by Mark Albany
“Try hitting it with your sword,” Faye chuckled. “That does seem to be your solution for pretty much everything.”
“Well, I didn’t see you doing anything to get us through the brambles,” I snapped back, scowling at her as I hefted the sword. Witty ribbing aside, I honestly couldn’t think of any other idea than to strike at the block of ice until it shattered.
I shook my head at Faye, who was grinning like she could read my mind, and stepped closer to the block. I had just enough power in me to push into the block if I wanted to, but there was something fighting it inside me that I really felt needed to be addressed.
If my body told me that it was time to stop, ignoring it probably wasn’t the right decision. However, I couldn’t think of another option, and was too tired and brain-fogged from everything that had happened to do much more than react with the obvious choice.
“I’ll give it a shot,” I growled, shaking my head, and then pushed what little power I had left into the sword. The runes glowed bright white as I lifted the blade overhead, gripping the hilt with both hands. My muscles screamed bloody murder with every inch. I translated that pain into a low roar as I stepped into the swing and released the power in the sword just as it was about to collide with the block.
I lost track of what was happening when a flash of bright light caught me off-guard and blinded me. It felt like something hit me in the chest, hard, knocking me back. I stumbled, lost my grip on the sword, and hit the ground, feeling a nearby thorn bush poking into my shoulders as I tried to recover.
“Well, that didn’t work.” Faye succinctly pointed out the obvious.
“I’m hurt, here,” I growled, trying not to get further tangled with the bushes behind me.
“Want me to kiss it and make it better?” she asked with a cheeky grin that indicated she was only half-joking.
I scowled at her and slowly pushed to a sitting position, then finally took Lyth’s offered hand and stood.
“What happened?” she asked once I was on my feet again.
“Well, I may be crazy, but I think that block of ice is spelled,” I replied. I wasn’t going to take another go at it. I already regretted my first one. Until I knew more about it, it was best left to Lyth.
She stepped close to it and narrowed her eyes as her long, delicate fingers lightly traced over the surface. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but her lips were moving quickly, indicating that she was trying to work some sort of spell.
I heard a soft crack and Lyth suddenly snapped her hand away, clutching it like something had hurt her.
“Motherfucker!” she growled while rubbing her fingers.
“What happened?” I asked.
“It… I don’t know,” Lyth hissed through clenched teeth. “It’s like it slapped my hand. Like it was chiding me for trying to see what it was.”
“Just to be clear, you are talking about a block of ice, here,” I reminded her as I walked over and inspected her hand. There was no bruising, but there was a hint of red on the backs of her fingers.
“Don’t mock me like I’m crazy,” she warned me, but let me inspect her hand for a few more seconds until both of us heard Faye’s laughter. The bound Official looked like she had tried to keep it inside for a while and just couldn’t hold it anymore.
I knew the confusion I felt was clearly written on my face. It only made her laugh harder, to the point of tears.
“And just what are you laughing at?” Lyth queried with a hint of warning in her tone. Faye didn’t pay attention to her until the elf stepped in, grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, and pulled her closer.
“Am I not allowed to feel glee over your incompetence?” Faye asked. She appeared to be trying to contain herself, but with little results. I moved over to her as well, but I wasn’t in the mood to threaten her. She had a point; she had the right to mock the people who had captured her when they fared poorly.
Instead, I moved over to where I’d dropped my sword and took a moment to inspect the edge. Even with the impact, it still looked as keen as the day I had taken it from Cyron. I needed to find out more about it when I had the chance. Runed and enchanted swords weren’t anything new, but none that I had ever heard of were as resilient as this one.
I smoothly sheathed it before I turned my attention back to where Faye and Lyth were talking. Lyth looked frustrated, and while I didn’t like her taking that frustration out on Faye, I didn’t exactly blame her for it. Faye could mock us, but she couldn’t expect me to come to her aid when she was facing the consequences of her actions.
“All right, all right, I’ll stop,” Faye hissed as Lyth started to push her toward the thorny brambles were growing. Not the deadliest threat I’d ever seen, but it was enough. I saw Lyth’s frustration, but the lack of a shared bond between us made me unsure if it was with Faye or the block of ice in front of us. Or maybe the fact that we had come all this way, fought our way through undead monsters to find this isolated pocket world, only to be stumped by said block of ice.
“If I might make a suggestion, though?” Faye said as Lyth pulled her away from the thorns and gently brushed her off by way of a half-hearted apology.
“Couldn’t hurt,” I pointed out. I was about ready to suggest that we bunk inside the castle for the night and go at it when I wasn’t too exhausted to think properly.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I believe you both need to start thinking creatively, here,” Faye said while eyeing us. “Have you considered that the way through that ice might not be the ice itself?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. I didn’t think that made much sense, but as I turned to Lyth, it looked like she was intrigued by the suggestion. She nodded as she grabbed Faye by the collar again and pulled the woman over to sit next to the block.
“Don’t you move from this spot. Do you hear me?” Lyth warned. “I will gag you again if you do.”
Faye rolled her eyes but didn’t respond. She leaned back on her bound hands and gently rocked as Lyth turned and gestured for me to follow her. I shrugged and followed her lead. I wasn’t crazy about leaving Faye unattended like this, but tired as I was, I wouldn’t have trusted my judgement either. Let her take control. I was content to follow for now.
“What are we doing?” I whispered once we were out of Faye’s earshot.
“She was right,” Lyth explained wile walking me around the central building in the castle. “If we can’t break through the ice, we might be able to find something that could simplify the process for us.”
I nodded. I couldn’t think of anything that might do that. I had yet to see any fire we could use to try and melt the ice. Sure, that would take a long time to do, and in all honesty, if I was going to encase something in a magically protected block of ice, I would have put heat and fire at the top of my list of things to protect it against.
I wasn’t sure why this ancient elven king hadn’t just wrapped the sword in rock and buried it in the mountains above. That would keep it safe from pretty much anyone. The fact that it was on display, protected by something that allowed one to see what was inside indicated that he wanted someone to see and indeed obtain the weapon, so there had to be some sort of secret to get around the enchantment that surrounded it.
As we circled away from the block, the brambles lessened, opening to what appeared to be a rather beautiful little spot in the courtyard. A river came in from the mountains behind the castle. No, river was too strong a word. It was barely a creek that cut a winding path through the courtyard, not frozen despite the snow all around it. I followed it with my eyes, until it came out into a short section that appeared to have been partitioned off by the river and was surrounded by heavy iron chains. The chains were in direct contrast to the rest of the castle. It was darker and lacked the kind of subtlety that was descriptive of this entire place.
I narrowed my eyes and moved closer to the small island created by the creek, then stepped over the babbling water. I saw a small gravestone, crudely carved and in sharp contrast to the
rest of the castle. Hell, to the rest of the pocket world. There was writing on the stone, but it was too small to make out from where I was.
I looked over at Lyth, who shrugged over at me. She seemed just as curious about it but was willing to let me take the first go. I wasn’t sure how much I liked this new side of myself, being the first to step forward and take risks.
I stepped over the chains, which were roughly knee height, and looked at the castle before I peered at the writing.
I still couldn’t make out what it said. I scowled and turned to Lyth.
“I think it’s written in Elvish. Would you come over and check?” I asked, but was distracted by her sudden change in demeanor. Her eyes were pinned to the gravestone some five feet behind me. I turned back while reaching for my sword. It was instinct, of course. If something was about to attack me, it was best to be prepared.
I wasn’t sure what I was looking at when I turned back. It had risen from the gravestone itself, and it certainly hadn’t been there before. Aside from that, it looked like a creature made purely from mist. It was roughly my height, and I could just make out limbs but couldn’t see anything else that would tell me what it was.
It moved closer to me, which caused me to draw my sword. The blade glided smoothly from the sheath as the mist-being stepped in front of me. It was odd. I could see right through it to the castle walls behind, but I was made aware just how real it was when it glided right into me and a pair of lips pressed against mine.
Soft lips tenderly kissed me as I thought about pulling away, but my body wasn’t doing as I wanted. The kiss lasted for a few more seconds before it ended, leaving me stunned. What came next stunned me more, though.
It felt like a fist hammered into the right side of my jaw with enough power to knock me back a few stumbling steps. I caught myself on the chain just in time to avoid being tripped by it. My sword was still in my hand. A shot of anger rushed through my body, helping my burning muscles to move just in time to avoid a second shot at my head. I ducked under it and straightened as the mist-figure charged at me again.
I weaved to the left just as another strike came at me, with my blade arcing around to slash at the being, whatever it was. I heard a soft, warbled cry of pain as the blade slashed right through the mist, but no other effect was visible as a kick came up between my legs. I reacted just in time. The strike hit me on the thigh instead, again knocking me back another couple of steps.
“What are you doing?” Lyth shouted from outside the chain circle.
“What the fuck does it look like I’m doing?” I snapped at her, not wanting to be distracted lest another blow take me out of the fight entirely. I had absolutely no idea what I was fighting, or if we were fighting, since it had started with a kiss. Again, if it even was a kiss.
I ducked under what felt like another strike, trying to get around it. I had to consider retreating. Maybe Lyth would have an idea of what it was, and I wasn’t doing any good in here.
I turned to make my escape. The creature sensed it and stepped in front of me. I reacted and brought my blade up for a hard swing at the creature but this time, it jumped out of the way. The weight of the sword carried me forward, and I stumbled as it struck the chains.
There was a spark of light as the blade contacted the chains and the chains lost the fight, parting like they were made of paper. I lost my footing and fell heavily to the ground.
Before I could recover, the misty being rushed at me. I prepared to defend myself, but instead of attacking me it, reached down for Faye’s spear that was still hanging from my belt. I waved my sword, trying to catch it again, but it came away with the spear, avoided my strike, and then completely ignored me as it rushed over to where Faye still sat by the ice block.
And I realized that the creature hadn’t actually wanted me to fight it, but rather for me to release it from the chains that had held it in place.
Faye saw it coming for her, and what looked like amusement from this distance suddenly turned to alarm as she tried to push herself up from the ground. She just barely did, struggling with her hands tied behind her back as they were, and started to run.
She didn’t get far.
I pushed myself up to see what was happening. Faye was trying to run away, but the being overtook her. Instead of attacking her with the spear, though, it rushed straight into her and disappeared.
Faye suddenly stiffened for a moment before she went completely limp and fell hard, without so much as a whimper.
9
My first instinct was to run over and see if I could help, as well as figure out what had just happened. Lyth rushed over and ran her fingers over me to make sure that I was still intact before she turned to see what happened to Faye. Neither of us would be rushing over to where she had fallen, it seemed.
“Are you all right?” she asked, looking me in the eye.
“Yes.” I pushed her hands away. “Do you happen to know what that was?”
She shook her head quickly. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
That wasn’t the news I’d hoped to hear, but then, I’d expected no less with the day that we’d had. The infusion of power from my annoyance at being punched in the face suddenly drained away and left me feeling weaker than before.
Even so, we needed to go over and see what was happening, if only to make sure that Faye was all right.
I sighed and rolled my eyes as I limped back toward the castle’s doors, and the block of ice that stood near them. My exhaustion made every little injury worse, and my thigh twinged where the mist-being had kicked it as I walked over to where Faye was still lying on the ground. I knelt next to her and lightly pressed my fingers to her neck, feeling for a pulse.
“She’s still alive,” I said, looking around at Lyth as she approached.
“Which begs the question, why,” Lyth replied.
“Why she’s alive?” I mused, looking up at her.
“Well, that too,” Lyth said with a nod. “But my question was why the crazy mist-creature went after her first.”
“What?” I growled. “It came after me first.
“Well, from where I stood, it looked like the creature was trying to get you to break the chains that held it captive,” Lyth said as she crouched next to Faye and me. “And then took the spear from you and brought it over to her.”
“You don’t think…” I started to say but was cut off when Faye’s eyes suddenly opened.
“Welcome back,” I said with a soft chuckle, tilting my head. “How do you feel?”
She didn’t answer, but there was a small smile on her lips as she reached up to stroke my cheek—which, to my credit, was seen almost immediately as suspicious, since last I remembered, she was still tied up. Which was not the case anymore.
“What—” I started to shout as I turned away from her hand, which quickly clenched into a fist that missed my head and collided with my gut instead.
I wasn’t sure if Faye was this strong before, or if something about the mist-creature inhabiting her had made her stronger, but I landed on the ground some three feet away from where I’d been, struggling to breathe.
From where I lay on the ground, though, I could still see what was happening. Lyth stepped in, immediately on the attack, and swung her bow at the woman, who smoothly ducked under the strike and kicked Lyth’s legs out from under her.
The elf looked just as shocked by the woman’s actions, probably more so because she didn’t use the spear that was inexplicably in her hands. I tried to push myself up from the ground, struggling to come to Lyth’s defense. My sword worked as a brace for me to use, but considering how powerful Faye suddenly was, and how lacking in the same I was, I didn’t think I was wrong to wonder just what kind of impact I could have.
Thankfully, before I had a chance to mount any kind of attack, Faye moved away from her, already focused on the block of ice. From the way that she walked determinedly toward it, I couldn’t help but think that she knew a thing or two about it.
Or the mist-creature that inhabited her knew something about it, anyway.
The spear changed in her hands, shifting around. The steel that made up the weapon glided over itself like pieces in a clock, as the pieces themselves started to glow a bright, hot red. The way it changed showed that it was somehow turning slowly and effortlessly into a sword.
Lyth watched the transformation as well, equally entranced. I couldn’t tell if Faye was doing that intentionally, or if it was just the spear’s reaction to being in her hands again. I remembered her doing something similar with it during our fight back in the West, but this was beyond anything that I’d ever seen before.
And, I assumed, anything that I’d see after.
The spear changed fully into a sword—a longsword that could easily be held with two hands, with a long blade that I now saw had flames coming from it. For the first few seconds after the transformation, I was convinced that I was seeing things.
But, nope. Flames literally came from the sword as Faye stepped closer to the block of ice, and, rather intuitively, drove the blade into it. I saw the same crack of power I’d experienced as the protective spell tried to fight off her attempts, but she was unstoppable, pushing the blade deeper and deeper inside. I heard hissing as the heat coming from the sword melted and simultaneously evaporated the water in the block.
She buried it to the hilt as water and steam forced their way out through the quickly-growing hole. The blade inside glowed ever brighter, and I assumed that the heat increased. With a twist of the sword inside, cracks started to appear inside the block until, with a sound that was reminiscent of a pane of glass shattering, the block broke into pieces and collapsed in a heap on the ground.
I was on my feet, watching it, and I still wasn’t sure I could believe my eyes, especially when Faye moved forward and kicked the pieces out of her way before picking up the sword inside. I narrowed my eyes and gripped the blade in my hand a little tighter. I had no reason to believe that she wouldn’t attack me next, and, with two swords in her hand and relatively fresh, she’d make quick work of me. I could only hope to distract her long enough for Lyth to step in and make something work.