Yéye told them not to try to pry the stone out of the trinket. Instead, they should melt the trinket to avoid cracking the stone. Gendry wondered if the fire would harm the stone, but Yéye told him it would not. Once it came free, they worked it into the heavy platinum setting. Yéye told Gendry to heat a star metal bar in the forge. Once it was hot, he told him to strike it with the hammer. It rang true, but did little to draw the metal out. Then Yéye told him to wear the ring and try. When Gendry wore the ring and picked up the hammer, the ring flashed, and small flames licked around the head of the hammer. When he struck the white-hot bar, it made a substantial impact on the metal. The metal seemed way more malleable with the ring on. Yéye taught Gendry how to fold the metal by nicking the molten bar about three-quarters of the way down, removing slag and impurities, and fluxing the surface, then bending the metal back on itself to form layer after layer. This folded metal could then be drawn out into a sword form that would be flexible enough to withstand the blows of combat. Gendry sweated as he worked at the sword, and Yéye encouraged him onward.
Many of the treekin scholars had come to watch this process. Jiemba had spoken to Oenel about what was happening at the forge. Oenel talked about the rare transformation crystals and the even rarer transformation-fire crystals, saying, "These and the affinity to them are so rare that there are no training methods developed. Only through blessing and application of the effort can the affinity be strengthened. At one point during a reheat of the metal, a scholar stepped forward, pulling a slender silver crystal from her robes. The crystal was a deep, translucent silver, as if a cloud of silver powder were suspended inside it. She placed a hand on Gendry's head and another on his hand holding the hammer. She intoned a blessing, and a silver flickering glow formed about his whole body. It sparked and sputtered, then fell back into him, leaving a soft sheen about him. Suddenly, the heated metal worked much more easily, and the blade and tang form were completed. Yéye told him to reheat the finished form and then let it cool slowly to temper the metal. He told Gendry that it would need the power of a crystal added, which would require reheating, as the tome being translated relayed. They stopped forge work, and Gendry rested while they ate their afternoon meal. After the food was consumed, the translation of the tome continued, and Yéye and Gendry continued teaching.
King Wen had sent word to the estate of a newly discovered ruin that seemed filled with enemy creatures. He asked that a small team of explorers be sent to the location to find out what lay within it. Arya chose Jon, Drena, Brienne, and Bronn to go. They added Thomas to complete the group. Tormund complained but was left behind to man the gate and watch over the estate. It was a day's ride from the city to get to the site. Retainers had set up a small camp to receive them. Belaletrix had come along to translate, and the Thrain farmer who had discovered the site was interviewed. He explained that he had never seen the ruin before a few days ago, but he had been by that location countless times before. He entered the ruin but was frightened off by the sound of creatures within. He described it as being dark inside, even though the roof was gone in places. When queried further, he described strange writing on the walls. The group decided Belaletrix would also go with them to understand the writing inside, potentially.
The group gathered their gear and torches and was led to the ruin's site. The place was ghostly looking, with grey-green stones that were crumbling in appearance. They cautiously entered the ruin, torches held aloft. Writing could be seen on the wall, and though Belaletrix said it seemed like a variant of the Thrainian language, he could not read it, so he wrote it all down in a small notebook. Thomas did likewise and was also drawing a map of what they found. As they turned a corner inside, they heard the previously mentioned creatures stirring. They braced for contact, and a giant horse rode into view, only it wasn't a normal horse because instead of a horse's head and neck, there was half of a humanoid figure in its place. It brandished a large log, and it charged them, shouting furiously. As it drove toward them, Bronn and Drena both slashed at it from either side, wounding it but not severely. Jon jumped forward, dodging a swing of its log, and pierced its heart. The beast crumpled and was dead. More of the creatures had been alerted by its shouting and gathered to charge the group en masse, wielding branches and stones as weapons. This was not going to be a leisurely exploration. Thomas and Belaletrix retreated towards the entrance, brandishing what weapons they had. As the monsters charged, Arya and Drena both cast their disruption abilities at them. Three of the creatures went down with large holes in them. Still, the group kept coming.