CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
Alec sat before the forge, sweating, hammering away at the sword as he had been for days, frustrated and stumped. This unfinished sword, crafted of a metal he did not understand, just would not mold. It was the most stubborn piece of metal he had ever worked with. Try as he did to shape it, the sword seemed to have a mind of its own. He had tried softening it with liquid fire, cooling it, and hammering it from every angle, with every type of hammer. Nothing worked.
Alec sat there, shoulders aching, and put his hammer down, needing a break. He examined it, breathing hard, dripping sweat onto it, and wondered. He held it up to the light, palms raw from hammering, and turned it, trying to understand. He had never encountered anything remotely like it. It was half a sword
