Infinity Blade - The Secret of Castrair

Chapter 6: Discoveries (1/2)

I hold the deadly weapon in my hands, testing their weight. They're lighter and stronger than the Infinity Sword, and the darkness trapped inside them makes them even more powerful. I marvel at the two weapons I got from Ausar's copy. 

Swinging them at the air, I feel the power enclosed in the weapons, and darness seems to emanate from the tip. I experiment a bit more to get used to these new blades, and then put them away.

Isa leaves before me to do something I don't think concerns me. I look around. Nothing to do. I'm so bored! 

A few long, unending hours later, Isa comes back, and she looks at me gravely. "Do you know why Soulless Ausar came here? Because he's expendable to whoever has used him. That means that this manipulator is manufacturing, or already has, a stronger creature than Ausar."

"What?!" I almost yell, leaping to my feet. For a moment the corner of Isa's mouth twitches into a smile, but then immediately goes back to normal. "That's not possible..." I look around for something, anything, that could prove her wrong. But there's nothing. Then I think of something. "What if... what if we went on Ausar's boat, and sailed to where-ever it came from. That's bound to give us at least some sort of clue." I propose, and Isa nods.

"Good idea." We board the ship, and Isa starts typing away on a deadmind. I look around for something to occupy me. I don't find anything. This is going to be a long trip.

Finally we reach our destination! As we dock, I feel the steadiness of land hardly. I almost fall, but Isa grabs my arm. She whispers, "We're in an unknown village. Try not to make a fool of us." I nod. 

As we walk down the street, a sort of tension grows in the air. I can't put my finger on what its source is. It's almost as if... a kind of spirit or otherworldly creature resides in this very air...

It starts raining. At first, it's only a few drops, but then, it becomes a real downpour, forcing us to get inside. It's a bar, and a lot of drunken or angry looking men stare at us. I try not to return the favour.

Glancing over to Isa, I notice she's acting like she owns the joint. I try my best to follow suit. I sit down, and she tells me cryptically, "We need to get out of this town before nightfall." I nod. 

She gets up, and then starts walking to the door. Unfortunately, a man sees her, and asks in a gruff tone, "What're you doing, young lady?" 

"I'm just going to get a bit of fresh air."

"It's pouring outside. That won't help you." He stands up, and my hand goes to my weapons. The big man lumbers to a table and grabs the biggest and sharpest knife on it. He grins, and thenattacks Isa.

Before he can react, however, a crossbow bolt is stuck in his shoulder. Grunting, the man dislodges it, but another two pierce his skin. Isa drops the crossbow and draws two daggers. The people in the bar gasp. The Infinity Daggers. 

The big man charges afger snapping the second bolt. He swings the knife, but Isa parries the blow. I can tell this man is inexperienced with a knife or sword. Suddenly, he grabs hold of Isa's wrist, and twists. She drops a dagger, and the man throws his knife to the floor. Grabbing her other wrist, he forces her to let go of the second Infinity Dagger.

Cursing, I leap over our table draw my weapons. The man gets into a stereotypical brawling stance. Leaping forwards, I cut his forearm, barely a graze, but he's screaming as if I'd cut it off. I look at his arm and see darkness squirming around in the wound. I cringe, and the man screams,  the darkness in his wound hurting him more than he should be. I sheath my swords, and the darkness goes away.

The man gets up, hands trembling. He stares at me in hate. "You..." he whispers before he stomps away.

"We've gotta go now!" yells Isa. She runs out into the rain, and then back into another building. It's a clothing store. "Can we get two cloaks to protect ourselves from the rain?" she asks kindly, but with urgency. The woman gets us two cloaks, and we put them on hurriedly.

Running out, I put the hood on. Isa does the same. "We need to run fast!" she yells again, over the rain hitting the ground. I sprint after her, splashing through puddles of mud and water everywhere. 

There's a mountain range to the left of the village, a swamp behind it, and on the right...? Another mountain range, but shaped like a giant mouth, with jagged teeth jutting out of it. I shudder, and look away. 

As we run through the town and out, I see Isa turn to start moving toward the tooth mountain. I follow. We climb up slowly, the hill picking up as we near the mountain. Soon, we're climbing with hands and feet, until I notice something on the tip of the tallest tooth. 

Staring at the thing, I realise it's a castle, but it's abandonned. At least, the owner might be wanting people to think it's abandonned.

As we near the castle, Isa gets more and more worried. What might be waiting for us at the top of the mountain? What secrets would lie there? What was Isa afraid of? All those questions laid unanswered in my mind. Ignoring them, I reach the top, right after Isa.

Panting, and covered in rain, I grit my teeth against the cold. Suddenly, a fork of lightning zig-zags across the sky, landing somewhere that isn't on this island. Five seconds later comes the thunder. It was five kilometers away.

Getting over my fatigue; we haven't slept for a whole day, I follow Isa up to the castle. She shoves open the door, and we walk in the dark and gloomy building. As I approach, I manage to see better, my eyes already getting accustomed to the dark.

Slowly, we advance through the castle, and we look around for anything. Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but I think I'll know when I find it. (I know I'm so clueless, shut up!)

Then a message written down draws my attention. "Me... You..." I shake my head. What is with these messages? Who writes them down? How? When? Is it destined for someone else's eyes? Or for mine?

And then nothing makes sense. I turn, and Isa yells, "Watch out!" as she runs towards me. Behind me, standing serenely, is the Worker of Secrets. Or what's left of him. A hologram.