A Broken Spark - A Feral Story

Chapter 6: The Spark-Smith

The trio of Maxwell, Azar, and the senri-fae all ran out of the cave, and tumbled into the snow.
Maxwell got up and shook his fur. "Well, that could have gone a lot worse, all thing considered."
"Yeah." Azar grunted as she stood up and ruffled her feathers. "At the very least, we're fi-" she stopped herself when she look at Maxwell.
The senri-fae got up and shook the snow of herself. "Well, you sir, I can definitely tell you and your spark have had a little wear-and-tear, huh?" She asked.
"Yeah. Thank you for helping us, by the way." Maxwell thanked.
"No problem." She got onto one knee. "Name's Alonna, Spark-Smith, pleased to meet you." She greeted, holding out a hand.
"Maxwell. And that's Azar." He shook her hand. "Forgive my intrusion, but kind of spe-" Maxwell cut himself off when he looked at the fur on his paw. "W-what?" The green on it was now gray. His fur was losing its color.
"Wha-what? No. Nononono." Maxwell ran to a nearby piece of ice and looked at his reflection. He saw that his Spark was cracked further, and was becoming darker. "N-no. Nonono. The discoloration, it- it wasn't supposed to happen until there were three days left until it... She-she accelerated it's weakening." Maxwell said, dismayed.
"She... wasn't kidding..." Azar said, holding back tears.
"Well, this seems serious, then. I may have a solution, however." Alonna suggested.
"R-really? How?" Azar asked.
"Grabs onto my hands, please." Alonna said as she extended her hands towards the two.
Max grabbed one, Azar grabbed the other. Alonna then spread some large, fiery wings and flew off with the two.

A few minutes later, the three made it to a sanctuary away from the tundra.
"Where are we?" Maxwell asked.
"My home." Alonna answered.
A large castle of steel stood above the three, creating an imposing aura. There were smokestacks at the top, and pipes strewn along the exterior of the forge.
"Wow, what do you do here again?" Azar looked at the looming structure.
"I work on sparks. I can modify them at their source and change their form. I've worked on quite a few people." Alonna walked towards the entrance, urging the two to follow.
The insides were steel, with vents all around the place, exhaling fumes.
"You, Maxwell, you're a first. I've never actually seen, or worked on fixing a cracked spark before. But I can assure you, I can, and will do everything in my power to help you." Alonna stated.
"Thank you." Maxwell then stopped partway through, his legs exhausted. The lack of energy in his Spark was getting to him.
Azar frowned seeing him like that. "Are you good?" She concerned.
"Yeah, just... a little tired." Max said, his breathing shaky.
Azar walked back to him. "Need help?"
"N-no, I'm good." He grunted And panted. "Actually, scratch that. I'm really weak."
Azar wrapped a wing around his back. "Here, let me help."
A small flower grew on his horn, but it didn't bloom all the way, showing how weak he was getting. Azar frowned seeing just how much agony he was going through.
"Set him on there." Alonna pointed to some kind of table, lined with blankets and pillows. Azar helped him get up. Maxwell just flopped on his side, and breathed tiredly.
"Alright." Alonna lit up a nearby furnace and grabbed a hammer. "Let's begin."

Alonna spent the next few minutes prepping Maxwell for his repair. Alonna had to make a new gem to contain the light of a spark, and put it on Maxwell. To get the light from Max's spark however, she would have to crack it open and absorb it.
A painful process, unfortunately.
"This is going to hurt, Maxwell." Alonna warned.
Max shudders in fear.
Azar grabbed his paw with her wing. "It'll be alright. I'm right here."
Maxwell flashed a smile. He then took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. "Do it."
Alonna nodded and help up her hammer. She then swung it to hit Max's Spark, and then...

BOOM!

A purple shockwave bursted from the Spark, sending Alonna flying backwards!
Azar covered her face with her wing from the explosion. She then ran in front of Max. "Max! What happened?!"
"I-I don't know! My spark just..." purple smoke then came off of his spark.
It flew up and formed the shape of the witch, and her voice echoed throughout the room.
"Told you there wasn't a way, pigeon. Sweet of you to try, though! Keyahaha!" The illusion said before dissipating.
Azar growled at where the illusion was. "The fiend."
Alonna got up and growled. "That witch... THIS WAS GOING TO BE A MASSIVE STEP IN MY CAREER!!" She bellowed as her voice echoed through her castle.
"I've gotten sick of her antics. I will stop at nothing until we stop her for good!" Azar yelled.
Max stood up, his legs all wobbly. Azar didn't like seeing him like this. She stepped to the side to think about it. She had an idea of what to do... but she didn't exactly look enthusiastic.
"I... may have an idea. Remember how I said there was an ancient ritual that could completely heal the spark?" Azar asked.
"Yeah?"
"I do remember one person who knows it, my gramma! She can help you!" Azar smiled.
"Oh, thank the queens. If she's the best lead we got, then she shall be our best lead." Max smiled. "As long as there's no dangerous quest we need to embark on to just find her."
Azar nervously chuckled.
Max's smile slowly disappeared.
"... I'm kidding! She lives in Lakeroot Valley. The real challenge is getting you there, you don't seem fit to walking such a distance." Azar said.
Alonna stepped in. "Actually, I might have a way to help."
She led the two outside.

Outside, Alonna set a bronze disc down. It then expanded into a large copper saucer that could fly.
"Come on. This can get us across Feral in no time." She said, getting in and sitting down on her seat.
Azar helped Max get in, and she got in too.
"To Lakeroot Valley, And step on it!" Azar exclaimed.
"Roger That!" Alonna replied as the saucer flew upwards, and zoomed off into the distance.

Author's Note: Special thanks to sarchastic on Discord for letting me use their OC, Alonna for both the RP, and this story!