by B. H. Savage
The blade was crafted out of the same sparkling blue material as Glenn’s lance and Amadi’s staff, shaped with a wider section near the tip that narrowed slightly in the center, widening again until it was a few inches from the guard where it sharply narrowed again to make the connection. The guard was crafted out of what looked to be gold, reaching to the left and right with smaller, sharply pointed talon like attachments underneath each end, making it appear to have four sharp points in total. The metal was engraved beautifully to give it a rough surface on the outer reaches while the middle had a design that could either have been a plant or wings. In the center of the shape rested a red jewel. The handle itself was wrapped tightly in black leather that had miraculously not rotted away, and the pommel looked to be made of gold like the guard with a matching red gemstone resting in the center like one would rest as the centerpiece on the top of the ring.
The shield was similar in shape to the kite-shield design she had grown accustomed to during her time in service, but the craftsmanship was remarkable. To the naked, untrained eye, the shield would have simply looked like any other piece of equipment, but to one with as much experience as Anye, she could see that the person who had made it was no amateur. It was perfectly symmetrical, which would allow the wearer faultless control over it when used in combat. There were no separated seams where the metal used to forge it had been placed together, and the attachment of gold pieces making up the image of the tree and circle had no open spacing from what Anye could see, being perfectly fastened in all locations. Even the red stripe of paint running down the middle of the assumedly iron shield had no missing spots, chips, or excess anywhere she could see.
“So, you’ve finally arrived…” a disembodied voice echoed within the room.
Anye gripped the handle of one of her weapons and froze where she stood, but Glenn and Amadi both remained calm and relaxed. She looked at the two of them suspiciously. “Didn’t you two hear that?” she asked.
“We did,” Glenn answered.
“Observe,” Amadi said as he went to place a hand on the statue’s weapon.
“While I could do with the entertainment, you are not my heir, child of the old lands…” the voice stated as Amadi’s hand went to touch the weapon. “Only the heir of my wielder’s bloodline may remove me from this place to undergo the trial. I would have thought you’d known of this.”
Amadi smiled and turned. “It is as I have foreseen,” he stated. He lowered his hand to his side as he looked towards Anye. “What I told you was no falsehood, Anye. When we met, I said that I felt you were important. This is why.”
Anye stared at Amadi in disbelief. He remained silent, but his gaze was fixed on her, and so she looked to Glenn, who was also looking at her. “What? What are you saying?” she asked.
“Anye, you’re the chosen heir,” Amadi told her. “It was something preordained long before our time. Just as I was destined to wield this staff, it was your friend’s destiny to wield that spear. And it is your destiny to claim the arms before you.”
“What do you mean ‘chosen heir,’ Amadi?” she replied. “This is ridiculous!”
“Anye, he speaks the truth,” Glenn commented. “There is a reason for your presence here, and this is it.”
“What do you mean?” Anye asked.
“Touch the handle of the blade,” Glenn told her. “Trust me, you’ll see.”
Amadi stepped aside to allow Anye to walk closer to the statue. She remained still for a second before swallowing out of nervous tension and stepping forward. The voice they had heard remained silent as she reached her hand up to grip the sword’s handle. A quick glance back to see Glenn nod to her gave some comfort in what she was doing, even though the concentration of old magic in the room was intense and making her a dizzy.
Anye gripped the blade with her hand and felt the magic around her suddenly funnel itself in to the blade and through her arm, making the air in the room spiral around her, prompting her to raise her other arm to shield her eyes from the dust. The belt holding her two swords on her waist snapped loose violently and fell to the floor, sliding away from the group and coming to a rest alongside the wall. The feeling was both painful and exhilarating, and although she was fearful of what was occurring, she was also excited by it. It was strange, but it felt right.
The armor covering the statue faded away, reappearing on Anye’s body as the magic cyclone around her continued. The armor fit miraculously, like it had been crafted specifically for her. The armor gained color as it faded from its original tan stone color. Like Glenn’s new attire, it was outlined with silver. But instead of a purple hue, the majority of the armor’s coloring was deep red-brown. A piece of red cloth with the image of the tree and sphere stitched in the middle covered a sheet of thin steel plate that rested over her chest and back. Chain mail lined the sides of her abdomen, and pointed spaulders protected her shoulders. Anye’s hands became covered by the gauntlets the statue had been holding the sword and shield with; a matching pair of expertly crafted metal gauntlets that each had the symbol of a tree growing out of the circle she saw engraved on the upper side of the forearm. The clothing on her legs and feet had also changed to the statue’s once-stone armor, similarly colored to her chest and arms in red, black, and silver.
Once the transition was complete, the hands of the statue opened, releasing the blade and the shield it carried to their new owner. The magic cyclone ceased and the air in the room settled. All became quiet for a moment while Anye took in the reality of what had just transpired.
“Finally,” the voice that had echoed in the room said, only this time it seemed to originate from the sword in Anye’s hand. “Centuries spent waiting for his heir, over at last!”
Anye was shocked as she listened to the words. “You…you can talk!?” she asked as she brought the sword’s handle in front of her face. “What…that’s…this is impossible!” she exclaimed as she looked at Glenn and Amadi with panic in her eyes.
“We can all talk,” the unfamiliar voice of a woman said to her in response.
“Indeed, we each have been bound to serve our masters from within these objects,” a third voice, this time that of an older man commented.
Anye’s head started to spin, completely forgetting that a set of armor had magically appeared on her body. She was hearing voices with no bodies to match them, thinking herself to be going insane from all of the stress she’d endured over the past month. She looked at her friends, confused by the fact that they didn’t seem fazed at all by the turn in events until she realized exactly what was happening and her head stopped throbbing.
“You mean…” she started to say. “You, and…”
“Yes,” the sword said to her. “We are no ordinary arms, Master.”
“Well, I can’t say I expected this,” Glenn commented as he looked at Amadi. “I thought we were going to have to carry the whole statue out of here somehow.”
“As did I, Master,” the lance replied. “But this does bode well, provided she can control Alistair’s power and conquer her trial.”
“Alistair?” Anye asked. “Wait, Glenn, what in the name of the gods going on!?”
Before Glenn could answer her, Anye felt a strong pressure in her head and she fell to a knee. Visions of events she had never seen before flashed within her mind quickly, giving her information about things she had never known in a short amount of time. She saw magic, ancient magic, being used in ways that pushed people beyond the limitations she thought were possible. She saw battles being fought against giant beasts, and creatures born of darkness and flames. And she saw people who looked amazingly familiar to her, yet she had never seen any of their faces before.
When the visions stopped the nausea set in. “What…” Anye had to stop and cough, feeling like her stomach was going to retch up what she ate that morning. “What’s happening to me?” she asked through a strained voice when she could.
Glenn knelt beside her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “
It’ll pass. The spirit of the blade is showing you the history you need to know, so you understand what is at stake.”
“I saw them…” Anye said through bated breath. “The dark army, the death…” she paused, breathing heavily and sweating profusely from the strain. When she calmed herself, she looked at Amadi with dread-filled eyes. “I saw the demons…I believe you,” she said.
“Saw what?” Glenn asked, but his gaze moved from Anye to Amadi. “What does she believe? What did you tell her?”
“There will be time for that later. We should let her recover from the spirit’s effects on her. I’m sure you would not wish her to undergo the trial in such a state,” Amadi answered, dismissive of Glenn’s inquiry.
“Glenn, please, you can trust him,” Anye said softly before giving him a chance to speak. “Just let me rest for a bit.”
But her words fell on deaf ears, and Glenn continued. His tone suggested anger and frustration. “What did you tell her? Tell me what you know, boy.”
“Master, I advise you to calm yourself,” the older male voice from earlier stated.
“You should heed Darius’ advice,” the disembodied female added. “We are not your enemies. Your friend will recover as you yourself did.”
“I know that. I want to know what exactly you told her,” Glenn argued as he stood. “What do you know that you are not telling me?”
Amadi stared for a moment before answering. Anye wanted to break up the fight before it began, but she felt too weak to move, let alone remain conscious. She was hanging on by a thread of her strength and had no choice but to let them continue.
“Your friend here was having a hard time believing stories I told her about my encounters with the freakish beings like the ones below. She only knew, at the time, what was necessary for the job which she was hired to do. I now suspect she has a better grasp on the situation and our destinies, though.”
Anye forced herself to stand against the aches of her body and mind, and gripped Glenn’s arm firmly with her hand. “Glenn, I’m fine…” she struggled to say. The extra effort was accelerating her decline into unconsciousness, but she needed to do something.
“Anye, I promised I would protect you…” her azure armored friend argued. He looked into her eyes, but said nothing beyond that.
“And you have, more than you should have,” Anye replied. “Now stop fighting with him and sit with me…I want to know…how you’ve been…”
The pair slid down the dusty stone wall, never breaking each other’s gaze as they sat. Her heart was at ease with him so near again, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Exhaustion got the better of her though. Within an instant of resting her head, she was asleep.
______
When Anye awoke, she found her head still resting against Glenn. The sun was still up, though noticeably lower than when they had entered the tower. A few hours had passed at least, but she felt refreshed having been able to rest.
Her movement upon waking up gave the fact away, and Glenn looked down at her and smiled. He had taken his helmet off sometime during her slumber, and his now-long hair rested lightly above his shoulders. She could clearly see the scar running beneath his eye-patch, and wondered of the circumstances that led to such a wound.
“Feeling better, Anye?” Glenn asked as he looked down at her.
“My head is still dizzy, but the nausea has passed,” she replied, choosing to ask about the wound later. She looked around her surroundings as she sat up. The swords she used to carry were resting against the wall near her, and she was in a set of armor she didn’t bring with her. She was shocked at the change, at first, until she remembered what transpired before. “Glenn, what happened?”
“You passed out,” he answered. “It seems the strain acquiring Alistair was a bit much for you.”
“Alistair?” she asked, looking down at the shimmering blue sword beside her. “Yes, I remember…the ancient sword, Alistair. Wait…” Anye pushed herself away from Glenn and looked at him angrily, shifting her gaze between him and Amadi, who sat opposite of them. “You both knew about this! Why didn’t you tell me!?”
“Anye, if I recall correctly, you thought I was making up my story, and that ancient myths and legends were simply fiction,” Amadi answered. “And even when faced with proof of such things, your focus on this Amador blinded you to what was truly happening.”
“I couldn’t risk dragging you into this, Anye,” Glenn added, cutting Amadi’s explanation off. “I should have known this would happen, seeing you here, but I refused to accept that. I swore to Leonard I would protect you, no matter the cost. This was too dangerous to risk exposing you to it.”
Anye’s was shocked at the mention of her former fiancé. Glenn had felt guilty after his death, and she knew he looked out for her after. But using that as a reason for keeping the truth hidden from her was infuriating, even if she cared for him. “Don’t blame this on him. I am fully capable of defending myself, Glenn. You of all people should know this!”
“I could not risk it!” Glenn argued. “I couldn’t risk your life for the burden I must bear…”
“Well it’s our burden now isn’t it?” Anye countered. “And the roof of this place is completely shattered. Why couldn’t Eisenzahn just fly us up here instead of making us climb those infernal stairs?”
Glenn coughed, maybe from the copious amount of dust in the room. “The magic that has protected this place over the centuries is quite potent. The ceiling may appear to be glass and shattered from within, but from the outside the entire place is closed in with stone and mortar. Eisenzahn and I were keeping watch from up there for the past couple of days, waiting for Amador.”
“The seal is only completely broken when the item and the accompanying spirit are claimed,” Amadi interjected. “It is possible for the Ancient One to retrieve your friend and myself because our weapons are not bound here. You must still undergo the trial and thus would be prevented from leaving this room by any means other than the way we entered it.”
When Anye felt well enough to walk and fight again she got to her feet. “I see…alright, I think I’m ok,” she said. “That was…intense.”
“I do apologize, Master,” Alistair said to her. “I wish there was a way to prevent such discomfort, but that seems to happen with each succession, unfortunately.”
Anye continued to speak with the blade’s spirit as they left the room and made their way down the stairs back to the entrance where Eisenzahn waited for them. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“This is not the first time I have been inherited, Master. On the contrary, my brethren and I have existed long before any of your histories, or those of your ancestor, Master Armonde,” Alistair explained.
“Armonde?” Anye asked. “You mean Armonde Schultz?”
“Indeed,” the sword answered. “He was quite the skilled warrior, utilizing his physical ability alongside his talented magical prowess. I look forward to comparing your skill to his.”
“But I…”
“You sell yourself short too often, Anye,” Amadi interrupted. “You are quite skilled at using magic along with your martial prowess. You simply favor defensive spells over offensive ones. Do not lose your confidence. We’re going to need it.”
Anye continued to be dumbfounded left and right. Everything in the past few days had been something she never would have expected. If it wasn’t enough that she found herself to be the inheritor of a talking sword, she was the blood descendant of Armonde Schultz, which meant that the name Lord Taggart had given her about her birth parents wasn’t a coincidence, much like Glenn’s surname.
“Wait,” she said and stopped in her place on the stairs. Glenn and Amadi looked up at her questioningly. “If Glenn and I are both related to heroes of the legendary war, and their weapons can only be wielded by their descendants, then Amadi must be a descendant too.”
Amadi smiled and nodded his head slowly. “Indeed I am, Anye,” he told her. “Legeia was wielded by Bethan
y Lightstone, and I am her descendant, though I was not fortunate enough to inherit her name like you two inherited yours.”
“This can’t be a coincidence,” Anye commented.
“It is not,” Darius chimed in. “Though Master Glenn did not realize it when he laid eyes on you, the three of you coming together was foreseen long before your births.”
“What?” Glenn asked. “Why didn’t you tell me this, Darius?”
“The dragon has the answers,” the spear replied. “Speak with him. He shall tell you everything.”
“Eisenzahn?” Glenn asked, but the weapons remained silent. “Darius, tell me,” he demanded, but still the lance’s spirit did not speak. “Bah, stubborn old man…spirit.”
The trio continued in silence. Anye contemplated the circumstances that led to their current location and situation more seriously, and on a grander scale of thought. Simple coincidence was no longer a viable explanation, with their situation having been preordained. Such a revelation worried them all whether they wanted to admit it or not.
The silence broke when they reached the ground floor and saw the open door pouring sunlight in to the darkened chamber. The sound of the great dragon’s breathing echoed up to them. Anye worried about the trial she was to face. Alistair revealed no details about it or what it would entail, but she suspected it would present itself when they reached the door.
It was like the dragon sensed their presence behind him. As they approached, he stood and turned to face them, lowering his head to be eye-level with the humans, and glared at Anye as if looking in to her soul.