Chapter 17

I do not own Claymore

Stepping outside the house, Sheila saw that Chronos had indeed set up some logs for her.

He grinned at her and said, "Well, good morning sleepyhead! I've gathered some logs for you, I don't know just what you 're going to do with your sword.

"So this ought to be interesting, using a claymore to cut wood instead of yomas!"

Sheila unlimbered her massive sword and asked, "How long do you want the boards to be?"

He smiled and replied, "I've made some marks where I want the cuts made."

Sheila nodded and lined herself up with the first mark, raising her sword high, she paused a few moments to focus on her cut, then with a ringing, "Hyah!" she chopped the log off precisely on his mark; her heavy blade shearing through the log easily.

Stepping to the next mark, Sheila repeated her performance and soon had chopped the logs into the lengths desired by Chronos.

They stood the logs on end and one by one, Sheila split the logs into neatly sliced boards for his use.

Chronos grinned at her and said, "I don't think the organization would approve of this abuse of their equipment!"

Sheila grinned back and replied, "Chopping wood with this is the least of my crimes, according to them!"

Gathering outside the ramshackle house, they exchanged hugs and "Thank yous!" with their hosts and set out towards Riful's old home to investigate the strange find Riful had mentioned.

Jogging along for a couple of days, they covered the distance fairly quickly and soon they stood outside a tumbled down pile of cut stone.

Riful stood for a few moments quietly gazing at the ruinous pile, her expressionless pretty face a mask to hide her inner emotions.

Teresa said quietly, "I walked by here a couple of times during my career and never thought to investigate my hid yourself very well indeed."

Riful snorted and said bitterly, "I didn't hide that well, Clare found me out and brought another one with her. A tall one who was quite the beauty and could really manipulate youki."

Cynthia said quietly, "I'm not sensing anything in these ruins, are you sure these are the right ones?" Riful frowned and said testily, "I ought to know where I lived for over a century, this is the place alright. The thing I found should be deep inside the dungeon."

Teresa rubbed her hands together and said, "We may as well look around inside since we came this far."

The five of them spent the rest of the day clambering over the jumbled stones and peering into the darkness.

Riful being the smallest, wormed her way into the ruins and disappeared into the darkness.

An hour or so later, she reemerged into daylight, brushed herself off and grumbled, "It's gone! I looked where I had last put it and it was gone. It looks like someone dug a hole through the walls and carried it away."

Clare looked thoughtful and she said, "Another tunnel perhaps? Dauf had made so many, this place was like a maze, I just don't see where they could've come out of the ruins though."

"Could they have filled it back in, to hide the fact that they took it?" asked Cynthia.

Sheila remarked sourly, "I wouldn't put anything past the organization."

Teresa mused, "What would they want to do with it?"

Clare remarked, "They revived you, didn't they? What's to prevent them from fooling around with this thing Riful's described? Lord Dae was a master at working with flesh."

"But I killed him, I cut his head off!" Cried Sheila in dismay, "He's dead!"

Teresa said reflectively, "I was dead too, remember? The method they used to revive me could possibly work on someone like Dae, his was a much fresher corpse."

Cynthia blurted out, "We need to get back to Rabona as soon as possible! If someone like me can heal a badly wounded abyssal, think what someone like me could do for Lord Dae?

"You may have beheaded him, but his corpse wasn't destroyed beyond repair, was it?"

Teresa muttered, "He had some assistants who were pretty good at stitching flesh together, if they immediately dunked him in a nutrient tank or something, it would have given them time to fix a few of his infirmities and he could be stronger than ever."

Sheila looked frantically at Teresa and asked, "Would they go as far as putting yoma flesh in him?"

Teresa could only shrug in reply.

Riful grinned evilly and remarked coldly, "Whatever they do to him, won't help him one bit when I get ahold of him, I've had over a century to think up ways of getting even with him!"

She looked at the others and said grimly, "I suffered at his hands too."

Sheila commented, "I wonder how old the leaders of the organization could be? Riful here says she met him and she's how old?"

Riful bristled a bit and said testily, "Let's not be discussing anyone's age here!"

Clare mused, "When I met Quicksword Ilena again, she didn't look any older than she did when I first met her as a child. Aging doesn't seem to affect us."

Teresa said quietly, "None of us ever die of old age, falling in battle is our fate."

"Or awakening!" added Riful.

"Yes, there is awakening, but let's not rush into that option!" remarked Teresa cooly.

"Clearly, the organization heads have all had surgeries performed on them as well. How else can we explain Riful here having met Lord Dae or Rimuto?" commented Cynthia.

"I never thought to ask Dauf if he remembered Lord Dae from when he was a warrior. Frankly, it never crossed my mind. I was too busy trying to survive!" declared Riful.

Teresa sighed and remarked, "When we get back to Rabona, we'll bring this up with Miria. From things she's hinted at, there is an awful lot of things she hasn't said about the organization."

"I'd like to meet this Miria I've heard so much about. She must be quite the commander if she has a former number one taking orders from her!" Quipped Riful with a grin.

Teresa just laughed and replied, "I could've pulled rank on her, she did bring it up, but I was never interested in leading warriors. I had always worked alone, I didn't need to be teamed up with anyone. You were a number one Riful, you know what I mean."

Riful shrugged and replied, "I met Dauf when we were still warriors, so I pretty much teamed up with him early on. He awakened first and I awakened not long afterwards, It was pretty crazy at first. Me, being torn between remaining loyal to the organization and staying with my man.

"In the end, I awakened too and he was there for me while I dealt with such a transformation."

Cynthia was smiling wistfully at Riful until she finally said testily, "What?!"

Cynthia grinned at her and said happily, "What a love story! You and Dauf meeting like that and being together for so long!"

Riful just rolled her brown eyes and commented drily, "Just what I need, a romantic warrior!"

Clare said in Cynthia's defense, "We need somebody to be the compassionate one, the one with a healer's heart. Cynthia is one of the best healers I've ever seen"

Riful commented in agreement, "She is pretty good, I'll give her that much."

Sheila was looking around at the lengthening shadows and she began gathering dry wood, pine cones and needles.

Teresa also looked around and said, "I guess we'll camp out here tonight and start back in the morning. No sense stumbling around in the dark."

Soon there was a cheery fire burning merrily in a circle of stones and the five of them huddled close to the fire.

While they could adjust their body temperatures to the weather, it still felt nice to sit near a warm fire.

Teresa remarked idly to Riful, "I'm sensing one of your slaves sneaking around out there, do you think he might know anything?"

Riful suddenly stood up and darted off into the darkness, as the warriors reached for their weapons they heard Riful shout, "GOTCHA! What are you doing sneaking around here?"

There was sounds of a brief struggle and soon Riful came back into the firelight, dragging a very reluctant yoma by his ear.

He saw the warriors sitting around the campfire and redoubled his efforts at breaking free, "Let me go Lady Riful! Have mercy, please don't kill me, don't let them kill me, pleeease!" he pleaded uselessly.

Riful only pinched his ear all the harder and he writhed in her iron grip.

The warriors sat in bemusement at the wretched yoma's struggles, they actually felt pity for this poor wretch in Riful's clutches.

She dragged him closer to the fire and his eyes were now bulging out of their sockets at the sight of the warriors with their huge claymores nearby.

By now, he was gibbering in his fear and babbling incoherently.

Riful cuffed him a couple of times and said harshly, "Be quiet! We have a few questions for you, answer them truthfully and we may let you live, lie to me and I will make your death an unpleasant one."

She let go of the yoma's mangled ear and stood glaring down at him while he gathered his remaining wits.

Holding on to his wounded ear, his eyes furtively darting from her, to the warriors who sat in judgement and back again, he asked timidly, "What is it you want to know, my Lady?"

"Who dug into my castle and took something? A big something, did you see anything?" Riful demanded.

The yoma looked confused for a few moments until Riful extended a lock of her chestnut hair into a blade and laid it alongside his throat, a thin, purplish line of yoma blood oozing from the razor thin cut.

"I repeat, did you see anything?" Growled Riful, the yoma quaked in his fear and he stammered, "I... it was a couple of months ago... People dressed in black with some warriors...They came and pulled away the rocks, they went inside and brought something back out."

He looked up at his mistress, Riful of the West and said, "I don't know what it was, I... it was covered up with cloth."

Riful frowned at his answer, but withdrew her blade from his throat.

She asked him, "Is there anything else?"

The yoma visibly relaxed and said, "They filled the hole back in and put the thing they took on a wagon. Then the warriors spread out and killed all of us they found except for me, I don't know why they spared me. I guess they wanted me to tell you when you returned."

He raised his arm and pointed, "They went towards the north east, if that helps."

Riful looked at the warriors and asked, "You heard him, what do you think?"

Clare shrugged and said tersely, "His story fits in with what we found. He belongs to you, I care not what you do with him."

The rest of the warriors nodded in agreement with Clare's comment.

Riful nodded and turned towards the cowering yoma groveling at her booted feet, she smiled at him and a lock of her hair flicked across his neck.

Purplish blood spurted and his eyes briefly registered surprise as his head toppled from his neck and thudded on the ground alongside his body.

She smiled prettily and remarked coyly, "I said, I may let you live, not that I would. So I made your death a quick one."

His corpse twitched for a few moments, then lay still as his heart ceased its beating.

Teresa commented drily, "I don't mean to be a critic, but couldn't you have done that a bit further away? Now we have to look at it."

Riful pouted briefly and replied, "I suppose you're right, I should've led him away first."

Sheila wordlessly stood up and bent over to pick up the carcass and head of the ex-yoma, she stalked off and flung the remains over the edge of the cliff below the shattered castle.

Sitting down again, Sheila remarked, "There! That oughtta settle it!" and resumed gazing at the cheery blaze she'd built.

Riful grinned and sat down beside her new found friend.