Free Mind Forged: Book One of the Enchanters of Xarparion by T Michael Ford Page A

still alive, boy! I thought you would never wake up.” After a hard slap on the back, he led me over to the anvil he was working on at the last session. “See that, boy? Look what happened to my anvil!”
    I was shocked; there was a large split in the face of the anvil that ran all the way through. If it wasn’t bolted to the ground, it would probably be flopped apart into two pieces.
    “ What did you do to cause this?” I asked, eyeing it warily.
    “ Me? No, this was your doing; well, that cockeyed sword’s doing, really.”
    “ Really? My blade did this, how? It was only iron, not even steel!” He laughed and took a long pull from the wine skin at his hip. He pulled out his pipe and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. I knew from watching him visit with Rosa that he was about to launch into a story.
    “ Well, you see, I had to test your work, you know, but none of my hammers would even dent the dang thing. And believe me, I tried! Broke three of my best hammer shafts, too! Anyway, I got a little bit irritated in doing so. I might have imbibed a little too much ale and well…I sort of slammed it onto the anvil and, well, just look! Rosa told me that all you really did was a simple spell of hardening, but when you kept folding the iron over and over again, that somehow folded the enchantment. You made a blade that only your own creations could destroy! Ha!”
    At first I was surprised, but that was soon washed away by a flood of new ideas. If the folding of the metal strengthened the spell, would it work on other enchantments? Could I apply multiple enchantments with this method? And maybe even double the effect...my daydream was interrupted by Darroth tossing a chunk of steel at my head!
    “ Now we have work to do! Today, I’m going to work steel and you’re going to assist me, but no magic stuff. I don’t need to lose more tools. You just watch and learn.”
    The rest of the afternoon went by fast and the two of us got along great. Apparently, Darroth liked having a trained assistant, and from the stories he had to tell, he had been a forge master for a very long time. But all too soon it was time for the evening meal and lessons, and tonight was my night to cook. After getting a large pot of stew going, I was setting the table when Rosa breezed through the door.
    “ Hello apprentice! I think I smell some of your wonderful cooking!” She walked into the dining area and stretched her arms above her head before taking her seat. “It’s been a long day and my legs and shoulders are killing me.”
    “ Well, dinner will be a short while yet, so just relax for a bit.” She was still trying to get the kinks out of her neck.
    “ I wish I could. You don’t know any home remedies that help with soreness, do you?”
    “ Just one.” I grabbed one of my books and paged through it. After a little searching, I found what I was looking for. I quickly tossed together one of the potions that I had mixed with my mother many times. After a few minutes, I handed Rosa a glass of the green liquid.
    She sniffed it . “What’s this?”
    “ Well, as you could probably guess, as a blacksmith, we have our days where we are extremely sore after a big order. So my mother and the healers she worked with invented this for sore muscles and strains. It doesn’t taste so good, but it works and works fast.”
    She shrugged and took a sip, cringing slightly. “What’s in it?”
    I smiled. “If I told you, you wouldn’t drink it, and I recommend you don’t read my mind to find out.”
    She held her nose and downed it in one gulp . “Ok, that’s really gross.”
    “ Yeah it is, but you’ll feel like a new elf in a few minutes, and you’ll sleep better, too. But for now, the stew is ready. I made an extra large pot since I could feel your hunger all afternoon.”
    “ Thank you, thank you! You have no idea how hungry I am. You should have seen me an hour ago when I sensed you were planning to make your stew; the woman almost