12. Release

Mark finished the second half of the blade and it looked exactly the same as the first half. There was a seamless bonding of the alloy and the original metal on both sides of the blade that did not become apparent until the blade cooled.

The grey metal now had a beautiful design that looked more like snaking silver lightning rather than spiderwebs. Also, the blade had become slightly longer and wider due to the additional metal that had been added. When tilted to the side, a slightly violet sheen could be seen when the silver reflected its surroundings.

At the end of the bonding process, the blade once again tried to awaken with the blood-red hue but it still was not able to. It seemed that the blade was still imperfect, and needed something more to allow it to reach its awakening.

Once the blade was cooled enough to put it up, Mark cleaned the forge and rearranged his things in the order he would need them for the next day. The colored ores were placed back in the storage area where his personal things were kept and he wiped down the areas that had collected soot.

The tanned hide pieces that Mark had previously created were rolled up in a corner. He wanted to make some armor with them but he was too busy with work and his blade. He looked at them briefly as he thought about what to do with them.

"I would like to add them to my existing adventuring garb since warg fur is so resilient. Some gloves and arm guards made from this leather would help during fights against the mountain beasts while being fairly warm. . ."

He continued to make plans as he walked home.

His thoughts were interrupted as his favorite view caught his attention though, and he looked out over the valley once again. The moon was hanging right over the river causing a reflection off the surface of the water that gave the surroundings an ethereal feeling. Mark felt as if he was peering into the realm of the fairies.

Once Mark felt that he had taken in enough of this wonderous sight, he continued on home.

The house was silent as he normally was at this hour and as he stepped inside, he could smell the booze that his father was drinking.

"James probably spilled some again. I'll remind him tomorrow to clean it up."

Mark had no problem with the smell of booze in the house as it was normal for him to go to sleep with it in the air. His window brought in enough fresh air that it never bothered him and he would sleep just fine this night.

He thought of the forge as he laid down and envisioned himself striking hammer to metal and fell asleep with the rhythmic ringing of the typical blacksmith forge in his ears.

The sun shone into his eyes as it came over the peaks of his window and he awoke feeling refreshed but he also smelled a foul odor in the air.

Occasionally, James would soil himself due to excessive drinking and Mark had to wake him up with a bucket of cold water so he could clean himself.

Mark just did as he usually did and went outside to fetch a bucket and fill it with water from a nearby pond that was still nearly freezing cold due to the nightly mountain temperatures.

When he splashed his father, there was no reaction.

He noticed that there were bottles of booze spilled on the ground and his father was on his bed face up.

He then noticed the vomit next to his father's head.

Mark knew that someone who was heavily intoxicated should never sleep on their back. It was common sense in the village to roll someone over on their side if they were intoxicated because the could choke on their own vomit.

His father had died in his drunken stupor last night.

"Sigh"

Mark didn't really care that his father finally drank himself to death, but he was annoyed that it would take time from the forge that day.

"I need to grab all of this shit and burn it."

There was a good spot behind the house that was just bedrock that overlooked a sheer cliff that dropped about 50m. It would be easy to burn the body and the soiled materials, but Mark knew it would not be a quick endeavor.

He set off to the smithy to grab a couple of things for the occasion.

Bodies were regularly cremated in their village. At least one person died per year for various reasons so the method of cremating a body had been perfected for a long time.

He just needed to get some coals from their stock behind the house and make a fair pile that would make a small platform beneath the body and everything else that would be burned.

There was even a cage that would prevent most ash from spreading while letting in plenty of oxygen.

He grabbed the cage that was recently repaired and carried it back to the smithy. There were only a few of the cages in the village and they were sent for repair when someone died even if there was no reason to repair it. The reason was just to keep them in working condition and also so there was a centralized spot for the cages.

It was a lot of iron and the smiths were not keen on handing out their personal stock for everyone to use.

Therefore, the cages were limited and if there was a mass burning it would be done in a different location than normal where the ashes could spread freely.

Mark set the cage near where he would build the coal bed and began shoveling coal into a pile.

He would alternate carrying coal to the spot he intended to use and compacting it slightly in the area that the body would lie.

He knew well that it could not be too compact but he also knew that coal had a natural tendency to leave the space it needed to breathe due to the rigid structure and shape of each piece.

Once he was satisfied with the coal pyre he sprinkled a fire catalyst over it from left to right and top to bottom. Then, he went back to the house and wrapped James' body in the furs he used as a bed cover along with the blankets he had thrown on himself before he passed out the night before.

Everything else could just be thrown over the cliff edge.

He then carried the body and placed it on the bed of coals before he lit it on fire. It quickly engulfed the body and furs in a hot flame that was spurred by the catalyst and then died down as the catalyst was used up.

The body had to be burned slowly to ensure everything would become ash and Mark wouldn't be stuck with a half-burned corpse.

Mark then covered the body with the cage as the first bit of ashes started to form and he watched it burn to make sure everything would go as it needed to.

"I guess he finally got what he wanted. Good thing he taught me the last part of the inheritance before he actually did it."

Mark was not sad, as he knew that James had wanted this release for a long time.