The Sword that Binds (Book of Worlds 1)

by Taran, David

  As soon as he stopped trying he felt something slide into place in his mind. The auras faded somewhat, leaving a better view for his eyes, but at the same time he was still able to sense everything around him just as strongly. Must be like breathing. Works best when you don’t think about it. He thought.

  All around him were stone shelves, covered in dust and looking pitifully empty. I guess five thousand years of neglect was too much for all those books. Tyrus thought. It wasn’t much of a loss to him - it’s not like he could read - but the thought of all of that lost knowledge was a bit disheartening.

  Turning his head above him, he stared in amazement at the craftsmanship of the dwarves. Sleek grey stone bridges arched across the open space above him, connecting the balconies that ran along the edges of each level. In the center of the room was a smooth stone pillar so thick that even ten people with their arms outstretched couldn’t circle it. Spiraling around the pillar was a large staircase, obviously meant to accommodate large amounts of traffic both ways. Each level had at least one bridge connected to the staircase in the center, creating a network of crisscrossing bridges all the way to the ceiling hundreds of feet above them.

  All over the building were strange white stones that gave off a faint glow, embedded into the walls, floors, and bookshelves. Even some of the tables that Tyrus could see had them. As far as he could tell there was no magic in them. In fact, they felt exactly the same as all the other stone. Uckey had said that the dwarves were capable of things that no other race was, but Tyrus hadn’t understood him until that moment.

  Wait a second. Uckey! Where did he go? He stretched out his perception again, searching for any sign of the gnome. Yet still nothing came back to him, just stone and water. And that ridiculous power above him. It was already making his head pound, so Tyrus pulled back his perception. Did Ankaros send him back to his own time now that we are done? I’ll ask Sarena what happened when she wakes up.

  The excitement was building up inside of him at the thought of Sarena seeing him in his new body. He was finally free! No more being trapped in a dark void, only able to live through the experiences of others!

  A shuffling sound and a groan brought him back to his senses. He looked at Sarena and saw her roll her body onto her side, exposing the empty sheath and small blue pack that had been underneath her. Her eyes fluttered open, showing one green iris and one grey, and looked straight into Tyrus’ eyes. Instead of the shock he was expecting to see, her face was blank and her aura barely changed at all.

  “Seven hells. This is the strangest nightmare I’ve ever had,” she mumbled.

  Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for. Tyrus looked down at himself. I wonder if this is how I looked before I was a sword.

  Pale white skin entered his vision. All thoughts of his looks went out of his mind. That bastard! He gave me a body but couldn’t have the decency to give me some clothes along with it?

  Quickly looking up again at Sarena he saw she was squinting at him, as if it was difficult to see. He knew there wasn’t a chance of their being anything around for him to wear, and did the only thing he could think of.

  He drew on his core and felt a rush of power unlike anything before. Both fire and ice were flowing through his veins, yet it was somehow soothing instead of painful. It felt like he could do anything, as if there was nothing beyond his power. Thousands of thin strands of pure mana flowed out of his body, hovering just over his skin.

  The next thing he knew, the feeling had vanished. There was a faint flash of light from his body, and in place of the mana that he had called upon was instead a jet black robe that draped across his body.

  How in the seven hells did I just do that? I don’t even remember trying to cast anything.

  A gasp caused him to look up in time to see Sarena stagger to her feet. She fumbled at her waist for a breath before looking down and swearing. He felt wind fill her as she jumped backwards to create distance between them.

  Something crashed into his back, knocking him forward to his knees. Sarena cried out in surprise at the same time.

  The bond. It’s still there, keeping us together. Ankaros lied to us!

  “Wait, Sarena! It’s me!” He called out as he pushed himself to his feet again.

  Sarena had managed to stay standing, and stared at him in confusion.

  “T-Tyrus? How did you do that? What happened? How did we get here? Why do you look like that?” She asked.

  Great. Ankaros even decided to make me look strange. I swear I’m going to find a way to kill him.

  “I woke up like this,” Tyrus grinned. “Look around us. This is the library of Stewrix! You must have gotten here in time. Ankaros kept his end of the bargain, at least somewhat. I guess our bond doesn’t count as a problem to him.”

  Her eyes widened as he spoke. “I thought...What happened to you Tyrus? Why did you go silent like that?”

  He frowned. Ah, she must mean before we arrived.

  “I don’t really know. I couldn’t feel any changes in the bindings, but for some reason nobody could hear me anymore, and I couldn’t move myself at all. That didn’t stop me from hearing everything though,” he said while taking a step forward. He wasn’t really sure what he was doing. Something inside of him was telling him to move though. “I’m sorry Sarena. I know how much you were hoping that Ankaros would send you home. In my opinion it sounds easier to travel to another world than between times at least.”

  Sarena kept staring at him without moving. Her aura was just as still as she was, so he continued to walk toward her.

  “I still can’t believe you’re actually human now,” she said suddenly, bringing him to a halt after two steps.

  He smiled and started walking again. “It feels just as strange to me, too. I know I started out as one, but my memories of that time are all blurry. Just being able to actually see feels so incredible.”

  When he finally stopped walking he was only an arm’s length away from Sarena. Her head barely came to his chin, and when she looked up at him her head tilted slightly to the side. He stared down into her eyes, barely registering her letting go of her power. His arms started to rise. What am I doing?

  Sarena fell forward, her arms wrapping around him as she buried her face into his chest. Tyrus froze, his arms hovering in the air. What’s going on? Why is she hugging me? What am I supposed to do? Did Ankaros actually make me good looking?

  Quiet sobs brought him back to reality. He could feel Sarena shaking slightly as she cried. Her aura started to swirl in turmoil. His arms stopped their awkward hovering and closed around her shoulders.

  “What’s wrong, Sarena? I know this isn’t ideal, but we will find a way to get back. There’s no impending doom hovering over us anymore. It’s only a matter of time before we figure it out. I’m sure Uckey will be able to help too,” he said, trying to comfort her.

  “Uckey is gone,” Sarena’s muffled voice came from his chest.

  He frowned. “What do you mean gone? Did Ankaros send him back? Or do you mean...” he trailed off. There was only one thing she could mean with that. It had been at the back of his mind since he first realized Uckey was missing. There’s no way the gnome would miss this moment.

  Sarena pulled back from his embrace, wiping her eyes with her sleeve while turning away.

  “I’m sorry. The Primal. It...” She paused and took a deep breath. “He distracted it so that I could escape. I didn’t even realize what was going on until it was too late.”

  She turned to face him again, her eyes slightly red from crying. Tyrus felt her aura calm down and change from sadness to resolve.

  “What are we going to do now? The pendant is gone, and there’s no way we could make it past that Primal again even if we had it. Do you have any ideas for how to get out of here?” She said.

  Tyrus was completely lost. Wasn’t she just crying over Uckey’s death? I can’t figure her out at all.

  Her eyes softened as she watched the confusion on his face.
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  “I just can’t let myself focus on that right now. There will be time to grieve later, and I know Uckey wouldn’t want us to die of starvation after finally reaching our goal,” she said, then looked him up and down. “And how did you do that with that robe? Can you fix my clothes as well?”

  “Ah,” Tyrus stuttered. “I, um, I’m not really sure. I just called on my power and thought that I needed something to wear. The rest of it happened on its own.”

  Sarena frowned at him before shaking her head.

  “You can at least try, can’t you? These things are barely holding out as it is, and I don’t have another pair to change into,” she asked.

  Why did she suddenly get so much harder to deal with?

  “I guess. Just, don’t blame me if it doesn’t work. Using magic like this is new to me,” he replied.

  Closing his eyes, he focused on the faint aura that emitted from Sarena’s clothes. Even if they didn’t pulse with activity like a living aura, there was still enough of one for him to inspect it. He drew on his power, feeling the incredible force flowing through him again. Why do I need to fix her clothes? I can just make something new for her. Maybe that will cheer her up.

  Before he could even think of what to make, a stream of mana shot out of him and coiled around Sarena. A burst of surprise and fear spiked through her aura as his power wrapped around her.

  “Tyrus, what are you doing? This is far more power than you should need!” She cried out.

  Why isn’t time slowing like it used to before? Did something change?

  The power flowing through him dissipated in the blink of an eye, followed by a flash of light around Sarena. In place of the torn tunic and trousers was a black robe, identical to his own. Including the size. Sarena stared down at the robes draped over her for a heartbeat before looking up at him. He could swear her green eye was glowing.

  “Seven hells Tyrus! I asked you to fix my clothes, not give me your own stupid robes!” She yelled. “They don’t even fit!”

  “I told you I didn’t know if it would work! It’s not like I did it on purpose! My magic just did it on its own again!” He said while taking a step back. “I guess black robes is all I can do. It’s still better than nothing, right?”

  Sarena glowered at him.

  “Alright, I’m sorry. I thought I would make you something new to try and cheer you up. It didn’t go as planned. Are you happy now?” He said. Why do I have to deal with this? She’s the one who asked me to do it in the first place. I warned her I didn’t know what would happen.

  She sighed and rolled back the sleeves on each arm until they were bundled just at her wrist. “Well, thank you for trying at least. I wish I had a sword to make it shorter. It’s going to take some getting used to this. I thought only members of the church wore robes.”

  Tyrus shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. But as for getting out of here, maybe we should try going up. There’s something up there that’s been pounding on my senses ever since I woke up. Everything magical should have been wiped out by the mana explosion, so whatever it is had to have been made after the gnomes disappeared. Which means someone else has been here before.”

  She craned her neck backward and looked up at the ceiling, her mouth hanging open slightly.

  “Gods, that’s high. We’d better get started then. I don’t know about you, but I’m already hungry, and we’ve got nothing to eat. You’re going to feel the same way soon enough I bet,” she said. “It’s going to take forever to get up there. How many floors does this library have anyways?”

  “Twenty two. And we had better get moving. There’s no food in this city at all, and I think I’m already feeling that hunger you were talking about,” he said. An odd feeling had been coming from his stomach ever since had woken up, but he had been ignoring it since it didn’t seem important.

  “You actually counted?” She asked, giving him a strange look.

  He shook his head. “Not exactly. I can sense everything around me, and my power translates that information for me. I can tell you how many stairs there are if you’re wondering.”

  She groaned. “Please, no, it’s bad enough just looking at them. I don’t want to know more than that. Let’s just get going.”

  Tyrus smiled as he headed towards the stairs, Sarena’s footsteps settling in behind him. A comfortable silence fell around them as they walked upward.

  The higher they went the more he had to draw his perception back. At first he had tried to withstand the pressure, hoping he would get used to it, but all that accomplished was a splitting headache. By the time they were nearing the top he could sense Sarena’s exhaustion as she panted behind him.

  “I give up! Slow down, Tyrus! I don’t have that magical stamina like you!” Sarena yelled from behind as she turned around and sat down on the stairs.

  He looked above them at the dark opening in the ceiling. It was only a few steps away, but he couldn’t sense or see anything within. For the first time in his life he was completely blind about what was ahead of him. His heart started beating faster at the thought. Am I actually excited?

  “I haven’t been using any magic. I guess my new body isn’t that bad,” he said while half turning to face Sarena. “It’s only a few more steps. You can rest when we get to the top.”

  She rolled her eyes and stood back up. “Yes, but with our luck there will probably be some kind of hideous monster on the other side, just waiting to kill us. If we get attacked in there you had better protect me. All of this travel didn’t prepare me for climbing a mountain made of stairs.”

  “Of course,” he answered while smiling. “We’ll go in together, just in case. If anything jumps out I’ll make sure to keep you safe.”

  Sarena stepped up to his side and gave him a skeptical glance. “Right. Let’s go. I almost hope there is something there, just so I can see what you can do when you aren’t trapped in a sword.”

  The two of them took the last few steps together, slowly rising into a pitch black chamber. Tyrus had to pull his perception all the way in, leaving himself blind to the world besides his own eyesight.

  He frowned as they took the final step into the room. “I don’t think-”

  The world exploded into light around him.

  About the Author

  David Taran lives in the Pacific Northwest with his lovely wife and two cats. He has always dreamed of writing fantasy ever since he first read Lord of the Rings as a child. When his wife isn’t making him slave over his books, he likes to spend his time playing video games or board games.

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