Asteria Pyromacha's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Asteria opened the forge door and stopped. The master's hammer still hung on its hook. His tongs still rested by the cold hearth. But the floor flagstones near the back wall sat wrong — edges too clean, gaps too regular. She knelt and worked her fingers into the gaps. The stones lifted easier than they should have. Beneath them, a wooden door sat flush with the foundation, brass locks gleaming in the dim light. She traced the lockwork with one finger — guild patterns, old style, but doubled. Two keys, two masters, or two apprentices meant to open it together. The vault changed everything. If the master had planned for both apprentices to inherit as partners, then the weapon she was forging was the wrong argument entirely. She sat back on her heels and stared at the locks. The guild wouldn't reunite through her blade. It would reunite through whatever the master had hidden below — if she could get both apprentices into this room before they tore each other apart.