Beyond the Glow

Chapter 39

"Personally, I would have chosen a sword," He says, reaching out and taking the wooden staff from my hand, I let him pull it from my grasp uncertainly, still shocked at his sudden appearance. He taps it on the ground, listening to the heavy thunks. "Strong. Sturdy." He looks back at me. "A good choice to incapacitate, not so much to kill." He strokes his beard, his eyes narrowing slightly, before nodding. "It fits you."

"Who are you?" I ask, the words out before I can stop them. I wince, "I'm sorry. That was rude of me." The man however, laughs, and I raise an eyebrow.

"I like your spirit. You've lasted long on your own." He relaxes, and I shift my weight uncomfortably. "You have endured much," He says, reaching out and placing the staff in my hand. "It gets better," He says, patting my hand. He begins to fade away, and I stand, shocked. Before looking around rapidly. To my surprise, Len has frozen in the process of taking a sword off the wall, his eyes alight excitedly.

Kendi has frozen in a similar state, running a cloth over a favored sword in her lap while she waits for us. "You froze time?" I say, looking back. He's almost gone now, that grin still on his face. I've never heard of anyone who had the magic to freeze time, the closest I've ever heard of is the time bubble I created for me and Amita, and even then, it only puts us in a hidden limbo, so we're out of sight...

"What are you?" I ask, and he chuckles, still fading from my sight.

"My name is Baldur, my dear." He says, holding his staff in front of him. "And, when times speeds up again, tell Len that he's never fooled me. I always knew." With those final words, he give a little wave, then completely disappears, and as I watch, time speeds up again, and Len finishes taking the sword off the wall, looking over at me with a smile when he sees me watching.

"You look like you've chosen one." He says, gesturing at the staff. "You also look like you've seen a ghost." The smile fades, replaced by a more concerned frown. "What happened?"

"I-" I start, freezing for a second, before shaking out of it. He stopped time... "I saw Baldur." I say, leaning on the staff slightly. "And he... Stopped time."

"You saw Baldur?" Says Kendi, coming up and looking at my staff. "Good choice, it suits you." She comments, "He only shows himself if he wants to be seen, and yeah, it can be a bit surprising at first."

"You've seen him?" I ask her, "Does he always do that?"

She nods. "It's pretty shocking, for someone to have that sort of power. It's why we're so glad he's on our side, that kind of power is dangerous."

"I can tell." I say, remembering the sheer amount of power it must have taken to make those few seconds of frozen time. I look at Len, "He says he knows," I grin slightly, "He's always known."

Len sighs. "And I thought I did so well at hiding it. He probably told Leila and Fira and they were all laughing at me the entire time I thought I was undercover. It explains why I was tasked with you though, they wouldn't trust just anyone to retrieve somebody with as much magical power as you. I was surprised they didn't just go after you themselves though."

Kendi nods, "That's right, you were a field agent." She grins, pulling dual daggers from her belt and tapping Len's new sword. "Let's test your skill why don't we? You haven't gotten rusty during your little vacation have you?"

Len laughs, lifting his sword, "I'd like to see you try to beat me."

Kendi leads him into one of the round white circles, "Oh believe me, I'll try, and I'm going to win." I follow, sitting outside the circle and watching with interest. "Watch closely," Calls Kendi, "This should show you some basic stances that we can go over later, and you can see how you can use a smaller weapon, like my knives, against a larger blade. Even if you don't have one of our weapons you should know how they're used, for reference in your own fights."