MEMORY FRAGMENT
Imperial Gardens, 31 years ago.
It was the second time that Abelle had been to the imperial gardens. The first one was at the age of twelve, when her father had brought her along to show the emperor what a prodigious daughter he had.
Abelle remembered the emperor being incredibly tall and far more powerful than anyone in her family could be.
Two bladerers made of moon platinum accompanied her along the path of sapphire tiles. It was said that the garden never kept the same appearance twice. From what Abelle could see, that seemed to be true.
As they walked, a small orchard moved from one side of the path to the other, revealing a small mountain made entirely out of moss. If this had happened anywhere else, Abelle would have thought it was done to intimidate her. In this case, that couldn’t be true: the emperor didn’t need any help in making people fear him.
“If it isn’t little Abelle,” a clear male voice came from the distance. Its source was too far away to be seen, especially with all the trees, bushes, and other plants, but there could be no doubt who that was. “You’ve grown quite a bit.”
On cue, the bladerers turned back, leaving Abelle in the middle of the path. Plants moved in soon after, leaving her only the option to move forward.
Internally, Abelle swallowed. With each step she took, she felt more and more anxious. The path led straight forward into a forest of giant reeds. Walking through them was almost like walking through a battlefield of swords: visibility was limited and, at any moment, one expected a series of surprise attacks from all directions.
Halfway through, the reeds suddenly shot into the air, merging together to create an arch of living plants. The normal reaction was for Abelle to go for her weapon; her self-control was stretched but managed to keep her from committing an unacceptable offense.
“Told you she wouldn’t fall for it,” the emperor said, a few hundred feet away.
Standing over seven feet tall, the ruler of the empire was trimming the branch edges of a massive tree with such speed that for the inexperienced it would seem that his hand was merely passing by the branches. A short distance from him was another figure—an old man dressed in a decorated purple robe.
The archmage, Abelle thought. She had never seen the man in person, despite his many visits to the imperial palace, but even she could tell who he was.
“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble,” the emperor said, as if reading Abelle’s mind. “Quite the opposite, rather.”
Familiar with both noble and legion etiquette, Abelle instantly fell down on one knee. As a countess, maybe she could have gotten away with a curtsy. Right now, she was an officer of his legions, and as such, had to know her place.
“We heard of the sacrifice you made in order to join the legion.” The emperor kept on trimming the branches. “That would make you the only person to do so since I took the throne.”
“I live to serve you, Emperor,” she said without hesitation.
The archmage sighed.
“It must have been difficult to give up your nobility and awakened powers,” the emperor continued. “Especially since you didn’t have to. The Order of the Suns would have taken you in. They’re always on the lookout for talent and you would have fit the bill perfectly.”
“You honor me with your praise, Emperor.”
The girl had no idea what the Order of the Suns was, but was certain that they had never approached her. The only ones who had tried were some of the guilds of the imperial capital. Technically, she was still a member of a few, but given that Abelle no longer had any relations to her family, it’s possible they had discreetly kicked her out.
“Killed any chainlings?”
“Three, Emperor.”
“Had you taken things into your own hands a week ago, there would have been four.” The ruler’s tone suddenly shifted. “You had the superior skills and the better tactical knowledge. Why didn’t you take things into your own hands?”
“I wasn’t the Legion’s captain, Emperor.”
“True, and the way things are going, you never will be.”
For an instant Abelle felt as if her heart had frozen solid. The old captain had been right. She’d never earn her own command. Was that the reason the emperor had called her here? Hardly. From this point, there was only one thing that could follow—her being removed from the Imperial Legion altogether.
“Are you aware that we had to personally approve your joining?” For the first time, the emperor looked at her. “Battle mages remain mages, but they work directly under me. We were intrigued by someone who’d be willing to make the sacrifice, so we allowed it to happen. There were times when we thought that our trust had been misplaced. Thankfully, you managed to survive. What do you think, Adzorg?”
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“Worse than some, better than most,” the archmage replied, not seeming particularly impressed. “At least she knows what she isn’t.”
“Harsh as always.” The emperor laughed. “He’s still skeptical. Like you, he’s a prodigy with something to prove to the world. And just like you, he doesn’t see his shortcomings.”
Abelle wasn’t able to resist glancing at the archmage. Other than his robes, there didn’t seem to be anything special about the man. The fact that he had risen to his current position meant that he undoubtedly was more powerful than, if not all, than at least most mages.
“We have been looking for a suitable candidate to be his personal guard. Something which he has stubbornly refused. However, while the Academy is separate from the crown, it’s still within my empire.”
The emperor snapped his fingers. With her heightened senses, Abelle was able to catch the sound of metallic wings splitting the air. Moments later, a bladerer landed twenty steps away. The blades that formed its wings glittered in the light, making it even more threatening than it was.
“We have decided to make you captain of the Archmage’s Archive,” the emperor said. “You will be responsible for ensuring the safety of all the Academy’s most valuable and dangerous treasures. Of course, I strongly consider my dear Adzorg to be one of those treasures.”
That was a very peculiar way of looking at it. If a common were to use such logic, he would have been laughed out of most towns. When it came to the emperor, everyone was left with the sole option of nodding and accepting it as law.
“This is a challenging task. You’ve shown that you cannot be bribed or threatened. Now, only one thing remains—whether you have the skill to take on the role.”
The blades forming the bladerer’s wings spread out.
“This will be your opponent.” The emperor crossed his arms. “Defeat it and I’ll declare you a captain. Fail and you’ll be sent back to our legions, where you’ll spend the rest of your life as a lieutenant.”
Abelle smiled. Most would have been terrified at the prospect of fighting such a construct. Bladerers were considered to be more lethal than metalins and golems. That wasn’t true, of course, but their ability to fly along with multiple sharp blades was enough to make seasoned warriors prefer flight to fight. After being forced to remain as backup during her patrols in the wilderness, Abelle was itching for a real fight, especially if it were a challenge.
Drawing her sword before the bladerer could fully spread its wings, Abelle had already charged forward. Not knowing the weak spots of the construct, she went directly for its right shoulder. Her blade split the air in a perfect arc slash.
Seeing her intent, the bladerer leaped up in an attempt to decrease the distance between the two. Abelle’s attack landed, slicing off the entire right arm of the creature. Sadly, it was a moment too late. The blades had already unlinked from the shoulder spot, flying towards the lieutenant along a spiral pattern.
Too slow, she thought, spinning through the air.
Each of her strikes was enough to cut through stone, yet only managed to push the moon platinum blades back several dozen feet. There was no time to relax, though. No sooner was one wave of blades scattered than another took its place.
Deflecting several attacks, Abelle stepped on a blade, using its force to push herself back and away from the balderer.
The normal approach for fighting flying monsters capable of ranged attacks was to decrease the distance and focus on rapid melee attacks. Yet, there was also an advantage. Allowing her enemy fly up in the air allowed Abelle to use a line attack without fearing consequences.
“Line strike,” Abelle whispered, slashing in the direction of the bladerer.
Dozens of blades scattered as the line of destruction struck the construct’s torso. The damage was significant, though not enough to destroy it outright.
Damn it! Abelle hissed. If she had still been awakened, she would have added spark to the attack, ensuring that the magic powering the entity would fizzle out. Now she needed a second attack to finish the job.
Leaping to the side, the lieutenant quickly followed up the attack with several more line strikes. Yet, the slight delay had allowed the bladerer to respond and perform a line attack of its own.
“No!” Abelle shouted.
The two attacks moved towards each other. Even now, she could see that they were going to miss each other, reaching their targets. Abelle’s strike was going to hit the bladerer’s torso again, likely finishing it off this time. Its attack, though, while missing her, was going to slice the entire garden and parts of the palace beneath it.
Frantically, the lieutenant performed another line attack in an attempt to counter the construct’s. Before she could, purple filled the sky, like a thin layer of glass emerging above the garden.
Two massive bangs followed. Destroyed by the second strike, the bladerer burst open like a firework. Simultaneously, the layer of purple shattered, though not before soaking up the entire force of the aerial attack.
Terrified, the girl looked in the direction of the archmage. She had expected him to have cast the spell. Yet, the person who had his hand extended was the emperor himself.
“Getting a bit slow in your old age?” the emperor asked, looking at the archmage.
“My apologies, Emperor. I’ve never been one for combat spells.”
“Which is precisely why we insisted on your being protected.” The ruler then looked at the garden. Despite surviving the worst-case scenario, there still were metal bits and pieces scattered throughout it, not to mention multiple blade fragments. “Seems we’ll have to redecorate.” He lowered his hand. “You could have done a lot better. It had seventeen openings you could have used to destroy it before it left the ground.”
“M-my apologies, Emperor,” Abelle could only say. She hadn’t seen one. Possibly the emperor forgot that she didn’t have the ability to see magic.
“We suppose it was to be expected since you’re no longer an awakened. Still, you did as I asked. I’ll leave you two to iron out the details.”
When a person said “I’ll leave you” it usually meant that they would be the one to go. With this being the ruler of the empire, both the archmage and Abelle quickly got the hint and started walking away, all the time keeping their faces towards the emperor.
“Not a bad fight,” the archmage whispered once they had entered the reed forest. “I expected you’d be a lot flashier.”
“Flashiness is for awakened,” Abelle said. “I need to be efficient.”
“Thank the Moons. The last one kept on fighting for an hour, desperate to display all the skills he had. It’s a wonder that the emperor didn’t throw him out.”
“What happened to him?” Abelle’s curiosity got the better of her.
“He was made lieutenant of the palace guard,” Adzorg said with a snort. “I guess he saw it as a promotion of sorts.”
Bushes and trees filled the path as the two kept walking back, blocking the emperor entirely from view. Even so, they kept to the palace protocol. Nobles had been known to spend decades in prison items for less.
“What about me?” Abelle asked.
“You heard the ruler. You’re my captain now.” The man gave her a pat on the back. It felt strangely warm, as if done by a close friend.
“The emperor was right, though,” the archmage added. “You could have killed it off faster. Whole clusters of magic threads were entirely exposed. When we get to the archives, I’ll make you a trinket to see—”
“No,” Abelle interrupted. “No trinkets. I can’t afford my skills to rust.”
“Tools don’t always make you weaker. Just like your sword.”
“Maybe, but I prefer to rely on my own strength for now.”
“Oh?” The man smiled. “Is that all you have to say?”
“Sir,” Abelle added. “I prefer to rely on my own strength for now, sir.”