The Kiros Chronicles: Into Shadow

12: Dead Ends

Vero spent hours scrolling through books about cursed items brought from another plane of existence and ones created in his world; none of them said anything about the Soulless Vault. But he came across a very strange page about something called the Crystal Blade.
Forged in flame, earth, and powerful crystals from the catacombs of a scholar’s den, the Crystal Blade was one of the first weapons to be imbued with magic during the War of the Curses many centuries ago. The sword was said to strip its victim of their magical abilities, leaving them human (if they survived). The Blade’s creator is unknown, yet the sword itself will remain in the history of sorcery forever.
What was it that the man said about the Crystal Blade again?
Yes; find the Crystal Blade, he said. Vero closed the book, letting it float back up. He held his hand out again, waiting for another book to enter his grasp.
♤
Vero sat on the bed, frustrated and exhausted. His research had gotten him nowhere and he reached a dead end. He saw the ownerless shadow in the room, watching him.
“There isn’t any book that says anything about it.” Vero spoke, looking at the shadow. “And if it’s somewhere here in the Academy, then it’s probably locked up tighter than Fort Knox.” Vero scoffed, his head drooping slightly. The door opened, and Akaiko entered the room, pressing a bag of ice against his head.
“Best not to ask.” Akaiko grunted softly, collapsing in the chair.
“Hey, do you know anything about a place called the ‘Soulless Vault’?” Vero asked.
“I’ve heard about it, I think; why do you ask?” Akaiko wondered in reply.
“Just curious.”
“I’m pretty sure that it’s the only place where all those cursed artifacts are. Other than that, I don’t know that much. The books here don’t say a lot about it.”
Is there nothing about the Vault here? Vero wondered to himself.
The door opened again. Khana peeked into the room, her eyes scanning the room then landing on Vero.
“C’mon, Vero; you have some training to do.” She left the room, with Vero soon following after her.
♤
Khana punched Vero as hard as she could. The boy staggered back, blue flames igniting and engulfing his hands. There was no heat to them, but they looked dangerous. Khana took her spear, thrusting it towards Vero.
Catching the spear’s blade with his hands, Vero pushed it aside, closing the distance between Khana and himself and throwing a punch at her.
The flames bled up Vero’s arms, engulfing his forearms in a beautiful blue flame. Ice formed around Khana’s fists as she grabbed Vero by his wrists, extinguishing the flames and spreading a cold unease through his body. Vero kicked Khana away, shaking off her freezing touch and clenching his fists.
“Good work breaking away like that.” Khana commented, clutching her spear and setting it against the wall. “But you might want some work with a physical weapon.” She walked over to the wall, taking two longswords from the rack and giving one to Vero.
Looking at the sword, Vero could tell it was meant for training beginner swordsmen or women; the edges were brought inward and thickened, keeping the blade’s weight somewhat similar to a true longsword while making sure nobody was truly hurt during training.
Vero gripped the sword with two hands, holding it close to him like a katana and with a grip to wield a hammer, not a sword. Khana’s pose with the sword seemed much more relaxed; she held the sword with both hands and let the blade droop towards the ground. Her grip on the sword resembled someone holding a thrusting weapon like a rapier.
Vero closed the distance between him and Khana, swinging the sword and relying on his force alone.
Ping! Before Vero knew it, Khana had swiftly brought her sword up, parrying Vero’s wild attack and returning it with a swift cut to the neck. She stopped her blade before it touched Vero’s body.
“First lesson of sword fighting; don’t do what the movies do.” Vero stepped back, loosening his grip of the sword a bit. “These things are a lot lighter than what the movies say.” Vero held his sword much like how Khana held hers; his grip loosened and he held the longsword much like a fencing sword, except he held it with both hands. “Let’s switch the roles; I’ll attack and you’ll try defending yourself.”