[Location: Deep beneath the Central Fortress]
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The rhythmic sound of hammer striking anvil echoed through the cavernous forge.
Each impact sent showers of multicolored sparks into the darkness, momentarily illuminating the ancient runes carved into the stone walls.
The Soul Forger worked tirelessly, his massive body hunched over his anvil.
Despite the restraining harness that Richard had placed upon him, he moved without any trouble, his hammer rising and falling with perfect precision.
The metal beneath his blows, if it could truly be called metal shimmered and shifted like liquid starlight, forming into the shape of a blade unlike any seen in mortal realms.
"So it begins," he rumbled, his voice like stones grinding together.
The vibrations through the earth told him everything he needed to know.
The outer defenses had been breached.
Explosions rocked the western gate while another force penetrated from the east.
