The Sword that Binds (Book of Worlds 1) (5 page)

Sarena continued to lie on the ground until she felt her strength begin to return. When she finally felt well enough to sit up, she found something was pressing against her stomach, pinning her in place. She raised her head, looked down and felt her throat constrict. Sprawled across her lower torso and legs was the corpse of a creature that seemed to resemble a dog, only twice the size of any she had ever seen. Except for the fact that its head and front legs were missing. Blood had poured out of its neck all over her clothes, having been there for quite some time considering the powerful stench it was emitting. She gagged as she scrambled out from underneath it, the dried blood in her clothing making slight cracking noises as she moved.

After a few moments of standing to the side and staring at the beast that had attacked her, she finally began to calm down and tried to focus her thoughts. While sleeping with a dead creature as a blanket was disgusting, the fact that it was dead in the first place was confusing her. It was clear to her that she hadn’t killed it - she was unconscious almost right from the start of the fight - and if there was someone else in the forest with her, she doubted they would just leave her underneath the corpse like that.

She reached for Heartseeker at her waist, and froze in place as her hand grasped at the air.
Where’s Heartseeker!
A quick scan of the surroundings gave away its position, the hilt was sticking out from underneath the beast’s corpse. Now that Sarena had calmed down there was no fear of the beast within her anymore. Her grandfather had taught her to keep a calm mind during battle, but there were some situations that were just too far outside of what she expected. Even with all that training her mind couldn’t quite handle the stress. One of those was waking up with a dead body on her.

After she retrieved Heartseeker, it didn’t take long to put together what had happened. The sword had moved on its own to defend her from that crossbow bolt back at the keep, and it must have done the same to protect her after she had been struck down. Just then another thought ran through her mind - what exactly had happened to her wounds? There should have been deep gashes across her chest and ribcage - her shredded clothes were a testament to that. She felt at her chest and was astonished. Her fingers slid across skin that was completely smooth and flawless, as if it had never been touched. Even the scars she had received during her training had disappeared, not just on her chest, but across her entire body.
Why is Heartseeker able to do all this for me? It was supposed to just make me skilled with a blade, not heal and protect me all on its own.

Still deep in thought over what had happened to her, she felt a warmth emitting from her side. Looking down at Heartseeker, she could see it was flashing a brilliant blue light, visible even while sheathed. Sarena reached to draw it, but before her hand touched it Heartseeker shot out of its sheath and pointed itself to her right, trembling slightly as if straining to go even further. As soon as it stopped, a faint noise could be heard coming from the forest in the opposite direction. She reached out for Heartseeker and felt it pull at her arm, trying to move away from the sound. Something was coming, and it was strong enough to make even her sword scared. The sound was getting closer, and Sarena could make out what seemed like rhythmic crashing noises, as if something massive was trampling through the forest. Without any more hesitation she set out at full speed, charging away from the noise as quickly as she could.

The world blurred around her, and a feeling of power rushed through her body unlike anything before. It wasn’t until that moment that she understood why everything had sounded like it was underwater at the keep. Not only was she moving at an incredible speed, but the world itself slowed down around her, causing the sounds to become distorted. She could tell she was moving far faster than when she had escaped from the keep, but the rhythmic crashing sound didn’t become slower or sound further away. It was actually getting faster and closing in. Whatever it was that was chasing her, it was faster than her even with all that power running through her.

The feeling of invincibility had lasted only a moment before reality crashed back into place around her. No matter how strong she was, there was always going to be something stronger, especially in this forest. If she wasn’t able to escape this creature she had no doubt it would kill her, Heartseeker wouldn’t be able to save her this time. From what she could tell the sword was unable to move very far from her on its own, and seeing as it was trapped underneath the body of a creature that weighed as much as herself, she doubted it had the raw strength needed to hold off the monstrosity chasing her.

Sarena could feel time running out, the sounds getting closer and closer by the second. All she could see around her were more trees, and no sign of anywhere to hide. It seemed more and more likely that she would have to stay and fight, and hope that she could stand a chance with this new power running through her. Risking a glance behind herself, Sarena caught a glimpse of the beast and regretted it instantly.

What in the seven hells is that!

Standing on four legs, each one as thick as a man’s body, and at shoulder height was at least fifteen feet tall. Thick blue fur ran across its entire body, except for its front hands. Hands that had three fingers and a thumb, each thicker than Sarena’s arms, and ending with immense claws that looked like they could rip her in half easily. Its head rested directly on its body with no neck to support it, and looked remarkably cat-like. Except for the eyes looked far too human, and the horns that extended from its forehead. For some reason it ran on its back two legs for the most part, with the front two reaching out for the trees around it and using them to launch itself forward, causing the massive crashing sound whenever it landed, followed almost immediately by another launch. The rate it was closing the distance between them was terrifying, and Sarena redoubled her efforts to escape desperately.

“Why does this have to happen to me!” She screamed as she ran, knowing that there were only moments left before the beast had caught up to her.

*****

T
yrus had felt the creature’s aura the second it had entered his range, and knew that they stood no chance against it. Raw strength and rage radiated from it, along with a primal feeling, as if the beast was as ancient as the forest. Even after all of the effort he put into his partner, he had no doubt that it could tear them apart in a heartbeat. Their only hope was to escape. And even that hope was dashed when he discovered how fast it could move, traversing the forest at a speed far beyond what he had expected. His mind worked itself into a frenzy, trying to think of a solution as they ran through the forest. He could only provide power and guidance his companion’s footsteps as she ran. There was only one idea that came to him, one he had considered before while widening the channels within her. While he was only able to provide power to his partner and could affect nothing else besides her, he suspected that if she could draw on his power directly then she might be able to use it to fight. There was an instinctual knowledge of how his power worked within him, but he hadn’t thought it would be necessary so soon. If he was to help her survive this he was going to need to work fast.

Delving back within himself, he looked at the latticework around his core, looking for a point to work from. Time was short, so instead of inspecting all of the beams Tyrus went to the one that stretched into the hilt, where that light blue vine extended from. Simultaneously he stretched a tendril of power into his partner, finding the channel within her right hand, the closest one he could find. He began weaving his power into a complicated structure between the two, working entirely by instinct. Slowly a golden shell began to form, incredibly fragile, yet still somewhat functional, covering that blue vine entirely. He continued weaving it as fast as he could, knowing time was running out but still trying to reinforce the new channel as much as he could.

The beast’s presence was only one pounce away, and Tyrus had no time left to complete it. She would have to use it as he continued to work, but he was at a loss as to how to tell her that. The situation left him desperate. His instincts didn’t have an answer this. All he could rely on was himself, and he had to do it now. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he felt the beast’s hand closing in on his companion’s back. Tyrus pushed everything he had at Sarena and felt something shatter within himself.

*****

“D
uck!” A voice resounded within Sarena’s mind, causing her to lose her concentration and stumble. She fell to the ground and rolled forward, hearing a whistling sound and feeling something pass through the air above her. Sarena was back on her feet and running instantly. The sound of the creature falling behind for a moment almost made her cry in relief. It must have over-extended itself trying to grab her and lost its balance. That would only give her a few more moments of time, but it was enough to put a little distance between them.

“Yes! That wasn’t exactly what I meant for you to do, but you’re still alive!” The voice was back, and obviously excited.

“Great, now I’m going insane and hearing voices before I die,” Sarena mumbled. “I thought being scared into insanity was nothing but a saying.”

“Wait, you can actually hear me? And I can hear you? This is great! Linking us together must have done more than I expected! I’ll explain that later, no time right now. You’re not insane, I’m your sword.”

“That’s not very reassuring,” she said under her breath.

“Is that how you treat someone trying to save you? I just made it so you can draw directly on my power. You need to focus on pulling at that warmth you can feel coming from me. Use it to fight that creature."

Sarena gaped down at the sword in her hand. Regardless of if she was actually imagining it or not, Heartseeker
did
feel much warmer than usual. There was no time to think about it. She could feel the beast closing in on her again as she dodged through the trees. She
pulled
at the warmth that radiated from Heartseeker, feeling ridiculous as she did so. Expecting nothing to happen, Sarena almost stumbled and fell when the world changed.

Time stopped. She couldn’t hear the sound of the beast behind her, but she could feel that it was there, frozen in place. Just like she could feel everything else around her. Sarena could tell there was a shelf of stone several meters below her, and it was calling to her. Everything that touched even the smallest rock was able to be sensed by her, which included the beast behind her. An incredible feeling of belonging permeated her entire being, making her relax without even realizing it. Something within her knew that if she called, all the stone around her would answer. Without a second thought Sarena did just that, reaching out for every bit of stone she could find and sending it at the beast. As soon as she had done so the sense of belonging left her, and the world jerked back into motion.

The earth shook beneath her, sending Sarena tumbling to the ground. Sarena stopped rolling and faced backwards, right as the earth behind her exploded upward, a massive stone spire appearing in an instant. The creature that had chased her gave out an ear-shattering howl as the spike drove itself into its chest, driving all the way through and lifting the beast off the ground. It continued up until the top was over halfway to the canopy, carrying the beast with it. She stared in awe at what she had done. At its base the spire was so thick it would take over a dozen people with their arms spread out to circle it. Heartseeker was still giving off warmth, but it was nowhere near as much as before.

“That was...a lot more impressive than I expected,” Heartseeker marveled, bring Sarena out of her stupor, “and a lot more draining. It’s going to take days before I’m back at full strength.”

She looked down at the sword in her hand, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. Already she was aching for the feeling from before, as if she was missing a part of herself, one she never even knew she had. Everything that had happened to her was because of the sword in her hand, both devastating her life and saving it at the same time. Sarena wasn’t even sure what had just happened. If the gigantic spire wasn’t right in front of her, she would think she had dreamed it all.
And how could I forget, my sword is talking to me
. All the strength in her body seemed to leave her at once, and her knees collapsed beneath her. The training her grandfather had given her allowed her to stay upright at least, but any more than that was beyond her.

“What in the seven hells was that?” She said looking up at the beast, then looking back down at Heartseeker. “What exactly
are
you? Heartseeker has never been able to do half the things you have, and not once have I heard of a talking sword anywhere before.”

Almost not expecting an answer, Sarena jumped slightly when the voice responded in her mind. “I don’t know what this Heartseeker is that you’re talking about, but my name is Tyrus. As for what I am...I’m not really sure. I don’t think I was like this to begin with, but I can’t remember much. And for the first question, I don’t have the slightest clue. Its aura felt ancient, and it was far stronger than I thought, so maybe it actually came from the seven hells. Even after I opened the channels in you there wasn’t enough power.”

More questions started to pop up in Sarena’s mind, but before she could speak a loud growling sound emitted from her stomach. Suddenly she was able to feel the hunger that should have been gnawing at her for the past day and a half, almost crippling her with its sudden ferocity. She knew she had to eat something soon, and there was only one real option for that. Looking up at the creature at the top of the spire, she shook her head and stood up, using Heartseeker -
no, Tyrus
, she corrected herself - to stand up.

“Sorry about the hunger. I can stop you from feeling the effects from it, but you’ll still starve either way. Your aura was protesting against me, so I decided to stop blocking it,” Tyrus said.