Soulbonder

Chapter 26 - Bridgefort

That night, the Soulbonders and Stargazers supped, with the garrison, on a hearty stew served alongside grainy crusts of bread, spread thick with fatty melting butter. Shale gathered, from the talk of the guardsmen, that Naverun was only a quarter day's ride away from Bridgefort. It seemed crazy to think their journey was almost at an end.

After supper, Karlar and Tershar were given lodging in a private sky chamber, as was befitting to their stations. Daziran was invited to the General's quarters, to go over travel arrangements for the morrow.

Meanwhile the rest of them were placed in a guest chamber, situated in the tower to the west of the main barracks. When inside the small circular room, Shale sat upon a pallet of straw, claiming it as her own. It wasn't her first choice of bedding, but after so many weary weeks on the road, it was a welcome comfort just to have a ceiling.

The only two who she'd lost track of were Ezil and Bandor. The Orian siblings had temporarily gone missing.

When they did arrive into the guest chamber, their arms were laden with weapons. The weapons were striking and odd. They were not the silver of steel or iron, but rather, much like the skin of the native Kalavosi, they were coloured either as black as onyx or as white as summer clouds.

"Where did you two go?" Shale asked.

"To the armoury," Ezil said, as if it was obvious.

Bandor lay his bundle gently upon the bed, next to Ezil's. Both had been lain delicately, as if made of the finest pottery.

"What are they?" Shale asked.

"Magizyra weapons," Ezil said offhandedly.

Shale's eyes widened. Magizyra weapons? What in the name of Bragan? In all her studies, she had never heard of the Magizyra weapons being like this.

Among the selection were daggers, swords, arrows, and bows.

"Well where did they come from?"

"Urvark, originally. The Navish used to search it for rumoured stores of hidden treasure. Not to mention the Stargazer Order would reward anyone a small fortune for locating Magizyra texts."

"I can imagine," Shale said.

"But all they ever found in the Damned City were full Magizyra armouries. After a while, they gave up their search for any real treasures, but they still have mountains of the weapons."

Bandor carefully plucked up three arrows. Both the arrowheads and the bodies were an oily white, making them appear like chicken bones, an image that was reinforced by the fact that they had no fletchings. He deposited them into a quiver and handed them, along with a black Magizyra bow, over to Shale.

She took them, amazed by the milky smoothness of the materials, then slung them over her shoulders. They made her feel like a magical warrior from one of the old tales.

Next, Ezil handed her one of the black swords. The blade itself was crooked and shaped vaguely like a lightning bolt, while the hilt was smooth and had grooves to fit her fingers.

"Are we allowed to take these?" she asked, twirling the blade. It was half as light as her steel sword. "Aren't they valuable?"

Bandor shook his head.

"Like I said, there are mountains of these things between here and Urvark," Ezil said. "Karlar once told me for every person in Starstone, there are three unique Magizyra weapons in the Areathellum vaults."

"Really? I thought they'd be rare."

"They're rare in the respect that they're only found in certain parts of the realm, but beyond novelty, there's no intrinsic value to them. As of yet, they've yielded no scholarly results and can't even be used as weapons. Feel the edge of your sword."