ve parked yourself in a shrine to fast and easy sales on this planet. There has to be something I can get for you. I specialize in procuring things that are difficult to find. I can even retrieve items that are dangerous to find. We can work a trade if that’s what it’ll take.”
Tubal-Cain moved over to one of the chairs and took a seat. It shrank to fit him comfortably.
“Know the myths of your own planet, human?”
“More than most people.”
The Gnome lay one hand over another in his lap. “Adamantine.”
“Like in Greek mythology?”
“Yes… mythology.”
“Allegedly, a super-hard material. A lot of modern scholars claim that it’s a just a general word that meant things like diamond and other hard materials and not an actual separate material.”
Tubal-Cain nodded, a hint of disappointment in his features. “And what do you think?”
“I’m willing to take most ancient myths as a mixture of fiction and cold hard truth.”
“Then you’re more clever than many humans. That doesn’t change the fact there are no natural sources of adamantine left on your planet.” The Gnome grinned and rubbed his chin. “Bring me five pounds of adamantine metal. I’ll make your knives out of it, and I’ll keep the rest as my payment.”
“That’s it? You just want me to find some of this metal?”
“That’s it.” Tubal-Cain reached out to the center of the table. A small wooden box appeared.
Shay wasn’t sure if he’d summoned it through a spell or if it’d always been there and hidden by magic.
“Take it,” the Gnome said. “Three powerful knives. They’ll serve you well enough for the moment, but their enchantment is limited.” He opened the hinged lid to reveal three exquisite knives resting atop black velvet. “See?”
“You happened to have three knives sitting around?”
“There are a lot of things I have sitting around, Shay.” The Gnome snapped the lid shut and pushed it toward her.
Shay picked the box up but kept her attention on the Gnome. “Why are you giving me something for nothing?”
“If you bring me the adamantine, it’d be more than worth your while.” He gestured toward the box. “Their quality will show you what you could have for the rest of your limited life, but when the enchantment is gone, they will disappear, and you’ll feel their loss, assuming you ever come back.”
Shay scoffed. “Why wouldn’t I come back?”
“I’m not convinced you can deliver me the adamantine.” Tubal-Cain shrugged.
