The Severaine

Chapter Ten The Cursed Blades-1

Chapter Ten

The Cursed BladesThe house stood shrouded in an uneasy silence as they hesitated outside, wondering what lay within. The situation made them nervous, not even birdsong filled the air of the forest. All was still, all was quiet, as Eiji concentrated his senses on the life-forces within. Since their encounter with Elly they had been on their guard, concerned that their paths might cross again, especially now she had made it perfectly clear that they were enemies.

With Elly it had always been hard to tell whether her befriending them was genuine, or just a part of the role she had played so well. Now they knew, but things could have turned out far differently had she not felt a debt towards them. She could have killed them there and then in Fenris' mansion; instead, she had let them leave. There was no way to know if this had been an act of kindness, or if there was another reason behind her actions.

“Well?” Daniel prompted quietly, his attention slipping from the house as he heard a rustle in the bushes behind him. It seemed no one else had noticed the figure who seemed to watch them closely through the shadows. It had been following them for some time now, never revealing itself. But he knew it was there, he saw it in the corner of his eyes as it darted from bush to bush.

“There's five life-forces in the house… at least one possesses magic,” Eiji stated concentrating.

“What about out here?” Daniel questioned, his body tensing as he saw the long claws slowly wrap around a nearby tree as the shape of the creature, masked by the shadows, peered at them.

“Just us.”

“And that?” Daniel whispered, looking towards the creature, his hand resting on his staff. It was unlike anything he had seen in this world, then again, things were being reborn now, things which had vanished when the Severaine was sealed. Acha and Eiji focused their attention to the area he indicated as the creature drew closer.

“What, where?” Acha glanced around the area quickly. When she failed to see anything, she cast her vision to the shadows to study them closer.

“There, right in front of you.” He gestured toward it. Its dark scales shimmered reflecting the glint from the late afternoon sun. It stood barely twenty feet away, yet somehow they were blind to its presence. It seemed only he was able to see it. His friends simply looked cautiously around, past the area where the creature lurked.

“Well, if it is Marise in there, I guess we have to face her sooner or later. We should knock,” Acha suggested, changing the subject as Eiji once more checked the area for signs of whatever it was Daniel believed he had seen. There was definitely nothing, the only thing which seemed strange, out of place, was a slight fluctuation in the energy surrounding them. Almost similar to that he had felt in Darrienia, but such shifts were commonplace when someone had not long woken from sleep. Perhaps that is what he felt, after all, aside from them, and the people in the house, there was nothing in their proximity at all.

Since their return from Darrienia, Eiji had found himself autonomously checking the energy signature of everything he passed, confirming which world it belonged to. He very much doubted he would ever come across another being from that plane again, at least not here now that the barrier was no longer under threat.

“It's not Marise,” Eiji revealed finally, and he could sense the power of someone within, but it certainly wasn't her. “The magic is wrong, but it is familiar.” It had taken him a long time to become accustomed to Zo and the strange feelings he had in her presence. When their paths first crossed, he had been a novice. A fledgling released by his master to learn from the elements and gain a deeper understanding of his skills. He hadn't realised the strange sensations in her presence had been his way of detecting her magic, reading her energies. It probably would have taken him far longer to understand had it not been for Elly explaining it. Now, such a recognition came naturally to the point that if he concentrated he could have a constant awareness of all life surrounding them.

They had delayed long enough. Taking definitive steps, he approached the door and gave three nervous knocks. On announcing their presence to those within all manner of strange noises came from inside the house, accompanied by the hushed tones of almost silent conversation, and the scraping of chairs across a hardwood floor. It was a few moments until the door opened. Eiji had already raised his fist to knock again. He quickly stepped aside to allow Daniel to address the figure.

The frame of a large man stood in the doorway. His build was almost wide enough to block the entire entrance and his height was such that he had to bend slightly as he exited the home to stand before them. A clear indication that they were not welcome to pass his threshold. His dark eyes studied them, weighing the threat each of them would pose. There was no doubt in Eiji's mind he had already decided the quickest, easiest, way to neutralise them should the need present itself.

“Hello sir, my name is Daniel Eliot, and these are my companions, Acha Night and Eiji… um?” Daniel motioned to each of them in turn as he made the introductions. He lingered on Eiji in hope to finally learn his family name.

“Daniel!” a voice from inside exclaimed. There was the movement of wood, followed by the hurrying of footsteps. A hand, seeming so small against the giant before them, reached up to lightly touch his shoulder. “It's okay, Ashely. They're friends.” Hearing her words, he stepped aside to reveal Chrissie's slender frame. “I didn't expect you to get here so quickly.” She gave an approving nod as she spoke. Ashley gestured them inside as Chrissie turned her sight to Acha. “How did you manage to get the temple to tell you?” She had not asked when they had been with Fenris, but now she found herself curious as to how this young woman could retrieve information from people who would be unwilling to offer it freely.

“We spoke to the Priestess Emma, she directed us here.”

“Emma, are you sure?” Chrissie questioned as she glanced to Ashley who pulled out a chair at the circular table which stood as a focal point in the fire lit room. As she sat, Ashely indicated they should do the same, his eyes still absorbing every detail of the three strangers.

“Certain, why do you ask?” Acha questioned, seeing the strange glances that passed between Ashley and Chrissie.

“I don't recall an Emma at that temple.”

“She met us at the door, all the priestesses were busy with some form of ceremony or ritual.” Eiji went on to describe her to them, but nothing about her appearance seemed in any way familiar to either of them.

“So what are you doing here?” Daniel questioned as Eiji finished his long description of the black-haired informant.

“Well you left so quickly I didn't get chance to tell you. Although I left my heirloom, the Keutrikos, in the care of the temple, they passed it on to Ashley some time ago.”

“Chrissie has spoken a lot about you three, it seems she owes you her life. Would you care to stay for supper? You look starved.” A middle-aged woman entered from the door towards the back of the room. Dark circles ringed her eyes, telling tales of her sleepless nights. Her steps were tired as she moved to place the bowls and cutlery upon the table with a smile. She had already decided she would be feeding these guests and was unwilling to take no for an answer.

“That's very kind thank you.” Acha returned the smile.

“It's no problem, we've plenty of leftovers, Chrissie said we should expect company.” The woman's hand rested on the handle of the door she had used to gain entry. “But I'll have to ask you to talk softly, the twins are asleep.” She exited the room, returning moments later with a large metal pot gripped within her cloth mittens. After filling their bowls she placed it on a hook over the fire, to allow them each to help themselves to more of the rabbit stew should they so desire. “I'll leave you to your business. I could do with an early night myself.” She covered her mouth to conceal a yawn before returning back to the room she had emerged from.

“So Chrissie, why did you come here?” Daniel asked. As his friends looked to him, he realised that the question had already been answered. Since entering his attention had been focused on a strange shadow in the corner. It didn't move, but it also didn't seem to belong either. He had checked each object in turn, from the fireplace to the table legs where they now sat. He looked to the shadow again, once more checking the pairing of the items about the room. There wasn't much that could cast a shadow, the table, the chairs, some shelves, the house was virtually bare, but that did not change the fact that this one was not formed by anything he could see.

“Well, Ed and his family have already been endangered by my presence. I couldn't risk anything happening again, so I left. I thought I would have a quick visit with Ashley, my second father, and a family friend, before I made my way to meet you at the temple, to point you this way.” She paused for a moment. “It seems you made better progress than I anticipated.” She had decided to answer again for his benefit, and as she looked at him she couldn't help but frown. There was something peculiar about his behaviour. She studied his face for a moment. The dark circles beneath his eyes were an obvious betrayal that his nights had not been restful.

“So… how'd y' end up with the metal?” Eiji questioned, looking to Ashley between mouthfuls of the steaming hot stew. He knew it hadn't been as long as his stomach told him, but at that moment, as he shovelled spoon after spoon of the warming food into his mouth, he honestly could not remember the last time he had eaten a hot meal, or the last one which had tasted this good.

“It's a long story, but I fear my possession of it may have jeopardised your quest. It happened a long time ago, Chrissie's mother had not long passed away and we took her in, although she was young, she was stubborn. She insisted before even heading to her new home, we stopped by the temple to drop off this block of metal, she kept insisting it never came into the house, saying it was cursed. So we did as she wished.

“My wife, Fiona, took care of her, after all, I was hardly at home in my youth. I was the bounty hunter known as Theron. Those were some good days, the thrill of the hunt. It was of course before the Plexus became corrupted by coin, but I hear things are being set to rights in that regard. Anyway, I'm getting off track,” he apologised with a wistful gleam in his eyes as he recalled the old days. “Chrissie didn't stay with us long, although she was little more than a child, one with her fate never stays in one place long before being relocated to another family. We would have kept her, but the temple insisted it was time she moved on.

“It wasn't long after she left my training hit a plateau. I sought guidance from the Gods. As I sat looking at the various carvings on the wall, thinking with all my might to how I could improve my skill so I could better protect people, the thought came to me. If I could forge a weapon from the cursed metal and excel in fighting with it, I could surpass my current training.

“I spoke with Diana, the high priestess of the temple, explaining what my plans were, and they agreed my cause was noble so…” He rose to his feet to pull a pair of crossed swords from above the fireplace. He held them separated in his hands for just a moment, feeling the comfort of the cool metal within his grasp once more, before finally placing them before Eiji. As he touched them he felt the same strange sensation he had when holding the other piece they now carried. “I forged it into these, my sincere apologies.” Eiji bit his tongue remaining silent. He knew whatever he would say, would wind up being the wrong thing. No doubt he would end up saying something like, 'I'm sure we can attach the key somehow, maybe we could melt it on', in turn this would be read as sarcasm and the retired hunter would no doubt strike him, for his disrespect.