Aiden's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Aiden held their katana over the coal fire and watched the edge go soft. White hair fell across their eyes as they pulled the blade back too late. A crack ran up the steel. This worn sword could never survive the forging of a legendary blade, and a legendary blade was the only thing that could cut the enchanted barrier sealing their homeland. Without that cut, Aiden stayed trapped. Without a real forge, the work could not even begin. They lived alone in a rugged stone dojo below the peak, its weathered walls holding in the cold. A brown dog lay by the door, ears alert, watching Aiden pace. Aiden had one hope. A sorcerer named Gojo owned a proper forge and knew steel better than anyone alive. Aiden had already begged him three times. Each time Gojo waved them off with two mismatched eyes, one black and one pale blue, like the request bored him. So Aiden climbed the trail again. The dog followed, tail high. They found Gojo outside his home, spinning a small metal part between his fingers. "Still that broken sword," Gojo said, not looking up. "You'll melt it into slag." "I know," Aiden said. "That's why I need your forge. Please." Gojo finally met their eyes. "I'll help you. One condition." He held up the metal part. "I'm building something and I'm missing a hammer. Not any hammer. A forging hammer heavy enough to shape a legendary blade. Bring me that, and I'll give you the forge and my hands." Aiden's stomach tightened. "Where is it?" "A crystal grows in the high ravine," Gojo said. "Ferns covered in diamond. A smith buried his hammer under those roots long ago. Dig it out, carry it back. Simple." He smiled. "For someone else." Aiden looked at their cracked katana. It was useless now. The forge was the only way forward, and the hammer was the only way to the forge. "Fine," Aiden said. "I'll get it." The dog barked once, ready. Gojo went back to his metal part. "Come back with the hammer or don't come back." Aiden wrapped the broken sword and turned toward the ravine. They had traded one problem for a harder one. But for the first time, the path to the barrier was real. They started climbing, the dog at their heel, toward a cluster of shimmering ferns they had never seen.