The Blade Witch: Songs of Eldrin, Book 0.5

Chapter Ten - The God's Blood

"You're actually somewhat attractive," Brennan said tilting his head to the side in the seat opposite Estra. "Well, only if I look at you under a certain lighting from an angle, but still, I guess you're not all that homely."

Estra frowned, thrumming her fingers against the glass tabletop to match the rhythm of the music wafting through the mural painted walls around them. She hazarded a glance at the window once again, hoping that she might catch sight of Lency returning from wherever she'd wandered off to. Her concern for the girl went directly at odds with her personal creed, but she found it impossible to shake the inclination, no matter how hard she tried.

"Back to the topic at hand Brennan," Estra said, tearing her eyes away from the moonlit streets below. "The Defiler, where is she?"

The bard's smile drooped under the weight of her question, the cup in his hands stopping just short of his lips. "In a hurry to get yourself killed, are you?"

Estra slumped heavily in her chair, allowing the overly plush cushions to swallow her. "I've been training for nearly a decade to face Helena. Every skill and talent that I possess been honed for the sake of killing that one person," Estra said, allowing herself to reminisce over her long nights learning the glyphs with Yelda in Holly Hold's dusted library. "I've seen her power first hand. Surely you don't think I would face her if I weren't certain of my chances of winning?"

"You speak highly of yourself for someone who was just running away from a pack of her minions just the other day," Brennan said, testing his coffee with a dissatisfied frown.

"My magic was weak," Estra explained. "Spent too much energy healing my arm for another contest so soon after."

"And remind me how you were cut in the first place. From what you've told me, I believe it had something to do with a scuffle in a tavern that required your saving by a girl six years your minor?" Brennan said.

"I make no excuses for that," Estra said running a hand through her ever-unruly hair. "I've trained endlessly in the sword, but even the best blade master is a fool if they think they can handle those odds alone. The only reason I accomplished the task is through the benefit of arcane ability. That's the caveat of my prowess. Though I can be bested by a group of swordsmen, I specialize in hunting down other users of magic. If it were mage against mage, Helena would no doubt have the advantage, but from what I know the woman knows nothing of the blade. That's my advantage in a fight with her. I'm multidisciplined, whereas she relies completely on her corrupted sorcery.

Brennan shook his head. "You're many things, but I don't think you're a fool Estra," He set his coffee down, reaching a finger over to twirl an incent around in its holder. "There is a woefully small number that could hope to even survive a bout with Helena, and even fewer that could hope to leave in victory. I would count you among the best of them, but nonetheless, you could never accomplish that goal with things the way that they are."

"How so?" Estra said, crossing her arms as her eyes flickered towards the back alleys once more. Lency was growing later by the moment and the bard was riling her temper again. Those two things could easily turn out to be a bad mixture.

"As you've said, you've spent a great deal of time tracking Helena across Eldrin, but you're still ignorant of the larger game at play here," Brennan said, leaning forward to examine a plate of sugar cubes. "Your battle is not with Helena alone. The Defiler is more than a simple agent of chaos. That woman is a meticulous architect, taking her every movement with calculated poise. Helena has manipulated and schemed her way to the epitome of Wulfdonria's underworld and now finds herself ruling the city of no nights from the shadows. With the supporters she's amassed, there's simply no hope for anyone to defeat her alone."