He brought a knife to a spear fight

Tal didn't waste time once he'd captured his two Lava Wyrms. One went with the pair Deimos had captured for the betterment of Halo, but one came straight to the Shrine in the Citadel with him, warm and safe - though not, perhaps, happy about its sudden travels - in a container made of heavy ceramic with a glass lid. It was a cross between a fire pot and a cat carrier, and the Wyrm glowed gently as it peered out the lid at the Citadel Shrine and the crazed construct of brown-and-black glass that Tal set beside it.

The courier added his offering, a small iced rum cake that his sister had helped him bake, spicy and sweet, and then sat back on his heels, composing himself to pray as Boreal sat beside him, prim and proper and suspiciously well-behaved.

She was waiting until she was sure his eyes were closed before she started to stretch her head towards the cake.

"Hey, Frey. It's uh... well, y'know," Tal started, a small grin kicking up the corner of his lips. "It's me again. About the knife." He belatedly paused his praying to pull the blade in question out of its sheath, spotting Boreal just as she'd opened her mouth, poised for a bite.

She stared at him. He stared at her. She sloooowly closed her toothy maw and pulled back until she was sitting primly next to him again. And then she blew a smoke ring in his face. Tal coughed and waved it away, heaving a long-suffering but affectionate sigh as he set the Special Delivery Dagger on the alter with the offerings. "Yeah... well. Anyways, I drew blood on Hotaru an' Sah when we trained," he explained proudly. "An' Noah teleported while we were trainin' an' uh. Kinda. Kicked my ass with his spear." He winced at the memory but his grin returned a moment later as he looked up at the altar. "So can y'help me even the odds for next time? Please?"

---

Cut to the chase
1. Complete a Training thread using the Special Delivery Dagger (it must draw blood at least once). {Training} What's a little stab between frenemies?
2. Complete a thread collecting glass formed from where lightning has struck sand. Hel to pay
3. Complete a thread capturing a Lava Wyrm. (It must be live when you bring it to Frey!) {RQ} Fire from the stone
4. Complete a thread with a character who is able to teleport. (This can be via magical/demigod ability or through an item!)  {Training} dawning (Noah)

Frey

"Oh I believe this will do nicely." With a fairly carefree smile, Frey appears in a whorl of snowflakes and snowdrop petals, settling beside Boreal to (obviously) split the rum cake with her. None fo you though, Tal - it's your offering.

As for the rest, Frey hums and nods in all the right places, having used the Special Delivery knife to cut the cake, at the same time releasing the lava wyrm to let it wiggle up and around their wrist. And they seem perfectly content there, even as Frey takes up the lightning-scarred glass as well.

"If you wouldn't mind," they tell the wyrm, their voice muffled with a mouthful of cake. The little creature does not mind, slithering along onto the glass to begin to heat it and melt it down.

What happens next is best left to the imagination (there's a lot of lava dripping and serpentine hissing), but when Frey produces the knife afresh, it's with a distinctive, crackle-like pattern along the blade.

"And there you have it," they announce - and yes, the wyrm is still safe and sound (it's in Frey's hair).

---

Tal has completed his quest and has upgraded his dagger!

Type: Grey | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded
Special Delivery Dagger | A carefully crafted dagger, decorated with the foot of a blink hare. Upon making a stabbing motion in the air, the dagger may damage a target up to 20ft away from the user.

The look that Boreal gave Tal was entirely smug as she settled next to Frey, as polite as a princess as she took nibbles of cake from the god's fingers as if to prove she could do it. Just not when Tal was involved. He stuck his tongue out at her when he thought the god wasn't looking, knowing she'd weasel more treats out of him later, but what could a man do with a dragon who had perfected the art of the Biggest, Saddest Eyes?

He bet Ronin would understand the trials and tribulations.

As for the rest, he watched with fascination as nature and divine magic came together with the help of the wyrmling. "Whoa!" Suitably impressed, Tal reached reverently for the freshly-blessed weapon, grinning with excitement. "Thanks, Frey! This is great! You're amazin'!" The courier's enthusiasm was buoyed by the thought of Noah getting a real surprise the next time they sparred. And more importantly, so was Sah. Tal couldn't wait to try it out!

~Fin~