Shiro reforged Fidelacchius

The old man did not turn to run. He took off his glasses and pushed them at me. “Hold, please.”
Then he took a deliberate step forward with his cane, placing himself between me and the bear-creature.
The creature hurled itself at him with a bellow, rearing up on its hindmost legs. It plunged down at the white-haired man, jaws gaping, and I couldn’t do anything but watch it happen.
The little man took two steps to one side, pirouetting like a dancer. The end of his wooden cane lashed out and struck the creature’s jaws with a crunching impact. Bits of broken yellow teeth flew from the creature’s mouth. The little man continued his turn and evaded its claws by maybe an inch. He wound up behind the creature, and it turned to follow him, huge jaws snapping in rage.
The man darted back, staying just ahead of the thing’s jaws, and in a blur of sudden light on metal he drew from his cane a long blade, the classic single-edged, chisel-pointed katana. The steel flashed at the creature’s eyes, but it ducked low enough that the scything blade only whipped the top couple of inches from one of its ears.
The creature screamed, entirely out of proportion with the injury, a yowl that almost sounded human. It lurched back, shaking its head, a fine spray of blood sprinkling from its wounded ear.
At this point, I noticed three things.
One. The creature was paying me no attention whatsoever. Yippee ki yay. My head still spun wildly, and if it had come for me, I didn’t think I could have done anything about it.
Two. The old man’s sword was not reflecting light. It was emitting it. The water-patterned steel of the blade glowed with a steady silver flame that slowly grew brighter.
Three. I could feel the humming power of the sword, even from several yards away. It throbbed with a steady, deep strength, as quiet and unshakable as the earth itself.
In my entire life, I’d seen only one sword imbued with that much power.
But I knew that there were a couple more.

Death Masks Chapter 6, Page 61-62


Q: It’s mentioned that the Swords of the Cross have a nail from the Crucifixtion worked into them…are they visible (as in, part of the guard or blade), or are they hidden or reforged into the metal? Also, the katana has the symbol for faith engraved on the blade…do the other two have their respective namesakes engraved on them somehow? What are they? (As in, is it a symbol or word in the blade of the broadsword and calvary sabre?)
A: The nails are visible–Harry does his best to convince himself that it’s rust, not blood, on the nail in the hilt of Michael’s sword in Grave Peril.  They are worked in to the metal of the blade, at the base, just above the guard, point toward the end of the blade.
The other two swords bear one kind of marking or another, but Shiro’s was very specific to him, as he had to seek out a new sword when he inherited the old Fidelacchius.  His was custom work, essentially.  Sanya’s sword actually has an Egyptian heiroglyph for the sun on the pommel, and he could use it as a letter-seal if he was of a mind to do it.  The Egyptian, who had the sword before Sanya, often did.  Sanya isn’t really the wax-seal-letter-writing kind. :)
Amoracchius, though, is completely unadorned, pure function.  Though it’s possible that there may have been designs on the crossguard or hilt that have worn away over time.

Quote from: Mickey Finn on August 12, 2006, 11:36:22 AM (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,631.msg11238.html#msg11238)