Mind Forged: Book One of the Enchanters of Xarparion by T Michael Ford Page B

knew that there are many steps that need to be done to a sword before it is complete. It needed to be cooled slowly for hours, and then hardened and tempered so it won’t crack, then sharpened. But here it was, a sword in my hands, a nearly finished product, in less than a day. And I did it all with just a hammer and some sanding blocks? Something was very much wrong with the world as I knew it!
    “ Well, that’s something I wasn’t expecting.” I jumped at the sound of a deep voice right behind me. Turning around, I spotted the dwarf stroking his braided beard with a very puzzled expression. “Now I was told that you’ve never made a sword before, but somehow, you made one in a few hours when it should take days. Care to explain this?” My mouth dropped open and I’m sure I did a reasonably precise imitation of a carp out of water. I didn’t know what to tell him, do I say that I fell into some sort of trance and just did it?
    “ I’ll take that question, Darroth.” Primus Rosa got up from her chair in the corner and walked over to us. “You see, it’s rather simple, he’s my apprentice. And I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
    “ Hold on just a darn minute here! Are you telling me that the boy you wanted me to train is your apprentice? And when were you going to tell me that he was an enchanter?” He huffed a little, then picked up the blade I made and looked it over. “This is some fine looking work you did here, even more so seeing that it’s just iron. Of course, it will probably snap like a twig the first time it strikes something unless you somehow found a way to magically normalize and temper it in an afternoon. But hey, I told you to fashion a sword and you more than passed. This could get interesting if we gave you some steel to play with and taught you some bladesmithing basics.”
    “ Thank you, Master Darroth, and I’m sorry, but for some reason, I am suddenly very tired.” I tried to brace myself on the anvil but there was no point, my body felt like every ounce of energy had been leeched out of it. I vaguely remember the sky spinning lazily as I slumped to the dirt.
    “ Is he going to be ok?” Darroth said, as he lifted me off the ground.
    “ He will be just fine. He just hasn’t used that much energy before. Did you notice that he wasn’t even reheating the last half of the forging?” The dwarf nodded and carefully handed me over to Rosa; she had no trouble with the weight.
    “ After all these years, Rosa, you finally found another enchanter. You must be happy.”
    She smiled warmly as she looked down at my sleeping head on her shoulder . “Yes, deliriously so! Teach him well, Darroth, I have a feeling his future is going to be amazing.” She started the walk home with my body limp in her arms and a smile on her face.

Chapter 5
    Maya
    “Greetings Forge Master Darroth!” I grinned and bowed as I unceremoniously dumped a pile of bent and damaged practice swords on a table under a small overhang next to his monstrous cone-shaped forge. “It’s a lovely morning, don’t you think? I think so, the bees are buzzing, the birds singing!”
    “ Humph,” the old dwarf grunted, roused to wakefulness. He lifted bleary eyes up to meet mine. “What’s gotten into you? You’re usually grouchier than me in the mornings…you sound as bad as Rosa!” He was sitting, or rather resting heavily, at a large worktable that I had seen him use to pattern out projects he was working on in the past. But instead of pieces of armor or parts of a weapon, there was a single shining long sword resting atop a portable anvil in the center of the workspace. There were several broken steel hammers on the ground below him, as well as a disconcerting number of empty ale bottles. Shaking my head, I walked briskly over to the food stand across the street that catered to tradesmen in the non-student sector. I purchased a large mug of double strength Serro tea and a sausage roll, and brought it back, setting