Spirit of the Sword Ch. 01

Serafina whirled around but saw no one. She giggled nervously. "I need to lay off the wine."

Behind her the doors swung closed with a loud thud, a soft clicking of sharp, hard points sounding on the marble floor. To make it the perfect trio of terrifying menace, a long low animalistic growl was heard, not quite of this world. It sounded big, very big and very, very hungry.

Serafina let out a squeak of fear and spun around, trying to pinpoint the sound of the noise.

The doorway had suddenly grown dark, the shadows sucking in the light around them. Within that dark swirling mass, a pair of blood red glaring eyes could be seen. Slowly a snarl began to form, a huge mass of razor sharp pointed teeth showing. It took a step, the shadows dragging along its form, clinging to it as a huge wolf-like paw came into view followed by a snout covered in gruesome scars while drool dripped from its mighty jaws.

Its fur was dark, short hair, steam rising from its solid iron muscles. Its ears were ragged and a long scar crossed the left side of its face. It was true. Monsters did roam these hallways at night.

Serafina shrieked in terror, stumbled backward and crashed into the pedestal, which wobbled and sent the sword flying. "Oh, no! Professor's going to kill me!" Evil monster forgotten, she dove for the sword and caught the scabbard. Thrown off-balance she fell forward and managed to tuck herself around the sword as she bounced down the steps and hit the pathway knocking the breath out of her. She lay there wheezing. At least I didn't scratch the sword, she thought as her body tried to remember how to breathe.

Her peace was short lived as the sound of those monstrous paws approaching the pedestal rang out. Slowly its dark ferocious head loomed over the stairs, glaring down at her. With a deep breath, it let out a terrifying roar that shook the very floor beneath her! All it saw before it was a thief who had stolen one of its master's artifacts.

"Don't hurt me!" she yelped and clutched the sword closer to her body as she scrambled to her feet. She had to get out of here!

It growled again, baring its huge fangs as its jaws opened, a long forked tongue snaking out and licking its lips. It took another step forward. Its enormous pitbull like form seeming to grow more menacing with each step.

She contemplated running but after giving the monster an appraising glance, figured she wouldn't make it. What I need is help, she thought desperately.

It took another step forward, drawing closer with every breath. As if toying with her for its amusement. It snapped at her, barely missing her with its bite.

"I am so going to die." She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that her death would be swift.

The beast was above her now, growling long and low. A long strand of drool slowly stretched out from its gums, landing on her stomach, soaking her shirt.

She screamed, her eyes coming open and without thinking she swung the scabbard with the sword up toward the monster's mouth to knock it away from her.

The scabbard slid smoothly away from the pristine blade, humming with power. She could hear someone scream something. It sounded like 'Spirit Form'.

Then there was simply light...a bright blinding light and a roar upon the air, not of voice, but as if reality itself was tearing.

In front of her was a man in flowing robes, the sword held firmly in his hands. Around him a swirling vortex of energy flowed with a soft green light, leaving trails of smoke in the air as it spun.

His knees bent as he held the sword low, looking back at her for a moment and winking. In that same instant, he launched himself forward, the blade held high, slicing through the air before him as it swung down with tremendous power.

The hall shuddered with the force of the blow. The grotesque sound of sword splitting skull reverberated around the room, sharply followed by the long death wail of the horrifying beast and then the hard thud as it collapsed.

As the man landed, the beast began to evaporate. Its life force turning to dust in the air, flowing around the swordsman, being absorbed by him. Finally the light disappeared. The sword clattered on the ground with a metallic clang. The swordsman was gone...

All else was silent. The hall was back to normal, as if there had been no beast there at all. Serafina sat, scabbard clutched tightly, mouth agape, and eyes wide. "What? What? How? Huh? I...." Dazed she stared at the sword. It was several minutes before reason asserted itself and she scooped the sword up and started to put it back in its scabbard.

As it slid back in the blade shimmered, a face, not hers, reflecting back from the polished steel. Once again, a voice was heard. It wasn't a whisper this time. It was a deafening shout. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Ah!" she dropped the sword and the scabbard. "Oh gods, I've lost my mind! I'm hearing voices from inanimate objects! I must have bumped my head, yes that's it!" she babbled and stared at the sword.

The voice continued to shout. "AH! IT'S GOOD TO KNOW SOMEONE CAN FINALLY HEAR ME!!"

The volume was excruciating, as if someone had set off a horn inside her mind. Serafina grabbed her head. "Please, you're too loud! You're hurting me!"

The voice quieted to a normal level. "Oh, sorry! My voice hasn't reached anyone before. I wasn't sure how much of it was getting through."

"Trust me, a lot of it." She winced and touched her nose. She was surprised to find blood dripping from it. "Next time, please keep it at this level."

"Of course, my thanks to you, Serafina. I am in your debt for unlocking the sword. I feared I would be stuck speaking to these fossils for eternity. Oh, if you wouldn't mind, pick me up please. It's strange looking at you from such an odd angle."

"Oh, yes! Wait! How do you know my name?" She picked up the sword and glared at it. "Where did you go?"

"Hmm? Oh that's because we have a spiritual connection now. As for going somewhere, I'm still here. It's not like I have legs to run with."

"That's not what I meant smart butt! I mean, I don't see you in the sword like before."

"Oh that happens from time to time, when someone with particularly strong spiritual vision abilities touches me. However, this would be the first time that I have been both seen and heard. Usually it's one or the other. You must be something rather special I imagine."

Serafina blushed and instantly denied his words. "Me, special? Ha! Maybe being stuck in the sword has rattled your brains or something."

"Serafina, you are sitting in an empty gallery in an empty museum, speaking to a spirit sealed inside of a cursed sword. If you were not special, no doubt every fool who picked me up would have been able to speak to me and I would not have gone centuries between conversations, would I?" His tone was drenched in sarcasm and patience. However, his tone held a hint of patience wearing thin.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Mister, um, Sword, sir."

"Sin'tal, you may call me Sin'tal. Now if you wouldn't mind I believe it would be best if we were to escape from this place before something else turns up to satisfy its hunger."

"More monsters?" Serafina didn't mean to sound shrill but the thought of another one of those slobbering, giant creatures made her stomach hurt. "Where do I take you? Oh, what am I saying! I need to take you to the Professor. He'll know what to do."

"No! We must leave now. You must trust me when I say that the farther we get from this place the better. We cannot afford to risk another encounter before you have rested."

"Wait! What does me resting have to do with anything?" She retrieved the scabbard but did not put the sword in it as she started walking down the path to the door. Oh man, the Professor's going to kill me! I'm going to lose my job and then who will.... No, I will not think about it right now, she mentally admonished herself.

"Serafina listen to me, we must leave, now! Something else will appear if we do not escape while we have the chance!"

Hearing the urgency in his tone, she picked up the pace until she was running for the door, which seemed to keep getting farther away. "I...don't...remember...it being...that...far," she complained, slightly winded from her exertions.

"That is because you have exerted yourself greatly tonight. It is natural for you to be drained and more easily exhausted right now. You must persevere though. Once we escape, I will tell you why."

Finally she made it to the door and fumbled with the keys before selecting the correct one. Her vision was growing blurry. "Must stay awake," she mumbled and tripped over her feet. The last time she'd felt this exhausted was during freshman finals. She'd taken energy pills to help her study. The day after finals were over she'd basically passed out, she was that drained. Serafina was afraid that that might happen now before she could get Sin'tal to safety.

Sin'tal could only watch as she opened the doors and stumbled down the corridor. "Careful, Serafina. Take your time. A broken ankle will do us no good."

"A broken ankle," she giggled. "You're worrying about a broken ankle? You're funny, sword man. Hey, I like that. Sword man, sword man," she sang, her light soprano voice filling the air as she continued the chant.

Sin'tal's words were reflective. "I keep forgetting exhaustion can do strange things to humans. We will have to be more careful next time."

Abruptly she stopped singing and stared stupidly at the door before leaning against the nearby wall and closed her eyes. "So sleepy. Just a quick nap, Sin'tal."

"No, Serafina, you can't sleep here it's not safe!" When she didn't respond he sighed. "Fine then..." He took a deep breath and at the top of his metaphorical lungs, he bellowed, "WWWAAAKKKEEE UUUPPP!!!"

Pain, hot and hurtful, hit her mind and scorched her nerves. She screamed, dropped the sword and the scabbard and clutched at her head. "Stop yelling at me!"

"Well, then, get up and get moving, before something else turns up to finish the job the first one started. I won't be able to save you again tonight."

"Thanks," she grumbled and shakily got to her feet. She picked up sword and scabbard and pushed open the door leading to the main foyer of the museum.

"You might want to sheath me. Even in my time city guards didn't take kindly to people walking around with their swords drawn."

"Oh, right!" Hastily she did as instructed. She looked around for something to cover her precious burden with. She knew the guards. All brawn and no brains. They would not hesitate to hurt her. She found an old black sheet near a crate and snatched it up. She wrapped her cargo up in it so that it looked like an awkward package.

"Ah that's better. It was getting chilly out there. Now, let us hurry to somewhere safe," Sin'tal's tone was more pleasant.

She nodded and strove for a casualness she did not feel as she went toward the front doors. The guards would be outside it. Sin'tal better be worth all this hassle!

"Oh, don't worry, I am, Serafina." Smugness emanated from the sword. He was glad to finally be free of that place. The other spirits there were boring him to tears with their age-old stories of simply sitting there while people merely looked at them.

Somehow Serafina doubted his words.. Sin'tal had a rather over-exaggerated sense of importance but she was used to men with egos. So she let it slide. But this reading her thoughts was going to have to stop. A girl had to have some privacy!

"Trust me, after the first three centuries, privacy is so overrated. So where are we going? You haven't thought about it since we left the gallery."

The guards glanced at her for a moment but ignored her, they didn't even bother stopping her for the sword. The closest they came to doing anything was the largest tipping his cap towards her and stating, "That's a nice replica you have there miss, it's nice to see the professor sharing some of them."

"Yes, he's starting to come around to Kate's marketing idea of selling replicas to the public." Serafina had to resist the urge to blush. It was a bad habit she had. Every time she got nervous, she blushed. Having Sin'tal talking at the same time was distracting. "Not overrated," she mentally hissed at him. "And I don't know where to go," she added for good measure.

"Perhaps home? That would be a start." He had a superior tone in his voice, as if she had just asked what one plus one equalled.

Serafina gritted her teeth and peered around to make sure no one followed. She made it to her hover car and got in. She carefully placed her burden in the seat beside her. "You, be quiet." She waggled a finger at the sword in warning. "What I really need is a drink," she grumbled and started the engine.

"Oh yes. Drinking and flying, that's an excellent idea. Do you know how many craters I've ended up in because someone thought that was a good idea?"

Serafina's patience finally snapped. "Shut up! I'm done listening with you! You are not my father!"

"No, I'm not. But I am the one who saved your life tonight."

"Saved my life? You're the reason I almost lost it in the first place! Whispering and stuff, calling me in a room I shouldn't be in. Teasing me like Ro--. Never mind."

"Well it was either that or be stuck there for all eternity. You should be grateful. A near death experience will do you a world of good."

"In what universe do you think that statement is true? Because last time I checked, nearly dying doesn't help anyone!"

"It helped me, took away my fear of dying and made me into a legendary swordsman. You'll be fine. By the way, the guy sitting beside you in his car is looking at you like you're crazy."

Serafina turned to glare at the gawking driver. "Great, just great. Now I'll get reported! Can this night get any worse?"

"Sure it can. You might crash the car because you were focusing on me. You could be horribly maimed for the rest of your life and confined to your bed till you die."

"Oh well, thanks for the pick-me-up Mr. Oh-so-sarcastic! I'm not speaking to you anymore." Serafina shut up and concentrated on heading to her favourite bar, Montgomery Scott's Pub, located down town and twenty minutes from her house. She was going to get a drink and she was leaving the sword in the hover car while she did so. She wasn't sure what Sin'tal's range was on reading her thoughts but she needed space.

"Try about 500 miles and you'll still hear me screaming in your ear. If you leave me in this car I will do something that will drive you insane. Someone might steal me. Then you'd be totally screwed."

She ignored him until she parked the car outside the pub. "I'm going inside. Behave while I'm gone," she sternly ordered as she powered down the engine and got out. She locked her vehicle and quickly headed inside.

The sound of him clearing his metaphorical throat and a breath being drawn in was heard before he began to sing one of the most annoying songs in the entire world. "Ooohhh.... I know a song that'll get on your nerves. Get on your nerves. Get on your nerves. I know a song that'll get on your nerves, get right on your nerves." This would be the theme for tonight and he wasn't planning on stopping until she came back for him.

Serafina had barely made it inside the pub when Sin'tal's voice filled her head. "Argh! That's ghastly!" she snapped aloud and was rewarded with concerned stares by some of the pub's patrons. "Sorry, long night." She gritted her teeth and went up to the counter. "I need your strongest drink, now."

The singing continued drowning out the other sounds around her, as its relentless repetition drilled into her mind. He was thoroughly enjoying this. It had been centuries since he had been able to do things like this.

Serafina sat down in the seat hard, her expression bleak. He really was going to sing until she got back in the car. "I will not be manipulated," she whispered softly though her head was pounding. The bartender pushed a glass in her hand and she gulped it down. She didn't feel any better. "Another one please."

The bartender raised an eyebrow but went to get her another one.

The singing got gradually louder and a little faster till it was as if Sin'tal was not even taking a breath in between verses. He had added a clapping beat to it now, which served only to make it even more irritating.

She finished the second drink and considered a third but the bartender cleared his throat. She looked up at him. "What?"

"Miss, your nose. It's bleeding."

"What?" She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a small mirror. The bartender was right. Her nose was bleeding. "I have to go." She put her cred chips on the counter. "Keep the tip."

She staggered past a group of drunk young men and ignored their catcalls as she unlocked her car. "I'm going to kill you Sin'tal!" she snarled.

"I'd be impressed if you could kill an inanimate object. I told you that you shouldn't have left me behind. I've been on my own for almost a thousand years. A little company isn't much to ask for is it?"

"Insufferable male! And YES, it is too much to ask!" Serafina tried to fight back tears but then started crying.

"Hey! Hey now, what's the crying for? Jeez it was just singing! Is this how you plan on reacting when the next thing comes to kill you? That'll be a whole bundle of fun."

His words made her cry harder. She couldn't seem to stop. Serafina had never considered herself a brave person and all the events of the night and her exhaustion had finally caught up with her.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, Serafina. It's ok, stop crying."

Her tears slowed but did not abate. Subdued, she started the car and drove home. When they arrived at her home, she had stopped crying. She was completely drained and all she wanted was the comfort of her bed. She scooped up the sword and carried it inside.

Serafina looked around at her tiny apartment. It was only a one-bedroom unit with an even smaller bathing facility. It was sparsely populated with furnishings because she had no money to buy expensive things. Getting a job as an assistant to Professor might have been a perk but that didn't equate to tons of money. She put the sword on her sofa.

"I think I'm going to bed now." She turned away. Maybe in her sleep she would be free of his voice.

"Indeed, you will need your strength tomorrow to find a new job. I somewhat doubt they'll want to employ you after this."

Serafina stopped in tracks. "Maybe your candor and sarcasm were considered boons from wherever you're from but here it is considered the height of rudeness to speak to others like you do. Good night," she stated firmly and marched into her room and slammed the door.

"Well you are the one who unlocked me. Obviously you did that for a reason. As for rude, I find being left in a car far ruder than anything I have done tonight. Maybe you should look in the mirror first before you start slinging accusations!"

"Not listening!" her voice was muffled by the door but her words were clear.

"If you like, I can start singing again till you start listening. Pretty sure I can remember the words to Henry the Eighth if I put my mind to it." His tone was serious, yet playful at the same time.

In the bedroom, Serafina grabbed her pillow and covered her head. Not that it would do any good when his voice was as loud as any telepath's. She'd promised herself after her break up with Roger that she would stay away from obnoxious, bossy, intruding males and now look. She had a talking sword with a male persona who fit the requirements of the "Stay away do not go near that man!" category. Only she would be able to make the same mistake twice and in such a short time span.

"The gods must really hate me." She sighed and tried to get some sleep.

"I'm nothing like that thank you very much. If you knew how to handle a sword, I wouldn't have to be this bossy. But we'll sort that out when the time comes. As for gods...if they hated you, try being stuck in a sword for over three millennia. Then ask yourself that again...."