by Victor Kloss
They really were making progress, in more ways than one. They’d taken a crucial first step, both in the mastery of the artefacts and in their partnership.
Ben just hoped the next steps didn’t take quite so long.
As it turned out, they did not. After eating something — Charlie had been thoughtful enough to bring food back for all three of them — Ben and Joshua tried again. This time Ben felt the sword connect with him, mind-to-mind, and he resisted the reflexive urge to put up a mental block. Instead he forced himself to sit back and allow the ancient artefact to rummage through his memories, seeing everything he had done thus far in his life, and everything that had happened to him.
Finally, Ben shaped a thought in the sword’s direction. “I’m sorry I tried to control you,” he apologised. “I didn’t understand before. I think I do now.”
The sword didn’t reply with a coherent thought, but Ben could feel that it had received his message, and his contrition. And that it accepted both. A sense of wary approval washed over him.
“We need to work together,” Ben told it next. “In order to save the Institute and the world. We both know I can’t force you. So I’m asking instead. Please help me.”
The sense of approval grew stronger. It was like being wrapped in a warm hug, Ben thought. Only this one was a mental impression from an ancient and awesomely powerful magical artefact. And the hug felt like it was laced with electricity.
“I won’t touch you until you allow it,” Ben promised the sword. “And I won’t ever use you to hurt anyone who isn’t a threat to our world.”
The sword seemed to hum, and when he opened his eyes Ben saw that it had begun to glow slightly. He smiled.
“May I?” he asked aloud. The hum increased, as did the intensity of the glow. Carefully, like he was stroking a terrified kitten, he settled his one hand upon the scabbard. At once a feeling of intense energy shot through him, but this time it was not painful. Rather, it was invigorating.
Then, very gently, he wrapped his other hand around the hilt.
It was as if his whole life he had lived swaddled in thick gauze, able to see and hear but only dimly. And now that wrapping had been torn away, and Ben could perceive clearly. Everything was sharper, brighter, more detailed. He could see the beads of condensation on the tomato in Charlie’s hand, hear the faint rustling of old paper as the page of a book behind his friend shifted, feel the texture of the stones beneath him, and the tension in his own muscles and the smooth metal of the sword against his hands. He was suddenly aware of everything around him, especially of the sword itself, which had somehow leapt from its scabbard and now stood proud and free in his hand, its blade alive with light.
“Yes!” Charlie cheered from off to the side, and Ben beamed. He looked over at Joshua, who had risen to his feet, the shield now snug on his arm. It was clear that his partner had also made contact with his artefact and been accepted by it.
“I think we’re ready,” Joshua said, and Ben nodded, scrambling to stand up as well, the sword automatically shifting to a ready position.
“I think you’re right,” he agreed.
— Chapter Seven —
To Arms!
Now that they had the approval of their artefacts, Ben and Joshua were able to begin training in earnest. They made great strides in harnessing the sword’s and shield’s power, and in learning to work together. But there was one problem.
“This is taking too long,” Joshua groaned, setting the shield down and mopping sweat from his face. Long gone was the smooth, always put-together rich snob who had snubbed Ben so thoroughly at the start of his apprenticeship. They had been sparring against an orc Charlie had conjured, practising working together to take down the fearsome creature. “Every day we wait, more people die.”
“If you go after Suktar before you’re ready, you’ll die, and then there’ll be no stopping him,” Charlie pointed out.
Ben nodded. “We have to keep at this until we’re sure,” he agreed. But inside he chafed at the delay, too.
He was also worried about Natalie.
It had been days, and he had not seen her even once. Not since she’d stormed out of the meeting. Charlie had, and said that she was fine, but still unbelievably angry at them all. Including him.
“Don’t expect her back anytime soon,” he’d replied the last time Ben had asked.
That hurt. Natalie had been the first person the two of them had met when they’d first come to the Institute, even before they’d officially enrolled. She had been their first friend here, and their staunchest companion. Not having her here at their side, her green eyes bright and her smile brighter as she curled a lock of hair around her fingers, left Ben feeling off balance.
Still, he wasn’t going to change his decision. This mission was for Guardians only. Even Charlie had admitted that, knowing full well it would leave him out too. They just couldn’t take the risk of bringing anyone else along. The armour would protect them, but anyone else would be horribly vulnerable.
Natalie had to understand that. And, hopefully, someday she would be able to accept it.
That would most likely be after Ben and the other Guardians had already gone on the mission, however.
He just hoped they would still be alive to come back and see if she forgave them.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” Charlie asked, spellshooter in hand. He looked a little worried; well, a little more worried than usual.
“We have to be,” Ben replied, glancing at Joshua, who gave a terse nod. “It’s not like we’re going to be going up against box dwarves out there.”
“I know but…” His best friend sighed and raised his weapon. “Fine. I’ll say nice words at your funeral.” He then fired the spellshooter into the combat ring, causing a cloud of purple smoke to erupt in the centre.
When it faded away, two dark elves stood there.
Even though Ben knew these were just magical constructs like any training foe, he felt a shiver of fear slice through him as he stared at the pair. They glanced over and scowled, their eyes narrowing and lips thinning. Both elves drew swords, summoning their power as they stalked toward Ben and Joshua, like deadly cats on the hunt for their prey.
“Ready?” Ben muttered to his companion, raising the sword in one hand and the spellshooter in the other.
“Ready,” Joshua agreed, his voice barely trembling at all. He fired his spellshooter into his free hand, and the silvery light that shot out quickly shaped itself into a gleaming sword. Then he sheathed his spellshooter and switched the sword back to his other hand so that he could manoeuvre it and the shield more easily.
Then the dark elves were upon them.
The first one shot a spell at Ben, which he didn’t even bother trying to dodge or deflect. The purple bolt bounced off him, and he relaxed slightly. He hadn’t been sure the protection his parents had woven around him would still work. After all, the charm had drawn its power from the scattered artefacts, and now they were found and reassembled. However, it looked like he was still immune to dark elf magic.
Sadly, the same could not be said for their swords. The elf lunged at him, razor-sharp sword fully extended, and Ben barely managed to parry in time.
“Pay attention!” Joshua barked beside him. “I can’t block everything.” He was busy with the second elf, Ben saw, trading blows. Except that Joshua didn’t have his spellshooter out, just a sword and the shield, so while he could block spells he couldn’t fire any back. That meant he had half the usual attack options, and clearly that was not something he was used to.
As Ben watched, the elf lunged and Joshua moved to block, but his opponent cast a spell that yanked Josh’s sword to the side, leaving him wide open. Ben gasped as the elf lunged in, taking full advantage of the sudden gap in Josh’s defences — and spearing him straight through the heart.
“Ah!” Josh cried out, and everything froze. He fell backwards off the blade that had impaled him, grimacing in pain but also embarrass
ment. “Damn it!”
Ben half-expected to see a bloody wound on his ally’s chest, but of course there wasn’t one. This was a training spell only. The dark elf’s blow would have stung, but nothing more, and the deadly hit was what had frozen the spell.
However, it seemed it had only frozen Josh’s opponent, not Ben’s, as Charlie suddenly shouted, “Ben, look out!”
Ben spun back just in time to hastily parry a blow to the face, and backpedalled quickly. But the elf advanced fast, not giving him a second to breathe or think, and that flashing blade was growing closer and closer. Finally, it slashed out towards his throat, too quick for Ben to block, and even as he squeezed his eyes shut he felt a sharp pain across his neck. Then everything went silent as the spell froze his foe, too.
“Wow, they looked deadly. I’m glad I’m not in there with you.” Charlie offered as Ben opened his eyes. He shared a concerned look with Joshua.
“Tell me about it,” Ben exclaimed. Joshua looked slightly overwhelmed; neither of them had anticipated just how fast the dark elves would be or how ruthless. Ben narrowed his eyes. That still didn’t explain how easily they’d beaten them, though. They were better than this.
“Joshua,” he said, “these guys are good. They’re fast, nimble, and utterly lacking in hesitation or mercy, but I think both of us were just taken by surprise. Modesty isn’t exactly my strong suit, so let’s be honest: I’m one of the best Spellsword apprentices in a while, and you’re not too bad either!” He grinned as Joshua chuckled.
“You’re right, we are pretty good. Charlie, you wanna reset the spell? Ben, you need to go on the offensive while I hold them off a bit; I need to get used to realising the shield is my strong point now.”
Charlie took a bite of his ham sandwich and spoke around an impressively full mouth. “Okay, guys, have fun!” He raised his spellshooter and the spell reset, sending the two dark elves back into action.
This time they lasted a full two minutes before Ben backed into Joshua, tangling both their legs and landing them in a heap on the floor. The elves were leering down at them as they stabbed both boys through the stomachs — and froze again.
“Better,” Charlie commented as Ben picked himself up and dusted himself off and Joshua did the same.
Ben sighed and shook his head. These dark elves were fast, faster than anyone he’d faced before. And he wasn’t used to having to fight with someone, either. That was throwing both of them off.
But they’d get it. They had to.
On their third attempt, Ben managed to slash one dark elf across the arm and stab the other in the leg. Joshua blocked several nasty blows, and sent one sword flying with a particularly powerful slam of the shield.
“That’s it!” Charlie cheered.
Joshua nodded, but he was too busy parrying a blow from the other dark elf to press the attack.
Ben found himself free to do so, however.
“Coming in low!” he shouted, and ducked under his ally’s upheld arm, sliding beneath the shield to stab at the dark elf there. The sword took the attacker in the stomach, piercing cleanly through mail and flesh alike, and the elf groaned and collapsed. That left the other one.
The second elf had not been idle. He had rushed in and stabbed at Ben’s unprotected back, only to have his sword knocked aside as Joshua quickly brought the shield down hard. Ben straightened, turned, and thrust, going high, his blade passing over the top of the shield as it lowered further. The elf had not been prepared for that, and took the sword tip to the throat, gurgling as it stiffened and fell. Ben tried not to let on how much his stomach heaved at the sight of the two elves’ blood or at the thought that, had they been real, he would have just killed them.
This was war. He had never wanted to hurt anyone, but they weren’t giving him much of a choice.
“Nicely done!” Charlie shouted. “I thought you guys were going to be a pair of dark elf shish kebabs. With garlic sauce and salad this time. And some chips on the side. With ketchup.” Charlie patted his tummy distractedly.
Ben rolled his eyes. “Charlie, focus, we’re almost dying here and you’re thinking of Charcoal Grill! We’ll eat later.” He lowered the sword and nodded his thanks to Joshua. “First, we need to gather the others.”
He couldn’t hold back a small, satisfied smile as he sheathed the blade. While they definitely weren’t there yet, he could tell they were on the right track, and with serious practice he felt it would be only a matter of days before they became a formidable team.
“It’s time we made our final plans.”
Charlie nodded. “Cool.” Then he sighed. “But, man, I could really go for a good kebab right now.”
*
It was such a relief to finally be making steady headway on their training, and Ben wanted to make sure everyone knew about it. Time was ticking, and he didn’t want to delay a second longer than was vitally necessary.
“Enough is enough,” Ben said.
He called the other Guardians together at the Crimson Tower once more, along with Charlie, for a final meeting. They had sent word to Natalie as well, but she had not responded.
“Joshua and I will be ready in a few days, and we cannot wait any longer. We need to get moving.”
Around the table, the others nodded. Each of them had stopped by to check on the boys’ progress with their artefacts, and they had seen how the two were growing stronger every day in the use of the sword and shield. They all knew how deadly this war was; even a single day’s delay could cost countless lives.
“Very well,” Dagmar agreed. “Charlie and I have already gathered most of the supplies we’ll need and stashed them below. I’ll make the last arrangements and we’ll be off in the morning.”
“It’s about time,” Krobeg growled. He banged a fist on the table, causing all their goblets and plates to jump. They had decided to save time by combining a meal with the meeting. “I hate sitting here waiting while others are out there fighting and dying for us.”
Abigail sighed. Of them all, only she looked truly worried. Ben wondered if that was simply because she was the youngest or if it was that she was the most open. He worried all the time, for example. He just didn’t let it show.
“I’m ready,” she said, trying to look as confident as the others.
Ben smiled at her. He knew she wouldn’t let the rest of them down. They were the Guardians, and they were all in this together.
“Tomorrow morning, then,” he stated, and everyone nodded. “We’ll meet here to retrieve the supplies, then head out. See you all then.”
And he rose to his feet, effectively ending the meeting. The others lingered a few minutes but eventually dispersed, until it was only him and Charlie left.
“Who’d have thought we’d end up here, eh?” Ben asked his oldest friend with a sad little smile as they exited the tower and walked back towards the Institute. “Plotting to save the entire world from dark elves and the rest of the Unseen Kingdoms?”
“Yeah, if you’d told me all this a few years back, I’d have said you’d gone mad,” Charlie agreed. “Jury’s still out on that one, by the way.” But his smile faded as he looked away, then back up. “I wish I could go with you,” he said softly.
“I know.” Ben rested a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “And I’d love to have you there, you know that. But it’s safer this way. For everyone.”
Charlie nodded, and didn’t try to argue. That was that.
When they returned to the Institute, Ben went straight back up to the phantom room they’d been using. Joshua was already there and was fast asleep in his bed. Because it had been too risky for them to go back to the apprentice dorms each night, they had rigged up temporary sleeping arrangements there instead.
With a sigh, Ben sank down onto his own bed. Everything was happening so quickly but so slowly as well. It had taken forever just to get to this point, it seemed, but now that it was here he was terrified of messing things up. Still, all he could do was his best. He
had to trust in himself and his friends, and in Elizabeth’s Armour.
But right now he knew what he really needed was to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a very big day.
*
It felt like Ben had only just closed his eyes when it seemed like someone had sneaked up to his bed and shouted directly into his ear. Sitting bolt upright he looked around, heart pumping, eyes bleary as he tried to work out what was happening.
“Spellswords to arms!”
The shout, magically enhanced, repeated again. Josh was looking around as well, hair sticking up in all directions, and a second later the shout repeated.
“We don’t have time for this,” Joshua warned. But Ben shook his head.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” he argued. They rapidly threw on their clothes and buckled on their spellshooters. “Let’s see if we can get to the Crimson Tower, but if this really is an actual raid I don’t see how we will be able to just opt out.”
Once outside they made their way towards the Institute’s main courtyard, and from there would head towards the Crimson Tower to meet the others. But the main courtyard was rapidly filling with apprentices, and Ben cursed as he recognised all of them: it was his group. Every apprentice was assigned a duty, and because of his skill with a spellshooter he’d been placed with other talented shooters under the supervision of the Spellsword Zadaya. Their job was to protect the Royal Institute in case it was attacked, though the very notion had always seemed the height of foolishness.
Apparently, now that it was open war, that had changed.
“We need to keep moving,” Joshua urged again, but Ben shook his head.
“If the Institute’s under attack, we need to help,” he argued. “Otherwise, what’s the point?”
Finally, Joshua sighed.
“Fine,” he said grouchily. “Let’s help them end this quickly, so we can get moving again.”
Ben nodded and made straight for his group. He was supposed to be here, after all. Joshua followed more cautiously, but in the mayhem no one seemed to notice or question his presence. And it quickly became clear why everyone was so preoccupied.