Page 85 of The Blade in the Ashes
I couldn’t help myself; I glanced back at the Manor. There wasn’t a choice—not really. Denying him would have consequences, and what would I even gain? The soldiers were already here, tearing the Manor apart. There was nowhere I could hide the Bident that it wouldn’t be promptly found.
Hyrax smiled as I sat, stretching his arm out on the bench behind me. “That is only part of the story, my dear. Your Mortal myths do not know about the Forging.”
“Forging?”
He nodded, staring into the dreary sky. “It’s a ritual, one which Gods go through to mark their maturity. My Forging was particularly brutal. I remember it vividly even after all these years. I’d had to face my greatest fears and accept them before rising into my full power. The Godly Weapon that emerges from the flames of the forge is different for each of us—a perfect representation of our individual magic. That’s why a God is most powerful when united with their weapon. The weapon is—”
“An extension of their power.” I finished his sentence almost absentmindedly, my thoughts already spinning with possibilities.
That’swhy no one but Hyrax himself could control the Bident. It was his own magic given form. I’d been able to feel the Bident’s power when his Mark still lingered on my skin because I hadn’t yet claimed my power as my own so the weapon must have recognized it as his.
And while that was a very exciting realization, it wasn’t the reason my heart was threatening to burst out of my chest and my jaw ached from clamping down on the smile that wanted to emerge.
If what Hyrax was saying was true and this Forging was a process that could not only create a powerful weaponandmark the maturity of a God's powers, then maybe it would bring my powers backandgive me exactly the kind of leg up I would need to end this war!
“How do you start the Forging?” Try as I might, I couldn’t keep the excitement out of my voice.
If he heard the anticipation in my tone or noticed the way I straightened my spine, he didn’t say anything.
“Oh, it’s a spell. It requires you to be close to the seat of your power, so while everyone else did their Forging in the Upperworld, mine was done in the Underworld. I don’t remember many of the details.”
I only partially recognized the bitterness in his voice, my mind was too distracted trying to plan out my own Forging.
Where exactly was the seat ofmypower?
I’d never even been to the Upperworld.
The Underworld, maybe?
No, that made little sense considering I was the Goddess of the Veil.
The Veil wasn’t a place, though. At least, I didn’t think it was.
“How can I do the Forging?”
Hyrax laughed, the sound so utterly dismissive that I felt myself physically deflate. “My dear, we rule the entire Mortal Realm. What could you need a Godly Weapon for? No. The Forging is not something to be taken lightly; there’s no need for you to go through that now.”
His face was calm, unwrinkled with the ghost of a smile, like he wassimply enjoying his day, but his words carried weight. I shivered, crossing my arms around myself.
Of course he wouldn’t tell me. Hyrax wanted an heir, not a challenger.
If it was initiated through a spell though… well, I could only think of one spell book that would have that kind of information.
Gods, I prayed that Nessira and Dimitri found that damn book.
“My liege!” Caldrius jogged towards us, his expression so grim that my heart swelled with hope.
He didn’t find it!
He came to stand before us, bowing his head towards Hyrax even as he glanced sideways at me. “We’ve searched the property, but there doesn’t appear to be any sign of the Bident.”
My heart was a drumbeat, my blood singing.
In all my fear over Hyrax finding that weapon, I’d never stopped to remember the exact moment when I had first found it. I hadn’t been alone.
Clay had been there with me. My king had seen it and knew better than to leave such a powerful weapon here for the taking. I hid my sigh of relief through another fake shiver, holding my arms even tighter around myself.
Hyrax jerked, as if he was sure he had misheard Caldrius. As the realization fell over him though, so too did shadows begin to slowly start crawling on the hard ground. I jerked to my feet, taking rushed steps away from the darkness as it flooded over the bench.
