Amiya shivered as she listened to the air still for the brief moment between their salute and the horn blare, watching the two fighters fall into stances, with concerned looks on their faces. The tips of her fingers tingled and she glanced at the sky, half expecting a storm to be brewing, frowning as the high, strong bugle note announcing the start of the fight rang out. She heard it peal through the air and lowered her eyes back down to the arena as the world began to make less sense.
As the blades of the two fighters came together, crashing into an overwhelming melody of metallic music, the world in front of her went out of focus, Shelby and Verana fading from view, and then the entire arena disappearing as well.
Gone were the spectators, the crowds, the fences and tents. She seemed to sit alone, watching an open expanse of Wild land that she recognized as this Island without, before, humans being approached by tired, battle worn men on horseback. Their armour was of a style gone out of fashion centuries before, heavier and less manageable than what was used now, all carrying large, heavy swords and shields, battle scars crossing their skin and haunted expressions on their faces.
She watched as they dismounted near the forest and each went to one knee, bowing their heads as if towards a Regent.
The foremost man, spoke then, his voice rough and exhausted, dripping with desperation as he spoke. The language was old, as if read directly out of one of the ancient tomes from the palace library, but she was able to understand the words after a few moments of piecing together the ancient dialect that had become Clairvalan, "please. I know you do not know us. I know all you smell is violence and metal, but the world behind us is falling. Even if it takes another thousand years, the darkness is coming and the Wild is falling to it, everywhere but here. We seek shelter from it."
Out of the woods stepped a Feysha that looked almost like Sencha, though she couldn't shake the thought that that this wasn't the Feyshan man that she knew. He looked at the human with indifference, before glancing down the coastal planes, as if he could see the sea and the threat beyond. "It will not come for us."
The human stood slowly, glancing behind him at his companions, then back to the Fey who stood there wearing simple clothing, holding no weapons, "It comes for everyone. Fear of it infects man, they become so desperate to escape that they become evil themselves and destroy their worlds, trying to find safety, when it begins to devour them."
"We've seen that threat. But it will not come for us. It will come for our children, or their children." The Feyshan man finally looked at the human again and it was then that she recognized the set of the human's jaw, the shape of his eyes, she had seen a very old portrait of this man, hanging in the Keep behind her, it was one of Shelby's oldest ancestors, possibly the first Rakier of Clairval. "Why should we hope that you humans will not be the same? You could become your very own destruction and destroy our world as well."
The man stood there for a long moment, looking at his companions, who stood, exhausted, defeated, then he shook his head. "Because no human has ever asked the Feysha for help before. It is said the Gods protect you, but the winged ones have turned their backs on your brethren across the sea as much as they have ours. Perhaps the evil has consumed them as well... but this island, your people and mine, we have a chance to stand together. That's never happened. And I have to believe, I have to hope, that that's enough to be different. To change the story, I've seen how nations die without their Wild. We need you to stay around and you need our weapons to help you fight."
The Feysha nodded then. "Yes, that has been seen."
The magic faded and Amiya blinked and was watching a fierce battle between Verana and Shelby, metal clashing together as the two fighters moved across the dirt, focused on their own battle and oblivious to what had just happened. She turned and looked at Cavin, who looked pale and sick . "Cav.... Did you...?"
He turned to look at her, before nodding, motioning to the stunned, confused faces all around them in the surrounding crowds. Everyone was silent, shaking their heads, the look of fear on their faces. Reyani reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly as another musical note rang through the air, pulling her back out of the arena, back to watching the same two men, though the human looked decades older, his hair grey now, wrinkles around his eyes.
If she remembered her history right, Clairval would have been going through its vicious civil war at this time. The Regency had not yet been decided, nor had the council of thirteen noble houses. Rakier and Morningside had not supported any of the contenders for the throne in the initial stages of the war and had instead sued for peace until the kingdom had been ready to tear itself apart.
"Human wars do not concern us." The Feysha said softly looking resigned. "It wearies us, the violence, the hate you sow on our lands after promising us peace."
The man nodded at that, letting out a tired breath, as though he didn't believe the words he was speaking, "there must be a leader. This is how our Kingdom will be defined."
The Feysha frowned deeply, regret flashing over his features before they hardened. "We will no longer speak, you and I. The Feysha will not allow any more of the Wild to belong to Humans. You have your lands, you settle your kingdoms, but there is nothing here in Human society that we wish to be around."
"The threat is not gone." The man said, looking worried, "our truce, our agreements, they need to stay strong."
"The humans will forget this threat, it has been seen. The Humans will forget our truces, our peace, and their promises." The Feysha shrugged at that, before motioning to a stone table that contained one large sword, wrapped in a leather hilt. "We had one last promise from the Winged ones.... But they will have nothing more to do with this world, not until we all need one another. They fight their own wars far from here and we will not help them do that either. The races are divided right now but the Feysha do not fight for territories or banners or divisions in beliefs. We will fight for life but not until that battle is upon us."
"What are these? Weapons?" The man walked to the table, frowning as the Feyshan grabbed his arm, holding him back from touching the longsword. The human looked down at the man who hadn't seemed to have aged at all.
"If you pick up that sword, you swear to us that your children and their children and your entire Kingdom's children will respect your promise. If you carry that blade, it will hold you to the oaths we swore to one another, to the pact we made to keep this part of the world safe. When the time comes, and our Sword Keeper finds yours, then will our truces be needed."
The human frowned, looking down at the weapons, seeing the pommels glowing brilliantly in the darkness now. "It is a heavy thing, to make a promise for generations who will not even know me, for a Kingdom that does not yet exist."
"You told me there was nothing stronger than an iron oath. That brothers of the blade never break their vows, no matter what the cost." The Feyshan said softly, watching him, "If your children are as strong as you, they will remember. The battle will not be easy and there is a lot that can not yet be seen, because of the darkness."
"It would be so much simpler, if we maintained our truce now. Kept our people working together, instead of chancing it all on memories. " The Human said softly, running a hand through his greying hair and clearing his throat, looking conflicted.
There was a nod of agreement, a momentary look of sympathy, sadness and hope on his companion's face. "Yes. But if we cling to this world and its wars, it will rip us all apart and there will be nothing left but anger and hate, when the time comes. It has been seen. My people will wait. They will watch, they will do what they can to protect the memory of what this is. Protect the sword and it will keep your memories as well."
There was a a moments pause, and the human nodded, taking the longsword by the hilt, pulling it from its sheath in a ring of metal, exposing Shelby's blade, shining brilliantly in the darkness. "I swear, by my ancestors, by my allies and for my children and their children that follow. Our truce will stand, we will maintain our posts when the Feysha see the threat."
The Feyshan man pulled the other two blades from their sheaths, tapping them three times against the Longsword. "The Feysha will watch, we will remember, and we will sound the battle cry, when the threat is seen. So it is sworn, so we are bound."
The vision shattered in a rush of silence, pulling the audience back to the present day, seeing the two fighters in locked swords, the blades screaming out as the metal scraped against metal, oblivious to the dazed and pained crowd that watched reality return in despair. There were so many more questions, so many more things that they needed to know about.
Amiya found herself squeezing Reyani's hand, wincing and letting go as she realized her grip was tighter then it needed to be, turning to Cavin even as he stood to his feet with a shaken expression.
"I declare a draw!" His voice thundered out across the arena, followed by a stuttering blast of the horn, marking the end of the fight. There was a moment, when Amiya was certain that the fighters would not heed the command, seemingly in their own world, in a battle existing a thousand miles away,
But slowly the two of them shook themselves out of whatever daze they were in, stumbling apart and lowering their blades, each fighter dripping with sweat, shaking with exertion as they sheathed their swords and each took a knee.
The sun had moved across the horizon by a good hour, the sand of the arena, which had started out groomed neatly before the fight, was a mess that belied a vicious battle. But no one had seen the fight that had powered the visions. Amiya wondered if the two fighters had even seen the fight they were battling, or if they had been caught in the memories as well.