That battle had hurt her. Her tang hadn’t broken, but it was bent and cracked, and her blade edge damaged near it. But what a battle! It had been a most worthy duel between her and a foreign sword, their bearers both men of honor and courage.
She sensed that metal again, as the smith heated them both and forged it into her body and tang. Its accent was strange, but it, too, knew of past battles of greatness, and she welcomed its presence.
It was not so long before she was again called to serve, this time even further from home.