Ether and Abyss

Chapter 4: Animus

Too many to fight, Seif thought, spinning the blade in a wide arc that the victis demons might keep their distance. Two in the front, three in the back, so that as soon as Seif pulled the blade out of the arc, one behind him nearly landed upon his shoulders in a crouching leap. The Aegis shifted to the side so the victis demon hit the ground, and Seif dispatched him with a stab into his back. Two more charged him from the front, and Seif let them come, then, at the edge of the second before they hit him, he tore his blade from the back of the first demon, the rounded front of the blade dark with demon essence, and spun out in a wide circle, cutting a swath through their chests and killing them. The last two seemed hesitant, and in that time, Seif stabbed himself through the chest with the blade, feeling the enchantment light the thing ablaze, and then pulled it out with a glorious explosion that set the blade to its former, blazing gold and silver luster, as it vaporized the demons. His blade was a unique one: it's tip was honed to a fine point, but the rest of the blade was straight down to the hilt, which rose up on either sides about an inch or two like a pitchfork. Either side was sharp as the winter's winds, and the center of the blade was jet black with white enchantment runes up and down the center. The hilt was long enough for Seif to use both hands, but he much preferred one handing the blade (his strength was ample enough to do that easily) which allowed for his greatshield on his left arm. Impressively, Seif's sheath as well was enchanted; the blue-black leather inscribed with runes of weightlessness and speed. Altogether, it was a blade crafted to last an epoch.
Seif moved to sheath the blade, but stopped as a roar split the inky air behind him. He turned, rolling his eyes under his helm's visor, as he made out four pairs of beady, red eyes. But they weren't all separate beasts. As they came into the light of the flaming blade, the shape of the hydra took form, it's black and gray scales dancing in the dim light as its nearly dragon like body stamped forward. Seif rolled his wrist, flipping the blade through the air, and the hydra hissed, advancing forward.
Step into my arena, Seif thought tauntingly, holding the blade tightly with both hands, parallel to the ground, as the great beast charged.
Hydras are deadly beasts. Four heads branching from a body with snakelike necks, their venom is highly poisonous, and the removal of one head starts an almost instant growth of two more. A sort of undeath, if you will. Usually, the safest course would be to snipe with a great-bow or long-bow from a distance, but even that was hard to do, as Hydras are incredibly fast, and block arrows with their heads quite often as they know it has no effect. Seif had a different plan.
Raising his shield, Seif batted away two incoming maws, before diving out of the way in a quick roll where the blade of his sword pressed flat to the ground so it didn't cut him. Seif recovered in his knees, holding up his shield as one hydra head swiped across its gleaming metal. Wasting no time, Seif rose and stabbed himself with the blade.
The Hydra hissed, recoiling as the blade began to glow with golden flames, and Seif pulled it out with a war cry, then dove between more heads that attacked in a fear-induced frenzy as the flames glowed. But it ended the way it always did. Aegis Seif sidestepped a venomous maw, then leaped to the beast's body, and impaled his blade so deep that a spurt of blood stained his armor as the hydra howled once more, before dissolving into red essence. Once again, the blade flashed, as the soul entered the blade. Seif rested the blade across his hands, examining the blade. These souls he kept absorbing...what was their purpose? Only recently had this started to happen, or maybe it always has. Seif couldn't remember. His memory always escaped him, but he sheathed the blade struggling to recall something.
"This blade," the blacksmith was saying, unwrapping the cloth, "will never break. It will never dull, never kill you, the wielder, and never rust..."
More memories shifted as Seif held his head.
A primitive boat coasting on a black lake, with Seif standing upon the brow of the boat as it approached the whirlpool. Someone stood behind him, and another man worked the tiller. Strangely, the whirlpool did not smash the boat, and it pulled alongside it while the anchor dropped.
"Good luck, my Aegis," and the man bowed. Seif nodded, then stood on the edge of the boat, arms raised at his side, then dropped into the whirlpool with an almost robotic ease.
His head had begun to pound its way out of his head now.
Roaring a war cry, Seif spun in a deadly sword kata, blade outstretched as he spun in a full circle in the center of the black Shades. All of them screamed as the blade sliced across their chests, Seif huffing in his helmet as he swung the silver and black blade onto his armored shoulder. Lifting his great-shield, Seif back pedaled to the Abyss Gate as to ensure no attacks from behind. No attacks landed on the shield, and after many moments, he calmed. Stepping out again, he examined the darkness in all directions. Just the howls of the Abyss, nothing more. And suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, an arrow struck his forehead, breaking through the helm easily. Seif barely had time to feel pain, before he died for the third time.
"AARGH!" Seif screamed, dropping to his knees, as his forehead got the memory of that death, which he had died 237 deaths ago, in full force once again. Unsheathing his greatsword, Seif breathed heavily through his helm as he stabbed himself, to make the pain go away. No such luck. Instantly, the blade once again became wreathed with golden, like a message from the Titans.
This is your eternal pain,
Seif sobbed.
This is your eternal prison.
If the Abyss could laugh, it would have to clutch its chest at the humor of this broken, chained Aegis.

*****

Warm air ruffled Artemis's black ponytail as she flipped through the pages of Art of the Moon, Luna treading heavily in the fallen pine needles at her waist. It had been a mere week and a half since her encounter with the Moon god Ak'havat, and the drake had already grown to the size of a herding dog. Luna could fly, but she couldn't carry Artemis yet, fairly obviously, and mostly moved in leaps and glides like a winged cat. Every few minutes the drake would look up at his owner as if to say, What are you doing here? Why aren't you my meal yet?
Okay, perhaps Artemis didn't really think the drake would eat her, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. It was only two nights ago that she was testing out her new-fangled crossbow on a tree. She had fired at least three bolts into a nearby oak, ready to fire another, and she had barely finished pushing down the metal trigger bar before Luna leaped out of a nearby tree and grabbed the bolt right out of the air, like a dog grabbing a ball, and snapped the wooden shaft in her razor-sharp canines. Those were moments that made Artemis think, I'm the proud owner of a gods damn baby dragon!
Now, as Artemis walked through the woods, she skimmed over a little section about modifications to the mage wraps.
Human blood drawn under the moon, drawn on the fabric in this design, allows the movement of the moon's light.
Artemis had learned to not read that much into the cryptically scrawled writing, knowing damn well that "blood drawn under the moon" meant something as puny as a cut upon parchment. And the artwork in the book was strange too. The runes were strange, like an ancient dialect, and every model human in the book was either a nude man or woman with no face, which made night reading slightly uncomfortable. Most of the spells were situational at best, like the ability to dull a blade magically, but keep the edge sharp, or the spell that marked animals of the moon with a gray aura. Others worked quite well, like the short distance teleportation spell which she used to retrieve all her crossbow bolts, or the ability to stem blood loss in the event of a wound. The most important spell, however, was a spell that imbued her blade with "Arc Magics." Artemis's wasn't entirely sure what it did, but often tested it before bed, as it seem to balance her equilibrium and give her sudden bursts of speed and strength whenever she cast the spell upon the blade or the mage wraps. A boost to her being, per se.
Luna chattered excitedly, doing a full circle around Artemis like a child needing to piss.
Artemis frowned, looking at the baby drake and tucking the book onto her coat. "What could be wrong, missy?"
As if to answer, a layered and echoing voice cut through her brain, making her trip over an easily visible root. Doh mah tin, viea. Doh mah tin. Was that the drake's voice in her head?
Before she could decide, the Drake scampered off ahead of her, crowing energetically. Artemis followed, managing a jog that was fast enough to stay only a few paces behind the drake at all times. As if chiding her on, the air grew colder, and whispers found their way to her ears, whispering no audible words. All the trees around her seemed leafless, dead, and petrified. She knew not how long she ran with Luna, but the waxing crescent moon was at the highest point in the sky when she came to the gate and the cliff.
An archway, stone and ancient, stood half-crumbled in front of her, the waves at the edge of the cliff forcing their way about below them, crashing upon the rocks. Through the gate was a crumbled stone bridge that seemed overgrown with moss and lichens and lead to an island, where a chapel like structure stood, outlined by the dark of the night sky and the waves. She had nary the time to consider if crossing the bridge was worth the risk before Luna soared up into the air, gliding mere inches above the bridge.
"Damn this," Artemis swore, and carefully made her way onto the bridge.
Waves below her did nothing to quell her nerves, and some rocks crumbled little shards as she passed. The wind whipped over her locks, but she pulled her hood up with great difficulty and made her way across. Spray dampened her golden cloak, but she made her way to the black and gold chapel, which looked even older than the bridge itself. A crumbling dome stood atop it, and the metal doors seemed crumbled in as though they were peeled off the hinges and smashed together before being shoved back in the doorway. Mere steps from the exit archway, the bridge below her groaned, and she didn't even have time to swear again before the stones began to crumble. Artemis stumbled then her fist glowed as the focused on the door and teleported, materializing by the door in a dizzying motion. Luna set by with a gentle thump as Artemis pulled her hood back and unsheathed her sword. A gap big enough for her to crawl through had broken open in the bottom left corner of the door, and Luna wiggled through first before Artemis took a deep breath, and ducked inside.