Chapter Eight:
Sword and Wielder

The six friends inconspicuously blended back into Anegon, but that didn't stop Reno. He had killed a dozen while they were gone, and his attacks continued. They were never predictable, and Reno left no trace of himself, although they all knew whom the executioner was.

All six had become 'friendlier to their weapons' like Altoda had advised them to, and they were waiting for the next sign of Reno.

But Reno was mysteriously quiet for a few weeks, prompting them to go look for him. Altoda had told them where to look, and so they started north in Mekae's boat. They only knew the name of where they we going, but a map had told them that it lay north of Anegon.

After a few days travel, they reached the desired landing spot. It was a large island, so they would be there a long time. Suddenly, right after they landed, they heard a noise from the bushes. Looking in that direction, they saw a short girl come out to face them. She had vivid blue hair, and eyes as brown as a mountain.

She carried only a staff, as tall as she was, and a deep, dark blue. At the moment, it was pointed at the group of Adepts.

"Who are you?" asked Casey, and immediately, he was blasted up on a pillar of water. The group roared. Richard, Allen, Mekae, and Cyrus used the fact that she was a Mercury adept against her, and Ryan tried to bury her underground.

She yelled in pain, and Ryan stopped for a moment.

"Who are you?" he asked the girl.

"Why should I tell you? You'll just go and tell him I'm here, won't you?" she answered.

"One more answer like that, and your crypt goes right here!"

In an instant, she had him frozen on the spot. What happened next was beyond anyone's train of thought at the moment.

"Well, this seems like a nice party," Reno casually remarked, dodging an ice bolt from the girl's staff. "I guess you guys can't stand the wait, can you? Are the other defenders of Anegon that hasty also?"

This time, it was a rock spire that Reno dodged. "I see someone has volunteered to fight me first. Come forward, and let us test our strength against each other!" he said, with a look of pure satisfaction.

It was Casey who stepped forward, and he wasn't carrying a weapon.

"Is this your idea of a joke?" Reno asked, laughing.

"Nope," said Casey, "a friend once told me to know every inch of my weapon. So that is what I have done!" A long sword, six feet from hilt to tip, appeared from the ground in front of him.

"Is that all you can do? If it is, you aren't as familiar with your weapons as you should be," Reno said, laughing.

Casey then did something he had never done before. Angrily, he lased out at Reno, catching him off-guard. Reno's attempt at a parry missed, and Casey's blade cut into his leg.

Surprised by his own boldness, Casey struck again. This time, however, Reno blocked it.

"Very impressive. Perhaps I underestimated you," remarked Reno, sounding a little surprised.

"Maybe you did…" Casey replied, striking again. Reno's blade parried his stroke with such force that his blade flew ten feet away from him.

"Then again… Maybe I didn't," Reno said, striking hard. Casey fell to the ground.

"You were doomed from the beginning however," Reno said. "None of you can win against me."

"We shall see!" said Mekae, and at the exact same time Richard yelled an unintelligible name.

A large shadow sprang out of his sword. Fifteen feet tall, and sporting a red Mark similar to Elephande's on his forehead, the shadow of Zambiandë rushed at Reno, knocking him down. Reno the disappeared before the shadow had hit him twice, however.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Allen, looking at the body of their friend.

"First," replied Richard, "We take him back," pointing at Casey. "Then, we go after Reno."

The girl had disappeared, but she wasn't on anyone's mind as they carried Casey's body back to the boat.