Irredeemable

Forge

Directly outside the white palace, the group encountered Favian. "Vessel! Vayne! You're both alright!"

Glad to see a familiar face, Vayne responded. "Hey Fav, I guess you guys had no trouble with the checkpoint, huh?"

As the trio of travelers spoke, they both explained what had happened since the split. Vayne recounted their experience with checkpoint and the meeting with Hornet, omitting her mother, while Favian explained that he and Inge had been searching for them. He had only just thought that they may have been captured.

According to Favian, Inge would be waiting for him to return just outside the capital. As such, everyone piled onto the Stag and they were off to King's station. Passing painlessly through the city, mostly thanks to the presence of the Queen by their side. Waiting just outside, was Inge.

Greetings were exchanged and the group continued on their way. The kingdom's edge was a rough area. Large numbers of hoppers could descend upon unwary travelers at any moment, but worse yet, was that they always seemed to be accompanied by a few great hoppers. Fortunately, the road to the forge seemed almost devoid of life. Something seemed off. A trip through the kingdom's edge shouldn't be so easy.

Soon enough, the forge came into view. It was a tall building, with almost horizontal roofing and chimneys dotted across the roof. Pouring from each of them, was a thick smoke. As they approached the forge, they grew even more tense. The sounds of nail smiths, hard at work on various projects, was completely absent. It was silent. Bracing for the worst, Hornet opened the door.

Inside, they found no one. Hammers were left at anvils, the pools of magma were left untended, even a few well forged nails had been left lying around. It was as if the nail smiths had needed to leave in a hurry, as if something, or someone, had made them leave.

There was no time to ponder what had happened to the nail smiths, however. In fact, their disappearance may prove to be a good thing for the time being. They were quite protective over the forge, so any attempt at destroying the charm may have provoked them.

The group made their way through the empty forge, admiring the craftsmanship of the nail smiths along the way. Finally, they arrived at the entrance to the central chamber. Housed within its walls, was the great chamber pool. It was the only way to destroy the charm, once and for all. As they entered, the Godseeker turned to face them.

"Ah, your highness. What business doth bring thee here?"

Hornet, attempting to avoid a conflict, responded. "Greetings Seeker, I am afraid the forge is temporarily under royal rule. The operation should only take a short while, and it will reopen immediately after."

The Godseeker sighed, disappointed. "So thou hath sided with the heretics? How bizarre it doth be for a goddess like thee to shun thy own nature, thy own worshippers."

"That, is where you are mistaken, Seeker." Hornet replied. "My father may have been what could pass for a god, but I am no goddess, and he was no god."

"Blasphemous!" The God Seeker shouted. "Thou would even betray thine own father for these cringers?!"

"My father was a psychopath. Now I must ask you once more to leave. Seeker, do not make me say it a third time."

The God Seeker threw back her head in laughter. "My dear queen, I doth believe thou mistake the current situation. We shalt not leave this place... not until that charm doth be safely within our possession!"

Hornet drew her needle. "Then you leave me no choice."

"Your highness..." the Godseeker began in a rather unsettling tone. "Perhaps I should inform thee of the stakes. Seekers?"