Chapter Seventeen: Xolumbrandir Part Two

I made my way up to the first floor of my tower, the large carved stone that made up the steps exhibiting a dull ring as I walked over them. Each sound was like a dagger to my ears, a sharpness that threatened to bring down more of Xolumbrandir's abominations, something I wanted to avoid if it was at all possible.

While I had no problem fighting the creatures, they were a nuisance and one that could get me killed if I wasn't careful. I wasn't dealing with an ordinary mage or even an ordinary sentient weapon. This was Xolumbrandir, the oldest sword in Vita. Used so many times that it had reached a higher level of being than any other blade of sentience I had come across. Playing with it was not ideal, but I had to keep taunting it, pushing it, deepening the wide river of anger that was building within it at the prospect of me becoming it's master again. It was this 'game' which would cause it to make a mistake, to miscalculate, and that's when I would strike.

But I wasn't going to be completely reckless.

As I approached the apex of the steps and walked into the large hallway beyond, I kept a firm grip on my mana, ready to destroy any creature that thought of getting close.

I was in luck it seems, there were no constructs or any visible threats and I could sense none of the swords aura, except for at the Tower's peak, where I knew it would be before I entered.

A smart beast, it was consolidating it's power.

I needed to only reach out slightly with my aura and I could sense it. A darkness so black that night seemed light in comparison. It seethed and raged, pushed and pulled as it grew larger by the minute. The sword was planning something spectacular and I didn't want to disappoint it by being too long.

But I didn't want to turn up with getting all dressed up first. There was something of significance to me in my personal armoury on the third floor. Several things, in fact. But I had a healthy dose of scepticism that all of it would still be there.

It had only occurred to me as I approached the tower and I needed confirmation to be sure, I wasn't about to jump to conclusions, but I suspected that Vitriss' control of Marwenna had gone much deeper than I had first thought.

It was Bell talking about Cinder that had first brought it to my attention, but in my rage I couldn't properly process it, too consumed with anger at the thought of Marwenna abandoning Cin to return to Callai and live a happy life with Valant.

She was my oldest friend, my first friend. Together we had wandered from one end of Vita to the other, righting wrongs and gathering my Knight's along the way. In the nearly six centuries I had known her, she had never betrayed me, not once. She had always been my rock, my source of strength in times of hardship.

So why would she turn her back on The Rebel Court?

That was what she had effectively done. The other's wouldn't believe for a second that I was killed at the hands of fucking church soldiers. They would laugh it off as a joke if Marwen had even brought it up. Cinder went to the Red Citadel by herself... was she running away from my death? Or running away from Marwenna?

I pushed my hand into the side of my head and grimaced. What the fuck is this? Games within games within games and I appear to be a mere pawn, caught in the middle. Being used by the Goddess just like Marwen had been.

If what I theorised was true then that meant that Marwenna was still under the control of Vitriss, who had no intention of telling anyone the truth about anything.

If that was the case, then Vitriss had a powerful pawn in the form of my Knight. Marwenna wasn't my second for no reason. After me she was the most powerful being in Vita and in the last four hundred years, maybe she had surpassed even me in strength.

But why? Why all the cloak and dagger? Why was Vitriss lying? Why the fuck can't something just attack me so I can kill it like in the old days?! How the fuck am I supposed to kill a Goddess who can manipulate people on a whim and lives in a fairy tale realm of flowers?

The alternative was even worse. That Marwenna had turned her back on The Court for reasons unknown and had cut ties with the Knight's. But could that really be it? Could she really have become that cold? Perhaps. I didn't know her any more. For the foreseeable future I would be labelling Marwen as a threat until I could discover the true cause of her behaviour. Whether it be divine or some other reason completely unrelated.

I made my way through the hall as I pondered this problem, the one that had been at the back of my mind since I had emerged from the Ever-Garden.

I had no real way to do anything to Vitriss right now. I'm not a God, nor was I even close to approaching one in terms of strength. In a straight out, balls swinging fight, Vitriss would tear me apart. All I really have going for me was the goal she had set me. To find Arcana, to gain power and defeat Samedus Exovan. It was something I didn't feel she was lying about, the emotion on her face, the way she carried herself while discussing it. She may be fucking with my life on a level that I couldn't even properly quantify yet, but she did need my help.

That was something I could take advantage of.

I grinned to myself and felt purpose drive me once again, my footsteps firm against the ground as I moved through the barracks, not even checking the rooms around me for anything valuable. It would be a waste of time anyway, our guards were a token force, nothing more. The true power of this tower was me and my Knight's.

The tower was set into seven levels. The first floor held the guard quarters where the best of the best would assemble and serve as my honour guard. Not that I really needed a guard to begin with but Heilvol had insisted that it would be a good idea. He said the people would know he was someone special, someone to aspire to become, if they saw him being protected by a load of soldiers in fancy armour. All nonsense as far as I could understand but then I wasn't the one trained in politics from an early age.

The second floor was the library, the third was the Knight's rooms and on the fourth was a large hall where we had eaten our meals and gathered on occasion.

The fifth was my personal quarters where, hopefully, I could find some clean clothes. I had been wearing these one's for the last few days and while I knew Vitriss was a Goddess and had power I couldn't even fathom, I couldn't help but feel slightly vulnerable at the idea of my clothes just disappearing into a puff of smoke.

The sixth was my armoury where I kept armour and weapons of my own creation. I wasn't really any good with a forge. The one time I tried Drogna started moaning and complaining that I wasn't doing it right so I just decided to stick to creation through magic, relatively simple if one had mastered all the elements, like I had.

The seventh was where I knew Xolumbrandir would be waiting for me. The training arena.

It had been created purely on a whim of Marwenna's. For the longest time she never fought in close combat with the rest of us. Instead she had stayed back as a ranged fighter, something she was incredibly skilled at, as she had no real training with blades. She had stolen The Angelis and taken it with her after I asked her to follow me into the unknown and fight the church. She held onto it for nearly a full three centuries. It never left her side, but she never drew the blade from it's scabbard.

When I asked her about it she had told me it was her mother's blade, she had once been one of the greatest elven warriors Vita had ever seen, even commanding the elven armies from the front. Marwen never had the chance to meet her mother as she died in childbirth. Something that her father took rather harshly and he often blamed Marwen for the deed, to the point that it crippled her emotionally, unable to even draw the blade, as if she was unworthy.

After she had the arena built, she overcame this fear and began to train with the sword to the exclusion of all else, including her magic. She was often taught at the same time as Faral, who also wanted to learn swordplay, but for completely different reasons. Faral wanted to beat me, at least once, in a fight and she sparred with me as often as I would allow, wanting to defeat me if at all possible. She came close several times but, unfortunately, I was slightly better. But she always came back, always wanted to fight more and to learn more about my style of combat. Something that she added to her own style eventually.

Marwenna on the other hand, had no intention of beating me but to learn everything I knew. We worked together for a long time before she was satisfied that she could hold her own in a fight. By that point however, Marwen was probably one of the greatest close combat fighters in Vita, The Angelis an extension of her body.

I pulled my mind back from my drifting thoughts just in time to realise where I was. It seems that I had made it to the second floor.

I chuckled to myself, seems I got more lost in nostalgic memories than I would had cared too.

I was standing in a vast library that was probably the same size as the throne room downstairs. The main difference being the books that covered the walls, right to the ceiling, arranged neatly in oak bookshelves that had been carved by hand. Volumes on almost every subject known to man; cooking, magical warfare, physical warfare, military strategy, the mating rituals of the colcoph moth... everything.

The dust that had gathered in this room was immense and, even from the entrance way, I could feel it begin to cling to my skin and attack my eyes and nose. There were no massive footprints in the unbroken layer that covered the ground so I could only assume that no constructs had been through here lately, but I remained on alert just to be safe. Better to be cautious than dead.

I made my way into the room and ran an eye over the books as I walked, I couldn't believe that they were all in tact after so long, but it seemed like they had all remained in at least passing condition.

'Magi: History of magic in Vita, The unwritten rules of the written word, Adventures of Sam: Rough Warrior'

On and on they went, some of which I had never had the chance to read and I realised, with a slight sadness, that I probably would never be able to.

As I walked to the other side of the room, something caught my attention that made me turn and walk to one of the shelves in a far corner, near a table, and wipe away some of the cloying dust, causing huge clouds to rise into the air. I had found one book untouched by time, the sight of it made me laugh softly.

“Lily the rabbit” I said aloud, wonder in my words.

This was an old book indeed but I realised quite quickly why it was still in one piece. In one of the corners was a poorly cast ruin that seemed to have been made by a child. It was enchanted to be able to reject the turn of time. I knew who the culprit was, of course.

Suddenly, I felt a flood of memories return to me, so clear that they might have been yesterday, as I held the book in my hands. Memories of a little girl who would not stop crying, a little girl who was always hungry.

“Then Lily made her way back home and she found all her friends waiting for her. Porky the porcupine, Mery the moth and even Fera Fox. They had made a great big cake just for her birthday. That was when the littlest rabbit realised that she didn't need to search the world for other rabbits, because her real family was waiting for her all along. The end” I finished and closed the pages of the book, looking to the little girl sitting next to me on a chair, her eyes wide as she stared at me.

“Can you... em... can you read it again, please?” Cinder asked quietly, her eyes looking anywhere but at me, her fingers moving rapidly as they fidgeted. It was the first words she had said since she had been found by Faral and I, several weeks before.

“Of course you can little Cin, but first you're going to have to go and get into bed, Corus and I will be up in a moment to read it to you before you go to sleep.” Said Marwenna, her hand holding up her head as she gave a little smile to the young vampire.

Cinder beamed in delight, immediately got up, and sprinted across the room, heading for the stairs as I watched her go and chuckled.

“I can't believe that actually worked, you actually got her to talk after so long... I was afraid that she would never speak again” said Marwen, watching Cinder disappear around the corner.

I shrugged “I was like her once if you remember. All she really needed was someone to be kind to her. Her hunger is still a problem, but we can fix that in time.”

Marwen gave me a strange look for a second, before her smile returned. “I never thought about that, we've been together for so long now, I'd forgotten about the little urchin I found sitting on that bench.”

I returned her smile and gave her a wink before jumping to my feet, Marwen following.

“Suppose we better get up to see the little rascal, she might think we're trying to trick her into going to sleep if we take too long.” I said, stretching my arms, it was already late.

“Ok... but can you do the voices this time? I mean I'm fine with it but doing that high pitched Lily voice is really doing a number on my throat.” Marwen complained as she rubbed her neck.

I gave her my best grin “I thought you sounded very cute, I doubt I could do better. I mean do I look like a Lily to you?”

She gave me an examining look before returning my grin.

“No, I think you are more of a Porky Porcupine.”

“Ouch” I said, clutching my chest in mock agony. “I'm going to get you for that one”

“Only if you catch me” She turned and ran for the stairs, laughing as she tried to escape.

I sighed and ran after her.

Marwenna could really be a child sometimes.

I returned to myself in a moment, my breathing heavy as I thought back on those times. I suppose at that point we were almost like a...family.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed before carefully storing the copy of Lily the Rabbit into my tunic. I would give it to Cinder when I saw her, it might help convince her I am who I say I am. Hopefully.

I turned and made me way towards the door that lead upstairs, despite the emotions that had run through me I felt assured and ready for whatever would come next, I wasn't going to fall here, not to this fucking sword. No more distractions, I needed to head straight to the armoury and get what was needed. Black Tusk were still outside and I didn't want to be too late, they might be in trouble even as we speak.

* * *

Ada dodged yet another strike aimed at her by Kara and twirled her bow, bringing it down on the back of the young girl's head. Kara gave a yelp of pain and then fixed her mouth into a grimace of anger, attacking The Archer again, determined to take off her head.

They had been fighting for several minutes now and it wasn't looking good. Black Tusk were slowly but surely being pushed back by the superior skill of the Knight Descendants, their command over magic being the deciding factor.

Dran the dwarf had somehow managed to coat himself in a hard metal, his skin gleaming in the disappearing sunlight, as he attacked Bell again and again, the vampire barely managing to avoid or deflect his savage attacks.

Leigh was having a tough time of it as well. Mahalis was at least her equal in the sword, if not better, and his control of air was astounding, greater than even Ada's own power. He chased the elf with a dark intent, a sneer plastered onto his face as he brought The Angelis down again and again, trying to take down the woman, who was becoming more and more frustrated. Her battle meditation would not last much longer. The more time she spent in the state, the less control she had over it and it wouldn't be much more before it broke and the gentle girl once more emerged.

Ursula was running, frantically dodging the attacks of the lightning fast half-elf Lor. His speed and ferocity showing through as he pursued her mercilessly. Every time he struck Ursula felt cuts appear on her body as if from nowhere, too fast for her to counter. She became more and more tempted by the moment to change into her wolf form, but knew that would be a mistake as it would remove the one thing that was keeping her alive; her armour.

Ada noticed all of this in the split seconds she had between attacks from the princess in front of her, doing slightly better than the others but not by much. Luckily, she was rather good with magic, especially sound, and used it to her advantage to try and push Kara off balance, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. She was getting afraid now. Kara was much too powerful to defeat alone and it wasn't like she wasn't using her own magic. Bolts of lightning often left her hands and collided with Ada's armour. It seemed to be protecting her for the most part but it wouldn't last much longer, even she knew that. All she could do was have faith.

'Corus would come back, he's the fucking Rebel King, God's be damned!'

Ada swung her bow just in time to deflect one Kara's blows and aimed one to the same spot she had been aiming at for the last few minutes of this intense fight, the back of Kara's neck. Hoping to do some damage at one of the only spots on her body that wasn't covered in enchanted armour.

Kara didn't fall for the same trick twice however and followed through with the momentum of her failed attack, flipping into the air as the bow passed above her head, before sending Furela up in a whip like motion that slashed against Ada's mask.

The Archer recoiled, shocked at the speed and ferocity, allowing Kara time to aim a kick at her ribs. Ada felt her bones groan under the pressure of such an attack and was thrown backwards, skidding across the ground and coming to a hard stop, her arm wrapped around her stomach as she moaned silently in pain.

“Have to admit, your pretty good. But I was trained by the very best, it'll take a lot more than someone like you to stop me.” Kara said, a smirk on her face as she leisurely began to make her way over to the downed mercenary.

Ada tried to get to her feet, but her body protested. She fell again, trying to crawl away as the Knight Descendant slowly closed the distance, seemingly enjoying the sight of seeing her opponent in pain.

Ada looked over at the rest of her friends.

Bell was on her knee's, unable to move, as the dwarf continually threw punches made of metal into her face. She tried to get away, but Dran had wrapped one large Garalthum covered hand around one of the protruding plates on the front of her armour and seemed to have a grip like iron. The helmet seemed to be protecting her, but it wouldn't be long before Dran pummelled through the tough, enchanted leather and found the soft flesh underneath.

Ursula was squirming on the ground, holding onto her gut as she let out cries of pain. Cries that haunted Ada's ears as she realised that, somehow, Lor had managed to penetrate her armour and severely wound her, to the point that she was unable to even properly move.

Leigh seemed to be doing the best but even from this distance, Ada could tell that she wasn't far behind the rest of them. Mahalis was extremely skilled with his blade, much more skilled than Leigh, and he was putting it to good use. His air magic wasn't helping things and Ada could see slash marks covering her friends armour and mask.

Ada turned back to look at her approaching enemy and felt tears come into the corners of her eyes. She didn't want to see her friends die, didn't want to see them fall to people such as these.

'Corus, where are you?'

* * *

I continued to make my way up the tower, avoiding any unnecessary complications, barely stopping as I made my upwards towards the armoury and Xolumbrandir.

While I was still wary of my surroundings I had decided to stop continuously drawing in mana. It would only be a detriment if I made it to Xolumbrandir with less than my full strength. The sword would take advantage of anything it could to make sure I failed.

I passed by the third, fourth and fifth floor without any trouble, not even stopping to look in on where my Knight's lived. It felt... disrespectful somehow, and I didn't want to intrude on their privacy, despite them having not been here for over four hundred years.

As I made my way up the wide staircase and arrived on the fifth floor, there was a large curved corridor that made it's way to my right. This led to the sixth of the tower, where the armoury was located.

To my left was another corridor but it only curved slightly before stopping at a set of double doors at the end. Torches hung in rusty stands and the stone of the tower's interior seemed to be darker than it used to be.

Guess that's what happens when you let your crazy sword take over your home.

I began to make my way towards the double doors at speed, wanting to make sure that everything was how I left it, but I shouldn't have worried so much.

While the rest of the tower was enchanted to prevent degradation over time, there was still that hint of dark energy everywhere. As if Xolumbrandir's essence had seeped into the very stone and silver of my home. Even thinking about that made bile rise in the back of my throat. But it seemed that the entrance to my personal quarter's remained untouched, as if it was purposely avoided by my asshole weapon of choice.

It seems that the sword was still very much afraid of me indeed, it hadn't even touched my rooms, as if it was expecting to still find me in there if it looked too hard.

As I said before, not very intelligent.

I gave a little smile as I walked forward and placed my hands onto the golden wood of the doors, onto the symbol of the Rebel Court and thought 'open' in my mind as I had done countless times before.

As if old gears had been woken for the first time in centuries, and I guess they had, the door's began to open inwards, the sound of the hinges creaking filled the air so I turned to face the way I had come, wanting to make sure that none of Xolumbrandir's 'friends' heard the sound and decided to sneak up behind me.

When none came I relaxed and turned to look into my rooms for the first time in four hundred years, although for me it was only a few days.

It was exactly as I had left it. The carpet was a soft green colour in here and the walls were made of a rich mahogany that I had once admired in front of Drogna when we had visited the royal family of Mytos together. He had bought some and shipped it back to add to my quarters, as a surprise for my five hundred and seventy first birthday... never seen the importance in keeping track of my age but the others always knew and always seemed annoyed when I didn't remember theirs.

As I walked through a short hallway and into the large space of the welcoming room I suddenly felt at ease as I hadn't in a long time. The vast space was sparsely decorated as I never really had an eye for opulent things, but it could only be described as cosy. Large chairs and sofa's sat near a small fire that the Knight's and I had spent many a night here together, drinking and remembering old times. Although most of the time it seemed that it was only myself and Faral that liked to partake as Heilvol didn't drink and Drogna said we didn't drink enough. Marwenna sometimes came but didn't approve of our bombastic behaviour, Cinder would just sit and listen to us talk and make merry, laughing if one of us told a particularly funny story. The feasting hall on the fourth floor was all well and good, but this was one of my favourite spots in the tower. It was where we would meet up after a victory and just talk, be with one another.

I smiled sadly as I ran a hand over the back of my favourite chair, knowing that those times were gone and would never be again was tough to swallow, but I had to think about more important things right now, namely that fucking sword.

I made my way to a little side door that was tucked out of the way and stepped into my bedroom. It was quite small, not really what you would expect a King to live in.

There was a large bed in the room that took up most of the space but I didn't really mind that much. I only ever stayed in here to sleep and change clothes anyway, I never really saw the point of a bedroom that took up a whole floor. Left over feelings from my days as an urchin perhaps.

Speaking of clothes, I made my way over to the single wardrobe that sat just next to the bed and opened it, relieved to find that all of my clothes were still in tact... thank the bitch for enchantments, let me tell you.

It only took me a few moments to remove my godly clothes and discard them non-nonchalantly onto the bed, where they seemed to sit for a moment before dissipating into smoke.

'Guess she took them back... cheapskate.' I thought to myself with a smirk as I pulled my own familiar clothes onto my body.

I was know wearing a rather formal dark green elven made jacket that buttoned tightly, adjusting itself to fit my frame, thanks to the enchantments placed upon it. Black trousers and hard steel capped formal shoes finished the image.

While I may have looked overdressed, The clothing was perhaps the most comfortable thing I had ever worn and it would do just fine for the time being until I could find something less conspicuous.

It was as I turned to leave the room that I saw the mirror, hanging on the opposite side of the bed, right next to the entrance and what looked back was... unfamiliar.

The man in the mirror looked like some kind of elven noble, his dark brown hair covering his ears and his green eyes glowing in the darkness, as if illuminating the way in front of him. The skin so pale that you would swear he had never seen sunlight.

But if one looked closer... they would see more. It was the eyes that gave it away, the eyes always give it away.

I turned away from my reflection, afraid of what I saw within, and made my way out of my quarters. Not even turning back.

I was a different person now, different body, different goals. This wasn't my home any more.

It was at the moment I realised this that I both felt despair and happiness. Happy at having the opportunity to begin another chapter in my long life and despair of what it had cost.

With grim resolve, I made my way out of the golden doors that led into the place I had once called home.