"Zain replied, "Exactly — to destiny. Everything we faced today was very different, indeed a proof that what's coming will be harsher."
"We can't remain so pessimistic. Trust—"
"Trust?"
"Yes. We must trust and believe in ourselves first. Whoever does not trust himself cannot be trusted by others, since failure remains a possible outcome; that also means success is possible."
"Sometimes ignorance is bliss and awareness is torment. It is better not to know what is coming as long as we are unaware of it; self-confidence will increase and that will affect us positively. But awareness of what is coming will blunt determination and it will vanish completely, and that will affect us negatively; perhaps we will decide to surrender to reality."
Sword of the Sky spoke: "Well said. That is exactly what I wanted to hear."
"But to change the subject, can you make a spear with a poisonous edge?" Zain replied, "Yes, I can do that, but for what purpose?"
Sword of the Sky answered: "Do you remember those winged snakes that chased us earlier?"
"Yes, I remember them. Oh — do you mean they will be our next target?" He replied: "They will certainly be an easy target; especially since you will craft that spear, I can aim at them from afar, and fortunately they are always in groups."
"Unless luck helps us find them..."
"I also hope that happens."
Before Zain added anything else, the girls were already distributing food until one of them stopped by their table.
"Please, we prepared today a broth with quail breast and some fresh vegetables. Enjoy." The girl greeted them and then left, while Sword of the Sky and Zain offered their sincere thanks for the supportive effort.
The two began to eat ravenously, satisfaction apparent on their faces. Their confidence in their success was excessive; despite hardships and challenges they did not think of raising their hands and declaring surrender. This is what is called self-belief.
About an hour passed, and the two were discussing contingency plans and how to trap one of the creatures, until they paused when Sword of the Sky spoke about crafting the spear he had told Zain about earlier.
"Listen, it's better you make an arrow as well, because I'm good at shooting. When I thought carefully, I found that shooting from a distance is better for both of us. If I fail, you might succeed. We have free time now; it's best you start immediately to refine them."
Zain did not object to his words; he listened attentively and kept nodding.
"What you said will help us a lot in the future. Come on, let's go at once — I already have all the components." Zain replied: "Alright, then. Let's go out silently and work quietly." Zain nodded before standing from his seat and leaving with Sword of the Sky.
The two left together; the weather outside was pleasant: a clear sky free of clouds, stars studded and sending their sparkle over the world from within the body of the sky. The moon gave off a faint light that illuminated the world in the darkness of night despite not being full. The two daydreamed for a moment, then shared a fleeting smile, and moved on toward their goal.
They walked far outside the city, pitched a tent beside a giant rock, and lit a fire. Sword of the Sky sat on a mat watching Zain begin the refining. Zain had brought all his equipment to refine the spear alongside the arrow.
He took out a metal piece from a woven bag in which he carried most of his tools, with Sword of the Sky's help. The metal piece was rectangular in shape, approximately 20 cm long, with a width ranging between 13 and 15 cm, and a thickness ranging between 12 and 13 cm.
Then he returned to search inside the bag and pulled out a large hammer weighing between two to two and a half kilograms. Afterwards he looked at Sword of the Sky and produced a turquoise crystalline piece. Sword of the Sky stared at it intently, a glint sparkling in his eyes.
"This is the piece I picked up from inside that cave. I named it Floranium. I'll use it for the first time, and it will happen today." Sword of the Sky kept gazing at the crystal while continuing to shake his head. Then he responded: "It's extremely beautiful — it gives off an alluring aura that makes you want to possess it without tampering with its shape."
"Did you feel that too?"
"But don't worry, I collected many of them to the point that I left some in another cave I stayed in. I also brought about ten pieces with me and this is one of them."
Sword of the Sky was astonished for a moment and then said, "It's good that you prepared in advance to do everything." Sword of the Sky began to look at Zain differently than before; he had simply exceeded his expectations.
Zain set the crystal aside and took out many of the remaining components. He also produced molds that included the edge of the spear and the edge of the arrow. It seemed he would only refine the edges while completing them by adding wooden shafts from branches and tree roots. In any case, he took out a medium-sized cauldron and placed most of the components in it except for the poison — the unknown element.
He placed some metal pieces beside grains of copper and silver, in addition to a small piece of magnesium. Then he put the cauldron on the fire in anticipation of the components melting. Zain kept throwing branches until the fire reached its peak, while Sword of the Sky blew air onto it until the temperature became unbearable.
About half an hour passed and the metals inside the cauldron became redder and more malleable, while Zain and Sword of the Sky continued blowing air and adding fuel. Another half hour passed and the metals became a molten mixture; Zain added the final piece, which was the Floranium. He carried it with long tongs and placed it into the cauldron slowly.
Immediately the molten mass turned a slightly bright turquoise color. Both of them were astonished for a moment before coming to accept it. Zain did not stop there; he took something from his bag that was attached to the right side of his waist. It was a very small glass bottle about 5 cm long with a wooden stopper containing a yellowish liquid.
He stepped a little closer to the cauldron and told Sword of the Sky to close his nose as he did. He poured the liquid slowly and with great caution, then stepped back and waved his hand as he had told Sword of the Sky to do the same.
"What did you just put in?" Sword of the Sky asked. Zain replied, "Isn't it obvious? I added the poison."
"The poison? Where did you get it? I have never seen such a poison before."
"I extracted it myself from the Devil Thorn flower. Didn't I tell you earlier that I collected many components? Also, I don't fall asleep immediately when I enter my room; I try hard to think about developing my abilities and to write notes to extract many of the ingredients I gathered and to simplify the way to work with them."
Devil Thorn? Sword of the Sky's expression turned ugly at the mere mention of that flower's name. "It became famous throughout the world for its deadly poisonous nature. It emits a fragrant, sweet smell to the nose, but anyone who inhales that scent or merely passes by the flower will keep bleeding to death if they suffer even the slightest scratch."
"What increases its horror is that the scent's or contact's effect always remains active on the body. Without the person's knowledge, whether ignorant of its nature or unaware of its contact, their fate will be their life. Days pass, years, decades, and the effect remains on the body; if they are scratched, this flower will target the blood platelets and destroy them immediately, which prevents blood from clotting. Their wound will keep bleeding until their blood dries and they perish. By then it will be too late to receive any antidotes."
"As I said, this flower destroys the platelets instantly. No antidote in the world can regene
rate platelets. Only the damned luckiest can accept their death."