The Sword that Binds (Book of Worlds 1) (26 page)

It was Tyrus. When she had taken her bit of core from him she had had the same experience. Even though her eyes had been closed at the time, she could never forget the way the world felt.

Focusing inward, Sarena could feel that the hole in Ardreth’s barrier was growing slowly, and the barrier itself seemed thinner. She itched at the stub of her arm as she stood; it had finished healing while she ran, but itched unceasingly.

There was no time to waste, she needed to find the grimoire. Ankaros had said he would solve their problems and let them both live if they just touched it. All she could do was bet on that for now.

She settled herself into a fast jog, eating up the ground underneath her as quickly as she could. Without being able to draw on any power she was forced to move at the speed of an average human. Uckey had said it would take around an hour to reach the center of Stewrix from the entrance. The gnomes had a straight road all the way up to the Great Library, the center of their knowledge. As long as she could reach it, everything would be fine.

The problem was, Uckey estimated an hour with him carrying them. At Sarena’s pace it would take probably three times as long. There was no mana storm or Primal to stop her now, but Ardreth was using up everything he had to contain Tyrus. She wasn’t sure he could last a few more hours. All she could do was try.

Sarena turned her mind away from all the ways she could fail, trying to focus on what she could do to succeed. Her grandfather had taught her to do so from a young age, saying she would never accomplish anything if all she did was think of how difficult something was. The entire world seemed to want her to fail, but she refused to give in. Uckey had sacrificed himself for her. Ardreth, the will and soul of an elf she had never met from thousands of years ago, was giving his life to buy her time. And Tyrus was doing his best to hold himself back as well. All their hopes were placed on her. She couldn’t let them down.

Several hours later, Sarena could feel her body growing stronger with every step, but in contrast the world had dimmed around her tremendously. She refused to look within anymore, unwilling to witness how far Ardreth had degraded.

She blinked.

The unending walls of the tunnel were gone, replaced by a massive cavern. There were buildings all around her, but she had no time to pay attention to them. She had to find the grimoire.

The world swirled around her.

Before her eyes were a set of double doors, every bit as impressive as the ones leading into Stewrix - except half the size. It had to be the library. She knew she was there to find something, and without any hesitation shoved the doors open. They blasted inward with a massive crash, destroyed in an instant after thousands of years. Sarena didn’t even notice.

Inside of the library was the most impressive building Sarena had ever seen. The center of the library was open all the way to the top of the building, with bridges stretching across the open space to either wall on each level. But there was no time to admire the sight. Sarena only had eyes for one book.

Near the center of the first floor stood a pedestal. On top of it was a book -
the
book. She couldn’t remember what was so important about it, but she knew it was what she was here for.

Ignoring everything around her, Sarena took her first step forward. A popping sound resounded in her mind. Something told her that was bad, but she couldn’t understand why. As soon as the popping sound ended she could feel immense amounts of strength rushing throughout her body. The world faded away, everything was gone except the glowing outline of the world around her.

She continued to stumble forward, struggling to walk steadily within the strange new world. Her head felt like it was about to explode, but she could feel the ache dissipating as she moved.

Unable to think straight, Sarena focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Soon enough she was standing in front of the book, the only object in the room that she could still truly see. She reached out with her left hand and steadied herself on the pedestal.

Wait, that’s not right. Didn’t I leave you with that big cat?
She thought while staring at her arm. The feeling was fleeting though, and was forgotten as soon as she finished thinking it.

The book,
she thought. It was right in front of her, but she wasn’t sure what to do with it. After a few moments of struggle, she finally came up with an idea. It was like lightning had struck her, making her feel as if she had remembered something long forgotten.

Of course, books are for reading. I must have been here to read this.

Stretching her arm out, she gently pulled the leather bound book’s cover over, revealing the first page. As soon as she set her eyes on the yellowed page, everything went dark. With the world fading away around her she thought she could hear faint laughter, but her mind fell into oblivion before she could be sure.

*****

T
yrus awoke to the strangest sensation he had ever encountered.

He was uncomfortable.

In the thousands of years he had been in his dark realm, there had never been any feeling of discomfort. Within the void was a complete lack of senses aside from his ability to sense and hear the world around him. He had been neither comfortable nor uncomfortable; he had simply existed.

Yet now there was no denying what he felt. His back hurt. A dull ache ran through him, and he couldn’t help but groan as he tried to sit up. Unconsciously he opened his eyes, and the world slammed into place around him. Everything in his mind clicked into place.

He had a body.

He panicked as he realized what that meant. Everything around him was blurry as tears began to fill his eyes. They were too late. His last memory was of breaking through his bindings again to knock Sarena out of the way, followed by his core flowing into her. Try as he might, he was unable to stop from spreading throughout her body. Something had been trying to hold him back, but clearly it hadn’t been enough.

He had killed Sarena.

Tyrus smashed his fist against the cold stone beneath him, feeling pain run up his wrist all the way to his elbow. Hot tears fell from his eyes as he sat on the ground, numb to everything around him.

The Primal is what caused this. We would have made it if it wasn’t for that abomination!
He thought.

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, Tyrus rolled over and placed his hand on the ground to lever himself up. Instead of the cold, hard stone he had been expecting, his hand landed on something warm and soft. The unexpected feeling caused him to lose his balance for a moment, almost making him collapse. When he finished steadying himself his jaw dropped.

A young woman, barely more than a girl laid on the ground beside him. Her long brown hair was tied into a braid, reaching just below her shoulders. She wore a brown tunic and leather pants, both of which were clearly travel worn, with scuffs, stains, and tears all over. The sleeve of the tunic was torn off just above her left elbow, exposing a slender arm that was several shades brighter than the rest of her.

What drew his attention the most though, was the aura he could see overlaying her, seeming to hover just at the edge of her skin. It was so familiar. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at her. For the first time in ages he was finally able to truly see again. He considered himself blessed that his first sight was so beautiful. Granted, he had no other to compare her to, but the feeling of warmth and relief he felt when he saw her assured him that she would forever be his ideal form of beauty from that point on.

Not that he would ever say that to her, of course.

Pushing himself to his feet, Tyrus stood and looked around himself. He didn’t bother checking Sarena for injuries. Her aura felt perfectly fine, albeit with some strange changes, but nothing that would harm her. His perception was even stronger than it had been before, stretching so far that even he was surprised at first.

The first thing he noticed was how empty it felt around him. Aside from Sarena and himself there wasn’t a single living creature.

The second thing he noticed was the massive amount of power congregated directly above them. He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t felt it sooner. It was impossible to miss, almost hammering down on his senses. His head was already getting a slight headache from the sensation, and without even realizing what he was doing he pulled back his perception so that it only extended to the edges of the library.

That’s new.
He thought.
I’ve never been able to control the distance before. Was that because of the sword, or did Ankaros throw it in as a bonus?

Once he was finished getting his old senses back in order, he focused on his new ones. His eyes were sparkling as he swept them around the room they were in. It was a struggle at first to associate the auras he felt with the sights he saw. He was getting dizzy while trying to focus on both the aura and the physical version, and eventually gave up. Instead he just tried to look with his eyes alone, intending to enjoy the sights of the world as he had never seem them before. As far as he could remember at least.

As soon as he stopped trying he felt something slide into place in his mind. The auras faded somewhat, leaving a better view for his eyes, but at the same time he was still able to sense everything around him just as strongly.
Must be like breathing. Works best when you don’t think about it.
He thought.

All around him were stone shelves, covered in dust and looking pitifully empty.
I guess five thousand years of neglect was too much for all those books.
Tyrus thought. It wasn’t much of a loss to him - it’s not like he could read - but the thought of all of that lost knowledge was a bit disheartening.

Turning his head above him, he stared in amazement at the craftsmanship of the dwarves. Sleek grey stone bridges arched across the open space above him, connecting the balconies that ran along the edges of each level. In the center of the room was a smooth stone pillar so thick that even ten people with their arms outstretched couldn’t circle it. Spiraling around the pillar was a large staircase, obviously meant to accommodate large amounts of traffic both ways. Each level had at least one bridge connected to the staircase in the center, creating a network of crisscrossing bridges all the way to the ceiling hundreds of feet above them.

All over the building were strange white stones that gave off a faint glow, embedded into the walls, floors, and bookshelves. Even some of the tables that Tyrus could see had them. As far as he could tell there was no magic in them. In fact, they felt exactly the same as all the other stone. Uckey had said that the dwarves were capable of things that no other race was, but Tyrus hadn’t understood him until that moment.

Wait a second. Uckey! Where did he go?
He stretched out his perception again, searching for any sign of the gnome. Yet still nothing came back to him, just stone and water. And that ridiculous power above him. It was already making his head pound, so Tyrus pulled back his perception.
Did Ankaros send him back to his own time now that we are done? I’ll ask Sarena what happened when she wakes up.

The excitement was building up inside of him at the thought of Sarena seeing him in his new body. He was finally free! No more being trapped in a dark void, only able to live through the experiences of others!

A shuffling sound and a groan brought him back to his senses. He looked at Sarena and saw her roll her body onto her side, exposing the empty sheath and small blue pack that had been underneath her. Her eyes fluttered open, showing one green iris and one grey, and looked straight into Tyrus’ eyes. Instead of the shock he was expecting to see, her face was blank and her aura barely changed at all.

“Seven hells. This is the strangest nightmare I’ve ever had,” she mumbled.

Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for.
Tyrus looked down at himself.
I wonder if this is how I looked before I was a sword.

Pale white skin entered his vision. All thoughts of his looks went out of his mind.
That bastard! He gave me a body but couldn’t have the decency to give me some clothes along with it?

Quickly looking up again at Sarena he saw she was squinting at him, as if it was difficult to see. He knew there wasn’t a chance of their being anything around for him to wear, and did the only thing he could think of.

He drew on his core and felt a rush of power unlike anything before. Both fire and ice were flowing through his veins, yet it was somehow soothing instead of painful. It felt like he could do anything, as if there was nothing beyond his power. Thousands of thin strands of pure mana flowed out of his body, hovering just over his skin.

The next thing he knew, the feeling had vanished. There was a faint flash of light from his body, and in place of the mana that he had called upon was instead a jet black robe that draped across his body.

How in the seven hells did I just do that? I don’t even remember trying to cast anything.

A gasp caused him to look up in time to see Sarena stagger to her feet. She fumbled at her waist for a breath before looking down and swearing. He felt wind fill her as she jumped backwards to create distance between them.

Something crashed into his back, knocking him forward to his knees. Sarena cried out in surprise at the same time.

The bond. It’s still there, keeping us together. Ankaros lied to us!

“Wait, Sarena! It’s me!” He called out as he pushed himself to his feet again.

Sarena had managed to stay standing, and stared at him in confusion.

“T-Tyrus? How did you do that? What happened? How did we get here? Why do you look like that?” She asked.

Great. Ankaros even decided to make me look strange. I swear I’m going to find a way to kill him.

“I woke up like this,” Tyrus grinned. “Look around us. This is the library of Stewrix! You must have gotten here in time. Ankaros kept his end of the bargain, at least somewhat. I guess our bond doesn’t count as a problem to him.”