It was very early when Kittara returned to her home and Emperor Xeod lay sprawled across her bed and he hardly woke as she gave him a quick stroke. A quick chirrup and he tucked his face into his fur and went back to sleep. Shower or weapons ?
She walked across the hall and straight through the force wall protecting the entrance to her weapon store. It had been a while since she'd had the time to admire and fondle them and it was something she needed. Her blades were in stacks of six hovering in invisible supports, with just enough space to walk between the rows. No one was allowed here. There were no guards, no protection fields and some of these weapons could kill with the slightest scratch. She remembered her first training session in the Guard when Herusher had told her to select a weapon from the rack and like all newbie Guard she'd chosen the biggest and nastiest energy weapon.
"Tech weapons are no use to you," he'd said. "You will have spells for ranged and area effect attacks and your blade. Projectiles and beams can be blocked, but it's almost impossible to stop an enchanted blade in the hands of someone who knows how to use it".
She walked down the rows to where her Demon blade lay two down from the top of a stack. She felt the handle and ran her finger along the blade and then flicked it hard with her nail so that it rang. Then on to her Nurigen which had pride of place in its own space against the wall. Sikush had given her the Nurigen the day he'd passed his hand over the back of her left hand to leave the mark of personal loyalty to the Emperor. The blade was truly priceless and was her favourite by a long way. She picked it up and felt the slight increase in clarity it gave and the increase in aggression. The blade itself was covered in intricate etchings of angels and demons and in its centre in the old dead language of the Holy Warriors from the forbidden times.
'Aggrivas Nulonde'
Luri had taught her the old language and she knew the words meant what was now almost the motto of the Guard.
'Beyond Technology'
After putting the Nurigen back in its place she moved on to a blade three from the top in a stack at the back of the room. She picked up the blade and felt it had power, but had never worked out what the power gave to the wielder, if anything ? This was the blade reputed to be a killer of eternals, though it had no name she knew of. She ran her hand along the sharp three foot blade and it felt almost as though it was organic, had been grown in some way. Kittara had used the blade in a few battles and it tore through enemies, leaving ragged wounds that never healed. Almost as though it was trying to eat the victim rather than cut them. There was no doubt in her mind that if she plunged this into his heart while he slept then Sikush would die. There was a damp spot on the blade and she was surprised to realise it was a tear and she was crying. The last time she remembered crying was when she was a child and her mother had died. She put the blade away and headed for the shower.
