Nightblade (Darkest night)

Emily heard the shuffling of steps through the chamber's entrance. She turned around, glancing toward the sound.

" Morgan? Is that you?"

There was no response. Instead, the silent shuffling grew closer.

In the dim light, a dark, four-armed creature silently moved through the statues, slowly inching towards her.

Her eyes widened in fear, then she slowly crept back.

" Did they get him? It can't be."

Earlier, she'd heard the screeches of the Bretnar erupt through the night.

She had deduced that Morgan was probably attacking them.

He'd told her to stay put, and so that's what she had done, not that she'd be of much help in her condition.

After a while, the screeching died down with only a few screeches echoing through the silent night from time to time.

Emily had never felt so helpless.

Compared to the proud aspirant, she frankly felt a bit useless.

It was Morgan who had found her unconscious in the open and even moved her to safety.

Later, he'd fought off the growler on his own, creating an opening for her to escape.

She remembered the fierce, defiant look in his eyes when she faced off against the larger two-headed creature, his eyes shining with an unnatural golden light.

All she'd been doing so far was weighing him down.

She was frankly slower, not quite as agile, and weak.

She felt weak and helpless.

Even after fighting off the growler, he'd dashed back to rescue her from the Bretnars.

Back then, she'd thought she was done.

Samantha wasn't there to cheer her on or to protectively stand up for her.

But in the next moment, unbelievably, the reckless scion stood between her and the incoming wave of foul creatures, brandishing his blades with the same defiant, determined look.

Lagging her around must have taken a toll on him, even though he hadn't told her directly.

If the Bretnar had gotten him, it was because of her.

She frantically looked for a weapon, desperately darting around the ancient chamber for a weapon of some sort.

She decided to quietly leave the room and escape, slowly taking one agonizing step after another.

" What am I doing? Running away won't help things. In any case, I'll still die either way unless I do something."

Morgan's carefree smile flashed through her mind, then she remembered the determined look on his face.

" What was it he said earlier? I can't die. I refuse to die."

She grabbed a wooden chair leg, brandishing it like a makeshift bat.

Emily grit her teeth, ignoring the pain in her foot, and crept forward.

She silently swung the piece of wood with all her might.

The Bretnar leaned down at the last second, and the chair leg crashed into the statue, bouncing off of it harmlessly.

Morgan jumped back, staring at Emily in surprise, unsheathing his blades in one fluid motion.

" What the hell? You scared me!"

His eyes narrowed, taking in the wooden chair leg she was brandishing in her hands.

" Wait a minute? Are you trying to kill me?"

Morgan had slowly hauled the Bretnar's corpse to the hidden chamber in silent contemplation.

" What could make the Bretnar that wary?"

The sight of the giant creatures skulking unwillingly beyond the steps was stuck in his mind.

" Could we have served up ourselves to something without even knowing?"

The Bretnar on his shoulder, towered above him, taking everything he had to get to the chamber.

He had been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard when Emily called out to him.

Just as he was setting down the carcass, the hairs on the back of his neck bristled in warning.

He quickly jumped back without hesitating and unsheathed his blades.

A dull sound echoed in the place he'd been standing a moment back.

Ironically, it was Emily standing, with what looked to be a piece of wood in her hand.

" Are you trying to kill me?" He hissed.

The dark-haired girl seemed to tremble, then sank to the floor.

" No, that wasn't it. I thought they'd got you." Emily whispered.

" What? Who?"

" The Bretnar, I heard steps. I called you, but you didn't reply."

She trembled slightly.

"Then I saw that thing's head move through the entrance, I thought..."

Morgan's eyes widened in realization.

" I think I get it, sorry about that."

Emily sighed, then grit her teeth, getting to her feet with a hiss.

" I want you to train me."

Morgan glanced at her in surprise, then turned his attention back to the carcass.

" Where's this coming from?"

He unsheathed his blades and began to gut the Bretnar, his blades moving with deadly precision.

Emily stared at the deft movements of his blades.

The blades moved swiftly, mesmerizingly, slicing through the meat and fur of Bretnar.

Morgan swiftly gutted the beast and hung it on one of the statues.

He stood and stared at Emily with a measured look.

" Well?"

" Honestly, I'm just tired of being weak. If you want to succeed on this journey, I don't think you'll be able to do it with me as dead weight. I'll need to be able to fight.

Unfortunately for both of us, I haven't been able to tap into my ability. Yet. Apparently, it's latent. So I'd rather take the next best thing."

Morgan quietly gathered together a few splinters of wood and then created a few sparks using the blades.

Soon, the aromatic fragrance of roasted meat wafted through the air.

He sat down, slowly turning the meat over the fire.

" You make a fair point. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm the right person to teach you. I'm a student myself. I also don't know if I should teach you what I know. If it's mine to teach you anyway."

The fire crackled between them.

Morgan grabbed Blood Reaper, then froze when he looked at them.

The dark blades were pristine, almost as if they'd not been gutting and dissecting creatures.

His eyes narrowed in contemplation.

" Why didn't I notice this sooner?"

Emily noticed his look of quiet contemplation.

" What's wrong?"

He glanced at her, then lifted his blades, allowing the fire to illuminate them.

" The blades, they're...clean."

Emily scrutinized the blades quickly, realizing what he meant.

The formerly bloody blades were now spotless, shining with a silvery luster.

The Blood reaper blades that had been covered in blood just a few minutes back shone with a brilliant silvery sheen in the glow of the fire.

" Well, honestly, that's incredible. I don't know how it's happening, but I like it."

He twirled the blades, examining them.

"It's almost like they're alive."

An awkward silence passed after that. Morgan busied himself turning the meat over the fire.

He used the blades to cut it into thin strips.

" Sorry about this," he whispered.

" You're talking to the blades?" Emily asked derisively.

" Hey, they're obviously not your ordinary walk of the mill weapons, and besides, they have a name, Blood Reaper."

Morgan fell silent, his eyes widening in realization.

"Wait, now that I think about it, my blades, Professor Rundrik insisted that I name the blades...And the name I gave them...."

He turned his gaze to the blades as though truly seeing them for the first time.

" Blood reaper," he whispered.

The dual blades hummed with silent power.

The dark, silvery blades turned even darker, until it seemed like the darkness within them was fluidly rippling beneath the blades.

In the next moment, a strange kind of resonance occurred.

Morgan's eyes turned golden, then quickly reverted to their brown colour.

A surge of power flowed into him.

He shivered slightly, then his mouth opened in surprise.

Emily quizzically looked at him.

"What's going on with you?"

Morgan slowly shook his head, then chuckled.

Then the chuckle turned into a laugh.

Emily frowned, staring at him in puzzlement.

" Seriously, what's up? One moment you're quiet, then the next you're laughing for no reason?"

Morgan stopped laughing and then pierced her with a serious look.

" The blades, Blood Reaper, are actually alive. Just now, I felt power flow into me from the blades."

" How is that possible? Wait, is that why your eyes glowed for a brief moment, then reverted?"

It was Morgan's turn to look at her in puzzlement.

" Are you serious?"

Emily nodded quietly.

" Well, that's something new."

Morgan took a tentative bite out of the Bretnar meat.

His eyes widened in surprise, then he chuckled.

" The surprises just keep coming. You should try the meat, it's not half as bad as it looks. Actually, if we had salt, I'm sure it would be all the more delicious. But I can't complain."

He quickly grabbed another piece of the Bretnar meat, stuffing his mouth.

" I'd hurry if I were you; otherwise, I just might finish all this without you."

Emily grabbed a strip of the roasted meat herself, scrutinizing it with a dubious look.

She scrunched up her face and closed her eyes, taking a small bite.

She chewed quickly, then slowed down.

Her eyes slowly opened, then widened in surprise.

" How is this actually good?"

Emily's stomach grumbled loudly, with a hunger she hadn't known she had.

Morgan smiled in amusement and kept eating.

They dug into the meal with gusto, devouring the Bretnar meat almost as fast as it would finish roasting.

Afterwards, Morgan put out the fire after roasting a few strips of meat to preserve them for when they'd need food.

They quietly lay in the darkness of the temple stuffed on monster meat.

" Hey Emily, are you still awake?"

Emily stirred on the cold floor, staring silently at the statues around them.

" Yeah."

Morgan sighed loudly, then spoke in the darkness.

" About the training thing, I've decided. I'll train you. I'll tell you what I know and guide you. And we'll see about the consequences later."

In the darkness, Emily quietly smiled.

" Thanks. For everything."

Morgan scoffed, then closed his eyes, promptly falling asleep.