The meteorite lay in the center of the hut like a beating heart. Its black, irregular surface emitted a flickering light, sometimes red like embers, other times golden like the sun.
Duncan couldn't take his eyes off it. Every time he touched it, the Divine Fire within him responded with a shiver.
"It's not just metal," he murmured. "It's alive."
Elias eyed him warily. "What if it exploded? Or consumed you?"
Duncan smiled bitterly. "Every metal burns those who don't know how to work it. This is no different."
He stood and prepared a small, improvised forge with stones and charcoal. When he lit the fire, however, he immediately realized that the meteorite wouldn't succumb to a common flame. Its surface remained intact, mocking.
That's when he tried.
He took a deep breath and let his inner flame emerge. His hands lit up, and heat exploded from his skin. The wood ignited with a divine glow, transforming the forge fire into a swirl of gold and crimson.
Selene watched in silence, with a mixture of awe and reverence. "It is… the fire of the Keepers. But pure. Untainted."
The meteorite began to vibrate. Bright cracks ran through it, and it slowly began to melt. Duncan grabbed his hammer and struck. Each strike generated a jolt of energy that shook the cabin.
CLANG!
A shard broke off, falling onto the table. It was no longer stone. It was pure, translucent metal, like silver and gold fused together. It gave off an aura that made Elias instinctively recoil.
Duncan took it with trembling hands.
"This is not iron. This is not steel. This is something new."
Selene nodded slowly. "It is Divine."
Duncan smiled. "No. It's Diviniom. And with it, we will forge weapons that not even the Keepers can stop."
The meteorite, however, wasn't exhausted. It remained large, dark, and still pulsated as if it wouldn't give up completely.
Duncan understood immediately: it took time, energy, and sacrifice to produce enough.
And behind that metal… he felt something. A voice.
It spoke not with words, but with sensations: power in exchange for will.
Duncan clenched his fists. He wouldn't yield to the metal. He would bend it.
Like everything else that had ever passed under his hammer.