Dark Discoveries

When Ravyn got up, after discovering her stern side again, her eyes grew wide, one hand going to cover her mouth, the other pointing at my chest, where she had been sitting only moments before.

I looked down at what she was pointing at, the broken blade protruding only slightly from my chest. I reached up and fingered the still sharp edge of the blade. Carefully, I pinched down on the flat of the blade and gently pulled it out. “Ah don’t worry darling, it might be a little on the sticky and messy side, but I should be OK.”

There was a bit of my carmelized goop on the blade as it slid out from between my ribs. Of course, I didn’t feel any pain, so it was pretty easy to do. There was only a small spurt of ‘juice’ as the last bit of the blade came free.

I pulled the blade up to my eyes so I could take a better look at the thing, but was shocked out of my examination by another gasp from Ravyn. She was still pointing at my wound.

I looked down again. this time I shared her surprise as I watched in amazement as the skin around the edges of the wound began to bind itself back together. It wasn’t a real fast process, more like a steady knitting of fabric than flesh actually healing. I could see little tendrils of darkness reaching out from the edges of the gaping wound, finding other small probing tendrils, and then knotting themselves together in a gradual, deliberate manner that closed up the wound fully within two minutes.

“Wow, that’s a first.”

Ravyn looked up from the now very dark scar on the previously pale white flesh to my eyes. There was an intense look about her eyes as she asked, “What happened here? Tell me everything, and don’t you dare leave out any little details.”

It took more than a few minutes to relate the struggle with Ma Grendel and the fateful decision I made to take her out of action. Then I relayed the journey that we took together and the meeting with the little Spanish girl.

Both Herne and Ravyn listened carefully as I finished up with the cryptic statements of Maria and my return to my body.

Herne had moved over to where the other blade had fallen from my hand in the struggle with Ma Grendel and was a little hesitant in picking it up. He looked up from where the blade lay, asking, “So you don’t know what changes have taken place, eh? Well I think we see one significant change, your body seems to heal itself of some wounds.”

Ravyn looked from me to Herne and back to me. “Herne Clarksson, you better not pick that blade up, I don’t know if it has drawn any blood!”

I got up, feeling almost...stronger, more balanced than I could remember feeling in quite some time. I seemed to move easier and with better agility as I walked to where Herne stood. I reached down and picked the blade up before Ravyn could object.

As soon as my hand wrapped around the hilt, my Spirit was drawn through the hilt, pulled into the blade itself, where I soon found myself standing on a windswept, rocky mountain slope. Facing me at a good twenty paces was a small brown skinned boy with dark hair and an impish grin.

He waved for me to follow him and bounded from rock outcrop to rock outcrop like a mountain goat. Not seeing any viable alternative I followed after him, a bit slower and a lot clumsier, but I followed nonetheless.

He was so quick that I soon lost sight of him, but his high pitched laughter led to me where he was waiting. Soon I found myself standing outside of what appeared to be an abandoned herders hut. the boy was waiting for me right outside the darkened door. As soon as I got close enough to watch him, he disapeared inside.

I got to the door, looked at the nearly collapsing roof above, but slipped inside after him.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the gloom inside, but when they did, I found that my little guide had a companion, a girl who was maybe a year older than him, taller, but of the same brown complexion and dark hair. They were very clearly siblings.

She spoke first. “Buenos dias Senor Bones.”

My ears perked up at the accented Spanish, very similar to that of Maria, the girl who had returned me to my body just recently. “Hello. Who are you?”

She continued speaking, this time though, I either understood the language unconsciously or she had learned some English. “My name is Herlinda and this my twin brother Diego. Pardon him, but he has never spoken.”

“S’alright by me, I suppose. So what can I do for you?”

“My brother and I are the last of the spirits trapped within the weapons you call the Witchbane blades. All of our companion spirits have been release by the destruction of the other blades. Maria Guadelupe was the last one besides us. We are very happy that the others have been freed from the prisons we have shared for so long.”

“Yeah, so am I. As soon as we are done here, I can destroy the other two blades, to set two free!”

Herlinda’s eyes grew wide, while Diego grew very animated, bouncing up and down. “No, Senor Bones, this you must not do!” She seemed very adamant.

“Why the Hell not? I can’t let you remain trapped like this!”

“You must not destroy our blades yet. We have a request of you.”

“Uh, OK. What can I do?”

“When Maria Guadelupe freed you from the Other who had taken you, she discovered something very important about you and your history. Someone you have met and know very well was the one who trapped us in these blades in the first place.”

“Son of a fucking bitch, that bastard Drake!”

“We did not know the name that you know him by, but in the time we lived, he was a powerful advisor to the Archbishop who created these blades because he was obsessed with finding and torturing people like our parents, people who could work with the energies of the world around them, people he called Witches.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, that must mean that Drake, or whatever the Hell his name was then, had been around since the fucking Inquisition!

“We beg you, Senor Bones, please do not destroy our blades until you have a chance to use them against this man you call Drake. It will bring us great peace if we can use our powers to strip him of the lives he has stolen from so many to fuel his quest.”

I was stunned. These two...children...but how could I consider 500 year old Spirits to be children...wanted me to keep them trapped so that they could help destroy my own mortal enemy! Unbelieveable. “Look, I can understand the desire for revenge, God only knows how badly I want to destroy that bastard. But do you really want to remained trapped until I can track him down again? I have no idea where he is now, or how soon I will find him again.”

“But you will be looking, yes?”

“Damn straight I will.”

“Then that is enough for Diego and I. Hunt this man, this monster, and we will willingly serve you as weapons against all foes like the Others you faced with Maria Guadelupe.”

“Wow. If you are sure you want to do this, I will agree to keep the blades intact until I find and defeat Drake.”

“Then we shall serve you willingly, so long as your cause is Just.”