Wielder

Chapter 8 - The Calling

Surprisingly, the blade was not what made the young woman seem threatening. Alie feared the hatred burning in her eyes much more than the blade in her tight grip.

When Alie said nothing, the woman's anger rose. It lifted like a cloud of darkness over her shoulders, actually visible in smoking tendrils of black energy. "What. Have. You. Done," she repeated, over-pronouncing each word to make sure that Alie understood her.

The blood drained from her head. Her palms turned clammy. She stammered for words, her mouth moving but barely producing sound. "I... I don't..."

"You are the one who opened the gateway, are you not?!" The woman's dark aura thickened. "Do you have any idea how hard I've worked to keep that beast contained? How long I've fought to keep it locked here?!" The smoky blackness reached out around her, searching for something to suffocate. "You've ruined everything!"

Above them, the shadow monster growled. Its voice rumbled like thunder, reverberating across the landscape with a roar that shook the earth.

The woman in the gateway stole a quick glance at the face peering down at them. "Wait your turn," she spat at the beast.

Alie's mouth tried to form words. "It... it was already out here." She shrank back as the woman's hot gaze snapped back to her. Desperately, she added, "It was going to eat us! At least, I think it was. I was trying to use this stone to protect us from it."

As Alie held the crystal up, the woman's anger melted away. The dark aura clouding around her faded. Wonder and shock replaced the hatred in her eyes. She gaped at Alie for a long, long moment.

When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. "It's time, then, isn't it?"

Alie tilted her head. "Time for what?"

The woman lifted her sword. In her empty hand, a scabbard wrapped in leather appeared. With a practiced sweep of her arm, she sheathed the blade. Solemnly, she lifted it across her palms, extending it forward in an offering. She held it just inside the boundary of the archway, bowing her head in respect.

Alie stared. "Um... what are you doing?"

"This sword was not meant to be mine," the woman explained, keeping her face hidden behind a wisp of thin, white hair that slipped free of her bun. "When I was trapped here, I was told I could use it to defend myself, but only until the one whom it was meant for came to claim it."

Alie's gaze slipped down the length of the blade. What adventures had it been through? What stories could it tell? She could almost hear it whispering to her of battles of old. If she could wrap her fingers around it, maybe it would carry her mind away to another time and place. She blinked and shook her head, yanking back the hand that had unconsciously started reaching out to touch it. "And you think that person is me? Why?"

"The Realm has chosen you to become its defender," the woman said, pride and hope strengthening her voice. "That stone is very powerful. Very few are able to utilize its power, and those who have been lucky enough to do so are at the whims of its mercy. It travels where it so desires; there is no controlling it. Even so, it would not permit you to use its magic unless the Realm thought you worthy of it." She bowed lower, holding out the sword even further. "This gate is open because the stone recognized that you were meant to reach me. This weapon is meant to be yours."

Alie licked her lips. "There must be some mistake. You're talking as if this was all planned by the magic of the realm. I'm not some special chosen one."

"But you are." The woman lifted her head. Desperation filled her gaze. "This gate is not supposed to exist. The very fact that you have opened it, here and now, just as I lost hold of that beast..." She shook her head, her ruby eyes watering with emotion. "There is no other explanation. You are meant to save my Realm."