Ever since Glory had searched through the metals and gems of the tunnel nearby, he had become extremely interested in the metals and sheets scattered around. There was so much potential left unused. He could just imagine himself, covered in shining plates of armor! Absolutely beautiful and glorious! Yes, he would learn this! He would teach himself this skill and share it with the caves!

That was one problem he had with Dread - the dragon hoarded his stuff jealously. It was all his, even though he could share it easily and still have much for himself. Glory didn't quite approve, but still, the dragon would make a valuable ally. And he liked him! He was passionate, for sure, and such beautiful flames! Magnificent!

The eagle was flying back up to his nest, a low ledge leading to a wide cave already filled with all kinds of metals he had scavenged from the tunnel. What he would do with these metals he didn't know just yet. But he would do something! Create things! He had to do some practice before he was ready to make his own armor.

First, he needed to make a place to melt the metal. He needed a little work station. He had no idea how to do this so he would just have to improvise. Wood would be needed. Yes, definitely some wood.

Glory stepped out of his cave and to the ledge, feeling the winds already beginning to whip through his feathers. Where on earth would he find wood in a cave like this? Perhaps if he was in Eridanus or Cetus, it would be easier or even Polaris. But Monoceros? He didn't know where to start.

He opened his wings and jumped from the ledge, letting the winds carry him as he raked his eyes across the earth below. Wood...trees...anything.

Wait, there! A small cropping of greenery hidden in a small alcove, protected from the furious winds. He dropped and landed on the edge, pleased with his discovery. But now...how to get enough wood to start a fire?

Glory didn't see any other option. He couldn't use any of his magic - that would be stupid. He would burn down the entire tree! No, he had tackle it with all his strength. It was a stupid plan, but there was no other option. He took a deep breath and then focused on the sturdy trunk. This was going to hurt.

With a loud cry, he ran straight for the tree, using his wings to gain speed. He was getting closer...closer...Closer! And then he hit the trunk with his entire body and bounced right off. With a cry, he was thrown back to the ground with a large bruise beginning to form under his feathers. "Ow ow ow ow..." he moaned as he struggled back to his feet. He looked around critically, hoping that there was nobody nearby to see that.

Grumbling, he instead walked around the trees and picked up any stick he saw laying on the ground. Considering that the room was incredibly windy, even though the cove was mostly sheltered, there seemed to have been a lot of branches and tree trunks that had suffered the force of the wind. He gathered as many as he could carry in his talons and beak and took off back towards his cave.

As he flew, he had a sudden thought. Wood would not nearly sustain enough heat and would not get nearly as hot as he needed to be able to melt metal or even get it hot enough to shape and forge. He needed something else.

He knew of a substance that would be able to. An ore found in the walls and in caves. A black rock called coal. Perhaps that would serve his needs.

Picking up a nice sharp piece of metal that he would use to mine the coal, he took off into the air and began a hunt for a bed of coal. His eyes were sharp as he raked the caves, particularly near the bottom. He soared to the lower ledges and, after some hard searching and a lot of going in and out of caves and crevices, he found a tunnel into the earth that had a thick line of black rock. Definitely coal.

Takin his piece of metal, he banged it hard against the wall until some of it started to crack and crumble out. Looking down at the pathetic mess, he decided that he would need something to hold it. Dropping his metal, he decided to go look in the tunnel just outside Monoceros. That would have something good. He flew out of the mouth of the cave and towards the tunnel at the end of the room.

*temporary exit

Glory found himself back in Monoceros and immediately flew himself back to the low cave that held his nice bank of coal. The crumbs were still where he had left them, but his pack would carry more. He picked up his metal and banged it against the wall a few more times, letting some more crumbled of coal fall to the ground before the metal began to dent and become more and more useless. Finally, it no longer managed to crack the wall anymore so he threw it on the ground and, using his wings and claws, gathered the coal he had into his pouch. He clasped it shut and opened his wings, fluttering back up to his cave.

As he flew, he thought about what he was going to put the coal in to create his little forge. He didn't want it on the ground - that would be extremely dangerous not to mention counterproductive. No, he had to make a barrier of some kind. A little 'fireplace' of sorts.

As he landed on his ledge, he immediately went to work again, rummaging through his metals until he found a good sturdy piece that would hopefully break some rocks.

He flew to one part of the cave and began to smash it against the wall. It was hard and only some medium sized chunks fell to his feet. Once there was a good amount, he dropped the metal and began rolling them over to the place where he wanted his forge.

It took a long time and Glory was starting to get tired as he finally rolled the last of the rocks into a circular pile. They wouldn't do for a forge at all, no way. They needed to be one piece.

He wonded if he would be able to somehow melt it with his fire and then let it cool. They would melt into one piece, perhaps. He would have to be careful not to melt the whole thing or it would retain its shape. He figured he might as well try. He could always get more stone if it didn't.

He fluttered into the air and kept himself as steady as possible above the circle of stones while he opened his beak and fire magic welled within his gem. From the back of his throat, blazing fire erupted and he cringed at the incredible heat the rolled in his mouth. His saliva was suddenly hot, hotter then it ever had been and, surprised by the pain, he spat it out, right into the middle of the stones.

It was a big glob that landed right in the middle and immediately began melting the stones together. He set himself down just in front of it and watched it drip into the cracks to the stones bellow. It didn't quite reach the edge, so it would keep its form. The whole things was now glowing red hot as the rocks melted together. Happy, Glory decided that it was break time - all of that lifting was certainly exhausting.

Deciding to practice his fire magic while the forge was melting, he spread his wings and leaped outside of his cave. Out in the winds of Monoceros, practice would be hard, but definitely worthwhile. The gusts would toughen him up, make it harder while also making him stronger.

He decided that he would go through each spell he knew and practice it until it was flawless, perfect. Well, perhaps not perfect, but until he could successfully cast it and feel good about casting it.

He also decided to practice while still flying, improving his multi-tasking abilities as well as spellcasting. Making his wings stronger as well as his gem. He squinted and focused, calling forth the fire and spreading it along the tips of his feathers. It heated and heated until he felt himself burning and a terrible smell went up his nose. As soon as possible, he stopped this spell and let himself cool off in the winds. Disgusting, but a necessary spell and definitely one that would make him look intimidating. He couldn't remember ever having much trouble with that spell. It was time to move on.

Sometimes Glory wondered about his choice to use fire magic. Well, it wasn't really his choice. He had been born with the ability. But still, it hurt sometimes. As he continued to fight the storm, he shook his head, pushing aside the thought. He didn't care if it hurt! The magic was glorious, powerful. Everything that he ever needed from magic. But, of course, he would explore others, once he had mastered this.

Deciding to rest his wings for a bit, he fluttered down to the area where he had found trees and decided to test his next spell on a nearby bush. Focusing burning magic on his claws, he fluttered forward, thrusting his legs forward and scourging the burning hot tips through the bush. The leaves instantly crumbled away from the heat, falling to a pile of smoldering ash. He landed and watched it with satisfaction. Another good spell, but he wanted to practice this one more. He needed to try using his beak and wings to attack as well. Those would be useful.

Glory focused again on the magic, calling forth the same spell he had used before, but, this time, as he tried to cast, nothing happened. He stepped back, confused, and then thrust forward with his beak, in case some warmth had seemed into it. But the leaves only moved from his touch and didn't even get warm. Strange, he didn't often fail that spell. But it was okay. At least it hadn't backfired on him.

He shuddered to think what would happen if it had. Especially spells that used actual fire. He could destroy his feathers and skin or even burn to death. That would be horrifying. He would have to be careful to never do that. Ever.

Glory took a deep breath to steady his magic before lunging forward again, heat flowing into the tip of his beak and striking into bush. This time, it worked, the leaves crumbling into nothing but ash. He hopped back and sneezed and ash and dust went into his nose and shook off his head from the little embers that clung onto his feathers. He shook himself off before looking at his work. Half the bush had been completely burned away by his magic. He nodded happily, pleased with how the spell had gone and decided that he was done with it, for now. He looked back up at his cave, thinking that, perhaps the stone had cooled now. He was excited to begin forging or, at least, practicing. Soon, he would be making armor for a beast like Dread!

After a quick rest among the trees, Glory threw himself back into the winds and let them carry him back up to his cave where, to his surprise and delight, the stone had completely solidified. He doubted it was quite cool yet, but it would be good for now. It had created a small dip from the rock melting downwards which would hold his coal perfectly. He fluttered to stand on the edge of the bowl and opened his pack, letting the coal spill from inside into the dip.

It clattered to the bottom, throwing up all kinds of dust into Glory's feathers and face and he immediately jumped back, shaking off all of the black specks before it could stick to his feathers properly. But still, he was stained a slightly darker color and he hissed with annoyance. He would have to remedy that somehow.

He fluttered again above his forge and opened his beak, intending on trying out this one new spell that he had been nervous about testing. He could get seriously hurt from it, but it didn't matte because, as he sent the magicka along, it wasn't enough. Perhaps he was wearing himself out too much. Either way, it wasn't going to work just now so he settled back down, deciding that he would rather take a rest and rejuvenate his strength before he tried again.