Here's the next installment of our Metallum Nocturne story. If you need to catch up on any of the previous episodes, click here.
Episode Fifty-Five
T
The induction crucible was crackling by seven in the morning, sparks leaping into the air above the liquid metal like fireflies at dusk. Beneath the layers of protection, both physical and magical, Claire approached the bath with a preheated slag rake in her fist to remove the impurities before she added the night metal to the iron base. She carefully scooped them off, making sure not to take good metal with her by letting the rake hang over the bath until the pure liquid had run off.
After checking with a heat gun, Claire returned to the melter controls to increase the temperature by another three hundred degrees to prepare for the addition of the night metal. Drenched in sweat beneath her protective gear, Claire felt at peace as she worked the metal, checking and adjusting, removing more slag, caring for the liquid that would become something new and interesting when she was done. Two somethings, in fact. The lost wax molds sat at the back of the area waiting until the liquid metal was ready for the pour. Originally, she'd only been intending to make the ring, but the amount of material Nocturna had given her was enough for an additional item. Not too large, but she wasn't looking for something big and flashy like the original hammer.
Time lost meaning during that day, only surfacing when she paused to grab a drink of water, or stuff a food bar in her face before returning to the crucible. The nekyia filaments went in first, turning iridescent almost instantly before sinking beneath the surface. Claire added two spells to the bath to maintain the effects of the reagent until she could make the pour in eight hours. Then she changed the temperature again, down one hundred and eighteen degrees, before stirring in counterclockwise rotation using a ceramic ladle that wouldn't melt under the obscene heats. Standing above the crucible meant she was getting hit with nearly three thousand degrees of radiant heat. She kept her sanity by remembering how she'd acquired the filaments by saving Grayson from the Veil. She hoped he was doing better, given his grief. She knew what it was like to believe you'd lost everyone you ever loved. Things got better, even when it seemed they never would.
The faeila dust went into the bath second. The once-living glass settled on the top, surface tension holding it aloft while the heat broke down the structure. The faeila dust melted into shiny metallic pools then spread out and dissipated into the bath. She had to apply no further enchantments for another hour until she was readying for the final ingredient.
The preserved ghost-eye stalks would signal the start of the trickiest section of the day. Their entry into the liquid metal would be simple with a short spell to keep them from burning too quickly, but then she had a long part where she had to manipulate the metal as it cooled, ensuring the phase changes were correct.
Claire worked the crucible tirelessly for the next three hours, casting spells and adjusting the temperature five separate times as she maneuvered the liquid into a ready state. The key to achieving the night metal's best characteristics was getting it to a certain state in liquid form and then pouring it before it lost that peak condition. She would get one and only one chance to accomplish her goals for the project.
When the appointed moment came, she paused to rehydrate for a minute and prepare herself for the challenging pour. She needed to ladle enough metal for both castings. While the ring was small, the risering system to ensure no flaws remained required additional metal which would fill in the tiny gaps using gravity as it cooled.
The ladle held thirty pounds of liquid modified night metal at the end of a long pole. She scooped it up carefully, backfeeding to ensure no slag, and walked the ladle over to the two molds, one slightly larger than the other. Three months ago when she first attempted to use night metal, the pour was the part she was most worried about because it required physical strength, but that was no longer the case. She hefted the ladle easily, which gave her a better control over the pour.
Claire set the notch of the ladle against the gate, letting the liquid metal run through the gap in a laminar flow. The metal looked like dark chocolate in liquid form. She counted in her head, predicting the moment the mold would be full and easing away before it overflowed.
She moved the ladle to the second, larger mold without spilling a drop. The second pour was as easy as the first, but this time she let the extra drain out on the top, forming a disc above the gate. When she was finished, her arms shook briefly, a quiver of relief that she quickly got ahold of. While the molds were poured, she wasn't finished working, as she had to drain the crucible and then bring it down to room temperature.
The crucible was on a hinge. She hooked the edge to a chain hanging from the ceiling and using a wench motor tilted it until it drained into a slag bin. There was little remaining good metal. She added a spell to the interior to keep the crucible from cracking while it air cooled.
The next two hours, she cleaned up the foundry. The crucible was still warm, but no longer glowing. She wasn't due to work on the castings until the following morning, so she left them in their molds.
"Won't hurt if they stay there a bit longer."
With almost no one else in Metallum Nocturne, Claire made herself three cheeseburgers and a tray of fries in the kitchen, devouring them in short order. The shower was a gift. She stayed under the spray for an hour until a bone-deep exhaustion took hold.
The next morning, Claire woke refreshed and not at all tired as she expected. She returned to the foundry to find her molds intact. After removing the case bolts, she broke the away the black sand, revealing the objects inside. The smaller one was clearly a ring at the end of a narrow funnel. She used a pair of pliers to snap the runner away from the ring and studied it in her palm before slipping it into her pocket for later processing.
The second mold was larger, revealing a narrow blade with room for a short hilt. The dagger would be medium length. Claire knocked away the runners and used a grinder to shave down the excess.
Claire finished the ring first. The majority of the magic had been imbued into the metal but after she cleaned and polished the circular item, she added additional spells which would be captured by the metal matrix ensuring the ring would give her the properties she desired.
The dagger took much longer. Claire moved to the forge, where she had to heat the metal back to a faint glow before hammering it for hours, repeating the heating on a regular basis. The selection of reagents had been specific to her desires for the final ring, but adding the blade had changed her calculations. Claire used the forging time to layer more enchantments into the metal, giving it different properties than the ring.
Finishing both items took three more long days in which she worked tirelessly, sleeping like the dead each night and waking in the morning with renewed sense of purpose. As she neared the finish line, she allowed herself to contemplate the results of her efforts. While the original night metal project would have given her a hammer of at least masterwork quality, and if she were lucky, maybe a minor artifact, the two she'd finished this week were certainly more than that.
Five days after the initial pour, Claire examined the results of her labor. The color of the ring was both silvery and black, like seeing the moon's reflection at night. As she lifted the object, checking it against the light, it shifted between those colors.
Slipping it over her right ring finger brought a sense of dislocation. Vertigo. Claire wavered on her feet before grabbing the edge of the table. For a moment, she thought the ring was flawed, but then as her senses extended outward, she realized that it was only her body getting used to the additional information flooding in through the ring. It was like having a personal radar system. Claire closed her eyes and walked around the processing room without bumping into a single table or machine.
She returned to the table to examine the short blade. It ended up longer than she initially intended because the metal folded beautifully, allowing her to make it even thinner. The hilt was nothing special. A soft wrapping which would make it easier to hold. In time, she would replace it with something more appropriate for the weapon, but she lacked the means for those additions.
Claire was not an expert in wielding blades, but holding it felt comfortable, like an extension of her arm. She made a few tentative swipes, seeing her arm blur into motion and grinning at the result. In the brief battle with the Terrors, she'd survived only because she could see in the dark. She needed more advantages if she was going to hunt people like them. Skill would come in time, but she assumed she wouldn’t be given much more of a reprieve.
With the two night metal items complete, Claire spent the next day cleaning up the equipment and packing her room. She left with an overstuffed backpack and carrying a huge duffle bag. The empty halls rang with her footsteps. Claire hesitated before pushing through the double doors. A chapter of her life was coming to an end.
Outside Metallum Nocturne, the statue of Stephen Adolphus hit differently than it had in the past. Not only had she met him in the realm of shadows, but she was soon to be no longer a member of his Hall. But she didn't regret a single moment. Not even the accident, despite it not being her fault. As she walked away, the first Patron's words rang in her head like a hammer against steel.
May the seeds of your mistakes bear fruit tomorrow.
