My eyes fluttered open as the walls of my home nearly fell. The familiar ringing of the First Howl piercing through the air all the way through the village, all the way through Vindryi, had woken me and most definitely everyone else up. I went through my daily routine to get ready for the day. The Second Howl happened after I had finished dressing in my Highhorn fur coat, with the sound dying down as I took a bite out of my simple breakfast. I waited by the door for the Third Howl, only exiting my home once the deafening sound had ended.
I saw nearly the entire village outside, each of them leaving at the exact time as me. It's always been like that since I could remember. The Howls would wake us up each morning, and we had to be careful not to leave our homes until they ended unless we wished to go deaf. Our homes had been prepared for these Howls, able to muffle the amount of noise we hear so long as we remain indoors. Unfortunately, as I saw earlier, the walls could only withstand so many Howls before requiring repairs, which is exactly what I was going to deal with before beginning the day.
I stopped by Jurgen the carpenter's shop. He and his family had been building and repairing walls for the entire village since before I was even born, proven by his course hands that look as if they could lift an entire anvil with just one.
"Heill, Jurgen." I greeted, causing him to briefly pause from his sewing.
"Heill, Karl. How may I help?"
"I fear my walls are beginning to break. I do not believe they will last another week of Howls."
"I will check them first thing in the morning. My hands are full with people who are having the same issue as you now."
"My thanks, Jurgen. May your fire burn long."
"And may yours."
My next stop was my own place of business, the smithy on the north end where I had worked for 20 years. The wonderful heat of the forge welcomed my arrival, prompting me to take off my Highhorn coat before I grabbed my hammer. Today I had to continue work on a gift Arne commissioned for his wife, and it was taking much more time than I had expected. I was happy to do it though, Arne was a good friend of my fathers and had done much for him, so the least I could do was this. The project took many hours, my arm growing sore from the delicate hammering required, but eventually I held the gift in my hands with pride on my face. I would deliver this by the end of the week as I had other assignments, and Arne would be gone until then on his trip with his wife.
As I began work on my next project, my skin shivered. This was surprising due to the sweltering heat of the forge. but it shivered as if I had spent days by the shore. I looked at my arm to see all the hairs standing up, but I decided to pay it no mind. Sometimes the body reacted strangely to things, and this may be one of those times.
I just went back to my work. Hammering the slab of metal into a basic shape, sound ringing from each moment of contact.
One.
Two.
Three.
