Page 122 of The Study of Fire
It didn’t take long for Opal to prepare, but she approached them before she started. “Just so you know, it will take twelve hours before we’ll know if this worked.”
“Why that long?” Valek asked in a reasonable tone even though his heart thumped its impatience.
“The glass needs to cool slowly, or it’ll crack. If it cracks, then the soul trapped inside will get free.”
A good reason, and it brought up another concern. “What happens if years from now, it’s dropped or crushed? Does glass get old and brittle?”
“Glass is an amazing material,” Opal said. “As long as it’s thick enough, it can withstand being dropped. And it doesn’t get brittle with time. I’ll make animals that don’t have long legs, that are more blob-like so there’s less risk of one of the limbs being snapped off.”
“We’ll ensure they’re protected and in a secured location,” Irys said. “No one will be able to touch them.”
Noble aspirations, but in Valek’s experience, nothing was impossible to steal.
Opal returned to the kiln. She picked up a metal blowpipe, then opened the small door. Inside, a searing bright orange glow pulsed. Opal dipped the end of the pipe into the cauldron of molten glass and rolled it with her fingertips.
“She’s gathering a slug of glass,” Leif said to Valek.
Withdrawing the pipe, she sat on a bench and worked on the molten glass, shaping it with a long pair of metal tweezers.
“Jacks,” Leif explained.
“How do you know?”
He blushed. “I’ve been doing some research. So, I…have something to talk to Mara about.”
Adorable.
After Opal created an ugly stout pig, she stood and glanced at Irys. The Third Magician stared at the glass hawk she held in her hand. When Irys nodded, Opal bent and blew into the opposite end of the blowpipe. She jerked as if injured but continued. She used the jacks to squeeze the glass at the end of the pipe until it was narrow. Then, she took it over to a metal tray that had some sort of lumpy substance on the bottom. She tapped the pipe with the bottom of the jacks and the pig fell into the tray. Carrying the tray to another smaller kiln, Opal opened a drawer and inserted the tray before pushing it inside.
“That’s the annealing oven. It’ll slowly bring the temperature of the pig down to ambient, which takes about twelve hours.”
Twelve hours of hell.
“We might as well take care of the horses in the meantime. Maybe get some sleep,” Leif said.
“I’m not letting that annealing oven out of my sight.”
Leif gestured. “There are plenty of guards.”
“I’m not trusting anyone. This is too important.”
“All right, I’ll take care of Kiki and get Opal and Mara settled in one of the Keep’s guest suites.” Leif brought Valek his pack before he led the horses to the stable.
Valek set up a makeshift camp in the sand and settled in to wait. A few hours had passed when Leif returned with a hot meal and an extra blanket.
“Thanks,” Valek said.
“Do you want me to take a shift so you can get some sleep?” Leif asked.
“No.”
“Ari and Janco are back, how about I ask them?”
“Leif, do you really think I’ll be able to get any sleep tonight?”
“No, I suppose not.”
Time ceased. Valek swore the moon hadn’t moved at all. His thoughts whirled as his heart continued to burn. If this didn’t work, Yelena would remain trapped. And he would… No, not going there. This had to work. Had to. Otherwise, it was unthinkable.
