Belly of the Beast by Warren Thomas (story books for 5 year olds txt) 📕

The first was a raised dais in the exact middle of the ancient temple chamber. It was impossible to ignore it, since a thunderous maelstrom roared out of it, spiraling up to the city above. He didn’t see any hole in the ceiling, so wondered how it passed through countless tons of rock and dirt unabated.

            What am I thinking? He’s a God, so can do anything.

            Past the dais and maelstrom, he spotted a glowing forge. So he started toward it, but then stopped and looked around on the floor. He found a broken sword, the silvery blade untouched by age or rust. Runes in the fullers glowed with eerie light. Looking around the temple, he found three more broken swords.

            “Rune Swords of Power,” he muttered. “Broken.”

            A vision of the four Swords of Power laid out in a large X atop the dais filled his head. He knew then what he had to do. The swords had been the barrier holding Dakar at bay, but someone removed them.

            His eyes cut to a pile of dark, scorched clothing. The dwarf?

            Tane continued over to the forge. The heat off it proved otherworldly intense. Beyond it, against the back wall, sat a dozen crucibles and everything he needed to create crucible steel: iron ore, charcoal, sand, glass, and clay. And an impossibly hot furnace.

            “Gather up all the pieces,” Tane said, picking up the broken sword at his feet.

            They gathered next to the anvil, dumping the four broken swords on the table. Tane quickly removed the hilts. If nothing else, he could reuse them on the new Swords of Power.

            “How long will it take to make four Swords of Power?” Quinn asked.

            “About a week,” he said. An odd warmth infused his head. He looked up at the heavens. “But maybe not so long, so… Let’s get started”

            He had two options. First, he could weld the broken blades back together. That would require a lot of hammering, heating, folding. Or he could start with a crucible of newly forged steel.

            “This is what I’m going to do,” Tane said, going over to pick up a crucible. He started packing on iron ore. The ore was already smashed pretty finely, saving him a lot of time. Then he added some charcoal, sand, and glass. “I’m going to start the process to create new crucible steel in the furnace, but I’ll start welding one of the broken blades back together while I’m waiting for it to melt.”

            “Really?” Quinn said, grimacing. “Is welding a blade back together the best idea?”

            He shrugged. “It’s not the best answer, but it will work for what we need. These Swords of Power are not being made to fight a God, but to seal the portal. It’s unlikely they be tested enough to break.

            “Besides, I can weld and hammer out a new blade in the time it’ll take to melt the iron in the crucible.”

            “It’ll be a good warm up,” Joelle said. “And give us an actual Sword of Power faster, just in case.”

            “In case of what?” Raven asked. “Do you think Dakar will come back here to fight us?”

            Tane froze. She spoke the words no one else wanted to. Tane didn’t think Dakar could return so fast. But he was a God. And they didn’t fare so well last time they faced the Black God.

            “Yes. Definitely need to get a Sword of Power made as quickly as possible,” Tane said, with the others nodding.

            With the crucible filled with all the ingredients of steel, Tane used some of the clay to seal the crucible shut. He checked the furnace, which remained mind-numbing hot without any fuel that the swordsmith could see. It was just a domed oven, really. So Tane pushed the crucible in using his sword.

            “Damn, that’s hot,” Raven said after he closed the furnace door. “Are you sure it won’t melt your steel really fast?”

            “I suspect it will do the job quickly, but I still have to wait for the crucible to cool and harden. In the meantime, I’ll get started.”

            Tane chose a broken sword with both pieces of the blade of the same length. He placed both pieces in the forge fire, watching them heat up white hot so fast it left him breathless.

            He had Quinn help hold the two pieces together, and began hammering. Tane welded them together my hammering them flat, and then folding them, before hamming them out again. Over and over. He folded the blank five times. And then he started hammering it out into a blade.

Chapter 84

            Nizar!

            The priest jumped to his feet, wild-eyed.

            What are you doing up there in the city? The swordsmith is in the dwarven city below as we speak! He’s at the forge in the Great Temple!

            “What? Impossible, we should be several days ahead of him.”

            Idiot! How can you keep underestimating him?

            Nizar’s heart sank into his belly. There was no arguing with a God. Dakar knew far more than he could ever know. If his God said the swordsmith was down in the dwarven city, then that’s where Nizar had to go. Immediately.

            Hurry, you imbecile! Dakar shouted in his head. I have four Arisen Gods arrayed against me right now; otherwise, I’d personally go and take care of them.

            “We’re on our way,” Nizar said. He turned to the wide-eyed innkeeper. “Saddle our horses. Hurry!”

            He waited for the innkeep to run off to do his bidding, before heading upstairs. Nizar stopped to pound on Jessy’s door.

            “Get up, you lazy girl! We are leaving right now!”

            Nizar rushed into his room. He pulled on his heavy winter robes. Jessy waited with big eyes when he exited his room.

            “Tane is in the city?”

            “No. He’s under the city,” Nizar said. “Come, I’ll explain as we ride to the entrance.”

            He led the teenager downstairs, and out the back door. The