The Oathsworn

by Liandra Jake

  Kronth smiled. "That sounds nice and simple. What did Corenden get you?"

  Berry held up her left hand, the same one she touched King with. A colorful chain was wrapped around her wrist. Small clear orbs hung off the entire length of it. "It's a simple silver alloy with quartz gems and an outer layer of various metals for color, but he spent a month's overtime to pay it. I gave him a new bag I made myself in return."

  The two left King to sleep in peace, sitting down at a table behind the main station wall. "Don't you have something with Arend?" Berry asked as a Pog brought them both coffee, serving out the rest to the sleepier Floxes.

  "Yeah." Kronth sipped the coffee. She twitched, looking down at the coffee. "Holy hell, is this triple caffeinated?"

  "Yes. We've been working nearly nonstop all day. This is my first real break in the past week. Back to Arend, what about him attracts you? Even as a Pog, I can name a few things that I'm curious about." Berry said.

  Kronth raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're pretty bold."

  "It has nothing to do with being bold. You'll have to be blind not to notice." Berry replied.

  "Well what about Corenden? It's not exactly easy to tell with all that fur."

  A nearby Pog twitched. "Do you have to talk about that?" He asked.

  "It's nothing to be embarrassed about." Berry said with a wink at Kronth.

  He threw up his hands. "I'm going somewhere else!" He walked away, dragging the mail he was separating behind him.

  Kronth and Berry found his frustration amusing. "So, how far have the two of you gone?" Berry asked.

  "Not very." Kronth replied. "We haven't gotten much time alone. That and I want to take this slowly. I've had some tricky relationships in the past."

  Berry nodded. "I've had friends who were in bad relationships. They refused to admit it until its blow up in their face."

  "The thing is, this is Arend' first relationship, and he seems to be able to handle himself better than some veterans. He's just got some sort of innocent charm about him." Kronth said.

  "That's because you like him! He isn't anything you've dealt with before, but exactly what you expected. A man like Arend has no secrets. When I first met Corenden, he was a rookie working at the mail company. His surprising tenacity to stick with the people his likes no matter how bad things get really stuck with me. I see a similar behavior in Arend, but I'm willing to bet he would fight just as hard even if he had just met you. If he views you as a nice person, he will go out of his way to help." Berry said.

  "I see your point, and frankly I'm surprised at how well you can judge Arend' character." Kronth replied as she sipped her coffee.

  "My husband finds him fascinating. I made a few assumptions based on what kind of person would be willing to let him enter their Guild." Berry replied.

  Kronth's phone buzzed. "Yes?" She answered wearily.

  Draken was on the other end. "Kronth, we need you to come to the meeting building." He promptly hung up.

  "Okay, so Draken is now making summoning calls. I wonder what's gone wrong this time." Kronth downed half of the super caffeinated coffee. "It was nice to meet you." Kronth said before hurrying through the Nest.

  [X]

  Kronth was surprised to find eight people, not including Draken, waiting for her in a first floor meeting room. It was what they were dressed in that really threw her off. Each one was dressed in some kind of high strength armor. Riot gear to some kind of steam punk; each one had a different style, but were all Ranked the same.

  "What's going on?" Kronth asked. The man in riot gear stepped forward.

  "My name is Corech Klue, an ambassador for Silver Napalm. I am here t place my Guild under the command of Silver Napalm." He said with a bow.

  "What?" Kronth squeaked. The other seven did the same thing. The GTS, Feminine Mystics, Gentle Everlast, Coglink Clockworks, Ice-Blue Aurora, Horace;Damned, and the Infighters. Allan himself showed up.

  "So out of every Guild in this big-smoke, Arend has to pick the craziest bunch." Allan said to Kronth as he shook her hand.

  She was taken slightly off guard by his accent, but was in shock from what was going on. A few Dragon's Den S-Ranked members who were called in by Draken walked in as Kronth began to freak out.

  "I can't do this, can't do this, can't do this!" She was pacing back and forth, pulling at her hair.

  "Kronth, you need to calm down." Draken said as he gently pulled her hands off her head.

  "What's up?" Duke asked.

  Ferrous, Pike, Arking, and Isaac were equally curious. "Dragon's Den is now in charge of seven of the continent's most influential Syndicates and the independent fighting group known as the Infighters." Corech explained.

  "You're fucking kidding me." Arking gaped.

  "No he isn't. Kronth replied, now trembling.

  A man pushed through those standing at the door. "Glad to see you've kept the place together." He said to Kronth.

  He was massive at six-one with wide shoulders and muscles that could only be described as intense. His graying brown hair was roughly cut short to keep manageable. A thing grey jacket was tied around his waist; a second black jacket loosely covered his upper body. His pants were tattered, and stained brown. The only thing on his feet was a pair of sandals.

  "Dran…" Draken whispered.

  Kronth was brought back to her senses. "Are you here to take control?" Dran nodded. "Thank God." Kronth let out a sigh of relief.

  "NO!" Duke exclaimed, making everyone jump.

  Dran turned towards him and got close to his face. "I have every right to take control of my Guild."

  Duke shoved him back. "You may have formed it, but we were left to run it. You disappear without a word or glance back and expect us to accept your leadership?"

  "Kronth took the initiative and led us through the mess your irresponsibility has wrought! You can take back the building, but the Nest and Dragon's Den will no longer be your pawns anymore." Pike added.

  Dran was thoroughly confused. "I left on a request. Thirteen years may be a long time, but I was going to come back."

  "Do you know what has been happening recently?" Ferrous asked. Dran shook his head.

  It was quickly explained bit by bit by everyone in the room. "… So that's the issue. From what I can tell, you all handled it pretty well." Dran took a look around the room. "I've come to the realization that I'm no longer needed here." He dropped something into Kronth's hands. "When things get rough, I'll be by Dragon's Den's side as an independent fighter, Guildmaster Kronth." Kronth glanced down at the medallion in her hands.

  The grey and red pattern of the Guild's symbol was worked from two different metals. "Are you sure?" Kronth asked as Dran walked out.

  He stopped in the door way and glanced back. "I don't know anyone more qualified then you. I trust you'll keep things in order as you always have." He continued out.

  Kronth smiled slightly and slipped the medallion over her head. "Alright then. Let's figure out how this Alliance will work. Our first goal should be establishing a relationship with each other's members."

  [X]

  Nem and Kyrel didn't have to wait long before Vladd showed up. The mention of Felsen Soul made him practically sprint all the way to Jacob's shack. He arrived drenched in sweat.

  "Is it true?" Vladd asked.

  Kyrel held up the Earth shooting gun. "You tell me." Vladd had a look of amazement on his face that neither Kyrel nor Nem had seen before. Kyrel tossed it to him. "As of now you're a wielder of a Legendary Weapon."

  "Not quite. You'll need quite a bit of training before you can consider yourself worth of their power." Nem looked across the barren field to a series of targets set up in the distance. "Luckily, since they're both long ranged weapons, and you both have the reflexes and aim required for weapons like this, your training won't be too difficult. I want you to get comfortable with your weapon and shoot one of the targets."

  Vladd laughed, twirling Felsen Soul in one hand. "I'm comfortab
le with any gun, even if it is a legend." He stood sideways, bracing his legs and holding the gun out, aimed at the farthest target. He pulled the trigger. The recoil struck before the shot manifested before the gun. Vladd's arm was thrown skywards, shooting a gigantic ball of earth twice the size as the one Kyrel had stopped before.

  It arced up slowly, dropping straight down like a meteor. Kyrel prepared to catch it when Nem drew Moon's Sonata. He stepped forward, swinging the blade in an arc behind him, leaving a narrow crescent of white Orenth barely longer than an inch behind him.

  "Sliver Moon."

  He swept his blade skyward. The tip cut through the earth, pulling the Orenth behind in an arced beam of energy. The flying crescent sliced the rock in half, before bursting out in a silver explosion that propelled the two pieces ten feet to either side of the trio.

  He sheathed his blade. "That," He turned back to face his two stunned disciples. "Was one of my weakest attacks."

  They glanced at each other. Vladd smiled nervously. "Guess I shouldn't have put so much into it."

  Kyrel stepped beside Nem, pulling Aero Fìra off his back. He removed the thin leather belt that he was using to hang the bow over his shoulder. "I can't guarantee anything. I have no idea what the pull back strength is." Kyrel said as he began to feed the bow some of his Orenth.

  Nothing seemed to happen. "I don't see how that'll ever be useful. It's a bow after all and it doesn't even have a string." Vladd said as he raised Felsen Soul again, this time with a greater appreciation of output from the Orenth he poured in. He took a second shot in the dark, sending a fist sized rock down the field.

  It bounced off the ground, stopping as it hit the very top of one of the targets. "That's a half point for Vladd." Jacob said from nearby, sitting in a lawn chair with a pair of binoculars in hand and a cooler nearby. He filled in a single square on a gridded notebook under 'Vladd.' Vladd gave Kyrel a smug look. Kyrel ignored him. Vladd began to shoot off more and more shots as Kyrel tried to call forth the inner power of Aero Fìra.

  Nem silently watched as Kyrel struggled with the bow. Kyrel took a deep breath. He spread his legs, turning his body as he would if he were to take a shot. His training as a child in archery showed in his form. The air began to tremble around him.

  Nem took a step back. "Kyrel!"

  The air around Kyrel exploded into a mass of twisting air. The sky-blue Korvan began to glow, emitting a thin aura that spread up the bow to Kyrel's hand. Kyrel slowly began to release his breath. The air around him settled to slow crawling spin. A hazy blue fog began to form from Kyrel's breath, twisting around his head to dissipate with the turn of the wind. A light blue line appeared that connected either end of Aero Fìra in a flash of light. Kyrel took his right hand and touched his left that still held the bow.

  He took second deep breath in as he pulled his hand across from the middle of the bow to the string. The air picked back up, spinning faster than before. A finger thick white shaft followed his hand, splaying out like a feather in a dark blue as it contacted the string. Kyrel hooked his fingers around it, pulling back slowly. Nem watched in silent amazement as the twisted air around Kyrel violently compressed at the tip of the white shaft, forming a sky-blue arrowhead.

  "Cyclonic Bolt." Kyrel whispered before releasing the arrow.

  It raced down the field, carrying a wake of dust and rock behind it. It passed through the center of one target, continuing on through the next. The arrow head began to unwind and the arrow began to jump erratically before colliding with the third and final target, exploding on contact. Bits of the wooden stand-up bull's eye rained down at the far end of the field.

  "… Twenty-two?" Jacob said as he marked out the boxes on Kyrel's side.

  Kyrel let out a short sigh and glanced over to Nem. "I've been trained well before now. Of course, the real thing is nothing like what I've prepared for."

  Nem blinked then smiled. "You could have warned me about using Natural Orenth. I was expecting you to falter and release it all at once. Kinda glad it worked out."

  "Are you insane?" Vladd asked Kyrel. "You can't just-"

  Kyrel silenced him by pointing the bow blindly down field and pulling back three arrows at once, nailing three different targets with the headless shafts. They dissolved in a few seconds.

  Kyrel raised an eyebrow. "You were saying?" The aura surrounding the bow evaporated, unwinding the string at the same time. The bow was back to its usual form.

  "While the lack of fatigue is useful, having to use Natural Orenth limits how often you can use the bow." Nem said.

  Kyrel nodded. "If I dilute it with my own, I should be able to make the string stay longer."

  Vladd took a few more shots. He was visibly weaker and his shots deviated slightly. Eventually, he had to sit down or he would fall over. "I'll be glad when it starts to get more Experience." He said as he held the gun up in front of his face.

  Kyrel glanced over. "I thought a weapon's Experience wasn't set purely to the individual?" Kyrel said.

  "That's true!" Jacob called over. "But a Legendary Weapon works differently. Since they feed off the Orenth of their wielder, their Experience is based on the trace amounts that build in the weapon over time. They still do get stronger as they become used to the Matrix they are in, but the Korvan in those have remained in the same setup for centuries. You can't squeeze out any more with normal Experience when it reaches critical mass."

  "At which point, physical training becomes key." Nem continued. "Moonfruit boosts the Moon Orenth in my body, both causing my hair and eye color change, save for the slashes. It will start out as a dark grey and slowly turn to a pure white. That's why most of the Celestial Rim members we've encountered have hair like this."

  "So I don't have to worry about my hair turning white?" Vladd asked.

  "Not unless you start eating excessive amounts of Rock Watermelon." Nem replied.

  Kyrel laughed. "I can only imagine you with white hair. It wouldn't be that drastic of a change for my look, but it's not quite something I want to do yet."

  "I think this has been enough for today." Nem said as he walked away. "Both of you are exhausted. Get some rest before the real work tomorrow."

  - - Teneo Myshcell - -

  Arend dropped into a fern. The wet canoe was left on top of him. The other three had similar positions. "That…Is…The…Weirdest…Canyon." Corenden huffed.

  "Safe and swift doesn't mean easy." Michael replied. "That second river back there comes from the plateau we need to cross over. Finding Aegith's campsite is going to be a lot easier than that whirlpool back there thought."

  "Great. If we didn't have so much crap, we could fly there." Iode said.

  "NO." Michael replied.

  Arend shimmied out from under the canoe. He sat up and stretched. "We can't rest for too long. The sooner we get there, the better idea of how much time we have wasted."

  Corenden groaned. "I'm hating the strength of a Pendragon more and more as this goes on."

  They all stood up and secured their cargo before setting off. Iode and Arend were forced to carry the canoes stacked onto each other as Michael and Corenden led the way. They made quick headway through the numerous large ferns. The occasional bird chirp would distract Arend' attention away from his thoughts. An hour in, they rested beside a small spring.

  It was a small pond that only got as deep as Arend' chest. Water worn stones littered the bottom and could be seen through the crystal clear water. They all drake heartily and refilled their water supplies before diving in for relief from the heat and humidity. Michael sat in the shallows, not wanting to get completely soaked. Arend paddled around in his underwear with Corenden on his back. He was occasionally left floating when Arend dived down. Iode simply floated on his back.

  "Why do you keep doing that?" Michael called to Arend.

  "Do what?" He mumbled, surfacing with a small fish caught in his mouth. Michael was put off slightly as Arend devoured the fish whole, not spilling a drop of blood
. "They're perfect raw! They've only got cartilage!" Arend called back.

  "I meant when you cock your head and listen to the water." Michael replied.

  "It sounds odd that's all. Don't you think a spring like this is a little strange in itself?" Arend asked.

  Arend skulked about with his face just below the water. Something beneath his feet shifted as he stepped on it. He backed up slightly and looked to where his foot was. One of the stones stood out from the others. A small section could be seen glowing softly underneath the others. Arend dug in and pulled out a flat, rhombus shaped Korvan that glowed with the same color as the moon.

  "You're fucking kidding me." Arend said as he flipped it in his hands.

  "What is it?" Corenden asked.