Felicity hugged my arm tighter as we stepped through the door. Her breath was warm against my ear.
"So… were you successful?" she whispered, the hope in her voice almost trembling.
I glanced down at her and let the edge of a smile tug at my lips.
"What do you think?"
The tang of rainbow steel and soot met us before the apprentices did. A knot of them crowded the entry to Jorun's master forge, their shoulders bunched, faces pale. Whatever they'd seen had rattled them.
"Excuse us," I said evenly.
The words snapped them upright. A chorus of startled bows and hurried stammers followed.
"O-of course, Lord Ash!"
They scattered from the doorway like leaves brushed by wind, leaving only the faint clatter of their tools against the stone floor.
Inside, the sky grade forge glowed low and red. Jorun stood over his anvil, beholding the finished Tri-Emblem, his beard singed at the tips. He turned, eyes flicking from Felicity's silver gaze, to me—then to the figure slouched in the corner.
My other self.
My twin's chest rose and fell in an easy rhythm, his boots kicked up on a stool, arms folded across his chest. A faint trail of Ember-coil sparks leaked from his nostrils as he dreamed.
Jorun blinked, his thick brows knotting together. "Ash…" His voice held both accusation and disbelief. "You did it!" He stepped aside, revealing the Tri-Emblem laying on the anvil, surrounded by faint tongues of pink fairy flame. I waved my hand at my sleeping twin, pulling the substantial spark of life back into the master pool of my mental energy.
The twin dissolved into motes of frost fireflies, the swarm streaming back into me with a sound like lightening being drawn over ice. My chest heaved once, then steadied—the weight of him, the fatigue, the memories, all settling inside my mental dantian where they belonged.
Felicity's grip on my arm only tightened. I felt her shiver, though whether from awe or unease, I couldn't say.
Jorun's hammer-hand trembled as he set the tool down. His eyes never left me, not even when the pink fairy-flame licked higher around the Tri-Emblem, dancing as if in welcome.
"You… split your soul," he muttered. "And brought it back whole. Do you have any idea what that means?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I reached for the Tri-Emblem. The chameleon steel was still warm, but it pulsed as if alive, the empowered arrays breathing with their own rhythm.
I inspected each array anchor point with my spiritual senses. Felicity's whisper brushed against me again. "It's beautiful..."
The fairy-flames clung to the emblem, spiraling upward in delicate arcs before fading into motes. I could feel them, their resonance tugging at the marrow of my bones. Power, yes—but also a bond, an oath forged in fire and will.
Jorun finally exhaled, a long rumble from his chest. "The clans would kill to take this from you. We must be on guard while we wait for my messengers to reach Lord Ichikawa with the news of it's completion."
"In other news," I said lightly, "it is time for my reward for completing the forge, no?"
Jorun blinked, then barked out a laugh, the sound booming against the forge walls. "So it is, my boy! So it is! Hah! My entire store and private shop sit at your disposal. Choose from it whatever tools your heart desires!"
Felicity's silver eyes sparkled as she glanced up at me, and I couldn't help returning the grin. Together we pushed a heavy steel-wheeled cart through the aisles, the apprentices watching with wide eyes as if we were looting a king's vault.
I picked carefully, not greedily, though even the basics here were enough to make any smith salivate. I picked a mystic-grade anvil carved with reinforcement sigils, tongs etched with runic grips, hammers of every style and balance, barrels of coal infused with elemental essence. Felicity helped me load an assortment of rare ingots as well as ironwood alloy, storm-silver, and frost-gold—enough to keep me working for years.
But in the far corner of the private master shop, half-hidden behind a rack of armor plating, I remembered something else. A modest crate, untouched during the forging. Mystic rainbow ingots—glimmering with sevenfold luster, veins of light pulsing like captured auroras. Lord Ichikawa must have brought more than enough, expecting at least one failure. Yet here they sat, unspent, like forgotten jewels.
I hesitated, the cart half-full already. These ingots were rarer than gold, rarer than dragon marrow. They could forge relics that would outlast empires.
I cleared my throat, trying not to sound too eager. "Jorun… those rainbow ingots. Might I take one or two?"
The blacksmith's bushy brows lifted, then lowered again as if weighing something. For a moment I thought I had overreached. Then his face split into a grin.
"Take them all, boy!" he said, clapping my shoulder with a hand like Hammerhead. "You've earned them a hundred times over. Had Ichikawa brought less, I'd not have risked the attempt at all. But you made the forging sing on the first strike. Keep the surplus—forge your own destiny with it."
Relief and gratitude washed through me. I bowed slightly. "Thank you, Master Jorun."
The rainbow ingots glowed as we loaded them onto the cart, each one humming faintly against my spiritual sense. Felicity pressed close, whispering with a little laugh, "Careful, Ash… you're starting to look like a dragon guarding its hoard."
I focused a thread of eon qi into my spirit ring. The whole load of rainbow ingots and rare materials and tools shimmered once, then vanished in a ripple of light, swallowed into the boundless storage within.
Before I could exhale, the forge doors slammed open. A soot-stained apprentice stumbled inside, voice cracking with panic.
"Master Jorun! Lord Ash! There's a flying sky-pirate ship nearing the Grand Capital! The Poison Lotus Clan is mobilizing all forces against it!"
Jorun's face went pale beneath the beard, his hands curling into fists. "They've found out!" he gasped. His gaze darted to the Tri-Emblem glowing on the anvil. "They're here for it—the Tri-Emblem!"
Felicity and I exchanged a glance, her silver brows arching as realization sparked in her eyes.
"Master… it's them," she whispered. "Faeluxe and Marla!"
I raised a steadying hand to Jorun. "Fear not, Master Jorun. I believe these are the arrivals of friends, not foes."
Even as I spoke, Felicity dissolved into radiant threads of argent light, weaving into my frame until her essence pulsed alongside my own. I scattered my dantian outward, body unraveling into a thousand motes of frost-fireflies.
I swarmed and whirled once through the forge, bathing the shop in azure light, before streaking upward in a torrent of icy sparks.
Through swarm-travel I could cover more ground, racing beyond the city spires and ramparts, cutting through clouds in pursuit of the Starbite—before the Poison Lotus Clan unleashed their strike.
The Starbite creaked as it cut through high winds, its enchanted sails glowing faintly against the twilight. On the deck, Marla gripped the railing, eyes narrowed at the black tide of lotus banners forming in the distance. Faeluxe's ears twitched sharply, her bow already strung. Hammerhead hefted his war-axe over one shoulder, while Snake-Man hissed and wound his coils tighter around the mast.
"Poison Lotus Clan," Faeluxe spat. "They mean to gut us out of the sky."
Marla's lips tightened. "Then we fight."
But before steel could clash, a sudden whoosh filled the air. Ten thousand frost-fireflies poured in from the horizon, scattering across the heavens like a living constellation. They swept between the Starbite and the Poison Lotus fleet, their bodies glowing in icy hues.
The swarm twisted, shimmered—then formed glowing letters that hung in the air like burning runes:
HALT – FRIENDLY
Marla and Faeluxe both froze.
"What in the…?" they gasped together, stunned.
On the opposite flank, the Poison Lotus foot soldiers slowed, as the commanders barked uncertain orders. The glowing command in the sky had given even them pause.
A fragment of the swarm broke off, spiraling down toward the Starbite in a streak of argent-blue light. Faeluxe drew her bow. Marla planted her spear, ready for impact. Hammerhead only squinted and grunted, "Tch. I know that damn aura."
The frost-fireflies whirled together in a storm of sparks, fusing into a single figure upon the bridge. As the light died, Ash stepped forward, cloak rippling, eyes sharp as steel.
"Hmph," Hammerhead snorted, "Of course it's Ash!"
"Master!" Marla cried, her composure shattering. She dropped her guard and ran to him, flinging her arms around my chest. Her ample curves and bossom pressed against me with fierce warmth as she buried her face in my shoulder.
I stiffened, caught between surprise and breathless relief. I relaxed and slowly let wrapped my arms around Marla, patting her and rubbing her back, comforting her as she sobbed. As she cried in my shoulder her serpents planted kisses on my face and gave me head bumps of love. It was a little unsettling at first, I admit. but I adjusted accordingly.
In a shimmer of silver light, Felicity materialized beside us, arms crossed, lips pursed. Her cheeks colored as she looked away, voice small but pointed.
"H-hey..."
The deck of the Starbite grew quiet, a strange calm before the storm. Even the Poison Lotus waited, their banners fluttering uncertainly as the swarm's message still hung heavy in the air.
The Starbite dipped gracefully, its keel glowing faintly as it descended into the wide square of Fanghua. The city's spires glimmered in the evening light, and already, crowds had gathered—citizens staring wide-eyed at the skyship, whispering of pirates, prodigies, and war.
A column of Poison Lotus warriors in emerald armor marched into the square, weapons gleaming. At their head, Elder Zhang strode forward, his long sleeves trailing like banners. His aura was sharp as venom, his presence filling the square with pressure.
I raised a hand, palm open, my voice calm but firm.
"This is my crew. You don't need to fear them—it's okay."
Elder Zhang's eyes flicked from me to the Starbite's strange complement—Marla still flushed and clinging too close, Faeluxe with her ever-pure ribbon and blades slung but watchful, Hammerhead scratching his---well, and a stretched out Snake-Man coiled around a mast, his tongue flicking nervously.
For a long breath, Zhang said nothing. Then, at last, he exhaled, the sharpness draining from his aura. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed his men.
"Stand down. False alarm."
The Lotus warriors hesitated, then bowed and dispersed, their boots clattering against stone as they withdrew.
With a ripple of qi, Elder Zhang rose into the air, floating to the deck of the Starbite. He bowed low, sleeves brushing the planks.
"Lord Ash," he said gravely. "To think I nearly ordered an attack against your companions… Please, allow me to make amends. Tonight, the Poison Lotus Clan will host a banquet in your honor—yours, and your friends'. The palace of Fanghua awaits you all."
The square erupted in murmurs as word spread—a banquet for the Sovereign-Slayer and his skyfaring crew.
Felicity leaned close to me, her silver eyes amused, whispering under her breath.
"Well, Master… looks like we're about to make quite the entrance."
A