Page 28 of Shadow Weaver
He smiled indulgently. “Power, of course. When invasion is threatened, the reason is always greed and the pursuit of power.”
So, basically, they didn’t know. I bit back the jibe, though. Pissing off the shadow master on my first day wasn’t a good idea.
“Get to work,” Henrich said. “The weapons you forge today will see you through to graduation, upon which you will be gifted a weapon forged by the master blacksmith himself.”
Gunthar grunted in agreement.
Henrich dismissed us with a flick of his hand, and Gunthar fixed his beady eyes on us.
“Now, who wants to go first?”
* * *
Hammeringat fomori steel was exhausting. Hammering for hours on end in severe heat with theclang, clangof others hammering alongside me was ear numbing. But watching steel form, watching it take shape, was undeniably addictive.
Three days it had taken. Hours upon hours in the forge and countless questions to Master Blacksmith, but I was done.
I looked up. I was also the only one left in the smithy. When had the sky turned pink? Dawn was a heartbeat away.
I held up my blade, wicked and curved and sharp. I could do some damage with this, and it was the perfect size and weight to carry flush against my back. Master Gunthar had helped, of course, making sure I had the balance right, but the hard work had been mine, and that felt amazing.
“It looks good,” Hyde said from the entrance to the forge.
I set the steel down and pulled off my gloves. “Thanks.”
He stood watching me almost awkwardly, like he didn’t quite know what else to say. The last time we’d been together, we’d dry humped and then argued. How had things become so complicated, and why did I want him to step closer?
I pulled off the faceguard that was resting on the top of my head and placed it on my workstation. “I’ve enjoyed making it.”
“I can tell. Gunthar told me you put in extra hours.”
I shrugged. “It was … fun.”
“Not what most cadets would call it.”
“I’m not most cadets.”
“I know.” He took a step toward me. “Listen, Indigo. Venerick has asked me to help with the sector two barracks duty until we get a fresh sweep of first years next term. Which means we’ll probably have to work together at some point. I wanted to make sure you were okay with that?”
My throat pinched. It wasn’t as if he could do anything about it if I wasn’t, but we’d said what we had to say, and this was the olive branch.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
A shadowy figure appeared behind Hyde. I recognized the muscular shape a moment before the forge fires cast their glow onto a face cut from granite.
“Troop meeting,” Brady said. He crossed his arms and fixed his dark eyes on Hyde.
Hyde tucked in his chin, and a small smile played on his lips. “I’ll leave you to it then.”
Hyde melted into the night, leaving Brady and me staring at each other across my anvil.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “You want to see something amazing?”
“How can I say no to that?”
His almost-smile grew a little wider. “You can’t.” He held out his hand and then thought better of it, thrusting both into his pockets and jerking his head. “This way.”
I followed him away from the heat, reveling in the kiss of cool twilight air on my skin. He led me around the smithy and down a crooked path that led to an incline. There were buildings below. Low squat ones that reminded me of barracks pushed together, but there was also an enclosed paddock, and in the paddock were figures loping about.
