"Can you make me something too, please?" Karlach asked, her grip on him tight as she gently squeezed her breasts into his arm.
William felt a trickle of blood leaking from one of his nostrils as she pressed into him.
"Pretty please Mr big and strong Artificer." She pressed harder knowing full well what this did to him.
William wiped the trickle of blood from his nose and proceeded to pull her around to face him before planting a soft kiss on her even softer lips.
"Your wish is my command!" He said with a smile tugging at his lips before setting her down gently on the cracked ground.
He extended his hand towards her battle-axe, and as he did, the weapon began to float directly into his grasp, as though he were moving it with some invisible force, a force perhaps akin to telekinesis, but fundamentally different altogether.
The sheer weight of the axe caused William's balance to momentarily waver, but he managed to catch himself just in the nick of time, his tail acting as a surprisingly effective kickstand at the last moment.
Karlach was barely able to hold in a giggle with just one hand, and that caused William to glare at her with a playful and mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Oh, laugh it up, Ms. Barbarian." His mischievous glare turned into a devilish smirk that caused Karlach to subconsciously gulp.
William turned around and began his slow walk towards the forge, the massive battle-axe swung over his shoulder in a lumberjack's fashion.
As he stood there upon the anvil, he set the axe down firmly and reached out with his right hand.
Instantly, the massive stone block began to shrink and condense, transforming into something the size of a mold.
Furthermore, a perfect impression of the axe's head and shaft, complete with its intricate details, was left imprinted upon the newly formed stone.
William drew in a slow breath.
Then the forge truly came alive.
Infernal light ignited behind his eyes as he raised his hand over the greataxe resting upon the anvil.
A moment later flames erupted from his palm.
Not ordinary fire.
These flames burned deep red and molten orange, the color of magma churning beneath a volcanic crust.
They roared outward with violent heat, curling around the massive weapon like hungry serpents.
Karlach's eyes widened as the fire intensified.
The metal of the axe began to glow.
First dull red.
Then bright crimson.
Then blinding orange.
Within seconds the heavy weapon began to lose its shape, the steel softening and sagging as the infernal flames devoured its structure.
Edges blurred, the blade drooped, and molten metal began to drip down the sides of the anvil like glowing honey.
William clenched his fingers.
The flames surged hotter.
The entire axe collapsed inward, melting completely beneath the relentless heat until all that remained was a pool of liquid metal, swirling and shimmering beneath his control.
With a slow motion of his hand, he guided the molten mass upward.
The glowing liquid obeyed instantly.
It lifted from the anvil in a floating sphere before stretching and compressing, the fluid metal twisting like a living thing until it condensed into a large rectangular ingot that hovered in the air before him.
Karlach let out a low whistle.
"Gods…"
William gave a small smirk.
Then he thrust his hand forward again.
Another violent burst of infernal flame blasted across the ingot, reheating it instantly until the metal glowed white-hot, nearly too bright to look at.
The hovering ingot dropped neatly into the waiting stone mold.
The moment it landed, William unleashed a second controlled torrent of fire.
The metal began to melt again.
But this time the liquefying steel flowed evenly through the carved channels of the mold, spreading out with perfect precision.
The stone block glowed with intense heat as the molten metal filled every crevice.
Slowly.
Perfectly.
Until the entire axe-shaped mold was filled.
William lowered the flames.
Silence returned to the forge, broken only by the quiet crackle of heat escaping the stone.
The metal inside the mold remained brilliant white.
Without hesitation, William extended his index finger.
Karlach blinked.
"Uh… William?"
But he simply touched the glowing metal.
Instead of burning, the white-hot surface parted beneath his finger like soft clay.
Slowly, carefully, he began carving patterns directly into the molten weapon.
Ornate swirls spiraled outward from the center of the axe head.
Elegant and rather lovely curves as well as runic loops forming with a flick of his fingernail and a twist of the wrist.
Flowing lines that twisted like living flames.
Each mark sank smoothly into the metal as though the weapon itself welcomed the design.
Karlach leaned closer, watching in awe as the patterns spread across both sides of the massive blade.
By the time he finished, the glowing metal had cooled slightly, shifting from white to a deep reddish glow.
William lifted his hand.
Then turned toward the nearby treeline.
His fingers curled slightly.
A distant tree shuddered violently.
The roots ripped free from the earth with a thunderous crack as the entire trunk yanked itself out of the ground and flew toward him, dirt spraying through the air as it floated into the forge yard.
Karlach blinked again.
"Okay… that's new."
William flicked his wrist.
The bark of the tree suddenly peeled away all at once, ripping from the trunk as though fleeing in terror.
The strips disintegrated into fine dust before even reaching the ground.
The bare trunk remained suspended in the air before him.
William raised his hand slowly.
The wood began to shrink.
Sharp crackling sounds echoed through the yard as the trunk compressed under immense unseen pressure.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
The fibers condensed tighter and tighter together as the wood rapidly reduced in size.
The tree continued shrinking until it was no thicker than the shaft of a battleaxe.
Dense.
Straight.
Perfect.
William guided the floating wooden shaft toward the mold.
By now the metal had cooled to a deep crimson glow.
The newly forged axe head had fully taken shape.
He positioned the shaft carefully into the metal loops built into the weapon.
Then he pressed his hand forward.
Invisible force squeezed the loops inward.
The still-hot metal clamped around the wood.
A loud HISSSSS echoed through the forge as trapped moisture instantly evaporated, steam rising in twisting white clouds.
The weapon was nearly complete.
William turned toward Karlach.
He gestured for her to come closer.
She stepped forward slowly, excitement and nervous energy mixing across her face.
When she reached him, William leaned close to her ear.
His voice dropped to a quiet whisper.
"I'm going to need a small favor."
Karlach tilted her head.
"What kind?"
He nodded toward the weapon.
"I need a little of your blood."
Her eyebrows lifted.
"For the bond," he continued quietly. "If you want the weapon to truly be yours!"
Karlach's grin slowly spread again.
"Mind if I borrow your sword?
William handed her his sword.
She accepted it without hesitation.
Raising the blade, she dragged the edge across her palm in a quick motion.
The enchanted steel sliced cleanly through her skin.
A sharp grunt escaped her throat as the sudden pain flared.
A red line opened across her palm.
Karlach curled her bleeding hand into a fist.
Then held it over the still-hot axe.
For a moment she hesitated.
Then she squeezed.
Thick crimson blood began to drip from between her fingers, falling toward the glowing weapon below…
William waited until the last drops of blood struck the glowing metal.
The crimson liquid sizzled the instant it touched the axe head.
A tiny plume of steam rose into the air as the blood began to spread across the heated surface, slowly making its way into the intricate and delicate runic grooves that William had painstakingly carved only moments before.
For a brief second, nothing happened.
Then William moved.
He reached forward slowly.
His hand ignited once more.
A terrifying infernal power surged through his hand, causing red-orange flames to erupt, blazing brighter and hotter than ever before.
This time, the fire didn't seem to spread very rapidly.
Instead, it burned intensely and directly against his skin, a controlled and focused flame, contained entirely within his grasp.
Karlach leaned forward slightly, eyes locked on the weapon.
William placed his blazing hand against the center of the axe head.
The moment his palm made contact, the magic transferred.
The infernal energy poured from him into the weapon.
The flood of dark magic surged into the heart of the axe's carved loops, igniting the deepest runic channels with a blinding, blazing light.
From there the power began to spread outward through the ornate swirling patterns.
The glow seemed to travel through the metal with the same swiftness and fluidity of water as it coursed through the river channels, filling every curve of the structure and every intricate carved rune with a molten, vibrant brilliance.
Karlach watched with widening eyes as the patterns lit up one after another.
First the center.
Then the inner spirals.
Then the sweeping lines along both sides of the massive twin blades.
The runes pulsed brighter.
Hotter.
Until every carved groove radiating within the statue burned with the same fierce, red-orange glow as the flames that were emanating from William.
Then the entire weapon ignited.
Fire burst across the blade in a sudden bloom of infernal light.
Not destructive fire.
Controlled.
Contained.
Just like the raging hellflame that William had used to melt the weapon, it was now dancing along its edges, forming a living aura that crackled with intense heat.
Karlach's mouth fell slightly open.
"Holy..."
William grunted as he pulled the axe free from the stone mold.
The weapon resisted slightly before coming loose with a heavy metallic scrape.
Even for him, the thing was massive.
He shifted his stance as the weight settled into his arms, feeling the muscles in his arms tighten as he battled to maintain his balance.
"Still… a bit heavy," he muttered under his breath.
Karlach didn't seem to notice.
Her eyes were glued to the burning weapon.
William turned and extended the axe toward her.
"Here."
Karlach didn't hesitate.
She reacted with astonishing speed, snatching the weapon from his grasp.
She gripped the newly forged shaft with an almost instinctive familiarity, as though it were a familiar extension of her own body.
As the blade brushed against the palm of her hand, a faint, almost imperceptible flicker appeared along the blade's edge, but it quickly settled down again.
Karlach stared down at it in disbelief.
Her expression slowly transformed into pure joy.
With the weapon held very close to her chest, almost as though it were something incredibly precious and intimate, she squeezed it against her body.
A warm, red-orange fire was casting a glow upon her face, and as she looked back up towards William, she seemed to be illuminated.
Her eyes sparkled.
"Gods… William."
She grinned wider than he had ever seen before.
"Thank you."
William smiled tenderly before he says, "You really should name it!" he approaches Karlach, his exhausted body collapsing against hers for a moment.
Karlach squeezed William close with her right hand, while her left hand gently scratched behind his head as she thoughtfully considered the perfect name for her newly acquired battle-axe.
It didn't take Karlach very long at all to get her eyes shining bright as she finally managed to come up with a name that truly suited that new battle-axe of hers.
"I'll name it Fire and Fury!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with determination as she said it. Immediately, the glowing lines that crisscrossed the surface of her axe appeared to pulse with a sense of recognition.
Karlach's eye seemed to glow with a particular intensity, its light matching the glow emanating from the lines that were spread across the battle-axe's blade.
Karlach's grin slowly softened as the runes along the blade settled into their steady glow.
"Fire and Fury," she repeated more quietly, testing the name on her tongue.
The axe hummed faintly in her grasp, the red-orange lines pulsing once like a heartbeat before stabilizing again.
Satisfied, she glanced down.
William had slumped forward against her, his strength clearly spent from the massive amount of magic he had poured into the weapon.
Karlach chuckled softly.
"Yeah… you definitely overdid it, soldier."
She shifted her grip on the axe and then carefully scooped William up with her free arm.
Despite his size, lifting him was no trouble for someone with Karlach's raw strength.
William muttered something incoherent as she lifted him.
Karlach smirked.
"Relax. I've got you."
With the axe resting comfortably over her shoulder and William cradled securely against her, she began walking toward the fortress.
The heavy wooden doors creaked as she pushed them open with her shoulder.
Inside, the fortress was quiet.
Karlach carried him through the dimly lit halls, her boots thudding softly against the stone floor as the faint glow from Fire and Fury illuminated the walls around her.
She entered the bedroom and walked over to the bed.
"Alright, big artificer," she murmured.
Karlach gently lowered William onto the mattress, making sure his wings and tail weren't awkwardly pinned beneath him.
She tugged the blankets up slightly over him before giving his shoulder a soft pat.
"Get some rest."
William barely stirred, clearly already drifting into the deep exhaustion that followed heavy magic use.
Karlach stood there for a moment, watching him sleep.
Then she glanced down at the axe in her hand.
The runes glowed warmly in the dim room.
Her grin returned instantly.
"Oh yeah."
Karlach turned and strode back out of the fortress, the doors swinging open again as she stepped outside into the open training yard.
The night air greeted her as she rolled her shoulders and adjusted her grip on the weapon.
She planted her feet firmly in the dirt.
"Alright, Fire and Fury," she said with a spark of excitement in her voice.
"Let's see what you can do."
Karlach lifted the massive axe over her shoulder and swung.
The blade carved through the air with a deep WHOOOMPH, the infernal flames along its edge flaring brighter as the weapon cut a blazing arc through the darkness.
Karlach's eyes lit up.
"Oh ho!"
She spun the weapon in her hands and swung again, faster this time.
The flames roared along the blade as she tested its weight, its balance, its sheer destructive potential.
A laugh burst from her chest.
"Oh this is gonna be FUN."