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all directions. He did so well, that Ashleen dropped her shield stepping close to take his hand with hers. Sharing the space, the five remained warmer as well as the shield held some of the warm air of the inn and their breaths added more.
    Snow still clung to their boots, but at least the falling flakes avoided them as they walked to the east. It would be a long walk. Sebastian considered using portal magic, but it would drain him more than he wished. A long walk with friends at his side was preferable, besides he was in no rush. Sometimes he just needed to do things the old way and try to catch his breath.
 
     
    Chapter 3- The Demands of Red Hall
     
    The sound of metal clanging rang through the air even though the windows to the building ahead of them were closed. A door that was the destination for Sebastian's little group was slightly ajar despite the cold was part of the source for the noise. Smoke rose from multiple chimneys on the roof. It was a surprising amount of ventilation for a single building, but Hala's smithing facility wasn't a typical structure by any means.
    Made of stone like most of the city's buildings, it wasn't the original forge for the capitol. Long ago Hala had been much smaller. The inner city had been the whole of it, though smaller buildings had grown up outside feeding the king's capitol when Hala served a much smaller nation.
    While Sebastian didn't know the full history of the city, he did know that this forge had been built by one of the kings in the past to be an outfitter for his army. It had remained making weapons and other tools for the army for centuries surviving the Cataclysm and war with the Dark One's armies as well. Now it served as the base for Sebastian and the various wizards, mages and smiths involved with trying to create the newest weapons created to defeat their centuries' long enemy.
    Pushing open the door after clearing away some of the accumulated snow, Sebastian let the others enter and nearly closed the door before releasing his air shield. Heat that could make one sweat struck them almost instantly. It was as jarring in its way as the bitter cold outside, and jackets were opened and removed quickly. Even the coldest of them, melted before the heat generated by several forges being worked by dozens of men and their assistants.
    Equally miserable with the heat were wizards who had been called in to try and learn the process of creating magical weapons. One woman dressed in a brown researcher's robe looked particularly frazzled. Her brown hair was graying, but thanks to the cold, winter's light cast by the windows, she appeared to have more gray than usual. Maura was about twice Sebastian's age, but he had never been brave or foolish enough to ever ask the wizard her actual number. To ask an older woman for her age was one thing, but doing so to a testy research wizard could end up bringing a fireball his way.
    The woman looked towards the door along with several other eyes not riveted to metal working at the moment. Maura brushed back one of several stray locks of hair looking more anxious than usual. She moved to intercept him even as Sebastian noted the stress mirrored in many of the others trying to work today.
    "What's wrong?" he asked before the wizard could say anything. A pair of apprentices wearing brown shirts with black and white trim followed her. They were just the latest brought in to see if they could work with metal and the runes the battle mage had created for the Hollow Swords.
    Her eyes glanced from side to side first noting his followers before they took in the rest of the long room. Acting like she worried over being overheard by men and women she had been around for most of the last month, Maura finally disclosed, "Apparently you haven't heard that we have new visitors."
    Shrugging at the comment, though Sebastian was unsure of who the woman meant, he replied, "We're always bringing in new wizards and mages to try and find people who might take to