Of Magic and Steel
Adapt
The next time I awoke, the room was dark and I was alone. Slowly sitting up, I looked down at my hands.
'This has got to be some weird, radiation sickness induced dream or hallucination.' I thought to myself, my earlier, almost detached, sense of calm now in pieces. I glanced towards the mirror hoping not to see anything.
Sadly, my hopes were dashed when I saw two glowing green orbs in the mirror.
"Damn it." I growled to myself.
Getting up from the bed I was sitting on, I moved towards the window. Looking out of it, I see a serene village covered in snow with just a few gas powered street lamps lining the edge of the thoroughfare. They provided little in the way of actually illumination with the fluttering flames, maybe a dozen feet or so around each lamp were dimly lit. The thing that lit up the village was the majestic full moon that hung overhead.
The full moon was another thing that drove home the fact that I was no longer on Earth. On its surface, seemingly made of craters, was a silhouette of what appeared to be a unicorn, most likely a mare from the slender look of its features.
Stepping away from the window, I moved towards the lamp and looked it over for a switch. My hand brushed over a slightly raised rune and the light came on.
'Hmmm. Must be some kind of magic based technology' I thought as I blinked the spots from my eyes.
Looking around the room, I see a small shelf above the desk with a small collection of books.
I walk over and pull one of them down. Looking at the cover, I see a yellow furred mare with matching wings and a grayish-black mane and tail wearing what appears to be the archetypal archaeologist's outfit of a khaki shirt with short sleeves, khaki shorts, a tan pith helmet, and a machete.
Thankfully, through whatever happy cosmic coincidence that the natives of this world speak English, they also write in it as well. The title, "Daring Do and The Quest for the Sapphire Stone" lead me to the conclusion that the story was in a similar vein to Indiana Jones. I thoroughly enjoyed the movies, so I moved back to the bed and began reading.
Several hours later, the nurse from the previous day came in with a tray of food.
Smiling, she set the tray down on the table before turning to me.
"I brought you some breakfast. Are you doing any better?" She asked.
I smiled in return. "Slightly. It's going to take me some time to fully adjust, but going from being vaporized to waking up in a world where I'm the alien is a lot for a guy to take."
"I can understand that. I was thinking that you were taking things a little too well yesterday." She responded.
"With some of the things that I am slowly figuring out, I have a feeling that yesterday will not be the last time I have a panic attack. But, on my old world I was a soldier and there was a saying that we all pretty well lived by, especially if we were combat troops." I replied as I made my way to the table.
"What is that?" She asked as we both sat down.
"Adapt and overcome. There is very little you can truly plan for in wartime, so you have to take the punches as they come and change your tactics while maintaining discipline and adhering to the law of war. Even when the enemy lacks honor and does despicable, cowardly things to try and gain the upper hand." I say as I sit down to eat.
"Now you mentioned being vaporized, what do you mean?" The nurse inquired.
"On my world, about seventy years ago, a weapon was developed that could unleash the power that lies at the heart of a star. It was only used in anger twice, but the vast majority of the two cities that were targeted were destroyed in an instant. Since then, there had been a tenuous peace between the powers that had the weapons, but it seemed that finally something happened to push the delicate balance over the edge. These weapons were launched against my nation and I was less than half a kilometer from the epicenter. One second I was there, the next, poof. Gone, so much ash on the wind." I said as I tucked into the meal.
The nurse was silent. I glanced up to see her holding her hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. When she spoke, her words were punctuated with sobs.
"Ho...how could anyone be that, that, that cold and cruel?" She asked.
Moving more on instinct than anything else, I got up and pulled the mare into a hug before responding.
"Because there is one truth to my race. As compassionate as we can be, we can be just as ruthless when pushed far enough. As for why the world was destroyed? I doubt that anyone would be able to tell you with any certainty. All I know is, cooler heads did not prevail and the world burned for it. For me, this is a second chance to do what I was meant to do with my life." I replied.
The mare sighed in my arms as her sobs stopped.
"What were you meant to do?" She asked.
"You recall I said that I was a soldier?" She nodded. "Well, I joined because I had a desire to protect those that I cared about and our greatest threat came from outside our borders. Did I live for the fighting? I won't deny that I got a rush when my life was in danger, but I never sought out a battle. But when it did inevitably occur, I was ready and I did my job." I continued.
"Did it ever bother you having to take a life?" She asked quietly, so quietly that it was a whisper really. 'I guess the theories about SOLDIERs having enhanced senses were true then.'
"At the time I did so, no. I didn't have the luxury of time to consider what I had done. But when the patrol was done, my weapon turned into the armory, and I was back in my barracks, the gravity of what I had done sank in. But the guilt was tempered by the knowledge that by taking the lives that I had, then there would be innocent lives that would continue, even if for just another day or week. That was the reality of our fight. Our enemy hid in the shadows and had no regard for innocents." I replied as her breathing began to even out.
"So no regrets?" She asked.
"None. In the end, I prefer to look at the lives that I saved by doing what I did. If I had to do it all over again, then I would." I said as I rubbed her back between her shoulder blades, the tight muscles slowly loosening.
She sighed. "You should eat. Your food is getting cold."
I chuckled. "So it is." I replied as I released her and moved back to my chair.
As I resumed eating, she wiped her eyes to dry the last of her tears.
"So what is your name?" She asked once she was fully composed once more.
I leaned back and considered. "Well, considering that this world will allow me to make a new start, I think a new name is in order." I replied as I thought. "You can call me Talisman, Talisman Stryke." I said finally.
She smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you Talisman Stryke, my name is Tender Heart."
I returned her smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. Now, I am going to assume that I am in a hospital or clinic of some kind. What do I need to do to get out of here?" I inquired.
"Well, we need to get you checked out by a doctor, then we will need to see about getting you accommodations elsewhere." She said.
"Well then, how quickly can we get that done?" I asked.
After meeting with the local doctor, an absolutely massive stallion by the name of Soothing Touch, I was able to leave the hospital with the bag and the reset of the clothing that I had been found with. The black cargo pants were joined by a short sleeve shirt and a harness that had a leather pauldron over the left shoulder. On the back of the harness was a magnetic plate that went from my right shoulder to my left hip.
Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I glanced at Tender Heart who was guiding me around the village that I had found out to be called Stalliongrad. When I found out that tidbit of information, I groaned internally at the pun.
"Ready to go yet, Tender?" I asked.
"Almost, but shouldn't you put something else on? It is well below freezing." She said as she wrapped her scarf tightly.
"I'm pretty sure that I won't need it." I replied as I followed her to the door.
As we stepped outside, my hypothesis that my elevated metabolism, and by extension elevated body temperature, would prevent any discomfort.
"How is it that you are not freezing?" Tender Heart asked.
"The temperature that you recorded when I was unconscious, did it seem a tad high to you?" I asked as we made our way down the main thoroughfare.
"Well, I suppose it did now that I think about it. Why?" She asked.
"If I was a normal human, and not the augmented being that I am now, my brain and organs would have been cooked a while ago. But I am feeling no ill effects of a high fever." I explained.
"That, is quite impressive. What do you mean by 'augmented'?" She inquired.
My eyes widened as I silently cursed my slip up.
"When my world was destroyed, I wound up in a void. If I had to guess, it was the area between realities. I brushed up against a number of realities, and I am sure that this bag has a large amount of goodies in it from those other worlds." I replied, lifting the bag in question slightly before continuing. "The enhancements that my body underwent were from a world known as the Planet to the inhabitants. On that world there was an elite military group known as SOLDIER. Their operatives were enhanced with something called Mako, which was actually the energy of the planet known as the Life Stream, which was extracted from the Planet and refined. It makes my blood highly toxic to anyone else, and grants me superhuman abilities. The level of enhancement that I have is that of a SOLDIER 1st Class, the elite." I explained.
"That sound exceptionally dangerous." Tender replied.
"It was for the candidates. From what I understand of the lore from that world, and the memories that I was given, I am only the sixth person to have this level of enhancement and be walking around afterwards." I replied as we turned a corner.
"So you have memories as well?"
"Yes, they gave me the knowledge to use my new skills and abilities. I just need to practice them."
"But if you have the memories?" She began.
"Having the memories is one thing. But using them is another. They don't magically grant you the ability to use the skills. I could quite possibly kill myself or get myself killed if I do not train these abilities." I replied.
"What kind of abilities?" Tender inquired.
"If I am correct as to the contents of this bag, then the ability to use magic is within my grasp. But for now, I want to see that sword." I replied as we approached a gate guarded by a mare and a stallion.
I let Tender Heart take care of the talking at this point, and we were soon inside one of the barracks looking on an interesting sight.
A group of stallions were around a pair of crates cheering one of their fellows.
One the crates lay something that I had never expected to actually see.
The dark grey metal, engraved with lines coming from the hilt to a point about a third of the way down the back side of the single edged blade, barely reflected any light until you got to the leading edge, which gleamed brilliantly in the light from the chandelier.
In all its glory, there lay the Buster Sword.
The stallion that was trying his hand at it, was barely able to get the hilt to lift off of the crate that it was resting on before he dropped it back down.
Taking the bag off of my shoulder and placing it on the ground, I motioned for Tender Heart to stay back before heading to the group.
"How about I give it a go?" I said once i was next to the group.
They turned and laughed at me, mostly likely judging by my size.
Though I stood nearly six feet in height, most of these males were over that and had to be pushing three hundred pounds of muscle. Despite my smaller and leaner stature though, I had tipped the scale at the doctor's at almost two hundred fifty pounds with less than ten percent body fat. I also had a feeling that this sword was keyed to me some how.
"Of course! Just don't blame us if you hurt yourself." One of them said.
I chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't. But just in case, could you guys step back a few paces?" I asked.
Smiling, the group humored me and stepped back, clearing a ten foot or so circle around me.
Taking a deep breath, I took hold of the hilt.
A voice rang out in my head.
'This blade is my family's honor. Use it well.'
I shook my head. 'Didn't expect to get any advice from Angeal.' I thought.
Holding the hilt in my right hand, I lifted the blade with ease.
The weight surprised me slightly, I had been expecting it to weigh more. Gaining my balance, I lowered the blade to one side as I placed my boot on the crate closest to me and pushed.
The first crate collided with the second and both slid across the room, two of the stallions having to move or get crushed.
Once the space was clear, I raised my blade and gripped the hilt with both hands and moved through a basic kata for the massive sword, slowly gaining speed as I repeated the movements until the blade was singing as it cut through the air.
Finishing with a flourish of spinning the blade in my right hand over my head, I settled the blade on my back, the magnetic plate grabbing it.
I looked around at the stallions. They all had looks of disbelief on their faces. Shrugging, I said:
"This sword is mine. Due to the enchantments on it, only I can lift it." I explained, pulling a hopefully believable explanation out of my arse.
Thankfully the group believed it. Tender and I headed out of the barracks shortly afterwards.
"So that was impressive." She said.
"I am so glad I did not screw that up. It would have wound up a lot differently." I replied.
"So you took a chance to show off? Do you have a death wish?" She asked heatedly.
"No but it seemed like something that I needed to do."
"And that last part?"
"Pulled it straight outta my arse." I replied.
Tender looked at me incredulously.
"Hey, I had to say something."
She just shook her head and lead me out of the compound and back into town.
Chuckling, I followed her.
"So is there someplace I can stay? I mostly ask because I'm pretty sure that I don't have anything resembling local currency." I asked once my larger stride caught up to hers.
"Well for the time being you can use the spare bedroom in my flat. Just don't go burning it down please. I just renewed the lease." Tender replied.
"I think I can manage. I just don't want to be making you go out of your way, so I will see about doing some odd jobs around town to get some coin."
"Good. We can always use a strong back around here and I am sure you can handle most tasks that we need taken care of." She said.
"I'm pretty sure I can." I replied with a smile as our steps crunched through the snow as darkness descended around us.