3.2k Words exactly! \o/
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Chapter 9:
Her Last Moments of Peace
*The Calm Before a Storm*
*-*-*-*-*
Waking up a later time compared to the last three days she had spent in Ret'iva, Eriss rose out of bed and walked towards the only window in the room. The sun shone as brightly as ever, and the streets below were not as occupied as it would be during the night. A yawn escaped the unclad girl and she looked back to the mattress she had slept on, and then over to the undecorated wooden desk where a letter was written.
Eriss didn't know at what hour she fell asleep, but before then, she had spent the whole night awake, wondering over the things she had learned over the last three days.
And the last words from Gherd.
That morning, after first waking up at the usual time, neither Gherd nor the other three was around. She had first found it strange that Mari was not in bed, and a sense of fear arose, until she noticed the letter written on the desk. It was a letter written by Gherd. She knew that because the written text was not some complete gibberish, but genuine english... And the name at the bottom signing the letter off, of course.
Originally, there was a stack of round, shiny metal lying on top of the parchment -supposedly coins of this counrty- which Eriss had put aside in order to read the message underneath. After reading its contents, she had calmed down and gone back to bed for just a little bit longer.
The message written told Eriss that Gherd had taken the others out to do something seemingly important, and she was now free to spend the day around the city. It also mentioned that the final thing Gherd would teach her, would be taught in the evening, along with receiving some items.
It sounded like a farewell, yet Eriss couldn't think of it as one.
She didn't know why, but something told her they would always be together. All five of them. Or maybe it was because she didn't feel like laughing or crying over it, that it was so easy to accept, whatever it would be.
Eriss' personality had taken its toll after constantly getting herself into dangerous situations, from falling off the tower, all the way to being betrayed by a nice-looking couple. Well they couldn't understand Eriss, and she couldn't understand them, so they probably had their reasons, and with that she hadn't thought too ill of their actions. Maybe she had accidentally insulted them, after all.
But with all the change happening so suddenly, over what Eriss assumed was a little more than one week -if her counting was correct, disregarding the unknown amount of time she had spent passed out- her personality had changed from the unstable up and downs, to something inbetween.
It would be more accurate to say that all the horrendous happenings made her emotionless, but that would not be quite correct, either. She could still feel joy, just that... It was as if she had stopped caring and just accepted everything as they happened.
But maybe that was for the best.
Getting dressed and ready to head out, Eriss smelled a sweet scent coming from her clothes, something she always thought peculiar. She had out of sheer curiosity, thought of creating a set of clothes and underwear for herself with magic, which... Did not end well. Not only did nothing appear no matter how much she imagined herself wearing it, but just a few seconds after she had stopped her attempts, her whole body had ached tremendously, which rendered her unable to move for the next hour. With a pounding headache, Eriss decided to simply wear what was available, for now.
Walking out of the room after grabbing the money and then continuing down the stairs connected to the ground floor and area where customers would eat and drink to their hearts content -whether it was night or day- Eriss was greeted by numerous men and women who frequented the inn as she ran out on the streets and then right, towards the main road.
She still had no idea what all of them said -except for a few who seemed to talk in some broken english- but she didn't need to know what they had said in order to understand that they tried to greet her a good morning.
Once out on the main street which continued forward, even further than what she could see, Eriss took the way that did not lead towards the by now very familiar gates, and instead walked slowly down a slanted road that, even if not as occupied as it would seem to be during the night, still bustled with activity.
'Bread... Fish... jewelry... Oh! A blacksmith!'
following her eyes along the right side of the stone-laid road, Eriss' sight came to a stop as she reached the spacious marketplace that connected main roads from the other districts with each other. On the right end of the road that would lead to the inn she currently lived in, as well as the entrance gate, stood a building that was just a little bit larger than the others. Eriss could not read the sign that hang from the flat stone roof, but a crest underneath the text, symbolizing a hammer and an anvil, told her enough to know what it could be.
Entering the building, hot, stuffed air came to greet her face which she almost choked upon when trying to breath it in. The sound of metal hit by another metal clanged from inside a room placed behind the counter, which Eriss recognized all the hot air protruded from.
Another clang reverberated through the room, then the sound abruptly changed into that of when hot metal is engulfed by cold water, and another wave of steamy air came out of the room, along with a muscular giant clad in a thin, brown vest and trousers, holding a hammer in his right paw of a hand. Hopefully, this man wouldn't decide to suddenly attack her, would he?
Looking down at the slightly frightened girl standing in front of him, the man's tensed expression lifted slightly and a loud sigh escaped him as he crouched down to face the shorter one.
"Are you here to hear the tale about what happened to me with the awoken demon lord, too?"
Eriss didn't understand his words, and simply stood still in dread and confusion over what would happen if she did something rash.
The beefy giant narrowed his pale-green eyes and furrowed his brows, then after three seconds, spoke out in a slightly lower voice than before.
"Are you here to hear tale of demon lord, yes?"
She understood it! The language was broken, but she understood it! Her muscles relaxed just a little over not becoming minced meat tonight. But she had to respond quickly, or her fears might actually turn true.
"No... I wanted to browse through your works..."
"You buy a weapon? Not too young?"
The giant of a man stood up and inspected the girl that stared back with an irritated look in front of him. She was still rather short, but the blacksmith's eyes did not deceive him upon a closer look. Even if it seemed to still be in the early stages, her muscles were perfectioned towards speed and agility.
"No I only want to-"
"Wait here."
The giant ran off into the room he had earlier appeared from, and the sound of metal struck by metal, along with waves of heat filled the room where Eriss still stood. Two hours went by as the scared girl had wondered whether she should leave or not, but at the same time she was too intimidated to dare disobey the bear's command. These two hours though, she somewhat managed to glance around the shop where swords and iron flails were decorating the stone walls.
On the ground, a mark which she'd rather have not seen, was painted with a red color. It was a circle, just like the one she had appeared from, but instead of two lines drawn through it, this one had some distorted version of the number five cover it. It was still impossible to mistake this symbol as something not related to the one in the tower, though.
'But why the number five?'
Eriss didn't get much of a chance to keep thinking upon this question as a sweaty smell entered her nose. She looked at the entrance to the other room. The muscular man came back, waving a short knife in his left hand along with the hammer in his right. Her eyes flared up and stared in horror at the dagger that wasn't there before.
'He's going to kill me after all!'
Frozen in fear right on the spot, she just stared as the blacksmith walked up to her and crouched, just like he had before. Differently from before, however, he dropped his hammer on the ground and held forth the dagger with both of his big palms turned up. It looked like a dagger in his care, which in turn meant it was not as small as an ordinary dagger would usually be.
It was still smaller than a short sword, but larger than the other daggers that was lying in a neat line on top of a red blanket at one side of the room. It was also thinner, with only one sharp edge, curving slightly upwards. The hilt was clad in a black-colored leather strip which seemed to have been quickly attached in a hurry, loosely hanging at the end. The metal reflected a slightly dark blue tone on the otherwise grey surface, and a small piece of gibberish text was inscribed on both sides of the dull edge. Eriss thought of that mysterious text as gibberish, but along this piece of metal, it seemed like something majestic and powerful. But what captured Eriss' interest more, was the small, black gemstone embedded in the hilt.
The onyx emitted a light, which to Eriss, looked like a flickering white fire, dancing in the dark shadows, keeping the darkness away.
Mesmerized by the weapon in front of her, she had completely forgotten her fear for the man, until he spoke.
"I trade, how much you got?"
'Wait! Do I have enough!? And did he make a weapon before making sure I had enough!? Ah... But It really looks good...'
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Showing her left palm with ten ornamented coins, Eriss stood silent as the giant stared at her hand, seemingly pondering over something. He then reached out with one hand -causing the scared girl to flinch ever so slightly- and grabbed eight of them.
"Wait here!"
Running off again, Eriss simply stood and stared at the blacksmith who had just taken almost all of her money. She didn't know how much it actually was, but that was almost everything she had!
'Am I unknowingly being robbed!?'
This time she had another reason other than fear that caused her to stay and wait for the muscular thief. It didn't take longer than an hour this time, though, before he came back with the dagger in one hand and a decorated scabbard. The leather strip had been fixed and was no longer loose, except at the end of the hilt, but this time it felt like it was part of the decoration, as a piece of white cloth tied to the leather was hanging as well, contrasting quite well with the black color.
The scabbard was colored white and trimmed with a thin layer of a golden color around the open end where the dagger would supposedly enter. On each side, the scabbard was inscribed with the same kind of letters that was on the dagger.
The intimidating giant crouched down in front of Eriss, slid the dagger into the white scabbard, and then pushed it onto the stiff girl before shoving her out of the shop. It took a moment for her to realize just what had happened until she looked down at the scabbard with a black-leathered hilt protruding out of it.
'...Maybe I should just go back and wait in the inn...'
*-*-*-*-*
It's been six days since the horrific tragedy hit Brin's village. The demon lord had "spared" his family and teleported them to safety, but only he was still alive after appearing inside the mansion belonging to the lord that is currently overlooking Ret'iva. It took him four days to recover from the mental instability, but the blacksmith renowned back in Infar was still alive.
Ret'iva had been welcoming and gladly let Brin stay as a resident, in exchange for once again picking up the hammer. It was an easy task to just simply create weapons and armor, but the quality he once smithed, had yet to be achieved after losing his wife and daughter, and might never return.
Hammering on a large piece of metal armor, Brin noticed that someone had entered his blacksmith for the hundredth time this morning.
'And here we go again, interrupted in the middle of work... Not that this metal scrap would ever become useful.'
Walking out to greet his "customer" -a girl clad in a simple white tunic and black short pants- Brin asked outright.
"Are you here to hear the tale about what happened to me with the awoken demon lord, too?"
The girl seemed to stiffen up by the words, and simply stared at him. Her green eyes shook slightly in fear, causing the muscular man to feel a little guilty over his aproach.
'She might not even be from Egitar... Let's take a closer look... Litogaria, perhaps?'
"Are you here to hear tale of demon lord, yes?"
A slight twitch came from the girl in reaction.
'Seems like language was the problem.'
Then the next words came. She wanted to look at his wares.
'A customer this young? Hmm but her legs seems like they could become a great asset in a few years if she ever needs to fight, or run. A dagger, perhaps?'
Asking first if she wasn't a little bit too young for owning a weapon, Brin noticed the intimidated girl simply standing there, and a similarity between her and his daughter crossed him, and then rage.
'I won't let that bastard take more of our lives! Even if it's just this once, I'll make a weapon that can defend this girl from the same to happen to her!'
Telling the horrified girl to wait, Brin rushed back and started upon his greatest work yet. A weapon was specifically made for slaying, but still there to protect the owner.
Once done, he inscribed for the first time, one of the few ancient words he had learned during his lifetime at home onto the dagger's both sides.
Ess'Irr -The cause and solution.
It was an ominous meaning behind the name just as much as it could mean the opposite.
Running out with the finished blade, Brin showed it to the girl who had obediently stayed right on the spot. After receiving money, he ran back to fix a scabbard and tighten the hilt's leather strips. Coming back with the finished product, Brin crouched down in front of the girl and sheathed the dagger before giving it to her, then pushing her out of his shop.
'I'll leave the cause and solution of our future to you, miss.'
*-*-*-*-*
Nothing eventful happened as Eriss waited in the room, lying on the mattress while holding her newly obtained weapon above her. She grinned every time her eyes looked at the black gem with a mysteriously dancing flame inside of it. Then a knock came from the other side of the door, interrupting her blissful moment. Gherd came walking in alone, holding a thin, black piece of cloth that almost seemed see-through upon first glance.
"Where's the others?"
"They still had work to do, I just came back early. Now, first, take this robe and wear it at all times."
Gherd handed the surprised girl the black piece of cloth. Holding it up, she noticed the sleeves and hood that was hard to notice from afar. Without asking any questions, Eriss put the robe on and inspected it once more. the hood had a silvery white trim along the edges, reached down to the bottom. And the sleeves... The black robe which seemed to sometimes blur the longer she stared at one place, reminded her far too much of something she'd rather not deal with.
'Apart from an ever-flowing trim, it looks identical to-'
"And the last thing I will teach you... Or perhaps give, is a better term. You might have noticed that you have a hard time understanding your surroundings without knowing the language, right? This world have a bad habit of not waiting for further explanations, so language is important. Therefore, I'm giving you this ring that's been in my possession for quite some time."
Getting a slight deja vu from earlier, the one interrupted in her thoughts received the ring that had recently been sitting on Gherd's finger, and quickly put it on. Nothing changed.
Until Gherd spoke again.
"This ring will help you both understand and communicate with the four current languages that walks upon An'ir: Infarl, demonic, Egitarian, and Litogarian."
Eriss understood what he said, but his speech didn't sound like the way he had talked before. It sounded more like...
"How old did you say you were?"
"fivehundred and thirtyseven."
"...That's pretty old."
'No wonder he knows so much... But four languages... Isn't there...'
Gherd sat on Mari's bed, silently looking at the robed girl that would seem to be coming from the future to him, kept pondering upon something. The curiosity took over as she decided to ask.
"Doesn't that mean I'll understand the ancient language too, then?"
"Sadly not. Finding out their meanings through experience seems to be the only way."
Quickly denying the possibility, Gherd kept glancing towards the window, as if he was stressed about something. Eriss sat quietly on her mattress as her thoughts fell back to the black robe she was currently wearing. Then, a third time in the middle of her thoughts, a loud noise filled the outside air, sounding like an alarm.
"Not again! Don't I get to think!?"
"Tch! Seems like it was inevitable after all..."
"What was? What is the sound for?"
"...A necromancer. The city will become a battlefield."
"One? Can't you kill something like that alone? Or can't we just escape?"
Gherd looked with serious eyes onto Eriss. It didn't feel like a good bye at the time, but something nagged at the back of her head from the look he gave.
"You don't understand, we're most likely surrounded already. A necromancer may work alone, but she's never lonely... Quick! We need to hurry out of here!"
Eriss simply gave a confused look as Gherd stood up and tried to drag her with him. Then the last words came, the words she would never forget, as they made their way out on the street and towards the exiting gate in the opposite direction of where they had first entered four days ago.
"Undead, lots of them."
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Important!:
On hold indefinitely.
Stuff happened and later on I completely forgot about it.
I am planning to write a new story, and the reason Im doing that rather than continuing this one first, is because I currently feel out of touch with this story.
Sorry for anyone that enjoyed reading up until this Point - hopefully the other story might entertain you just as much.
Sorry, and thanks.