Chapter 19: Heights are Scary
Dave
Just when I took one step forward, my legs somehow managed to stumble, falling off a cliff, and ending up fifty-seven steps back. I'm sorry, but how did things end up like this?
Standing before me was a gruff-looking man in a suit of heavy armor, his expression downtrodden, for whatever reason. He looked similar to Hawkwood, if only a few decades older and seemingly more jaded than he already was.
"I see… Thank you. I am in your debt." It was all going fine, splendid, even. "But I can't leave yet. Even if the castle should fall, as commander, I must remain. To ensure the treasured sword of Morne does not fall into the wrong hands." However, he had to make things ten times worse.
This, was Edgar, the father of Irina. Though, calling him a father would really be a disservice in all reality. Look, I know he sent out his own personal guards or whatever to guide the blind woman to safety… but for him to have prioritized something like this, and not the lives of the various people here, but a mere sword.
Who would even care if a sword went missing? If anything, he should have at least ensured her safety before returning to his duty… Whatever, the past is the past, and there was nothing I could do to change that fact, no matter how much I despised it. Shaking my head, I turned to look down upon the man, my eyes drawing thin at the sight.
"Your daughter, we found her on the side of the road, her companions having apparently been ambushed hours earlier." I notified him, watching his features as the older man's expression shifted into one of worry and guilt. "She's alright, save for a few minor scratches and bruises. But, she was dangerously close to more than a few hostiles."
"And I assume she's safe?"
"Yes, however, I cannot assure you she will be in the future." That warning seemed to have gotten him on edge, his right eyebrow raising. "You see, I came to the weeping peninsula alongside a person, whom I consider very close to me, with the sole purpose of becoming stronger. We are tarnished, you see." Edgar nodded to what I had laid out so far, his hand moving closer to his halberd. "In hopes of getting stronger, we have come to this land. And in doing so, we will have to face many a powerful foe. I can't in good faith allow your daughter to travel with us. Her disability has already proven to be a liability in combat, and I believe that neither of us want her getting hurt."
"So what do you suggest?" He asked, eye sharpening to match a knife's edge. "I am duty-bound by my lord to guard this castle and the sacred item held within it. And you seem to be more than willing to have taken care of her for at least a night's time. I think it would be best if you were to keep watch of her until I can recover m'lord's sword from those filthy misbegotten."
Don't I… have to kill his lord, the mad grafted king, Godrick? Huh… perhaps I could convince him by simply taking a quick trip in the opposite direction and killing him? No, that would take too long. I would still have to penetrate the castle's defenses, but not only that, the demi-god still laid at the end of that journey. There had to be some other way to accomplish the same conclusion of having him leave his post to help the blind woman… That… doesn't sound half bad.
"And what would happen if let's say, I bring the sword back to you? That should fix your little problem, right?" I proposed, his eyes furrowing, darting from one corner of my body to the next, a slight nervousness piercing my spine. "Surely then, any potential problem would see itself out the door, right? Speaking of the person in question, she's just below us. Should you agree to this, I shall call her up so that me and my companion can do our job properly."
A tinge of surprise washed over his eyes, his expression flaring for a moment before returning to neutrality, the grip over his weapon loosening as silence reigned over us, the crackles of fire echoing in our ears as opposed to words. "That is acceptable. Bring her here and make great haste. However, should you fail to accomplish even this… Well, let's see how this turns out. "
That was all that needed to be said. Showing him a polite smile, I bowed deeply, saying my thanks before leaving without another word, returning to the cellars. Entering the relatively dark and litter filled room, I had come to find, after stepping on the wrong floor tile, that this place had become booby trapped, to an absurd degree.
I had been gone for little more than an hour, and this was the result of her quick work. Thoroughly amused, my eyebrows raised delightedly, the fruits of Vestia's labor coming to fruition as I accidentally activated each and every one of them, narrowly avoiding death trap after death trap, and my reward for all of this struggle? A rather lax firekeeper, lazily laying on a kitchen counter, a pair of arms over her head while her legs kicked the air.
"Didn't keep you waiting, did I?" Making my presence known, she didn't miss a beat, flipping her body off the wooden surface, her blonde hair messily draped over a better part of her face. "I bet you certainly had fun putting all of that together. Say, would you like to take on a job with me? I suppose freeing our little captive would be the first thing to do on our list."
A look of bewilderment emoted on her face, her features becoming thoughtful, a hand on her chin. Though, that was quickly discarded as she grinned, her body moving back to remove the flimsy barricade of Irina's hiding spot. "Of course. Thou hath been spoiling the enjoyment out of these types of activities lately. Thoust wouldn't mind if I were to 'spread my wings a little'?"
"The more the merrier." I replied, receiving little to no push back from the denizens residing in my head. "Whole thing would flow much clearer even a bit with your help. Now, we need to take her to Edgar, the girl's father, who agreed to watch over her whilst we search for a sword, wherever it might be."
To my shock, Irina had been the to have spoken up at that moment, divulging some well-needed information. "A sword, you say? Though I could not see what had happened during the chaos and pandemonium due to my ailing sight, but the sword of castle Morne is something I am most familiar with.
"And pray tell?" The words immediately left my mouth. "Didn't seem to think it would be of use to notify us in advance as to where it was located."
She slowly nodded once, before repeating it a second and third. "The Grafted Blade Greatsword. Based on name and what little I could remember alone, it is a colossal sword, requiring two to three men to even carry, let alone wield." Pausing, the blind woman made a frustrated face, fumes practically steaming out of her ears. "It was taken from its holding place in the castle, stolen, last I heard. Taken to the rear-most island, where the filthy cemetery resides"
Sharing a look with Vestia, we both nodded, her taking Irina's hand as I led our way out. "Thank you, I will be sure to make great use of this information. For now, your safety is our number one priority. Just stay behind either of us until we get to our desired destination. The quicker we finish this detour, the better."
"That is all I ask."
…
"I half expected you lot to be kidnappers holding her up for ransom." Edgar utter, completely out of the blue. "The connotation around you tarnished have either been too over exaggerated, or simply not enough. However, from experience, this has been somewhat of a spectacle to see. For someone such as yourself to not immediately attack anything in sight for the sole purpose of rune collection."
Confusion washed over my face, shaking my head as anything I could and would say added virtually nothing to the conversation, my face plain to it all. The father and daughter combo seemed to be happy enough with the reunion, and that was enough for me. Turning around, I waved the two off, dropping down the flight of stairs and moving towards the place we were supposed to go, Vestia trailing a meter or so away from me, having left the scene far more gracefully than I did.
Shrugging my shoulders, I followed the straight path, my nose now numbed to the smell of burning flesh, the same couldn't be said for my companion on the other hand, a pair of her dainty fingers pinching on her nostrils, her expression tightening. A chuckle left my mouth at her actions, my hands reaching into the ether and fishing out a few sprigs of mint, a rarity in these parts. "Here, these should alleviate the issue. Every little bit helps, right?"
Tilting her head, an amused smile washed over her features, a hand reaching out for the item in my palm. "Much obliged, Dave." She thanked, sniffing the plant. "The air wafting around us, its…abhorrent, vile to the highest degree. Dost thou agree?"
"Yeah, the servants here certainly had their fun mutilating all of these corpses." I noted, reaching what looked to be the end of the road, our path seemingly directing us to jump a ten-foot drop. An ugly grimace overcame my face, a twitch rippling my eye. There didn't appear to be any other trail leading to the rear, at least, one that wasn't already blocked by a mountain of bodies. And our drop point was a wet roof to boot, the result of either the condensation or the occasional rain that visited these lands, possibly even both.
Was it safe to drop that far? Especially when certain death was what met us should our footing slip? Heaving a sigh, my legs hung in the air, hands slowly inching closer and closer to the edge with each passing moment. Time stood still, my heart racing when my but crossed the threshold, a shift in weight occurring.
""What? Scared of a little verticality? Afraid that you might fall over and die?"" Nurgal taunted in my mind, the grimace intensifying. ""If it worries thee so much, then I shall await thine arrival at the bottom, should it please thee anyway."" Another chorus of giggles echoed from her lips, my mouth clicking.
"Is everything fine?" Vestia quarried, the saint she was, squatting down to meet me eye to eye. "Should it distress thee so much, then I'm sure there is another, much simpler passageway-"
"But the site of grace is right there! Aren't they supposed to, I don't know, guide people to their objective?" I pointed out, my nerves steeling themselves as the only thing that held me up now were my arms. "Besides, it shouldn't matter if I die here, I just have to perform some trial and error until-"
My body flinched, a heavy smack landing on my face, curtesy of my beloved. Everything froze right then and there, my eyes widening to the size of dinnerplates, dismissing my previously narrow vision. "Just because thou hath the ability to return from death, doesn't mean everyone else has it!" She chastised, images of the past flashing before my eyes. "And just because thou art immortal, doesn't mean thine actions still don't affect me greatly…" Sighing, she shook her head, my eyes blinking once. "Thou never seemth to change. Fine, do as thou wilt. Thine actions are sure to bite thee in the rear eventually."
Fully shutting my eyes, I let gravity take me fully, dropping without much thought, a mental clock ticking in my head. The wind passed by my hair, whistling in my ears. A sense of fear welled up in my core, my fingers growing restless. Just as the clock was close to reaching its end, my feet touched the ground, sliding as the thin film of moisture glided my soles across the surface, my left hand flaring up to evaporate the liquid.
Of course, this was in a vain attempt to save myself, and one that succeeded, barely. Gripping onto the roof's tiles, the pad of my fingertips grinded against the rough surface, pain exploding as the skin removed itself completely, the weight of my full body supported by the muscle fibers alone.
Heaving a deep breath, I pulled myself up, my expression far more miserable than when I started. It was entirely my fault in the first place, such a stupid decision ended up backfiring on me. Clicking my tongue, I fished my crimson tear flasks from the ether, removing the cap and downing its contents immediately, the wounds gradually disappearing as though they weren't even there.
Was it a success? Yes. Was it idiotic? Also yes. But, that's a lesson for another time. Right now, I needed to convince Vestia to jump down, easier said than done when I almost fell, however, it was going to happen, one way or another.
Pondering for a few moments. I wanted for her to move back, my hand affixing a line of rope to a hook. Swinging it around a few times, its momentum increased with each revolution, growing faster and faster until it could no longer, having grown too hard to control due to the speed. Letting go at just the exact moment, the small piece of metal soared through the air, finding itself on the other side with little issue.
"Slowly climb down the cord, wouldn't want any other accident occurring." I reminded while she attached it to somewhere stable. Tugging on the cable with my full weight, I gave her the thumbs up, taking more than a few extra pre-cautions by applying the 'Spook' spell on her just in case.
Luckily, no such incident popped up, and it was mostly smooth sailing from there, moving from one rooftop to another with barely any resistance from the misbegotten. Though, things couldn't stay good for too long, and my worries were proven correct after peeking into a peculiar looking cell, inside of which, a rat king of, well, rats came scampering out of the darkness.
They were about the size of a dog, if slightly smaller. This one fact didn't diminish their power to kill however. As even with this in mind, their bites could spread toxins like no other, poisoning even those who have grown a resistance to such ailments. And while now wasn't the best time to test if they were the same, it would be an inevitability with their numbers and the fact they were blocking our way to the outside, their collective mass slightly covering the light from the exit.
The walls around me flared up, shining with a brilliant light, spinning around like a top before stopping, electricity passing between it. Turning to look at its source, Vestia seemed beyond concentrated, her focus fully taken by the task at hand. Allowing her to do her thing, a corona of chaos morphed in my palm, the air around us heating up to an absurd degree due to the lack of ventilation. Beads of sweat trailed down my face, a smirk curving my lips as I lobbed it at the ground, lava spilling over from the ball.
That managed to stop a few of them, but, thanks to their numbers, more than a few of them were able to make it through the barricade. Added to the fact there were already some crawling above us didn't make the situation any better. Moving a step back, I charged up another one of my attacks, dragging the firekeeper along with me, making sure to do so carefully, as to not break her spell.
Flame pooled in my hand, pure, unadulterated chaos and destruction. Drawing upon my instincts, and nothing else, I pressed my hand to the ground, the floor in front of me bubbling as though it were water, popping like a zit when it reached its apex. Lava, and hell flame spewed from the craters like geysers, spreading it all around us. A risky move, but it certainly did the job, efficiently at that.
And for all I said about their bites, and rabid maws nothing came of it. Instead, something much worse developed from their corpses. A stench so strong it made the courtyard smell like roses, the urge to puke rising from my stomach as I let it all out, the smell intensifying with each passing second. Looking to my side, I saw that Vestia had already fled the scene, waiting for me on the other exit, a mouthful of air populating her cheeks, both puffed similar to a squirrel.
Booking it towards her, the trail of green gas managed to follow me the whole way through, moving brisk enough to enter us into the room. Coughing up a storm, my gaze shifted back and forth between the door and my beloved, another sigh exiting my lips as I straightened my back, leaning against the wall and waiting for the air to finally pass.
"You know," She began, my ears perking up to the tone of her voice, muscles relaxing to the sound. "I wasn't kidding when I said there were no longer any second chances for me. Unlike thee, I was rid of the curse of undeath when I became a firekeeper, directly serving under the flame. However when the Soul of Cinder ceased to be, so did mine immortality…"
Moving over to my side, we rested shoulder to shoulder, her head nestled in the crook of my neck, cheek on my collarbone. "My body tires day by day, and I push it to the limits. Why? All to support thee in thine journey. And yet, I still feel inadequate. As though my efforts mean nothing in the face of thy overwhelming power, further dwarfed by the foes who only appear to be equal to thee in strength…"
I knew words of encouragement would do barely anything in a situation such as this, likely resulting in her exploding out of frustration. So I did what I thought was best. Steeling my nerves, I sighed, grasping at her chin with my pointer and thumb, making her turn to look at me. And as if on cue, she moved in closer, her soft, tender lips pressing against mine, our tongues finding themselves wrapped around each other shortly thereafter.
Pulling back, I held here by the shoulder, her posture jittering back defensively before halting, a perplexed look on her face. "Look, you may not see the same way, but I find your efforts very much so useful. Had it not been for your miracles, I would have died more than I already have in this world. And if that isn't enough, your presence here alone is more than enough to keep me going. Because you're the only one left I can confide in."
A red hue colored her cheeks, her head diving into my chest. "Thou always knows what to say to cheer me up. And I thank thee… All that thou hath said… it means the world to me." Vestia endearingly stated, a content smile forming on my face.
"If it really has bothered you so much, then why don't you take center stage in the next battle? There's no harm in it either way."
There was a long drawn out pause, a barely audible hum echoing from her position, the sound buzzing at the same frequency. That was, until it spiked, her blindfold-covered face peering up at me, a gleam shining from her right cheek, wetness staining my chest. "… Thank you."
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[A/N: I is back, much quicker than before. Probably going to write another chapter for this fic. I want to at least see what I have in plan come to fruition before moving onto my other fics. I think I'm going to do my csm one, who know. Copy and paste below. Your continued support helps me go on!
Anyways, if you find anything wrong in the fic, let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and what I could have done in place of what is present.
Also, join discord server. I have one.: discord . gg / eTb2kPab4z
I also have a pa- tr eon at pa- t reon / balls1124 For only dollar or more, you can get access to 2 more chapters beyond the current one. That's pretty neat if I do say so myself.
With that being said, I need go swimming.]
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