23 Glade 121 Steel
Talon picked up a pair of jeweler’s forceps, he brought them to the tip of the rod twisting it carefully. He placed his forceps into position so as to avoid snapping the aetheric pathways within the inner structure of the flame rod as he worked. Both the rod and the crystal ring had been left to sit and stabilize before further work was pushed onto them. The last thing that Talon wanted was for cracks to form and force him to have to start over. He rotated his wrist while gently tapping upon the pathways in his aetheric vision in order to guide them into place. Once he was finished rotating his wrist he set the forceps down, picked up his tonal fork and tapped the rod. The clear ring of sound that reached his ears told him that everything was intact as it should have been.
“Can I just say, that this is a little weird?” Talon looked up from his work into the infernal eyes of his lover. Aoren was seated on a stool across from him, eyes roaming over Talon, a small smile on his face as the fledgling demigod worked.
“How so?” Talon ran the tonal fork along the length of the rod in order to find any potential disturbances in the flow throughout its structure. He found one and once identified, set to work on gently nudging things into place so that the wand would function at optimal capacity.
“You are a god, Talon.” He chuckled, glancing up again as he leaned in to begin etching into the surface the necessary pictography to direct the activation of the wand’s magic.
“Demigod.” His bondmate shrugged his shoulders.
“Is there really a difference?” Talon did not know how to answer that question. He did not know. He was of the mind that there was a vast difference between himself and higher powers. He had never met one before so he could only assume that this belief was true.
“I do not know.” Talon etched a sigil into place, one that would enable the wielder of the wand to activate the powers of the dragonshard it was made from with a simple flick of their wrist as opposed to needing to speak. Of course, there was still the traditional option of merely channeling one’s arcane awareness into the crystal to tap into its powers and direct it. However, Talon knew that they did not come to him for such reasons. From experience, he knew that needing to focus and concentrate on the flow of his own aether as he tried to attune it to a magical artifact, was time that was not always readily available. Using his tongs, Talon picked up the wand once the pictography was in place. He then nodded to the anvil and Aoren followed.
“Do not touch this one. It will...oh…” As he was speaking, Talon remembered that his lover was fireproof. It made Aoren grin as he touched the tips of his fingers to the ends of the wand where it rested upont he anvil. Talon brought the structure of the wand into view with his Semblance. He observed each pathway and then began the work of exciting the aether so that Aoren could impart his mastery of the Elemental forces into the work at hand. The techniques being imparted to the wand were simple. The first being that of plain manifestation, something the dragonshard was already capable of albeit in an unfocused manner. With Aoren’s guidance, the technique was imparted and Talon hammered the proper arcane latticework into place, interweaving it into the structure of the wand as needed. The second technique that Aoren enacts was that of simply influencing the element of fire, something he was supremely gifted at doing. Once that was in place, Talon refined the techniques into the structure them hammered everything into alignment. With that complete, Talon brought the wand back to the jeweler’s station where he set it within a pictograph circle.
Picking up his chisel and hammer, Talon began the delicate work of putting the final seals in place upon the surface of the amber glassy wand. He set his personal symbols into place ensuring that the energy within the wand would settle according to the pathways that had been constructed within it. With that complete, Talon picked up the ring that he had been working on for Hyoga.
“Ready?” Aoren made a low whine in his throat.
“More ice? Does it have to be ice?” Talon chuckled. He reached across the bench and tugged his bondmate up, dragging him over to the anvil. Before Talon could get away, Aoren wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed him deeply. The two of them shared a quiet moment before Talon set the ring onto the anvil, picking up his tools. Once more, Aoren touched the tips of his fingers to the ring. He set to work channeling his aether and tapping into the power of the dragonshard crystal the ring was fashioned from. Once it was clear that Aoren had established his connection with the ring, Talon set to work.
As before, Aoren guided the elemental manifestations within the energy of the dragonshard. While his bondmate was not a mage that typically worked with ice, the concept remained the same. To make up for the lack of specialty, Talon excited the arcane pathways and guided them into place so that they properly linked up to the icy magic within the frost dragonshard. Once that was in place, he watched as Aoren added the power of being able to influence to the ring. While that was something already inherent to the dragonshard, Aoren gave it a more focused intent. Once Aoren had completed his elemental influences, he stepped back, allowing Talon to continue his work.
Into the ring, Talon began to incorporate the formation of Semblance guided pathways. He added a layer of energy regulation to enable the ring to shut down as opposed to simply crumbling because it was over used. He followed this up with a layer of pathways that wrapped around the deeper structures within the latticework of the ring. Talon began threading into the makeup of the ring the subtle concealment of its magical properties. Knowing what he did about Hyoga, the young man had been facing some troubles. If he was going to be wearing this ring, Talon wanted him to be able to wear it without fear of it being taken from him after it was recognized as magical.
Quietly, Talon hammered each layer of the aether into place. He then nudged things into proper alignment so that the magic would function smoothly without conflicting with each other. Once that was finished, he picked up the ring with his tongs, bringing it over to his jeweler’s station. Setting it into a pictograph circle separate from the wand, Talon grabbed his chisel and hammer.
Little by little he began etching into the surface of the ring the symbols needed to set the enchantments into place. He worked in silence, keeping focused on his work. Beside him, Aoren was examining some of the functions of the wand in order to give it the critical eye of an elementalist.
“It still influences too slowly.” Talon chuckled.
“It is the wand of a neophyte, Aoren. You are an advanced practitioner.” His bondmate sniffed.
“You are nearly finished.” Without having to look up from his work, Talon knew what his lover was referring to. The spellweave cloth armor and accessories that he had been forging for over three seasons at that point. “Have you thought about what you will make next?”
Talon had a few ideas. He looked to his lover.
“I am trying to getting better at making a few things before I take on my next personal project.” Aoren blinked at him incredulously.
“Talon. You are one of the most skilled runesmiths in the city, hell, probably the entire region. What do you need to get better at?” Talon held up the ring that he was putting the finishing touches upon.
“Jewelry. I am quite skilled at fashioning armor and weaponry. It is what the Sky Guard needs routinely. But finer pieces? That requires a more delicate touch and I want to explore that more.” Talon set the ring down as he placed the final seal onto its surface watching as the enchantments began to settle into place. As soon as it was settled, Aoren slipped on the ring onto a finger that fit. He focused on it then willed some of the elemental manifestation into motion. Within a few seconds the air above his open palm began stir. It grew colder until a ball of ice formed then dropped into his palm. His bondate rolled it between his fingers before making a satisfied nod.
“I suppose this will do.” He sighed exasperatedly. Talon quirked a brow at his bondmate.
“You act as though these are yours.” Aoren sniffed and tossed his head imperiously.
“They have a bit of my magic in them. I want to make sure they are up to my standards.” Talon laughed, reaching out to shove his partner’s shoulder.
“As opposed to what? Mine?” His bondmate gave him a skeptical look prompting Talon to roll his eyes. He was in the middle of shaking his head when he heard footsteps coming down into his workshop. Looking up he saw Velkan carrying several more rods of various elemental dragonshard types.
“I brought the other rods for the Circle’s wands, Master.” Talon sighed. He nodded and gestured for his apprentice to bring over the other rods that the Circle had petitioned for. This was going to be a simple but time consuming order. Talon did not mind though, it allowed him to refresh his memory on the basics of his craft and it certainly meant that he was going to be well paid for his efforts.
