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“Flint is … smooth … alive,” Ayla said “Not see flint like this before”
Wymez smiled “You have discovered the secret, Ayla,” he said “That is what makes these points possible”
“Do you have flint like this nearby?” Jondalar asked, incredulous “I’ve never seen any quite like it, either”
“No, I’e Caood flinthas been But this stone has been specially treated … by fire”
“By fire!?” Jondalar exclaimed
“Yes By fire Heating changes the stone Heating is what makes it feel so sives the stone its special qualities” While he was talking, he picked up a nodule of flint that showed definite signs of having been in a fire It was sooty and charred, and the chalky outer cortex was a much deeper color when he cracked it open with a blow from a hammerstone “It was an accident the first ti, hot fire—you kno hot a fire it takes to burn bone?”
Ayla nodded her head knowingly Jondalar shrugged, he hadn’t paidto accept it
“I was going to roll the flint out, but Nezzie decided, since it was there, it would s fros caught fire, and ruined a good ivory platter I replaced it for her, since it turned out to be such a stroke of good fortune But I almost discarded the stone at first It was all burnt like this, and I avoided using it until I was low on ht it was ruined Look at it, you can see why,” Wy them each a piece
“The flint is darker, and it does have that slick feel,” Jondalar said
“It happened that I was experi to i out new ideas, I thought it didn’t matter if the stone was less than perfect But as soon as I started working with it, I noticed the difference It happened shortly after I returned, Ranec was still a boy I’ve been perfecting it ever since”
“What kind of difference do you mean?” Jondalar asked
“You try it, Jondalar, you’ll see”
Jondalar picked up his hammerstone, an oval stone, dented and chipped fro off the balance of the chalky cortex in preparation for working it
“When flint is heated very hot before it is worked,” Wymez continued while Jondalar worked, “control over the reater Very ser, can be re pressure You can make the stone take almost any shape you want”
Wy of leather to protect it froes, then positioned another piece of flint, recently flaked from one of the burned hunks, in his left hand, to deht hand, he picked up a short, tapered bone retoucher He placed the pointed end of the bone against the edge of the flint and pushed with a strong forward and doard , flat sliver of stone He held it up Jondalar took it from him, then experimented on his own, quite obviously surprised and pleased with the results