(Mallea)
With just days left until the tournaments that would decide Brynhyl Setric’s expedition party, the party of six once again met in Asher and Iliastyr’s room. The group sat in a circle with the new lovebirds, Asher and Kylie, coiled up in the same chair. Mallea dropped the last coins into the small pouch and handed it to Asher. He’d been hard at work finding her materials and they’d been sharing the profits from Mallea’s test weapons.
Twenty swords, thirteen daggers, seven lances, four axes, and a scythe had graced Mallea’s forge during her training for the expedition tournament. Eighteen of them had been magical, but finding arcane resources was tricky. More importantly, of all the magical weapons she’d forged, none had been suitable for Asher’s signature blade. The tournament was in five days. They were running out of time.
“There’s no getting around it: the top eight are going to have magical weapons,” Iliastyr said. “Mallea, It’s time for Asher’s blade to be made.”
“I’ve got the skill now, sure, but we need higher-quality materials,” Mallea replied.
No matter how much practice and studying she’d done for the tournament, Mallea couldn’t forge a powerful magical weapon without powerful arcane materials. Vladimir’s eyes lit up, exposing his fang-like teeth in a wide grin.
“The Setric palace has a vault with arusol and argeluna, ‘sun gold and moon silver.’ Their alloy is called-“
“-Solluna,” Mallea replied, “the arcane metal that our kingdom was founded on. But we still need an arcane element to conduct, or it’s useless.”
Iliastyr and Safreya, both in their natural faellarin forms, gazed at one another with determined kaleidoscope eyes. Their resolve was steeled; the faellarin siblings nodded and turned to Mallea with their arms held out.
“If you aren’t bothered by copying your aunt’s masterpiece… Berin and Brynhyl’s blades are solluna mixed with faellarin blood," Iliastyr said.
Asher and Mallea opened their mouths to deny the request, but Kylie placed her hand over their protesting lips.
“I know it feels gross, but don’t let what happened to their parents skew your view of this gift,” Kylie said. “They believe in the woman who will make the blade and the man who will wield it. I’ll be there to ensure they don’t lose too much blood.”
Mallea and Asher placed the crowns of their head against Safreya and Iliastyr’s to show their appreciation. Their faelarrin best friends were determined. Kylie, Iliastyr, and Vladimir already had their signature weapons, but Asher still needed a blade to let him hold his own against the fierce competition at the tournament.
“And for the handle, I have the perfect wrap,” Kylie said, undoing her golden hair tie. “This ribbon is made from the cocoons of glitter moth larvae; it increases the stamina of whoever it touches.”
“Kylie, I can’t accept this. The price alone…” Asher said, gazing at the ribbon in awe.
Kylie planted a light kiss on Asher’s cheek. “Don’t worry; I have another one in red at home. It's not as big a gesture as Iliastyr's, but a part of me will always be with you.”
The blade would use arcane ore secured by Vladimir, Kylie’s magic ribbon for the grip, and Safreya and Iliastyr’s blood for the magic. It was to be forged by Mallea and wielded by Asher. That one blade would bind the six of them together forever.
“Let’s meet at the forge after Vladimir secures the ore,” Mallea instructed. “We’re getting this blade finished tonight.”
So, the group went their separate ways, each determined to make Asher’s ultimate blade a reality. Mallea already had the pressure of the ensuing tournament to deal with, but this blade was the most weight she'd felt on her thus far.
(Vladimir)
Beyond Solluna’s general residential district was Castle Setric. Like any noble family's place of living, it was far closer to the guilds than the residential district. Castle Setric was a brief jog from the warrior’s college, so Vladimir had an easy journey there from Asher’s dorm.
“What are you up to at this hour, Master Vladimir?” Asked an armed butler, opening the gates to the castle grounds for the young man.
“Just grabbing something for a friend,” Vladimir replied.
Vladimir walked beyond the moonlit courtyard and through a garden full of beautiful red rhododendrons, forsythias, and other warm-colored flowers. From above, the garden gave the look of a burning sun.
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Two butlers at the castle gates bowed to Vladimir and let him through. Vladimir’s skin shook the instant the metal double doors parted. Berin and Brynhyl’s magic factors were so oppressive that even the mightiest warriors from being in the same building. Despite Berin having already snuffed the lights, Vladimir needed no candle or lantern to navigate the halls of Castle Setric. He’d long since memorized every crevice and corner of his childhood home. He darted through the maze of a castle without a speck of light until he reached the armory.
The Setric armory was lined with a menagerie of weapons, from axes fit for a grizzly bear to pigeon-sized bows for the children. However, Vladimir’s target was in the very back: bricks of shining silver and gold ore. Vladimir snatched up one brick of each ore and headed out of the armory, into the hall, and straight into-
“What are you doing with those metals, boy?” Asked Berin Setric as Vladimir collapsed into him.
The thought of Safreya's story made Vladimir want to storm away. Father or not, he couldn’t pretend to love someone who slaughtered innocents
How can you look so calm after everything you’ w done? Asher wondered. You’d never kill an innocent human like that. Was it just like butchering swine to you? Do you not understand that faellarin think like us, laugh like us, and love like us? Still, I can't have you be suspicious... I have to play along with your games.
“Well, I’m not eating them,” Vladimir said with a fake laugh. “What do you think I’m doing?”
“You know those are for Setric weapons only. The last time you stole from the castle was to make a ring for that poor peasant woman. What was her name? Serena?” Berin pondered, remembering the woman's face with
“They’re actually for a Setric. But more importantly than that…" Vladimir bared his elongated canines in a snarl and let his magic run wild through the room. "Never bring up Sara again.”
“There’s that incredible magic factor,” Berin applauded, “but it’s wasted pining for such an ordinary woman. Now your mother, that was a woman. The only one of my children’s mothers that I’d have considered marrying. Certainly not the Arukan woman that bred Nadia. Though she had a fine body…”
“Father. Stop,” Vladimir winced.
“Your Aunt Brynhyl views her men the same way. Setrics are born to conquer - in all things. Bodies in our beds are the same as arms in our armories. We only want the rarest and most beautiful. You’d do well to remember that, or you’ll fall for another Sally.”
“Sara,” Vladimir replied, unable to hide his simmering anger.
Berin shrugged and walked directly past Vladimir, returning to his chambers.
“Tell Asher I said hello,” Berin called out as he closed his door. “I sincerely hope the weapon you make from those ores can grow him into a real Setric.”
He already is a real Setric, Vladimir thought as he carried the metals. Realer than any of you.
(Mallea)
The bricks Vladimir had secured, one of shining gold and one of silver, sat by a small cylindrical furnace. Mallea had made alloys before, but it was her first time creating the signature metal of solluna. The furnace was made of arcane metal and used special coals perfect for creating alloys. Mallea inserted the bricks into the burning coals at the bottom of the cylinder and left the next part to Iliastyr. The faellarin genius sent a pulse of magic into the furnace, more than tripling the flame's heat as the gold and silver melted into molten mix
One final binding agent was necessary to finish the alloy: a consistent source of magic. Fortunately, Iliastyr and Safreya had offered up the perfect element. The faellarin siblings held their hands over the furnace. Mallea pulled her aunt’s knife from its sheath and handed it to Kylie. The Novadancer made a deep incision on each thumb and set the dagger down. Safreya winced at the wound but maintained her steady arm over the furnace. Kylie squeezed both thumbs to draw as much blood as possible into the alloy.
Faellarin blood wasn’t blue or green like Mallea had anticipated. They bled red, the same as humans. They even bleed the same as us, Mallea thought. She couldn’t help but blush, wondering what other ways faellarinn were like humans. Mallea used a pair of steel tongs to grip the portable furnace and give the blood and metal alloy a few stirs before pouring the molten mixture into a cast that she’d prepared beforehand.
While the mold settled, Kylie heated up the dragonscale dagger and cauterized the cuts on Iliastyr and Safreya’s hands. Both sibling's brave stoicism turned into grunts of pain as their wounds were seared shut.
“Thanks, Kylie,” Mallea said. “You’ve all been a big help. It’ll be finished by tomorrow. You should all get some sleep before the tournament.”
“Thank you for making this for Ash,” Kylie said, wrapping an arm around Mallea in a light hug. “Make sure that you also get some sleep.”
“It’s gonna be incredible. You’re a star, Mallea,” Asher said with a grin. “I’ll ensure everyone knows who made this blade after winning the tournament.”
You’re the stars, Mallea thought as the other five in her group exited, waving goodbye to the blacksmith. My job is just to make sure you all shine as bright as possible. And I’m going to do that better than anyone else. Mallea worked throughout the night. Hammer and grindstone worked away at the blade until it was sharp enough to cleave through dragon scales like butter.
Next came the golden crossguard, then the wooden handle, then the pommel. After applying an adhesive, Mallea wrapped Kylie’s arcane ribbon around the handle as the finishing touch. By the time the sun started rising on a new day, Mallea was finally satisfied with her masterpiece.
The exhausted blacksmith stopped on her way home to pick up an arcane sealing leather sheath from one of the crafter’s guild top merchants. She practically had to crawl back to her dorm before collapsing on the bed, Asher’s blade still in her hand as she drifted off to sleep.