The courtyard of Oakhaven Manor no longer looked like a farm. It looked like an engine of war.
The morning after the first Demon Gate closed, the peaceful space under the World Tree became a frantic assembly line. The White Lotus Paladins had brought three master armorers in their caravan. These men were priests of the anvil. They wore heavy leather aprons over their white robes and carried hammers blessed by their high clergy.
Valeria gave them the entire eastern quadrant of the yard. She ordered Thorne to dismantle three of the wooden transport wagons to build the necessary forge frames. The Bear beastmen worked alongside the holy warriors. It was a strange sight. The massive and hairy beasts hauled stone and pumped bellows right next to the pristine and disciplined soldiers of the Light. Fear of the purple sky above the barrier had erased their prejudices overnight.
But they had a problem. The Infernal Iron refused to melt.
