-- Superior Martins POV, Skyview Monastery --

  He was watching the brothers working in the monastery garden from the window of his office while his thoughts meandered.

  Somewhat unexpectedly the regular days which he had missed so much had returned. He already had lost all hope at this point. after all the disruptions of the past weeks.

  But since Lilith was working with John in the forge, his monastery was almost like it had been before. They worked, they prayed. Days were back to order.

  Sure, Lilith was there for the common meals, she listened to the prayers as requested, but each moment she could, she was either at the forge to work or in her cell to study the book that John had given her. John spent a lot of time with her, something he eyed a bit suspiciously. But from what he had overheard, their talk was all about metal, forging and runes. Surprisingly, sometimes stone and plants, too. Most important to him though, nothing indecent which he had to stop before it got out of hand.

  He couldn't make up his mind on the book. Rune crafting. It was a sort of magic. But what powered it? The runes that Lilith made all worked. So they were not holy, or godly. But they also didn't seem to be devils work. Many of the runes were supportive, protective. None seemed outright evil. A sort of worldly magic, accessible to everyone? Maybe some day he had to ask John or Lilith about it.

  He stepped away from his window to take seat on the chair at his desk. Their god had not protested the rune work happening in the monastery, so he was alright with it. And with Lilith busy in the forge, or just out of the way, his days had become much easier again.

  He certainly would try everything to keep it this way.

  -- Lilith POV, Skyview Monastery --

  The forge was set up, but John had told her, the mortar needed time to set and dry, the stones also had to dry. If they fired up the forge before everything had dried properly, it might crack, stone might explode even. She didn't believe the part about exploding stones, but she surely didn't want the forge to crack. That would mean, she had to wait even more.

  But not all metal had to be heated before it could be shaped.

  She hit the lump of grey metal with the hammer. A somewhat dulled sound. A dent.

  She swung the hammer again. Another hit. Another dent.

  Tin, John had called this metal. It was softer than copper. Good to practise rune crafting. But to do so, it had to be flat.

  She swung the hammer again. With her left hand she held the forging tongs to keep the lump of tin in place on the anvil. With her right she swung the hammer. And she was certain, she never had felt so clumsy before.

  John had left her alone, which was good. If he was watching, she got all nervous and lost the little accuracy which she had with the hammer. John apparently had noticed that and usually left her to her own devices now, except for the sessions when the actually taught her how to stand, swing, and even more importantly, how to hold a hammer. Or the forging tongs - or any of the other tools.

  Apparently some blacksmith workshops had something called rollers. One could feed softened metal in between two massive steel rolls and received a thinner, flatter shape on the other side.

  They didn't have steel rollers here.

  A bit angrily she hit the lump of tin again. A deeper dent. But dents were not what she wanted. Not what she needed. She needed a surface even enough to carve a rune into it.

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  John could forge very smooth surfaces. It was almost like magic to her eyes how the metal shaped under his hands. A magic that she didn't have.

  Another strike. Now the ridge between two dents had flattened some. Good. A step closer to a even surface.

  "Less force. Strike lightly and quickly."

  John's voice arrived at her ears and she almost dropped the hammer. He had been watching!

  She nodded. "I'll try."

  The next swing she did with less force. Yes, that helped to get more accuracy.

  "Smaller moves. You don't need to wind up that much for flattening tin. Half as much will be good to get a feeling for it."

  Argh. Another mistake. She had to do better.

  "Alright", she confirmed.

  Yes, less distance also helped. More accuracy again. The dents came closer to each other.

  "Not bad. You'll get there. Just keep the strikes swift and easy. Tin's soft and you want it even."

  She hammered and hammered. It felt like an eternity later but she had a somewhat even, flat platelet of tin now.

  "Good, good." John was at her side to inspect the platelet. She couldn't tell if she met his expectations. If he was disappointed, he did not let it show.

  "Now, carve a rune into it. Tin is about as soft as red hot iron. Use a claw for it if you can. Runes have more power the more connection you have to them. Personality."

  Right, that was what the book had told too, "Let me try."

  She set a claw on the platelet and held it firmly in place with her other hand. Direction, keep the elbow in the direction of the line. Pull the claw.

  A thin thread of tin coiled up from below her claw as she carved a smooth line into the metal. The line was surprisingly shiny, silvery, while the rest of the tin appeared rather dull grey.

  One line done! Next line to do.

  She had to turn the platelet a few times. Her movement range in carving with the claw wasn't very big. Best was to pull it towards her and a bit to the right. Better to turn the platelet so she could carve each line in the direction which her claw worked best.

  Runes were pretty in her opinion. And seeing the silver, shiny lines sparkle from the otherwise dull metal made this one even prettier.

  She wiped some remaining tin slivers from the platelet.

  John chuckled, "Fire again?"

  "My favorite rune!" She beamed.

  He stood so close at her side, she could feel his body warmth. But she had to focus. Infuse the rune with intention. She put a hand on the rune and closed her eyes. Breath. Focus. Imagine the fire. Push the idea into the rune.

  The platelet warmed up and she lifted her hand.

  Faint smoke rose from the metal. It smelled ... unusual. Stingy. Salty in a way. And like acid or something. Different from a candle or a cooking fire. Not really like fire at all. Was this how hot metal smelled? She didn't like the smell. But she would get used to it, she was sure.

  "Pretty good", John confirmed as he held a hand over the platelet to check the heat. "Now, fold the platelet up, flatten it again and carve a new rune."

  "What?" She looked at him, incredulously. Destroy the fire rune that she just had made? And the carefully flattened platelet along with it? She had worked almost an hour on it!

  "Yep. That's what you'll do today. Fold it up, flatten it out. Carve a rune of your choice. Try other runes too, not just fire. You'll have to be able to do all of them eventually. You want to get good with all of them."

  She slumped some, "Alright, John. I'll fold this up and make a new platelet from it."

  He patted her back some and granted her a friendly smile, "It's a chore, I know. But it's the only way to get better at it. Can't learn it from a book. You must do it. Again and again and again."

  She nodded, then tried to put the platelet upright and hammered it down into lump again, before she began to flatten the lump into a new platelet. The rune already had lost its power. Apparently runes didn't like to be folded.

  Tin though, was a patient metal as she learned over the day. It shaped and reformed without ever showing weakness or cracks. It was infinitely patient with her hammering. She found, it was actually very strong in its own soft way. Maybe something to learn a lesson from.