After appraising hundreds of magic gems Haldryn had finally chosen. Two thousand nine hundred twenty large gold coins for a seventy-four-percent substitute was the best value he was likely to find. Even so the price stung; the single stone consumed nearly half his remaining fortune.
Outside the shop he could not resist holding the Alfheim sapphire up to the sunlight. It was clear as water, blue as a cloudless sky, with faint light shifting inside like a dream. At least the appearance matched the cost.
He went straight to Hadiye's Forge.
The same solid, taciturn young man stood behind the counter.
"Hello."
"What do you need?" The youth gave no sign of recognizing him.
"I'd like a warhammer custom-made. Here are the plans." Haldryn handed over several pages he had carefully copied from the Tome. The text had been straightforward; the diagrams had cost him considerable effort because he could not draw.
The young man studied the pages for a long moment. "This is complicated. I'll need to ask my father. Wait here."
He disappeared through a side door. The ringing of hammer on metal grew louder the moment it opened; the actual forge clearly lay beyond.
A short while later a middle-aged man who resembled the youth strongly stepped out. He wore a full beard, stood tall and broad, and possessed the heavily muscled arms of a lifelong smith.
A rounded belly suggested he now possessed only a single abdominal muscle.
He carried the plans and still shone with a light sheen of sweat, bringing with him the heat of the forge itself.
"Hello. I'm Hadiye. That was my younger son, Brunok." He smiled in greeting.
Haldryn returned the greeting. "Master Hadiye, can this warhammer be made?"
"Certainly, though it won't be simple."
Hadiye nodded slowly.
"The plans contain ideas I've never encountered. I'll need time to study them before I begin. Alternatively you could take them to Nidavellir. The dwarves are the finest smiths in the cosmos; they would handle the work more easily."
Mjolnir and Stormbreaker would one day come from Nidavellir. Haldryn would have liked nothing better than to go there.
The journey itself was difficult, however, and the commission fees would almost certainly be beyond him.
"How soon can you start?"
"Five days at the earliest."
Haldryn nodded.
"Have you prepared the materials?"
He handed over the Alfheim sapphire. "The gem is ready—an Alfheim sapphire from Norvi's Magic. I'll buy the bronze here. Seven ingots should be enough. I'd like the finished hammer a little smaller than standard."
His frame was still slight and underage; an oversized weapon would be awkward. If the Flask of Talent ever transformed his body he would have better options by then.
Hadiye examined the plans once more and nodded. "Agreed."
Haldryn hesitated. "And the labor?"
Hadiye smiled. "Pay only for the bronze. These plans have already taught me a great deal. That is payment enough."
Relief washed through Haldryn. He had budgeted a substantial sum for the smith's fee; without it the seventy Rune coins he had carefully saved suddenly felt more than sufficient.
A small regret followed almost at once—had he known there would be no labor charge he might have bought a better gem.
"Thank you."
Several days later he returned, anticipation tight in his chest.
"Well, Brunok?"
"You're just in time. Father is about to begin. You can watch if you like."
Curious about the process, Haldryn followed him into the forge proper.
Besides Hadiye there was another solidly built young man—Brunok's older brother and the master's chief assistant. Both had the same heavily muscled arms.
A massive anvil dominated the center of the room, its surface scarred by decades of blows. Several forges burned nearby, filling the space with a fierce heat that quickly brought sweat to Haldryn's forehead.
An ordinary Midgardian would not have lasted long in that temperature.
Hadiye and his elder son were studying the plans. On a side table lay the Alfheim sapphire, seven Asgardian bronze ingots, and a few lesser materials.
"All right," Hadiye said at last. "We begin."
He bound the seven ingots together with bronze wire and thrust them into the furnace. At the same time the assistant took a clear, gelatinous substance from a jar and coated the sapphire evenly.
Once it had set he applied a second layer of red clay-like paste.
By the time that layer began to harden the bronze had turned a brilliant, sun-like red.
Hadiye drew the mass from the fire; the assistant scattered an unknown powder across it, then brought a heavy hammer down with all his strength.
Clang!
Sparks exploded. Under the blow the seven glowing ingots flattened and began to fuse.
Clang! Clang! Clang...
A rapid series of powerful strikes welded them into a single mass. Haldryn stepped back; the air had grown even hotter. He wiped his brow again.
The fused bronze returned to the furnace for a second heating, then back to the anvil. Hadiye took a pointed hammer, centered it carefully, and drove it downward with his full weight.
Clang!
A deep socket opened in the metal. The assistant quickly placed the now brick-red sapphire into the cavity.
White vapor hissed upward. Father and son each seized a hammer and began alternating blows—fast, heavy, and perfectly timed. Sparks fell like rain.
Clang! Clang! Clang...
The Asgardian bronze wrapped around the Alfheim sapphire twisted, stretched, and gathered, slowly taking shape under the relentless rhythm of the hammers.
^^^
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