الصهر Novels & Stories

She asked. "Well, I was fully aware of the nature of the museum but I don't think I realized what exactly I was going to be surrounded by. An interactive exhibit, reminiscent of a sex club, definitely wasn't what I had in mind when thinking of the different sections that made up this place," I explained as my eyes focused on one of the marble sculptures near the French doors. Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss—a sculpture that represented love and desire conquering all.

"The third edition was a fake. The new line does not include the wolf or the silver mark." From the wall across from her, three big figures came out. not the Three-Sided Shears, but the Lead-Melting Crucibles of the central foundry. Their bodies were massive, vertical brick furnaces clad in six-inch copper boilerplate, their bellies glowing with a fierce, white-hot sulfur fire that turned the slate-oil on the walls into a choking yellow smoke. They didn't have eyes or arms; their fronts were fitted with long, three-inch graphite nozzles that were dripping with a continuous stream of liquid type-metal, the molten antimony-lead alloy that was being prepared for the second press-run.

Almost immediately, the brass began to glow—a dull cherry red that slowly brightened to a vibrant orange. "The old world used fire for everything," Raven said, his eyes shielded by dark goggles. "But they used it to destroy things, to tear them apart. We’re using the sun to put things back together. It’s the same heat, but a different intent." Leo watched the shimmering air above the crucible. "Is that what we’re doing with the city? Annealing it? Heating up the old parts until they fit the new world?"

None of it registered. My pulse kicked up a notch when I noticed Jocelyn’s name was blue, as opposed to the black type. It was a link—a modern day portal giving me access to the all the answers to my questions. All I needed to do was touch it. Apprehensively, my finger hovered over her name. Before I could activate the link, I recalled something Deloris said.

“You don’t tremble like the others.” “Should I?” she whispered. “No.” His answer came too quickly. Too firm. He looked away, like he had revealed something he didn’t intend to. Then he handed her a small velvet box. Elara blinked. “What’s this?” “Open it.” Inside was a thin silver bracelet with a tiny flame symbol carved into it. “It’s a tracking cuff,” he said. “But it will never hurt you unless you break the rules.” Elara hesitated. “Does every slave get one?”

“Yeah, that tends to happen when you train all day as you’ll soon be finding out.” “What . . . was that!?” asked Romero, finally finding her tongue. Blakeney handled the question. “I didn’t want to tell you about Oliver until he got here. He’s quite gifted. Being a descendant of Hephaestus, he was blessed with the ability to control fire . . . well more than that actually. When we fought Cerberos, Oliver was able to produce incredibly strong flames from within himself and send fire pummeling at the beast. It was quite miraculous,” he finished in admiration.

' Severin thought to himself. Severin acknowledged the increased difficulty as he rose to higher floors. He ignited the cauldron with his spiritual power and deftly added the correct materials into the cauldron. He focused intently on churning pills as he observed their transformation into liquid essence under the searing heat.

window as the sector disappears as we enter the next one, moving along the familiar road from the south. It's not as crowded as it was yesterday, and the route is dotted with agents. "The Palace is under control," the maid had said. I think that's what she was referring to. The glittering marble wall ahead, reflecting the rising sun in the woods. I want to close my eyes, but I resist. I know I have to keep them open here. The gate is surrounded by white uniforms, agents who check incoming travelers. When the vehicle pulls over, the maid takes me out and leads me to the gate without taking the queue. No one protests or bothers to verify your identity. She must be known around here. As soon a

“Consider yourself lucky. You would be the first person to test my best creation. The neutralizing potion. You see the best thing about this potion is that it’s created to burn the hatred from within. Literally.” Tess flipped the cap covering the syringe open. “ Over concentration of the hormone that triggers hatred acts as a catalyst for this potion. The darker your heart is, the more fiercely it burns from within and when I say burn, it melts each and everyone of your organs slowly, at a high temperature, the temperature at which metal melts.” Thomas crawled back in an attempt to escape, horror was evident in his eyes. His path was blocked by a few guards. “No, stay away from me, move, mov

Gian THE LOVELY THING ABOUT TRAVELLING is that no matter how carefully you plan it, that plan is always bound to go wrong. One time, I went to the north for a hiking trip which turned to hours of going back and forth to a river, fetching water for the people of some secluded village. It was worth it because they were all so sweet. And then just a few months ago, we had a school trip where we were supposed to attend a three-day seminar about building structures in a beach hotel. Guess what I learned? Music.