“Okay class, today we’ll learn how to smith a wind imbue,” Master Foss said.

They were standing in a section of the dragon forge that was rarely used by Headmaster Lorken’s mage smiths. It was mostly used for practice or for making non-magical items. There were a couple of anvils here, a small forge and tools. But the distance was too far from the dragon stones to be able to imbue any item.

“Titanium is a tricky metal,” Master Foss continued. “It has different properties than iron and the new metal we used for the double imbue. Its melting point is higher, and the metal is more brittle. You have to really know what you’re doing to make anything useful from it. We receive titanium alloys from the mining operation here in Aldrion. But every mage smith should learn how they’re created by witnessing the process themselves. We’ll go to the furnace where they make the alloys later in your education. But for today, we’ll just remember that it is more to smithing magical items than just the forging process.”

Mel’s eyes never left Master Foss while he was speaking. Her heart was fluttering and excitement rolled inside her stomach. This was what she’d always wanted. Learning from a real mage smith at the dragon forge and honing her craft. She was progressing as a smith with every single word from his mouth, and she loved every second of it.

Soon, she’d be just as good as Master Foss and the other mage smiths working in the forge. Soon she’d earn her place here and be employed by the governor instead of his prisoner.

It was easy during these times of lectures and learning to forget about the dark reality waiting for her after class. It was easy to just slip into a sense of being like everyone else. She wanted it so badly that she thought it was why her mind jumped to the conclusion she’d be let go if she just learned the craft well enough.

“Here I have a thin billet of titanium, ready for us to use,” Master Foss said, waving a thin silvery piece of metal in his hand. “It’s not a lot, but we don’t need a lot for the inside of each arrow head. Since the temperature of the metal will be really important to get right, I’ll take care of heating it up in the forge. Then we’ll cut off a small piece of the billet and you’ll practice smithing on the anvils here. There won't, of course, be any wind that gets imbued into the metal. We’re too far away from the dragon stones. But I want you to only focus on getting the rhythm, the song and the force right. This is a new metal for you to work with for a reason. No one ever teaches smithing with titanium to beginners. It's an advanced technique for sure.”

Master Foss took out a long tong from the tools hanging by the wall close to the open forge. The forge was burning hot and Mel saw right away that there were no logs placed at the bottom. This was a coal forge, and Mel licked her lips in anticipation.

She’d used a coal forge once before, when they'd made the double imbue. She wondered how this would be different and what more she’d learn.

Master Foss gestured for the four students to gather around him, and then he stuck the end of the titanium billet into the burning coals, right in the middle. He waited for a moment, then pulled it out, holding it up for the class.

“Titanium looks different. it’s whiter, as you can see. The yellow-tinge means it's not hot enough. You’ll need to learn how the metal should look to know if it's hot enough and when it's too hot.”

He placed the glowing end of the billet into the fire again and Mel marveled at this new color. She’d always thought of forging as hot, angry and red, but this was different. Titanium was white, hard and brittle at the same time. She tilted her head to one side, watching the flames leap around the metal.

It took a while, longer than she would have thought for the billet to be heated up to the appropriate temperature. Master Foss was patient, not lifting the metal too often from the fire, but instead trusting his instincts that it wasn’t enough yet. Finally he took it up from the forge and it glowed bright white in the tong. He walked over to the anvil and placed it down, holding it firm with the tong.

Master Foss nodded to Dean. “Could you assist me?”

“Sure,” Dean said.

Mel saw his throat bob, and he dragged his hands along the top of his thighs as to dry off sweat from his palms. Dean walked over to the tools and put on thick gloves. Then he took a hammer and a chisel from the wall. He walked back to the anvil and stood before Master Foss.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Don’t need to be too precise,” Master Foss said. “Just make sure you get four pieces out of this.”

Dean nodded and, with trembling hands, he measured the chisel against the white glowing metal. He slammed the hammer down three times until it separated from the billet. Master Foss brought out a smaller tong and wrapped it around the small piece of metal, moving it to the edge of the anvil and letting it rest there.

They separated another small piece of titanium from the billet and now Mel saw the metal cooling, much faster than iron usually did. The edges of the titanium became gradually more yellow and Dean wiped some sweat off his brow. Master Foss nodded to him to continue, cutting the last two pieces from each other. Dean hammered the chisel down one last time and four pieces of titanium now lay on the anvil, cooling.

Master Foss held onto one of the pieces with his tong and he readjusted it to get a better hold. Picking it up, he went to the flames again and placed it in the forge. “Now, grab some tools. You’ll each need a tong to hold the metal in place, a titanium hammer and some gloves.”

Mel and the rest of the students hurried to grab what they needed. They returned to the anvils and Master Foss had by now placed all the pieces of titanium back into the forge. Mel dragged on her gloves, feeling the coarse material scrape over her palms. She grabbed the tong in her left hand and the titanium hammer in her right, ready to attack the metal.

“You’ll have to be quick,” Master Foss said. “Titanium cools at a faster rate than you’re used to. But most important, is to get it right. I want you all to find the same rhythm, sing the words out loud and make sure you use a lot of force. Titanium wants pressure.”

He placed the first piece of metal on Mel’s anvil and she grabbed it with her tong, making sure she had a firm grip on the thing. She waited until all of them were ready and then Master Foss counted them into the song.

Her grip around the hammer tightened as she stared at the glowing piece of metal. Her mouth remained closed and even though she heard the other students singing, she couldn’t join in. Something in the titanium drew her in. She was pulled to it.

Mel’s arm moved out of reflex, crashing down with heavy hits against the anvil, the wrong clang filling up the room. She felt out the beat and then when she regained control of herself. She moved the hammer to hit the metal and joined her friends in the song.

“Delay your fear, and trust the wind,”

Dink…dink.

“Delay your fear, and they’ll be by your side,“

Dink…dink.

The rhythm was slow and dragged out. Mel noticed its impact on her much sooner than when she’d made the double imbue. It was like it was trying to lull her into a trance of sorts. Panic rose in her chest as she felt her heart opening.

Her eyes left the white glowing metal and caught with Master Foss’. He looked at her with calm interest and Mel made a panicked expression. He nodded to her, like he wanted her to calm down. Mel kept singing and hitting the metal.

She shook her head at Master Foss. She couldn’t just calm down.

“If you don’t trust you’ll be blind, “

Dink…dink.

Her skin tingled, and Mel noticed her arms glowing above the gloves. She swallowed hard, still looking mostly at Master Foss. He seemed to notice her glowing too, but said nothing. He didn’t even look alarmed. It was what Mel needed to trust and let go.

She let go of her fears and leaned into what her heart wanted. It wanted to jump out of her skin and instead of fighting the incredibly uncomfortable feeling, she just trusted that it wouldn’t actually leave her.

Mel put pressure on the titanium, and her eyes returned to the white glow.

“Delay your fear, cause you have nothing left to hide.”

Dink…dink.

That was the last Mel heard. She knew the song continued. She knew her hammer made a sound every time it struck the metal. But she didn’t hear it in her ears. Instead, she heard the musical note of wind ringing in a constant buzz and a voice floating on top of it.

“Come to me…come to me…I’m waiting for you.”

Mel snapped out of it, the sounds of the forge returning to her once more. The other students had gathered around her. The song had ended and Mel still held the titanium hammer. It was lifted to hit the small piece of metal once more. She placed the hammer down on the anvil and released her grip around the tong.

Mel took a step away from the anvil, staring down at the still glowing metal. It was yellow around the edges now and seemed to be cooling fast. Master Foss walked up to her anvil, grabbing the tong and sank her piece of metal into a barrel of oil close by.

It hissed.

When Master Foss lifted the metal out from the oil, Mel saw an intricate white pattern running along the entire thing, glowing at her. Mel’s jaw hung open, and she heard Meredith gasp from somewhere behind her.

She’d made that. How was that even possible?

Master Foss turned around, his eyes finding her instantly. His mouth was slightly agape and his eyes were wide with surprise. But his shoulders lowered and his lips turned into a warm smile.

Mel’s panic decreased, and a hand wrapped around her shoulder. When she looked back, she saw Will holding onto her, but looking at the item in Master Foss’ possession.

She didn’t know what would happen now. She didn’t think anyone other than them had seen what happened.