Chapter 5: The Blade’s Chosen

Though only a few strands of messy red hair spilled from the hood of the brown cloak, and only a few bumps indicated her horns through the fabric, those yellow eyes were more than enough on their own to spur Elma into action.

Not a second after she and Goldie locked eyes, she lunged forward to wrap her other hand around the middle of the blade’s scabbard as she gripped its handle tight. Goldie shot into action as well, quickly flinging herself onto the counter and latching her own hands on the scabbard.

Elma wasn’t ready for the surprising force with which the thief managed to drag the sword up towards her. Elma's gut slammed against the edge of the table and winded her as she struggled to not lose her grip. But only a brief second of fighting against Goldie’s force proved that it was a lost cause.

Yorm hadn’t been lying, the strength she was using to pull that sword to her seemed impossible for a Nurl, but Elma couldn’t care less about how she was stealing the sword. The idea of losing it spurred her to grit her teeth and whip one hand back towards her own sword whilst wrapping one arm underneath Bullminth’s Blade so as not to lose her grip.

The second Goldie saw the beginning of Elma’s sword slide free, she yelped and released her grip to dart back. Though shocked by the thief’s fear, Elma wouldn’t let her mind be drawn from her goal. She released the hilt of her own sword and moved to quickly wrap it under Bullminth’s blade as well.

But the moment Goldie’s fingers pulled away from the weapon, Elma felt herself being dragged down. Her efforts were cut down immediately as her arms slammed against the counter, a gasp of pain erupted from her as Bullminth’s Blade rapidly gained weight and pinned her arms to the counter.

She wasn’t even given time to be shocked, the sheer weight of the blade was already squeezing her arms against the counter, and she dug her heels into the dirt below in order to try and pull them free. But moving Bullminth’s Blade was impossible, and her eyes quickly widened as she realized that her arms were now trapped on the counter by its unreasonable weight.

It didn’t make any sense, the thing had multiplied in weight near instantly, she could barely even comprehend what was happening due to the pain of it pressing down on her arms. She squeezed her hands tightly before lurching back, but even putting her full weight backwards failed to move it even an inch.

So caught up was she, that the sudden pair of yellow eyes entering her vision again made her flinch back. Goldie had drawn close again, her eyes narrowed as she shook her head.

“Sorry lady lass, big blade only like Razzda.” Goldie gave a sheepish grin, revealing a row of shockingly sharp teeth as she poked a finger against her own chest.

“What did you do to me?!?” Elma’s face twisted in rage as she lunged forward, forcing Razzda to stumble back.

Razzda quirked an eyebrow before spitting on the counter next to her and waving her hands

“Quiet, hush hush!” she practically hissed before turning and hopping off the counter “Clan hear, they come with cutting for Lady Lass and Razzda. Trust in words, Big Blade not liking you.”

Elma forced herself to calm her breathing, desperately drawing her mind away from the horrid weight of the blade pinning her by focusing her glare on the thief.

“Why should I believe anything you say?” she demanded “I was there you know, I saw what you did at the dig.”

Razzda released a groan at that, but focused on kneeling amongst broken glass. Elma could see the remains of several glass bottles identical to the one Caltop was drinking from, but there was no fluid on the grass and dirt. Razzda picked at the pieces for a bit before turning towards a number of shelves against the tent wall across from Elma.

More bottles were stuffed into the shelves, the glass too murky to see inside. Razzda walked to it, picking one at random before rearing back and shattering it against the ground.

Elma looked towards the entrance flaps of the tent directly across from the hole Razzda had cut in it. The shattering of glass may have been somewhat muffled by the grass but it was still far louder than the shouts that she’d just been admonished for. Razzda seemed unconcerned, and crouched down to pick through the new pieces only to draw a piece of metal from them.

Elma recognized a bracelet with more Eelish writing on it, though Razzda seemed disgusted by her find.

“Stealing more from the clan?” Elma asked, her breath slowly evening out despite the feeling in her arms growing more numb by the second “Was getting most of Maltop’s crew slain not enough?”

“Not fault of Razzda!” Razzda tossed the ancient bracelet aside and turned to point at Bullminth’s Blade “All sharp one’s fault! Just try to match scabbard and-!”

Razzda caught herself, reaching up to fix her hood before turning back to grab another murky bottle.

“Razzda done with Blade soon, Lady lass.” Razzda smashed another bottle and began picking through its pieces “Sell to junk man, fuel hoard, done with messy!”

“But you just said it only liked you, right?” Elma narrowed her eyes at the weapon trapping her arms “How is this junk man supposed to move it?”

“Not Razzda problem, junk man problem!” Razzda eyed several coins collected from the newest bottle’s remains before throwing them away “Already lose lot cause of Sharp one. Clan deal bad, Archon mad, Shiny-tooth Maltop…”

She brought up a hand to stifle a sob, but was quick to grab another battle.

“But do you even realize what this is?!?” Elma asked, but Razzda refused to look at her “The Blade of Bullminth, last of the Eelish’s forged wonders? The very weapon to devour the essence of the Fifth Scourge of Altez and damn near the only thing that could do the same for the seventh-!”

“Lots of words, Lady Lass, much nothing for Razzda!” digging her hands through the glass, Razzda gave a snarl “Lose Maltop, lose dig reward, lose clan favor for fancy sharpness! Bad trade, bad-!”

She suddenly gasped, her hands pulling from the glass for a moment before diving in. A smile spread across Razzda’s face as she pulled a necklace from the glass, a lopsided assembly of twisted bronze links and a blue gem.

It looked rough all around, several of the links bent in odd ways as Razzda looked over it. The gem was messily wrapped up in worn string that seemed slathered in a clear gel that kept it stuck to the chain.

Despite both the coins and the bracelet having been leagues above more well put together, Razzda pulled the messily assembled necklace close and pressed her lips to the gem.

“Hey…” Elma was forced to just stand there as Razzda nuzzled the gem thoroughly “Hey!”

Razzda didn’t respond, merely pulling the necklace away and rubbing her thumbs along it as she stared.

“Are you even listening to me?” Elma asked, eyes darting between Razzda and her rapidly numbing arms “It literally ate the False Drake, do you even… Hello? You’re not hearing me!”

“Yeah,” another voice chimed in, “same Goldie problem.”

Elma whipped her head towards the tent flaps just as a small hand took hold of one and threw it open. It was Caltop, one hand still clutching a bottle as he turned an uneven glare on them.

“What?!?” Razzda was quick to turn on Elma “Too loud, Lady Lass! Why so shouty?”

“Me?” Elma grit her teeth “You were doing the very same-!”

“Thieving!” another Burybiter Nurl, the same one who’d shooed Elma away, poked her head past Caltop “Lazypoors raid shinies!”

“No!” Elma shook her head, once more failing to free her arms from beneath Bullminth’s Blade “I just- I noticed the cut in the tent and-!”

“Not Raid!” Razzda interrupted, pointing to the necklace “Retake gift. For Maltop, not clan!”

Caltop spat on the ground before stepping forward, his strained eyes locked on Razzda the entire time.

“Betray kin, shame kin, kill kin…” he raised a shaky hand to point towards Razzda “Rob kin too? Shameless, Goldie! Shameless!”

“Not mean to, all mistake!” Razzda grasped the necklace tightly to her chest before pointing to Bullminth’s Blade “Sharp one’s fault! Likes me! Not like Yollip, not like Lady Lass. Razzda panic, things too bad to fix-!”

“Lying Lazypoor!” Caltop beat his hand against his chest “Warned Maltop, knew would happen! Shameless no-clan, lazypoor filth!”

Elma could only watch as the two Nurl descended into slinging insults and excuses at one another, pointing and gesturing wildly as their voices raised. But then Elma’s eyes caught sight of something else, just barely visible through the tent flaps.

More Nurl.

A Burybiter with a Pickaxe was waving other members of the clan over and gesturing for them to stay quiet with his free hand.

The sight was enough to make Elma’s eyes dart towards Razzda, focused entirely on trading insults with Caltop

“Listen to me, Caltop.” Elma cut through their argument, drawing all eyes to her “We could stop the Archon-!”

“Silence, thief!” the Nurl by the door shouted before drawing a skinning knife “String up with traitor friend, chop dirty lazypoor hands off first!”

“Easy Luksen,” Caltop hissed, gesturing towards Elma with his bottle “beat out know-how first.”

“You-!” Elma couldn’t even get past the first word before Razzda shouted.

“Razzda not know Lady Lass!” she spat, patting herself on the chest “No friends here!”

“But-!” Elma couldn’t get a word in edgewise, all three of them just pointing and yelling over one another.

Every second Caltop and Luksen held up Razzda with the argument, the Pickaxe Nurl and the rest of the Burybiters were drawing closer. She could see shadows moving along the walls of the tent, they were moving towards the cut in the rear wall that was her only viable way out.

Between the shouting, the pressure of the weapon pinning her arms, and the slowly building panic, Elma took a deep breath as her eyes snapped towards Razzda and screamed.

“They’re surrounding the tent!”

“What?!?” Razzda turned on her just as Caltop raised his bottle and began downing it.

The Pickaxe-wielder charged into the tent with over half a dozen Burybiters just as Razzda lunged for her weapon, one hand reaching for Bullminth’s blade while the other shoved the necklace into her hood. She flung herself atop the counter just as the Pickaxe Nurl hopped onto the end of it.

Elma saw the Pickaxe rearing back and began desperately leaning back away from it. But the fear of the Burybiters was replaced quickly by shock and awe.

Beyond all believability, Razzda reached down with one hand and took hold of the broadsword’s handle. With nary a shred of effort, she lifted the entirety of it off of Elma’s arms just as the Pickaxe Nurl swung.

Not only did the sheathed broadsword slam into the pickaxe’s handle with enough force to snap it, but it kept traveling right into the jaw of the Nurl beyond. His head snapped to the side as his entire body was lifted up and slung towards Luksen, who stumbled out of the way as three more Burybiters charged.

Elma had flung herself back the second her arms were free, the stinging numbness making her wince as she caught her footing. But even that was secondary to the impossible sight before her, the very same sword that had her trapped being swung around like a twig by a Nurl with barely a sign of effort.

At least until Razzda tossed it.

One of the Burybiters stumbled back, nearly tripping off the side of the counter as her arms flailed towards the incoming sword. The second her fingers touched its scabbard it slammed into her chest with the force of a war hammer and pinned her to the counter, a bloody shriek forcing its way out of her mouth before Razzda took hold of the handle and easily raised it once more.

Elma was practically frozen in awe, but a growl of rage drew her back to the moment.

“Cull both!” Luksen pointed from Razzda to Elma “Thief Meat fills!”

Elma squeezed her hands several times, backing away as Razzda kept flinging Nurl away left and right with lightning-fast arcs of her sheathed blade.

A tearing sound made Elma turn to see another Burybiter cutting through the tent wall beside her with a hand axe. Her hand darted towards her hilt, drawing it as she darted back from his swings.

“Filthy!” The Axe’s wielder cackled whilst licking his lips “Filth!”

She swiped at him with her sword once it was drawn, making him leap back out of its range and snarl. Before he could charge, another Burybiter slammed into the space between them before rolling to the side. Another casualty of the frenzied defensive Razzda was putting up.

But Elma only saw opportunity, using the slight distraction it offered to dart towards the Axe-wielder and send the tip of her blade slashing along his face. He slammed back against the cage, shouting out and pawing at the gruesome gash with his free hand

She glanced towards Razzda, watching as Burybiters were flung away one after another by her lightning-fast swings.

Elma turned to rush them, only for a loop of rope to wrap around her neck and immediately pull taut. Her rush halted, Elma’s gaze snapped in the direction of the rope. Luksen and another Burybiter were on the other end, both digging their heels in before pulling Elma back.

She slammed back-first into the grass, one hand going to the rope around her neck while the other tried to raise her sword to take a swipe at it. But then a shadow fell over her.

The Axe Nurl, one eye sliced to oblivion and blue leaking liberally from his wound. He brought his axe up, forcing Elma to swipe at his leg before he could bring it down.

Her blade found its way into his knee, cleaving his leg off as Elma twisted around to get to her knees. She fought against the harsh pulls of the rope, managing to cut the rope only for Luksen to charge her with her skinning knife. Getting to one knee, Elma swiped at the approaching Nurl, but her blade only managed to swipe the knife from Luksen’s grasp.

The Nurl seemed unshaken, continuing forward and leaping at Elma just as she was stumbling back to her feet. Luksen dug her nails into Elma’s neck as she clung to her, grinning wildly as she wrapped her legs around Elma’s waist.

But Elma’s footing held firm, and her hand came around to snag hold of Luksen’s choppy blonde hair before she could start swiping.

Though Elma pulled Luksen back, the Nurl refused to let go. She clawed at Elma’s arm, nails managing to tear through her clothes and dig into her skin. The pain prompted Elma to charge into the cage’s metal bars and smash Luksen between them and her.

The impact succeeded in dazing Luksen long enough for Elma to pry her off, throwing the Nurl against the bars again before turning to Razzda.

Almost all of the other Burybiters were lying around the counter in unmoving, broken heaps or groaning as they failed to rise again.

Razzda had just finished sending another Nurl slamming into the shelf of bottles when Caltop sent his own hurtling into the side of her face. She screamed as the liquor-soaked glass shattered across her head, stumbling back as Caltop rushed her.

He flung himself onto the table and under her blind swing of retaliation before slamming her back-first into that counter. Quickly pinning her, Caltop slammed his skull into her nose and splattered the both of them in a spray of blue as he reared back with a fist.

Elma rushed towards them, only for Caltop to release a guttural scream as Razzda’s sharpened teeth snapped down on his incoming fist. He roared, slamming his other fist into her head until he managed to tear his hand free and collapse over the side of the counter.

Razzda rolled onto her hands and knees, spitting out three fingers in a chunky mix of Nurl blood and saliva before getting to her feet.

“You need to get the sword out of here!” Elma shouted before gesturing around them “Its no good to either of us if they get it!”

“No friends…” Razzda’s words were slurred with exhaustion, waving Elma off as she stumbled along the counter towards the cut she’d made in the tent “Not here, Lady Lass.”

Before Elma could offer any response, the sound of a horn bellowed out.

Elma spun, eyes immediately snapping towards the cage.

Leaning against it, with one hand, Luksen took a deep breath before blowing into a bent metal cone again. It produced another bellowing sound, one which seemed to spark Razzda into darting out of the tent through the cut she’d made.

Elma tore out of the tent after her, unwilling to let Bullminth’s Blade get too far even as the sound of shouting voices drew near.

Her eyes darted across the empty Burybiter Stalls, catching sight of several Burybiters hurrying towards the plaza before spotting the tail-end of Razzda’s cloak slipping behind a tent.

Elma followed behind, but Razzda’s height allowed her to slip under a nearby stall with ease and cut through several others. Elma tried to keep her cloak in sight, moving around the stalls instead so she didn’t lose much distance.

She could see Razzda attempting to hide Bullminth’s Blade under her cloak as she darted around another stall and yelped.

When Elma rounded that stall, she was greeted with the sight of Razzda on the ground.

She was rubbing at her face, cursing under her breath as she looked up to the towering figure she’d run into. Features hidden under the large dark travel coat and wide-brimmed hat, Razzda had just ran into the head of a trio of Yisshin. He reached up towards his hat with his free hand, his other was gripping the side handle of a wooden chest identical to the ones his two companions were carrying.

He flipped the rim of his hat up just a bit, revealing a long, pale white face. The two eyes were nothing more than spheres of solid red.

Elma came to a stop beside the stall upon realizing they’d made it back to the more populated portion of the Trade Fair, and that several eyes were already drawn towards the fancy handle of Bullminth’s Blade poking out from under Razzda.

But the Yisshin she’d run into was quick to wave off his companions’ concerns before smiling at her.

“Ah, hope you’re unharmed, little miss.” He said, offering a hand as his companions leaned to the side to observe her “It would be a shame for a collector of such an… exquisite weapon to come to harm.”

“Finally, something we agree on, Lip.” the Yisshin to his right lifted her own hat to eye Razzda up “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to consider bartering at this very moment, would you?”

“What?” Razzda scrambled to her feet, eyes darting across the nearby handful of Fairgoers “Not do that!”

“Oh please, allow us to make an offer, small one!” the other male raised his wooden chest to show it off “We’re woodworkers you see, and the best battle box builders south of Melka. Our think group can spot a fine weapon in an instant. And this! This is fine indeed!”

“Have buyer,” Razzda began backing up as the trio approached, still failing to hide Bullminth’s Blade behind her “No selling sharp one!”

“Pfft,” the female Yisshin stifled a chuckle as she approached her “all due respect, Nurl. You’d be hard pressed to look around this dung heap of a fair and find anyone who'd give your sword the respect it deserves.”

“Sev, Tick.” Lip raised a hand to silence his partners “Calm yourselves, surely the girl can make fine decisions without you two crowding her.”

Razzda backed up as he kneeled before her, setting his wooden chest in the grass beside him and folding his arms under his chest.

“Maybe you could come back to our tent, see something you like for your hoard?” he tapped the chest behind him “We use plenty of metals in our battle boxes, surely something would seem shiny to you.”

“No,” Razzda took another step back “have buyer.”

“You’re losing her.” Sev spat, only for Tick to quickly shake her by the shoulder.

“Hush hush,” he bit “he’s got this!”

Lip raised a hand to silence them again before leaning towards Razzda.

“Come now.” He nodded to her “Just tell me what you hoard and I guarantee I can surpass your buyer.”

“She’s not selling that sword.” Elma couldn’t bear the discussion for any longer, stepping out from behind the stall and pointing to Bullminth's Blade “It's spoken for.”

“Still follow?” Razzda glanced back at her whilst unsuccessfully trying to hide the sword with her cloak “Save self trouble, lady lass!”

“Competition then?” Sev hissed and began raising the wooden chest at her side “I’ll not be robbed of research material by some scum-sucking human whore.”

Elma could tell they weren’t regular chests, and if what she’d heard about Yisshin battle boxes was accurate then she didn’t want to just antagonize them. Even if Yisshin weren’t particularly well known for being physically skilled warriors, their inventions were always a cause for concern.

She turned her attention to Razzda, the one who actually mattered. She was caught between eyeing Elma and the Yisshin trio, finding more onlookers joining the surrounding crowds on both sides. Even some of the merchants and tradesfolk were leaning out of stalls, eyeing up the proceedings as more and more took note of the fancy blade she had.

“Listen to me.” Elma tried to temper the anger in her voice “I just want to help you get somewhere… comfier.”

Razzda narrowed her eyes at that, only for her gaze to shift and her eyes to go wide. Elma turned around to see a Burybiter pushing through the crowd while holding up another poorly drawn sketch of Razzda.

“Maltop’s girl!” he shouted, pointing her out “Goldie! Lazypoor thief!”

“Hm?”

Elma turned back to see Lip eyeing Razzda with those crimson eyes.

Then he smiled, his pearly white teeth muted by the darkness of his hat. But that didn’t keep Elma from noticing the way his fangs seemed to elongate.

His free hand reached out, prompting Razzda’s hand to shoot towards the hilt of Bullminth’s Blade.

“Wait-!” Elma shouted, but it was far too late.

Razzda spun on him, swinging the sheathed broadsword at Lip only for him to vanish in a puff of black ashes.

Elma’s eyes darted around, eventually finding him again several yards behind his companions. He stumbled back out of a similar puff of black ash, catching himself in the shade of a nearby tent.

He quickly checked his free hand, sighing in relief upon finding it unharmed before grinning at Razzda and gripping his small chest in both hands.

“You're the one who caused that cave in, then.” he twisted the handles on the chest as his companions lifted their own and did the same “Whether a collector or not, an enemy of the Archon holds no place in my heart.”

“We’re loyal citizens!” Tick continued, his chest split in half in his grasp to reveal slabs of metal within “No use angering the mindful new ruler of Altez.”

“So, apprehending his enemies would be our civic duty, no?” Sev had done the same, but soon flat blades had slid out of both halves “Actually, maiming would perhaps be more fitting.”

Lip nodded as he stood tall, his wooden chest popping open to reveal a crossbow built into its frame.

“To display the power of our designs and garner favor with the new ruler.” He smiled wide at the thought, running a pitch-black tongue along his fangs in delight.

“Such a chance will not be wasted.”