-- Lilith POV, Skyview Monastery --

  John grinned about her excitement, "You know the runes for fire and body?"

  She nodded swiftly, tail swaying in excitement, "Sure do. Well, body, I didn't practice much. But I know the rune."

  "Alright, then let's try. Something small. How do you feel about a dagger?" John asked her while he pushed the rod of steel back into the heap of burning coal. A shower of sparks rose, which immediately caught her attention. It took her some effort to break free from the fascination of the fire.

  She gave him a grin, "Yes, yes, got to start small. I know. A dagger will be fine."

  "Hey", it seemed John had a new idea, "Do you want to try to hone the edge with your fingers? I once heard that demons can shape the best edges on blades that way. It won't be very hot, the metal is thin at the edge."

  She paused for a moment. The glowing rod had been ... unpleasant to say the least. A thin blade, a thin edge maybe? And not so hot. "At least I want to try."

  She tried to appear determined.

  John checked the temperature of the rod, and put it back into the coal heap to let it heat further, "Alright, we'll do it this way. I'll forge the blade, then you'll shape the edge. Blade goes back into the forge to warm up again, then you carve the runes. Some day you'll be able to forge the blade as well, but for today it's better I do it."

  She watched the glowing coals and the steel rod within. So pretty! But she had to focus, "Sure John. I wish I was better with the hammer. But the runes I can do for sure."

  It didn't take too long for John to shape a simple blade from the glowing rod. Petite, thin. Yep, that would be a good blade for a dagger, she had to admit.

  He put the blade back into the forge for another few moments, "Again, I want you to be careful. The part that will be the handle isn't very hot. You can hold that safely. Then, pick the blade between thumb and index finger, press and slide them over the edge from the handle to the tip. It will cool fast, thin as it is. Don't wait too long. Make it a swift move, one swipe."

  "I'll try my best", her looks were fixed on the blade in the coal heap.

  It was easier than she thought. Hold the cold end. Put the edge between thumb and index finger. Press and shape it thinner than a sheet of paper. The metal was very compliant to her touch, it almost didn't hurt at all.

  "That looks pretty good!" John her let her know, and heated the blade again. "Now, get ready for the runes."

  Now that wasn't so easy. She had been practicing the runes with chalk on slate first, quite big shapes. Then with claws on tin platelets. Smaller, but still easy to carve.

  The petite dagger blade required as delicate runes. She tried her best. The heat of the metal was not the problem. The tiny size of the runes was. "Flame", she carved first. Then "body". The result was ... she wanted to do better. But right now, it was the best she could do. With all the flaws.

  She put a hand on the cooling blade, breathed as she had practiced. She closed her eyes. Calm. Focus. Intention. "Fire", "Body". She tried to push her intention into the runes. Nothing seemed to happen. Right. John had said, the blade had to be ignited. So it was alright, probably?

  John filled water into a shallow bowl.

  "What's that for, John?" She had to ask.

  "I want to edge quench this blade. It makes the edge very hard, and able to be sharpened extremely well. Also, the edge won't wear down so easily. If you used your fingers to make this edge as thin as you could, I want to make it as sharp as I can."

  He put the blade on the forge again, but didn't heat it for very long. Then he drew the edge through the bowl of water. It hissed and steam rose, but only a little. The edge went black, the rest of the blade darkened soon as well.

  "Now it has back that is soft, but won't break, and an edge that is about as hard as this sort of steel can become." He explained to her, while she watched the procedure.

  Then he gave her the blade. "Hold it at the handle. Run you hand lightly over the blade and imagine to light a fire."

  She held the blade at the handle with her left and ran her right hand over it, barely touching the steel. This was easy.

  Flames trailed her hand and soon engulfed the blade.

  John nodded at her with a big, proud, smile, "Your first flame blade. Congratulations, Lilith!"

  "Fire!" She barely could look away from the flames which danced over the blade.

  "Yes, Lilith. Fire" It seemed she could hear him chuckle. Not important. She had to watch the blade. She held her hands over the burning blade, cupped the fire.

  "I love it."

  Now though, she was sitting with a bucket of water and the finest whetstone that John had. She had extinguished the flames on the blade and step by step she had been sharpening the edge with finer and finer grades of whetstone. An hour passed, maybe two? She couldn't tell. This stone barely took away any of the metal. It was just polishing away the last tiny scratch marks her former work had left on the blade.

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  Then she held the blade and John dropped a sheet of paper on it. The falling paper just parted, barely slowed in its descend. Two half sheets reached the ground.

  She received a encouraging pat to her shoulder, "Good work there on the edge, Lilith. That must be the sharpest edge I've ever seen."

  She watched it and whispered, "I'd like to try if it can cut me, but I'm afraid I'll ruin the edge."

  John laughed softly, "Then don't do it. If you ask me, it's a stupid idea anyways. Or sit another two hours to restore the edge, if you actually want to try."

  It wasn't quite a demonforged runeblade. John had forged it. She had put the edge on it and carved the runes. Still, she was incredibly proud of it at this moment.

  -- Lilith POV, Skyview Monastery --

  More than a week had passed since she forged her first flame blade. She still felt very proud of it. Since then John and her had been forging samples to be sent to the king and the praetorian guard. If there had been any response to their work, she had not been told about it yet.

  Now it was evening, they had had their evening meal and everyone had retreated to their rooms once the dishes had been washed and stored for the next day.

  She was laying on her mattress, ready to sleep, but still distracted with random thoughts when it knocked at her door.

  That was quite unusual. Who might want to visit her this late? Actually no one ever came to visit, they just came to call her here and there or tell what to do next.

  "Who's there?" She inquired.

  "John. Please open the door, Lilith."

  "Come in John the door's open." She was too lazy right now to get up from the mattress.

  The door opened and John had to stoop some to pass the door frame, "I'm sorry to disturb you this late, but I think it's important and I want to talk to you in private." He closed the door carefully behind him and took seat on the simple and only stool in her cell.

  She sat up on her mattress, "What is it, John?"

  "I've got an idea. Maybe two. Both are about you and me, and our work."

  "Oh", she sat up more straightly, the blanket wrapped around her.

  He nodded, "Yeah, see. The forge here is a crutch at best, and all the materials we need must be brought here from afar and then carried up those stairs."

  She nodded, "I remember the stairs. They are crazy." She had passed them only once, but she sure remembered them.

  "Yeah, see." John repeated himself, "The king and the church didn't let you go anywhere, but I wanted to work with you. So if you couldn't come to me, I came to you."

  "You want to leave?", anxiety made her voice tremble.

  "Yeah, but don't worry. Not without you. I'll take you with me. We'll go to my workshop in Laketown."

  "Oh", she was relieved, "But how? They won't let me go. They even bound me with a geas. You can't just take me with you, you'll need at least superior Martins support."

  "I'll get the kings support", John declared confidently, "You and me have forged a nice collection of runeblades and other rune inscribed equipment. King won't get any suchlike from anyone else but us two. So I'm gonna tell him, either he allows me to take you to my workshop in Laketown, or he can stick his runeblades where no sun ever shines."

  She thought about this for a while. They had been working together for weeks now. It had been fun often, very interesting too. And John. She tried to make up her mind. She only ever received good from him. Education. Training. Whenever they did something new, he was very concerned that she wouldn't be harmed. Way too concerned, she often thought. She was quite tough after all, but it felt good anyway being cared for.

  "You want me to live in your workshop?" She asked carefully.

  "Shop's a house actually. Ground floor has the forge, storage and sales room. Above are rooms. Living room, bedroom, kitchen, bath. You'll live upstairs like I do. We work in the forge, we live upstairs."

  "That sounds rather nice. I'd love that." She smiled at the description of the house.

  "Thought so. And you don't need to follow orders anymore", he told her.

  That sounded even better. There was just a tiny, little problem.

  "John, do you live alone?"

  He laughed, "Ah, the question. I know. I know. Ya, my place is a guys place. Don't spend much time on tidying up or cleaning. I just live there, you know? I'm a blacksmith, not a king."

  Now she had to laugh, "That's alright, but that's not what I meant. Think about the neighbors. The gossip. Single guy lives with a demon lady. That will be the talk of the town."

  He shrugged, "Let them talk. We work together, we share a house. Won't be the first, won't be the last who live that way. But well, don't get ideas. I'll not suddenly start to develop manners and tidy up the house so you can be the princess. It's still my house, my rules there."

  "That's fine, John. So far I've only ever been in the one or other prison. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. Look", she swung her hand to indicate all of her cell, "that's how I live. It's only tidy cause I have nothing to clutter it with. Not a single thing."

  He scratched his cheek, "Guess my house is actually an improvement then. So ya, if you're willing, I'll send message to the king. He's got the samples, and I know they want more. I think now's the best time to push this."

  He got up from the stool, "Ya, guess that's it. So, I'll see you next morning at the forge?"

  She go up too and tried to reach for his hand. He seemed surprised but let her hold his hand, "Thank you, John."

  "For what?" He looked surprised.

  "For getting me out of here. Give me a chance to be a person." She smiled at him.

  "No problem. You do good work. That's worth a better life than this. Might take a while though till the king actually bites the sour apple and lets you come to Laketown. I have friends there. So don't worry about the neighbors. Also I work with the praetorian guard."

  She smiled, "Thank you John. Sleep well and next morning I'll see you at the forge."

  "Same. See ya!" He gave her a pat to her shoulder, ducked through the door frame and vanished from her sight into the dimly lit hallways.

  Should she hope? Or would it just hurt too much to have another hope shattered if the king didn't agree. She had hurt the kings pride, some people didn't get over that easily.