Secret of The Blades

PROLOGUE

Cold, light snow fell on the city of Brutalia, a whisper of what the year's harsh winter would entail for the citizens. Even during the day in the light of the sun, the altitude of the mountain city still caused the city to be showered with frost and ice year round. Despite the frigid temperature, however, a man and girl, both hooded and obscured, walked through town, holding their blue cloaks tightly to their bodies for warmth. The girl, passing the man, quickly turned down a shadowed alleyway, out of sight of the street. The man stopped, quickly checking both directions of the road for anyone that may have been watching, before following behind her without a sound.

The two enter a building through a rickety door down the alleyway. The room they enter feels small and dim. Boarded windows and shelves lined the walls, covered with trinkets and ornaments from lands afar. Every inch of the floor was covered in a carpet, with a large pile of pillows creating a chair in the back corner, perfectly sculpted for the small old lady that sits ominously waiting. Small, floating, white balls of energy which floated aimlessly through the room were the only sources of light besides what rays from outside managed to squeeze through the cracks in the windows, barely illuminating their surroundings. Dramatic shadows fell across the old woman's face as she looked up to greet the two who entered.

"I've been waiting," She said, knowingly examining the pins that held the other two's cloaks on their shoulders. Both depicted the same blue rose, with two petals and a thorny stem.

"We know," The man said, removing his hood to reveal his sharp blue eyes, short beard, and shoulder length light brown fair hair, some of which was braided across the sides of his head and behind it. Under his cloak he wore a brown hardened leather cuirass with a set of woven golden mail over a silk collared shirt that was tight over his wide shoulders. His tactical belts, which held numerous tools for combat, hung across his chest and low over his waist, where sat a pair of light colored trousers protected by thigh and shin guards. On his feet he wore a pair of steel cuffed boots, for the protection of his ankles and feet. The armor was light, made more for mobility rather than outright protection.

"Don't be so curt, Ariadne. We're sorry we got here so late; we had a short run-in with a few bandits on the trail up the mountain." The girl who entered first removed her hood second, showing first her pretty, freckled face, and then her dark brown hair, tied up behind her head in a bun. She was no older than 17, wearing a deep pocketed, buttoned vest over a white collared shirt, dark blue pants, wrapped gloves, and brown wrapped boots, all somewhat tight to lightly accent a fit body.

"I'll be as curt as I like. You're not gonna get anything as good as what I'll get you from anyone else," the old woman, Ariadne, said to them, sharp as a tack.

"Let's just get on with the reading." The man grew impatient.

The old woman agreed, beckoning the other two to have a seat before her.

"Do you have the catalyst?" She asked.

The girl, with an embarrassed look, began to ruffle through her satchel. The eyes of Ariadne and the man turned to her, begrudgingly.

"Romilly..." The man paused. "You didn't forget, did you?"

"No, I swear... Aha!" The girl, Romilly, exclaimed in victory, pulling a scorched glove from her bag. "This. We would like you to read it. We need to know whose fire it was that scorched this glove."

Ariadne reluctantly took hold of the item. She held it in her hands gently for a moment, examining it closely as if she were taking in every fiber woven into the glove. Her head raised from gazing at her hands and she closed her eyes.

"I see..." The old woman said, searching her mind "...A southern town. Just outside of the kingdom of fire."

"Yes?" Romilly interjected excitedly. "That's where we found-" The man stopped her with his hand on her shoulder. She quieted down as Ariadne continued to speak.

"It burns," She said, etherially. "The town is ablaze. The fire is..." She paused again. "Alive! It crawls all over..." Her voice grew more frantic as her hands began to shake. Her grip on the glove tightened until her knuckles turned white.

"It's him! His fire returns, Oh Divines, it's him again! His return is upon us; the end is upon us!" Her voice turned to a shout. Romilly backed away, covering her mouth with her hands, as the man leaned forward, ripping the glove out of the old woman's hands. She instantly was taken back to reality, only to meet the man's gaze.

"It's just as we feared, is it not?" He said, forebodingly.

Ariadne nods. "You must find the blades before he, or this world will cease to be."

"Blades?" Romilly looked at the man quizzically. "Like the ones of legend?"

"I'd assume that the Pinnacle must be found as well then?" The man ignored the girl, continuing to speak with Ariadne.

"Precisely so." Ariadne replied. "It's been a whole millennium since the last time he revealed himself to the world. I'd be careful if I were you, Beherut."

"Thank you." Beherut stood to leave. Romilly began asking questions on their way out the door, but after they left the old lady was left in silence once more. She closed her eyes and began to meditate alone once more, now with what seemed like a shadow looming in her thoughts.