Spirit of the Sword Ch. 02

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Serafina resists her fate. Sin'tal strives for patience.
6.2k words
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Part 2 of the 2 part series

Updated 09/22/2022
Created 05/27/2009
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The silence of the morning was broken by the sound of a soft mewl, followed by the growl of an irate male. "Oh no, don't you dare! don't you DARE do that you little...hey! Stop that! You'll tarnish my jewels dammit! Get away from me you mongrel!"

The ranting and shouting continued, getting louder and more irate by the passing minute.

Serafina let out an aggravated huff. She really detested her next door neighbor. The man was rude, uncouth and lewd. "I wish his mouth would get sewed shut," she snarled and thumped her pillow hard in frustration. The events of last night still weighed on her as well as what to do about her now unwelcome guest.

"SERAFINA! Get this mangy mongrel feline away from me! If she makes even a SPOT of rust on this it'll ruin my value!"

Sin'tal wasn't happy, this cat who was primed to relieve itself upon his beautiful scabbard and exposed blade, had been curled up on him all night. He was pretty sure he had hair in places there couldn't possibly be.

Serafina groaned. Oh wait, that wasn't her neighbor. It was her unwelcome guest. Wait! He was threatening Dex! She surged from bed and ran out to the living room, her hair mussed and her long nightgown covering her body.

"Don't...touch...my...cat!"

The silence was deafening for a moment before the slightly surprised tone of Sin'tal broke it. "You do realize that as a sword I can't do anything right? I don't have any extremities to touch ANYTHING. Never mind a furball who is about to mark its territory on a priceless artifact."

She stopped and laughed, she couldn't help it. "Serves you right! You barge into my life, making all these demands. Maybe you need a lesson in humility."

"Demands? I hardly call them demands. But if you like I'll leave you to die next time shall I? To get eaten by whatever beast decides you look tasty, hmm? You aren't exactly being grateful for me saving your life are you?"

"Guess what? If I die then you'll get scooped back up and put in some musty museum with no one to talk to. How about that!" Serafina snarled before retrieving Dex. She stroked his calico fur and glared at Sin'tal's scabbard.

Sin'tal glared back. "Well being alone is mildly better than being dead, but if you want to test that theory go right ahead. I can guarantee you being dead isn't any better."

"You're impossible! I have to go to work. I need the money to pay my bills. You can stay here. I'll let Dex out so that he doesn't mar your precious scabbard," she sneered, angry at him and herself. She wasn't sure why. She'd never been a morning person.

"You mean the one you stole me from? I didn't think theft would have become socially acceptable, apparently it has."

Serafina nervously began to pace. "I know, I'll take the scabbard back. Say I found it outside the grounds but was too embarrassed to admit that I let such a precious piece of art get stolen."

"Oh, like they are going to believe that. Who would drop something like me? Only an idiot that's who!"

"Well what do you suggested I do, your royal pain in the ass! Rent is coming up and so is the electric bill. If I don't pay either I get evicted."

"Good, you won't be needing this place anyway. A journey lies ahead for you. You managed to do something no one has done in centuries. You must learn from a true maser of such arts to unlock your full potential."

"Master!" she sputtered. "Now wait just a minute Sin'tal. I am not a fighter. I don't wage battles. I read about them, safe and sound. I knew I shouldn't have gone into that room but no, I was trying to impress the Professor. I've ruined ten years of hard butt busting work, and for what? A talking sword with attitude who wants me to learn to fight. Oh my gods! I think I've finally lost it."

"Serafina, you have a gift that is going to waste in that horrid place. You were able to use my own power to defend yourself. To summon me to your plane of existence. That is a rare feat, only a few in all of human history have been able to do that. Without proper training, you won't be able to fight the enemies that will come for you and your power."

"ENEMIES!" she squeaked. "You're going to be the death of me!" she wailed. "Before you I never had enemies! No one even noticed me!" She abruptly sat down in a chair and clutched the purring Dex to her chest so hard the poor cat meowed a protest.

"No, the friends of the drooling growling monster we killed will be the death of you, unless you seek training. They would have noticed you sooner or later, at least this way you can learn earlier and get stronger faster."

Her head snapped up and she glared at him. "What do you mean, sooner or later?"

"The beast we killed does not exist in this world naturally Serafina. Someone summoned it to this realm, which means they can sense such powers. Eventually they would have discovered yours."

"I don't have noticeable powers because I DON'T USE MY POWERS AT ALL! This is all your fault Sin'tal!"

"You could've ignored me, you chose not to. Clearly destiny has something else in store for you."

"Destiny," she remarked dully, looking ready to cry. "You know that's the same stupid excuse my mother gave when she left me to gallivant about the universe with her drug pushing boyfriend. I was only twelve. And I told myself, never again and that destiny is a lie people tell themselves when they run out of logical reasons for stuff."

"Destiny isn't always kind Serafina, after all it had me get stuck in a sword for countless centuries."

She snorted. "I bet it was your fault that you got stuck, not destiny." She was about to berate him some more when her comm began buzzing. "Oh crap!" she stared at the number. It was the Professor's personal line.

"Actually it was and it wasn't. I was fighting a being summoned from the deepest circle of hell that was determined to destroy the world. Once I defeated it, the sorcerer took advantage of my weakened state and imprisoned me in here with his dying breath. It's the price I paid for saving the world."

"Oh." The unit continued to buzz. Making a snap decision she tossed her blanket over him. "Make sure you stay quiet. I have to answer this."

Before he could stop her, she hurried to the unit and pressed the on button. She knew she looked off, her hair all over her head, bags under her eyes. She hoped she'd be able to convince the Professor that she was sick, buy herself some time.

"Hi, Professor," she croaked, making sure to keep her voice hoarse.

"Good Morning, Serafina! First of all, I want to congratulate you on your wise decision last night! If not for your fast thinking in removing the artifact it surely would have been lost forever to those foul thieves who broke in!"

The Professor smiled at her through the video link, giving nothing about his true motivations away. He wanted to study this girl further, to see how much potential she had. He didn't want her disappearing on him.

All thoughts of lying flew out of her head at his commendation. "Uh, thank you sir! I, I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. I was scared and panicked and, well I didn't sleep well...." she trailed off. Everything she said was truth.

"That's perfectly alright my dear. it would have been such a hassle anyway if you had come in sooner. There was so much paperwork to do regarding the break in and such like. But don't worry I have covered all the interviews with the police, they won't need to speak to you so you can rest easy."

"Police?" Suddenly she felt faint. "Oh, oh," she managed, her voice barely a whisper as the enormity of her situation began to sink in. "I'm sorry sir, what should I do?"

"I want you to take a few days off to recover. Feel free to keep the artifact in your possession for the moment while we fix the security problems. Bringing it back right now would only tempt more thieves to break in."

"But, sir!" Her eyes widened in horror. Be stuck with Sin'tal for several more days? She would go crazy.

"No, no, I insist Serafina. After all only I know where you live and I am certainly not going to tell anyone where you are now am I? Right now the artifact is in the safest place it could possibly be."

"But," she stopped and admitted defeat. When the Professor issued a command, it was law. "Yes, sir," she acknowledged, beyond unhappy with her situation.

"Excellent! Now rest up young lady, I want to see you bright and bushy tailed on your return!"

"Yes, Professor." she stared at the now dark screen. "I am so screwed," she whispered. She walked over and moved the blanket off Sin'tal. "Sorry," she said automatically even though she didn't have to.

"That was a strange conversation, given how valuable I am, any normal person would have been frantic with worry over me not being in their possession."

"Maybe your ego makes you think they would be frantic. The Professor knows I am honest and keep my word. He worries less about my behavior than most employers would," Serafina replied haughtily.

"Serafina, if you owned an artifact worth enough to buy an entire continent wouldn't you be just the slightest bit curious as to the condition it was in?"

She opened her mouth to deny it but thought better of it. Sin'tal's question was valid and it made her uncomfortable to admit it. She opted for crossing her arms and staring at a point above him at the wall.

"So, what are you going to do now that you still have a job with your creepy boss who apparently isn't concerned about the condition of the artifact he spent a fortune to recover?"

"You know what? I don't have to answer to you. I'm going to go shower, AWAY from you. I'm tired and dirty and I want to get clean and clear my head." She petted Dex who was twining around her ankles. "You can sit there and keep being melodramatic." She stomped from the room, refusing to look back at Sin'tal.

"Serafina, you just got up. How can you be tired after so much sleep? Besides it's not like showering will do any good, five seconds on this sofa and you'll be covered in cat hair anyway."

"Go fall into a fire and burn up, you aggravating sword!" she hollered back at him before slamming her bathroom door.

"Oh, yes, like metal can burn. really accurate with your facts you are." He was getting a bit aggravated with her attitude. He should've simply left her to die at this rate.

"I heard that!" she snapped, her voice muffled by the door.

"Good! Shows you aren't becoming deaf as well as ungrateful!"

Dex chose that moment to walk over to Sin'tal and rub against the sword, purring rather loudly.

"And you can get lost too, you filthy mongrel! Not that you can understand or even hear me. At this rate I should've just let that sorcerer destroy the world. It's hardly grateful for me saving it."

Dex meowed and bumped the sword hard enough to knock it over. He sniffed it once and then with a disgusted grunt walked away, tail swishing as he went to his food bowl.

Sin'tal sighed and muttered to himself thinking back through his memories to his old life...to his daughter whom he had wanted to train before he was gone. "Oh Delaquin, what did I do to deserve this?"

"Who is Delaquin?" Serafina softly asked from the hall.

"No one, finish your shower you smell like a litter box." He fell silent now, a first for him.

She tossed him an angry glare and stomped away. Twenty minutes later she returned with a contrite expression on her face.

"Sin'tal?"

He was quiet, still brooding, replying only with a "Mmm?"

She walked over and kneeled before him. Carefully she picked him and held the sword up near her face. "Sin'tal, I'm sorry. I've been treating you rather rudely and there's no call for it. Please, accept my apology for my bad manners."

"It's fine, I should've expected it. It's not like anyone ever shows any appreciation when I do something nice like save their life or the world or buy them a birthday present from the far east. Or understand that I can't make their wedding because I'm busy running for my life from a horde of angry Mongolians."

Serafina looked away, ashamed that she'd hurt his feelings. She inadvertently clutched the blade and didn't notice that it bit into her hands. She felt tears fall at the sadness behind his gruff words.

"Serafina, don't grip me so tightly, you'll cut yourself...like you just did." He sighed softly, "I take it you know how to put a bandage on, yes? Looks like I'm going to have to teach you about sword safety as well."

"Oh!" She stared at her hands, uncomprehendingly. "Bandages? Oh, bandages!" She looked at the bloody cuts. "I'll be right back." She placed the sword upright against her sofa and headed for the bathroom. She came back with several towels and a cup of water.

She spread a towel on the floor, picked up Sin'tal and poured the water down the length of the sword, washing away her blood. She was careful not to drip any more of her blood on him. Cleaning him first was the least she could do.

After putting him back down, she awkwardly began wrapping her own hands in bandaging.

"Are you always this careless with your own health?" There was a tone of concern in his voice.

Serafina looked at him. "Careless? What do you mean? I'm healthy."

"You just gripped a sword you knew to be razor sharp, firmly and ended up cutting yourself. That's pretty careless."

"Oh!" She blushed. "I didn't really feel it." Her expression changed and then just as quickly vanished. "I'll be careful next time. No bleeding on the sword. I guess that's some sword rule somewhere," she joked.

"If it was we'd never use them to cut people up, would we?"

She laughed. "Yes, I suppose this is true. So what do you want to do now? I know the Professor wanted me to watch over you but I'm not used to just sitting idly at home."

"Do whatever you want, you aren't interested in learning to defend yourself so why does my opinion matter?"

"Sin'tal," she sighed and decided not to argue. "It's not that I'm not interested, it's just, I, uh, nevermind. You wouldn't understand. Look, it's a nice day, I'll take you on a tour of the city."

"Serafina, I've been around for centuries, thousands of years. Seen countless ages of history and peoples. What could I not understand?"

She scooped the sword up and the scabbard. "Fighting isn't always the answer," she whispered, staring off into the distance.

"It is when someone is trying to kill you. I know that for certain."

"Fighting only gets you dead." She shook her head, pushing away her memories. "Let's go." She slid the sword into the scabbard, grabbed her bag and left the apartment.

"Well I'd have rather died fighting than spend centuries like this. Do you have any idea of how boring sitting in a tomb for two centuries was?"

"No, I don't. Is there a way to free you?" she asked hoping that if she switched topics he wouldn't complain about his boredom.

"Yes, but you would only die if you tried. It is a long an treacherous journey."

She bit her bottom lip. "But if it would set you free....I, I'll have to think on it."

"Serafina, you barely survived that first minion that almost killed you. It was a mindless creature summoned by someone. What are you going to do when you don't get another fluke of unlocking your abilities?"

She blushed and stared down at the sidewalk. "I don't know." She didn't say anything else as she slid into her vehicle and placed him next to her in the passenger seat.

"I can tell you what you will do, you will cry and you will die. Simple as that, unless you train and get better."

She huffed and started the car. She gripped the wheel tightly and winced at the burning pain in her hands. Sin'tal was right, she'd never make it. But what was she supposed to do? "Maybe I can find someone to help you. Someone better qualified than me. Someone with money and skills," she babbled.

He laughed softly and his gaze was fell on her. "Only the one who can unlock my powers can do this quest Serafina. You are the only one to be able to do that in all the time I have been imprisoned within this blade. I'd rather not wait for the next one."

Serafina turned down a side alley that cut through a back road and would lead her to a park. No one went there anymore which was a shame considering how quiet and beautiful it was.

They arrived and she slid out of the car. "Come, Sin'tal, I want to show you something."

She'd only gotten a few feet from the car when a tremor raced through her. She gulped and felt her gut tighten. Something was wrong. She backed up a step, her head swinging back and forth as she looked to see what had made her wary.

A feeling of tension came from Sin'tal, he had felt it's presence too. "Get back in the car, right now Serafina."

"What is that feeling?" she muttered and took another step back as a second tremor hit her. She didn't see anything but every part of her was screaming that danger was near. "Yeah, car. Sounds good." She spun and turned to run.

"You might wanna run a little faster, it's coming quickly. Drive as fast as you can out of here."

"Right!" she ran toward the car but didn't make it as a huge monstrous thing landed in front of her.

"Oh great, now I get to watch you die. Well that's brilliant."

"Oh, no, no, no!" she screamed and hastily backed up. "Go away! I don't want to fight, I just want to get in my car and...AH!" she yelled and started running as the monster came after her at a determined run.

Sin'tal sighed and looked the beast up and down as he was carried by his terrified owner. It had wings, a spiked tail, razor sharp claws and was...purple? Who the hell had summoned this thing? Someone on a bad acid trip? It's oozing red eyes did little to dissuade him that its creator was a little unstable, either that or had far too much time on his hands. "Running won't help Serafina, you have to fight it. Or would you prefer to die?"

"I...don't...think...so!" she panted in fear as she crashed into the brush, ran, tripped and hit the ground knocking the breath out of her.

"Well it's either fight or die. Feel free to take your time to decide, it's only catching up to us quickly. It looks pretty hungry."

"Sin'tal what do I do!" She wailed and pulled him free of the scabbard.

"First of all you need to stop panicking and run towards that thick set of trees. The narrow gaps should slow it down a bit."

"Right!" she grunted as she came to her feet and sprinted for the area he had indicated. She had a pain in her side and knew it was from being out of shape.

He looked around the area and hmm'd out loud as he thought of a plan. "Well since you are about as fit as a very fat person We'll have to do this the hard way. I hope your arms are stronger than they look."

"What?" she squeaked, angry at his name calling. "My arms are fine!" she huffed.

"Good, now when it tries to squeeze through that larger gap in the tree, I want you to run to that larger tree in front of it and swing as hard as you can through its trunk so it falls on the beast."

Serafina was confused. "Won't that shatter the sword? Oh my god, are you trying to get killed!"

"Serafina, this blade is made of the hardest substance on the planet. Sharpened by a master swordsmith. A tree isn't going to even scratch my blade."

She was dubious but she trusted him. "I'm ready," she whispered, her breathing harsh with fear.

"All right, wait until it is between those two trees. Don't swing till it's half way through."

Serafina braced herself, she felt a trembling start and quickly quelled it. "Focus, focus," she whispered. The giant monster crashed through the brush and headed straight for her.

Her hands were sweaty but when the beast reached the halfway mark, fear lent her strength and she swung the sword with all her might into the tree trunk. She was shocked when the sword slid smoothly through the tree and it toppled down on to the monster.

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