Realm of Monsters-Chapter 613: Grim Determination

Chapter 613: Grim Determination

Svartna hummed to life from where it rested next to the door.

Melantha stared at the black spear as it dragged itself upright towards Stryg. Her lips curled in a half-smirk, “Well, this is interesting.”

The sound drew Stryg’s attention, as well as the undead orc’s he had reanimated. The goblin godling stiffened at the sight and watched in tense silence as the spear scraped across the room until it was standing in front of him.

“Uhhh, what is happening?” Stryg pointed at the spear. He jumped back a step as Svartna snapped into his hand as if magnetic. “I didn’t—”

“Yes, you didn’t call its name. And yet the spear came to you anyway.” Melantha leaned forward and examined the Svartna. “Your bond with it is strong. It reacted to your emotions. Each orichalcum weapon is receptive to certain emotions, I thought yours was anger, but— no. No, it seems your spear is receptive to something more complex; your emotional state.” She leaned back and narrowed her eyes, a hint of a smirk playing at her lips. “It responded to your determination.”

“My determination?” Stryg raised the spear and gave it an experimental twirl. Even to him, it felt somewhat heavy. Nothing he couldn’t lift, but there was weight to it, like a hammer in the hand of a blacksmith.

“Determination to achieve a purpose. The question is, what purpose? When you thought your mother had died, all you wanted was to kill the dragonbane that had murdered her. That purpose drove you to awaken your abilities and it is what called that spear to you. Tell me, what purpose drove you to reanimate the orc?”

Stryg furrowed his brow. “I… I wanted to protect my tribe.”

“Protect them from what?”

“Death. From those who would harm them. When I first came to this city I wanted power so that no one could ever hurt me again.” He scoffed and his expression turned bitter, “Now all I want is the power to protect those around me. It doesn’t matter what happens to me.”

“Oh, little brother. How wrong you are.” She placed her hand on his chest and with a sudden flick of the wrist, shoved him away. He went flying like an arrow and slammed into one of the stone slabs, shattering it and sending the corpse atop it sprawling onto the ground.

Stryg coughed and wheezed a raspy breath. “W-What the fuck was the for?!”

The orc rushed Melantha but she decapitated him with a chop of her hand, not even bothering to glance at the undead. “It’s time you understand the truth that is in front of your face. It very much matters what happens to you. You, Stryg are very important. You care for your tribe? Good. Use that love to strengthen your will, but make no mistake, if I had to choose between saving you or your entire tribe, I would choose you every single time.”

Melantha’s visage blurred and she was suddenly in front of Stryg. She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and yanked him up, holding him high enough that his feet dangled in the air. “You need to understand, Stryg, someday that choice may become very real. Your unique nature makes you a threat to many people. They may seek to destroy everything you have built just to get to you. I cannot protect you against Calamities. So if they come for you, I will grab you and run. Your tribe be damned.”

She kicked the door open and dragged him into another chamber, this one was a large open space meant for training. She tossed him across the room as if he weighed nothing. He crashed into the wall, leaving a small crater where he landed. He fell to the ground and coughed up flecks of blood.

He glared at her and staggered to his feet. Orange mana surged through his body, but Melantha waved her hand, True Blue magic flickering over her fingers. “Uh-uh. No chromatic magic here.”

The flow of Orange broke apart and he felt the mana leave him in disarray. Stryg wiped the blood off his lips and growled. “You’d run from an enemy? And just drag me with you?”

“In a heartbeat. Our father didn’t spend the last thousand years trying to create someone like you for no reason. And then there is Aleirune, the World Soul speaks to you. After a thousand years of silence, she speaks to you.”

“I am the Sword of Veres, I will not run from my enemies. I will cut them down!” Stryg drew Krikolm and rushed her.

She didn’t react until he was upon her, scarlet blade swinging down at her. Her hand flashed and caught his wrist. She twisted it with a loud snap. He cried out in pain as his wrist bent at the wrong angle and Krikolm slipped out of his fingers. Melantha kicked the sword away and punched him in the gut. He smashed into the underground ceiling and fell down with a heavy thud.

Stryg groaned and vomited a small puddle of blood. Melantha walked around him, eyeing his every movement. “You are the key to something I don’t quite understand yet. We cannot risk you falling into the wrong hands, even if it means sacrificing every mortal in this city. Because the truth is, without you, we may very well be unable to save Aleirune. And if she dies, so does this world. That means everyone you’ve ever known, loved, or cared about will die.”

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“They’ll die anyway if I run from my enemies.” He bared his teeth and pushed himself up with his one good hand.

“We are children of the Calamity of Death, Stryg. That means we are two sides of the same coin. In other words, death follows us just as much as we bring death to others. Our mere existence twists the fate of lives all around us. Our every action sets forth events that inevitably lead to the deaths of others.”

“I refuse to accept that.” He swung a hook punch at her. She caught his fist with ease, but before she could snap his wrist, he lunged forward and sank his teeth into her forearm.

She shook him off and grinned, even as her flesh knit itself back together. “It doesn’t matter whether you accept it or not. Take it from someone who tried to run from who she is. It cost me everyone I loved.”

Stryg bared his bloodied teeth and charged her. She evaded his punches and swipes of his claws with ease, shifting her feet from one side to another. “You think sacrificing yourself is the way to save those you care about? You think a Veres martyr like Stryga is what they need!?”

“Shut up!” Stryg punched her. For every kick and swing of his fist she blocked or dodged, his next one was just a tad faster, an ounce stronger.

“Face the truth, brother. You already know it, deep down. They are going to die. And it’s all because of you.”

“No! I won’t let them!” he roared. “Svartna!” The spear flew out of the other room and landed in his grasp, humming with power. “I’ll fight!” he screamed and swung the spear over and over. “I’ll fight all of them! Every single one that comes! I’ll kill them. I won’t fall! I won’t stop, I’ll never stop!” freēnovelkiss.com

Melantha caught the spear and smiled, her lips curled in a vicious expression. “Good. That’s the kind of determination you will need if you want to protect those you love.”

Stryg huffed and glanced at the spear in his hand, uncertain of what had just happened. “Svartna…?”

“You called it to you. Remember that feeling you just had, keep it close to your heart. It is the first step into mastering your weapon.”

Stryg blinked and fell to his knees, exhausted and in pain. He stared at the blood covering his shirt. “This was a test…?”

“A lesson. I meant what I said. When people discover what you are there will be many who will seek to use you and they will use anything, even threaten your tribe to get to you. If you want to protect them you must face death head-on, only then will you have the power to decide who will die.”

He winced and stared at his limp, broken wrist. “Did you have to hit so hard?”

“I told you, we are here to train. The worse the injury, the more your body’s regeneration will be forced to heal. Your regeneration is like a muscle, it needs to be put to work and pushed to its limits. And trust me, I intend to push you to your limits.”

She offered him her hand. He gave her a wry half smile and grabbed her hand.

~~~

General Harlan Gale stood atop the hill with his two captains, overlooking the scene unfolding in the valley below; a thousand Veres soldiers had surrounded an encampment of hide tents. A line of warriors had rushed out from the tents and made a perimeter around. There had to be a good two hundred or so warriors, but they seemed small in comparison to the Veres army.

“Finally, those fucking barbarians have nowhere left to run,” said Captain Vern, satisfied malice in his voice. The vampire had a fresh scar running down from his forehead and across his cheek. A Valley warrior had given it to him when Vern had been defending his fallen soldiers in the siege of Hollow Shade.

Vern had always been a tough bastard, but he was loyal and he’d take an arrow for any one of these men and women without a second thought. Which had only served to cultivate his hatred for the barbarians after witnessing so many of his brothers and sisters-in-arms fall at the siege.

Captain Rissa frowned as Vern drew his sword. “What are you doing?”

“What the fuck does it look like I’m doing?” Vern growled.

“Our orders were to capture, not kill.”

“If they didn’t resist.” Vern pointed his sword at the circle of warriors down the hill. “That looks like resisting to me.”

Rissa pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “General, what are your orders?”

Harlan glanced at Rissa. She was young for a vampire, barely in her forties, but she had seen more than twice the combat as most of his soldiers. And throughout all that time she had managed to keep a level-head. She hadn’t let the horrors of war numb her to the point that she was unable to do any critical thinking, unlike so many others. It was one of the two reasons Harlan had elected her as his right hand.

The other reason was that she was one of the bravest soldiers he had ever met. She wouldn’t give any order that she wasn’t willing to do herself. That sort of commitment to her soldiers bred loyalty. There wasn’t a soldier in this army who wouldn’t take an arrow for her.

“Lord Veres was explicit. Capture the elders of the Cairn Tribe. They are to be taken into custody and transported to meet with the city council,” replied Harlan. “If they resist, we will kill the warriors in question. But I do not think that will be necessary. They know they are beaten. They will surrender quietly if given the choice.”

“You heard the general, put your sword away,” said Rissa.

Vern spat on the grass but sheathed his blade. “Why in all the bloody Realms would our lord want to talk with these savages? I say we just kill the bastards.”

“It is not our place to question our lord’s commands, only to serve. Is that clear?” said Harlan icily.

“Yes, General Gale!” the captains said in unison.

“Good, now go and do your duty.”

The captains saluted their grizzly superior, before jogging down the hill. Harlan stayed atop the hill with his guards, keeping a watch out for any potential threats that might crest over the nearby hills.