The next day was the first of several to prove quite interesting. It was the first day Gash'zur accompanied me to the forges. Maybe I should have expected it. Maybe Gib or Sim should have expected it. In the end we were still surprised by the crowd we drew as we made our way through the city. It was worse then when it had just been me. Maybe worse wasn't the right word though. It wasn't a hostile crowd after all. Quite the opposite was true actually. Maybe they were even a little too friendly. The people certainly were curious bunch, both the goblins and the forgeborn made to resemble them.

As a result it took us a little longer to traverse the city than anticipated. At the same time the experience served to ease my mind though and the same was probably true for the giantess as well. Staying on edge simply was near impossible once curious children started asking all kind of nonsensical questions. And the adults weren't that much better. Of course we couldn't answer all questions. We couldn't carry all the little children who wanted a ride on our shoulders either. We made an effort though. Maidens, hopefully we didn't give them an entirely inaccurate picture of the world beyond the city and the Deep Dark.

On the other hand having at least a semblance of normal life, compared to what we had been through recently at least, was a nice change of pace. At the same time I was all too aware that it wouldn't last. Entering the forge once more was all the reminder I needed. People living a quiet and peaceful life didn't get fitted for new arms and armor. Our time here was limited. There was no doubt about it.

I did get to see Gash'zur's reaction as she first came face to face with the Artificer though. At first she was taking in the forge and all the people hard at work with wide eyes. I had the impression that she wanted to stop at times to get a better look at one thing or another. But the forgeborn who had taken over guiding us as Gib stayed behind outside once more kept moving onward with determination and purpose. As the giantess finally came face to face with the ancient forgeborn her knees almost buckled, not entirely unlike it had been with me. It took her a moment to recover as well. Mostly at least. The look of wonder never quite left her face though. Had I been like that yesterday as well?

The graceful titanium figure of the goddess incarnate never even broke her stride though, as she moved around her personal workshop at the heart of the forge with purpose. One of her assistants whisked my companion away as she waved me over to join her in turn. Two armor stands had been set up where they had been working to assemble another forgeborn just yesterday. My wyvern scale armor and my matching shield occupied one. Both had already been refurbished as far as I could tell.

“The girls are already working on your new armor and I'm already growing a shaft for your new weapon. I want to take care of something else first though.” She motioned for me to sit down on a stool in front of her workbench.

My eyes widened slightly as I saw what lay there, waiting for me. A horn, or rather, part of a horn. One that would match mine as well as anything made of metal and apparently crystal ever could. It reminded me a little of the hair the Arcanist and her daughters sported. Some kind of crystal sheathed in metal. It wasn't just any metal either. A titanium horn prosthetic? Wasn't that beyond wasteful? It didn't look just like any prosthetic either with the softly glowing illuminium crystal occupying the place where bone would be in a real horn.

The Arcanist must have guessed the direction my thoughts were taking. Either that or my mind was an open book to her, which was almost certainly a possibility. “When I make something I might as well make the best I can. Anyway, this already has been a nice change of pace. It has been forever since I made something that was not a tool of destruction in one way or another.”

She held the horn up to the stump, where mine had been cut by that ghoul king's blade, and looked at it from various angles. One of her daughter's joined us as well, to check it from several other points of view. Apparently they were satisfied with the way it looked as the ancient forgeborn put the horn prosthetic back down only to pick a rasp instead.

My stomach plummeted as I realized what she intended to do. “...” I opened my moth but no word came over my lips.

She nodded in understanding. “I know, this will be bad. It would be easier if it were a fresh wound. I need to reopen it, at least a little, so it can properly attach itself to the rest of your own horn. Now brace yourself. I'll try to make it quick.”

I was still at a loss for words but did as she bade me to do. I closed my hands around the edge of the workbench, bit down on a leather wrapped piece of wood she offered me and tensed every muscle I could, especially the ones in my neck. If I were to flinch away this would not become any easier. I focused my gaze on one particular point beyond the workbench as well, to make sure I would move as little as possible.

Then, before I could change my mind, the divine master crafter got to work. Despite my best efforts I flinched as the rasp bit into the cut off end of my horn. It took all the resolve I could muster not to pull away. Back then, when I lost part of that horn it had been a quick, clean cut with an incredibly sharp weapon. This was different. This was torture, especially considering how sensible my people's horns were.

My fingers clenched around the edge of the work bench and the metal gave way a little. At the same time my field of vision narrowed and I could feel fresh blood drip from the reopened wound.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity even if it couldn't have been more than a moment or two, my torturer was done. She put the rasp away again, picking the prosthetic up instead. As she pressed it against the bloody end of my horn I actually passed out for a little bit. It couldn't have been for long though. As I came back around she was steadying me with one arm while holding the graft in place with the other.

It felt weird. It was as if something were worming its way into my horn. It felt like the crystal and the metal of the graft were trying to merge with my bone and horn and probably that was exactly what was happening. Slowly the worst of the pain faded. It still didn't feel pleasant though. Not at first anyway. As the forgeborn let go of the graft and slid a finger along it as she did so a shiver ran down my spine though. My eyes widened. Considering how my field of view had narrowed before it was enough to make me dizzy. “I … I can feel that!”

“Of course you can. Like I said, I don't do things in half measures.” She patted my back and put a cup into my hands as I managed to let go of the workbench at last. “There is one last thing we need to do to make sure all is well.”

I felt her draw in Mana as she finished speaking. The next moment the familiar feeling of the same healing spell Kaele preferred to use washed over me, except there was much more power backing it up, and the last vestiges of pain quickly disappeared. My hands trembled a bit. I quickly emptied the cup of cold, bitter, herbal tea to make sure I wouldn't spill any of it before putting it away again. “Can … can I touch it?”

She flashed me a smile. “Go ahead. I'll get you a mirror while we are at it.”

I reached up and tenderly touched the very tip of my horn. The tip I could feel again, after months of feeling just a numb absence of things that used to be there. I quickly pulled my finger away again though to suckle away the drop of blood where my now horn had pricked it. As I tried again I lightly slid a finger along the length of its curve and my astonishment grew as I did so. “I can't even feel where it begins!”

The Arcanist held a hand mirror in front of me and I turned my head sideways, first in one direction then in the other. There really was no sharp seam. The graft and my horn had grown together as if this was the most natural state of things.

My benefactor chuckled. “That horn will not get cut again any time soon. Not unless you face an opponent wielding a titanium blade at least.”