Blood and Ice Ch. 24

as always a huge thanks to my editor and you the reader

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Chapter Twenty Four: The Sword Of Light

"Are you sure?" grandfather asked

"I'm certain! They also spoke of a city. The infinite city." I said.

Father and grandfather looked like they would collapse

"What is so great about the sword?" I asked.

"It is said that this sword unlocks the sword of the raiders." mother said.

I turned to her "What do you mean?"

"When the clans were one there was a sword of unbelievable power. Only the royal family could wield it. But, when the clans spilt the leader at the time wouldn't give up the sword. There was a massive battle that nobody won, and they still couldn't decide whether we or the light raiders should get the sword. "

"So what happened?" I asked

"Alexander spilt the sword. I don't know how but he spilt it into two swords; the sword of shadows and the sword of light. When they are brought together they make the sword of the raiders. Who ever has it will be totally unstoppable." she said.

"Then, we're in deep crap! We have to get that sword." I said.

"But we can't lay our hands on it! Just like they can't touch the sword of shadows." father said.

I responded, "Yes, but what if we put a cloth over it like Gabriel did with the orbs?"

"But we can't get it out of the pedestal! Only a light raider can do that." grandfather said.

"Then we follow them and steal it! We can't let them have that sword." I said.

"I agree we must do anything to get that sword. Where is this infinite city?" grandfather asked.

"I have never heard of it." father said.

Everyone just looked at each other Peter entered with Luke in his arms. Peter handed my son to me and I started to feed him. Then it dawned on me.

"Peter have you ever heard of an infinite city?" I asked.

He gave me a puzzled look. "Why do you ask?"

"We need to find it." I said simply.

"Very well then, yes. It's the light raiders last out post. It's only used in extreme circumstances. They say that it's never ending which is what gave it its name." Peter said.

"What about the sword of light?"

"That's just a legend. No one really believes it; but it's said to be at the end of the infinite city which no-one has found the end of by the way." he said.

"Do you know where it is?" I asked.

"No one does, as it's just an old tale." Peter said.

Luke finished feeding I burped him and held him close knowing that soon I would be out of the castle and away from him. I looked at father, he knew what was coming and nodded.

"We're going to need to call a council and we must include James." I said.

"I agree! Drake and Alexander will stay behind to care for the women." father said.

I handed Luke back to Peter.

"Can you feed him while I'm away?"

"Yes. I can bottle feed him but I would prefer not to." he turned to my father. "My lord, is it okay that I stay and look after Luke?"

"Yes that is okay Peter. Alexandria get ready to go we will be going as soon as we can."

I left with Peter. He put Luke down in the nursery. Luke was sound asleep in seconds. I changed into my armour and went to the nursery and kissed Luke on the head. Peter came in while I was doing this.

"Will you promise me something?" I asked

"Lex you know I will do anything for you."

"If I don't come back I want you to take care of him and let him know that I love him with all my heart." I said with a tear in my eye.

Peter slid his arms around me and wiped the tear from my eye.

"Of course I will. But, you're coming back! I know you will. You can't die remember?"

"I know but something just tells me that Jess has found a way around it. I know I did so am sure she will."

Peter held me tight.

"Nothing will happen to you. You're the strongest warrior on either side. Jess hasn't been able to beat you yet, nor will she."

"But will you do what I have asked?"

"Of course and our son will know what a brave and fearsome warrior you are."

He kissed me deeply, but I broke the kiss before it led anywhere.

"I'm sorry but I need to go."

I left the nursery. It nearly broke my heart to be leaving my son but I knew he was in good hands. Spirit was ready and waiting for me. I mounted him and a stable hand handed me my helmet and my sword. My shield was already strapped to my waist and back. Father rode up next to me.

"Are you okay Alexandria?"

"I'm fine I just don't like leaving Luke alone. I know he will be looked after but if anything happened to him and I wasn't here I would feel so badly."

Father put his hand on my shoulder.

"When I was trapped in that hell I thought like that every day. I wondered where you were. Questioning if you were okay nearly drove me insane, but I had faith in you. I knew that you were strong. You are my daughter after all. Have faith in your son. He will be fine and a strong warrior."

I smiled at that thought. "Not if mother gets her claws into him he won't."

Father laughed. The rest of the council rode up next to us. James did look good in armour. He said that father had been given him lessons on how to use a sword as we rode away from the castle. My heart was heavy. I just hoped that Peter would protect our son.

"You worry too much Lex" James said.

I looked at him.

"Am I that transparent?"

"Yes! Don't worry about Luke. He will be fine. Your mother and Sarah will look after him not to mention Peter."

"I know, but I can't help it James!"

Father said "Let's get going as I want to get this over with as soon as possible so we can get home as quick as possible."

Everyone agreed and we set off. Father agreed that we should start looking in a forest that was near to where Gabriel was killed. I looked up at the mountain, then at father.

"This is too much of a coincidence for it not to be here." I said to father.

"I agree." He turned to the rest of the men. "Set up camp and start the scouting. We're looking for some sort of underground bunker. My daughter and I will search the cathedral."

I got off my horse and tied him to a tree I walked up to father I brought my wings out. Father looked at me and his jaw dropped.

"What?"

"Look at your wings!"

I looked at them but I didn't see anything wrong with them.

"What do you mean, I don't see anything!"

"Look at the size of your wings. Their twice the size of mine."

He walked around me. He stopped when he got to my back. He kneeled behind me.

"What's wrong father?"

"I think your growing a second set of wings!"

"Is that even possible?" I asked.

He walked around to face me. "It's extremely rare. It has only happened once before in our history. My mother had double wings."

"What does it mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything it's just a rare thing. You might be able to fly faster as you have the equivalent of two sets of wings. Come, let's go."

I nodded and jumped. I beat my wings twice and I was where Gabriel had died. His blood still stained the stone table. I landed next to the table. Gabriel's body was no where to be seen. Father landed next to me.

"He would have been killed anyway, if you didn't kill him. I would have found a way to do it." father said.

"I'm just afraid that I have made things worse by killing him. If he were still alive Jess wouldn't be here. If he were still alive Luke wouldn't be in any danger and I would be home raising my son." I said.

Father turned me around. I had started to cry. He looked deep into my eyes.

"Now listen to me and listen good! If you didn't kill Gabriel Luke, Jamie and Leo would be dead! In fact they wouldn't even be here as Gabriel would have invaded the castle and killed all the men and kept us captive until he found a way to kill us." father said.

"I feel like this is all my fault" I said

"No! This is Gabriel's fault. No one else's."

Father held me tight until I stopped crying. I don't know what came over me. I never cry! Father must have picked up on my thoughts.

"Don't worry. Your hormones haven't gone back to normal since giving birth to Luke. That's why your crying, so don't worry."

I looked up at father "I don't know what I would do without you father."

He smiled.

"One question father, if you and Gabriel were born here doesn't that mean you used to live here?" I asked him.

"Yes this is the last remains of the old castle that I grew up in before it was destroyed."

"Did grandfather used to live here?"

"Yes, but that was a long time ago."

"What was grandmother like?"

"You're a lot like her. She died a long time before you were born but I know she would have loved you dearly. You're named after her. She was an amazing person; deadly with the blade and stunningly beautiful."

"I wish I could have met her. She sounds amazing."

"She was! That's why I was glad you were a female, so that I could name you after her."

"How come she died? I thought your side of the family were immortal?"

Father sighed. "Unfortunately there are shades of immortality. There are true immortals such as you, me and your grandfather. Then there is false immortality. They will live forever unless killed in battle or by the sword. Your grandmother was a false immortal. She lived for nearly three thousand years before she was killed." Father shed a tear and I decided not to press the matter.

He hugged me tighter, "Come, let's go and check out the cathedral for any clues."

We spread our wings and jumped into the air. I gave my wings a few beats and I was at the foot of the white cathedral. Father and I entered. Blood still soaked the floor. The windows that I sent Gabriel through was still smashed. I remembered that there was a wooden door behind the throne. I went over to it and tried to open it. Someone had locked the damn thing.

"Any ideas?" I asked father

He nodded. He opened his wings and flew straight at it, smashing right through it.

"Didn't that hurt?" I asked with a smile.

"Yes, but it's not the first time I've had to do that." he said with a smile.

I just shook my head. I conjured a small fire as there was no light behind the door. We followed the corridor which then lead to a flight of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs there was another long corridor.

"Where do you think this leads to?"

"I honestly don't know, I have never been down here." father said.

We came across a large stone door. There were no markings on it so we had no way of knowing how to open it.

"I don't think you can smash through this one!" I said half laughing.

"No I don't think so. I think we should just leave it. There's nothing here." father said.

I nodded and we left the cathedral.

We flew back to camp. Our trip to the cathedral and back didn't take us very long. The men were still out scouting. Father built a small fire for the men. Coming back, James sat next to me. I handed him some food.

"Thanks Lex."

"Did you find anything?" I asked.

"Not a shred. It's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"We'll just have to look harder. We will find it." father said.

"Yes we will. We have to!" I said.

Damien and the rest of the men came back from their scouting. They hadn't found anything. Father was getting annoyed. He was saying that we should have moved on; but there was something telling me that it was near by and my instincts had never led me wrong! So, we stuck with it.

I fell asleep between father and James but I couldn't sleep. Something was keeping me up. I couldn't put my finger on it.

James rolled over in his sleep and touched my back. I got the all too familiar twinge in my stomach. I was flying over the trees. I finally landed on the ground. There was a small black ring on the ground. You wouldn't have seen it if you weren't looking for it.

I turned around. I felt a rush of air and I was standing at the edge of camp. I could see myself lying in between father and James another rush of air and I woke up. I sat up and looked around. There was no point in going after it tonight so I just went to sleep.

I was shaken awake by James, who handed me a plate of food; which I took. I looked around and I couldn't see father.

"Where is father?"

"He went out scouting with Michael, why?"

"I know where the infinite city is. I had a vision last night."

James turned to one of the men. "Will you go and tell Lucifer to come back to the camp."

The guard bowed and left.

"Where did you see it?"

"In that direction there." I pointed to where I saw my self standing. "There is a trap door in the ground. You wouldn't see it if you weren't actually looking for it."

"Right! As soon as your father gets back we will leave."

I got ready. I was strapping the sword of shadows to my side when father came running into camp.

"James what is wrong?!" he was panicking.

"Lucifer, there is nothing wrong. Alexandria had a vision she saw the entrance to the city so we need to leave as soon as we can."

"She did? Where is it?" father asked.

I walked over to father and pointed in the direction that I saw the door in.

"I know the men have been over that area but they wouldn't see it if they weren't specifically looking for it." I said

"Very well, get ready to leave. Should we take the horses?" father asked.

"No. We need to do this on foot." I said as I strapped my shield to my back.

"Very well, let's move out. We will follow your lead Alexandria." father said.

I left the camp and slowly walked about the forest looking for the black ring on the ground. Father was getting annoyed but I just ignored him. Three hours later, and with a very annoyed father and uncle, I finally found it. I brushed off some leaves and I looked up at father.

"Believe me now?"

Father nodded. "Okay, swords out. We don't know what were dealing with here. I will go first, James second, then my daughter. If I tell you to get out, do so and don't argue!" father said in a tone which said do it or die and don't piss me off!

Father opened the door there was a flight of stairs I went in after James it was obvious that no one had been here in a while as there were cobwebs all over the walls. Father handed me a wooden stick with cloth on it. I conjured a fire in my hand and set it on fire. I lit a few more of them so we could see where we were going.

The corridor opened up to the single largest hall I had ever seen. There were pillars upon pillars. I went over to one of them. They were made of either green marble or jade. The room was beautifully spectacular! I stood between two pillars. I looked down both ways it looked endless on either side.

"Where do we go now?" father asked.

"I don't honestly know father. I just saw how to get in."

"Very well, we will just go in one way until we know different." father said.

I looked both ways I got a gut feeling to go certain way.

"I think we should go this way father." I said, pointing down the hall.

No one objected, so off we headed. There was no light other than the torches that we had. It looked like no one had been here in a long time. We had to stop a few times as the men were getting tired. We slept for a few hours.

We lit a fire with the wood some of the men had carried in with them. All the men crowed around the fire. I noticed that Damien was sitting next to Lauren chatting away. He looked over at me and smiled, I smiled back. Father sat down next to me.

"Has anyone ever found the end of this place?" I asked father.

"This place was only a myth. As far as we were concerned it didn't exist; so I can't tell you anything about it." he said

We put out the fire and continued to walk.

After what seemed like a few days we came across a door. It had the symbol of the shadow raider royal family. Father handed me a small dagger with which I cut my hand. I grimaced against the pain and then smeared my blood over the symbol. It glowed and the door slid back.

I went in first much to fathers annoyance. The rest of the men filed in. We looked around the room but we couldn't see anything. A quick twinge in my stomach told me what to do. I went to the side of the room.

"Father can I have the torch please?"

Father handed me the torch. I held the torch to a trough of oil that lined the wall. Flames erupted and spread around the wall lighting to room up. It was then we could clearly see what was in the room. There was a small altar, and in the middle was a sword set into a stone.

Behind it was a stone arch. There was a sliver mist dancing in the middle of the arch. I approached the sword and it started to glow white.

"Don't touch it Alexandria!" father warned.

"I don't understand" I said.

"What do you mean?"

"You can't touch it since you are a shadow raider." father said.

"What I don't understand is that we needed blood from a shadow raider to get to it. I think I can touch it father." I said.

"Step away from the sword!" Jess's voice sounded from behind us. I turned to face her.

"And why would I do that?" I asked her.

Light raider guards started to fill in the small room we were out numbered at least three to one.

"Simple, you are outnumbered and you can't touch the sword, so forget it." she said.

I moved in front of the sword to block her from it. Then I drew my sword, facing her.

"You know you can't beat me Jess. I have killed you twice before."

"True but that was before I had any training, and I have taken some of Gabriel's blood!" she said smugly.

"And what would you want his blood for?" I asked.

"Now why would I tell you what we have planned?"

"It won't be we for very long if I have anything to do with it."

"We will see, now get out of the way. We have been travelling for nearly a week now." she said.

"Well, we have been travelling for three days." I said .

"That isn't possible!" she shouted.

"Oh, but it is. We found a shortcut." I said smiling.

I was glad to know that she had been travelling a lot longer than we had.

At this she got angry and lunged at me. I grabbed her and threw her to the far wall. This stunned her. I was tempted to grab the sword but I didn't. She stood up and jumped at me again. This time she caught me off guard.

We both fell to the floor. She knocked the sword of shadows out of my hands and we started to fight on the floor. I kicked her every time I could. She grabbed my hair and pulled very hard.

I let a yell out of me that was enough for father he pulled Jess off me. Before he did, I kicked her hard in the face bursting her lip and nose in the process.

"That is enough! Save this for the battlefield." he said.

I picked up the sword of shadows and slid it into its scabbard. Father let go of Jess and she ran over to the sword of light and grabbed it. There was a flash of brilliant white light that nearly blinded me. I looked over at Jess.

She was about to run out of the room. There was nothing else for it. The position was perfect and I jumped. I grabbed Jess and we both fell through the arch of sliver mist. I kept a hold of her until we landed. I looked around we were in grandfathers dungeon. Balthazar was no where to be seen. I pushed Jess off me.

"Where the hell have you brought me!?" she shouted at me.

"Where do you think?" I said back at her.

She held up her sword to face me I drew mine to face her we started to circle each other I knew this was the beginning of the end. I was about to go in for the lunge when Balthazar walked in on us circling each other.

"Your highness! What is going on?" he asked.

"Nothing I can't handle. Is my grandfather here?"

"Yes he's in his room." he said

The vision that Luke gave me flashed in my mind.

"Get everyone out of the castle. Tell my grandfather it's an order!" I said.