2 Imbolc 1205
Our favorite assassin and witch have been married for five years now. Their lives haven't changed much. They spend almost all their free time together. They live in the old house of Saibus and keep Eden as a secret base where they do to work on their projects, whether magical, crafting, or martial. Saibus and Yennefer performed the Eternal Ritual during those five years at Hecate's insistence. The ritual is simple to perform, but the consequences of achieving it are heavy.
The ritual of Eternal or Eternity is an Isus ritual that involves binding two beings. The souls of the two performers intertwine and bind to each other. Both people can then have a spell where the other is and feel their emotions.
To achieve this ritual, there are several requirements to perform it. First, you need a witness, a tary person who takes part in the ritual, and second requirements, the blood of the two beings and their magical signatures. The third condition is a ball of red and gold thread. The fourth and final requirement is the Isus ritual room. These four conditions are not big things for Saibus and Yennefer but all others. To perform this ritual is impossible because they do not fulfill the fourth condition, but also no one except Hecate knows exactly the process to undertake the ritual.
The ritual took place on Saibus and Yennefer's first wedding anniversary, 2 Imbolc 1201. 2 Imbolc is a magical holiday, which means that any ceremonies or rituals performed on this day are magically and spiritually stronger. Their significance is vital because it is one of the first celebrations of the year.
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Flash-Back
2 Imbolc 1200
The Moon has just awakened while Saibus, Yennefer, and Hecate are in Eden's ritual hall. The room is large with a circle in the center made of gold paint. The ring stands out on the black floor of the room. Besides, the room is dark. It is made entirely of very dark materials. On the floor and the walls, scratches can be seen despite the low light in the room.
Saibus and Yennefer placed themselves on either side of the circle. Hecate, she is next to them, to the right of Saibus and the left of Yennefer. Between the two, she is the witness to the ritual.
Hecate then raises her right hand, causing a small blue ball to appear between Saibus and Yennefer.
Hecate speaks a word in her native language, the Language of the Gods, causing the luminous ball to split. Then, she says another word which sends the balls into Saibus and Yennefer.
"State your identities and intent." declares Hecate raising her hand to Yennefer.
"My name is Yennefer Di Vine, and I wish to bind myself eternally to Saibus Di Vine," says Yennefer firmly.
Hecate then lowers her right arm and raises her left hand to point at Saibus, explicitly asking Saibus to introduce himself.
"My name is Saibus Di Vine, and I wish to bind myself eternally to Yennefe Di Vine." solemnly declares Saibus.
Hecate then pronounces a sentence in the divine language, which brings out the luminous balls. But this time, the balls no longer glow blue. Instead, the ball coming out of Saibus is red while Yennefer's is purple.
Hecate then pulls out the red and gold strings, entwining her last on Yennefer and Saibus' right forearms. Saibus with the golden line while Yennefer the red. The ends of the rows hang down to the ground.
"Enter the circle," shouts Hecate, causing Saibus and Yennefer to comply. Upon entering the circle, it glows with a mixture of red and purple losing its primary yellow color.
Hecate utters several sentences in her language.
"Stretch out your right hand." Hecate orders cause Saibus and Yennefer to raise their right hands.
Hecate pulls out a knife and cuts Saibus and Yennefer's right palm. The cut causes some blood to flow onto the floor of the circle, resulting in a blue light revealing the room's integrity. We can then see that the grooves run through the room to end up in the ring.
'Clank' is a pedestal with a hole in its center that sticks out of the ground to the right of the two people inside the circle.
"Lower your palm and let the blood flow to the pedestal," said Hecate.
Saibus and Yennefer put their palms above their respective pedestals. This causes blood to flow from their hands and onto the pedestal. The blood then enters the hole and descends inside the monument. The blood appears in the grooves on the floor. It runs through the tracks to arrive on either side of the circle. The blood of the ring slowly merges. This merger causes the color of the call to change from a mixture of purple and red to pure white.
With the passage of color, the strings flew towards each other and bound. Saibus and Yennefer are connected by the red and gold lines with their right forearms as anchor points.
Hecate then pronounces a series of words, which integrates the luminous balls into the strings.
"Grab your hands," asks Hecate. As Saibus and Yennefer grab each other's right hands, the large string then merges into their bodies, concluding the Eternal Ritual.
Saibus and Yennefer put their hands over their hearts and connected. Yennefer closes her eyes and tries to discern what Saibus is feeling, but she can't. It's as if she's in front of a door and knocks for someone to open it.
She suddenly feels surprised, and joy, the door in front of her is suddenly opened, allowing her to experience all of her companion's current feelings.
"Looks like the ritual worked," Saibus says with a smile.
"Good, let's get out of here. You can experiment later." declares Hecate, encouraging the bride and groom to come out.
FLASH-BACK END
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2 Imbolc 1205
Other important things have happened during these five years. Desmond has become a master assassin and a mentor, unlike Saibus, who currently refuses to take on an apprentice. On the other hand, he gives lessons to novices on the double wielding of swords. Additionally, Saibus turned down a position on the Council of Elders as he would instead go on a mission than take care of the League. The Council then asked him if he was willing to take on the position of elder in a few years. Saibus then said he would think about it.
This proposal is due to the strength of Saibus and his influence inside the League. He became a crucial member of the League. Saibus undertakes many essential and complex missions as one of the best assassins. Despite this, Saibus has one of the highest success rates.
Outside of the League, Saibus' strength has grown a lot. His dual-wielding evolved, and Saibus created his dual-wielding, which he called [The Scarlet Blades], making him a Grandmaster Swordsman.
(AN: I couldn't find a better name, say if you have a better word.)
This dual-wielding style allows Saibus to fight with his swords, using his speed and agility to strike down his foes. Saibus can also fight with a single blade and use his magic simultaneously.
His understanding of elemental magic also increased as he became a mage despite his fire magic being at the level of an arch mage. However, his blood magic and telepathy are still magics in which he is a novice.
Saibus is currently in the Forge in Eden. He looks at a holographic screen with the image of two swords, with a list of materials and a manufacturing time of a few years.
"Grandma, why does it take so long to make her swords?" Saibus asks no one.
Hecate then appears in the air.
"For the simple and iniquitous reason that you are not Hephaestus. The Forge was created to be his workshop and later an automatic forge. But it does not have his experience, his strength, his knowledge in the art of the forge. So it's normal for it to take longer to craft an artifact of Eden than its creator." Hecate answers.
"Good, start preparing his two swords," Saibus said, walking out of the room.
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Skellige, commonly called the Isles of Skellige, is an archipelago of six islands and one of the Northern Kingdoms. It is located in the Great Sea, off Cintra and southwest of Verden and Cidaris. Its people are famous for being fierce and brave warriors who sail on their longships. Skellige is ruled by a king elected by the seven prominent families.
But it is not the main island of Skellige, Ard Skellig, that interests us but the island of Faroe.
Faroe Island is the southernmost main island of the archipelago. The Dimun clan rules it. The island is mainly made up of forests and mountains. There are only two towns that have been built on the island, Harviken, and Trottheim.
The island, therefore, remains wild, and in most of its areas, no human presence is detected. But powerful magic has been seen by the assassins in one of the mountain ranges. Usually, this does not attract the attention of the League, but the magic is of monstrous origin and comes from a portal. The gate remained open for two hours before it closed again.
The League has sent an assassin to investigate the magical presence and origin of the portal. Saibus volunteered for the mission as he had no task and was coming off a month-long hiatus. He takes Yennefer with him to get help from a magician.
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In Faroe's most extensive mountain range, two people can be seen braving the cold and snowstorm. These two people are a man and a woman. Both are wearing warm clothes that give them enough warmth to withstand the biting cold of the mountains. The man helps the woman move through the thick layer of snow that stands in the way.
"Thank you, Sai, but are you sure this is the right way? I don't sense any magic around," asks Yennefer doubtfully.
"According to the detection objects, the last traces of magic related to the portal are in an area of 1 kilometer around us. The person or thing that passed through the portal must have sought shelter to protect themselves from the weather. "
"So we are looking for a cave or an ancient building. But the head of the Dimun family told us that there was no construction on the mountain. No one could build anything here because of the weather!"
The snowstorm intensifies, causing Yennefer to scream to be heard by Saibus.
'ROLL' A tremor is felt by the two travelers.
'ROLL'
'ROLL'
Another two seconds cause the earth to shake, followed by a sliding sound.
Barely looking up from the fierce wind and snow, Saibus and Yennefer see a white cloud rolling down the mountainside right at them.
"Shit! Yen! Hold on to me! Portal now!" Saibus yells at Yennefer, who complies. She grabs it and uses the teleport spell hastily. Yennefer's magic ignites. She casts the spell that envelops the two as she creates the portal on them.
Saibus and Yennefer pass through the portal, falling hard on hard ground. One sees nothing through the darkness but hears a soft and sweet melody.
"What are you doing at my house?"