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You might think that removing magic from the world would be a difficult task.
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Matt woke up to a strange blend of feelings; an inexplicable sense of safety pervaded his body, his core kept exploding in flashes of coloured light and a vague unease floated through his unconscious mind. He looked inwards, searching for the… There. He found the invisible threads connecting him with his weapon. Opening his eyes, he saw it on the ground nearby and reached out for the handle. When it rested in his palm, the weapon’s core sent back ripples of calm, and Matt breathed out in relief.
“How are you?” As Matt sat up and leaned against a nearby wall, Mia sat down next to him and put her hand on his arm.
He closed his eyes again, and breathed slowly, forcing his heartbeat to slow, before looking back at her. “I’m ok,” he said, his voice surprisingly strong.
“What happened?” She asked as he got to his feet.
“The weapon…” He looked down at the strange polearm. “I…” He searched for the right words, but kept coming up short. This was an entirely new experience, and he had nothing to compare it with. The connection he felt with the weapon was… It wasn’t even right to call it a connection. It was as if he had gained a new arm, which had always been there. You weren’t connected to your arm.
“We…” Suddenly, the right word came to him. “We bonded,” he said finally. “I don’t know how to explain it. I was…”
His voice trailed off again as he remembered the experience, and Pete walked up to him and grabbed him by both shoulders. Looking firmly into his eyes, he asked, “Are you ok? Good to continue?”
“I think so… Yes.” Matt gulped. “Yes, I am. Let’s keep going.”
While Pete led them down the hallway, Matt continued his attempts at explaining what had happened to the others. Talking through the events helped him understand them, and when they reached an arched gateway at the end of the hallway with the large rooms, holding his new weapon already felt as natural as breathing. He let the energy flow from his core and out into the weapon, and then back. When energy poured out from his core, down his arms and into the blade, it shone with a sharp glow, and as he absorbed the energy back, the blade dulled to a dim shimmer.
“Does anyone know what this is called?” He asked and held it up.
“It is a guandao,” Thor said, and seeing the looks on their faces, he continued. “I have seen one before. The family that I used to work for had a room with ancient weapons. Swords and spears, and several others that I haven’t seen anywhere else. One of them was a guandao like that one.” Thor pointed at the weapon in Matt’s hands. “Well, not exactly like that one; the one that they had was almost entirely broken. The handle had snapped, and the blade rusted and chipped. It was displayed behind glass. Apparently, it was ancient. But I recognise it.”
“Huh,” Matt said, looking back at his weapon. At his guandao. “Do you know anything else about it? Like how to use it?”
“No,” Thor paused. “But it looks like someone combined a sword and a spear. I guess the blade is pretty heavy?”
“Yeah,” Matt said. “It’s nothing like a spear. The balance is all in the blade.”
Thor scratched his chin. “You will need to do some practice, but if I were to guess… If you get a long slashing movement going with that thing, the momentum will be pretty devastating. At the same time, you will have committed to the strike and breaking it off will not be easy.”
“Yes,” Pete said. “You can whip a spear back into a defensive line quickly when needed, and even against a shorter weapon, it’s effective as a staff if your opponent gets in close. With that… With that guandao, you need to be extra careful about the range. If they close the distance and come inside your range, you’re in trouble.” Pete paused for a moment, looking up and scratching his chin. “Wasn’t there a form with a weapon like that… On the wall in the training hall?”
“There was,” Matt grinned back at Pete. “All the way to one end. Twelfth Form. I just looked at it briefly… It had so many stances and movements. First Form has fifteen. Twelfth had more than double that.”
Mia had been listening and waiting for a break in the talk. “Thor, why did that family have a room full of ancient weapons? Who even has that?”
Thor went very quiet, letting his eyes move between them with a contemplative expression. At last, he answered. “They were nobles. My… My mother used to run their household. And I–Well, I was a page, a stableboy, a kitchen help and anything else they needed.”
Vic squinted over at Thor. “So you know them, the nobles? You’ve seen them? You’ve lived with them?”
“In a way,” Thor answered. “I was young, maybe six, when they threw me out. Mother…” Thor swallowed. “Anyway. I still remember things. Mostly, I stayed with the other servants. Tried to keep out of the nobles’ way. It was… It was better being out of sight.”
“How…” Matt thought of the question burning a hole in his thoughts. “How long do they live? If they don’t die from the wasting disease?”
“I do not actually know,” Thor answered. “But… Old. Very old. I think the Baron–that’s who my mother worked for–was forty-something. And his mother again was still alive, although we never saw her. She lived on an estate out by the ocean.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
So, maybe sixty, Matt thought, excitement growing. That’s another forty years, at least. What would he do with all that time? He looked around at the ancient walls that surrounded them and imagined the place bustling with life and laughter. But can I stay here all the time? If I live to sixty, I could go anywhere. I could even go to Lyril. In the stories, they say–
Mia interrupted his thoughts. “Ok boys, let’s keep moving.”
Matt joined Pete in the front of their small formation, holding his new guandao. He had been expecting the new weapon to feel awkward in his hands, but already the familiarity of the dense wood in his hands gave him confidence and comfort. He nodded to Pete, and they began to walk.
As they moved through the gateway, the corridor opened up into an enormous hallway, reaching in a straight line that cut through the mountain. Suddenly, the scale of everything increased together with a notable change in the architecture and design. Simple, dark stone slabs turned into smaller and lighter bricks that melded into each other with an almost shiningly white mortar. The large hallway seemed both imposing and light at the same time. A strip of glowing power ran across the ceiling, lighting up stunning murals that ran down each side of the hallway. Matt was about to walk over to study an engraving when Pete touched his shoulder lightly.
“Let’s check through there first,” he said and pointed to a small doorway exiting the hallway to their left, which Matt hadn’t noticed.
They walked over and peered into the tunnel. It was dark, providing no magical light. Vic moved up behind Matt and Pete with his torch, and together they moved down a strangely wide passageway with a ceiling so low they almost hit their heads. After a few dozen strides, the tunnel opened up into darkness, and they entered together and fanned out, willing the light from their torches to reach further into the gloom.
A strange and familiar scent hung in the air, momentarily confusing Matt. What is that smell? Is it… No, it can’t be. Why would this place smell like–
A whisper from Vic interrupted his thoughts. “This place is enormous. I triggered Hide and could barely see the ceiling above. It’s the height of at least five or six men. And I couldn’t see the far side of the cave. The wall is just too far away. This place is absolutely huge.”
“Do we continue?” Matt didn’t know why he was whispering, but there was something eerie about the cave, and he gripped the guandao more tightly.
Pete answered. “We can’t leave this cave at our backs. Matt, the two of us lead the way in. Vic, Hide and scout ahead. Thor, watch our rear. Mia, see if you can leave torches burning every twenty paces, leading the way back here if we need to make a quick exit. Let’s stay together so we don’t get lost.” Vic handed Mia the bundle of torches.
“How is everyone’s essence?” Thor asked, and they all reported back that they were full.
Vic disappeared from view, and Matt and Pete walked forward, holding their weapons ready. The torchlight reached only a few strides in any direction, and Matt felt his heart beating faster as the familiar anticipation of battle settled in his mind. They continued slowly into the dark cavern, apprehension building with each step.
“Halt!” Vic whispered urgently as he appeared right in front of them. “There’s something… someone ahead. There’s a fire, and three… creatures, sitting around it.”
“Creatures?” Pete whispered back.
“Yes. Like… some kind of strange monsters. All white and weird. They were sitting around a fireplace, holding sticks. They looked like they were… roasting something on the fire.”
“Huh?” Pete responded. “Roasting? Fire? You said they were monsters.”
“Definitely. I didn’t get too close, but from a distance… they were ugly as fuck. All white, all teeth and claws. Long, thin. And something was wrong with their arms and legs, they were… just very, very wrong. And yes, they had a fire.”
“So, what do we do?” Matt asked.
“We take them out,” Pete said. “I wish I knew more about them, though. About their abilities.”
“Is there some way we can observe them first?” Matt began, a tingle of curiosity about the strange creatures creeping into his mind, but Pete stopped that train of thought.
“No, we can’t risk it. Right now, we have the advantage of surprise. We can move in before they know we are here. If we hang around, they might notice us. We need to move fast, and we need to move hard.”
“I agree,” Mia said with determination on her face. “We can’t afford to mess this up. We are so close now, and what we have, what we know, is too valuable. This is about more than us now, so we do what gives us the best chance of survival, at the same time as we prepare this place for habitation. Pete, what’s the plan?”
When Matt felt his heart beat faster and the familiar trickle of fear crawl down his back, he took a deep breath. Enough, Matt. Get your shit together. He looked inside and drew comfort from his core, breathing deeply and letting calm and purpose fill his body. Almost startling him, his guandao responded in kind and radiated a strange eagerness for the fight ahead, almost as if urging him on. He squared his shoulders and looked over at Pete, awaiting his instructions.
“Vic,” Pete said, “you stay hidden as we hit them. Try to work your way around to the other side. Thor,” Pete waved the man closer, “It’s time to try that Icicle Strike. If we can freeze one of them out of the fight… Take out one of them–your choice of which one. Matt, we take one each. Hold them occupied until Vic can move in. Vic, you take out the one Thor freezes first, then you move to help whoever is closer. Perhaps try your Assassination skill? Ready?”
A series of nods followed, and Vic soon disappeared from view. Together, Matt, Pete and Thor walked slowly forward, Mia following behind them as they crept into the darkness.
Soon, they saw the flickering light of flames up ahead, and Matt’s shoulders tensed up when he saw the bony white creatures sitting around the fire, gesticulating with weirdly thin, long arms. At the same time as he saw them, he heard them. Not recognising what it was at first, it took him a moment to realise that the high-pitched sounds were the sounds of the creatures talking to one another. They are communicating. What are these creatures? He wondered as they crept forward, step by step.
At first, Matt hoped they might actually sneak on the monsters unseen, and he planned his attack. When Pete gives the signal, I will charge that one, and try to surprise it with a rush attack. A high slash for its neck, then–
A sound, or perhaps their smell, must have alerted the beasts. Suddenly, one of them turned its head in their direction, and a second later, the fight was on. One moment, the cavern was wrapped in an eerie silence, and the next, a high-pitched scream that almost froze Matt to the spot filled the air. He had to force himself to step forward, guandao raised in preparation, as the other monsters joined the first, their screams breaking through his attempts to settle his nerves. As one, the three monsters turned to rush towards them, all the time emitting a continuous screech that felt like someone was scratching their claws into the inside of his skull.