Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 10

The sword recovered and claimed in the heat of battle by his eldest son. A battlemage, Blade Singer. He added freedom of movement to the blade before being cut down in battle 2 hours later. Thus far the shortest wielder of any Moon Blade wielder.

The years of wars took its toll on Moon Blades as they went from 14 to 11. Moon Blade and New Moon's Moon Blades had been confirmed destroyed. Attempt to repair the blades failed within the Capital. While Dusk Moon's Blade bastard sword status was unknown.

Varus'Nor jumped family lines into a descendant of Lerian and Millia down six generations. A blade singer sorcerer named Vexeron'Via who was half snow-elf. He was sent on a mission into human lands to find the Goldeagle Moon Blade by King Goldeagle.

His search led him to a feudal land overseen by a Barron Brocktell. Rarely seen among the people the Barron lived in a floating keep above the land he controlled. The keep kept inside of a pair of dragon shields. A sphere. The only way to access the keep was through an agent in the town. This agent was considered dispensable; threatening to kill him would lead to a response of 'Go ahead I got a hundred to replace him.'

This had been witnessed by many in the town. The agent looked for two forms of talent. Those who could perform and those who issue a challenge for a duel. A fight to the death. The images of the fight being displayed to the masses to show the fights were honorable. The contestants eligible to make these challenges had to prove their martial ability in a 'pit fight' with no spellcasting allowed; no potions or wands in the pit.

Only the champion of a tournament could issue the challenge. Only after the fight was over. All fights were to the death in an eight-tier matchup. Vexeron entered the tournament and though severely wounded by a couple of competitors he won the tournament. He exhausted all of the healing potions as access to a cleric was also forbidden. He realized he had been put through a 'gauntlet.' To drain his resources.

He activated a crystal back to Left Eye to report his location and to keep communications open but silent. He was teleported up and into an enlarged Blade Singer arena. His opponent appeared; He was a polymorphed Black half-dragon duelist.

Vexeron asked, "A half-black dragon. When I kill you does this all belong to me?"

The 'Barron' laughed, "Sure. If you somehow kill me this is yours. Your blade will complete my collection. All 12 functional Moon Blades. That will be another billion to your King for sending you. With a 5 billion gold pieces bonus for completing my collection. Only 6 of the 11 made it this far. The others collected from the pit. One I collected separately."

Vexeron looked at him, "You want me to believe I was sent here to give you my blade."

He smiled, "First it was Find Dusk Moon's blade given to the Goldeagle blade wielder. He made it here. Tired, weak, and broken. Like you. He put on a good show for the people. The King was happy to have that one out of the way. He came to watch that fight in person. They get to watch the display but they hear none of this banter.

Then the others were sent after his family blade, one by one. Dusk Moon, I lured him off of the battlefield and into an arena like this. That bastard sword hurt when it connected. The one and only time he hit me. Before I ran Spell Catcher through his fucking heart. I even used this sword to kill my black dragon father. That got me my first fortune. I have killed 40 dragons with this sword. Your death will be much quicker."

Vexeron scoffed, "You fought 40 dragons alone?"

He laughed, "No with a few human armies. Not all at the same time. I taught a couple of drow females how to create these shields with me. They are tied into a control crystal accessible by this sword. They happily cast the spell to bind their spirits into the shield to make them permanent. They had gotten old.

We have watched your people for a long time. I am no champion, but I did find a relic to extend my life and then this sword. I have collected so many, I age mere seconds to every day. Enough talk. I asked for your blade to be last. The designs for this keep inspired by your very ancestors.

Tomorrow your King will announce your non-aggression pact with me. Warning any attack on my people would result in your relics being sent to different planes of existence. They are free of course to go through the tournament and fail like the other competitors...as you will."

They squared off. Vexeron had no blade songs and with the field being set so low it would not have mattered. This was a straight-up melee contest. One that lasted all of two minutes with him working to get this half-dragon to wear down. He landed several critical shots that did not take effect.

Varus'Nor told him, "He appears immune to critical hits."

Vexeron rolled away, "Immune to critical hits. Interesting."

The half-dragon laughed, "You are the first to figure that out. Like you, I am a gestalt. I am a summoner. I bound a Protean. I let him unleash chaos when the need arises. If I were to die the first person he will try and kill is you. That weapon fucking hurts. The Dragons Bane is strong in that weapon. Now it is my turn."

Vexeron thought, "Add immunity to critical hits."

Varus'Nor did not have a chance to respond. The half-dragon rolled forward and ran his rapier straight through Vexeron's rib cage and his 'dagger' came in from the side and extended into a full-length rapier as it critically and fatally killed Vexeron.

Left-eye heard the half-dragon talking to the corpse, "Now to get you properly cooked."

The agent let the crystal go dead. He picked up another crystal, "Guard, this is Left Eye. I need to speak with your patron in private."

The guards called inside and the Patron came out, "You needed to talk with me?"

He sighed, "In private. It must be in private."

The patron cleared the area, "We are secure. What is wrong?"

He sat down and recounted the events. Everything he documented and had pulled from the logs in Left Eye. The accusations and the implications.

The patron sighed, "You contact me tomorrow or when you are on shift. I have others to talk with. Thank you for informing me."

He went inside and found his two widows, Brena and Starista, the master enchanter, in addition to the family Cleric to the Lady of Dreams and Corellon Larethian. They knew already because of the wedding rings. While not a champion he had used the champions rings for his own wedding. They sat there and cried. They prayed together for an answer. The answer came to them, to the Master Enchanter. A horrific answer.