The stone ape crossed the workshop in three thunderous steps.
Each impact shook dust from the rafters.
It stood nearly twice Drake’s height, with massive shoulders covered in overlapping slabs of gray rock.
Glowing orange lines ran between the plates like molten veins.
Its fists were larger than anvils, and every breath escaped its nostrils in clouds of hot vapor.
The beast raised one arm.
Drake saw the strike coming.
He also knew he could not stop it.
Not directly.
“Ember, eyes!” The command left his mouth before he had time to wonder whether the hatchling would understand.
Ember understood perfectly.
The tiny dragon twisted in the air and released a narrow stream of blue flame.
The stone ape’s handler shouted.
“Granite!
Guard!” The beast crossed one forearm in front of its face.
Blue fire splashed against the rocky plates.
The stone did not burn, but the sudden heat made the creature flinch.
Its punch changed direction.
Instead of crushing Drake’s chest, the fist struck the floor beside him.
BOOM!
The wooden boards exploded.
Drake was thrown sideways.
He rolled beneath the worktable, came up on one knee, and drove the Origin Hammer against the ape’s ankle.
Clang!
The blow sent a sharp vibration through his arm.
A normal hammer would have bounced harmlessly from the stone armor.
The Origin Hammer did not.
Its silver veins flashed.
A thin golden line appeared across the beast’s ankle joint.
A flaw.
The plates were thick, but the connective tissue between them remained vulnerable.
Drake struck the same point again.
The stone ape roared.
Its foot jerked backward.
Captain Veller’s expression sharpened.
“He can see the binding points.” Gareth turned toward him.
“You should leave.” Veller glanced at the old man.
“Is that concern for me?” “No.” Gareth’s bruised face remained calm.
“It is the last warning you will receive.” The captain laughed.
“From a dying village smith?” Gareth’s eyes moved toward Drake.
“Not from me.” The stone ape swung its other fist.
Drake stepped inside the arc.
It was the same principle he had used against Vulcan.
A large hammer was most dangerous at the edge of its reach.
Close to the body, its power became harder to control.
The stone ape was no different.
Drake ducked beneath its arm and struck the glowing joint beneath its shoulder.
The beast bellowed.
One rock plate cracked.
Ember landed on the creature’s back.
Its tiny claws scraped against stone.
The ape tried to seize it.
Ember ran across its shoulder and breathed blue fire into the gap beside its neck.
Orange light flared beneath the plates.
The stone ape staggered.
Through their bond, Drake felt Ember’s exhilaration.
This time, he did not scold it.
“Again!” The hatchling obeyed.
It released another burst into the same gap.
A fracture spread across the ape’s shoulder.
The handler pulled hard on the chain.
“Granite!
Crush the dragon!” The beast’s expression twisted.
Its head turned toward Ember.
Then toward its handler.
For one brief moment, it hesitated.
Drake noticed.
So did Gareth.
The old man’s eyes narrowed.
The handler yanked the chain again.
A red rune burned beneath the metal collar around the ape’s neck.
The beast screamed.
Not with rage.
With pain.
Drake’s stomach tightened.
The stone ape attacked Ember wildly.
Its fist smashed through one of Gareth’s cabinets.
Tools scattered across the floor.
Ember barely escaped.
The hatchling landed beside Drake, wings absent but body quick, its claws sliding on the wooden boards.
Anger passed through their bond.
Not at the ape.
At the collar.
Drake felt the same.
The stone ape had not chosen to attack.
It had been forced.
Veller pointed toward Drake.
“Break his legs.
Keep the creature alive.” The handler gave the chain another violent pull.
The collar’s rune brightened.
The stone ape charged again.
Drake did not retreat.
He watched the collar.
A metal band.
Three locking clasps.
One control rune.
Two reinforcement lines.
The Origin Hammer pulsed in his hand.
Golden flaw-lines appeared.
The collar’s weakest point glowed near the back of the beast’s neck.
Drake made his decision.
“Ember, make it turn.” The hatchling chirped.
It sprinted left.
The stone ape followed.
The handler shouted a command, but pain and confusion slowed the creature’s response.
Ember leapt onto the overturned worktable and spat a spark into the beast’s face.
The ape swung.
Ember jumped clear.
Its fist shattered the table.
The movement exposed the back of its neck.
Drake ran.
He stepped onto a fallen stool, pushed off, and landed against the ape’s back.
His fingers caught between two stone plates.
The beast reared.
Drake nearly fell.
The handler saw what he was doing.
“Get him off!” The red rune on the collar blazed.
The stone ape convulsed.
Its roar shook the workshop.
Drake felt the heat of the control magic through his coat.
He climbed higher.
The collar’s clasp was directly in front of him.
He raised the Origin Hammer.
“Hold still!” The stone ape bucked.
Drake struck.
Clang!
The clasp dented.
The rune flashed.
The beast screamed again.
“Once more,” Drake muttered.
The ape slammed its back into a support beam.
Drake’s ribs struck stone armor.
Pain exploded through his chest.
He almost lost his grip.
Ember’s concern flooded the bond.
“I’m fine,” Drake gasped.
He was not.
But the clasp had cracked.
One more strike.
The handler released the chain and drew a hooked blade.
He rushed forward.
Ember intercepted him.
The hatchling leapt at his face.
The man raised one arm.
Blue flame struck his sleeve.
He shouted and stumbled backward, beating at the fire.
Drake lifted the hammer.
The stone ape twisted.
The angle vanished.
He waited.
The beast turned again.
There.
He struck.
CRACK!
The collar broke.
Red light burst across the workshop.
The chain fell.
The stone ape froze.
Its raised fist stopped inches from Ember.
The glowing orange veins beneath its armor dimmed.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then the beast reached toward its neck.
Its thick fingers touched the broken collar.
Confusion appeared in its dark eyes.
The handler recovered.
“Granite!” The ape looked at him.
“Attack!” The command carried no magic now.
Only desperation.
The stone ape slowly lowered its hand.
The handler stepped backward.
“Granite, obey!” The beast growled.
A deep sound.
Not directed at Drake.
At the man who had tortured it.
Captain Veller’s expression hardened.
“Handler Orsen, restore control.” “I can’t.
The collar is broken.” “Then use the secondary seal.” Orsen reached for a metal spike hanging from his belt.
The stone ape saw it.
Fear entered its eyes.
Then rage.
It struck.
The back of one stone hand hit Orsen across the chest.
The handler flew through the broken window.
Glass and wood exploded outward.
He disappeared into the rain.
The stone ape stood breathing heavily.
Ember approached cautiously.
Drake slid from the creature’s back.
He landed badly and nearly fell, but caught himself against a support beam.
The ape looked down at him.
Drake raised the Origin Hammer, though his arm trembled.
The beast could still crush him easily.
Instead, Granite lowered its head.
A slow, uncertain gesture.
Gratitude.
Drake relaxed slightly.
“You’re free.” The stone ape touched the ruined collar again.
Its eyes shifted toward the open window.
Toward the forest beyond the village.
Drake stepped aside.
“Go.” Captain Veller drew a thin silver sword.
“You will do no such thing.” Granite turned.
The captain’s blade glowed with white mana.
Veller slashed.
A crescent of light crossed the workshop and struck the ape’s chest.
Stone plates shattered.
Granite roared.
It stumbled into the wall.
Drake’s anger flared.
“You said you wanted it alive.” Veller’s gaze remained cold.
“I said I wanted your beast alive.” He pointed the blade toward Granite.
“That one has become defective.” Ember’s growl deepened.
Drake stepped between Veller and the wounded ape.
“You call freedom a defect?” “I call disobedience a danger.” The words sounded almost identical to those spoken by the shadow in the Heart Chamber.
A heart is not meant to choose.
A heart is meant to be shaped.
Drake’s hand tightened around the hammer.
Different man.
Same belief.
The transparent lizard beside the second handler hissed.
Its body brightened.
Mana flowed through its exposed veins and gathered inside its throat.
Gareth spoke from behind Veller.
“Drake, move.” Drake heard something in his grandfather’s voice.
Not fear.
Command.
He obeyed without thinking.
He threw himself aside.
Gareth’s hand came out from beneath his blanket.
Between his fingers rested a small metal disk.
He pressed his thumb into its center.
A red rune ignited.
The old furnace behind him roared to life.
Flame erupted from the chimney.
The fire was ordinary orange, but it moved with unnatural force.
A wave of heat crossed the room.
The transparent lizard’s gathered mana destabilized.
Its glowing veins flickered.
The creature released its attack too early.
A beam of pale energy struck the ceiling.
Wood exploded.
The handler shouted and lost control of the chain.
Drake stared at Gareth.
“You can use runes?” His grandfather did not look at him.
“Later.” Captain Veller turned slowly.
“So the old smith still remembers a few tricks.” Gareth’s breathing became heavier.
The brief activation had cost him.
Blood darkened the cloth near his mouth.
Veller raised his sword.
“I was beginning to think the Ashford name had become completely useless.” Gareth smiled faintly.
“You came with twenty-three people to search the home of a useless family.” Veller’s scar twisted with his expression.
“We came because the guild does not ignore unknown mana events.” “No.” Gareth looked at the captain’s golden insignia.
“You came because someone sent you.” Silence followed.
Drake watched Veller carefully.
The captain’s face remained calm.
But his grip on the sword tightened.
Gareth had struck something true.
“Who?” Drake asked.
Veller ignored him.
Gareth continued.
“The regional office would have sent inspectors.
Scholars.
Detection mages.” His old eyes sharpened.
“They would not have sent you.” The transparent lizard’s handler moved closer to his captain.
Veller glanced toward him.
A small gesture.
The handler understood.
He pulled a black whistle from his belt.
Drake saw it.
“Ember!” The hatchling breathed fire.
The whistle melted before reaching the man’s mouth.
He cursed and dropped it.
From outside, distant growls answered anyway.
The rest of the guild squad had heard the fighting.
Boots pounded across the muddy street.
Beasts roared.
They were coming.
Veller smiled.
“You are correct about one thing.” He stepped toward Gareth.
“I was specifically instructed to search this workshop.” Drake moved between them.
“By whom?” The captain’s gaze dropped to the mark on Drake’s hand.
“Someone who hoped the Ashford bloodline had ended quietly.” Gareth closed his eyes.
A look of exhaustion crossed his face.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“You knew,” Drake said.
His grandfather opened his eyes again.
“Drake—” “You knew they might come.” “This is not the time.” “When is the time?
After they kill us?” The words came harsher than Drake intended.
Gareth flinched.
Drake regretted them immediately, but the anger remained.
All the stories.
All the warnings.
The hidden forge beneath their home.
Gareth had known something.
Perhaps not everything.
But enough.
Veller chuckled.
“Families and secrets.
Always such a fragile combination.” Drake turned toward him.
“Be quiet.” The captain’s smile vanished.
The workshop doors burst inward.
Six guild fighters entered.
Two carried swords.
One held a spear.
Three wore reinforced handler armor.
Behind them came beasts.
A silver-furred wolf with two heads.
A giant horned boar.
A bird covered in black crystal feathers.
More figures gathered outside.
Rain poured through the doorway.
Drake counted quickly.
Eleven inside or near the entrance.
More in the village.
Too many.
Granite pushed away from the wall.
The stone ape stood behind Drake, wounded but ready.
Veller noticed.
“You freed one beast and think it makes you a master?” Drake looked at Ember.
The hatchling stood at his feet.
Blue fire glowed inside its jaws.
“I’m not a master.” The Origin Hammer’s silver veins brightened.
“But I know the difference between a bond and a chain.” The two-headed wolf charged first.
Ember met it.
The hatchling ran directly toward the beast, then slid beneath its snapping jaws.
Blue fire erupted across the wolf’s chest.
It yelped.
Drake followed.
He struck the metal control plate attached to its harness.
The plate cracked.
Not enough to break.
The handler pulled the chain.
The wolf twisted violently and attacked again.
Granite intercepted it.
One massive hand seized the wolf’s harness and hurled it into the horned boar.
The beasts crashed together.
The workshop became chaos.
The crystal-feathered bird launched from its handler’s arm.
Its wings released a storm of black shards.
Drake ducked behind the anvil.
Crystal feathers embedded themselves in the wood and stone around him.
Ember leapt onto the anvil.
It breathed a broad wave of flame.
Several feathers melted in midair.
Others struck the hatchling’s scales.
One cut across its foreleg.
Pain flashed through the bond.
Drake’s temper snapped.
He came out from behind the anvil and threw the Origin Hammer.
The weapon spun once.
Its black head struck the bird’s wing joint.
Crack!
The creature crashed to the floor.
Drake ran forward and caught the hammer as it bounced.
The bird’s handler swung a sword.
Drake blocked.
Steel rang against the Origin Hammer.
The man attacked again.
Drake stepped aside and drove the hammer’s handle into his ribs.
The handler doubled over.
Ember jumped onto his back and released a small spark near his collar.
The man screamed and fell.
“Too much,” Drake said.
Ember chirped innocently.
A spear thrust toward Drake’s chest.
Granite’s arm blocked it.
The weapon shattered against stone.
The ape grabbed the guild fighter and threw him through a stack of crates.
The two-headed wolf recovered.
It attacked Granite’s leg.
Its jaws closed around a cracked stone plate.
The boar lowered its horns and charged.
Granite could not avoid both.
Drake saw the glowing collars.
Saw the control runes.
He understood what Veller’s squad was doing.
They were forcing the beasts to attack recklessly.
Using pain to override instinct.
The handlers did not care if the animals survived.
Drake raised his marked hand.
The emblem burned.
For an instant, the room changed.
Thin golden threads appeared.
They connected each beast to its handler.
Not physical chains.
Mana bonds.
Some were bright and steady.
Others were dark red, twisted with fear and control.
Drake could see them.
The Origin Forge mark was revealing the nature of each contract.
The two-headed wolf’s bond was almost entirely red.
The boar’s was the same.
The crystal bird’s thread pulsed with pain.
But one bond was different.
The transparent lizard and its handler shared a pale green connection.
Weak.
Frightened.
But not cruel.
The handler was trying to protect it.
Drake understood then.
Not every member of the guild was the same.
Not every contract was slavery.
Captain Veller stood at the center of the conflict, sword raised.
No beast beside him.
Yet dozens of control commands flowed from the golden insignia on his cloak.
He held authority over all guild-bound creatures present.
Drake’s eyes narrowed.
The insignia was amplifying the handlers’ control.
Break the crest.
Break the command network.
He looked at Ember.
The hatchling followed his gaze.
Understanding passed through their bond.
“Can you reach him?” Ember lowered its body.
Together.
Drake smiled despite the danger.
“Together.” Granite roared and lifted the two-headed wolf from its leg.
It threw the beast toward the left side of the room.
The path to Veller opened.
Drake ran.
Ember sprinted beside him.
The captain saw them.
His sword glowed.
“You should have surrendered.” He slashed.
White mana tore through the air.
Drake raised the Origin Hammer.
The energy struck.
He was driven backward.
His boots slid across the floor.
The hammer absorbed part of the attack, but not all.
A thin cut opened across his chest.
Blood darkened his shirt.
Ember leapt.
Veller turned the sword.
The flat of the blade struck the hatchling.
Ember flew into the furnace.
Drake felt the impact through the bond.
“Ember!” The hatchling hit the iron door and fell.
It did not move.
Drake’s fear became something colder than rage.
Veller stepped toward him.
“You forged a weak creature.” Drake rose slowly.
“You don’t know what I forged.” “I know it cannot defeat a guild captain.” The golden insignia on Veller’s cloak pulsed.
Every controlled beast in the workshop roared.
The handlers attacked more aggressively.
Granite was overwhelmed by the boar and wolf.
Gareth struggled to remain conscious in his chair.
The guild fighters closed around Drake.
Veller extended his sword.
“Kneel.” Drake heard the word.
Then he heard something else.
A tiny heartbeat through the bond.
Weak.
But steady.
Ember was alive.
The hatchling opened one eye.
Blue fire flickered within it.
Drake exhaled.
He looked toward the furnace.
The same ordinary furnace where he had spent years shaping iron.
The same place where Gareth had taught him every lesson he knew.
Ember pushed itself upright.
Its Heart Rune glowed.
Flaw is not failure.
A perfect thing teaches you nothing.
A flawed thing shows you where to begin.
Drake could not remember the memory that had created those words.
But Ember carried its meaning.
The hatchling climbed into the furnace.
Veller laughed.
“Is it trying to hide?” Drake felt the bond brighten.
Heat.
Trust.
Resolve.
“No.” The furnace fire changed.
Orange became blue.
The Origin Flame’s color spread through the old workshop.
Every rune hidden within Gareth’s tools ignited.
The anvil glowed.
The hammers on the walls trembled.
The furnace roared.
Ember emerged from the flames.
Blue fire covered its body.
The Dawnsteel fins along its back shone like molten silver.
It had not grown.
It had not transformed.
Yet its presence changed.
The guild beasts stopped.
Even those under painful control hesitated.
The stone ape lowered its head.
The two-headed wolf whimpered.
The crystal bird pressed itself against the floor.
Veller’s smile disappeared.
Ember opened its mouth.
A single note escaped.
Not a roar.
A forge-bell tone.
Clear.
Resonant.
The sound passed through the workshop.
Every red control thread trembled.
Drake saw the flaw in Veller’s insignia.
A tiny crack at its center.
The command network depended on one rune.
Drake moved.
The guild fighters tried to stop him.
Granite swept them aside.
The transparent lizard’s handler deliberately stepped back.
Gareth activated another disk.
The furnace released a wave of heat that disrupted the boar’s charge.
Drake reached Veller.
The captain attacked.
Their weapons collided.
Sword against hammer.
Veller was stronger.
Faster.
More experienced.
But Drake did not need to defeat him.
He needed one strike.
Ember breathed blue flame.
Veller raised his cloak to shield his face.
The golden insignia was exposed.
Drake swung.
The Origin Hammer struck the crest.
CRACK!
The insignia shattered.
Golden light erupted.
Every control thread snapped.
The collars around the guild beasts went dark.
The workshop fell silent.
The two-headed wolf stopped attacking.
The boar stumbled to a halt.
The crystal bird folded its damaged wing.
Several beasts turned toward their handlers.
Others looked directly at Veller.
The captain stared at the broken insignia.
For the first time, fear remained on his face.
“No.” Granite stepped behind him.
Stone knuckles tightened.
Veller raised his sword, but no one obeyed his next command.
“Restrain them!” The handlers looked at their beasts.
Some tried.
Most failed.
The transparent lizard moved in front of its handler protectively.
The two-headed wolf growled at the man holding its chain.
The boar scraped one hoof across the floor and faced the doorway.
Ember landed on Drake’s shoulder.
Pain and exhaustion flowed through their bond.
But beneath both was pride.
Drake looked at Veller.
“Now you’re alone.” The captain’s eyes moved across the room.
His squad still had numbers.
But their confidence was gone.
Their beasts were no longer weapons.
The sound of distant bells echoed from the village.
Not forge bells.
Alarm bells.
One of the guild scouts appeared in the broken doorway.
His face was pale.
“Captain!” Veller did not turn.
“What?” “The detection crystal.” “What about it?” “It broke.” Silence followed.
The scout swallowed.
“The mana reading from beneath the mountain has increased.” A deep rumble passed through the ground.
The old workshop trembled.
Blue light shone through cracks in the floor.
The Origin Forge was reacting.
Veller looked down.
Then at Drake.
Understanding entered his expression.
Not complete understanding.
Enough.
“There is something beneath this building.” Gareth rose from his chair.
The effort nearly caused him to fall.
He gripped the armrest and forced himself upright.
“Yes.” Everyone turned toward him.
The old blacksmith looked exhausted.
Bleeding.
Fragile.
Yet when he spoke, his voice carried through the room.
“And you have already seen too much.” He pressed both hands together.
The pendant Veller had taken began glowing.
It tore free from the captain’s grip and flew toward Gareth.
The old man caught it.
Ancient runes ignited across the workshop walls.
Drake stared.
Symbols hidden beneath years of soot and dust emerged everywhere.
On the floor.
Across the beams.
Around the furnace.
This workshop had never been ordinary.
Gareth placed the pendant against his chest.
“Ashford concealment seal,” he whispered.
The entire building erupted in golden light.
Veller raised one arm.
“What are you doing?” “Protecting what remains.” The runes expanded.
A dome formed around the workshop.
Outside, the rain stopped touching the roof.
Sound vanished.
The village disappeared behind a curtain of pale mist.
The guild fighters looked toward the doors.
Nothing remained beyond them.
No street.
No houses.
Only endless gray fog.
The scout panicked.
“What is this?” Gareth swayed.
Drake rushed to him.
“Grandfather.” The old man leaned heavily against him.
His skin had become cold.
The concealment seal was draining what little strength he had left.
“Stop it,” Drake said.
“You’ll kill yourself.” Gareth looked at Ember.
Then at the mark on Drake’s hand.
His expression filled with sorrow and relief.
“So it finally chose you.” Drake’s throat tightened.
“You knew about the forge.” “Yes.” “Why didn’t you tell me?” “Because I wanted you to live.” The words silenced Drake.
Gareth looked toward Veller.
The captain stood near the center of the workshop, sword still raised.
“The seal will hold them here,” Gareth whispered.
“For a short time.” “What happens when it fails?” “They escape.” “And tell the guild.” “Yes.” Drake looked at the armed group.
“We can’t kill them all.” Veller smiled faintly.
“A wise conclusion.” Granite growled.
The smile weakened.
Gareth reached inside his shirt and pulled out a second object.
A narrow iron key.
Black.
Ancient.
Drake recognized the emblem engraved upon it.
The Origin Forge.
“There is another way,” Gareth said.
He placed the key in Drake’s hand.
“Beneath the forge is a road.” Vulcan had not mentioned a road.
“Where does it lead?” “Out of Blackstone.” Drake stared at him.
“You want us to run?” “I want you to survive.” “This is our home.” “No.” Gareth’s gaze moved across the destroyed workshop.
“This was a hiding place.” The words hurt more than Drake expected.
Gareth closed Drake’s fingers around the key.
“The Ashfords have been hiding for three hundred years.” Captain Veller’s face changed.
Even he had not known that.
Gareth continued.
“The name is older than this village.
Older than the kingdom.” Drake looked at the mark on his hand.
“Who are we?” His grandfather’s eyes filled with memories Drake had never seen.
“The last bloodline of the Forge Wardens.” A tremor moved through the room.
The concealment dome flickered.
Gareth’s knees weakened.
Drake caught him.
“Grandfather!” The old man’s breathing became shallow.
“The seal is failing faster than I expected.” Veller stepped forward.
“Give me the key.” Granite moved into his path.
The captain stopped.
Drake looked toward the broken floor.
Toward the hidden staircase.
He could take Gareth below.
Escape through the unknown road.
Leave Blackstone behind.
But the guild fighters would follow.
Unless someone held them here.
Gareth saw the realization in his face.
“No.” Drake looked at him.
“You can barely stand.” “I do not need to stand long.” “I’m not leaving you.” “You are.” “No.” The single word echoed through the workshop.
Gareth’s expression hardened.
It was the same look he had used when Drake was a child holding a hammer incorrectly.
“You asked why I kept the truth from you.” Drake said nothing.
“Because your father learned it.” The room seemed to become colder.
Drake had almost no memories of his father.
Only fragments.
Strong hands.
A low laugh.
A silhouette leaving in the rain.
“What happened to him?” “He tried to fight before he understood the enemy.” Gareth’s voice broke.
“And I buried what remained.” Drake could not breathe.
The guild fighters shifted uneasily.
Even Veller remained silent.
Gareth touched Drake’s face.
“I will not bury you too.” The concealment dome cracked.
A line of normal rain appeared beyond the doorway.
The outside world was returning.
Gareth pushed the iron key against Drake’s chest.
“Take Ember.” His eyes moved toward Granite.
“Take any beast willing to follow.” The stone ape lowered its head.
“Use the lower road.” Drake’s hand trembled.
“And you?” Gareth smiled.
“I am an old blacksmith.” The furnace behind him roared.
“I will do what blacksmiths do.” He looked at Captain Veller.
“I will hold the heat.” The concealment seal shattered.
Rain and sound crashed back into the workshop.
Guild horns echoed across Blackstone Village.
More reinforcements were arriving from the mountain road.
Dozens.
Perhaps hundreds.
Veller’s confidence returned.
He raised his sword.
“You are surrounded.” Gareth stepped away from Drake.
He could barely walk.
Yet every hidden rune in the workshop burned brighter as he moved.
The old man reached the anvil.
He picked up his worn hammer.
The same simple tool Drake had seen him use for years.
Gareth struck the anvil once.
CLANG!
The sound silenced every beast.
Every fighter.
Every raindrop seemed to pause.
Blue fire erupted from the furnace.
Captain Veller’s face turned pale.
Gareth lifted the hammer again.
“Drake.” Drake stood frozen.
His grandfather did not look back.
“Go.” The hatchling pressed against Drake’s neck.
The iron key burned in his palm.
Beneath the floor, the Origin Forge opened a path into darkness.
Outside, guild reinforcements entered the village.
Inside, an old blacksmith prepared to face them alone.
And as Drake stared at the man who had raised him, Gareth Ashford spoke the words that would follow him for the rest of his life.
“A flawed thing is not worthless.” The hammer descended.
“It is simply waiting for the right hand to finish it.” The anvil rang.
The workshop exploded in blue flame.
— End of Chapter 4