A Song for Winter: Present

Yule Christmas morning had come and gone without incident. Jaina, William’s daughter, was excited to find a set of hand-forged throwing knives wrapped up for her. Liam, William’s infant son enjoyed cuddling with his new hand-sewn plush raven. William had put meticulous effort into crafting a beautiful gold necklace with a pendant inset with emeralds and amethysts for his wife Violet. Everyone had a gift to open except William but that was fine for him. Watching everyone else open a present they loved and being together was all he needed. Or so he thought when something heavy hit the ground outside and shook the house a bit.

 

William rushed outside to investigate what had happened with Violet, Liam, and Jaina following quickly behind him. Outside in a small indent in the ground surrounded by the shattered remains of a wooden shipping crate was a large metal vehicle with two wheels with one on the front and one on the back. William had heard that these machines existed in distant worlds but didn’t think he would see one up close. It was a motorcycle made of a black metal with chrome accents and wheels that appeared to be made from some sort of silvery flexible metal.

 

“This is a gift from the whole village and everyone you’ve helped the last few years,” Violet explained as William examined the motorcycle. “Morrisa and her team of engineers made it from star metal. It has an eight-cylinder engine that they’ve dubbed The Sleipnir Drive plus a ton of built-in features.”

 

When William inserted his talisman dagger into a slot on the top of the motorcycle it revved to life. It fed off William’s magic for energy with the use of the talisman as a conduit. This made steering the vehicle easier as William didn’t have to lean into his turns but rather direct his magic in the direction he wanted. Among the buttons and switches were ones that changed the form of the motorcycle. The standard two-wheel form was built for speed which it excelled at. A flip of a switch split the two wheels into four and raised the body a bit for an all-terrain mode. There was a button that further enhanced the all-terrain mode by flipping the tires flat to work as a hovercraft for water or limited flight.

 

While being ridden the Sleipnir engine powered a shield generator that protected the rider but would overheat and shut off if over-taxed. Each side of the motorcycle had a retractable harpoon launcher that fired harpoons attached to steel cables. The steel cables could be wound in with the use of the engine attached to each launcher. This was so the harpoons could easily be reloaded or used to tear apart whatever the harpoon struck. A wooden perch was even installed on the tail of the motorcycle for William’s raven familiar, Viggo, to ride on. William didn’t ask for a gift at all but in the end, he got a better present than he could have ever thought he would get.