The Rise of Lancaster
Chapter 1: The Modern Swordsman
Disclaimer: I do not own The Sacred Blacksmith or any of the characters involve except Lancaster, and custom Demon Swords
In a small country town in the middle of the modern day USA, a local church had its lights dimmed and a young man could be seen sweeping the porches in front of the entrances. He wore a simple navy blue, long sleeved coat that came down to his knees, a pair of black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a simple black shirt covered the rest of his body. His ebony hair was short and spiked, and his emerald eyes had a look of intelligence that was lacking in most other children his age. He looked to be around sixteen and his pale skin gave away the fact he didn't get out much. This is Lancaster, the son of the local church priest and scholar of ancient civilizations and their downfalls.
He continued sweeping the porch, not noticing a figure that was approaching the church. It wore a long, dark cloak that obscured its features and made it hard to discern who it was. When they were a street away the stranger threw their hood back to reveal a woman with long brown hair. Her light green eyes were weary with travel and her skin was shallow from hunger. She continued walking toward Lancaster when he finally noticed her.
"I'm sorry!" He called to her, "Service is over for the week, you'll have to come back next Sunday."
She didn't reply but kept coming toward him. Not hearing him, she walked up to him so they were almost touching and feinted.
"Hey! Are you alright?" Lancaster dropped to his knees and let the broom go, he picked up the woman and examined her, seeing her condition he rushed her inside and laid her on one of the benches nearby. He rushed to the kitchen and grabbed some food; on the way there he dialed 911 on his cell phone.
"Hello, 911 emergency services, what is your emergency?" A woman's voice replied.
"Lydia, this is Lancaster, there was a woman who came to the church and fainted, she looks like she's got a case of starvation and hasn't slept in a while, can you send a doctor over?"
"Sure Lan, I'll send over the doc. He'll be there in ten minutes,"
"Thank you Lydia," Lancaster hit the 'end' button and the call disconnected. He slowed as he entered the anteroom and saw the woman sitting up on the bench.
"Well, you recover quickly," He said as he approached her.
"Where am I?" She asked looking around.
"You're in the local church of New Solace," Lancaster replied as he set the plate of food out in front of her.
Her eyes widened and a glitter of light seemed to come into them as she dug into the food, forgoing any lady-like manners that should have been exhibited. Lancaster waited against the opposite wall and watched her down the plate and ask for more, pretty soon he was darting back and forth from the kitchen to the woman, carrying a dirty plate to, and a full plate from. When she finally stopped he knew he had a mountain of dishes to deal with later, and made a mental note to go shopping and replenish his food supply.
"So, what's your name?" Lancaster asked her.
"I'm Aria," She replied with a smile, she stood up and put her hands in front of her hips and bowed, "Thank you for the food,"
"No problem," Lancaster closed his eyes and grinned at her, showing he didn't mind at all.
The doors of the church opened and the doctor came in, he looked at Lancaster and nodded, then turned his attention to Aria.
"You must be the stranger who feinted," The doctor said, he opened his bag and took out a few instruments.
"You lay down on that bench there, and Lancaster you leave and make sure you don't peek in until I tell you to. Understand?"
Lancaster nodded and pushed off the wall with his foot, leaving the anteroom and returning to the kitchen where he set to work on the dishes. Within twenty minutes he had the dishwasher running a full load and was still hand washing what most would consider a hill of plates and bowls. The Doctor entered at that moment and caught his attention.
"How is she Doctor?"
"She'll be fine, you seem to have good reflexes with bringing her that much food and her metabolism is amazing. She ate all that and still seemed hungry," The Doctor answered, "Just keep her on bed rest for a few days and make sure she gets plenty of sunlight,"
"Thanks Doc," Lancaster nodded. He went to shake the Doctor's hand when he realized it was covered in soapy water, quickly reaching for a towel the Doctor held up his free hand.
"No no, it's alright, I'll just put this one on the house, for an old friend,"
"Thank you Doctor," Lancaster replied as he dried his hands.
He nodded and left the kitchen, heading out of the church and to his van. He got inside and turned the key, driving off to town.
Lancaster put the towel down and returned to the anteroom where he found Aria up and about, looking at all the different portraits and pictures depicting people who attended the church and the places they'd been to.
Lancaster cleared his throat and Aria looked at him with a smile.
"The doctor said you're going to be fine, all you need is a little bed rest and some sunlight to set you right. You're welcome to stay here until you're well again," Lancaster said.
She nodded, "That's very sweet of you Lancaster, I accept your offer," Aria replied.
He led her to a room in the back of the church where a small stream of sunlight entered through a window located over the bed, he gave her the key to the room and said she was welcome to come and go as much as she pleased, town was only a ten minute walk away and when she was ready to leave for good he requested she please leave her key in the church office.
After Lancaster left Aria shirked off her cloak revealing her large breasts which were held in place by a green top, and a green half skirt that came down from her waist to the back of her knees, a small, dark green pair of shorts was under the skirt. She stretched her arms showing off a pair of light green arm warmers that were semi-transparent.
She flopped down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. An image of a red haired girl wearing a suit of medieval armor appeared before her eyes. The girl smiled, closing her eyes and giving Aria a thumbs up. Aria's eyes watered up as the girl faded from view.
A knock on the door brought her back into the present.
"Who is it?" She called, wiping the tears away.
"It's Lancaster. I thought I heard you crying, is everything ok?"
Aria was silent for a minute, "It's fine, thank you for your concern,"
"Can I come in?"
"Go ahead,"
Lancaster opened the door and walked in, shutting it behind him he sat down at a small table that was in the middle of the room.
"I'm curious… I wanted to know some things about you Aria. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want, but I'd appreciate if you'd be willing to share some information,"
Aria looked at the sheets of the bed and sat quietly for a while, Lancaster continued to stare at her, waiting for her reply.
"Well, to start; I'm on the run," Aria said.
"From who?"
"An evil organization that wants my power,"
"Power?"
Aria nodded, "Yes, I'm a lot older than I look, I've lived through hundreds of years and I still look the same, do you know why that is?"
Lancaster shook his head, a half dozen reasons came to him: The fabled Fountain of Youth, some evil potion that worked and no one realized it, maybe even the forbidden art of… His eyes widened and he realized who he was looking at.
"You, you're the Demon Sword of Wind!"
She looked up in shock at him, "How do you know who I am?"
"The history books I've read on the ages you lived in, with Cecily Campbell,"
Her eyes widened, "I'm in history books?"
He nodded, "Extremely rare books, most of them were destroyed long ago, the only few copies that exist are well intact though,"
Aria shook her head to clear it, not understanding what Lancaster was saying.
He stood up and walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I can't imagine how hard it is, to see all your friends and family die before your eyes, and the knowledge you've accumulated about yourself since you were created, but Aria, for as long as I live this can be your home to return to, no longer will you have to wander the world."
She looked up into his face and saw the truth in it, putting her hands on his she looked down to her lap and began to weep.
"It'll be alright Aria," he said.
A ringing sound echoed through the church and Lancaster looked up at the ceiling. "Someone's at the front door, but I'm not expecting anymore company,"
Aria's eyes widened, "It's them," she said, "The group that wants me as their Demon Sword,"
Lancaster looked at her and then bolted out of the room, he seemed to appear at the front door and opened it to see a pair of men in black suits standing before him, one of them was a lot younger than his counterpart and he wore a pair of square framed black glasses.
"Hello, is this the church of New Solace?" he asked, his voice was slick and seemed used to lying to others for the convenience of his employer.
"It is," Lancaster replied, keeping his voice innocent, he shouldn't know who these two men were, but it was hard to keep himself looking calm when he had a few ideas of what they'd done.
"We're looking for a person, a woman in particular, she wears light green clothes and has long brown hair, have you seen her?" he asked.
"No," Lancaster replied after an appropriate delay.
"You're sure, she's a wanted fugitive and we've heard reports that she's in the area,"
"Are you with the FBI or something?" Lancaster asked.
"You could say that. Have you seen the woman or not?"
Lancaster shook his head, "No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen anyone matching that description,"
"Well, if you do, make sure you call emergency services. This woman is extremely dangerous and not to be approached,"
"Alright, I understand,"
The pair of men nodded before turning to leave. Lancaster shut the door behind them. He sighed as he turned around. He jumped when he found Aria standing behind him.
"Was I right?" she asked.
He nodded as he pocketed the card.
"So, you're a demon sword. Would you mind if I…" He trailed off.
"Wielded me? I wouldn't mind if you did it Lancaster, you seem to be a good kind of person,"
Aria closed her eyes and held her hands out putting her index and thumbs together on both hands.
A sudden wind swept up around her and soon it became so intense Lancaster had to cover his eyes. When the wind died he looked to see a rapier stabbed into the floor. The guard had an intricate bar that curled around the handle to further protect the wielder's hand. Lancaster picked up the sword and found it was a perfect fit for his hand. He lifted it out of the ground, it was lighter than he expected it and almost stabbed it into the ceiling when it came out. He brought the blade back down and aimed the point out in front of him. The wind around him came alive and shot forward like a spear that drilled into the wall before dissipating, it didn't leave a mark.
Lancaster lifted the point and looked down the blade, he could see a slight green tint in the blade and he set it down point first and Aria soon re-appeared in the sword's place.
"That was impressive, you've wielded a sword before?" Aria asked.
Lancaster shook his head, "I've read about them, and my body seemed to know what to do," Lancaster replied.
"That's what was called a natural back in Cecily's day," Aria said with a smile.
"A natural huh? It seems a natural swordsman in the modern day,"
"A modern swordsman?" Aria offered.
"Yes, that sounds right," He said.
"What's your plan now?" Aria asked.
"You said that those guys were after you because of your power? They're probably after the other demon swords. I think my plan now is to try and track them down and bring them back here so they can be safe,"
"That sounds like a good plan, but how?" Aria asked.
Lancaster thought of this before an idea struck him, "Aria, I'm gonna need your help,"