Chapter 4 : Where the wild things are.
The screams of the guests were mixed with the loud rumble of the walls. Teppun stood in front of Emily as the rubble fell around them from the destroyed entry hall. A large piece of the ceiling threatened to strike them, his hand caught it and redirected it off to their side. His senses were firing off warning signs, if what Marianne was true there was little chance they could fight an angel off by themselves. His eyes flickered to the figures of the Knight Captain and Instructor Gwen recovering off to the side. He also saw a small army of guards out the front door, some looking torn between this new individual and their Knight Captain. It as Emily's father's voice that rang out first.
"The crown prince, what is the meaning of this! Why are you targeting my daughter?!"
The pale face of the crown prince turned to address the voice. The eventual king to be had disheveled black hair that fell to his shoulders, his normally grey eyes looked like glossy pearls and there were darkened veins underneath his eyes going down under his skin to his collar. His clothes were torn and ragged having seemingly shed his boots his body hovered a few inches off the ground. The look he gave the Knight Commander was a mix of disgust and amusement.
"Royalty can decide what they want, and what I want is to see her blood stain this floor." He pointed the ivory handled silver blade at the Knight Commander. "Get in my way I'll execute you as well, KNEEL!"
There was a surge of energy released by the crown prince as his command hit everyone in the front hall and even those oustide. The knight commander felt a massive weight fall on his body, as if every cell in his body lurched to follow his command. His chest hit the floor slamming loudly, the similar slam beside him told him that Gwen herself fell to this as well. His face was pinned to the floor, struggling to look around he saw that everyone around him was pinned with oppressive force, all of the guests, even Emily. All except one…
The Crown Prince Ayer felt an immense sense of fulfillment from the sight of all the commoners around him his eyes fell upon his target. The filthy rat that insulted him, his eyes widened at one before him that didn't fall prone at his command. Before him another commoner, stood between him and his prey. This was the first time this failed to work, for the past few days he had been forcing his servants to do his commands, and yet here this one. There was a chill up his spine, not from him as he didn't know who this was. The sense of fear didn't come from his own emotions, it was from the blade.
"KNEEL!" The crown prince repeated.
Teppun watched as everyone around him fell to their knees, Emily's father, Emily herself.
"Marianne, what's going on?" He asked standing up horrified at the sight.
"Angels have complete authority over humankind as their creators. Defying an order will start a chain reaction of internal bleeding in them." She answered.
"How do we break the spell?" He said unsheathing the blade.
"Holy authority works only when the speaker ends the spell, if you separate his bond from the angel that should be enough to cancel it. Whatever is possessing him is bound to that sword, don't break the blade just take it from him." Marianne observed.
"Alright, that sounds simple enough." Teppun sighed.
When the second order to kneel came Teppun heard Emily gasp. Turning his head to look at her he saw a trickle of blood fall from her lips. A heat built up in his face and upper neck, immediately he knelt to release some healing into her. His chest began to whirr loudly.
The prince watched the commoner not only defy his order a second time, but turned his back to him. Anger flooded his mind, he raised his blade to strike him down. He was going to lunge forward and skewer them both but as his blade raised he saw the man was gone from his targets side. Ayer's eyes barely caught the blur to his right flank as the unknown commoner planted a fist into his face.
There was a sickening crunch sound that barely occurred to him in time that it was his own nose. The pain barely registered before his vision began swirling aggressively, a full second hadn't passed between him taking a stance to his perspective flying at Mach speeds out into the courtyard. Ayer spat blood and a few teeth as he struggled to his feet. His whole body hurt in a way he never felt before, he wheezed as the broken ribs made it difficult to breathe.
Ayer watched as his opponent walked toward him focused on him and him alone. Ayers ears rung as if the man before him emmited a high pitched whine. He struggled to speak through his messed up teeth.
"Holy Thword, who the hell is thith?" He said with a lisp.
The low amused tone of the being in the ivory blade didn't sound as confident he did the last few days.
"How am I supposed to know? Its not human, it must be some kind of demon…"
Ayer's body trembled, so the commoners were siding with demons. It was his duty as a Hero to slay the demons and their conspirators. With that thought he felt a surge of energy fill him as his strength returned bolstered with his own intentions. The prince took an offensive stance and lunged forward. His speed had tripled, he was feeling more confident in his power until his attack was intercepted. He wasn't used to this speed as his body moved faster than his eyes could follow. Despite that his sword was caught by his opponents bare hands. Still recovering from the fast movement he couldn't react as this blade was flipped downward. An immense pain erupted in his right hand as his opponents fist crashed into the back of his palm. Unused to this level of pain he would've dropped the blade, if he could.
The crown prince let out a scream from the searing pain, not from the strike from the blade itself. It was like holding a red hot metal rod, he began to become fearful swinging the blade wildly and yelling. His opponent stepped backwards, seemingly aware something was happening. All Ayer could do was scream for help, as he struggled against the blade taking control of him.
"SOMEBODY!! SAVE ME!!!" He whimpered.
Ayer felt the pain surge up his arm now claiming his shoulder, it was as if his arm was submerged in scalding water. He watched in horror as his arm lifted without his consent aimed toward his adversary. The blade beckoned him to launch forward, his body was dragged at a violent speed.
Once again the blinding speed of his own forced attack was captured in a simple maneuver. He felt his wrist get captured in a firm grip and pulled him in defusing some of his speed and redirecting it to knock him off his feet. He was thrown onto his back, the wind knocked out of his lungs. Breathlessly he could stare in a daze.
Ayer felt a shock of pain as his arm was twisted and unsocketed from his shoulder as his body slammed onto the ground. Still reeling from then pain he felt a boot seat itself on his arm. He looked up from the still spinning world at the demons face. For years he imagined what a real demon looked like, he never expected it took look so human, and that same face to look at him with a mixture of hate and pity…
Teppun stamped on his forearm, He had tried ripping the blade from his arm but his grip was unnaturally strong. He had tried disarming him before but there was something preventing that. His eyes caught the prince's wrist up to his forearm was a pure white ivory that was slowly claiming his body. Teppun unsheathed his blade, as that happened he felt another presence approach him quickly. He was expecting a guard or Emily but, it wasn't either. A young woman about Emily's age with long black hair and grey eyes ran forward yelling at him.
"Please don't kill him! Hes not himself!" The princess Tamaria fell on her knees gasping before them.
Teppun raised an eyebrow not moving from the restrainment on the barely conscious prince.
"I'm trying my best not to, he has to answer for his crimes. This thing latched to him is killing him."
Tamaria's eyes widened and she stifled a gasp when she watched the silver sword in his hand disappear and in its place a woman knelt by her brother.
"Can you remove it?" Teppun asked giving the barely conscious prince a glare.
"Its going to be hard but possible. It might take some time to remove it without hurting him." Marianne admitted.
Teppun kept watch over the weak form under his boot. He didn't mind restraining him. His instincts sent off alarm bells when the mouth of the prince moved and it wasn't the voice of the prince.
"This body doesn't belong to a hero, so weak and lethargic. A pathetic excuse for royalty." The entity croaked.
Marianne stiffened her voice became more urgent. "Its taking over him faster! Its going to consume his life energy!"
Teppun loosened his grimace. "So we just cut his arm off…"
But by point it was too late, the ivory blade swung between them ripping the forearm of the prince along with it. It flew between then headed straight for Temaria. She could only scream in response. Teppun turned but even he wasn't fast enough to cover that ground without Marianne. A figure planted herself in front of Tamaria her shining mithril shield intercepting the coming blade and shattering it. Emily held her ground in front of the crown princess as the ivory blade became nothing more than a golden hilt. A bright light flashed between them, they all had to cover their eyes it was so bright.
They all felt an immense heat as the hilt melted the form becoming like floating liquid gold taking form. It grew legs and arms and expanded in size. As the form grew in size there was loud noise, a shriek like an orchestra of inhuman screams.
As the light faded they all saw before them a humanlike figure, long strands of silver hair fell down his chest. He hovered three feet in the air. Pure white glowing eyes on a scarred angelic face. He wore nothing but a thin wavey robe and a golden halo hovered over his head. As he looked down his beautiful face bent into a crooked grin.
"Oh my. I am free." The angel spoke with a whimsical tone.
Teppun stood defiantly, Marianne returned to her blade form in his right arm. He growled in a low tone. "I suppose this would be a great time just to leave peacefully, right?" He asked a little too sarcastically.
"Oh, how comical would that be? Having been imprisoned by the human race for thousands of years, unable to join my family in the heavens. I don't think that would be quite fair of me." The deity chuckled amused. "No, I think I will see fit to eradicate as many humans as I can before I return to my brothers and sisters."
With a flick of his wrist a white beam shot from the angel's robes and struck Teppun sending him flying into the courtyard. Cackling he turned to Emily and Tamaria. His grin faltering slightly as he pointed a finger at them.
"Is this the best Humanity has? The Goddess sends her fragments to intercept me?"
He waved an arm to prepare another blast and then quickly stopped to intercept a silver bullet that was going to hit him. With a flick of his arm he swatted Teppun mid air into the ground next to Emily and the princess. They both saw him struggle to his feet clad in the silver armor, the Holy sword in his right hand.
"Go! Get out of here!" Teppun coughed…
Emily was stuck in place, her body didn't want to move. Seeing Teppun in this state shocked her, it gave her a horrible sense of who they were up against. Tamaria could only stare at him, she looked at his sliver armor, the blade in his hand. She could only silently mouth the words in awe. "The Hero."
The angel cackled looking more and more amused. "If you think holy magic can defeat me your thousands of years too late child. The human race had to resort to creating the demon kind to kill us off, and that almost got them killed off as well."
Emily and Tamaria gasped, the shock of his statement. Well it couldn't have been true, what did it mean?
Teppun stood between them, he spat blood and held his blade up. "You talk a lot…" He gave a weak grin and readied his stance.
The angel's amusement cracked, he threw out his arms and two white hot blades appeared at his hands. Gripping them he lowered himself to the ground the heat of the blades seared the ground below him. His grin cracked his perfect angelic features.
"I will enjoy tearing your apart." He breathed.
Teppun took the first attack lunging forward blade at the ready. His strike was caught in the glowing hilt of one of the angel's blades, as the other white blade came from his left he turned his body releasing the Holy Sword from the blade lock to clash with it. Just as his blade caught the attack the other arm followed up with a vertical strike, it was far too fast for him to intercept as he pulled back to dodge it the heat of the blade sliced through his shirt narrowly missing his chest. Stepping back his chest was exposed, an empty hole lay in its place.
The angel looked at him amused once again. "Not even human, you don't even have a heart little metal man. Ill be so excited to rip you apart and see what makes you tick." He said with a demented cackle, sending out another bolf of energy.
Teppun sidestepped the blast, he was hitting his limit. He couldn't fight and angel with holy energy. Teppun's eyes flicked to his bag, inside would be the amplifier orb. It was attuned to demonic energy, he needed an entity that generated demonic energy… His eyes widened, there was a chance.
"Marianne I need you to protect Emily and the others. I have a plan but its kind of dangerous maybe even stupid." He told her.
"What are you going to do?!?" She asked but to was too late. Gripping his hand the Teppun turned the blade into the bangle.
Marianne staggered back and ran infront of Emily and Tamaria creating a barrier. She had only ever seen him look this desperate, when he fought the Demon King himself. She watched him produce the violet glowing orb from his bag, she didn't know what it meant but she trusted him.
Teppun slotted the amplifier in the hole in his chest, it sunk in and seated itself where his heart had been centuries ago. Just as the amplifier was accepted and the predation process begun a white hot blast hit him right in the chest. Teppun lost his consciousness from the attack, which was what he needed…
He stumbled into the library doors, behind him the white outer world flickered. He threw them open, yelling. His voice echoed down the long silent halls ringing back into his ears.
"I NEED YOU! YOU OWE ME!!" He yelled crawling in the doorway onto the stone floor.
His vision was fading, his body was going back to consciousness automatically. The last thing saw was a dark figure approaching him, his tone amused.
"Checkmate Brother."
Emily watched Teppun get blown onto his back. He wasn't moving…
"Hes out! We need to help him!" Emily tore herself away from Marianne's barrier ignoring her the sword spirits yells.
She slid down to his body, she saw the gaping hole in his chest and the glowing orb in it. She pushed those fears away and threw her shield aside. Kneeling over him she started to pray. The angel hovered over them, his grin widened even more.
"Go ahead and make peace with your goddess, she won't save you from me. No matter if you're her apostle or not she would never dare defy her own kind." He cackled raising an arm the sword burning a brighter light. Marianne ran to them ready to take the swing for them. Emily continued to repeat the prayer, her eye shedding tears that this wouldn't be the end. She could feel the heat of the blade and then he stood up…
The angel's grin faltered, his swing had gone through. Yet there was no damage, no eviscerating flesh. He looked down to his blade astonished, the white holy light flickered as the hole part past the hilt was gone. His eyes fell on the three before him, the sturdy one had stood up again but he looked different. The angels face grin completely faltered. The non human one, he looked confident…
Emily watched as Teppun stood up, his body moved and intercepted the blade with nothing but his hand. She noticed that on his hand was a rippling black gauntlet. Pure dark energy not only caught the blade but consumed the white hot blade. It faded away into nothing in his hands. In a voice that wasn't entirely his own Emily heard him retort.
"Your not a god, your just a messenger that bit off more than he can chew."
Emily saw him stride forward with bravado, she looked at Marianne who looked just as dumbfounded. He stopped just short of the angel still looking at him no longer amused. Teppun snapped his fingers, everyone winced even the angel… Nothing happened.
He looked confused for a second the black gauntlet still affixed to his arm. His eyes looked back wildly with a grin.
"Oh yeah! I have to say the thing huh! Oh I've been waiting for this for a while!" Teppun turned away from the angel mumbling to himself.
This was apparently enough to break the spell on the Angel who slashed at him with his remaining blade.
"You dare make a mockery out of me!" The deity screeched.
Teppuns gauntlet caught the blade and this time he ripped it in two. Teppun made a nonchalant toss of the blade and just a moment it seemed like nothing happened. Golden blood trickled from the angels torso, his body struck the ground as his left wing fell away from his body. The angel howled in pain struggling to grasp at his detached wing.
"Your ruining the moment, here I've waited a thousand years to finally walk the earth again and I cant remember the words… Intercept…. Inter…" Teppun talked to himself for a moment before Marianne spoke up.
"Teppun! Who is that? Who did you synchronize with?" She asked still confused.
Teppun clapped his hands. "That's it! That's the word!
He turned to the angel, his smile seemed to be more for himself than the angel. He leaned down and gave the angel a little playful slap.
"You know, I used to consume your kind for fun. You really messed up, because my darkness will always swallow the light whole." Teppun chuckled in a voice much unlike him.
"Full Synchronization." He said with a grin.
Emily and Marianne watched as the space before them exploded. Dark black tendrils ripped from Teppun whipping around as dark energy flowed from him. The angels face fell even further it recognized this energy, so did Mairanne. The last time she saw this dark miasma in such a pure form was the final fight between her, The Hero, Teppun and the Demon King…
Emily was struggling to hold her ground, the pure raw power was sending waves of force. She remembered this feeling, the image of the massive skeleton towering above her came back to her mind. They all watched as the waves of energy subsided, in its place between them and the angel stood Teppun clad in rippling dark armor. The obsidian heavy plate slid effortlessly as he knelt down, his eyes fell on the angel with a look of distain. The angel took this as an opportunity to yell at him.
"Even if you kill me I'll be reborn! Ill be back, I'll kill everyone you love!" He howled.
With a sudden calm, the rippling energy of the armor stopped suddenly with the sound of glass breaking. The armor shattered away leaving Teppun in sleek dark fine clothes. The fabric looked like an endless void of darkness, the light from the moon above them seemed so much weaker as if light itself struggled to exist round him.
Sounding much more like himself Teppun spoke back, despite his words there was still an air of amusement in his tone.
"I know. Killing you is too dangerous, but I can't let you leave either." Teppun said.
Teppun raised his right hand palm up, five points in a dark circle surrounded the angel. The points rose and created a dome over the deity. Closing his hand into a fist, the walls slowly closed in on him. As the dome shrank into a circle there was no noise, the angel only looked at him in abject horror. There was no sound, and when it was over there was nothing but a small glowing orb no larger than a grape.
Emily watched as Teppun turned off to his right. She followed his path until she saw the legs laying just outside a bush. He walked over and dragged the unconscious prince out of the bush. Emily's blood ran cold when she saw his bleeding stump where his forearm had been. She remembered seeing the blade dislodge his arm and fly at Tamaria. She heard Teppun's weary voice.
"Marianne, lend me your power. He's going to bleed out if we don't help him." He panted.
The sword spirit looked at him still clearly confused. Wordlessly she stood by him and offered her hand to him. Emily watched Marianne take his had and immediately gasp, in fear. Emily couldn't see what she saw, she had a vague sense that there was someone standing to his left. She felt Tamaria's trembling hand grab her, looking down at her she saw the horror on her face as she stuttered something barely coherent. "D-demon K-King."
Teppun fell back onto his rear, the dark suit fading off his body with allowing the slight breeze to cool off his body. His nice clothes were torn, the skin on his chest was cracked revealing a silvery under layer. Heat rose from the craters and the spider web cracks on his chin. Before them was a stabilized crown prince with his arm returned to his body. The color had started to return to his features. Teppun turned his head to Marianne with a tired smile.
"Thank you…" He had paused just realizing her pouting face.
"So when were you going to tell me?" She scowled.
Teppun inhaled, this was a conversation he dreaded. "Balteus, he's been rooting around inside me since we killed him. At first I thought I was just insane, I had hoped that was the case. I was wrong." Teppun held the small glowing orb between his thumb and index finger.
"That's not what I asked, and so what he can just posses you whenever now?" Marianne scoffed.
"I don't think so, I know it sounds strange but I've had a long time to work things out with him. He's changed a bit since you last saw him." Teppun answered.
"That's not the point, you have the demon king inside you. Our greatest foe, and your saying he's your friend now?" Marianne jabbed.
"Not a friend, I don't know what he is right now but he saved us. I didn't have a choice." Teppun spoke with mixed emotions.
Marianne could see that there was a deeper level to this. She couldn't deny that The Demon King had helped them, and then handed the reigns back to Teppun. If he wanted to hurt them we would've done it. She looked at the glowing orb in his hand.
"What are you going to do with that?" She asked changing the topic more concern than betrayal in her voice now.
"I can't let him fall into the wrong hands, if he got out again that could be millions of lives lost." Teppun held the orb near his eyes, it glowed brightly. "I think it should stay with me, rot away with me."
Teppun pinched his nose, he opened his mouth and dropped the orb down into his mouth. He swallowed it down in one gulp to Marianne's absolute horror and disgust.
"Ugh, that was gross… But effective…." She admitted, with a shiver.
It was a white void, no wind, no sounds. Yet the plush grass grazing his face brought him to wake. Arable, the angel who was separated from his people by the demon race centuries ago. He raised himself off the grass, the world around him was impossibly bright. It reminded him of his home in heaven. The sound of a metal wind chime penetrated the eerie silence. He turned his head, his silver hair parting to let him see an ancient stone building. Getting to his feet the action of walking was alien to him as he had flown everywhere for his entire life.
Arable pushed the ancient wooden doors open, they revealed a sanctum filled with wooden shelves of books. Lanterns hung from the ceiling casting warm light around the library. Each of the ancient stained glass windows depicted a single woman with blonde hair and fair features and white roses. There was something here that reminded him even more the elegance of his home. A chill ran up his spine when he heard footsteps from deeper within.
Arable was stuck in place, unable to move due to fear. Like a deer under the gaze of a wolf his gaze met with a tall slender man with fair skin and dark black hair. His eyes glowed violet with amusement, he wore a black three piece suit and black leather dress shoes. His face held an intelligent smirk. Arable could feel the energy surrounding the mans body, he had seen it centuries ago. In his time he was a soldier, in his prison he had heard of the man who would become the eventual King of the demon race. Balteus, the black hole, swallower of light…
The angel fell to his knees trembling, he tried to speak but couldn't mutter anything. Balteus stepped before him, towering over him. His smirk turned into a crooked grin. Tears fell from Arable's eyes, it was over. He was in somewhere worse than hell itself.
"W-what are you going to do to me?" Arable sobbed.
Balteus chuckled, bending over and offering him a small white glossy wooden piece. "How well do you know how to play chess?"
Arable stared blankly, his sobbing subsided for a moment. "What's chess?" He asked trembling.
The grin on Balteus's face somehow grew even wider….
Most of the guests had regained consciousness and looked around in the remains of the house. The small army of guards got to their feet murmuring, they weren't sure what they saw. The Knight Captain stood with Gwen's assistance, he looked around for his daughter, all he knew was that she was spared from the crumbling walls by Teppun. He called out to the squad of knights, his gaze still looking around for Emily.
As he ordered them to pull the remainder of the guests out of the rubble he saw, their eyes full of confusion as if a spell had been cast upon them. After ordering the guards to dig them out he felt his senses tighten, his ability to sense aura felt like a hand curling around his neck gripping him tightly. He turned to his courtyard, this sense was deeper and more terrifying than what he sensed at the bottom of the dungeon. He looked over to Gwen who was trembling beside him, even her who hadn't trained her senses nearly as much as he did still felt it. Despite that maybe his eyes were deceiving him, but was she grinning?
They both ran out to the far edges of his courtyard, they both stopped in their tracks they couldn't believe what they were seeing. It was undeniable the figure hovering before the blacksmith was something out of the ancient textbooks. An angel, a holy messenger of the gods stood there. Yet Eggard knew that the aura wasn't coming from the deity. They both watched stunned as the angel fell, and was seemingly destroyed mere moments afterwards. As the light faded they watched Teppun walk away, Eggard caught sight of his daughter along with the princess. He snapped out of his stupor and ran to his daughter, his arms wrapped around her thankful she was safe. He was just about to ask her what happened when he smelled the scent of fresh blood.
Turning to follow his daughters gaze, he watched in horror as the blacksmith dragged the body of the prince out of the shrubbery. He could sense a faint flicker of life coming from him. His blood ran cold, would he execute the prince himself? Even if he deserved it there would be repercussions, he couldn't just stand there and let him…
"He's going to bleed out if we don't help him…" He heard Teppun say, Eggard sighed he wouldn't have to intervene…
As the rest of the guests were retrieved, luckily there were no casualties. Emily assured her father she was fine, watching Tamria run to her brother made her look over to Teppun. Even though everything she saw was so terrifying and yet passed so quickly. He looked tired, barely awake. She stepped over to him and felt a chill run down her spine. His face, upper body and his forearms were cracked severely. Yet how he pained he look he still gave her a weak smile, it was him. She was sure of it.
She stepped lightly and held his face in her hands. She didn't know what to say, she struggled to find words. She heard his voice, she was caught off guard by him apologizing to her.
"Sorry I wasn't the shield you were looking for, I did tell you it was a myth." He chuckled.
Emily's heart fell, even after all this he was still thinking about her. "Its not your fault, I think I prefer you over a shield." She sat beside him, ignoring Mairanne's look at her.
"Thank you, You saved me again…" She spoke softly, very aware of how close he was to her.
"Its not a big deal, its what I was made for. I'm just glad everyone's alright, even him…" Teppun gestured to the limp body of the prince.
Emily saw the unconcious body of the prince being cradled by the princess. Tamaria's eyes flickered to them with a mixture of awe and fear. Emily was worried she would somehow turn this on them…
Emily suddenly was blinded by a flash of silver as Marianne's dress fluttered in front of her as the sword spirit sat between them. Emily sat up and scooted aside to give her clearance, a hint of unhappiness developed in her but she kept it down.
"So, how are we going to keep this under wraps?" The sword spirit interjected leaning back on her hands,
It was the Knight Captain who answered, he cleared his throat catching all of their attention. "I'll speak to the King himself, of course the prince will bear the responsibility for this attack. Im sure this won't be made public." He turned to Teppun, pausing to look over his features. "How can I ever thank you?" He asked Teppun sincerely.
"Ill call it even if you keep our names out of everything, Im just here to help. I can't have my best customers being smited even by angels." Teppun replied chuckling standing up and offering his cracked hand. Emily watched them shake hands in agreement. As they parted her father gave him another look over.
"If you don't mind me asking. What are you?" Eggard asked in a respectful yet curious tone.
Teppun smiled weakly giving Emily a brief glance. "I am the Aegis, the shield of humanity." He gave Emliy's father a small playful bow. "At your service."
Emily's heart fluttered, it wasn't what she dreamed of as a child. Yet looking at him now, she knew deep down she wouldn't have prefered it any other way…
A week had passed, after the report had been made to the King he sent the kingdoms best masons to rebuild the broken home. He had severely punished his son, the punishment wasn't made public. Despite there being no official release most of the people knew something happened, some attack was made by the prince out of fury. Emily was grateful that her home had been rebuilt, she had visited Teppun three times. She found that his smithy was closed, yet when she knocked he was there to open the door.
Over the last week Teppun had been using the remainder of his mithril to repair his outer skin. She watched in grotesque fascination when he removed one of his jaw panels and replaced it with a new one. The glowing blue metal shifted to match his tanned skin color. She visited him once with Tabitha, Emily laughed when she fainted seeing Teppun reforging his arm's outer plates. They left later that afternoon after Tabitha scolded he for her cruel joke and Teppun promised to give her a spell casting lesson later to calm her down. They both left the smithy giggling unaware that they had been followed…
Teppun stood up from the forge. His hands inserted the last piece of his repaired chest chassis. The metal was still red hot as his bare hands pressed into place and then using his fingers smoothed out the edges to make it meld with the surrounding metal. After it cooled he put his shirt back on and stepped into the kitchen, he heard a knock on his smithy door and assumed it was Emily coming back because she forgot something.
"Come in!" He called out.
Teppun heard the door open with the door bell jingling. He heard a gasp from a female voice he didn't recognize. Turning around the kitchen wall he looked and saw a brief wisp of black hair. He walked through his sitting room and turned the corner and saw a young woman with black hair staring at the silver blade that hung in its sheath from the peg on the wall.
"It really is you… They Holy Sword!" She said reaching out to touch the hilt with her fingertips.
"Don't you dare touch me! Decendant of the Hero!" Marianne growled.
Teppun's eyes widened as the girl reacted to Mairanne's voice. He watched at she pulled her hand back and apologized profusely, behind her Teppun cleared his throat catching her off guard. When she turned, he recognized her as the woman clutching the prince a week ago. Emily had told her that she was the princess of country, Princess Tamaria.
She looked at him with awe, she stepped forward taking in all his features. Teppun felt uncomfortable under her analytical gaze. She reached out a hand offering it to him.
"I-I'm the c-current princess, T-tamaria." She said stuttering, her arm trembling. "Your Teppun, the true Hero. I've seen you in my dreams…"
The wind whipped the tent canvas around, the rain creating a constant pattering against the material. Inside there were several muttering individuals in a deep prayer. The sheltered around a crackling fire, the flickering light cascaded all around them making their white fur glimmer in the light. Twelve of the demi-human white wolf tribe sat cross-legged in a circle, their features were mixed between those of canine like ears and tails and human-like body features. Their hair and clothes were decorated with tribal beads and tassels. At the head of the circle was a the chieftain.
She was nearly a head taller than the rest of the others, her white hair was braided and a decorated with golden beads and chains. Her clothes were white and flowing around her despite no wind in the tent. She was barefoot under her robes, and nestled in her lap was a silver orb.
As they all finished their prayer the other tribe members bowed thanking her for her guidance. They all made their way out of the tent one by one into the tribes camp grounds. She bad them all farewell while holding the orb as a mother would her child. When they all left she help up the lifeless orb and gazed into its silvery reflective surface. She could see her human-like face smiling back at her. Carefully she layed down her tribes relic on a special stand made from the tribes finest fabrics. There was a chill down her spine, the scent of worry. Just as she put the relic away the canvas of her tent was moved aside as four of her tribesmen stepped in and groveled at her feet. The fifth was a woman carrying a small white wolf child. The chieftain knew this child as she had gotten afflicted with sickness after being attacked by a forest beast. It was apparent that the child's fever had grown worse…
Wordlessly she stepped forward and placed a hand on the child's torso. A golden light brightened at her palm and she could see the pained look of the child fading. Just when things were looking for the better there was a flicker of dark violet light that struck her like a jolt of electricity. The chieftain pulled her hand back reflexively, her eyes met with the mother.
"My lady, she's been cursed…" The mother stifled a sob.
Silently the chieftain nodded, there was little she could do. The curses were appearing more and more. This was the fourth afflicted this year, most didn't last longer than a few days. She reached out and arm once more and poured out every ounce of healing she had. She fought back against the pain, pushing everything she had. She felt her will beginning to slip. Her eyes were clenched shut so she couldn't see the silvery light envelop them all.
She felt the curse weaken and fade away, astonished she opened her eyes to see five stunned faces looking behind her. The tents walls were washed with bright white light. She turned her head to see the silver orb had begun to glow, standing infront of it was a humanlike figure. A projection of their God, The liberator….
He stood before them, a colorless figure with blue lines down up and down his body's face and limbs. He stepped forward paying non of them any attention, his eyes focused on the child. With a smooth movement his hand he touched the forehead of the child. Dark wisps of smoke lifted from her mouth and her breathing evened out. All traces of the curse was gone, even the fever subsided. The chieftain watched as a small smile pursed their god's lips and he faded away. The white light emitted by the orb faded leaving nothing but the same firelight and shadows.
They all looked in awe, not sure whether to believe what they saw. The first one who spoke was the child, who muttered in her sleep.
"The Liberator…" She smiled to herself.
The Chieftain barreled forward grabbing the orb as if her life depended on it. She furiously held it to her chest trying to glean anything from its actions. She had been given the relic by her mother, years of passing down the relic between chieftans not once has it ever done anything. Clutching it tightly she felt her bloodlines ability of foresight kick in, her blood ran cold as a single image appeared in her mind. An angel, a holy messenger of the gods being slain by someone unmistakable as the Liberator himself. In the background of the image was the human capital, the castle was an unforgettable sight…
Tears fell from her eyes as she fell down on her knees. She clutched the orb on her hands pressing it to her face. She could hear the voices of her tribe behind her.
"Leader? What does this mean?" One of the white wolf tribesmen asked not daring to get up from his low bow.
Her voice came out softly, almost like a whimper. She turned to her people still clutching the orb.
"We are moving, our god has returned to us." She stood trembling. "He will need our aide in the coming battle, we all owe him our lives…."
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