Thalia watched, stunned into silence, as Senna tied the apron at her waist and moved to an empty workstation across the forge.The Northern woman's movements were efficient, practiced—she'd clearly spent a lot of time practicing her metallurgy over the years.
Senna pulled a drawer open and removed several small ingots of raw glacenite, arranging them on her workspace with methodical precision.Only then did she glance up, catching Thalia's stare.
"What?"The word was sharp, defensive."We need weapons.I'm helping."
"I didn't say anything," Thalia replied, turning back to her own bench, though she kept Senna in her peripheral vision.
"You were thinking it," Senna muttered, striking her hammer against an ingot with more force than necessary."Don't flatter yourself.I'm not here for you.This is for the war effort."
Thalia nodded, returning to her work, but she couldn't help noticing the tension in Senna's jaw, the slight tremor in her hands as she measured out alloys.She recognized the signs—had seen them in her own reflection often enough these past days.Worry.Fear.The need to keep busy while someone you cared for was in danger.Kaine's absence weighed on Senna as heavily as it did on Thalia.
Thalia had always known Senna possessed the rare current-sensing ability, similar to her own talent for metallurgy.It was part of why Senna had always seen her as a rival, not just for Kaine's affections, but in the forge as well.Now, that shared ability made Senna one of the few people at Frostforge capable of working with the temperamental glacenite.
Despite their history, Thalia found herself grateful for the help.The Wardens wouldn't wait for personal animosities to be resolved.They needed weapons—as many as they could forge, as quickly as possible.
"I've been reducing the glacenite concentration," Thalia said after a long silence, her voice neutral."Adding tungsten as a stabilizer.It seems to maintain effectiveness without the...side effects."
“Side effects?”
"The weapons take a toll on their wielders' minds," Thalia said grimly."They bring hallucinations.Voices, or even nightmarish visions.They drain your strength even as you fight."
Senna paused, her expression unreadable.Then she nodded once, adjusting her own mixture accordingly.
They fell into an uneasy rhythm, the steady clang of hammers and hiss of quenching water filling the forge as they worked.Two rivals united by circumstance, by a common enemy, by shared worry for a man somewhere beyond Frostforge's walls.Neither spoke again, but the sounds of their labor formed a conversation of sorts—a grudging collaboration forged in necessity.
Metal sang against metal.Coal glowed.And weapons to defend against the coming darkness took shape beneath their hands.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Thalia stood at the edge of the Crystalline plateau, watching morning sunlight spill across the remnants of battle.Golems had cleared most of the amphitheater's charred wreckage, but evidence of the Wardens' assault remained—shattered ice-metal glinted like fallen stars against the frozen ground, each shard a reminder of their vulnerability.She flexed her fingers inside her gloves, the weight of the new and improved ice-glacenite sword at her hip both a comfort and a burden.The weapon might stand against the Wardens' black metal, but its cost was steep, paid in nightmares and phantom screams.
Her old squadron gathered around her—Felah hugging herself against the cold, Daniel shifting his weight from foot to foot, Rasmus standing rigid with hands clasped behind his back, ever the soldier.Ashe and Brynn completed their circle, both scanning the plateau with wary eyes.Not so long ago, this place had run red with blood.
"The refinements to the alloy should reduce the...side effects," Thalia said, her voice carrying in the crisp air."But I can't promise they're gone entirely."
Rasmus raised an eyebrow."What kind of side effects are we talking about?"
Thalia hesitated.How could she explain the terror of hearing Mari scream while seeing her mother dragged away by shadows?"Hallucinations.Visions.Things that aren't there."
"Sounds delightful," he muttered.
Thalia reached for the weapons she'd brought, laid out on a cloth to keep them from direct contact with the snow.Three ice-glacenite swords gleamed with an inner light that seemed to pulse in time with her heartbeat.Beside them lay the captured Warden blades, their black metal absorbing the morning light rather than reflecting it.
"Felah, Rasmus, you'll use these."She handed them each an ice-glacened sword."I'll keep the third for myself."
Felah's thin fingers wrapped around the hilt of her blade.The sword seemed too large for her slight frame, but Thalia knew appearances could be deceiving.Felah had survived two seasons at Frostforge; she was stronger than she looked.
"Daniel, Ashe, Brynn—you'll use the Warden blades."Thalia watched as they each picked up a black sword."Ten of these weapons—that's all we managed to salvage from the attack.We need to be careful with them."She gazed across the plateau, where frost crystals glittered in the morning light."Let's see if our improvements to the glacenite make a difference.Pair off—Daniel with Felah, Ashe with Rasmus, Brynn with me."
The group separated into their assigned pairs, spreading out across the plateau to give each other space.Brynn twirled the black blade experimentally, her movements graceful despite the weapon's awkward balance.Her eyes narrowed as she settled into a fighting stance opposite Thalia.
"Don't hold back," Thalia said, raising her glacenite sword.The silver-blue metal caught the light, shimmering with an inner glow that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Brynn smirked."Wouldn't dream of it."
The black blade whistled through the air as Brynn lunged forward.Thalia parried, the weapons meeting with a clear, ringing note that echoed across the plateau.No disintegration.No failure.The glacenite held despite the tungsten included in the alloy.
Relief flooded through her as she pressed her advantage, forcing Brynn back with a series of quick strikes.Around them, the other pairs had engaged as well.Felah's movements were tentative but precise, while Daniel attacked with controlled aggression, his black blade a blur against her glacenite.Nearby, Ashe and Rasmus circled each other warily, their weapons raised.
