The silence in the forge had been broken, but the noise that replaced it was different.
The Fuuu-WHOOSH of Kael's bellows was deeper, stronger, almost a roar of reverence. The CLANG! of Seiko's hammer was firm, precise. And the clang! of Tyla's hammer, though still trembling from the shock, was determined.
They had regrouped around the anvil as if nothing had happened, and yet, everything had changed.
The Bisharp, Acies, stood by the anvil, motionless like a statue of black steel. He didn't hold the tongs. He wasn't a helper. He was a guardian. His cold red eyes watched the red-hot metal, then Tyla, then Seiko, making sure the ritual was carried out correctly.
It was an imposing presence that elevated the work from simple labor (labour) to a ceremony.
Tyla moved with a precision born of fear and respect. Her mistake had almost killed her. Acies's sacrifice had saved her. She no longer struck with frustration; she struck with purpose. Every blow was measured, every movement deliberate.
Seiko felt the change. The rhythm was perfect.
'CLANG! clang! CLANG! clang!'
They were forging the edge of Kael's spear, the largest one yet. The metal stretched, obeying their joint will, thinning out to a cruelly sharp edge. The Bisharp watched, his crested head nodding almost imperceptibly with the rhythm of the hammer.
Finally, Seiko raised his hand. "Enough!"
Tyla stepped back, her chest heaving. Kael left the bellows.
Seiko lifted the incandescent spear. It was a brutal blade, almost 2 feet (0.6 meters) long, thick at the base and sharp at the tip. It was more of a short sword than a spearhead.
"Baptism," said Seiko.
He turned toward the water barrel. This time, Tyla and Kael watched without stepping back.
'TSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!'
The scream of the metal meeting the water filled the clearing. The cloud of steam was immense, enveloping Seiko and the Bisharp in a momentary mist.
When the steam cleared, Seiko pulled the spear out. It was matte black, perfect. He dropped it onto the cooling stone.
'CLANK'
By then, the commotion of the evolution had attracted the rest of the camp. Iris approached, her eyes fixed first on the Bisharp and then on Seiko. The Earth Team and the Smoke Team stayed at the perimeter, their faces a mix of awe and fear.
No one spoke. They watched as Seiko and Tyla picked up the whetstones.
Seiko started at the base, Tyla at the tip. The sound of the shhhk-shhhk-shhhk of stone against tempered steel was the only noise.
They worked for almost an hour. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky red and orange, colors (colours) that were reflected in the silver edge emerging from the black metal.
When they finished, Seiko wiped the blade with a piece of leather.
Seiko held it up. He walked toward Kael.
Kael had stayed by his bellows, duty fulfilled. He had watched the whole process. He saw the mistake. He saw the sacrifice. He saw the miracle. He saw the forge.
Seiko held the spearhead in front of him. "Kael, Heart of the Forge."
Kael extended his calloused hands. Seiko placed the weapon in them.
Kael almost knelt from the unexpected weight. It was three times heavier than any spearhead he had ever held. His fingers closed around the socket. He lifted the blade to eye level. The silver edge shone with a deadly light in the twilight.
"It was forged with error and will," said Seiko, his voice clear for everyone to hear. "It was baptized in the same fire as our guardian." He pointed to the Bisharp. "This spear knows sacrifice. It knows the price of iron."
Kael looked at the blade and then at the Bisharp. The steel Pokémon stared back at him, an equal.
Kael did something no one expected. He raised the spear toward the Bisharp in a warrior's salute. "Guardian of the Forge," said Kael.
Acies nodded slowly, accepting the salute.
"For the love of..." whispered Rorin from the back, "He spoke to it."
Kael turned to Seiko. There was no arrogance on his face. There was no defiance. Only deep, absolute respect.
"Seiko," said Kael, his voice resonating with emotion. "I have fought with stone all my life. It always broke. This..." He squeezed the metal. "This won't break."
"No," said Seiko. "It won't."
"With this," said Kael, and a slow, dangerous smile spread across his face, "I can kill anything."
Seiko nodded. "That is the point."
Iris stepped forward, her face a mask of political calculation. She had seen her strongest and most volatile warrior, a man who barely followed her own orders, swear loyalty not to her, but to the process Seiko had brought.
"Three days," said Iris, her voice drawing everyone's attention. "In three days, Seiko and the Earth People have made this." She held up her own spear, the first one. "And this." She pointed to Kael's spear. "And this." She pointed to the Bisharp.
"The pact is real," she declared. "The work bears fruit. Rorin, Tama! Tomorrow, double the charcoal production! Earth Team, I want that ore vein reduced by half by the end of the week! Tyla!"
Tyla straightened up, wiping sweat from her forehead.
"You are the Hand of the Forge," said Iris. "And Kael is the Heart. But neither of you works without Seiko." She looked at Seiko. "You have armed my warriors. You have created a guardian from nothing. What's next?"
Seiko looked past Iris, toward the perimeter of the clearing. His defensive wall, the log palisade, seemed pathetically weak now.
He looked at the smelting furnace, now cold. He looked at the piles of charcoal and ore.
"What's next?" repeated Seiko. "Now that we have iron, we make steel. Now that we have steel, we build for real. We stop being nomads hiding in a clearing and we become a fortress."
He turned toward his forge, where the fire still burned low.
"We arm everyone. And then," he said, his voice lowering, full of the memory of his home and the promise of his future, "We teach them to read."
[N/A: On Patreon we're currently ten chapters ahead. This is the schedule I'll be using: since my time zone is GMT-3, I'll be posting two chapters a day and updating two chapters on both Patreon and Webnovel]