Free Battle Mage: Winter's Edge by Donald Wigboldy

he wasn’t calling forth energy from the ground, at least not to create electricity. His mind reached through the wood grasping for the iron, but even then it wasn’t just the mage’s will alone that was being used. The wood’s natural channels, though a bit worn from the earlier experiment, were still intact and it was through these that Sebastian, the mizard, pulled the power of the earth to join with his own meager strength. His magic touched the iron reminding it of the life it held as well. Though not organic as he or the branch were, the metal had been part of the earth and as part of it even the iron had an energy of its own.
                  Cold metal that would have to be fired to be melded to a blacksmith’s will seemed impossible to move to most men. Halthor and his men watched curiously trying to figure out what the mage, eyes closed for concentration, could possibly hope to achieve with the cold iron. If Sebastian had asked, the smith or his apprentices could have worked iron bands around the staff for strength. They would have heated it and worked their own brand of magic to create the shape needed, but here they stood watching and wondering what he could possibly have in mind.
                  In the relative dimness of his corner of the room, Halthor noted a slight glow coming from the metal, wood and mage. The pale glow seemed uniform between all three. As Sebastian sought to become one with the wood and iron, his magic gave off the glow and he could feel the wood trying to take in the iron like his lungs would breathe in air. The iron closest to the wood began to shift as if alive in response to the call.
                  Gasps from the apprentices could barely be heard in the loud room and the mage missed it all as his attention remained focused on his task at hand. Halthor’s eyes widened in shock as the iron began to move. Like water, the metal pulled slowly towards the end and from there into the staff itself. The wood seemed to thirst for the iron like water and the mizard continued to channel and let the two elements meet and then combine becoming one. The strength of the wood returned tenfold. He felt power from the earth working with the staff and energizing both it and the mage. The iron was nearly fully absorbed, but the staff was not complete with just that lump of metal.
                  Reaching for something in the earth that even Sebastian had not known existed, rock seemed to shift deep beneath their feet. Energy continued to shift the metal and wood as the two seemed to find a natural coexistence with each other and seemed to almost become something else entirely. Even as the mage would have thought the spell he had originally intended to simply strengthen the wood for a stronger staff would end, it seemed to nearly control him as the element from beneath the earth slid free. Imperceptible to the smith and his men still agape in awe, the final component drew towards the magic.
                  The end of the staff closest to his hand released some iron as if the wood was sprouting leaves made from the new water component. Sebastian felt the shift as it formed in the palm of his hand moving of its own accord. Finally the new growth felt complete and the mage could release the power of his spell. Sebastian’s magic diminished but the power inside the staff remained and he could feel magic within as if it was alive.
                  Wiping his sweaty brow, the mage looked on his new staff. The main shaft had turned black except where marbled highlights of the wood’s original brown grain remained. It seemed to form a pattern that appeared nearly readable to Sebastian; he followed the patterns up the length. Like a tangling of small leaves, the end appeared to be nearly completely iron wrapped around a palely gleaming gem. The coloring of the piece gathered from the depths shocked him. Pale and yellow like a diamond one