Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 20, Ch. 21]

Ironwood. I needed Ironwood. Stumbling to my feet, I clutched Crocea Mors close and watched as the Grimm that had been hounding us swept away to deal with Mistral and Ansel, trying to secure Salem's escape. That gave me the opening I needed, though the lack of any silver in the immediate vicinity was a problem.

The cliff. It had to be there. If the tree was atop it then the roots would be thickest at its base. Ignoring the battle between Salem, Blake and Ruby, I made my way toward the staircase, though for once didn't take it. Instead, I felt about the rocky base, closing my eyes and concentrating. The rock was warm to the touch, though that wasn't unnatural with all the fire burning around it.

Pressing my hands against it, I Stoked the Forge.

Something stirred within the rock. Reached out. I felt the faintest touch of metal and then sensed it reaching out for me much like it had when I interacted with Penny. Rock cracked and split as a tiny silver branch sprouted from the surface and coiled about my right hand lovingly. A thicker branch sprouted around my left wrist. I smiled at it. "There you are…"

"JAUNE! LOOK OUT!"

Ruby's scream came with all the warning in the world and it didn't matter. With both my arms being locked in by the Ironwood, I could only look back over one shoulder as Salem battled Blake aside with her bloody stump of a hand and aimed her free one at my back.

"No more, Arc. No more!"

I was already pushing fire into the Ironwood to try and form a shield behind me – ready to etch `Seal` into it – but it was slow. Too slow. Black light coalesced in her hand. It shot out with a horrific blast. There was no chance of escaping it.

[...]

"I'm working on it." The Ironwood in my hands was slowly moulding into a long pole-shape, but it was taking time. The material was there but it had to dig through so much rock to reach me.

[...]

"Jaune. Hurry!"

"I'm doing my best. It takes time!"

The scythe was taking form, but it was more an incohesive shape than a weapon. The blade was blobby and not at all sharp, while the haft was gnarled. I worked on smoothing that out, etching away down it until it was thin. The balance and weight weren't there but it wouldn't matter if it was just going to break on a single attack. I turned my attention to the blade, using my Engraving to tear huge chunks off it, less sharpening it as I normally would and more hewing the metal into a pointed shape.

The dragon had reached Salem. It turned and began attacking in earnest, preventing anyone from approaching her from one side and buying her space. She used it to great effect to tear into the Heroes, tearing them down with a barrage of magic while the dragon blocked all the arrows, spells and other ranged attacks from Beacon with its bulk and wings.

The scythe stood ready. With a final touch, I Engraved the `Seal` Rune onto it.

"Do-"

Ruby had already snatched it and blurred away.

"Fine. Guess I'll make another." It wasn't going to be easy for her to get in with so many people fighting and there was no telling if it'd work in one blow. I started to draw out more Ironwood, looking back over my shoulder as I did.

Ruby was a blur of red hurtling toward the front lines. She dodged in and out of fighters that couldn't react fast enough to get out her way, picking her way toward the centre and Salem. She shot by Ren, dashed into an attack from Salem and cut it down, severing the spell before it could hit the others.

Salem, seeing the danger, turned to face her and summoned a weapon of her own.

They clashed. Salem's weapon caught Ruby's.

The scythe shattered.

"Shit."

Ruby flashed away and out of range before Salem could cut her down. The black sword she'd made slashed down where she'd been, cutting through stone. Ruby knew better than to be hit when we could repeat over and over. I already had the shape of the haft formed in my hands. The Ironwood branches were wrapping around me more and more, entangling my arms and legs like it was caressing me.

"Jaune!"

"I know," I yelled. "Try not to block her spell next time. You as good as announced your presence."

She'd done it to protect people of course. Ruby bit her lip but nodded, accepting with proof that it wouldn't work. She was faster than Salem, but not that much faster. If she didn't attack by surprise, Salem was going to have time to react and parry her attack. And with how hard Ruby was swinging her weapon, it was going to shatter on impact.

Salem knew who the real threat here was, and it wasn't the Heroes she batted away by the dozens. Glynda and Ozpin were back and fighting but still so helpless. Tsune had been singled out quickly and knocked out the fight. Dead or unconscious somewhere before her healing could become an issue. The Guild were still going at the dragon, cutting into it with wild attacks and scaling its back. It reared up and crashed down, crushing people under its claws. I could just make out Yang on its back, trying to rip one of its wings off.

"Jaune!" Ruby said insistently.

"I'm working as fast I can!" I Engraved the Rune. "Go!"

Ruby took it and darted off. I drew more Ironwood out and got to work again.

This had to work. It had to. All it would take was one moment of inattention from Salem, a single instance where she looked the other way and Ruby came in for her head. We could win this. It would end here. Vale would be saved.

Salem blocked an attack from Taiyang and ducked under a whistling chain from Glynda. Picking up the Brawler, she used him as a club to bat Pyrrha aside. Snapping both his arms at the shoulder, she hurled his body at Glynda, knocking her down. Ozpin rose up but was blasted back by black light. He smashed through Port and several other Heroes.

Ruby leapt at her from behind.

Salem turned, growled and cast two spells – one for Ruby's scythe to absorb and the second delayed and ready to kill her.

Blake fell between them, taking and absorbing the first. She hit the stone and rolled away, letting Ruby land and dash forward, slashing through the second spell and closing the distance. With no time to react, Salem kicked back.

Her right foot was left behind, severed at the ankle.

"Rarghhh! Die!" A beam of black cut through Ruby or would have if she hadn't blurred away already. "You insignificant fly!" Salem roared. "Face me, coward!" She stumbled on her bad leg. A wave of her hand had black tendrils sprouting from her foot, not healing her but balancing her on what looked like a bed of roots.

"Got her," Ruby gasped, appearing at my side. "Next."

"Here."

I handed her the new one.

[...]

There was a rush, a gasp and then that tingling sensation of gaining a level; of being pushed over the edge and into something new. Level Seventy-five. Information crashed into my mind, words, meanings and something more. A Skill. I'd gained a new Skill, shaped and determined by the Path I walked. For the first time I knew what that Skill did even without using it. I knew, because I'd seen it before.

Ironwood Creation.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 20]



"Jaune." Weiss hopped up into my throne – or what I called it. In truth, it was little more than a seat I sat in where I'd been tossed into the rockface. "We need you to make more scythes for Ruby, and to give her a way into the air. A ramp."

I looked past vines criss-crossing over my face. It must have looked like I was being eaten alive by the Ironwood, but Weiss didn't panic. Probably too tired for it. I nodded back as best I could and concentrated on finishing the scythe I'd been halfway through before. It was quicker now with Ironwood Creation, so quick I surprised myself by finishing it in seconds! I Engraved `Seal` onto it and bid the vines push it toward Weiss.

[...]

Ruby sprinted back toward us, panting as she came to a stop. "Scy-"

I had the Ironwood push a new one into her hand, then a second. It was faster than ever now, the Ironwood moving exactly how I wanted it to. While I doubted she could dual wield so unwieldy a weapon, she could put the spare somewhere she could easily reach it.

[...]

More concentration formed several more scythes for Ruby's convenience, arrayed on the side of my throne for her to come and take as she wished. Ruby looked excited and nervous at the same time.

[...]

Ruby struck Salem while she was in the process of bringing her hands down to kill them all. Her scythe swung down into the first of the spinning orbs, sealing and removing it – granting her a direct path in toward Salem. Her scythe swung, slicing into a wing and shattering on impact.

"Arghhh!"

Still moving at high speed and with Salem having no ability to steady herself, Ruby crashed into her. Her wings swept back, and she was sent hurtling back from the impact, with Ruby still attached to her. The two of them fell through the portal.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 21]