The Mountains Blade

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten- Swallowing Darkness

That night, Elwyn prepped for the next morning—or rather, night to her. They would be leaving at 2 a.m. for the portal. Elwyn looked at Dane stupidly, saying, "Doesn't the portal close at midnight?"
The brute had laughed at her so loudly, she could still hear the sound booming in her ears. In the end, Elwyn discovered that it was something they had told the children to keep them from trying to leave the portal.

It was also effective on foolish girls.

Elwyn tied her hair back and donned her outfit for the morning. It was an hour before she was supposed to meet them at the portal. Elwyn pulled on leather, knife-proof brown pants. She pulled on the same material of a long brown shirt and laced her ankle-high boots. She slipped in blades on the sides and wrapped a weapons belt around her waist. Elwyn stretched her shoulder a bit before tying her black cloak around herself. She pulled the hood over her head and tugged at the bracelet on her wrist. She hated the diamond thing.

Elwyn ignored the gaudy piece of jewelry and instead took the gun she had taken from the human world and strapped it into her holster. On her bed, Elwyn made way to the silver blade resting on the silk sheets. It was long and slender, radiating power. Tied to its hilt was a small note.

"This blade aided me in my battles. Now it's yours" -Mother

On the blade's hilt, the word Windbreaker was etched into its fine metal. The handle had a beautiful scene painted onto it. It was solid iron, depicting a woman with wings reaching up to the moon. Elwyn held the blade up to the moon that poured in through her balcony glass doors. It shone so brightly, Elwyn could almost hear the wind sing through its reflection.

Elwyn strapped the blade to the opposite side of her human world weapon. The blade was heavy and took some adjusting, but as she walked out of her chambers, Elwyn felt like a queen.

~

This was a bad idea, but Avelina Greywater didn't care. The princess, older sister to Elwyn Greywater, perched herself on the tree half a mile from the portal. In her honest opinion, the portal didn't look much like anything to her. Nothing but a cave smack dab in the middle of the woods, only large enough for one person to walk through at a time.

Avelina sucked on her lip and tucked her wings behind her. She prayed that the cloaking spell, one of the village witches had given her, would work. She held her breath as Opal, Dane, and Elwyn appeared at the entrance. She hadn't even seen them walking towards it. How interesting. She thought to herself.

Avelina watched her sister's cloak sway in the slight autumn breeze, her mother's blade strapped at her waist. A fiery sting of jealousy struck her. She blinked at the feeling.

She frowned as they conversed, and she couldn't hear anything. She ducked behind the tree as Elwyn curiously surveyed the trees. Did she see her? She hoped not.

As she turned, Avelina was greeted by emptiness. They had left. The heir spread her wings, adjusting the small blade she had snagged from the armory. She wondered for a short moment if she would see someone die. Would she be as angry as Elwyn seemed to be as a result?

Avelina dropped through the trees, soaring with tucked wings to the entrance. Of course, she landed with grace, and before hesitation could stop her, she walked into the murky darkness of the portal.

~

The journey began as they arrived in grey, washed-out leather on the other side of the portal, Dane and Opal.

The three warriors' cloaks swept through the wind, and Elwyn stood still, listening to the city.

Maxwell had told her it wasn't as loud as daytime. But compared to her world, with sleeping trees and magic-powered light, it was. The street lights buzzed, the night bugs seemed to scream, and the electricity seemed to course through her. It was all deafening.