The night split open.
What Drake had mistaken for forests, ridges, and shadows along Blackstone Mountain began to move as one.
Roots withdrew from stone.
Entire sections of dark woodland lifted into the air.
Ancient towers, half-swallowed by bark, rose from the creature’s back like broken spines.
Rivers of golden light flowed beneath its black wooden flesh, pulsing from one vast limb to another.
The First Failure unfolded itself from the mountain.
Its body had no single shape.
It resembled a dragon only because Drake’s mind needed something familiar to understand what he was seeing.
Wings formed from forests and interwoven roots stretched across the sky.
A long serpentine spine curved around the peak.
Thousands of golden eyes opened between layers of bark, stone, bone, and metal.
Some eyes were larger than houses.
Others were no bigger than coins.
All of them turned toward the seven pillars burning beyond the mountains.
Red.
Blue.
Gold.
Silver.
White.
Black.
Violet.
The lights continued rising until they touched the clouds.
Then the clouds began rotating around them, forming seven enormous spirals.
Captain Veller stood beneath the ruined roof of the Ashford workshop, his expression hollow.
“I’ve seen military formations,” he whispered.
“Royal processions.
Beast sieges.
Nothing like this.” Gareth leaned heavily on Dawnbreaker.
“You were never meant to.” The First Failure lifted its head.
Its many mouths opened.
The roar that followed shook the valley.
Windows shattered throughout Blackstone.
Snow and loose stone broke from the upper slopes.
Every ordinary beast in the surrounding forest fled in blind terror.
Yet Ember remained on Drake’s shoulder.
The tiny dragon’s claws trembled.
Its Heart Rune glowed beneath its crimson scales.
Through their bond, Drake felt fear, but beneath the fear stood stubborn defiance.
Not alone.
Drake touched Ember’s side.
“No,” he whispered.
“It isn’t.” The First Failure lowered one enormous wing over Blackstone Village.
The structure stretched from one end of the settlement to the other, creating a living shield above the rooftops.
Golden eyes opened along its underside.
For one terrible moment, the villagers screamed, believing they were about to be crushed.
Then chains of light descended from the distant sky.
Seven.
Each one carried the power of a different Order.
The first chain burned red.
It streaked across the valley like a comet and struck the First Failure’s wing.
The impact ignited an entire section of forest.
Black trees burst into flame.
The creature screamed.
Its roar entered Drake’s mind as pain.
Not a single pain.
Thousands.
Every tree, root, eye, and mouth seemed capable of suffering independently.
The First Failure swept its wing.
The red chain snapped.
Burning fragments scattered across the night.
A second chain followed.
Blue this time.
It wrapped around the creature’s neck and released waves of ice.
Frost spread across bark and stone.
Rivers of golden light slowed beneath the frozen surface.
The First Failure bit through the chain.
Its teeth were not teeth at all, but entire rows of white towers grown from its jaw.
The chain shattered.
Two attacks.
Two failures.
Yet the seven pillars only brightened.
Vulcan stepped beside Drake.
“Orders are testing current resistance.” “Testing?” Captain Veller repeated.
“Those attacks could destroy a fortress.” “Correct.” “And that was a test?” “Correct.” Veller muttered a curse.
Gareth looked toward the broken floor leading to the Origin Forge.
“We must move.” Drake kept watching the sky.
“We promised to return.” “We will,” Gareth said.
“But only if we survive long enough to leave.” The First Failure’s voice entered Drake’s thoughts.
“Little Creator.” Its tone strained beneath the pain.
“Go below.” Drake looked upward.
“You can hear me?” “I hear through roots.” “How long can you hold them?” The creature looked toward the seven distant lights.
“I do not know.” The admission frightened Drake more than confidence would have.
This being had survived thousands of years.
It had consumed armies.
It had grown large enough to wrap around a mountain.
And it did not know whether it could stop the Seven Orders.
The black pillar flared.
A shape emerged from it.
At first, Drake thought it was a bird.
Then it spread six wings.
Each wing was covered in mirrored feathers that reflected a different part of the night sky.
A fortress hung beneath its body, suspended by chains and bone arches.
Figures stood along the fortress walls.
Hundreds.
Perhaps thousands.
Their armor was black and polished.
At the front stood a woman in a long coat with silver hair flowing behind her.
Even from miles away, Drake felt her gaze.
She raised one hand.
The enormous beast beneath the fortress opened its beak.
Darkness gathered within.
Vulcan’s voice sharpened.
“Void-class discharge detected.” “What does that mean?” Drake asked.
“Impact will remove affected matter.” “Remove?” “From existence.” Captain Veller looked toward the village.
“Can the First Failure stop it?” “No accurate estimate.” The creature in the sky fired.
A sphere of pure darkness crossed the valley.
It made no sound.
The air simply vanished around it.
Rain disappeared.
Clouds disappeared.
Even moonlight bent away.
The attack moved directly toward Blackstone.
The First Failure reacted instantly.
Its wing folded over the village.
Roots layered upon roots.
Stone plates shifted.
Golden eyes closed.
The sphere struck.
For one heartbeat, there was nothing.
No sound.
No light.
No sensation.
Then half of the First Failure’s wing vanished.
Not burned.
Not shattered.
Gone.
A circular absence appeared through the creature’s body.
Drake could see the stars through it.
The First Failure screamed.
Every lamp in Blackstone went dark.
The mental shock drove Drake to his knees.
Ember cried out and fell from his shoulder.
Drake caught the hatchling against his chest.
Pain flooded their bond.
Not Ember’s.
The First Failure’s anguish was leaking through the connection created by the Origin Forge.
Drake saw fragments.
A stone table.
Black-gloved hands.
Aurelius Noctis standing beneath red fire.
A newly born creature with no eyes and too many limbs.
A voice saying: Grow until nothing can threaten you.
Then hunger.
Endless hunger.
Bodies consumed.
Bloodlines stolen.
Wings added.
Claws reshaped.
Centuries passed in flashes.
The First Failure watched civilizations rise and collapse through cracks in its prison.
It heard Forge Wardens walking above.
Some cursed it.
Some feared it.
One young man sat beside the containment wall and read stories aloud.
Gareth.
The vision broke.
Drake gasped.
He was back in the workshop.
Blood ran from his nose.
Gareth knelt beside him.
“What did you see?” “Its memories.” The old man’s face tightened.
“The bond is forming too quickly.” “What bond?” “Recognition.” Vulcan answered.
“The First Failure acknowledges Drake Ashford as a valid Forge Master.” Captain Veller stared.
“Meaning?” “It may begin responding to his emotions.” “And he may begin responding to its pain,” Gareth said.
Drake wiped the blood from his face.
“Can I control it?” The First Failure’s roar shook the valley again.
Gareth’s expression became severe.
“Never ask that question.” Drake looked at him.
“A Beast Blacksmith does not control life.” “I know.” “Then remember it when fear makes control feel easier.” Another Order emerged.
This time from the golden pillar.
A massive ship sailed through the clouds, though no water supported it.
Its hull gleamed like sunlight.
Hundreds of golden chains hung beneath it, each ending in a circular cage.
Inside those cages were beasts.
Dragons.
Giants.
Winged lions.
Serpents.
Some were alive.
Others looked like preserved corpses.
A man stood at the ship’s prow wearing white-gold armor.
His face was hidden beneath a smooth mask shaped like the sun.
He lifted a staff.
The cages opened.
The beasts inside dropped.
For a moment, Drake thought the Order was freeing them.
Then golden runes ignited along their bodies.
The creatures screamed.
Their forms twisted.
Wings snapped into unnatural angles.
Bones lengthened.
Dead eyes lit with artificial light.
Vulcan raised his hammer.
“Bound revenants.” Captain Veller’s disgust was immediate.
“The Guild outlawed corpse binding.” Gareth looked at him.
“The Orders are older than your laws.” The revenant beasts fell toward the First Failure.
Dozens struck its back.
They tore into bark and roots.
The First Failure twisted through the sky, trying to throw them off, but the golden chains attached to their bodies tightened.
The ship above pulled.
The dead beasts became anchors.
The First Failure’s movements slowed.
Another chain struck its tail.
Then another.
Red fire.
Silver lightning.
White light.
Blue ice.
Each Order attacked from a different direction.
Drake watched the creature struggle.
It had offered to protect them.
And now it was being torn apart for doing so.
Ember pressed against his chest.
A feeling passed between them.
Help.
Drake stood.
Gareth caught his arm.
“No.” “We can’t leave it.” “We cannot fight the Seven Orders.” “I’m not talking about fighting.” “Then what?” Drake looked toward the Origin Hammer.
Its silver veins pulsed in rhythm with the golden light inside the First Failure.
“A Forge Master can see flaws.” Vulcan turned toward him.
Drake continued.
“The Orders are using chains, beasts, ships, and containment runes.
Those are all constructions.” Captain Veller understood first.
“You want to break their formation.” “I want to break the mechanism holding it.” “From here?” Drake looked toward the distant sky fortress.
“No.” Veller laughed once.
Not with humor.
“You intend to climb that?” Granite stepped forward.
The stone ape struck its chest.
The crystal-feathered bird descended from the broken roof and landed beside Drake.
Its injured wing dragged slightly, but it remained willing.
The two-headed wolf growled toward the sky.
Gareth looked at the gathered beasts.
“They will follow you.” Drake nodded.
“I know.” “That does not mean you should lead them into death.” “No.” Drake looked at Ember.
“It means I have to give them a reason to survive.” The First Failure’s body slammed into the mountainside.
An entire ridge collapsed.
The golden revenants continued tearing into it.
One enormous eye turned toward Blackstone.
“Little Creator.” Its voice was weaker now.
“Go.” Drake closed his eyes.
He had spent his entire life being told blacksmiths were obsolete.
That forging was a dying craft.
That power belonged to those who captured beasts, inherited mana, or commanded armies.
Yet every lesson Gareth taught him had prepared him for this moment.
A blacksmith did not overpower metal.
He understood it.
He found weakness.
He changed shape through precision.
Drake opened his eyes.
“Captain Veller.” The captain looked toward him.
“You know Guild battle signals.” “Yes.” “You know how the Orders organize beast formations?” “Not the Orders.
But control networks follow similar principles.” “Good.” Drake pointed toward the golden ship.
“Tell me where the command anchor is.” Veller stared.
“You’re serious.” “Yes.” The captain looked at Gareth.
The old man did not answer.
Veller cursed under his breath.
Then he stepped beside Drake.
“The man with the sun mask carries the central control staff.
Break the staff, and the revenants lose formation.” “Will they die?” “They are already dead.” Drake’s jaw tightened.
“Will their bodies stop attacking?” “Yes.” “What about the fortress under the black beast?” Veller looked toward the void-winged creature.
“The woman commands it directly.
No visible collar.” “Heart bond?” “No.” The captain’s voice became bitter.
“Pain seal.” Drake saw it then.
A faint black thread stretched between the woman and the flying beast.
Unlike Ember’s golden bond, the thread was jagged and dark.
The creature was terrified.
“What happens if we break the seal?” “It may flee.” “Or attack everyone.” “Yes.” “Better than allowing it to erase Blackstone.” Vulcan stepped forward.
“Forge Master lacks aerial mobility.” The crystal bird lowered itself.
Its feathers chimed like glass.
Drake looked toward it.
The creature had been wounded during the workshop battle.
One wing remained cracked.
It could not carry him far.
Granite pointed toward the mountain.
Then toward the First Failure’s roots.
Drake understood.
“We climb the roots.” Captain Veller looked upward.
The First Failure’s body extended from Blackstone to the clouds.
Its roots formed an impossible road.
A road into war.
“That,” Veller said, “is the worst plan I have heard tonight.” Drake lifted the Origin Hammer.
“You invaded my home, threatened my grandfather, lost control of your beasts, and helped wake an ancient monster.” Veller’s scarred mouth tightened.
“I dislike where this is going.” “You’re not qualified to judge plans.” Gareth laughed weakly.
The sound surprised everyone.
For a moment, he looked younger.
Then another cough bent him forward.
Drake moved to him.
Blood stained Gareth’s hand.
“Grandfather.” “I’ll live long enough to complain later.” “You’re staying below.” Gareth looked ready to argue.
Drake spoke first.
“You said I must carry others when the time comes.” The old man went silent.
Drake pressed Dawnbreaker back into Gareth’s hand.
“Guard the Forge.” Gareth stared at the hammer.
Then at Drake.
The roles between them shifted.
Not completely.
A grandson remained a grandson.
A master remained a master.
But for the first time, Gareth allowed Drake to make the decision.
“Return,” he said.
“I will.” “Do not promise lightly.” Drake looked toward the First Failure.
Toward the impossible battle above Blackstone.
“I already promised one ancient monster I would return.” Gareth sighed.
“You inherited your father’s talent for making dangerous promises.” Drake’s chest tightened.
There was no time to ask.
Later.
He would demand every truth later.
For now, the sky was falling.
Vulcan opened a compartment within his chest and removed three thin metal rings.
“Emergency forge-links.” He gave one to Drake, one to Captain Veller, and one to Granite.
“What do they do?” “Temporary communication through Forge Mark proximity.” Veller examined the ring.
“I don’t possess a Forge Mark.” “Contact with Drake Ashford will establish limited resonance.” The captain looked displeased.
“I am not bonding with him.” “Statement irrelevant.” The ring tightened around Veller’s finger.
Golden light flashed.
He cursed.
Drake heard his voice inside his mind.
This is deeply invasive.
Drake blinked.
“I can hear you.” Veller glared.
Stop doing that.
“I’m not doing anything.” Granite placed the ring around one thick finger.
A low rumbling emotion entered the link.
Not words.
Readiness.
Ember’s bond remained clearer than all of them.
Go.
Drake climbed onto Granite’s shoulder.
Ember returned to his usual place.
Captain Veller reluctantly climbed behind Drake.
The two-headed wolf followed on the ground.
The crystal bird launched into the rain.
Vulcan stepped toward the broken wall.
“I will accompany.” Drake looked at his damaged leg.
“You can climb?” “Insult detected.” “That was a practical question.” Vulcan drove one metal hand into the nearest root.
The bark cracked.
He began climbing with terrifying speed.
Drake stared.
Captain Veller spoke through the forge-link.
I dislike him.
Vulcan’s voice entered both their minds.
Opinion recorded and rejected.
Granite leapt.
His massive hands seized the First Failure’s roots.
The ascent began.
Below them, Blackstone shrank.
The ruined workshop became a small square of blue light.
Villagers gathered beyond the living shield, watching in fear and awe.
Above, the Seven Orders continued their assault.
Golden revenants tore into the First Failure’s back.
Silver chains pinned one wing.
Red flames consumed another.
The creature fought without using its full strength.
Drake realized why.
Blackstone lay beneath it.
If the First Failure struck freely, the village would be destroyed.
It was restraining itself.
Choosing not to hurt.
Keeping its promise.
The realization strengthened Drake’s resolve.
Granite climbed higher.
Rain lashed across Drake’s face.
Wind threatened to tear him from the ape’s shoulder.
The First Failure’s roots shifted beneath them, forming steps whenever Granite reached upward.
It was helping.
“Little Creator climbs.” The voice entered Drake’s mind.
“Yes.” “You should go below.” “I changed the plan.” “Plans are uncertain.” “You wanted choice.
This is mine.” For a moment, the creature was silent.
Then warmth moved through the roots.
“I like your choice.” A golden revenant dragon broke away from the battle.
Its dead eyes locked onto Drake.
The creature folded its ruined wings and dived.
Captain Veller saw it.
“Incoming!” The dragon opened its mouth.
Golden fire gathered.
The crystal bird intercepted.
It struck the revenant from the side.
Both beasts spun through the rain.
Drake felt the free creature’s pain through the temporary forge-link.
Not words.
A sharp burst of determination.
It could not win.
It only needed to delay.
“Granite, faster!” The ape roared and climbed.
The revenant dragon recovered.
Its jaws closed around the crystal bird’s wing.
Black feathers shattered.
The bird screamed.
Drake raised the Origin Hammer.
Too far.
Ember leapt from his shoulder.
“Ember!” The hatchling landed on the revenant’s head.
Blue fire erupted directly into its dead eye.
The dragon twisted.
The crystal bird tore free.
Ember lost his footing.
He fell.
Drake’s heart stopped.
The bond stretched.
Fear flashed from Ember.
Granite pushed from the root.
The enormous ape launched himself sideways.
Drake reached.
His fingers closed around Ember’s tail.
The hatchling dangled over thousands of feet of empty air.
Drake pulled him against his chest.
“You are never doing that again.” Ember chirped weakly.
Won.
“You almost died.” Won.
Captain Veller’s voice entered the link.
Your beast is as unreasonable as you are.
Ember spat a spark toward him.
Veller ducked.
The revenant dragon attacked again.
Vulcan dropped from a higher root.
His hammer struck the creature’s skull.
The dead dragon fell into the darkness below.
“Path clear,” Vulcan said.
Granite resumed climbing.
They reached the First Failure’s back.
It was less like standing on a beast and more like arriving on a continent.
Forests stretched across its body.
Ruined towers rose between roots.
Golden rivers flowed through deep channels.
Everywhere, revenant creatures fought tendrils and mouths.
The golden ship hovered ahead.
Chains ran from its hull into the First Failure’s spine.
The masked commander stood at the prow.
He raised his staff.
His voice carried through the storm.
“By decree of the Radiant Menagerie, the First Aberration is sentenced to eternal containment.” Drake stepped onto the living ground.
Captain Veller drew his sword.
Granite roared.
Vulcan lifted his hammer.
Ember’s Heart Rune ignited.
The sun-masked commander looked down.
His attention settled on Drake.
Then on the Origin Hammer.
The staff in his hand trembled.
“You.” Drake stared back.
The man’s voice changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“The Ashford bloodline survives.” Every soldier on the golden ship turned toward Drake.
The commander pointed the staff.
“Forget the Aberration.” Golden cages opened along the ship’s sides.
Hundreds of bound beasts raised their heads.
“Capture the Beast Blacksmith.” The First Failure’s entire body shook.
Its countless eyes opened.
Rage rolled across the sky.
“No.” One word.
Spoken by thousands of mouths.
The golden ship fired its chains.
The First Failure raised a forest of roots.
Drake lifted the Origin Hammer.
And beneath seven pillars of ancient hatred, the Last Beast Blacksmith charged the people who had erased his kind from history.
— End of Chapter 7