"Pity the poor chap, do you really want to see him choke on his spittle that much?"
As the elegant voice playfully sounded out, the two sanguine turned their faces simultaneously towards the direction of the voice.
Atop one of the taller rock spires that towered the canyon grounds, a sanguine who would be considered handsome even amongst his race was sitting with his legs crossed as he held a ceramic teacup over a saucer and sipped elegantly.
He wore a tight-fitting black vest with floral patterns over a white linen shirt with ruffled sleeves. His black trouser matched well with his polished leather shoes that glistened under the setting sun.
His neck was covered with a black cravat and the neckband had the same floral patterns that covered his vest.
Loose strands from his pale blonde hair that was tied back fluttered silently under a passing wind and his pale white eyes creased into a smile as he looked down at his two acquaintances.
"You still have quite the temper, Bartholomew"
The man with the gold rimmed glasses who was Bartholomew snorted and threw down the struggling dwarf.
He looked at the man who was quietly sipping tea with a mocking gaze before taking his eyes a bit lower.
Laying on the man's laps was a plain grey parasol rolled up with a fancy looking ribbon. He smirked inwardly to himself before turning his gaze to meet the man.
"You still have quite the stubbornness too, Arthur" he held a poker face as he said this but with both men knowing the underlying meaning of the statement, the air turned tense.
Arthur's smile never left his face as he waved his hand and the teacup and saucer vanished into thin air. He ignored the man before turning his gaze to the woman who's smile had left her face as she stared at the man in awe.
"You must be the lovely lady Catherine. Your beauty is definitely far underestimated by its reputation, I must admit." He gave her a gentle smile.
A lovely smile bloomed on her face at his compliment.
"Thank you kindly, Lord Arthur. It is my pleasure to receive such kind words from a figure such as you." Her beautiful voice echoed out.
The dwarven vampire who had just recovered from nearly choking to death opened up his eyes and was terrified to see another sanguine had joined.
Hearing the name "Lord Arthur", his mind snapped as he hurriedly closed his eyes and pretended to faint once more.
The name of Lord Arthur was not just legendary amongst the sanguine, anyone who had any reasonable knowledge of worldly events would know just who this terrifying figure was.
Bartholomew clicked his tongue as he looked up at the man.
"Have you still been prowling these canyons with no direction or you have specifically come to interfere with me"
Arthur narrowed his eyes this time as his gaze turned back to Bartholomew. With a dangerous smile now on his face, his smooth voice flowed out.
"Do no try to seek my anger little barty, think about your glasses."
He stood up straight on top of his stone spire and held the parasol in his hand.
"The elder told me that a weapon of great import is in your custody and I was to retrieve it"
Bartholomew's gaze narrowed at this before looking down at the 'unconscious' dwarf.
"It is unfortunate but the weapon has been lost" he said with a heavy voice.
"Lost?" Arthur's head tilted in inquiry.
"We had found the location of the weapon a few weeks earlier on but we were in no position to retrieve it until it was sealed appropriately. We used our contacts to find a dark elf grandmaster and were able to bring him to administer the appropriate sealing method."
Bartholomew slowly explained as Catherine extended her parasol and slowly floated down before landing gracefully in front of the pretending dwarf.
"The sealing was to take a few days after the elf had finished his work. Considering what the weapon was, it was to be expected. As the elf had requested us to escort him out of the canyons as part of the deal. Lady Catherine chanced upon a group of dwarves which she converted to act as protectors before we were to return."
Looking at the slightly trembling dwarf, Bartholomew shook his head slowly. Catherine chuckled at him before slowly bending down towards the dwarf.
Her hand left the parasol and instead of falling to the floor, it miraculously kept floating in midair!
She then used her dainty hands to lift up the head of the dwarf. The trembling dwarf slowly opened his eyes to meet hers. The fear in his expression was obvious.
"Calm down child. Don't worry and just stare into my eyes." Her voice came out soothingly with a gentle smile.
Arthur who was watching this scene with little interest while twirling the closed parasol in his hands suddenly stopped and tapped his shoulder with it a few times.
"So then, you are telling me you lost the weapon to a group of summoned? Ah…. One summoned if I heard you correctly." His voice clearly had a mocking intent.
"Barty, you poor little chap. You left custody of one of the powerful 'Kata Kanon' to a group of midgets?"
He chuckled at the end of the statement as if it was a hilarious joke.
But Bartholomew's face just stiffened at his laughter as he had no way to retort.
The Kata Kanon was a series of weapons created by a powerful figure from hundreds of years ago. The series consisted of a range of weapons from bows to warhammers to swords and even stranger weapons that are only rumored to exist.
The weapons themselves were magnificent things made with the most powerful and rarest materials and boast unparalleled strength in the right hands of a skillful warrior.
But that wasn't the only thing that made them so special. The most amazing thing of these weapons was that they wielded the rare and unmatched power of runes!
There was no weapon in this world that could rival that of a runed weapon. And the runes that each weapon of the Kata Kanon series possessed seemed to be more powerful than the normal ones seen around.
Considering that even the runed weapons made by the dark elves in this time were powerful enough that large forces and powerful figures would fight tooth and claw to posses one, the value of the weapons from the Kata Kanon were obvious.
There were runes controlling powerful elements and laws that could make even the most talentless fool become a force to be reckoned with and some of these weapons were rumored to be so bizarre they were said to have awakened a soul within them.
Considering all the factors about these weapons, one could see just how much of a loss it was the sanguine had just suffered.
This was a weapon that probably only a handful of people in the world possessed. Something that could overturn the destiny of an empire or even an entire race.
Bartholomew had no excuses or retorts to this, he still couldn't accept this loss.
THUD!
He was broken out of his thoughts by a small thud. The body of the dwarf was on the floor laying limp and his eyes were turned over.
Catherine gracefully grabbed her parasol and held it over her shoulder with both hands as she stood up.
She glanced at Lord Arthur before turning to Bartholomew and speaking with a low voice.
"Ah…. It was a human. Brown hair and yellow eyes. Very handsome mmhhh…." She giggled prettily.
"He was wearing a thick brown cloak and wielded a sword. Okay level of skill, I suppose. Ah, he headed towards Gorm."
Bartholomew turned his head to Arthur after hearing her out.
"I will chase after the weapon. Give my apologies to the elder and tell him I shall retrieve it without fail."
Arthur just slowly tapped the parasol on his shoulder as he looked down at the both of them.
"No, I won't tell him anything, at least not yet."
Bartholomew's eyes widened a bit at this but he still held his composure.
"You should go retrieve the weapon and come find me. You better hurry up though, before I lose my patience."
He lowered his hands and held the parasol point down as his gaze went through the rugged terrain of the massive canyon and towards the sunset in the distance.
Catherine seemed captured by his presence as she stared up at him while Bartholomew just quietly looked down in thought before deciding to ask a question.
"Why are you covering for me?"
Although Arthur was far above him in strength and status, they never really had the best of relationships. He saw no reason why this man would decide to give him a chance when he could easily report back his failure. Bartholomew would obviously be punished very heavily for this.
Arthur just turned his eyes back at him and smiled.
"What are you saying little barty? You are family. Have you forgotten so easily? Family always comes first."
He turned his gaze back to the sunset.
"But you should really be going though. The walled city of Kurn is nearby. If he reaches there and decides to surrender it to say the city lord? It would get a bit more troublesome."
Bartholomew just smiled. But unlike a normal smile, this one looked terrifying and was filled with a sense of madness that didn't match his initial persona.
"Is it really? Considering the circumstances, there won't be much talk if I razed such a city to the ground would there?"
If someone who had seen Kurn and knew the amount of power the city lord wielded was here and heard this statement, they would either laugh at the absurdity or be terrified by the concept of it.
But instead, Arthur just slowly nodded his head while looking at the sunset as if he was searching for something.
"I guess there would not. This is a Kata Kanon we are talking about." His murmured the last part.
"Hurry up and retrieve the weapon, I shall await you for at least a fortnight. The blood moon would soon be upon us. The situation would soon get too dangerous even for me."
He turned his head and looked down at Catherine before showing an enchanting smile.
"I bid you farewell lady Catherine, I hope when next we meet it would be on more casual grounds."
And with that, he leaped slightly like he was jumping down but instead, his figure just vanished with a blur.
'The blood moon descends tonight…..' Bartholomew slowly relaxed his muscles he hadn't even realized he had tensed until then.
The sanguine duo gazed quietly at the setting sun in the direction the sanguine lord, Arthur had vanished to.