A craftsman in the making

As he worked, his mother helped him hammer the stencils down to ensure the patterns were embossed clearly and deeply into the leather so they wouldn't spring back and disappear. Avacyn's praise for his work and his excellent choice of coordinating stencils made the boy's tail wag so fast it was practically spinning like a helicopter rotor from the end of his butt. "Thanks, Mom! I thought they might look good together," he replied with a wide puppy grin. After a few minutes more of work, he felt his mother kiss his forehead and tell him to keep going while she got something for them to work on next. "Okay!" Focused entirely on his stenciling, Daemon didn't even realize Avacyn had actually stepped away until she was back and moving the leather piece out of the way. Dae watched with growing curiosity as his mother set something down on the workbench—and his eyes went wide when he realized what it was. It was his mother's armor! He recognized the overlapping steel scales that matched the scales that grew on her shoulders naturally. What were they going to do with her armor?

Daemon wasn't kept waiting for an explanation for long. The boy listened with rapt attention and wide blue eyes while Ava asked him to make his pattern on the exposed leather straps of her armor, and the boy's head practically exploded! She wanted him to decorate her armor! "Yeah, I can do that for you, Mom!" he said with determination in his narrowed eyes, grinning proudly while he began to carefully position the stencils. The importance of this moment was not lost on the boy. His mother's armor was something she wore almost every single day. This had to look absolutely perfect for her, the alphess of Elysium! Each press of the stencil was deliberate, each tap of the hammer final. Daemon took the "measure twice, cut once" method for his approach, making sure everything lined up evenly and consistently with his patterns. It was a slower process than when he had done this on the leather scrap, but in time he had covered the exposed straps in his triple moon pattern.

Pulling back and setting the stencils down so he could examine his work better, Daemon scrutinized his patterns with eagle eyes. He didn't want to disappoint his mother! "What'dya think, Mom?" The boy looked up at his mother, the marking on his eye glowing a little faster as his heart sped up with nervousness. Would she like it? What if he'd done something wrong?

"Daemon Mendacium"