Clair de Lune

34. Sword & shield

I sat off to the side, watching as everyone took a shot at the different aspects of training. Lily was playing with knives while Necro took a few hits at the punching bag; Sergei and Marshall were going head to head in the center of the room in a full out wrestling match, and Murmur had to dodge them as he walked over to a dummy. I held my focus on him, wondering what he might do.

Right before my eyes I watched as a dark void opened up beneath his hand. Murmur reached within and gripped a weapon, the deepest, blackest blade being pulled from the darkness. The music notes running down his arm seemed to shift and squiggle, sending chills down my spine as I watched them. He held a bastard sword in his right hand, a green gem in the pommel glowing with demonic energy. I could feel it, the cold air in the room, followed by the whispers. They sang to me, wishing me evil things and terrifying dreams. Murmur's eyes locked with my fear-stricken ones, and I saw that his sclera were filled with black ink, his irises practically glowing.

Murmur sank the sword into a dummy, twisting it ferociously before pulling it back out. I held my hands over my mouth to keep from making any noise, almost like I was hiding and he didn't know I was there. After a few more moments to analyze him, Murmur pulled the sword out and held it up. I realized with a start that it was the blade itself that was singing to me, calling my name. The jewel in the pommel was the source of the evil energy in the air.

"The Sword of Ten Thousand Souls," Osiris walked out of the kitchen, dumping the rest of her water in her mouth before walking over to him, "I've always heard about the blade, but I never thought I'd see it."

"It's been in my possession since the late fifteenth century, when it fell out of the hand of another God." He gripped the hilt tightly, giving Osiris a menacing smile. "Would you like to touch?"

"No, thank you. I know what the blade does to those to caress it." She whispered, her fingers twitching at her side.

"What's the big deal with the hunk of steel?" Lily placed her hands on her hips and questioned the man, who gave her a small pat on the head with his free hand.

"This sword here contains the souls of the damned, those who have died and died again. They are my army, and when their strength is not here, it will always be beside me through this sword."

I stood up, looking over at Necro, then at Sergei and Marshall, before glancing back over at Murmur, "I think now may be a good time to say something I've had on my mind for a while."

"What is it?" Necro asked, turning around to pay attention to me.

"Marshall, is the only reason you have Murmur here so that Necro can raise his army against PASCI?"

The room went dead silent. Osiris and Thamyris were both staring at me like I had a second head, while Necro seemed a little shaken. Marshall though, he dropped his head in defeat and stood up, crossing his arms in front of his chest as if to make himself look more intimidating. I didn't budge.

"How'd you figure it out so fast?"

"I read Seth's file, who had the exact same symptoms as Necro," I explained, "and I read about the Akira incident. It wasn't hard to put two and two together after that."

Marshall sighed in defeat and nodded, clenching his jaw as he locked eyes with Murmur. He gripped his hilt tighter, a small spark of betrayal setting fire to his eyes.

"Easy, that doesn't mean you aren't a good asset on the team," Marshall put a hand up o calm him down, "I thought if we could get a little practice in on the zombie, he might be able to pull off what Seth did and control the spirits in the facility. It would make for a good distraction and kill off quite a few agents before they could regroup."