‘Thinner metal is easier to cut, and I should be able to shape it with just my hands and a hammer. But I need to make sure the measurements are perfect with each layer or the welding won’t be very strong.’
‘You seem to know what you’re doing.’
‘I have some experience, and... I, uh... I did some reading last night. But, um... even though I know what to do, I’m not sure how well it’ll turn out, honestly... If I screw up too badly with the hammer, it might not even fit around my head...’
‘So you need to concentrate, is what you’re saying.’
‘Uh... yeah...’
He began drafting. He measured the circumference of his head in five different places, then the distance from the far corner of one eye to the other. He reckoned that a single slit for both eyes together would save cutting time and hopefully provide better visibility. Ear holes wouldn’t be necessary, he decided, nor would holes for the mouth and nose, but there was one major problem: the jaw.
Shielding the area under his jaw was absolutely vital. His all-too-brief fight with Colt assured him of that point.
He decided to just cut off the bottom half of the face completely and then screw it back on so that it could swing freely over the top half. It would look like some kind of gigantic underbite, but it would protect below his chin while still allowing him to fit his head into the thing.
Lance ventured over after a while. “What’re you making?” he asked.
“...A, uh... a helmet. Or helm, I guess.”
“Oh, that’s awesome,” said Lance, eyeing the sketches. “It’s too bad you’re not allowed to make a sword to go with it. That’d be amazing.”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
I'm still enjoying reading this. One thing that might come in handy for Hector is a gorget. It's a piece that goes around the neck and protects it. I do some medivel reenactments with the Society for Creative Anachronism, so I've picked up a fair amount of knowledge regarding armor.
ReplyDeleteI hate to the the picky grammar/spelling nerd, but in this sentence: ‘You seem to no what you’re doing.’ You have the wrong no. It should be know. Also, back when Colt was looking at his twins boy and girl, I think it would read a little smoother if it went, looking at his twins, a boy and a girl. It just caught my eye and drew me out of the story to reread that sentence a couple extra times to make sense of it.
Otherwise, it's all great! Thanks again for sharing.
Thanks for the typo catch. Fixed now.
DeleteThe thing about the boy and girl bit, however, that's not a mistake. That was particular choice I made, because I preferred the way it made the sentence flow. Even if it causes the reader to pause a bit, it's sill ultimately smoother and more memorable the way it is, I feel.
And that's really interesting. I'm glad to have readers with relevant knowledge. Hector doesn't know as much as you do, I'm sure, but he'll be getting a lot of opportunities to learn.
The gorget is a good idea. One thing though, don't get TOO caught up in real world physics. Hector's world doesn't have to work exactly as our own does so feel free to use our world as a template but change any rules you think would make the story better. After all, the main character is a previously dead teenager who talks to an invisible skeleton. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, don't you worry. My plans are plentiful.
DeleteThat's an interesting debate, though: at what point realism ceases to be beneficial to a given story. For TZK, I'm preferring a strong element of realism in the modernity of it, and having that clash and play off of the fantastic elements as well as the quieter archaic elements.
And some minor foreshadowing is dropped. Of course, the title helps too. Zombie knight, and his ability involved manifesting things made of iron...yeah. There's going to be a sword. Sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteI love the foreshadowing. Makes me wonder if, along with the hypothetical sword, would Hector be able to materialize armor. Hmm...
ReplyDeleteReally enjoying this. And it's hard to stop reading which is actually saying a lot for me as I don't care for digital reading. I prefer physical books but this story has got me hooked so I keep coming back. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ben. Will do.
ReplyDelete