Aloysius The Maker

Penburn's infirmary wasn't far from the entrance of the city where Reed first came in from, so he had not explored Dromair whatsoever. 

Penburn, Reed, Tainch, and Furnella all walked on the cobblestone streets, and Reed hadn't known such a high level of architecture existed in Vastilence. The buildings themselves had been housing for the most part.

Wood and stone intertwined perfectly, yet dusted and broken enough to show they belonged in Vastilence. 

Penburn had told him they were in the residential district, and it surprised him that Dromair even had districts. Back in Yodurhn, the only district was the town itself. Everything mixed in with each other, and it was simple and convenient. 

"What can you tell me about Dromair?" Reed asked no one in particular. Tainch stayed quiet, Penburn was about to speak before Furnella interrupted him.

"Well," she began, "Dromair, led by Standard Bearer Meconifus Dajus, is home to essentially those who are prohibited from entering the kingdoms."

"Standard Bearer?" Reed repeated, unfamiliar with the term.

"Like a king or something, you know," Penburn told him. "What was the title you gave to your leader in Ashlet, was it?"

"Warden," Reed said.

"Warden has a nice ring to it," Tainch spoke monotonously, looking straight forward. 

"Anyway," Furnella continued, "there isn't much to say. We live here, under a ruler, where crime and law coexist. Nothing interesting, honestly."

"I think Furnella is downplaying our extravagant home." Penburn interjected, "This place is home to many Reavers. It is a sanctuary for those who can't find refuge. Standard Bearer Meconifus Dajus is gracious in his offerings of affordable housing and humble jobs."

"Aloysius shouldn't be too far," Tainch said. 

The group had stopped by a friend of Furnella's and grabbed pastries for Reed and the rest. They'd walk from short buildings to tall ones of two to some three stories. Eventually, they passed by a building of highly decorated architecture. It held two towers to each side and a large stained glass piece in the center of the second story. 

On each of the pointed towers, some flags flapped slightly. Reed could make out an insignia of an earth-strewn crown with roots from the bottom.

"That's where the Standard Bearer lives." Tainch spoke, "Pretty glamourous." 

"You're right about that," Reed told him. He had not once in his life witnessed such a building. 

Who was I to think I was a hero of great when all I had ever been was a man running around a large field? 

Penburn had stopped in front of a building down an empty, thin road not too far from the Standard Bearer's home. It was a one-story stone building with two chimneys. 

Walking inside, the noise of the crackling fire grew louder as the heat became uncomfortable.

Tossing the coal in the massive circular furnace was a large, burly man. The hunched man nearly touched the ceiling, which Reed would've had to raise his hand to reach. 

Golden hair flowed down to his back, resembling a lion's mane. His shirtless body revealed numerous scars and burn marks, a beard covering his face unevenly scattered in all directions. As he turned to the crowd that had just walked in, he revealed his eyes. 

Reed did not look at the normal set of eyes that everyone had. Instead, he looked at two metallic spheres looking back at him. 

His thick hands dropped the hammer as it made a loud noise clanking on the floor. He walked up to the furnace and opened the top, releasing smoke into a filter above it before approaching Penburn.

"And I've returned." Penburn greeted with open arms.

"You are a speck of annoyance, you know that." The large man called Aloysius said in return, his voice vibrating Reed's body. It was stale and monotonous. It sounded as if Tainch was fifty years older.

"Well, nonetheless, here I am, and with someone else."

Aloysius turned to Tainch and Furnella, nodding as if he'd already been familiar with them, before turning to Reed and looking him up and down. 

"I assume this is the one you spoke of?" He said.

Penburn nodded.

"I'm Reed." Reed introduced himself.

"Tell him your entire name." Furnella teased as he ignored her.

"I've been told you're restoring a medallion?" Reed told him.

The large man gave a sigh and a huff before turning around and reaching for a box on a high wooden shelf. Returning with it, he gave it to Reed.

"You should be familiar with this," He said.

Reed looked around at everyone who stared at him, and that anxiety grew more. He looked down at the wooden box in his hands and slowly lifted the lid. 

"Before Zemizel..." Aloysius said, "He introduced me to this medallion for himself. Unfortunately, his will did not bind well with it, and it shattered."

"Wait, you know what the medallion is?" Penburn asked.

"Not necessarily; and one thing you should know, son," Aloysius told Reed as he stopped from opening the box, "having a powerful will does not mean you are a fit for a medallion, it is who you are before you try to bind to it. Zemizel, for how keen his will had been, he just wasn't the fit for the medallion."

"What makes you think it'll work for me?" 

"I don't," Aloysius said as he gestured for the box.

As Reed fully opened it up, inside was not the usual circular medallion he was used to seeing on other Reavers. The few times he did see them. Instead, in the box lay a small, medallion-sized silver sword crossed by a broken helmet. 

"This looks different," Reed said, inspecting it.

"It's a normal thing for it to look different, especially when Penburn told me where you were from Ashlet. Out here, medallions come in all shapes." As he looked at Tainch.

Tainch lifted his arm to the side, where now Reed could see a block-like metal in his hand. Closing his eyes, Tainch's hand slowly tightened as the metallic cube he held amalgamated with his arm as it melded into a quickly forming obsidian-like hammer.

Black, vein-like metal webbing covered Tainch's arm along the sides, up to his elbow. Where his hand was, a large obsidian-hued hammer formed. It looked nasty with reflective rust and rigged corners. 

Reed hadn't noticed it at first, but the same material had covered the side of Tainch's face, facing away from him. As Tainch looked at him, Reed could see the dark metal engulfing one side of his face like a melded piece of armor. 

"Incredible!" Reed exclaimed. "Such abnormal abilities it has?" 

"They are many and in between, like us, some minor, some major. A good example of a minor one is Penburn," Tainch said. 

Penburn did the same, raising his arm to the side as his familiar blue steel Khopesh formulated in his hands. 

"Some of us just need to work harder." Penburn sneered. 

"Don't believe in his inability," Furnella told Reed. 

"What about you, Furnella?" Reed asked.

She looked tight-lipped and to Penburn.

"Medallions just don't feel right to me. They always gave me a feeling of discomfort."

"I understand." Reed nodded. 

"Now, let's get started." Aloysius began as he turned around and grabbed a few things. "Tainch's medallion, he called It Night Iron, Penburn, he calls his The Wet Maiden." 

For as monotonous as Aloysius said that name, Reed raised a brow, looking at Penburn, who now had a sly grin on his face. Looking at his Khopesh, it did drip with blue liquid ever so suddenly, however; it was not a name Reed expected.

Furnella just rolled her eyes as she sighed.

"Why the names?" Reed asked.

"An advantage to binding it is something to let it know you care for it. Although Zemizel failed at that, at least before he procured himself another."

"What was the name of his other one?" 

Aloysius thought about it for a moment. He felt hesitant as his eyes twitched.

"Atrophy."

"Anyway..." Penburn interjected, "It's about time you bind with this."

"Aloysius?" Reed asked straight. "Did Zemizel call this anything before it shattered?"

"I don't want you to give it a name that he failed at, but if you want to know, he called this piece The Argent Knight."

"But why call it that if he hadn't bonded with it?"

"That man holds many answers, and unfortunately, he is not in the best of conditions, otherwise his knowledge could be of use to me."

Reed picked up the medallion from the box and placed the box down. He turned it around in his fingers, feeling the smooth silver surface.

"As you already know," Aloysius said, "binding a medallion comes from sheer willingness to grasp at it instead of using force. Once it grows light in your palms, that means you are close to revealing its essence. However, without a heart, your fear-guided Will, will only prove more difficult."

"Take your vest off," Penburn said to Reed.

Reed was hesitant, but eventually, he did, revealing the scarred chest and injuries.

"Lay down here," Aloysius told him, gesturing to an empty surface on a stone top. "Let me have it."

Reed gave him the medallion as Aloysius placed it in the bright Furness for a few minutes. Taking it out, it shone bright orange, yet it did not bend or drip. 

"I'll pour this first," Aloysius said, holding a flask of clear, viscous liquid. He poured some on the scar and Reed flinched a little.

By now Reed had an idea of what was going on, and he was not looking forward to it. As he thought for a moment, he wanted to back out. He did not feel this was what he wanted.

Just like that, as he was in the middle of a thought process, he felt the hot pain singe his scar as the medallion was dug deep into his skin. He tried to stand, but everyone already held him down. 

The large Aloysius stood on top of him with furious metallic eyes, pressing the medallion hard into his heart. 

"Stop!" he cried out. "No more! Please! Fuck!" He kicked and turned but nothing came of it, and eventually, water was thrown on him as steam rose from his chest.

After a few minutes of pain and tears, Reed had to be all to himself before he calmed. His breaths softened, and he relaxed as he lay there tired and slowly heaving. 

"You're done," Aloysius said, holding up a small mirror as Reed took it from his grasp. 

On his chest, he could see his skin melted into the medallion as it dug through his body and stayed there.

"Why?" He asked, "What is this?"

"I fear the normal way might shatter it, and I am afraid it will never recover from that. I fused it into your body, where pain is a strong, forgotten catalyst. You're not alone in this, Reed. Penburn went through the same."

Reed looked at Penburn and remembered his scar. He didn't see anything the last time Penburn showed it to him.

"Remember this," Penburn said, tapping his monocle, "or have you forgotten?"

"I see." 

They led Reed into a room at the back of the smithery. Inside were tools and old weapons. There was kitchenware lying around. He was given an hour to recover as Aloysius went back to hammering and making whatever his job entailed. 

The rest of the group had left and told him they'd return later as he rested.

For the hour, Reed had tapped and felt the scar with his finger. He rubbed his fingers along the metal, going from cold and smooth to rough and warm. It stung at times, but surprisingly, the pain lessened quickly. It had not matched the pain he'd felt earlier when Aloysius put the hot thing on his chest. That was the worst he'd ever felt pain-wise.