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[Alija]

A lion for Rhysol. The idea was tantalising. As Alija slumped on a stool at the side of the forge, notebook and stick of charcoal in hand, she letting the thought tingle on her tongue. A great king of beasts to protect the city, in sorts. The animal in question was perfect for such a sculpture, to show power through sheer symbolism. But it was up to her to perfect the lion, to show the skill and talent behind the creation – behind Rhysol. That was what they wanted. Alija wasn’t as much spurred by her love for the god she was creating this for, as for the fact that it would also show her skill and talent. An undertaking of this size was a perfect test for her ability.

She wanted it life-sized, she decided. Anything less would not do justice to her vision – anything more would be verging on impossible. Of course, she didn’t know how big a lion was. But for now she could make some estimates. Couldn’t be more than two paces long. Probably not much more than a step wide. Maybe about that, probably more tall. She tried to use that to figure out how much steel she would need – and came down to far too much. Clearly, her estimate wasn’t very good. After all, she was considering a box of pure steel. She would only need a shell, which wouldn’t even take up that much space (if she got her guesses right).

Jotting down her thoughts as they came, she came to a final conclusion. She had no idea how to make a lion.

In concept, the idea was perfect. In reality, she had never seen a lion. Sure, she knew what one looked like, she had even made little lion heads once, back in Nyka. But they had been rough and cartoonish and it hadn’t been important for them to be perfect, anyway. They had been for wives lost on superstition not for powerful gods and their cities.

Luckily, the solution was simple – find a lion.

She emerged out onto the street.