We sat at the table of the second floor, a mug of mead at the table for each of us. Frejr across from me while Qent sipped at his drink beside her. “Gaven passed away two week ago.” Frejr said, leaning forward onto the table. She looked tired, world-weary.
I bowed my head. Her response involuntarily reminded of my family. Somewhere out there they had to know I’d disappeared, that I was most likely dead, I would never have run away from home. Somewhere out there they mourned me… and it was for that that I had to return home.
“He left a message for you specifically for a particular situation.” Qent said. He grimaced. “Only a few of the irregulars know this, but something came through the portal a few days ago. Something that we believe will require you to come to the front.”
“You know I won’t do that.” I said. “Even when the Aen was whole I wouldn’t have been strong enough, now with this…” I tossed the Aen onto the table, for the others to see. “I wouldn’t last a morning against an army of Edratchi.” I said, furrowing my eyebrows.
“Yeah… we know.” Qent said, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “You remember that Gaven was working on another aether weapon for you?” He asked.
“He made it, and more, a set of 4 elemental weapons.” Frejr cut in. “In the case that even the combined might of the races was not enough, it was to be made available to you.” Frejr said, she then dumped five weapons onto the table. A blade handle, a bow, a spear, a warhammer and an axe.
“Bloody hell.” I said, leaning back in my seat and giving a sigh. “So then the Tower, what will they do? If they’re willing to track me down for being a Sensitive, what will they do for a Seraph?”
“The Tower doesn’t know. He left them to make the weapons on his own.” She said. “He had me stay with him to ensure that when he died they would enter my custody.” She folded her arms. “You must take up the sword.” She insisted. “If you do not, they will be overrun in a matter of weeks.”
“Then tell me what came out from the portal.” I said. “What could possibly be pushing them back so hard now?” I asked. “Doesn’t the alliance have almost the entire region working with them?”
“They do.” Qent said. “Even the ones that hate us are putting that aside for now. It’s not enough. Even with the advancements some of the other races have made in magic, or just weaponry, this group of… behemoths, are just too much.” He said.
I reached out, holding onto the aether sword and looking at the runes that ran down the entirety of it. “… Alright.” I said softly. “What did he say about this one?” I asked. This world will be the death of me. I thought to myself. I’ve said that before, but this… Bloody hell.
She handed me a set of parchment notes. “Qent put the finishing touches on some of the elemental weapons.” Frejr said. “He left behind some of his plans in case he wasn’t able to finish it. Some of it was beyond Qent’s ability to perform.”
Qent nodded. “Maybe if I had a few more years of practice…” He said. “I can’t work Aether either, so the axe and the spear will need reinforcement every once in a while because the uh… runes aren’t being protected from ambient corrosion. The Aesor is all Gaven’s work though.” Qent said, gesturing to the handle I held.
“I’ve always wondered what those names were supposed to mean.” I said, holding back the urge to turn it on as soon as I learned how. His notes were interestingly haphazard, the loss of emotions certainly hadn’t made him more orderly…
“The Aen meant ‘Aether shiv’, Aesor is… roughly something to the meaning of ‘Aether light of burning… something’.” Qent said. “I didn’t learn the old language that they used for it…” He shrugged apologetically. “So I don’t know what Aedolon means either.”
I nodded. “… Bloody hell he made this powerful.” I mumbled under my breath. From what I could see, he had designed a lot of improvements to the original Aedolon, ones that he had been convinced would never be useful to implement, until I came along.
“Indeed.” Frejr said. “You see now why we need you in front.”
[… That would make you a single person army, scores of people would fall to their knees by your mere presence.] Page noted, slight awe and maybe fear in his voice.
I hissed some air out from the side of my lips. “Yes… I know.” I replied, both to Frejr and to Page. In his notes he covered both anti-magic properties, control, range… The Aesor had been designed with as many bells and whistles as he could cram into it.
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As it was, I dialled down the range on it as far as possible. At least I wouldn’t outright kill everyone in the building if I turned it on. “… So what? Will the Alliance just accept that I’ll be diving straight into the heart of our enemy?” I asked. “… I suppose I could join with the elementals huh?”
Frejr looked over to me, a heavy frown on her face. “Like it or not, you are the best chance we have now.” She said, slightly irritated. “After what he made, what he sacrificed…” She gritted her teeth.
I raised my arms. “I know. I know…” I said. “I just… I was just another soldier for years, every battle was more luck than anything else until I learned how to fight, and even then…” I gave a dry laugh. “I think I’ve buried more comrades than enemies…” I looked over the weapon. “I don’t know if I can take this responsibility.” I said seriously. “If I fail… what happens?” I ask.
“The war drags on. More people die, and the army loses hope.” Azarint says. “As soldiers, we both know the stakes for figureheads.” I thought back to the general Alida had taken down. Only in my case it’s not just going to be a morale drop… I thought to myself.
“The Alliance will accept your help. An aether weapon marks you, and with an audience that large, no one would dare try to make you disappear.” Frejr said. “If any of us could take up the mantle we would, but only you can wield that.” She said, pointing to the sword.
I grimaced. “So be it then.” I said. “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow.” Frejr said. “Teal will take us across. She’s currently outside hunting.”
“Right, that’ll give me some time to familiarize myself with this.” I said, tapping the sheaf of notes against the back of my hand. “I assume you’re all doing the same with whatever you’re wielding.” Frejr nodded, passing out the weapons to the others.
That night I read by the light of the Shaper, the elementals almost fully grown. Someone knocked on my window. I opened it a crack. “Teal.” I said, pulling it open fully. “Did you know about the Aesor?” I asked, sitting back down to read.
“I did not.” She said. “Had you asked me several days ago I would have doubted that this was achievable by human technology.” She said, kneeling down to inspect the weapon, her face inches away from it.
“You can pick it up if you want.” I said. “So long as you don’t trace that bluish large groove you won’t activate it.” I explained. She gingerly picked it up, turning it over in her hands. I set down the notes, finally finished. “Well, what did you want to come here to talk about? Or is it something else?” I asked, moving to sit on the bed.
“Wanted to check on you.” Teal said, setting down the sword and looking over to me. “Have there been any lingering effects on you from the soulpyre?”
“… Is that what they call it?” I asked, rubbing the back of my neck. “The answer to that is no. I’m perfectly fine, haven’t had any problems whatsoever.”
She nodded. “That’s what we’ve elected to call it. The surge was visible to us and many other mana sensitive creatures from leagues away, and your Sensitives no doubt saw it shoot into the sky like a beacon.” She said. “If you are alright, that is good.”
I sighed, turning over. “I suppose it is.” I said.
She walked over, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I apologize for not being able to provide comfort or companionship. In the end this is a heavy responsibility only you can bear Seraph. After all, your role is to ensure we are capable of holding our own until the Aerathi can aid us.”
I had to remind myself not to correct her again, but as Page had said before, if the front fell, it wouldn’t matter if I still lived. “I’ll do what I have to do.” I said. “And the Aerathi might be too caught up in their own civil war to help, so this is our best chance. I still don’t like it.”
She let go of my shoulder, stepping towards the window. “I will see you in the morning.”
After she had left I shut the window, picking up the Aesor. “Either you’ll be what saves me, or my death. Dammit Gaven.” I whispered, then chuckled a little. “I supposed this is why I can’t have nice things.” I muttered under my breath.
[Because you are now their best hope?] Page asked.
No, because all these nice things are dangerous as hell and drag me into things I’d much rather not be involved in. I thought back. I got you after being involved in an open dissection and experimentation session, I got the Liaen after being pressed into rescuing the world’s roughest equivalent to an eternal evil, and now this… involves me in a goddamn war with demons. I pressed my left hand against the wall.
[… Well I’m glad you think of me as a nice thing.] Page replied, and I rolled my eyes. [You are in a position some would envy you realize, haven’t you ever wanted to be a hero?]
Hah. Maybe, but not like this, the lack of assurance, the constant edge of death just next to me… No, I wouldn’t envy someone in my position… I thought back. But I just can’t walk away… I slam my palm lightly against the wall, before giving a sigh, and going to bed.
The next day I crawled out of bed, putting on my armour. At this point I wanted the Masked version of it, regardless of how distinctive. It covered me almost completely, and I couldn’t hide away if I was dead anyway. I hung the Aesor by my side, over my sword, and made my way down. It was busier than I had expected, and I cursed as their eyes focused on me, then moved to the Aesor.
The others had their fair share of onlookers, Numen held the bow, currently unstrung, glowing with heavy runes of many colours. Frejr held the warhammer, covered in red runes with light gray mixed in, Azarint held the battleaxe with dull green and white runes across it while Rince of course, took the spear, adorned with cerulean colours.
Of us all though, the one who had attracted the most attention was Teal, for obvious reasons as she towered above the others in dragon form. It was likely Teal that had attracted people to the area, civilian and irregular alike. They muttered among themselves, probably speculating on what we were doing, as well as the weapons themselves.
I saw Mulia and the others among the crowd. Mulia looked over with concern, giving me a wave as I followed the others onto Teal’s back. I gave her a nod as Teal took off.