Is this scene from a Deryni novel? [duplicate]

Question

The scene is:

Wizards have gathered for a once a year forging of a ring of power. The ring is struck only once each year. There are required to be mythical beasts (don't remember which one) in the room when the forging takes place.

The wizards have to feed these beasts all year long for this one event. Complaints are made if the ring will ever return the resources required to forge it.

The main character, a young student, is in attendance at this forging.

I can't remember if this is a scene from a Deryni novel or some other novel from the 70s or 80s.

Answer 1

The scene you describe is quite distinctive: it is not from a Deryni novel, but from Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy, describing a magical ceremony based on the axiom "Perfection is Eternal".

The gong rang out once more, and the chorus stopped. The second magician produced another sand glass; when it emptied, the wyvern's eyes quickly were covered again. As its wailing stopped, acrobats exploded from the entrance tunnel [...]

At this point in the story, the main character, Alodar, has infiltrated the Cycloid Guide and is (against the rules and at risk of execution) attempting to learn Magic, having already learnt Thaumaturgy and Alchemy as part of his quest to marry the Queen and regain, as he sees it, his family's honour.