"Wolfe has eyes everywhere," Ashe agreed, her voice tight with tension."And Virek misses nothing.They might not know exactly what you're doing, but they know you're up to something."
Thalia cursed under her breath, the weight of their situation pressing down on her like physical force."If we can't use the forge..."she began, then fell silent, uncertain how to continue.The Howling Forge was the heart of Frostforge's power, the place where ice-metal was created, where the academy's strength was literally forged.Without access to its facilities, her plans felt suddenly impossible, her hopes as insubstantial as the frost that formed and vanished along the hybrid blade's edge.
"We're done," she said finally, defeat coloring her voice."Without the forge, we can't create more blades.We can't—"
"Who says we need the Howling Forge?"Kaine interrupted, stepping forward.He gestured to the cavern around them, his hands describing shapes in the torchlight."This space is large enough.There's natural ventilation through that crack in the ceiling.We could set up a makeshift forge here, underground, away from prying eyes."
Thalia stared at him, not fully comprehending what he was suggesting.
"I'm an instructor in the forge," he continued, his voice gaining confidence."I can slip away with coal and glacenite without raising suspicion.Maybe even some basic equipment—the Howling Forge has more than it needs, especially with so many workers reassigned to defense preparation."
"You're talking about stealing from the academy," Brynn said, though her tone held more curiosity than accusation.
"I'm talking about survival," Kaine replied evenly."About using every resource at our disposal to fight an enemy that will consume us all if we don't find a way to stop it."
The cavern fell silent as his words settled over them.Thalia watched their faces in the flickering torchlight, trying to gauge their reactions, to determine if this moment marked the end of her efforts or a new beginning.
Then, to her astonishment, Brynn spoke."I have no morning rotation in two days' time," she said, her voice crisp and decisive."Tomorrow night, I can be here late.Working."
Daniel nodded, his expression serious beneath his fading bruise."I have a few hours between classes tomorrow afternoon.I could help then."
"I can bring food," Felah offered, her earlier nervousness replaced by quiet determination."And blankets.If we're going to work down here, we'll need supplies."
One by one, they volunteered—schedules compared, rotations analyzed, blocks of time identified when each could slip away without notice to contribute to this underground effort.They spoke with the precision of soldiers planning a campaign, identifying needs and assigning responsibilities with the efficiency of those accustomed to working as a unit despite their differences.
"Can you bring Naj down here?"Brynn asked Thalia directly, her earlier skepticism replaced by focused pragmatism."You, Ashe, and Luna—you've done it before.Can you get him past the guards again?"
Thalia nodded, still struggling to process the sudden shift in their attitudes."Yes," she said, finding her voice."We can bring him.And the others from Thrum'kith who have the necessary skills."
"Good."Brynn's gaze was steady in the torchlight."He needs to show us how these blades can be wielded—what potential they have.And teach us how to use them ourselves, whatever that requires."
"I thought you said storm magic was bloodborne," Thalia couldn't resist pointing out."That we couldn't learn it."
A ghost of a smile touched Brynn's lips."Perhaps I was hasty in my assessment.If the alternative is extinction..."She shrugged, a gesture that somehow conveyed both resignation and resolve."I'm willing to attempt the impossible."
Thalia looked around at the circle of faces illuminated by Felah's torch—each one marked by exhaustion and fear, yet also by something stronger.Determination.Purpose.The kind of stubborn defiance that had drawn them all to Frostforge in the first place, that had seen them through its brutal training and forged them into warriors.
"We'll need tools," she said, her mind already racing ahead to practical considerations."A crucible, tongs, hammers.A cooling trough.And more glacenite—as much as you can safely take, Kaine."
He nodded, already calculating."I'll start tomorrow.Small amounts, nothing that will be missed immediately."
"I'll draw up a schedule," Luna offered, her quick mind perfect for such organizational tasks."Coordinate our movements, ensure we're never all missing at the same time."
Thalia felt something unfamiliar unfurling in her chest—not quite hope, not yet, but perhaps its precursor.A sense that despite the darkness rising on all sides, despite the Council's blindness and the ancient hatreds that divided their world, something new might yet be forged from this crisis.Something stronger.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Roran crested the ridge with labored breath, his legs burning from the steep climb.The wind carried the scent of salt and something else—something wrong, like the metallic taste before a storm but fouler, more insistent.He paused, the hairs on his arms rising despite the thermal layers beneath his coat.
Through the gaps in the twisted pines that clung to the hillside, he caught glimpses of what had once been the coastline—a jagged silhouette now partially obscured by an unnatural darkness that seemed to devour rather than merely shadow the land.This was what remained of Eastwatch Fortress, or what should have been Eastwatch Fortress.The reports had been correct.There was nothing left.
He needed to see more.Understanding drove him forward despite the warnings that echoed in his mind—Captain Ragnor's missing finger, the soldiers' haunted eyes, their description of shadows that pursued prey across solid ground.
These testimonies should have sent him fleeing in the opposite direction, away from the coast and back to Frostforge with his gathered intelligence.But something deeper than duty pushed him onward.If he was to truly comprehend what they faced, he needed to witness it with his own eyes.
The path narrowed as he descended, forcing him to duck beneath low-hanging branches crusted with ice.Each step brought him closer to the precipice that overlooked the former site of Eastwatch.The fortress had been built into the natural formations of the coastline, Northern stone integrated with the black rock of the cliffs until it was difficult to determine where nature ended and construction began.Or so the descriptions had claimed.Now…
Roran slowed as the trees thinned, the ground beneath his boots transitioning from needle-strewn soil to bare rock.The cliff edge lay twenty paces ahead, a clean break between solid ground and empty air, beyond which should have stretched the Eastern Sea.But what met his eyes wasn't water.
