A Sword For Gold

Chapter 23 - White Huntress

"Here's one thing we still haven't addressed."

Maraxus spoke up, as they continued to feast on their lunch for the midday, having cooked some fish coupled with herbs and spices that Vaelia and Velenya had gathered in the jungle. Everyone looked up and turned their heads towards Maraxus as he blurted out the fact that he had something to say, evidently a topic of discussion that had been weighing on his mind for quite a long time.

"What's on your mind, Maraxus?" asked Velenya, quick to acknowledge him as she gulped down a bite of fish.

"How the hell can Cora use the Infinite Arrow?" he asked, unable to mask the look of utter confusion upon his face.

"Jealous, Maraxus?" replied Cora, smirking and winking at him as she elbowed him softly at the ribcage.

"I mean, I could understand why you, Velenya Martel, can wield the Star Sword and the Master Key," he continued, shoving aside Cora's playful elbowing, "I know just how damn powerful you are. Of course you're powerful enough to wield such things, but what makes Cora able to use the Infinite Arrow? Admittedly, she knows more sorcery than I do, but not enough that I'd believe her capable of such a feat. Even Vaelia can't use an Unwieldable."

"That's true," Vaelia agreed, as she chimed in, "What gives, sister? I'm not powerful enough to use an Unwieldable, but suddenly, Cora can use the Infinite Arrow out of nowhere?"

"I don't think it has anything to do with power," stated Velenya.

"No?" asked Vaelia.

"Not with the Infinite Arrow, at least," answered her older sister, "In the texts detailing the feats of Amaranth Walsten, the last wielder of the Infinite Arrow, it was stated that she was an insignificant archer that always provided support from the backlines as Levyria would send its soldiers to battle. That was the case... until she stumbled upon an arrow that was so queerly and yet conveniently situated in the middle of a cave that she and her platoon had taken cover in during one of their many battles against Aeyne. The first kill she made with the Infinite Arrow was when she managed to score a clean shot on a spy who had tailed their platoon to their temporary hideout, before the arrow exploded the Aeynian spy into pieces, and, simultaneously, reappearing in her fingers, showing that it was indeed no ordinary arrow. From that moment on, Amaranth Walsten was known as the White Assassin, often recognized by her long white hair as she moved through battlefields through night and day. I have seen historical documents detailing that Amaranth Walsten had a "flee-on-sight" order in the later parts of the war, to turn tail once you would see her long, white hair."

"Uh, are you not seeing this?" asked Maraxus, as he gestured towards Cora, and more specifically, her silvery, close-to-white hair that she had always sported in a high ponytail everywhere she went, every time.

"What did you say was your full name again, Cora?" asked Velenya, as she began squinting at her and more specifically, her slivery white hair and rather fair complexion.

"Cora W-White," stammered Cora, anxious, and most of all, in disbelief of what she had just found out, and, surely, what she was indeed about to find out.

Velenya pursed her lips in deep thought. "No wonder. So that's why you can wield the Infinite Arrow," she remarked in awe, "It seems that you, Cora White, are a distant descendant of Amaranth Walsten. Her blood courses strong through your veins, and it seems like you are her reincarnation. After all, the Infinite Arrow has made itself usable to you, and soon enough, you will be known as the next White Assassin."

"No offense, Velenya," replied Cora, catching her breath after having held it for a long time in anxiety, "But I don't intend on being the next White Assassin. I am not Amaranth Walsten; I am Cora White. I won't let the blood of my predecessor define my destiny; I will carve my own with my own hands and the blessing that was handed to me. After all, Velenya, I'm not an assassin. I'm a huntress, who is currently on the path of saving our world alongside others who will fight with me until the very end."