When Naaza first saw the writing of the spell on the thin sheet of parchment, the delicate scrolls of the name on the empty space, she laughed and hurriedly pressed her sleeve to her lips to keep from laughing. Miach smiled, running a gentle finger down Bell's back and once again hiding his status – skills and spells often reflect the essence of the person himself. Bell shifted slightly on the edge of the bed and looked over his shoulder at God and the captain, as if trying to understand the reason for the sudden lull. Naaza couldn't help but laugh and snorted softly into her fist as Miach passed the paper to Bell and sat down next to him. His eyes, usually full of gentleness and kindness, now shone happily and slyly, like water glistening in the rapid murmur of a stream.
"«Black Arrow»… I have magic! " - Bell gave a happy cry, the hawk feathers of his hair quivering. But after a moment, as if realizing something, he fell silent, clutching the treasured parchment to himself, as if trying to hide something from the whole world. His lashes quivered, and the tips of his ears and his still bare shoulders were bathed in the soft, flaming color of dawn.
"Arrow! " - began Miach, as Bell blushed more and more, - "'Black arrow! I have saved you to the last. You have never failed me and always I have recovered you. I had you from my father and he from of old. If ever you came from the forges of the true king under the Mountain, go now and speed well!" - when he finished, the god chuckled softly, stroking the white strands, - "I didn't miss anything, did I? Did Naaza and her bow remind you of the Bard the Archer? "
"Please don't tease, Lord Miach.." - Bell shrank into a ball while Miach and Naaza were still chuckling. How awkward and strange it was to suddenly find himself so deeply attached to myths, legends, and tales that they were reflected even in the blessing of God, - "This is so… Confuses. "
"There's nothing wrong with that," - Naaza finally managed to control her laughter and put a lively hand on Bell's shoulder as she helped him re-tie his outer cape, -" It actually sounds beautiful. Just like it's master. "
Bell opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped again, giving Naaza a hurt look. She understood that sometimes she went too far, but she could not help teasing the younger member of the congregation a little. Besides, she wasn't lying at all – Bell was really very nice, and his kindness and the purity of his intentions only made him look even brighter.
" Naaza is right. However, I am surprised that this is a legend of the pre-God Era – it seems that now the children of earth prefer to retell the stories of the Divine Time, " - Miach gently pulled the parchment from Bell's hands and looked again at the lines of the spell. - "Nothing else is written, just the name. And yet, a spell, and so suddenly. You didn't read the book, a grimoire, right?"
"Yes, Lord Miach," - Bell frowned down at his hand, as if trying to find the answer in the tangle of life lines in his palm, - "I took it back the very next day. It would be bad if my ignorance got our Familia into trouble. "
"I hope it will be returned to its owner. Still, be careful with that waitress, Sir, " - Naaza folded her hands under her chest, - " It's strange that she couldn't recognize the grimoire from the cover and pages. Her intentions may have been pure, but that kind of help might have hit you in the end. "
Bell sighed softly, and Naaza felt a pang of guilt – she didn't want to hurt Bell by pointing out the strange behavior of his friends, but her protective nature showed its head again. Indeed, perhaps a simple hard-working girl has never seen a grimoire, why would she suddenly think that a forgotten book is a priceless artifact.
"And yet the magic found you, as if it were just a test," - Miach said, finding a convenient moment to turn the conversation back to another direction. He stood at a shelf of books – so old that they seemed older than time itself – and opened one of them , - "Fate and will are not so easy to understand even for us, the gods. "
"The Black Arrow slew the great scarlet dragon that lived under the mountain," - Naaza remembered the legend, - " Perhaps it is a sign that a new era of Heroes is being born. A new great beast is waiting for its hero. "
Miach nodded in agreement, flipping through the pages. Taking advantage of the fact that Bell was still sitting quietly in place, Naaza took out a comb and began to arrange his disheveled locks. Her white hair flowed like soft silk under her fingers, and she allowed herself to enjoy the feeling for a moment - Bell rarely allowed her to brush his hair, though his hair grew longer and often tangled.
Miach closed the book, setting it aside. The light from the window from the street lamps briefly illuminated his silhouette with a light outline, as if reminding him of his divine nature - the "Black Arrow" came from an Era long before the Gods. Is human memory really that strong?
"Ah…" - Bell sighed softly, folding his hands in his lap, trying to banish the remnants of embarrassment and trembling delight, "It's just... when my grandfather was still alive, we lived in a village that stood at a crossroads. Many stories were brought by travelers, and we children would have given anything to listen to them from dawn to dusk. I remember the first time I heard about the deserts far to the South, trying to imagine the sea or the vast wastelands covered with coarse grass - he spoke as if lost in memory, his confusion receding like the morning mist - Or the Tower of Babel piercing the sky of shining Orario, the city of heroes. A place I longed for with all my heart.
Naaza smiled a little under her breath – Bell so rarely gave himself up to memories of his happy days that they could be counted on one hand. Still, he flourished under her and Miach's tutelage, as if care and love were all he needed. Glancing at her god, Naaza read in his eyes all the same tenderness with which he looked at them when he thought no one was watching.
"And one day a minstrel came. It seemed to be an elf, "- Bell sighed as Naaza lifted his head with her fingers and plunged the comb back into his unkempt hair, - " But it didn't look like any elf we'd ever seen before. It would have gone out of the pages of legends, and even the air around it was somehow different. I remember we thought it was an elven goddess at the time – but she just laughed when my friend asked her about it. And then she started talking and singing. "
Bell paused for a moment, as if catching his breath. A drunken crowd began to roar in the street, but soon the roar died down in the city's alleys.
"She was talking about exploits and heroes – stories like we've never heard before. She sang about the times when there were no blessings, and everyone was forced to make do only with their own strength and their own will, about creatures that do not exist. She fascinated us – and we learned her stories by heart, just so we wouldn't forget them. And when she sang, the world seemed to be crying. "
"Old World stories are my favorites," Miach said softly, so as not to disturb Bell, who had fallen so deeply into his memories.
"Grandfather sometimes said it was too sad for the children to listen, and she argued with him. «This is all that's left, don't let it be forgotten» , she would say, and grandpa would stop talking, - Bell opened his eyes and looked at Naaza, who had her arm around his shoulders, - "And then one morning she disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared. But I still remember everything, because I'm... too caught up in the legends, I guess "- he was embarrassed again, shedding his pensive aura - " And the Black Arrow confirms it. "
"So these were the right stories and words, if they were sunk so deep," - Miach sat down next to him, watching the firelight play on Naaza's brown hair and on Bell's old strands, - " Each of the spells that our children use now is a reflection of themselves. The words that are spoken once had primordial power if they were spoken in the language of the earth. Now the magic is a little different, but it is still with us and in you – and remembers much more, " - Miach smiled, - " Arcanum of the gods is not like the magic of mortals. This is probably why we can never predict what our children will get. "
For a short time, the three of them were silent, as if they were keeping each other's revelations in blissful silence. Naaza was pulling Bell's hair into a low ponytail just like their God's – and Miach was enjoying the sight of his children, as if gathering his thoughts. Finally, Bell, slightly dazed by the scrutiny, looked at his family members questioningly, waiting for them to ask more questions-Miach smiled and asked the question, glancing at the still-nameless blade, now resting peacefully in its scabbard.
"So you wanted to give it a name from the Old world? Maybe Zirael, or Narsil, or even Brisingr? "
Bell squeaked and hid his face in his hands as the blade, which seemed to have overheard their conversation, quivered mockingly in its scabbard-or perhaps it was just the gleam of light on its hilt. Naaza looked reproachfully at her God, though her lips were trembling, ready to break into a smile.
"If you continue, Lord Miach, he will run away from you into the dungeon." - Miach looked away, as if remorseful - Naaza didn't believe him one bit.
"I'm just trying to say that it's okay. Besides, from my point of view, you're still a child just starting out on your own path. So if the legends of the King of All Men, the walking forests, and the monster hunters lead you on your way, then I can tell you're going in the right direction. The children of this world are too caught up in the search for power and have forgotten their roots – I haven't met a minstrel in a long time, " - Miach was telling the truth. Previously, thousands of songs were composed about feats that warmed other people's hearts and kept a distant history in themselves – now, in the age of the Gods, all songs seemed to have died down on earth. As if there was no one to sing about – and although there were many heroes, there were fewer songs.
Bell nodded, as if remembering something.
"When I went to Orario, I thought I would hear again the songs that the minstrel sang, but there are so few of them here. This is strange. Orario was not what I had imagined.
"Really?" - Naaza gently tugged at his ear to attract his attention, - "What was your idea of a city of heroes and gods?"
"Ah... " - Bell fell silent once again. Naaza swung her legs up on the bed and sat on her hip, watching the light draw sharp lines on their faces, - " She ... a Minstrel once sang about a city – and I thought all cities would be similar. It was so sad and so grand that I thought this was what a great city should look like. "
"Will you sing to us?" - Miach asked softly, exchanging glances with Naaza. They had learned something more about him today-Bell Cranel, so simple and bright, was a tangle of heroic motifs and old tales. It seems that this is how the heroes of the New time are born - from the ashes of the past and sounds of new hopes.
Bell said nothing, giving the God and the named sister a confused look – Naaza nodded to him, and Miach squeezed his hand reassuringly. He licked his dry lips and closed his eyes, remembering the half-forgotten lines.
Gondolin - stone bell of the mountain valley.
If you look at the sky , there are stars of the past
A forgotten name was woven in a thin pattern,
The wind blew away the forgotten word with handfuls of ash.
Beats like a heart, a stone bell,
Echo of centuries - Gondolin, Gondolin ...
In the mirror of the sky at moonless midnight
Your reflection is getting cold, Gondolin.
Gondolin - stone frozen time foam,
The music of light that became the proud walls,
The word of a forgotten, broken song ,
Even you shout - the echo will be sillent.
Naaza had noticed before that many people came only to talk to Bell again – they were often those who had been saved in the Dungeon, healed of their wounds. Sometimes she noticed how fascinated they were listening to his words and quietly grinned into her sleeve-give him a couple more years and he will really blossom.
But now she felt his charm too – it was natural to be a little charmed by the way his throat quivered and his voice was soft, the way it strained like a moonbeam. If Naaza could see other people's souls, she would be amazed at its crystal purity – but she could only feel it. Now it seemed to her that Bell was born in the wrong era – but she continued to listen. There was a tearful bitterness in his voice that he would never see. Miach was telling the truth-words carry great power.
When the last sound faded, Bell slumped and yawned. Miach reached out and gently stroked the white strands.
"It's time for us all to rest," - Naaza saw Her God glance uneasily out of the window, where the tower of Babel pierced the sky like a candle, completely unlike the "music of light".
Black Arrow - the arrow that Smaug was hit with. Hobbit
Zirael - "Swallow", Ciri's sword from the Witcher
Narsil - Isildur's split blade, which was later forged into Anduril for Aragorn. Lord of the Rings
Brisingr - sword of the dragon rider, Eragon.
Gondolin - a legendary hidden elven city. His fall is one of the greatest tragedies of the Noldor elves. Lord of the Rings
Thank you to everyone who reads me. I am glad to have your support, because I think my work is quite strange for this fandom, and I am happy for any people who like to read me. Now I would like to discuss with you the name for the blade. There are several suggestions.
Claíomh Solais', the 'Sword of light' - I like it because it refers to the Celts. But the blade, which is owned by bell, it seems too aggressive and bloodthirsty for that name.
Fenrir - it was suggested because of the nature of the blade, malicious and distrustful, and also because fenrir literally bit off tyr's hand. But what stops me is that beta Loga is also sometimes called Fenrir
Charon's Claw: a sword wielded by Artemis Entreri, a netherese blade that kills anyone who touches it, unless they defeat it mentally or use a pair of gloves. This is a sword from Forgotten Realms and I like it too, although it may confuse the name Charon
So-the choice is yours, if I can't find something better)