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~~Christmas Day Special - (page 21 of 24)~~

Hmm. But looking at the quality of the ardor's flow, the Forge seemed to be in rather good condition. He couldn't spot any major breaks or diversions--no "hemorrhaging," as it were.

He had a feeling there were many smaller "bleeds" going on elsewhere, though. He would have to inspect the Forge with a fine tooth comb before he dared to try and reactivate it.

Which was a whole other problem--and an even more dangerous one, in fact. Right now, he was just searching for the name in order to help him comprehend what this thing was truly capable of. If and when the time came to actually turn the Forge back "on," that was when the real fireworks would happen.

The kind of fireworks that could kill him and Worwal in the blink of an eye. That was why it was so important to ensure that repairs had been done properly before trying to flip that metaphorical switch. Worst-case scenario, the Forge would explode and leave a city-sized crater behind.

Admittedly, that possibility seemed quite unlikely--and not just because he was confident in his ability to do everything correctly. This Forge had a gentleness to it. An explosion would be "out of character" for it, he felt. If it were to destroy itself, it would probably go some other way. Ah, an implosion perhaps.

It could still suck him and Worwal in, though. And they would still be just as dead.

His search continued for what felt like a long while. He could sense many tiny knots in the ardor's flow, but without the name, they were all but impossible to read. Perhaps Dolf could have done something with them at this stage, but alas, he could not.

The name, the name. Where could it be? He sincerely hoped it had one. If it didn't, then he was searching this entire sea for nothing.

Agh.