Rogue Adventures - A Tale from Neverbeen Universe

19

After their report to the Lord, they were sent on a new mission. The Lord had not been happy; and how could He be if the desired object was destroyed? But He had postponed the punishment. Sendrith was both relieved and disappointed. Disappointed, because he wanted to be punished, and relieved, because his shoulder wound throbbed with pain.

Yumír fretted very much about him, and he insisted on unnecessary breaks just so he could have a look at the wound and tend to it. Sendrith let him do as he pleased. His arm hurt; he wouldn't be able to use it much in a fight. The Young Master certainly hadn't treated him with kid gloves, and if the fight had continued, Sendrith might have died by his hands. His wound would surely leave another scar. He licked his lips, traced the scar on his collarbone with his fingers. Now he would have a souvenir from the Young Master also.

He just wished he'd had the time to go see a healer, so he would be in a better condition for the current mission. But Yumír's first aid had to be enough. There was not enough time to rest; their mission was more important, and the Lord had insisted they sallied right away. Sendrith had no idea what the Lord wanted with these artifacts but he supposed he didn't need to know. It was solely his Lord's business, and Sendrith just had to obey and satisfy His needs. He would do anything if it came to that. Because a pleased Lord was a Lord who granted you things and who rewarded you. Not that Sendrith didn't like the punishments either, but for Yumír's sake they better complete their task soon.

Besides, if they hurried they might meet the Young Master again. And Sendrith would like to spear dance once again, get his revenge or at least a second taste of his skills. Something told him this time the Young Master would fight him seriously, which Sendrith did not often have the pleasure to experience. His heart beat like a drum at the prospect. A proper fight would be awesome.

But Sendrith's wound would impair his fighting skills; he wouldn't be able to return the gesture and face his opponent at his best. Yet he would battle as viciously as he could.

"Come on, let's hurry up," he grinned; anticipation lighting his silver eyes. Yumír nodded obediently, redressed Sendrith's wound and packed up their things. Then they continued their way to the coordinates mentioned in the file. With regards to the file, the Lord had been kind enough to include a lot of details about the artifact called the Amethyst Shard of Gislin. Sendrith now knew the diameter and height of this cylindric gem, he knew the runed pattern engraved on it, and he knew who had wielded it before and where it supposedly was kept now. Sendrith still had no clue what this artifact did, there were no information on what its powers were, but at least it was mentioned, that there were other artifacts with similar purpose or power — among them the Ruby Shard of Celia, which got destroyed.

That the Lord insisted on attaining the remaining artifacts showed that there was more to it than met the eye. Sendrith had still no idea what that was, but he would retrieve that Amethyst Shard of Gislin, and every other artifact for that matter, if it pleased his Lord. Maybe it would enhance His powers even further, maybe He wanted to use their combined powers to do whatever they were supposed to do. It was not Sendrith's business; he was only the right man to get the job done and fetch these artifacts — he would prove it to the Lord that he was a reliable and good choice, and he would show Him that he would always make it up to his Lord if he messed up.

So he made Yumír transform again, climbed on his back and clicked his tongue. The beast leapt into the sky and flew into the direction mentioned in the file. In the meantime Sendrith had time to ponder his wound again. The cut had burned straight to the bone, his flesh charred black instantly, so it didn't bleed as much. It had smelled like burnt steak, and it hurt pretty much. Yumír meticulously tended to it so it wouldn't inflame. How ironic. Sendrith had technically been on fire and Yumír worried about becoming inflamed. But be that as it might, Sendrith was pretty lucky only his shoulder had been hit. If he hadn't swerved that attack he might have been dead.

The Young Master had exuded unusual killing intent, though it had been clear that his goal was the Ruby Shard of Celia. But Sendrith had been surprised that the Young Master would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. This could be interesting in case they met again.

The beast touched down at the destined location, and Sendrith slid a bit awkwardly from his back in order to favour his shoulder.

"There we go," he murmured and patted the beast's side, "You may change back now." He observed Yumír's struggle through the transformation and briefly wondered how much time the young shadow devil had left before he lost his mind. He wouldn't be very useful to Sendrith anymore then. One last time Yumír insisted on taking care of the wound, then they set about to explore the place and find the artifact.

When during their explorations they came across something interesting, Sendrith exclaimed with wicked delight,"Oh, look! What do we have here?"