Completed What the Sword's For

[Phyrra]

Lightning zipped past her, bouncing, bounding across the stone between them. It gave her room to move, to manoeuvre.

Leaping over to the breach behind Vailë, Phyrra wheeled to face her foe, just in time to avoid the scissoring blades as they reached for her throat. Retaliating with a low kick, the she-elf riposted, her willowsteel sword singing as it clashed with the twin blades of her opponent.

The objective wasn't to win; Arkhivom had plenty more minions where this one came from. No, Phyrra sought to buy her sister time. The information they now possessed might prove vital to the war effort. And if it did not...

At least Vailë will be safe.

Momentarily distracted by the memory of her friend's smiling face, Phyrra danced backwards as a blade struck her chest, hard enough for her to feel it through the scale layers protecting her. Her answering blow rang the creature's helmet like a bell.

Then, they flew apart again, each circling the other, their hushed breathing the only sound that mattered.

'What is your name, warrior?' Phyrra asked, her mind tingling as she sensed... a bond?

 

[Rhugarol]

She stepped now, carefully and intently. She held her blades at the ready, her posture defensive for the moment. Her ears rang from the strike against her helm, but her eyes remained fixed and focus was steady. Hidden from view, her lips curled into a smile, and she relished in the conflict that these two were now locked in, testing one another.

Her back now to the collapsed corridor, Phyrra's to the breach, the question came:

'What is your name, warrior?'
​

She stopped then, straightening her posture, seemingly lowering her defenses. Then, the sheathing of one of her swords. She pulled back her hood, revealing not only the details of the helmet that covered her features. Then, she reached for the helm, and pulled it away from her face.

"I am called Rhugarol," she said as her hand fell to her side, her features revealed.

The mask clanged against the stone floor beneath her. Her skin was dark and grey, and her face was a mixture of beauty and grotesquery. She bore fine, elven-like features across her eyes, nose and cheeks, and clarity in her complexion, but this was paired with a strange cranial structure, and fanged mandibles over what appeared to resemble elven lips.

"But, you would perhaps remember Shianda."

Shianda - Shield of the Order. Her presence had been missing from the Shoraes since the War of the Eventide, and she'd not been seen for over 130 years. She'd been presumed dead, like so many others.

---

Phyrra ​

 

[Phyrra]

Phyrra lowered her guard. Shianda! Over a century had passed since she had been listed as missing in action, and yet here she was, alive, if not well. Phyrra remembered her voice, the way it sounded when she sang of an eve. 'What did they do to you?' Phyrra asked, clearly upset by the revelation.

She could feel Vailë's concern echo through the bond. Phyrra did her best to reassure her.

Meeting the Fallen's eyes, the she-elf started retreating up the breach behind her. She had to go slow, so as to avoid stumbling on the loose scree. Her blade came up, ready to strike if the need arised. 'I am sorry I could not save you, all those years ago.' They had been on opposite ends of the battle line, she and Phyrra. The day Shianda had gone missing was one of the bloodiest days in Shorai history.

Oh, how she had mourned the loss of so many kin.

The ache was still there, buried deep. 'I miss the life we shared in Aeraesar, before The War. Perhaps a part of you does, too?' Flourishing her blade in salute, Phyrra turned to leave, knowing in her heart of hearts that this would not be the last time they met.

'Goodbye, Rhugarol. Shianda.'

Phyrra hesitated a moment, then she was gone.

Vailë (or Rhugarol if you're feeling spicy! )

 

[Vailë]

Inside, Rhugarol watched as Phyrra made her way up the debris toward the breach. She remained still, making no move to encroach on the retreating Aerai. Nor did she reply. She made no movements until Phyrra vanished out of sight, when she then knelt down and reclaimed the helm she'd dropped.

Setting it once again over her face, she whispered, "farewell, Phyrra."

---

Outside, Vailë awaited, perched safely amid the ruins of a nearby turret structure. Once Phyrra emerged from the temple, she leapt down and joined with her, and the pair dashed away down the street with an urgent haste.

* * *
​

Well beyond the walls of Aera Eäron, there was finally a feeling of reprieve, even out in the dead forests of Aeraesar. There on the road, they slowed to a walk. They hadn't been followed, but still they'd remain alert - there was no knowing when the more feral of Arkhivom's monsters would find themselves to you in these lands. After a few moments of collecting themselves, Vailë spoke.

"Phyrra," she said as they walked, her tone hushed and solemn, "what was that thing?"
She could tell that her sister had become deeply troubled, so much so that Vailë could not hear clearly what her thoughts had to convey.

---

Phyrra ​

 

[Phyrra]

With Aera Eäron behind them, the two Aerai warriors made their way deep into the dark forests of Aeraesar. It was difficult to feel safe, even here, amongst the trees and still-flowing brooks. More than once, Phyrra found herself stopping, certain she had seen or heard something move in the brush around them.

When Vailë spoke, it was as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

'It was...' Searching for the right words in her mind, Phyrra turned to regard her friend and comrade, a worried look on her face. 'It was one of the Fallen. No. Worse than that. It was-... it was...' The Third Blade fought the rising fear in her heart.

Memories came flooding back to her. Of Shianda. How they had trained together, fought together, forged a bond as strong as darksteel. A bond not unlike the one she shared with Vailë, the she-elf realised, her expression softening.

Instead of speaking, Phyrra opened her mind to her battle-sister.

'Please,' she said, 'it will be easier for me to show you.'

Vailë

 

[Vailë]

'Please,' she said, 'it will be easier for me to show you.'
​

---

It was certainly much easier for her to impart her thoughts than to go through the process of telling her the pertinent details, but there was nothing easy about what Phyrra had to share. That... thing... it claimed to be the one both she and Vailë knew as Shianda, one of their peers and friends. Phyrra and her had been closer, but Vailë had looked up to her all the same.

Back in those days, she remembered wishing to be on either side of either of those two. It felt so much more bittersweet now to be in that exact place, having now reopened and even deepened the old wound of loss.

She hadn't noticed her own hand coming up to cover her mouth as her jaw had dropped with the creature's claim.

Impossible, was her only thought, but in her heart she felt a tug. Something didn't feel right.

"We... should inform the council..."

There was little else they could do, but this was news the feared would not come at an opportune time. Though Phyrra had fought with this Rhugarol, there was little time to really understand the legitimacy of its claim, and more importantly its overall threat. The call for aid had just gone out, and following their mission, Phyrra and Vailë were set to rendezvous with those gathered at the Blackwood Bastion in the ruins near Qárele, the long abandoned northern fortress.

But at least they knew that there was something new for them to expect when the greater conflict finally began.

---

Phyrra ​

 

[Phyrra]

Nodding, Phyrra remained silent as they wound their way through the deep woods. Though there was a chance Rhugarol had been lying, there was still every chance she hadn't been. But then could the word of one of Arkhivom's minions really be trusted, and if so, what did that mean for the future of the conflict they found themselves a part of?

Setting her doubts aside, the Third Blade picked up the pace, each step as swift and silent as the next. There was no real call for urgency, but the exercise helped focus her mind.

Crossing a clearing of ferns, Phyrra turned to watch Vailë as she crossed behind her.

'You did well back there,' she spoke, her gentle voice driving back the shadows, and startling something hiding amongst the undergrowth. 'Our Order is lucky to have you, as am I.'

Vailë

 

[Vailë]

As she came near to Phyrra, she lifted her eyes to meet hers with a proud, though subtle smile.

"Thank you sister," she said, resting her hand on Phyrra's shoulder, "I have been blessed by the guidance of those far greater than I," she continued, her eyes softened as she shared affection in her smile.

As he hand dropped to her side she cast a quick look around, we should continue.

And so they left from there, travelling with relative haste without sacrificing their silence, making their way to Sharyrdaes with as little delay as they could manage.

---

Phyrra ​