A Blacksmith's Best Friend
It was, in a way, Tom's best friend. He couldn't have forged anything without it – swords and armor and chainmail, horseshoes and nails and cooking pots.
But it was more than just a tool to his trade. It was his constant companion: in the cold nights when he remembered his wife, in the hot afternoons when Gwen's smiling face was the only thing that kept him going, and in the quiet mornings when he thought about Elyan and his whereabouts.
Yet in the end, by tragic choice, the fire that helped build his life also helped bring about his death.