Chapter 783: The Weapon (Patreon)

The inn’s bedroom was small. The beds were even smaller, but it was all Stryg and Gale could find. Many of the inns at the outskirts of Olduun were filled to the brim with refugees fleeing from the ruins of the Midnight Sun and the chaos that followed. With the trade routes disrupted, bandits had been reported to have flooded the area, preying on the villages deprived of the protection of Olduun.

Having found Evander dangling by a thread of life, Stryg and Gale had rushed to the city in search of any inn that would take them. They had taken the first inn that had an open room. It was an old building made of clay that had cracks in the seams, but it would do.

Stryg sat next to Tauri, the latter sleeping soundly in one of two beds. She hadn’t woken up ever since he found her. He had healed all the wounds he had found on her body, yet she hadn’t stirred. His mind knew that white healing magic was limited compared to actual elemental life magic and that white magic only hastened the body’s natural healing and that such a process drained the recipient of energy. It was normal to not awaken after a long and deep healing session. Stryg knew all of this, yet it didn’t make watching her lie unconscious in bed any easier.

Unnecessary thoughts flooded his mind. What if she didn’t awaken? What if he had missed an unseen wound? Something internal, deep. A small cut to a vital organ that was bleeding. What if Sidus had attacked and damaged her soul? Could he do that? Stryg didn’t know. There was so much he didn’t know. 

Trying to drive the thoughts away, he got up and joined her on the other side of the room, where she sat next to Evander’s bed. The roguish bard was fast asleep, or at least as asleep as a dying man could be. His throat had been torn open, leaving behind a giant, bloody, gaping wound. It was a miracle he was still breathing, or wheezing weakly, to be more precise.

“How’s he doing?” Stryg asked.

Gale stared at Evander, her scarlet and lilac eyes distant.

“Gale?” Stryg placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Huh?”

“How’s he doing?”

“Oh. He’s still the same. I think,” Gale said.

Stryg leaned over the bed and carefully removed the bloodied bandages from Evander’s neck. Where there was once a massive chunk missing where his larynx had been, now the flesh had knitted itself back together. There was no skin, only blood-red muscle tissue and exposed ligaments and nerves.

Channeling white mana, Stryg held his hand over Evander’s throat and cast a healing spell. He held it for a few minutes and waited. Like the last four tries, his spell was entirely ineffective. The spell refused to flow into Evander’s body. It didn’t make sense. A healing spell aided and hastened the natural healing of living tissue, but perhaps, Stryg thought, Evander wasn’t alive at all. Was the man an undead puppet of sorts? Had Sidus done something to him? Could it be like what Stryg had done with the dead goblins and orcs back in Murkton? It didn’t seem like it, but Stryg couldn’t rule it out either.

“Anything?” Gale asked.

Stryg closed the bandages back up. “No. My magic isn’t working. And yet, your rogue guide seems to still be healing. His body is slowly regrowing tissue and bone, all on his own.”

“This is ‘slowly’? It’s only been a few hours.”

“Well, slowly for my kind.” Stryg shrugged.

“Evander’s not a god.”

“Then what is he?”

Gale frowned. “He told me he was a snow elf from the Ivory Realm.”

Stryg wasn’t even going to bother asking what a snow elf from the Ivory Realm was doing all the way out here in the Aurous Realm. “Ever heard of a snow elf who can regenerate a torn-out larynx?”

“...Not that I can recall.” Gale narrowed her eyes.

Stryg recognized the look in her eyes and he pitied Evander if the elf ever woke up. Gale hated liars.

Stryg got up and made his way to the window. They were in one of the poorer districts of the city, which suited Stryg just fine. It was harder for anyone to find them out here. Or at least he hoped it would be. Dragons possessed synchrony magic. While most wouldn’t be able to peer into the future like Maeve, they could at the very least track any nearby individual without much trouble. He wondered if they were tracking him now. He doubted it. He’d have sensed them by now.

His gaze slowly drifted over to the looming castle on the horizon at the heart of the city. Supposedly, it was where the Clarus family lived. Titania was probably over there right now. A pang of guilt struck his chest at the thought.

“What are you looking at?” Gale asked, having sensed his stress through their bond.

“Just the city’s walls. They’re much smaller than the ones back home. And they’re not even enchanted. Just simple stone. They wouldn’t be able to stop any army.”

Gale looked at him but said nothing for a moment. She knew he was lying. She hated liars. The only reason his lies didn’t bother her were because he was so terrible at making them. 

“They have dragons. I’m sure they’ll be fine,” she replied finally.

“Dragons who are in hiding. I doubt they’d risk their lives for their commoners.” That was the problem with those in power. They rarely risked themselves for the ones without it.

“Where are we?” Tauri asked quietly.

Stryg and Gale spun around at the sound of her voice. The former ran over and embraced her tightly. He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent, relieved to have her close to him once more.

“Too tight,” she managed to gasp.

“Sorry.” Stryg immediately let go and lowered her back into the bed.

Tauri looked up at him, taking in his visage with a smile. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he smiled in return.

“We’re in a tavern in Olduun,” Gale answered Tauri’s original question.

Tauri looked over at the vampiress who was now leaning her back against the wall, giving her a perfect view of the entire room and window.

“Were you waiting here for us?” Tauri asked Stryg.

“No,” Stryg said. “What do you remember?”

“Um, we were traveling with this elf, Evander, and then… Shit!” Tauri sat up and looked around in a panic. “Where is he?”

“Evander? He’s resting over there,” Stryg pointed his thumb back at the bed.

“No, not him. Sidus,” Tauri said.

“Oh. Him.” Stryg’s expression darkened. “Where do I start…?”

~~~

“...And that’s when you woke up,” Stryg finished the story. He had omitted irrelevant details, like his time spent with Titania. As for Wren, he'd tell them more about the immortal witch later. There were more pressing matters at hand.

Tauri stared at the black chest lying in the corner of the room. “Why haven’t you opened it yet?”

“It took Gale and me a couple of hours to disenchant the seals on it. All that’s left is to cut open the chains, but we don’t know if there are any traps waiting inside. We didn’t want to risk opening it while you were still unconscious,” Stryg said.

“Well, I’m awake,” Tauri said and looked at Gale expectantly.

“I still think this is a bad idea,” Gale sighed. “Ready when you are.” Her fingers danced across the air, leaving behind scarlet arcane sigils that intertwined with one another. They flared with power and formed a red dome around Gale and the two beds, leaving only Stryg and the chest outside.

Stryg drew Krikolm and swung the sword down on the chains. The blood-red blade cut straight through with little effort. The broken chains fell on the floor with a loud rattle. Stryg slowly stepped closer and opened the chest. “It can’t be…” he muttered with a frown.

“What is it?” Tauri asked.

Stryg reached into the chest and pulled out a sleek black spear, almost translucent at its edges. “Svartna.”

“What the fuck…?” Tauri muttered.

“How did Svartna end up in that chest?” Gale asked.

“I lost the spear when I ignited the Astral Light,” Stryg said.

“And you never thought to call the spear back to you?” Tauri asked.

“The Astral Light took a larger toll on my body than I thought it would,” Stryg admitted begrudgingly. “I lost most of my magical abilities during those first few days.”

“That’s why I couldn’t sense you through our bond,” Gale said in realization.

“Yeah. It’s why I couldn’t sense Svartna or call it to my side either. I couldn’t even sense the spear until now. I thought it was because my body hadn’t fully recovered yet, but it must have been because of all the seals on this chest.”

“But if that really is Svartna, then there’s no way this was the weapon Aleirune and your sisters warned us about,” Tauri said.

“Which means the real weapon is still out there,” Gale said grimly.

“We were tricked.” Stryg clenched his hand around the spear.

“If I learned anything from all the stories Holo told us, it’s that dragons can’t be trusted,” Tauri said.

“Not all dragons are bad,” Stryg said.

“Is that why you traveled with that dragon child? What did you say her name was again? Talia? Tania?” Tauri asked.

“Titania. And no, that was different,” he said.

“No, Tauri’s right. Why exactly were you traveling with a dragon? You left the details about that encounter out of your story,” Gale said.

“....I didn’t know she was a dragon,” Stryg admitted.

“How could you not tell she was a dragon. She has horns,” Tauri pointed at her forehead.

“So do all the Sune people,” Stryg said.

“True, but you must have picked up on her draconic scent,” Gale noted.

“That’s just it. She didn’t smell like a dragon,” Stryg said.

“That’s odd,” Gale said.

“I’ve never picked up a scent like hers before. I thought the kid was a Sune-Rulus hybrid,” Stryg said.

“Wait.” Gale furrowed her brow. “Why would you think that? Sune-Rulus specifically?”

“Well, she has horns like the Sune. And she was able to shapeshift. It’s a rare elemental ability among certain rulus desert tribes,” Stryg said.

“And you never considered it might be dragon magic instead?” Gale asked, though her tone was not condescending, rather, curious.

Stryg shrugged. “She never cast any other dragon magic. I only ever saw her cast a few chromatic spells.”

“Chromatic magic? That’s impossible. She’s a dragon, they can’t cast ordinary chromatic spells; they’re mixed with elemental mana,” Gale said.

“Maybe she was a hybrid after all,” Stryg said.

“Except dragon hybrids can’t use dragon magic, only regular chromatic magic. Remember? Holo told us about it. All chromatic species originate from the spawn of dragons and elemental creatures. We are descendants of dragons, but we can’t wield a dragon’s true power. Save for the few mages who strongly inherited dragon blood.”

“True chromatic mages like my father,” Tauri said. 

“Right,” Gale nodded. “And even they can only wield a single chromatic color.”

“So the girl’s a true green mage, then? It would explain the shapeshifting,” Tauri said.

“No, Titania is a prime mage like me,” Stryg said.

Tauri and Gale looked at him, shocked.

“What?” Gale asked. “Are you certain?”

“Yeah,” Stryg said.

“A prime mage can’t cast true magic,” Gale said.

“So why could Titania?” Stryg asked.

Gale crossed her arms and furrowed her brow in thought. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense.”

Tauri shook her head. “What I don’t get is why Lydira Clarus would send her youngest to escort a dangerous weapon of incredible power across the desert? Lydira clearly knew it was a perilous journey; she wouldn’t have sent a fully-grown dragon and a phoenix otherwise. So why send her own child, too? Doesn’t that sound risky? It doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t,” Stryg agreed.

“Unless…” Gale’s eyes widened. “Lydira didn’t send her daughter as part of the escort. The escort was for Titania.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Why waste time and man-power having a dragon and phoenix guarding a child in the first place, instead of guarding the weapon—Oh. Oooh shit,” Tauri said.

“What?” Stryg glanced at the women, their eyes as wide as saucers. “What is it?”

“Lydira gave you that chest because she had no other weapon to give. You already had it, or rather, you had her. Titania is the weapon,” Gale said.