Chereads / The Emperor's Hand / Chapter 19 - Chapter 18

Chapter 19 - Chapter 18

On Centrik's entry from the same direction he'd left in, it didn't take long for me to rush to my feet and face him. Jerric was still asleep somehow, so I let him be. It took me a few extra seconds to register my sword in the clawed grip of the floating creature. He tossed it at me through the air, letting me easily catch the hilt and watch the familiar green flash appear. This time, however, two spectral figures also popped into existence. One was an old and bald man dressed in brown robes gathered around his body, somewhat resembling those of a monk. The other person was a woman with dark hair, standing with her arms crossed and staring at me. Neither of them looked happy. Centrik seemed to fade and vanish, along with the entire world, leaving me in an endless white area with the two ghosts. Were they even ghosts?  And what on earth had Centrik done to my sword to make it do this? Before those thoughts could go any further, the older man addressed me, sounding calm despite his annoyed appearance.

"Have you killed?" he spoke out of the blue, asking a question that unfortunately could answer in the positive without hesitation.

"I have." I had no reason to lie. Many lives had ended at my hand, and if this man was somehow going to offer judgement, I would take it gladly. Yet, he only nodded, and it was the woman that spoke next in a similar tone. Confusion stuck in my head, as I still didn't know what was going on.

"Why do you kill?"

Another oddly targeted question that I hated my answer to.

"I had no choice. Who are you?" I responded with a question of my own, wanting answers. I got no answers. The woman simply turned skeptically towards the older one with some degree of respect in her stance. Still with no idea who these were, I raised an eyebrow and waited for my answer. I didn't get one. The people disappeared after a nod from the male, and I was thrown back into reality with my sword still in hand. A small crystal in the center of the hilt had begun to glow deep green. Glancing up at Centrik, I tried to speak, but too many questions crowded each other out, and nothing came out of my mouth.

"Keep talking without sound, it'll get you far." Centrik's head spun slowly as his sarcastic voice blared out. It yanked me back to my senses, and I managed to get a few words going.

"The sword. What was that?"

"It had a lock on it until last night. That should have happened the first time you touched it," He shrugged, as if we were talking of inconsequential things, "The sword chose you. Otherwise, it would be too heavy for you to use it."

That made no sense, so I requested further knowledge. What resulted was simply a long lecture on everything Centrik knew of the sword. He mentioned its origins-it had been created by the old man I had seen- and history, along with the fact that the appearance of the ghostly people was a test. They asked questions, and the wrong answers or lies would cause the sword to leave me. Someone had put a magic-blocking lock onto the sword that restricted it previously, which Centrik had removed. It was new information but welcomed. Swords were spectacular things, and I needed to know as much about my own as possible. There also happened to be three others relatively similar to mine, one of which was possessed by Centrik and another by Yviss. After the explanation from the man with the vortex head, I put the blade into its sheath at my side and waited for Jerric to wake. When he did, I gave a brief explanation of what Centrik had told me. Now that my sword had been returned to me, we were halfway to being able to leave. Yviss would be waiting, likely not patiently. All we had to do was acquire the other sword, although I had begun to wonder what these weapons had even been created for. Centrik should know. I didn't hesitate to ask him, although Jerric was still blinking away sleep.

"Is there a significance to having all four of the blades?" I didn't know what else to call them, so 'the blades' would have to work. They were more than just swords, but I didn't know why. Further explanation led to me learning that each of the swords represented two of the gods and getting them all would bind the world to one's will for a day. Not simply the physical earth, but literally everything would be put under the command of whoever had the swords. A new respect for what I carried filled me, along with a realization of why Yviss wanted these. The Emperor was not a good man, I had no doubts about that. Bringing him swords was one thing, but giving him impossible amounts of power...I could not allow that. I looked at the ceiling, thinking through everything. Jerric was also up, and looked disturbed, as if he was also concluding that we couldn't offer this to Yviss.

"So, as I'm sure you're smart enough to see, you won't be leaving here with both swords." Centrik didn't sound like he cared, but that was fair. It wasn't any of his business what we did next or what would happen when we failed the Emperor. I hoped the fact that we'd killed Jerard Wartarrer would make the punishment slightly less harsh, but it was a thin hope.

"I'm not going to let you out just yet though. Vite, come with me." I was pulled out of my thoughts by Centrik once again singling me out. Jerric was watching me with an expectant and confused look but let me go into another room with the floating portal man. Being alone with Centrik wasn't something I looked forwards to, but did I have a choice?

After wandering through a maze of tunnels that I wouldn't be able to trace my way back through, Centrik brought me to a large metal door. It didn't look like much, but it surprised me that it was there. Everything surprised me about this hole in the mountain that Centrik lived in. The tunnels must have gone down a bit towards the wider parts of the cliff, otherwise it would have breached the open air. After revealing a small key and swinging the door inwards, we crossed the threshold to a strange place.

The room was walled in stone as the rest were, although this one had a familiar glow on the walls. Crystalglass. Centrik had already proved immune to my Gift, so why did he need this? The only reason would be to keep me from escaping. Was he imprisoning me? If so, Jerric would never be able to navigate here and get me out. I'd be on my own for as long as Centrik wanted. Being in the power of another person was one of the things I greatly disliked, but I couldn't do anything about it. Centrik waved for me to take a seat on a stone table in the center of the room, as if standing would be insufficient. I did as told. At first, nothing happened aside from the other creature circling the room and staring at me. I felt his piercing gaze examining my entire body and chose not to move at all. Maybe this uncomfortable session would end quicker if I made it easy for Centrik to do what he would. While he was behind me, I didn't turn to face him, which may have been a mistake in hindsight. Cold claws gripped the back of my shirt, then tore downwards, leaving a gash in the clothing so that my back was exposed to the cold air. I flinched sporadically, resisting violent urges to attack the creature behind me. While he inspected my back, he didn't seem at all bothered by the patchwork of scars. Rather, the sound of a pen scratching against paper could be heard, as if he was sketching a map of my wounds. My hand slowly moved from the table and to my sword as a reassurance, but I didn't draw it. Breaking the quiet came the distorted voice once more.

"Lay on your back. Also, there may be some slight memory loss as side effects."

"Side effects of what, exactly?" Even before he answered, I was shifting to rest my bare back on the table.

"You'll see. Someday," Centrik said before a large and blunt object hit the side of my head. My vision blurred as I immediately tried to get back up, but I was held down by something, and blacked out shortly after a sharp pain appeared in the center of my chest.