Free Haven Keep (Book 1) by R. David Bell Page A

with eagerness and now they were a part of him.  He melded those skills together and worked the spearhead in a way he’d never done before.  The power overcame him.  Working by instinct, he ignored what the master blacksmiths told him could not be done.  All his talents he fused together into one technique, a culmination of all the secrets of the Kailfen clan.  His skills were not something he could easily explain.  He worked by feel more than anything else.  Pulled his strength and passion from somewhere deep inside himself. Over and over he struck the metal. At precise times, at precise locations.  Folding again and again, creating a razor edge.  His work reminded him of the mathematic algorithms the clerics spoke of, yet possessed the feel of a sculpture fashioned by a master.
    He poured his pent up frustration into the spearhead.  Again and again the hammer rang on the anvil.  The familiar song seized control.  A pattern emerged, as the delicate waves created by a pebble tossed into the still waters of a pond, becoming more akin to great boulders crashing into the sea.  His movements flowed within that pattern, a dance set to the music of his own making.  He forced the metal to his will and the will of the melodious strain.  The alloy pulsated in answer to each hammer strike, built to a great crescendo.  A strange excitement overwhelmed him.  The pattern neared culmination.  Von knew the weapon would be a masterpiece.
    A voice at the door startled Von back to reality.  “There you are.”  It was Reece. 
    “You almost done in here?” he asked.  “Redd sent me to find you.”  Reece stepped further into the forge.  “You missed dinner,” he said peering curiously around Von’s shoulder trying to get a closer look.  “Whatcha working on?”
    “Not much,” Von answered. “Just some old project.”
    “Oh,” Reece replied, not sounding at all satisfied with Von’s explanation.  “When are our daggers going to be done?”
    “Soon,” Von promised, his eyes darting to the shelf where the two daggers lay.  He wanted to solve this mystery before he gave them up, before he made his friends the second pair.
    “Baiden didn’t eat in the Hall tonight.  He wants you to bring his food to his room.”  Reece grinned at Von, “Since I’m still considered the kitchen boy, I got the exciting task of looking for you.”  Glancing around he added, “I still say this looks like more fun than working in the kitchen all day.”
    Von shrugged.  “I guess it is,” he sighed, looking around somewhat disappointed.  The spear would still be of higher quality than most, but the power was gone and he feared he might not get it back, feared the spear tip’s true potential would never be realized.  He thrust the heated metal into a bucket of salted water.  The spearhead hissed, almost in protest, as if the cooling weapon knew it had been cheated out of greatness.
    Von dried the sweat from his body, wrapped himself in his cloak, then followed Reece outside.
    Night was already here.  Obviously Von had lost track of time.  The temperature was dropping fast as it often did during the late autumn nights in Azmark.
    “You know, it’s kind of funny,” Reece said.  “I could have sworn I saw someone watching you through the window as I walked towards the shop.  I think he saw me approaching and left.  My mind must be playing tricks on me.”
    “Oh,” was all Von said.  He didn’t think Reece’s mind was playing tricks on him at all.  Berkler.  That man had already been the cause of more grief for Von than he cared to remember.  Von could sense more trouble was coming.  Now Berkler was spying on him?   It sounded crazy, but nothing else could explain it.
    The kitchen was swarming with servants finishing up with the evening meal.  Redd had a tray waiting for Von.  “This is more food than even Baiden can eat,” observed Von.
    “His councilors be wit’ him,” replied Redd.
    His way