The Divided Knight - Chapter Two

The armory was on the lowermost level of the palace proper, just above the dungeons. Thaddeus had no trouble getting there – the Soul had put every guard along the way to sleep. Once he reached the armory, Thaddeus spotted at once what it was that the Soul had left for him – a two-handed broadsword, about the same size as the one that had been stripped from him on the day he was thrown into the dungeons, sheathed in a metal scabbard covered in runes. Lifting the sword, Thaddeus was surprised at how light it was, and when he strapped it to his back, it was almost like it wasn't even there. Reaching over his shoulder to draw it, Thaddeus marveled at how the blade came noiselessly out of its scabbard, and at how the runes – identical to what was on the scabbard – carved into it reacted to the flickering glow of the torches that lit the armory. They're flickering with it! What kind of blade is this?

Deciding he would have more time to learn about the blade later – there was no telling how long the sleep spell the Soul had placed on the palace guards would last – Thaddeus re-sheathed the sword and left the armory. Holy Knights of the Conclave were trained to know their way around the royal palace as well as they knew their way around the Conclave's High Fortress, which meant that, even above the level of the dungeons, Thaddeus knew how to leave without being seen. Using the network of secret passages which honeycombed the palace, he made his way outside, looking forward to being able to breathe outside air for the first time in a month.

At last, there was only one more door for him to go through. Thaddeus approached it cautiously, taking a moment to peer through the window slit carved into the top of it. He saw nothing but the darkness of night and a hint of stars in the sky. Reaching over to throw the bolt that would unlock the door and allow him to open it, he paused in mid-action, overtaken all at once by an intense feeling of unease. Though he had seen nothing through the window slit, Thaddeus was suddenly certain that someone stood on the other side of the door, waiting to stop anyone who might try to use the secret passages to leave the palace. I have to go through, he thought, and threw the bolt, reaching up to grab the hilt of his sword as he leaned his body against the door and began to push it open.

Once the door was open wide enough, Thaddeus stepped out and drew his sword. There was no one on the other side, however, and Thaddeus jumped when the door slammed shut behind him, the sound of wood striking stone shattering the silence of the night. Calming himself, Thaddeus looked around, his sword held out before him, ready for anything that might come out of the shadows and attack. Nothing did, though the feeling of unease he had begun to experience back in the passageway did not lessen. Keeping his sword out, Thaddeus moved away from the palace wall, and it was only then that he realized just how silent the night actually was.

The passageway Thaddeus had come out of opened onto the rear of the palace grounds. There wasn't much back here, save for a wooded area on the slope that led up to the craggy cliff that marked the rearmost edge of the grounds. The cliff itself was part of a much larger, and much taller, mountain, and there was a trail at the foot of the cliff that, if one followed it, ascended all the way to the High Fortress of the Conclave. Thaddeus, as a Holy Knight, was quite familiar with that trail, as he was with the wooded area behind the palace. Even at this time of night, there should have been more things to hear than there currently were.

Suddenly, a form rushed out of the trees toward Thaddeus. Thaddeus only had time to determine his attacker was roughly the size and shape of a man, and that it was armed with a sword similar to his, before he was forced to fend off a wicked series of blows. The clash of steel against steel filled the air, and each impact of the two blades was accompanied by a flash of light the color of blood. Each flash revealed more details of Thaddeus's attacker – it was one of the same creatures who had initially taken him to the palace dungeons, a vaguely human-looking being with up-swept, pointed ears, pallid skin, black, soulless eyes, and a mouth full of pointed teeth. This was one of the Order of the Crimson Serpent's elite troops, and the crimson flashes made it appear even more demonic than it would have in natural light.

Thaddeus attempted a counter attack, and when he did, he found himself moving at a speed he would never have thought possible. His arms were a blur as he swung, initially seeming to take his opponent off guard and forcing it to retreat, but, as Thaddeus pressed the attack, it began to catch up and stand its ground, the air once again filled with the clashing of steel and the intermittent flashes of light – which, at this speed, had ceased being so intermittent. The fight was starting to wear on, and Thaddeus began to have a sense that, if it didn't end soon, his opponent would summon others of its kind. If that happened, even at the superhuman speed he was fighting right now, Thaddeus knew he would be outmatched. Somehow, he would have to end the fight before any reinforcements arrived.

In the blink of an eye, Thaddeus found himself standing behind his opponent instead of in front. Not taking the time to wonder how it had happened – he could do that later, if he survived – Thaddeus took the chance for what it was, swinging his sword in an arc and hoping the creature he fought wouldn't have time to react before the swing connected. It didn't, and the creature's head went flying, separated neatly from the rest of its body, which crumpled to the ground. Silence, save for the sounds of Thaddeus's labored breathing and the hammering of his heart in his ears, once again filled the air.

All at once, Thaddeus felt tired to the point of exhaustion, and he was sure he knew the reason why. The sword the Soul of the Conclave had given him was obviously magical in nature, based on the way it had enhanced his speed during the fight, and bestowed upon him the ability to teleport. To fuel its magics, the sword had drawn on Thaddeus's life energy, and, now that the fight was over, he had been left drained. Once, long ago, swords like the one Thaddeus had been given were quite common, but then, the beings who had forged them – fey creatures who had been known as the Eltarans, and who, according to myth, had been placed upon the face of the world by the Gods, themselves – had all but vanished from the land, leaving little trace of themselves behind.

Thaddeus needed to keep going – other creatures like the one he'd just defeated would soon arrive, summoned or not – but all he wanted to do at that moment was find a place where he could sleep. Even as light as it was, he wasn't even sure if he still had the strength to re-sheathe his sword. And then sparks of blue energy began to emanate from the blade, joining together and becoming more and more coherent until one of them lanced out toward the body of the creature Thaddeus had slain. The spark, which remained connected to the sword even as it touched the body, grew brighter, looking more and more like a bolt of lightning with each passing second, and then there was a sound like a clap of thunder. In the wake of the clap, the body of the creature was reduced to a pile of ash, which was immediately scattered by a sudden gust of wind. Thaddeus's sword continued to glow blue for a moment longer, then darkened save for the runes on its surface, which pulsed orange twice, then went out.

Thaddeus no longer felt so drained. He had enough energy, now, to make his escape from the palace grounds complete, and re-sheathing his sword was no effort, at all. As Thaddeus turned to head off into the trees – at the other end of the wooded area, there was a passage through the wall, that only mages and Holy Knights were supposed to be aware of, and Thaddeus figured he'd be able to reach it before true dawn broke – he became aware of a sense that he was, somehow, no longer traveling alone. Another presence separate from his own seemed to have settled into his awareness, and any attempt Thaddeus made to shake it off or ignore it proved fruitless.

You forgot something else about the sword you carry. Something I take as a blessing, but which you may view as a curse.

Thaddeus froze in his tracks. The voice – a man's voice, touched by an accent the likes of which Thaddeus could not place – had come from inside his own head. He knew at once the voice belonged to the new presence he sensed, though it took him a moment to understand, and remember, what it was the voice meant. Eltaran Blades like the one Thaddeus carried not only heightened the senses, reflexes, and arcane abilities of those who used them – they also absorbed souls. Usually, an Eltaran Blade only had enough room for one soul to be carried within it at a time, and the soul it carried could only be released by an Eltaran priest. Souls absorbed by Eltaran Blades were, according to what Thaddeus had been taught, cleansed, somehow, and could be communicated with. They were even supposed to make the magics of the Blade stronger, and kept them from taking such a toll on the wielder.

We also have a nasty reputation for driving the wielders of our Blades mad.

“I'll just have to try and find a way to get you out before that happens,” Thaddeus muttered, once again starting off through the darkened trees.

Good luck with that, my friend. You know as well as I do that there have been no true Eltaran priests for centuries.

Thaddeus had no immediate response for that and so remained silent. As he walked, however, he began to take stock of this new presence he shared his mind with. The soul Thaddeus's Blade had absorbed was an old one – at least four hundred years, if what he sensed could be trusted – and whatever evil it had been tainted with prior to its release had, despite the cleansing, left its mark upon it, making it bitter and full of pain. Underneath that, though, was something surprising – the soul was that of what Thaddeus couldn't call anything else but an Eltaran.

You mean you didn't know that, already? Not even based on the features of the body you freed me from?

While it was true that Eltarans were supposed to have had up-swept, pointed ears, Thaddeus had always been told that their eyes had glittered like jewels and that their skin had been anything other than pallid. They hadn't sharpened their teeth to points, either.

“What happened to you?” Thaddeus asked.

That is a long story, friend Thaddeus, and I have no wish to tell it to you, now. Another time, perhaps, but not now. What I will tell you is that, in our pride, we fell into darkness. And, because of us, that darkness now threatens the entire world.

Thaddeus had to ask. “Can the darkness be stopped?”

I don't know. But, if you succeed in finding this . . . this . . . Wanderer . . . there may be a chance.

“You know about that?”

I know everything about you that you know about me, Thaddeus. And more, since your thoughts don't have the same defenses around them that mine do.

Thaddeus wasn't sure how he felt about sharing his mind with a presence that could shield parts of itself from him. “Will you lower those defenses?” he asked.

I may, in time. Once I get to know you better. Once I decide I can trust you.

“I freed you from what you were. Isn't that enough for you to know you can trust me?”

While I am grateful for what you did, I fear that, because of what happened in the past – both my personal past, and the past of my people as a whole – it will be difficult for me to trust in anyone or anything ever again. Difficult, but, perhaps, not impossible.

Thaddeus walked on in silence for a time. Around him, the first light of the day was beginning to touch the trees, making it easier for him to see. Dawn wasn't far off, and he was starting to wonder if he had misjudged the size of the wooded area, when, in a clearing up ahead, he caught sight of the outer wall. Thaddeus hurried his pace, glancing over his shoulder as he reached the wall. The first rays of the sun were cresting the roof of the royal palace – still visible above the trees, even at this distance – and, as Thaddeus watched, he caught sight of movement behind him.

They're coming!

Thaddeus turned back to the wall. Even for a Holy Knight, finding the secret passage through the outer wall wasn't meant to be easy, and all Thaddeus could see at that moment were blocks of stone stacked so evenly that the seems between them were almost invisible. He searched and searched, finding nothing, sure he could hear the sounds of those who had been sent after him drawing closer.

Reach out through me!

“What?”

Don't ask me to explain. Just do it. Use me to help you find the passage!

Thaddeus wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. However, he did remember an exercise one of the mages had taught him a few years ago. It was meant to clear a person's mind of any extraneous thoughts, and it started by focusing all attention on one thing, like breathing, or the sound of a heartbeat. Thaddeus focused on his breathing, on its rhythm, doing all that he could to tune everything else out. As he did, his breathing slowed, and a feeling of calm began to descend over him. Nothing else mattered but his breathing. Not the new presence inside his head. Not the quest the Soul had given to him. Not even the people coming up behind him, people he knew had been ordered to kill.

And then the new presence within him – which he, suddenly understood, was within him, just as much as it was within the sword strapped to his back – swelled, filling Thaddeus's awareness and seeming to take control. Thaddeus's senses were no longer just human senses – they were also Eltaran, and, as he scanned the wall, he saw the opening of the passage. He darted toward it, his heightened senses feeling the spell which kept it hidden, and dashed through, every fiber of his being tingling with magic that, before, he never would have even felt. Once Thaddeus was on the other side of the wall, his senses once again became his own, the Eltaran within him receding back to where it had been, before.

You need to keep going. They will find their way through the wall, eventually, even if they can't see the passage like I could. Or, should I say, like we could.

“You were as surprised by what happened as I was, weren't you?” Thaddeus asked.

I must admit, I was. I was working on nothing more than what felt like the right thing to do. I'm amazed it worked so well.

“Do you have a name, Eltaran?”

There was a long pause before the presence answered. Once, long ago, my name was Alyander. But that name is meaningless, now.

“Not if I have anything to say about it. I'm pleased to meet you, Alyander.” And, with that, Thaddeus once again set off. Inside his head, the presence that was Alyander was, at the same time, both bemused, and pleased.

Likewise, friend Thaddeus. Likewise.