I shake my head, my voice sticking in my throat. “You were never powerless.”
As I speak, Graviter Rex shifts closer so that he towers over us, his body blocking out the late afternoon light. His voice breaks the hush that has fallen over us.
“Asha Silverspun, do not pick up that hammer or touch those medallions again,” he says. “The dark magic within them isunforgiving. If you touch them again, you will never rid yourself of them.”
Asha’s response is heavy with frustration, her luminous eyes seeking the dragon’s. “I may not have a choice. Milena Ironmeld is the last hammer-maker and she’s lost her power. I will never have tools of my own. Without tools, I can’t fight Thaden Kane.”
Graviter takes a deep breath, strong enough to pull at the air around us as he nods. “It’s true that Milena is the last hammer-maker, but Blacksmith hammers were not always made this way.”
“What?” She sits a little straighter in my arms. “What do you mean?”
He lowers his face to hers, his deadly teeth far too close to her for my liking. “I mean there may be another way. It’s very dangerous, but it’s possible.”
“Dangerous,” she whispers, some of the light leaving her eyes before it surges again, her lips pressing in a determined line. “Nothing is too dangerous if it means protecting my family.”
But the protest is already leaving my mouth. “What other way?” I demand to know. “If there was another way, Malak would have used it. He wanted nothing more than to give Asha a hammer so he could access her power and use it for his own purposes.”
The dragon’s lips stretch back. “This is a way known only to dragons.”
“And it’s dangerous.” My brow furrows and my arms tighten around her. “Asha?—”
All she has to do is turn her gaze to mine and I know that arguing is pointless. I exhale my concern. I can’t help the small smile touching my lips. “I will help you. Whatever it takes.”
She gives me a nod.
The dragon casts me a solemn look. “First, we need a forge.”
Asha chews her lip for a moment. “We were led to believe that dragons are aligned with the human army in the west,” she says. “Is that true?”
“It is.” The dragon growls. “Humans have always been our allies. Sometimes, we even allow them to ride us.”
“Can we seek shelter with those humans?” she asks, then adds, “Because they must have forges.”
Graviter appears to ponder this before he shakes his head. “It would not be wise. Thaden knows where they’re located. He grew up in their villages and has been inside their stronghold. If he seeks to find you, Asha Silverspun, then it will put the last free humans in danger. They’re already under attack from the fae.”
The fae have battled their way across the west to escape the dark rot that has taken hold of their land in the east. It’s a rot that spread from the wasteland the Blacksmiths created.
The Fae Queen Karasi claimed that the humans in the west had rejected every peace treaty she offered, but it’s far from clear that she truly wants peace.
Graviter continues. “Milena has her own personal forge, but likewise, Thaden knows its location, so we can’t go there, either.” He huffs. “But it may be our only option.”
I’m very still now. My chest feels like it’s constricting.
I know of a forge. One I haven’t been back to in ten years because I could never revisit the place where my father died.
When I speak, my voice is wooden. “There is a forge that Thaden Kane won’t know about. It’s only small and simple and there’s a possibility that it may no longer be intact.”
“We need only the basics: an anvil, a human hammer, a pair of tongs, and a fireplace that can contain the hottest flame,” Graviter says. “Can the place you speak of provide that?”
My arms feel numb where they rest around Asha. “It can.”
Heat licks around Graviter’s sharp teeth. “Then it will suffice.”
“What of the raw metal we’ll need?” Asha asks, a sound question since a hammer can’t be made out of air.
“Don’t worry about the rest,” Graviter replies with a confident smile. “I will provide it.”
The numbness in my body only spreads. “I can take us there.”
