Pierce took another long draught of his mead, finishing it. The barkeep was already waiting to give him more.
"So one night... night I guess... not sure. One night there was a scuffle down past my cell and everyone's attention was off me, and that forgemaster came up to the bars of the cell. He looked all wide-eyed and concerned, and I could see he had a bone-melter in his hand. He told me he couldn't stand it anymore. He needed to know the name of the color he'd made. He said he'd let me out if I told him. So I did. So he cut the lock out of the gate with the bone-melter and then gave it to me. He showed me how to use the light dust on it, made me promise I'd tell everyone his name. He wanted everyone in both our lands to know who had finally synthesized what he felt was the most beautiful color of all. He insisted it was the greatest thing he'd ever done."
The room waited in silence.
"So what was his name," asked one of the merchants.
"Forgemaster Seventy-seven." Pierce said.
People groaned at the mundanity. Pierce took another drink.
"So with all the distractions, I made it out of the dungeons and to the front gate. I cut the crossbar with the bone-melter and let myself out. That's where the Monstrosity almost got me."
"And chased you all the way to a convergence," Axebourne said. Pierce nodded.
"Yes."
"And your sword is a bone-melter." Axebourne said. Pierce nodded again. They were silent a moment as everyone took a drink.
"May I see it?" Axebourne asked.
"We saw it," Scythia said flatly.
Her husband wrinkled his brow at her. "See it melt bone," he said.
Pierce started. He should have thought of that. He'd meant to show the thing off. That was the whole point of his dive to begin with. "Yeah of course."
"Barkeep!" Axebourne called. "Bring us a bone!"
The barkeep complied, ducking into a room in the back of the tavern and returning shortly with a hog's spine.
Pierce looked at him funny. A spine? The barkeep shrugged. He laid the bone on the table.
Pierce stood and unsheathed his sword. It shone forth with a brilliant blue light, obscuring the orange of the oil-lamps spread throughout the tavern. People gasped in awe. Pierce smiled. He brought the edge of his blade down slowly, careful not to touch the table with it, and let it rest lightly on the hog's spine - more force would mean a faster melt. Immediately the pores in the bone began to bubble and its surface grew slick and shiny like wax. Within moments it was no more than a stained-white puddle, slowly re-hardening on the tabletop. Pierce sheathed the sword.
"You lucky, muck-sucking..." Axebourne trailed off. "I can't believe it."
"But wait," said Scythia. "You said Kash is planning to invade Overland. It's been a long time."
"You were there, weren't you," Pierce said. They nodded. "Well it's true."
"How? And how do you know?"
"Ah, well there was an old wizard locked up a few cells down from mine. I didn't get his name, but the reapers were interrogating him harshly. I'm pretty sure they took all his fingernails first..." he blinked away the memory. "Anyway, they wanted to know about all the convergences he'd found. Apparently he knew a lot. They wanted to know how close each one was to major cities, and if there was any high ground or low ground nearby. Then they killed him."
Pierce frowned.
"But if Kash just plans to use convergences," Axebourne said, "couldn't he have invaded any time?"
"Well that's what I was thinking," Pierce agreed. "But I always thought the Underlanders wouldn't come up because they hated the red sun. Right? So I thought it might have something to do with that, but you just saw that Monstrosity up here, and he didn't care, so... " He shrugged.
Scythia shook her head. "We've seen Underlanders up top before, just not very often. They won't attack en masse because they know they'd just be slaughtered at the convergence points. Myths say something about the aversion to sunlight, but I've never observed it."
"All I know is the reapers were talking with each other about 'making the big push' soon. They kept using words like that - rise, push, lift. And I still might have written it off, but they said they were going to conquer Grondell first, and soon. It wasn't just idle talk."
"The Everlasting Temple," someone breathed.
"Could mean to demoralize Overland," said the barkeep.
"Or it's just the easiest place to do... whatever they're going to do," Pierce said. "So I didn't really know where I'd end up after riding the convergence, but here I am. I figure I need to go to Grondell and do what I can to help. Warn them at least. Will you come too? They'll believe you sooner than me, even if it is life or death."
There was a long quiet. Everyone sipped gingerly on their mead. All eyes turned to Axebourne and Scythia, waiting for their answer.
"It's a pretty crazy story, kid," Axebourne said. "How do we know we can trust you? That you're not just some nutcase looking for attention?"
Pierce shrugged. "Hard to say, sir. Anyone can just make up whatever stories they want, and you'd never know without looking for yourself, right?"
"You're a terrible salesman," Axebourne said, eyes half-lidded.
"That's what my dad always said, so I just ended up cleaning the shop instead of greeting the customers."
"Your father," said Axebourne. "You said he knew me. Tell me his name."
"Don't know if you'd remember, sir Cleaver," Pierce said. "They called him Flay. Flay Ice-eyes."
Axebourne's eyelids rose. "I do remember," he said. "You don't see a gaze that hard every day." Axebourne looked at Scythia. "Hard to believe that man had kids."
Scythia tilted her head in agreement.
"You're telling me," Pierce said. "Mom's a special lady."
Axebourne pursed his big
