"What did you do, my Lord?" Emma asked in awe, "It… feels a kindred spirit."
"It wasn't me," Braden said, staring at his sword in curiosity, "Or at least not entirely. Are there living trees in this world? Or ancient redwoods that are thousands of years old?"
"I don't know about that master," Leesha said, "there are certainly ancient trees, but none within a thousand leagues of here. I have heard rumors of sentient trees, but none have ever been found by the elves, and we searched for many generations. The Treant's were believed to have died out in the Dawn Days."
"Treant's," Braden said musing as he looked at his sword, "Druska!" He called, and when the woman appeared in the doorway, blaster in hand, he smiled, "Could I see your blade?"
She didn't hesitate and slid the short vorpal blade from its sheath and walked over and handed it to her master. It was an ancient weapon of lost technology and was a priceless heirloom to her entire line. Her trust was absolute, however, and she stood nearby and watched in curiosity as Braden placed both his sword and her blade across his folded legs and closed his eyes, breathing deep. She saw a light blue glow suffuse all three, and Leesha moved up to stand beside her friend.
Braden reached his awareness deep within his blade, sensing a gentle yet incredibly ancient and powerful presence within. It felt familiar to him, like an old friend who had traveled with him over great distances. It was the presence of his homeworld, Earth. It didn't think, but it did feel, and those feelings were like ocean currents, vast and powerful but slow and foreign. It was old, older than man had been governed by laws, older than Christ. It had been faded and nearly lost to the universe, but a miracle and a broken Good Corp system had reforged it. A fallen branch, all that remained of the grandfather of all Redwoods, in the hands of a man unlucky enough to get sucked to another world. All that it had been or ever was, forged into a blade with roots in Braden’s soul.
He could not speak to the Treant's spirit, would never have been able to. His blade, however, was its cousin from across the stars and had shown the spirit a possibility, a hope. The Treant raged, Braden's mind just catching the edges of the communication like rustling leaves in a gentle breeze, impressions fluttered on the edge of understanding. To live as iron or steel would be worse than death but to have roots again. To matter and have an impact on the world once more. The rage boiled and strove forward, what could match its fury? No steel could match the edge this angry, ancient tree spirit wanted to set against the world.
The Vorpal Blade. There is no barrier to its passage. It is singular in this world and reaches its roots back before there was the first spark of life on this world. Back across the heavens to worlds undreamt of. The spirit could not believe it.
Then a miracle of magic began.
----------
Leesha gasped suddenly. They had been standing for long minutes watching their Master throb with kaleidoscopic magic, his eyes closed, sweat pouring down his face. The small elf raised her hands, eyes closed and crackling red energy sprang from her being, arcing out in a vibrant jagged line of red energy that split into three dancing lines of power, one touching Braden's forehead where his third eye would be. One touching the tip of his sword, the red magic sizzling and popping like water on a skillet. The third touching Druska's dull vorpal blade.
"I see!" Emma cried in joy, and Druska realized the buxom girl was glowing with her silver magic as she smiled broadly, "Our Master is powerful and benevolent! He will heal the world, Hah, haha!" She laughed wildly and clapped, dancing around. Druska was left wondering what in the empty ledger was going on here.
The tall and regal healer turned her shining silver eyes to Druska and reaching out an open hand saying, "Come and watch our Lord save a soul and forge your blade into an artifact."
Druska felt fear deep in her belly, worry that something might happen to the one personal item she had never been parted with in all her years of trial and training. But this was Braden, she realized, and she couldn't do anything but trust him. She reached out and took the young girl's hand. An awareness blossomed and the touch, and she felt the powers at work.
----------
The spirit would not see the truth before it, and Braden's blade could not show it. He was about to give up and drive the spirit away, thinking at least he could help the village out. He was panting in exhaustion, he realized, and his mind was getting fuzzy from such determined and focused attention.
Then an arc of vibrant red energy crackled in the air, and he felt Leesha reach out to them, she could sense what he had been trying to accomplish. Her will, like focused fire connected Vorpal blade, his sword, and his mind. He felt clarity and focus as her will combined with his, he reached out to the spirit, and it shied back, trembling as it contemplated the change it may have to undergo. Then a warm breath of life filled the entire clearing, and the spirit saw into the human man's heart. More importantly, it saw into the heart of the alien woman. There it found a fire and fierceness twin to its own. With excited glee, it rushed forward, eager to sink its roots into a will so determined and reach branches out into the greater galaxy.
Exhausted and at his ragged ends, Braden was pummeled by the spirits bumbling and haste. With titanic will and the focus afforded by his blade, the marshaled the ancient being into the vorpal blade. Operating partly on instinct and partly from principals of logic, he drew on his bonds with Emma and Leesha. The women felt him reach out, asking for their power, and both offered it up to his sure control. Watching in wonder as he wove Leesha's crackling focused magic, into Emma's gentle life-giving magic. Taking the construct and linking it to the vorpal blade, harnessing the spirit of the Treant.
Druska watched the magic surrounding her companions flash bright and pulse for one beautiful moment, and then suddenly it all winked out, and a dark presence rushed together as if filling a vacuum racing past them all and to her master. With an earsplitting grinding sound, causing her to cover her ears with her hands, it was over. The clearing was silent and still. She looked over, dropping her hands to see Leesha grab her master as he sagged in exhaustion. She felt worry spike in her, and she moved forward to help, then saw her blade in his lap and gasped.
The Vorpal weapon had changed, the blade was longer and a touch wider, with a smoked coloring to it. She saw in wonder that it failed to reflect the moons light, or any. The hilt was the same, but on the pommel was a small engraving of an old tree in incredible detail. The engraving spoke to her, she realized, whispering in her mind of defending her family and slaying her enemies. Sentiments that Druska could believe in with all her heart. Reaching out a trembling hand, she lifted the blade and felt it leap to her touch, its movements cutting the air as it always had. The spirit within sang in joy as it felt the air itself part for its passage. The magic within thrummed through her arm, in a pleasant tingling sensation. Turning to thank Braden, she found him unconscious, and worried eyes turned to Emma, who had a hand to his head.
"He rests," the young woman said reassuringly, "he exhausted himself, using more magic than I ever thought possible… Druska, do you realize what you hold?" She looked down at the blade and saw its length shimmer, becoming nearly invisible in the darkness, before it shimmered back into sight.
How did I do that? Druska wondered to herself.
"Our master spoke with a godling," Leesha said, looking at the weapon in awe, "An ancient Treant spirit that had come to see the forest as its ancient kin. Our master showed it another path, convinced it to transfer all its power and life into that blade. I have never heard of the like…"
"Not just him," Druska said, looking at the two women, both exhausted, "I was a witness. You both gave and were a part of the working. I see you and thank you."
“It was him,” Emma said, “he called to us and wove our magic in ways that were strange to me.”
“It was brilliant,” Leesha said, her voice exhausted.
"Come," Druska said, sheathing the weapon with reverence and then taking up Braden, "You ladies need rest, and our Master
needs a full night of sleep. I will stand guard."
She would accept no argument, not that either offered much. She forced them to eat small rations and drink some water, both women looked better after the meal, and then they lay down and in minutes were asleep.
Chapter Three
Druska crouched near the door, hidden in shadows that now felt like old friends. She ran her fingers across the hilt of her blade, entranced by it. This was a backward and barbaric world in many ways, but also one filled with wonder. If she ever made it back to the empire, she would have the greatest tale a scout ever shared in the chow hall. She looked over at the handsome man sleeping gently under a blanket and felt her heart swell, and an almost giddy joy fill her stomach. She had stepped into a storybook beyond Corporate imagining and was in no hurry to exit it.
Pressed to master's side were two amazing women, each different, and each just as strong as she in her, in their own way. Druska had spent six days with Leesha getting to know the mercurial elf and learning something of this world and its cultures. She had spent several nights in the small woman's arms, and they had learned much more about each other under the sheets. She had a bond with the elf that was nearly as strong as that with Braden and sensed in Emma was another sister.
She looked out at the night, staring into the darkness and smiling. If any had been unfortunate enough to witness that smile, they could be forgiven the shiver of fear that ran down their spine, for Druska sat in the dark with a hard grin, hungry to commit violence against any so foolish as to wish harm on her family. She planned long into the night. Her family would be strong, and she would see to it.
In the early dark hours of the morning, Druska tensed when she heard the sound of many beasts riding along the river road. She slipped out of the structure and into the embracing shadows, shifting into nearer shadows, without having to take a step. This power was incredible, and she felt the shadows like old friends, welcoming her home. Slipping beside a thick tree, she saw a large contingent of humans in mismatched and rusting armor. She watched them with disgust.
They had no outriders, nor scouts. They rode their four-legged beasts with heads down and nodding in slumber. There was one slender cruel faced man at the head of the column who glanced around with something approaching keenness, but the rest were useless sacks of flesh. The three dozen riders passed the lumberyard with barely a glance to it and continued along the river. She followed them for a while, to make sure they weren't doubling back. She saw them head down to a small ferry in the far distance. Rousing the ferryman, they soon were being shuttled across the river in the dark.
She returned to the lumberyard just before the sun began to rise. She pulled out her blade as the sun peeked up over the horizon, marveling at its lightweight, and how it seemed to leap in her hand when she slashed or stabbed with it. She could feel a hunger within it, a desire to be of use. She smiled, and the hilt warmed in her hand as it read her cold determination.
The pile of bodies near the fire stirred, and she slid the blade home, stepping into the room. Emma was sitting up, the girl looked like an angel, even disheveled from sleep, and Druska felt her body's heat rise as the girl arched her back stretching. Her silver eyes found Druska standing there, and she smiled a shy smile. The girl had been wary around Druska so far, fearful of this tall, gorgeous, and capable warrior. When she had learned Druska had the rogue blessing, she had been warrior still. The night before, she'd seen into the heard of the alien woman and found a bottomless well of love, and trauma, from a lifetime of neglect and brutal training.
The girl stood in her light linen shift and knelt gracefully near the fire. She stirred the coals and then put a small pot of water to boil. Druska was watching curiously as the girl went about a morning ritual. She pulled out a small packet of dried herbs and leaves measuring amounts carefully in her palm, before filling a small silver ball with them and dropping it into the boiling water. Then she pulled out a wrapped bundle of biscuits and a little crock of golden honey and butter from her pack.
Soon the room was filled with a sweet, herbal scent that brought thoughts of wildflowers, spring mornings, and cinnamon sticks. Druska shook her head to clear away the thoughts, but they refused to leave her mind, and as the scents filled the room, even more, she felt a peace settle over her soul. One that she had rarely known. Leesha stirred, blinking her eyes in the dawn's light, and then just as she was about to roll over, pulling the blanket over her head, she sniffed the air delicately. She sat up straight with a start and turned to Emma, her eyes wide and shining with emotion.
“Is that Soulsing Tea?” The small elf asked in awe.
"Almost," the girl said as she lifted the silver ball on its chain and swirled it around the pot several times. "I gathered the herb myself, so I'm able to adjust the blend depending on the day, the weather, or the time of year."
"My mother told stories of Soulsing Tea," Leesha said, walking over to the fire and staring in the pot with wonder. "Her grandmother too, but the Treesingers lost the art generations ago," she looked at Emma, "Many years my people have searched for this very recipe."
"What is this tea?" Druska asked from her place, crouched near the door.
"It is a restorative and purifier," Leesha said, "or so I’ve been told. My mother could never explain fully. She said one had to experience it. Where did you get the recipe?" She asked Emma in awe.
"I recreated it from bits and pieces of story and lore, so it may not be the same as Soulsing tea, but I believe I got close," the girl had a small smile as she poured the tea into four small cups she took from her pack. Then she removed a small leather pouch and carefully removed four tiny leaves and delicately placed then atop the steaming liquid. Setting the cups down, she laid a small towel over them and moved over to Braden, her gentle hands feeling at his brow.
"My mother has several old elven healer texts," Emma said, "One of them has an excellent description of the scent and effects of the tea, and from that, it wasn't hard to find the right herbs, and plants to recreate it."
"Wasn't hard?" Leesha said with a frown, "Girl, elven alchemists, sorcerers, and healers have been trying to recreate the 'Drink of Queens' for longer than your empire has existed."
"Really?" Emma asked, glancing at the elf, "They’re welcome to my recipe."
Leesha leaned forward, eyes intense, “You’re serious… you would give this to the elven people freely?”
“Of course,” the girl said.
“Why all this, for some hot water?” Druska asked.
Emma glanced at the green-skinned woman with a shy look. Then she spoke, looking down at Braden and brushing back the tousled locks.
"The power to tap into the elements can tear at a person's soul," Emma said, "for it’s never a static thing. A person is ever-changing, as is their connection to that greater force. With experience, you grow stronger, with stagnation you weaken. The spirit within must be allowed to grow or shrink with the power you gain or… there can be consequences."
"Such as?" Druska asked, feeling uneasy as she recognized her internal struggle, undergone during those first couple days with this new power. She felt like she owned the power now, but perhaps there had been more danger than she or Braden had known. Then she looked at Braden and saw his limbs shivering ever so slightly, the trembling unnatural. Emma placed a gentle hand on the man's chest, and he settled, relaxing slightly.
“The consequences are varied,” the girl said.
“Death,” Leesha interjected, “destruction of the body and all around it, madness, or more often the loss of power.”
"Yes," Emma said sadly, "those can happen. However, the world has learned how to teach and train sorcerers, witches, Bond Mage, and the rest so that as they increase or decrease in power, they can do so in a safe and structured manner."
Braden’s limbs began to tremble again, slowly increasing and small sparks of red and blue energy emitted from his fingers.
“What is happening,” Druska said in fear as she
moved over to his side quickly.
"Nothing to fear," Emma said with a gentle smile, "I believe you have witnessed or heard of one of these episodes before. The magic within him has not been fully claimed and integrated within his soul. So, it will seek an outlet, often burning or blistering all near."
"The tea will help Druska," Leesha said more hopeful than sure, "elven mages used it before the training existed."
“This doesn’t make sense,” Druska said, “How can a tea change the soul?”
“How do you slip into the shadows?” Leesha asked, “How do I call lightning and fire? If you can answer the heart of those questions, you’ll be wiser than I.”
Emma removed the cloth from the four cups and handed them out to Druska and Leesha. The elf took hers with reverence, eyes fixed upon the steaming green liquid. The small leaves had dissolved, and the scent that drifted into Druska's nose smelled of the processing plants and greased gears of her childhood, warming her from within with memories of the only time during those harsh years when she had been loved and protected.
She took a small sip and felt the liquid fill her being with lightness. Light and dark took on sharper edges, and the shadows filled all else. The power gifted to her by her master, that part of her soul she had never know she was missing, integrated fully into her for the first time and drawing her sword out she pulled it into the shadows with her and grinned as the blade disappeared. She still had much to learn and grow in her new skills, but the magic was hers now.
She looked over and saw Leesha staring at her fingertips as controlled flows of coruscating red, black, and violet energy wrapped into a burning ball.
“I had no idea…” she looked at Druska in awe, “I’ve only felt a third of the sources I could touch until now!”
Emma smiled a small smile as the girl tipped a cup into Braden's mouth, sliding small sips into his mouth and then massaging his throat to swallow them. Her hands were delicate and sure as she worked, and Druska was impressed. Braden's trembling limbs calmed down almost immediately, and his breathing eased. As they watched, his muscles grew taut and dense, his body changing ever so slightly.
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