The tattooed giant placed the weapon before Duncan. It was a massive spear, nearly as long as a man, but a wreck: the wood of the shaft was split, the metal tip cracked and blackened by a deep burn.
"This has been my companion for ten years," the warrior growled. "It has fallen with me in a hundred battles. But last time… something broke it. No one dares even touch it. They say it is cursed."
Duncan leaned forward, running his fingers along the metal. He felt a shiver, an energy still vibrating at the heart of the tip.
It was no ordinary spear.
"Who broke it?" he asked.
The giant lowered his gaze. "A wizard. He cast lightning on me. I survived… my spear did not."
Kael, watching nearby, whistled softly. "That's why they say it's cursed. It's been touched by living magic."
Duncan smiled faintly.
"It's not a curse. It's a gift."
The warrior stared at him as if he were mad. "A gift?"
Duncan took his hammer and tongs and lit the makeshift forge the Circle had provided.
"Metal remembers. It remembers fire, blows, even magic. If you know how to listen… you can reforge it stronger than before."
The work was long and arduous. Duncan dismantled the tip, cleaned it with fine sand and oil, then immersed it next to the blue crystal he'd purchased. Each blow of the hammer sent out bluish sparks, as if the steel were singing.
The giant held his breath. Kael watched him with wide eyes.
Finally, Duncan realigned the reforged blade to the new, tempered oak shaft. As he raised the completed spear, a blue glow ran down the shaft to the tip.
The magic that had broken it was still there… but now it was chained and bent to his will.
Duncan handed the spear to the giant.
"It is no longer the same weapon. It is better. Now it carries within it the force of the lightning that sought to destroy it."
The warrior held it with shaking hands. When he hurled it at a wooden dummy, the tip exploded in a bolt of electricity that charred the target in an instant.
Silence. Then a roar of applause and shouts from the Circle.
The giant laughed heartily, clapping Duncan on the shoulder with his enormous hand.
"From this day on, stranger, if ever you are in need… my spear will fight at your side."
Duncan smiled. He had paid a favor, yes… but he had gained something even more important: an ally armed with lightning.