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Old Sword – Part 02

That night, Lisa woke to a faint noise.

Because of all the excitement during the day, she’d been sleeping lightly. Her body still felt a bit sluggish from the forging work, but her mind was oddly alert. She stared blankly at the darkness of the main house for a while, then sat up from the simple cot she’d set up in the corner of the living room.

The noise was coming from outside. Just beyond the wall, a dull thudding sounded in intervals, deep enough to rattle her gut. Lisa quietly opened the shutters and peeked out.

In the yard under the moonlight, Luke was swinging a long-handled sledgehammer, his breath white in the cold.

He was striking a bundle of straw. Though it was straw, the layers were thick, and each blow landed with a heavy, muffled thud. Luke silently raised and swung the hammer, again and again.