BowSong: The Diary of the Star Archer part 10
Shiranai scowled at Rubeus, displeasure written obviously on his face, though he
quickly recovers his calm demeanor. "Rubeus, you were ordered not to attack yet. You disobeyed me, and that disappoints me. You would have died in battle, had Rift not saved you. However, recent events have advanced the time tables some. With our latest acquisition, you cannot possibly lose the battle. Now go. I do not want to hear of another failure."
Rubeus took the artifact, a wicked looking sword, out of the hands of a nearby creature. Growling with rage, he thrust it through the creature's chest. As he wrenched it out, he was disappointed to find the creature still standing. Then, he realized why it was standing.
The creature had turned to stone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I spent most of my weekend just sitting at home, thinking. Mostly, what I thought about was how bizarre life has gotten for me. First, I become the Star Archer. Then, there's the who dead cousin come back to fight me scenario. Now, to top it all off, I have a psychopathic werewolf and a death-defying asshole out to kill me as well. If I wasn't able to swear all of this was the absolute truth, I would have had myself comitted a long, LONG time ago. Oh well, I need to be comitted anyways.
The rest of my weekend was spent doing research in the Book of the Archer. I had found a rather interesting section, written in a different handwriting than the rest of it. The section was all about various magical weapons and armors. 'Now here's something I can really get into,' I think to myself.
Flipping through, I found a page with a frightening farmiliarity to its appearance. On it, staring back at me, was a black, grinning Death's Head mask. The next couple of pages were about Rift's armor, which was very useful, as it had a great deal of facts about that armor. For one thing, it was made not out of metal, but out of black jade. The other, more disheartening fact was that it was indestructible. His armor can not be damaged by any means. Damned disheartening fact, considering one is against the person wearing this armor.
Continuing on, shudders of terror and delight overtaking me as I read more about these items of power, I found a section about a wicked blade that frightened me just to see. the next section read as such:
'The Gorgon's Blade is a particularly cruel weapon, posessed by the spirit guide of the Lunar Tribe of the Snake, this weapon is enchanted with an aura that, when it inflicts a wound, causes the blood that pours forth to burn as acid. The weapon is easily recognized, as the handle is wrapped in a snake skin, and the pommel appears as the head of a snake. The crosspiece is like the hood of a cobra, and the blade like a great fang. This weapon is presumed destroyed by the Lunar Tribe of the Wolf, but no one knows for sure. Know this, however, simply to see this blade is to fear it, and be drawn to it, like the gaze of the cobra before it strikes. Let it not strike you down, however, for to lose your life to it is to lose your body, and become as stone.'
Not a particularly friendly little toy, but at least it's been broken. I'd hate to run into that one. The next section was written much the same, but it only drew upon folklore. This was obviously a hero's blade, just from the design. It had a long blade, broad as an axe, a fairly simple hilt assembly. The pommel and craftsman's seal were the same, a glowing crescent moon, the symbol of the Moon Kingdom's royal family.
This sword, the MoonBlade, was at one time the blade of the first Lunar King, a man who commanded all the tribes of the moon, and brought them together under his rule. He forged this sword shortly before going off to battle the Dark Emporer, a rival for command of the moon. The two fought, and struck each other down.
Reading on further, I found that this legend is the basis of why a Queen is chosen to rule the land, as the queen ruled in the King's stead, and continued to lead after his death. His body and weapon were never found, as with the Dark Emporer, but they erected the grand fountain that sits in front of the castle in his honor, and crafted the topmost ornament as a likeness of his blade.
The last item that I thought was noteworthy was a necklace called the Bond of the Alliance. It, according to the book, was a gift given as the symbol of the joining by alliance. It was given to the symbol of the alliance by a princess of the sun. This necklace increased the overall power of the wearer, provided the alliance is true. It was lost, obviously, when the two kingdoms of the alliance both fell.
A day passed, awaiting an attack. That day passed, uneventfully, turning into a few days. A few days stretched and multiplied, turning into a week. One week spread to two weeks, waiting for an attack. Then, the attack came... in the middle of school.
I was sitting in my Physics class, trying not to fall asleep in the middle of the teacher's lecture about Thermal Expansion. As I had almost dozed off, Usagi, transformed, came flying into class... by means of the window. As the class bolted out of the room, I helped her to her feet, and prepared to join the fight myself.
"Who is it this time?"
"Rubeus. But be careful, he has some wicked new sword with him, too. It's been melting slash marks into things, and the cuts it leaves are not clean."
"Oh shit... I think I know the weapon he has..." I let it trail off there, as I took off running, hitting the roof of the school. Rather bizarre to hit the roof of the school, especially when one was running down the hallway not a second before. 'How the hell did I get here?' I think to myself, as I turned around, only to be greeted by a grinning black Death's head .
"Archer, be careful. His weapon is lethal. Use your height to your advantage." With that, Rift disappeared.
As I transformed, I took a running leap off the roof, getting the drop on Rubeus... literally. As I came down, I confirmed his weapon as the Gorgon's Blade.
Rubeus was sweeping a wide path of acidic bite. He pressed his attack further, beyond where I could begin to bring him on the defensive. He slammed into Usagi, sending her sprawling back. Just then, Rift appeared at the battle, with his mask removed, and a peculiar sight upon his forehead. The Dark Moon symbol appeared to be fighting for control with the Moon Kingdom's royal crest, the two moons touching at the ends, making almost a full moon upon his face.
"Rubeus! Fight fairly, or suffer the consequences..."
Rubeus stopped, and looked at Rift, a grim smile upon his face. "What's the matter, Rift? Forget where your loyalties lie? Such a pity that you've turned your tail. You'll just have to watch your sister die again, then." Rubeus laughed coldly, and lunged. Rift teleported, just barely in time.
A sickening crash echoed across the now silent battlefield. Rift was bent over backwards, protecting Usagi. The Gorgon's Blade was embedded in his chest. His breastplate, his indestructable breastplate, was spiderwebbed with cracks, some shards falling away from around the blade. Rift stood up, gripping the handle, and wrenched the blade out of his chest. The wound closed, slowly, as Rift was being turned to stone, just as slowly. The Dark Moon vanished, leaving only the Royal Moon burning brilliantly on his forehead.
Rift lunged at Rubeus with the Gorgon's Blade, stopping just short of driving the blade through his skull, as the enchantment overtook him, and he turned to stone. The sword bit into Rubeus' flesh just barely, but just enough to draw forth blood, which burned it's way down, leaving a permanent scar along the left side of his face. He began to charge an energy burst, to destroy the statue, but then thought better as an arrow streaked by, dissipating the energy along with it. He paled, and teleported away, leaving only an echoing voice behind.
"Redraw the battle lines... another pawn has left the board."
After we were sure he was gone, we turned, one by one, to Rift's statue. The Royal Moon crest was still burning just as brightly as earlier. The cracks on his breastplate were gone, the holes repaired. The Gorgon's Blade, which itself had the blade turned to stone, had a sizeable crack running the length of the blade. I ran my fingers along the blade almost like a feather's touch, tracing the crack, and the blade shattered to a million splinters.
Mitaiyoko had a puzzled look on her face, as she quietly asked, "He sacrificed himself to save Usagi. Does this make him friend or foe?"
I had no insult for her, she was right in asking. "He was a friend, at the end. unfortunately, that blade was enchanted. A bite of the Gorgon's Blade, deep enough to destroy the body, will preserve it forever... for it turns its victims to stone. No one has yet recovered..."
We all left the battlefield in a grim silence. Later, I came back to that site, and retrieved the statue of our fallen friend. I placed him in a shrine within my sanctuary, and replaced the shattered blade and hilt with a new blade, one I forged as fitting for a hero's grave. I gave him my own hero's funeral, and even the bird was speechless, save for one statement.
"Farewell, Prince MoonDrake. Someday, we will destroy that honorless bastard, and you will be avenged." Even if we would mean I'd do it, and the bird would claim credit, he was right. Rift would be avenged, I swore it.
A/N: Insert usual disclaimers here Yes, I know, I hurt Rift. I'm bad, I'm sorry. The chibi-devil Gryff told me to do it... and Rift agreed. There will be some expected and unexpected occurrences in the next chapter, but no clue when that will be up. Regardless, all those who were riding my ass about posting this chapter, I have only this to say in my defense.
Here it is, I hope you're all happy. ^_^
~Gryff
Shiranai scowled at Rubeus, displeasure written obviously on his face, though he
quickly recovers his calm demeanor. "Rubeus, you were ordered not to attack yet. You disobeyed me, and that disappoints me. You would have died in battle, had Rift not saved you. However, recent events have advanced the time tables some. With our latest acquisition, you cannot possibly lose the battle. Now go. I do not want to hear of another failure."
Rubeus took the artifact, a wicked looking sword, out of the hands of a nearby creature. Growling with rage, he thrust it through the creature's chest. As he wrenched it out, he was disappointed to find the creature still standing. Then, he realized why it was standing.
The creature had turned to stone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I spent most of my weekend just sitting at home, thinking. Mostly, what I thought about was how bizarre life has gotten for me. First, I become the Star Archer. Then, there's the who dead cousin come back to fight me scenario. Now, to top it all off, I have a psychopathic werewolf and a death-defying asshole out to kill me as well. If I wasn't able to swear all of this was the absolute truth, I would have had myself comitted a long, LONG time ago. Oh well, I need to be comitted anyways.
The rest of my weekend was spent doing research in the Book of the Archer. I had found a rather interesting section, written in a different handwriting than the rest of it. The section was all about various magical weapons and armors. 'Now here's something I can really get into,' I think to myself.
Flipping through, I found a page with a frightening farmiliarity to its appearance. On it, staring back at me, was a black, grinning Death's Head mask. The next couple of pages were about Rift's armor, which was very useful, as it had a great deal of facts about that armor. For one thing, it was made not out of metal, but out of black jade. The other, more disheartening fact was that it was indestructible. His armor can not be damaged by any means. Damned disheartening fact, considering one is against the person wearing this armor.
Continuing on, shudders of terror and delight overtaking me as I read more about these items of power, I found a section about a wicked blade that frightened me just to see. the next section read as such:
'The Gorgon's Blade is a particularly cruel weapon, posessed by the spirit guide of the Lunar Tribe of the Snake, this weapon is enchanted with an aura that, when it inflicts a wound, causes the blood that pours forth to burn as acid. The weapon is easily recognized, as the handle is wrapped in a snake skin, and the pommel appears as the head of a snake. The crosspiece is like the hood of a cobra, and the blade like a great fang. This weapon is presumed destroyed by the Lunar Tribe of the Wolf, but no one knows for sure. Know this, however, simply to see this blade is to fear it, and be drawn to it, like the gaze of the cobra before it strikes. Let it not strike you down, however, for to lose your life to it is to lose your body, and become as stone.'
Not a particularly friendly little toy, but at least it's been broken. I'd hate to run into that one. The next section was written much the same, but it only drew upon folklore. This was obviously a hero's blade, just from the design. It had a long blade, broad as an axe, a fairly simple hilt assembly. The pommel and craftsman's seal were the same, a glowing crescent moon, the symbol of the Moon Kingdom's royal family.
This sword, the MoonBlade, was at one time the blade of the first Lunar King, a man who commanded all the tribes of the moon, and brought them together under his rule. He forged this sword shortly before going off to battle the Dark Emporer, a rival for command of the moon. The two fought, and struck each other down.
Reading on further, I found that this legend is the basis of why a Queen is chosen to rule the land, as the queen ruled in the King's stead, and continued to lead after his death. His body and weapon were never found, as with the Dark Emporer, but they erected the grand fountain that sits in front of the castle in his honor, and crafted the topmost ornament as a likeness of his blade.
The last item that I thought was noteworthy was a necklace called the Bond of the Alliance. It, according to the book, was a gift given as the symbol of the joining by alliance. It was given to the symbol of the alliance by a princess of the sun. This necklace increased the overall power of the wearer, provided the alliance is true. It was lost, obviously, when the two kingdoms of the alliance both fell.
A day passed, awaiting an attack. That day passed, uneventfully, turning into a few days. A few days stretched and multiplied, turning into a week. One week spread to two weeks, waiting for an attack. Then, the attack came... in the middle of school.
I was sitting in my Physics class, trying not to fall asleep in the middle of the teacher's lecture about Thermal Expansion. As I had almost dozed off, Usagi, transformed, came flying into class... by means of the window. As the class bolted out of the room, I helped her to her feet, and prepared to join the fight myself.
"Who is it this time?"
"Rubeus. But be careful, he has some wicked new sword with him, too. It's been melting slash marks into things, and the cuts it leaves are not clean."
"Oh shit... I think I know the weapon he has..." I let it trail off there, as I took off running, hitting the roof of the school. Rather bizarre to hit the roof of the school, especially when one was running down the hallway not a second before. 'How the hell did I get here?' I think to myself, as I turned around, only to be greeted by a grinning black Death's head .
"Archer, be careful. His weapon is lethal. Use your height to your advantage." With that, Rift disappeared.
As I transformed, I took a running leap off the roof, getting the drop on Rubeus... literally. As I came down, I confirmed his weapon as the Gorgon's Blade.
Rubeus was sweeping a wide path of acidic bite. He pressed his attack further, beyond where I could begin to bring him on the defensive. He slammed into Usagi, sending her sprawling back. Just then, Rift appeared at the battle, with his mask removed, and a peculiar sight upon his forehead. The Dark Moon symbol appeared to be fighting for control with the Moon Kingdom's royal crest, the two moons touching at the ends, making almost a full moon upon his face.
"Rubeus! Fight fairly, or suffer the consequences..."
Rubeus stopped, and looked at Rift, a grim smile upon his face. "What's the matter, Rift? Forget where your loyalties lie? Such a pity that you've turned your tail. You'll just have to watch your sister die again, then." Rubeus laughed coldly, and lunged. Rift teleported, just barely in time.
A sickening crash echoed across the now silent battlefield. Rift was bent over backwards, protecting Usagi. The Gorgon's Blade was embedded in his chest. His breastplate, his indestructable breastplate, was spiderwebbed with cracks, some shards falling away from around the blade. Rift stood up, gripping the handle, and wrenched the blade out of his chest. The wound closed, slowly, as Rift was being turned to stone, just as slowly. The Dark Moon vanished, leaving only the Royal Moon burning brilliantly on his forehead.
Rift lunged at Rubeus with the Gorgon's Blade, stopping just short of driving the blade through his skull, as the enchantment overtook him, and he turned to stone. The sword bit into Rubeus' flesh just barely, but just enough to draw forth blood, which burned it's way down, leaving a permanent scar along the left side of his face. He began to charge an energy burst, to destroy the statue, but then thought better as an arrow streaked by, dissipating the energy along with it. He paled, and teleported away, leaving only an echoing voice behind.
"Redraw the battle lines... another pawn has left the board."
After we were sure he was gone, we turned, one by one, to Rift's statue. The Royal Moon crest was still burning just as brightly as earlier. The cracks on his breastplate were gone, the holes repaired. The Gorgon's Blade, which itself had the blade turned to stone, had a sizeable crack running the length of the blade. I ran my fingers along the blade almost like a feather's touch, tracing the crack, and the blade shattered to a million splinters.
Mitaiyoko had a puzzled look on her face, as she quietly asked, "He sacrificed himself to save Usagi. Does this make him friend or foe?"
I had no insult for her, she was right in asking. "He was a friend, at the end. unfortunately, that blade was enchanted. A bite of the Gorgon's Blade, deep enough to destroy the body, will preserve it forever... for it turns its victims to stone. No one has yet recovered..."
We all left the battlefield in a grim silence. Later, I came back to that site, and retrieved the statue of our fallen friend. I placed him in a shrine within my sanctuary, and replaced the shattered blade and hilt with a new blade, one I forged as fitting for a hero's grave. I gave him my own hero's funeral, and even the bird was speechless, save for one statement.
"Farewell, Prince MoonDrake. Someday, we will destroy that honorless bastard, and you will be avenged." Even if we would mean I'd do it, and the bird would claim credit, he was right. Rift would be avenged, I swore it.
A/N: Insert usual disclaimers here Yes, I know, I hurt Rift. I'm bad, I'm sorry. The chibi-devil Gryff told me to do it... and Rift agreed. There will be some expected and unexpected occurrences in the next chapter, but no clue when that will be up. Regardless, all those who were riding my ass about posting this chapter, I have only this to say in my defense.
Here it is, I hope you're all happy. ^_^
~Gryff