by Billy Wong
One time after an intense hand to hand sparring session where Christopher grew frustrated and rushed her uncharacteristically winging haymakers only to get dropped by a stiff counter, he said while bleeding from his nostrils into a handkerchief, "Life must be easy for you huh, being able to do whatever you wish?"
She looked up from her inspection of her bleeding pinky knuckle, which had been cut on his teeth while her upper ones busted his nose. "Do whatever I wish? That's not true. I'm just an above average fighter, but I couldn't even save everyone from dying against a handful of monsters last time we came here."
"You have the ability to do the work you want, though. When you desired to be a monster hunter, you had the strength and skill to. When you thought to have a career change and become a soldier, you could do that easily too."
"Strength and skill are developed, who's to say you couldn't be a monster hunter too—not that I imagine you want to? Wait, is there work you'd rather do but think you can't?"
He hesitated. "I suppose you could say that. I need to get much stronger." Vague as usual, but she doubted his secrets were too dark when he regularly tread close to them in conversation.
"Well, how do you know I don't have a dream job I'm not capable of?" Christopher didn't answer, so she figured it was good food for thought. "By the way, nice poor man's impression of Rich running at me swinging like an ape."
"I admit to letting my discipline lapse badly. Since you loosened a couple of my teeth for it, I'll probably remember not to next time around."
Meg walked over and patted his shoulder. "You landed a decent shot to my jaw that I just rolled with too. Keep working at it and you'll be pretty good."
#
A week and a half later, they were starting to grow impatient and discouraged when one of the veterans on watch atop a nearby hill yelled, "Look, something's coming!" They joined him up there to see a trio of shadowy beings bounding across a wide field towards them.
"Shit," Rich said, "there's fewer of them, but it might still be rough."
Meg shuddered as she pictured all that could go wrong. They had a greater numeric advantage this time and "should" be able to handle it, but her last experience with these Shadow Children made her fear the worst. She thought about how they could best approach this to minimize the risks. "Maybe Patrick and I should each take on one of them, and Joel and whoever else is good from range support us from afar. And the rest of you could-"
Taryn shifted the axe off her back and into her hands. "You guys stay put for now. I'll deal with this. If I seem to be having trouble, then back me up." She dashed down the slope while Meg and the others stared after her. The monster in the center met her first, issuing its dreadful kakakaka sounds while it swung its arms down. Her axe whipped up—and instead of deflecting the deadly limbs like Meg's blade had, cleaved through them. The creature squealed and stumbled back staring in what could only be panic at its stumps. Taryn stepped after it, swept her axe across. The Shadow Child's upper torso slid sideways, then fell off the rest of its body as both halves tumbled down.
"The power of her blows..." Rich said in a voice small with awe. So Meg would have to mind a large strength advantage in Taryn's favor whenever they fought, not that it was unexpected. Christopher and Joel gaped, while though impressed Meg and Patrick retained calmer expressions and the veterans seemed to find it par the course. Agatha just smiled admiringly while Taryn darted at the oncoming monster to the right and struck, again cutting through an arm and into the trunk. The last enemy closed in from the side. She twisted towards it, jerking the beast her weapon was still buried in into its way. Its stabbing arms pierced though its fellow, and it paused in surprise. Taryn ripped her axe free and ran around the transfixed creature, chopping into the leg of the one that impaled it. Both crashed down together, and she brought the axe up.
Instants later she stood alone on the field, mangled husks all that remained of her foes. She turned towards her allies and walked back to them without hurry. "They caught us off guard before. But now that we're wiser to their ways, easy work."
"Very impressive," Agatha said. "I suppose the inhabitants of Plasbias are not all such soft folks."
"Now what should we do with the corpses?"
"We just watch, and see what happens to them for them to 'vanish' as you say. It might be a good idea to move them inside the cave though, in case they won't be close enough out here for the reaction to occur."
"Reaction?" Meg asked. "You think their disappearance has to do with the sword?"
"That's my suspicion, yes. I may be wrong and they would dissipate on their own, but let's move them just in case."
Leaning close to Meg, Rich whispered, "Great job by Taryn not coming with us the first time. Being so strong, probably nobody would've died if she was here."
"I'm sure she feels bad too, but there's no way she could have known what we were in for. I suspect she might even want to apologize for sending us without better support, and just can't because it would undermine her authority over us. So cut her some slack."
"I hope you're right, but suppose we can give her the benefit of the doubt."
They carried the dead monsters just inside, four people for each one though Taryn looked like she might've managed hers handily by herself if not for its ungainly length. After they set the bodies down and Meg got a moment with the captain, she asked, "I thought you said being a soldier was about teamwork?"
Taryn gave a carefree shrug. "It is. But one person acting can be in the team's interest too. We should benefit from making a good impression for the Plasbian military in the eyes of the visitors. One warrior downing those Shadow Children sets a good precedent. And besides, I hadn't gotten to fight all out in a long time, so..."
"It's not a precedent the rest of us can live up to, though. Or at least not as easily as you did."
She grinned. "Are you conceding inferiority to me?"
"No, we just have different styles. Mine isn't as suited to heavy single blows to put on a show like you did."
"Fair enough. About the teamwork thing, don't fret it. That was a one time deal, and I suspect we may all have to work hard to pitch in soon enough."
"How so?"
"It's just a feeling." Hearing that, Meg figured the experienced fighter had the sense a tough battle lay ahead. It worried her, but she told herself the intuition of even one like Taryn was just that, and could well be wrong. But the more she thought about it, the less she felt like they would be able to solve the puzzle before them without overcoming a formidable challenge.
The next day, at around the time the Shadow Children had been slain, Patrick was on watch and noticed something. "Hey, something's happening to the bodies!" he shouted from near the entrance.
Meg jumped up from her inspection of her fingernails and rushed to see. "What is it?"
She got into view of the same thing he saw just as he described it. "They're dissolving!" Indeed they melted away into what looked like black clouds of gas which floated slowly deeper into the cavern—towards the hole. Anticipating where it might go, they ran that way first telling the others to follow.
They reached the hole, where a rope had been set up leading down it. Agatha and Freddy of course hurried down, as the researchers seeing what would occur took top priority. Taryn went next, telling two of the veterans, "Sam, Phil, come with me! Meg and Patrick, you too." They climbed down into the lower chamber and waited for the dark clouds to be drawn to the sword as predicted. Sure enough, they drifted down through the opening above and floated towards the blade. As they neared it, there was a sound like that of blowing wind. The clouds that had once been Shadow Children touched the sword and then shrank rapidly as if being sucked in. Scant seconds later they had disappeared completely, and the noise stopped.
"The sword absorbed them..." Freddy said softly.
"For w-what purpose?" Rich asked. "What does it mean?"
Agatha stared warily at the ominous blade, quiet now as if nothing had ever happene
d. "I don't know. But I can only think it must be for a reason."
"I wonder if it'll use them as a power source," Meg suggested, "or if it could somehow resurrect them?"
Patrick replied, "It hasn't resurrected the ones we killed before... at least that we've seen. We had better be careful though, in case something like that happens."
She turned to Agatha. "So do we just keep observing?"
"Nothing much else we can do, for now."
They continued to monitor the sword, more on edge after seeing that unsettling activity from it. A few days later, Agatha approached Taryn and the soldiers. "I want to touch the sword."
Rich recoiled. "What, have you lost your wits? When the cyclops touched it, it was driven insane!"
"That's exactly why I want to touch it, since I'm wondering what it might have felt to react that way. Besides, it regained its sanity eventually right? Most of you are much stronger than me, so if I go berserk you should easily be able to restrain me until I snap out of it."
"But we don't know if it'll affect you and the cyclops in the same way," Meg said. "It could be that its simple mind recovers more easily from such things, and a human's wouldn't."
Agatha waved dismissively. "On the contrary, I would bet on my willpower letting me handle it better than a mere beast. I will take the risk in the name of science."
She had some guts, Meg acknowledged, even if it wasn't always obvious. They descended into the lower chamber, where Agatha placed her hand against the blade. As before it hummed and glowed bright blue. She moaned, body shaking while she touched the artifact. Meg stood tensely, poised to react the instant she needed to. After a brief time, the glow faded and the humming stopped. Agatha sagged forward, breathing heavily, and Meg got ready to grab her if she attacked.
"I told you I could resist better than a damn cyclops," the researcher gasped. Face sweaty, she looked back and winked. "Nothing to it."
"What did you feel?" asked Taryn. "Did you learn anything?"
"I think so. I saw... through the eyes of another."
"What?" Christopher sounded baffled. "What do you mean?"
She paused. "I... it was like I was in a dream. In it I was immensely tall, so that an army of humans facing me looked no bigger than tiny dolls, and held the sword which stands before us in my hand." A chill ran through Meg, as she felt awe to all but confirm the blade had a wielder. What manner of being could it be, to use such a weapon? "I motioned with my sword, and creatures like the Shadow Children you fought ran around my feet to meet our foes."
After a moment, when she realized Agatha had stopped, Taryn asked, "Is that all?"
"Yes, the dream, or should I say memory wasn't long. Wait, there was something else. At the head of the army, there was a woman."
"And? Women fight in armies sometimes, myself and the Mouse here are living proof." Darn, when had Taryn found out her nickname... her peers weren't very good at holding their tongues. "Although, if we could identify her it might help us learn more about the sword and its owner."
"That's my point exactly. She was a regal figure with light brown hair, wearing form-fitting plate armor—actually now that I think of it, she reminds me of how Saint General Julianna looked that one time I glimpsed her a little over a year ago."
Meg blinked. "Julianna? But that's weird—I've heard a lot of tales about her, but never one in which she fought an army of shadowy monsters led by a giant with an immense sword. Her major exploits are well documented, and I'd think something like that would be major enough to qualify."
Agatha took on a thoughtful look. "The woman resembled Julianna, but that doesn't mean it necessarily was her. This sword might have been here a long time and only recently been rediscovered when the cyclops fell through the floor, yes?" Meg and Patrick nodded. "My thought is that the army's leader may not be Julianna, but one of her ancestors."
"That would explain why she isn't known for battling an enemy like this." She looked around at the others. "Have any of you heard of such a conflict in history, which might have occurred between a past Saint Princess and an army of shadowy beings?" She was answered by a chorus of noes and shaken heads. "Nobody? Hmm, I suppose maybe it was so long ago it's been lost to time..."
"We could try asking Julianna herself if any of her ancestors encountered such creatures," Taryn said. "Not that we'd go to her directly, but perhaps Agatha here could send a message to Aerilea by way of her colleagues, and since we are one of the nations that falls under Aerilea's jurisdiction, they should respond given the potential danger."
The researcher nodded. "I'll do that. I don't know how long it'll take for Julianna to get back to us, though. In the meantime, do any of you want to touch the sword and see if you can get additional insight from experiencing what I did?"
"I think we should probably pass. Even though you aren't showing negative effects, who knows if they might not be delayed?" Hearing Taryn say that, Agatha's face grew anxious. "Better not to risk more of us being compromised in that case."
Though Meg was curious about what Agatha had seen, she couldn't deny the soundness of the captain's logic. "Why do you think the cyclops was driven mad when you weren't, anyway?"
"My best guess would be that after seeing the memory, its simple mind got confused. It might've thought it was the being whose eyes it saw through, hence mistaking you for its enemies as humans and attacking you."
As it appeared they'd done all they could for now, they packed up and prepared to leave. Just after they gathered up their things, however, they heard a cry from Joel who stood guard. "More monsters, they're coming!"
They all ran onto the hill and gazed over the plain to see a number of Shadow Children bounding their way. Six were visible, making Meg clench her jaw at the greater challenge they would face. Well, they had Taryn with them... Joel raised his bow and nocked an arrow, though he didn't loose yet waiting for them to get closer. Then four more emerged from the trees beyond the field, and her heart pounded. If Taryn could handle three like before, that would leave seven for the rest of them. Would ten against seven be enough in their favor? Meg and Patrick could probably each take at least one on by themselves. Five monsters against eight of their comrades... that numeric advantage didn't suffice to give her confidence.
"Maybe we should flee for now," she suggested, "when killing these wouldn't be of much benefit to us."
Rich argued, "But if we leave them near the village, we don't know that they might not harm it in the future."
"That's true, but can we handle this many?" She didn't want any more of them to die, even if they could scrap out a narrow victory.
"We'll just have to play it smart," Taryn said. "Everyone with bows, shoot once they get in range. Let's kill or wound as many as we can before we have to engage in melee."
Patrick, Joel and two of the veterans rained down shafts, while Meg took aim with her crossbow in preparation for when they drew even nearer. She saw Agatha doing similar with a crossbow of her own, and smiled to know they might have one more fighter on their side than she'd thought. "What, you don't have any ranged weapon of your own?" she asked Taryn while the monsters ran through the initial volley of arrows, showing little effect from them.
"I have daggers I can throw, but they're limited in number. I didn't anticipate us facing such opposition that I'd need to change from my usual setup. Guess I'll have to rely on you guys."
Meg and Agatha joined the others in shooting at the creatures, but continued to see limited results. The missiles which struck their bodies went mostly ignored, while they swatted aside those that got near their heads. Finally Joel sent a well timed shot home in a Shadow Child's face though, and it tumbled over the ground to lay still. "Yes, good one!" Patrick said, and redoubled his efforts on a different target. The numerous arrows hitting that one beast finally slowed it down, and Meg wished at it to fall. Its arms dipped as to protect its pincushioned torso, and the end result wound being pretty much the same. Multiple projectiles sprouted in its exposed vis
age and it collapsed.
Two down shifted the odds towards the humans quite a bit, but now the Shadow Children were on them and Meg dropped her crossbow in favor of her sword. She ran to meet them with the other soldiers, Agatha staying back. It might be too much to ask of a researcher to also partake in close combat, she supposed. One of the monsters shot its arm out from a distance at her. She evaded, but then another creature's limb streaking towards her forced her to twist desperately away in mid-dodge to avoid it as well. She half succeeded, the second arm tearing a gash along her ribs but not skewering her as intended. Geez, why were more than one of them going after her at once? Baring her teeth in pain and anger, she glanced from one to the other. They struck at her together. She dove between their limbs, chose the beast on the left and dashed towards it. She ducked a thrust, blocked a sideways swipe from its ally and then flipped over the arm after being pushed back a few feet. Grr, irritating how their cooperation impeded her progress. She wanted to look around and see how her friends were doing, but the need to focus on her two opponents kept her from getting more than cursory glimpses of the action. At least nobody seemed to be dead, yet...
Meg spun aside from a downward smash from her target. She got in close, slashed at its groin but watched it jump back. Right, their reflexes. She'd forgotten how quick they could react in the heat of the moment. The other Shadow Child stabbed at her from the side. She rolled under its arm and between her nearer foe's legs. Coming up behind it, she plunged her sword into its rear end. She didn't know how similar its anatomy was to a person's, but her attack caused it pain as desired. It wailed and spun around, whipping its arms wildly at her. She weaved between several blows, took a stinging cut on her thigh when she proved not fast enough once, and saw the second monster moving to get her back into view out of the corner of her eye. Grinning slightly to herself, she shifted so she was between the two. An arm shot at her back...