The crafting twins were standing side by side, backs straight and heads held high, as Seth opened the door to the workshop. As the trio stepped inside, the twins bowed, as if they were greeting royalty.

As the only one with a voice between them, it was Titus who spoke. Raising his head, he put on a charming smile that barely hid his excitement.

"Greetings again Father, and a warm welcome to you Mistress Astra. We have been eager to meet you and have heard a lot about you."

'Mistress Astra? Why is she a Mistress and I'm just father?'

'Heard a lot about me? How do these... people know about me?'

Two confused expressions appeared on Seth's and Astra's faces, both for different reasons. The twins, however, seemed uneffected by their expressions and simply carried on with their introductions.

"My name is Titus, I am the Forge Master here. And this, is my Brother Julius, he is the Rune Scribe. We are truly honoured to meet you."

They bowed again. When they straightened up, Julius wasted no time in grabbing Seth's hand and dragging him across the workshop like an eager child. Words painting themselves into the air next to his head as he began to ramble.

"I'm glad you're here father. I need to show you something I have been working on, I think you will enjoy it very much. It involves..."

The rambling turned into an entire paragraph, so much that it had to constantly scroll to make room for his explanation. The literal wall of text blocking Seth's view of Astra as he was led away, otherwise he would have given her an apologetic expression. But that probably wasn't intentional... right?

Behind his back, Julius used one of his many hands to give a subtle thumbs up.

***

Astra frowned softly, watching Seth being carted away throughout the mysterious workshop, before turning her attention back to Titus, who was standing beside her with his arms behind his back. The dragon took a cursory look over Titus, before huffing through her nostrils and strolling off to follow Seth. Evidentially not finding these two entertaining enough for her.

Astra, however, was truly fascinated. She took in the sight of the strange obsidian skinned man. She was absolutely certain that she had never seen this man before, as he had quite a distinct look that she would very much remember, and yet he definitely seemed to know her.

Not just know her, but he was currently staring at her with starry eyes and a warm smile, it made her feel like he was some child hoping to be adopted.

He stepped to the side, holding out his hand towards the workshop, the opposite direction to which Seth had been taken.

"Would you like to take a tour, My Lady?"

"Sure... Why not."

Sure enough, he began to lead her throughout the workshop. Introducing her to the different facets and peculiarities of the space. He showed her where his brother worked, and where he worked.

The forge itself was incredible, and she couldn't help but notice the resemblance between the man's skin and the bricks that made up the body of the forge.

However, as she wandered through this odd space, being taken on a strange tour, she found it hard to concentrate on what the obsidian man was saying. Not only because of the question gnawing at the back of her mind, but because there was something else there too.

There was something whispering to her. Calling her name softly, drawing her towards it. It was barely audible when she had entered, but now that she was in the area of the forge, it was all she could here within her mind. Yet even still, it wasn't hurtfully deafening nor was it uncomfortable. It felt almost like a long lost friend was calling to her.

The whispering drowned out Titus' explanation of a particular piece of armour he was forging, drawing Astra's attention away from him and to a display table nearby. She didn't even notice that he had stopped talking, only focusing on the table.

She turned on her heels, taking slow and measured steps over to it. With every step, the whispering grew louder until she finally laid eyes on the object of attraction.

Resting in the middle of the red linen bed that topped the display table, was a curious sword. It's had a truly gorgeous basketed hilt, composed of twisting lines of a strange metal - it's colour a mix of deep blue and silver - that curled, knitted and wove together to form a perfect circle. The only break in this circle was a quarter wedge cut out of it, to make room for the wielders hand.

Every inch of the metallic lines had intricately carved runes, like markings on a blueish silver road. Each was perfectly spaced, and so small that they didn't even measure a single inch in any direction. The handle hidden within this gorgeous basket seemed carved out of pure white jade, which glistened tantalisingly.

The blade of this resplendent weapon was forged of the same strange, blueish silver metal as the basket was. It was double sided and seemed like it was just under 100cm long and 4cm in width. The keyword was seemed, as it was difficult to tell because of one simple fact.

The blade itself was completely shattered, broken into over a dozen fragmented pieces with only a tiny nub poking out the top of the basket.

Each piece still possessed a razor sharp edge, but was also jagged and uneven. Cracked in different shapes, and were laid out across the red linen like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, so that they were laying in their rightful place with only hints of red peaking through the gaps.

Yet despite this, or perhaps because of it, it continued to call to Astra. The voice was almost overwhelming as she reached towards it, her blackened fingers trembling in the air as she tenderly slipped them inside the basket.

Just as she was about to wrap them around the jade handle, the whispering voice immediately fell deadly silent as the hilt of the sword leapt into her hand and stuck there, as if magnetised to it.

At the same time, the blade fragments trembled and danced on the table as if they were in the midst of an earthquake.

All at once, the blade fragments lifted from the table before rushing towards the sword. Just like pieces of a puzzle, they clicked together in perfect order, stacking one on top of the other, until they were a solid blade once more.

When the final piece slotted into place, Astra was left holding a single, perfectly crafted traditional Scottish Broadsword.

The runes along the lines of the basket hilt glowed with the same dazzling light as her own energy, small crackles of electricity emitting from the basket as if it was acting as a faraday cage. The same crackles moved down the blade, which trembled with excitement.

"Do you like it?"

Astra gasped, pulling her eyes off the enchanting blade and quickly spun on her heels to find Titus standing behind her, a content and proud smile on his face as he gazed adoringly at the blade. He chuckled softly, before looking up at her and gesturing to the blade.

"The material that it is forged from is quite unique, as I'm sure you have noticed. If you would do me a favour, imagine a whip. Any length will do."

Astra frowned in confusion, but did so. Even if she didn't want to, the moment the suggestion was made the image of a famous archaeologist and his trusty whip was already forcing its way into her mind.

As she focused on the whip, she felt a change in the weight of her hand. Glancing down, her eyes widened as she saw that the blade had broken apart once more.

But the fragments had not fallen uselessly to the ground. Instead they were suspended in the air, a line of crackling electricity connecting them together, like it was the body of the whip. Each fragment along the length of this whip glistened wickedly, ready to tear into the flesh of anything she wrapped the whip around.

A flick of the wrist proved to her that, although it was a line of pure electricity, it moved and behaved like an actual whip. It had momentum, weight, rigidity. She had to move her hand to wield it, but with a thought she could lengthen or contract it. Even the blades would spin like a dozen sawblades if she willed it.

With another thought, the whip shortened and fragments snapped back together until they were a solid blade once more. She performed a few test swings, making sure that it was indeed as solid as it appeared, before finally answering Titus' question.

With a whimsical sigh and a child-like smile on her face, even if it didn't appear like that to others, Astra spoke her honest thoughts.

"It's... It's just wonderful. It's like it was made for me."

Titus couldn't help but chuckle, drawing a confused look from Astra.

"It's funny you should say that. The material it is made of is completely new, a composite metal that I myself created. Would you like to know it's name?"

She nodded softly, glancing down at the blueish silver blade.

"It's called Astrium."