Wielder

Chapter 19 - Sole

Commander Sole stood as still as a statue, watching her with wide eyes. A short cape draped about his shoulders fluttered in the breeze. His mouth twitched, as if he had trouble deciding what to say.

   Alie's heartbeat thudded in her ears. She swallowed nervously. Her cheeks heated. She was such a fool! She should have known better than to get involved in something as small as a local skirmish. She had other, bigger, things to deal with. She should have walked on by and gone in search of the source of the darkness. Maybe then she might have spotted the Commander before he saw her, and she could have raced back to Michael and Darrel to warn them, and they could have had time to flee before they got caught, and—

   "What did you say?"

   The Commander's words echoed down the street. They didn't carry the anger she had expected, though the power behind them made her stiffen. They were curious, perhaps even alarmed. And they were spoken from his own lips, not from the darkness within him.

   Alie fought through the tangled web of the thousand thoughts running through her mind. "Um... I said that I'm the Ultimate Wielder."

   He gaped at her. She blinked in response. Was it really that much of a surprise to him? She would have thought word about her had spread to him by now. Even remote towns at the edges of worlds knew who she was. How could he not have known?

   Dismissing the thought with a turn of his head, he began to walk toward her. Alie stiffened. She watched his every movement, searching for a sign that he meant to attack her. Perhaps he would summon another Evil demon. Or maybe he would wield bolts of black lightning like some kind of ancient god. Her breathing quickened as her senses reached out and her eyes swept him back and forth, ready to defend herself against his threat.

   But he didn't attack her. He merely stopped beside her, looking down with a curious gaze and a mouth drawn into a flat, unreadable line.

   For a long time, no one dared to move. Or speak. 

   Commander Sole finally broke the silence with a nod of his head toward the Ultimate. "Can you prove it?"

   Alie furrowed her brows as her heartbeat sped up. "Prove what?"

   "That you're the Ultimate Wielder," he clarified patiently.

   Her mouth cracked open blankly. How was she supposed to prove herself? No one else had asked her to do that. Then again, perhaps she hadn't needed to. Perhaps defeating the darkness in each world had been proof enough. But what was she supposed to do now? She couldn't exactly defeat the darkness in this world, not when it was personified in front of her.

   The Commander held out his hand. "May I?"

   "Oh! Umm, sure." Alie shifted the Ultimate in her grasp, so that it rested on her palms. Then she held it out for him, the same way it had been offered to her.

   He took the weapon in a gloved hand. The leather wrapping his fingers creaked against the bindings of the hilt. He held the blade in front of him, testing its weight and feel.

   Magic began to swirl around the blade. It hissed and crackled: a warning that it was not pleased. The Commander's eyes widened. He swept the blade through the air, causing the building magic to whine.

   Alie's breath quickened. She wasn't sure what would happen if the Commander held onto the weapon much longer. Clearly, it was pissed about being handled by someone Evil. She opened her mouth to say something in warning, but the Commander turned to her and offered the blade back. He shook his head in awe. "Remarkable."

   The moment Alie's fingers curled around the sword, all signs of magic around it ceased.

   Commander Sole curled and uncurled his fingers, studying his glove as if the Ultimate had left a mark upon the leather. Alie stared at him with a dry mouth, uncertain how to proceed.