Chapter 4 - Phantom in the Night

As Melos and Melodi made their way to the port city of Viminello, a certain someone was watching them closely. The boy that they had taken with them had been silent the entire time. He didn’t blink. He didn’t move. He didn’t make a sound.

At one point, Melodi realized that she had completely forgotten about him.

“Hey there. Are you alright? Are you hungry? It’s been almost an entire day since we left Quiroso.”

But he did not reply. When Melodi looked over to Melos for help, he just shrugged his shoulders. Seeing that the boy was not complaining, Melodi decided that it was fine to leave him alone for now. And then she started to get a little curious about the boy. She asked Melos some questions about him, but he didn’t know a thing about him. Nor did he care.

She asked what the boy’s name was, but Melos didn’t even know that. Exasperated, she didn’t want to keep calling him the boy. But neither Melos nor the boy would give her a name. So she decided to give a name of her own.

“Let’s call him… Melos Jr!” Melodi grinned. But only for a second before Melos smacked her on top of the head.

“Ok, ok… how about… Melon?”

“You’re naming him after a fruit?” Melos arched an eyebrow, a little amused.

“Well I thought it’d go nicely with our names…”

“Alright that’s enough. Let’s just call him Juvenkus.”

“Juvenkus? What type of name is that?” Melodi had a disgusted expression on her face.

“It means boy.”

“In what language?”

“The same one as Alurca.”

“The language that you said that you didn’t know…” Melodi looked at Melos a little distrustfully.

“I guess I know a little. Just a few words that’s all. I don’t know the grammar structure or anything like that at all. It’s called the Ancient Tongue. Or the Ancestor’s Tongue. Something like that.”

“Well, we’re not naming him Juvenkus. The whole point was to find something else other than ‘boy’ to call him.”

“Well, stop coming up with stupid names. You should be training right now, not wasting your time.” Melos frowned at her. Melos’ legs still ached from running, so she decided to come up with more names.

“Say… what’s ‘snake’ in that language you were talking about?”

“Snake? In that language, it’d be… serpes.”

“Serpes, huh. Let’s call him Jerpes.”

Melos suddenly laughed out loud. “Jerpes? Jerpes? That’s a terrible name!” Melodi glared at him.

“Alright, alright! How about Jeven? Or Juven? Or perhaps Kuven? Maybe Kuren?”

“Kuren.” Melos suddenly blurted out. “Kuren. I like that.” Melos’ tone had changed. He had a serious expression on his face.

“Kuren? I guess it’s kind of nice.”

“A mix of juvenkus and serpes?” Melos looked at Melodi.

“Yeah, there were so many snakes in the cavern that I found him in. So I chose that.” Melodi shrugged.

Melos smiled. “Well, I like that name. Let’s call the boy Kuren.”

Melodi nodded and looked back at the newly named boy.

“How about that? You like your name, Kuren?” Melodi smiled at him.

And just as she expected, he didn’t reply.

* * *

Along the way, the wagon made a stop, and the group took a break from the journey. The three of them stood around a campfire as the wagon driver took care of the horses. The fire crackled as Melodi stared into the flames. Every now and then she would sneak a glance at Melos.

He noticed it, but he was trying his best to ignore it. But after a while, he started to get more than a little annoyed.

“What is it, Melodi? Got something on your tongue?” Melos finally broke the silence.

Melodi jumped up with a start. “Well… actually yeah. I just wondering about my training that’s all.”

“...

What about your training?”

“I’ve been training with you for a month now, but I still haven’t actually learned how to use this sword.” Melodi tugged at the blade in her hands. “I’ve been carrying it around with me everywhere, but you haven’t told me to take it out once.”

“You think you’re ready.” Melos looked at Melodi coolly. He wasn’t asking a question, merely expressing an observation. But Melodi answered it like it was a question.

“Yes, I’m ready.” She eagerly nodded.

“Alright.” Melos suddenly stood up. He drew his sword with one quick movement. It was a long blade, with one edge. It had a slight curve to it. “Draw your sword.”

Melodi scrambled to her feet and drew her sword as well. But she took a moment as she clumsily worked it out of its sheath. Her sword was similar to Melos’. The difference being that her’s was smaller and shorter. As she faced Melos, she couldn’t help but feel a chill run down her back. Melos’ eyes stared at her with a cold look. She gulped. The hilt in her hands felt slippery from sweat.

“I’m going to show you one technique. If you can learn this, then you are truly ready.”

Melodi nodded.

“Then, keep your eyes open. You’ll miss it if you blink.”

Melos stepped forward. It was but a single step. Yet it felt like he had instantly appeared in front of Melodi. He raised his blade in the air. Slowly, giving Melodi enough time to react. She raised her sword in defense.

And then he swung. A downwards cut. There was no shaking. No instability. It was a straight line. Coming right at Melodi.

Keep your eyes open.

She remembered his words and heeded them. And she tuned out everything.

She didn’t hear the crackling of the flames. She didn’t hear the wind howling around her. She didn’t hear the horses neighing and shifting around. She didn’t hear the creatures of the night buzzing. She only heard the air moving as Melos’ sword cut a line right to her.

She didn’t blink. She focused her sight. She didn’t see the moon above her. She didn’t see the stormy clouds above. She didn’t see the boy watching them closely, with unblinking eyes. She only saw the blade coming down at her. It was thin, so thin it could be barely seen. Yet she felt such enormous pressure coming down at her. Like the entire sky was falling on her. So it made sense that she could only see this sword above her. She could only see the sky.

So she didn’t see what came from below.

Melodi braced for a clash of blows. But it never happened. As Melos’ blade touched hers, it began to blur. Melos’ right arm blurred as well, and suddenly they both disappeared. Her eyes widened.

His sword had disappeared from the sky. There was only one place it could be next. She quickly looked down and sure enough, it was there waiting for her.

His blade poking straight into her stomach. Melodi fell backwards, right onto her butt.

“Wha… what did you just do?” Melodi was shook. “I kept my eyes open the entire time!” She shouted. “I didn’t blink! I didn’t see anything else! How did-”

Melos raised his hand and Melodi stopped talking.

“This technique is called the Phantom Slash. You fool your opponent with a fake swing. As they defend the blow, you strike with your real blade. Learn this technique, and then you can say you are ready. Until then, don’t complain. And just follow your training.”

Melos walked back to the campfire and sat down. Melodi watched his back, with a wide-eyed expression.

What had happened? How did he do it? Can I even hope to do the same? Could I ever learn this technique?

These thoughts ran through her mind as she began to doubt herself.

And Melos smiled to himself as Melodi was in mental distress. He was surprised. He hadn’t expected Melodi to taken on his slash like that. He could tell in that moment, her mind was completely empty except for the sword in front of her.

“Not bad.”

Melos sat by the fire and Melodi slowly got up to sit next to him. And the whole time, the boy named Kuren had been watching unnoticed. His eyes had been dull and cold whenever Melodi looked at him, but now they were sharp and alive. He stared at the blade at Melos’ hip.

And when Melos and Melodi went to sleep, he stayed up. He kept on watching, until the sharp look in his eyes slowly faded away before anyone noticed in the morning.