The Frost

Chapter Fourteen

Before Alex and Leo had gone back into the outskirts of the Briar to buy more weapons, they had set up a campsite off the beach in a section of forest. They had drawn a circle into the dirt and carved weird symbols at regular intervals. When Claire had asked what they meant, Leo explained it would hide them from the sirens, who could walk swiftly on land at night and lure men back to the sea. This oddly explained why they never traveled at night, and was always finding places to sleep. It didn't necessarily make Claire comfortable with sleeping out in the open, they had always had a roof to protect them. She gripped her necklace, knowing she would need her sleep more than anything. When the duo returned from the outskirts, they were stocked full of swords and knives.

With a fight bigger than they had initially intended, the assassins had everyone come to collect some sort of weapon, even Trei reached for a gleaming sword. Alex approached Claire quietly, her own blankets separated from the rest.

"Here." He handed Claire a small tube. She glanced at it and then looked up at him.

"What am I going to do with this? This has no sharp edges." She asked bewildered.

"Look closer." Alex insisted, and Claire brought it up to face her. It was long, long enough for her to perfectly fit two of her hands along the hilt. Both ends were closed, sealed shut as if guarding something inside. Alex sighed in exasperation and then twisted the middle. Two swords popped out from each end, making Claire gasp. They were a gleaming silver, a fire teardrop etched into the bottom, near the hilt.

"This was made for an assassin." She realized, and Alex bent down to where she was sitting in the grass. The sun had gone down long ago, and they had set up a fire for the night. They had already eaten their gourmet dinner of food from a can, and they had unpacked sleeping bags and blankets to sleep. The fires glow made the sword shine, the flame making the blade look as if it was burning.

"It was, yes. It's one of its kind. This sword has no equal, and it will never again." Claire looked up at Alex. He was looking back at her, his brown hair falling in front of his eyes. She longed to push it back. She didn't want to think about the implications of his words. The darkness cast a shadow on his eyes, making them look almost black in the night. He reached forward again and closed the sword with a twist. He then twisted it the other way and only one sword shot out again.

"Twist one way and both come out, twist the other way and only one does. By twisting the middle all the way around they come apart, so then you can have two separate blades instead of one." He placed his hands over hers and separated the two blades. She realized he was still looking at her, and she did not think she could handle looking back. Instead she rejoined the two swords and then collapsed the other back into the hilt.

"That's insane." She said, and Alex smiled.

"That's called magic. Now here are also a couple of daggers. I want you to put them in your boots. Tomorrow we are going to train. You, Trei and Epinonine are far out of practice. The day after that we will travel to Erline to search for this Alwin." Claire nodded once, accepting the daggers and sliding the sheaths into her boots. She could feel the pressure against her leg and knew it would take a while to get used to the feeling.

"Listen Claire, there's something I want to say." Alex started, and Claire looked at him expectantly.

"Mind if I sit here?" They both looked up to see Trei standing above them. He had a sword strapped to his back now and he was looking down at Claire, his dirty blonde hair darkened and looking almost brown.