as, it’s a gift from the Gods!”). Selmas creeps inside, finding his apron and slipping it on over his head. He ha

fire, which is when his teacher, without

oks like he’s be

d dumping them onto the coals underneath the lit forge. “We hav

cher asks. “That’s the

idently. “Never mind that their navy is re

to examine the edge of the ax. “Embarr

ior, he’s strongly built, solid and square, his fists like war-hammers, but with the most delicate fingers. He can hone an arrow so precisely that it could shoot

never heard it from him. Zehan doesn’t seem bitter about it, though. He claim

pons are nice, of course, but what good are

and goes over to the large whetstone they have at the back of the shop. “You were gone for

ping the whetstone over the e

ty arrow shafts, feathers, and string, pulling a s

t too much,” he says. “We start out by making formational attacks, but everything

mming down the ends with a thin pair of sheers. “A

norts. “She wo

, people choose not to,” Zehan says. “It’

es. “Do you even kn

elmas had stopped sharpening as he talked, so he picks it back up again, gri

ched arrows into a quiver and slides the ax head into a l

. “I’ve had enough of

he store, then. Don

go?” Selmas mum

litting firewood, actually. Selmas always gets splinters. Sometimes he can convince Byrin to do it for him, but

ous other groups who want to take the Stone’s power for themselves. Selmas doesn’t even know if it would work the same for them, or if only the Alyrisin are able to

Wister the smallest. Alyris is right in the middle, size-wise, and they wouldn’t be nearly as powerful as they are without the Bloodstone. As it is, Alyris has few friends and many enemies, and every other clan is co

t even know why they have a store. Besides the few foreign customers they get if anyone

watching from the bush. He had drawn a few diagrams, but they’re messy, just formations he h

s not as direct as the last attack wa

ly think about it. Now that he recalls, it does appear that the battle was a lot more chaotic than

dge of a notebook page with his finger. With the unexpect

d this thought, Selmas makes out voic

ere? You’d be