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Chronos, Chapter 11
🕑 Added 2022-04-18 22:15:11 +0000 UTCChapter 11 – Blade Lore
The tome was, at least, organized alphabetically, so it did not take me long to find the entry for Teldranath.
“Let us see here. The first reports of Teldranath come from the mid-twelfth century BCE. Made in Egypt, in the style of a khopesh. Hmm. This is interesting.”
Miss Mysterious leaned in. “What is it?”
Looking up at her, I said, “According to Naifeh, Teldranath was forged from ‘the heart of a fallen star’ and ‘infused with the bones of a dragon’, set in a hilt made from the wood of the world-tree, and wrapped in leather made from the wings of demons. The heart of a fallen star would be meteoric iron, or starmetal, as some called it. That alone would give the blade significant magical potential. However, adding the bones of a dragon? That probably meant using dragon bone instead of other sources of carbon for making the iron into steel.”
The mage drew in a quick breath. “Oh, goddess! That kind of power, especially back then, would have been insane! How did they break down the bones to use in the forge, though? That isn’t something you can just do with normal hammers!”
“I expect that we would find the answer to be the same as ‘how did they get the forge hot enough to meld the dragon bones with iron to make steel’: magic. Whoever first crafted the blade, which is something that Naifeh could not verify, was likely a skilled mage, to say the least. That much, I’m willing to accept on the face of it. But what bothers me is the timing of this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Steel, as an invention, can only be traced back to about 1800 BCE, just a few hundred years earlier. However, those were in places more richly endowed with iron ore than the deserts of Egypt, which was not known for its iron works until after the Greeks and Romans brought their armies to visit. This much, however, could be explained away.
“However, there is more that bothers me. Naifeh states, that, on the one chance he had to view the sword, that it showed the distinctive pattern of the ‘Damascus Style’. If, by that, we take him to mean Damascus or Wootz steel, then that is something that did not come into creation until somewhere between 400 and 500 BCE. So, the question then becomes, how was a blade forged with techniques that wouldn’t be invented for hundreds of years?”
Skytalon leaned forward, now starting to become interested in the conversation. “Are you suggesting that, what, a time traveler took the blade back in time with them?”
“Possible, but the question then becomes why? Why go back in time with that blade? If you can travel freely in time, why not go forward, to the far future, beyond even our own time, and bring back a handheld rail gun?”
I sighed. “I find it more likely that someone with the knowledge was transported back in time, and made the blade with what they knew, or someone from that time was able to glimpse into the future, and learned of the power of steel, and how to make Damascus steel. The question then becomes why there aren’t more Damascus steel blades in ancient Egypt? Even if they weren’t as insanely overpowered as this one blade, there should have been examples of more weapons, but there aren’t.”
Miss Mysterious nodded slowly. “In which case, the obvious answer is that the maker was probably killed, either to tie up loose ends, or perhaps even as part of the enchantment process. What does the book say on the matter? I can’t read Arabic.”
“Hmm. There is no mention of the maker, however, there is a record of the process of enchanting the blade. Naifeh calls it a history, but it reads as myth and legend. However, if it is true, then the enchantment was definitely done in the style of the oldest enchantments.”
“He means that there’s human sacrifice involved,” Miss Mysterious explained to her boss.
“And not just one or two, I’m afraid. ‘And lo, did Ra-en-ka-neb take the blade, and bathed it in the blood of man, woman, and child, offering up one hundred and twenty-seven souls to feed the growing power within. But his work was thwarted by Uat, the Singer, and she felled Ra-en-ka-neb with his own blade, completing the fell ritual of enchantment.’
“’From the rising sun came the light of the First Dawn made itself manifest, called from the dawn of the first day to reside within the blade forevermore. And from the sky descended a column of fire, made of the pure flames of creation, stolen from their keeper in the moment after the start of time itself. Thus was born the blade of Fire and Creation, the slayer of Life and Death. Teldranath the Soul-Cleaver.’”
“Well, that isn’t ominous at all,” Skytalon frowned.
Paging forward, I said, “There is some history here, talking about those who have carried the blade. At some point, it was bound, so that its light would be hidden, unless called upon. Further bindings were placed upon it, making it so that a wielder must unlock the true power of the blade in order to wield it.”
“So, Chronos might not have unlocked the blade’s full power?”
“Oh, I think it is likely that he has unlocked a mere fraction of it, since you have never seen him raising the dead, or cleaving people’s souls in two, or some of the more insane things the blade is capable of, according to the lore. Or, perhaps, he has had to re-unlock some powers. It wasn’t uncommon, after the Pulse, to have people who needed to regain powers that had been stripped from them by this System. So, depending on how extensive his own powers are, he might not have been able to fully unlock the blade’s abilities.”
Skytalon breathed a sigh of relief. “That… actually makes me feel a lot better. The idea of someone like that walking around with a weapon of ultimate power is frightening.”
Shaking her head, Miss Mysterious countered, “Well, with the System, the weapon wouldn’t be ultimate power anymore. I’m fairly sure that all its abilities would count as Magic, after all. So, anyone immune to Magic would be able to ignore the sword’s attacks, even when it was fully unlocked. However, finding someone who is immune to Magic naturally is tough, and, as Doctor Livingston said, a ritual to confer that immunity would require quite a sacrifice to balance the scales.”
Skytalon looked at me, and said, “What would be the cheapest way, with the least sacrifice, to gain immunity to magic?”
“The cheapest way, without putting severe limitations upon the immunity, or having nasty side effects each time it is activated, would require an item of some sort, like a ring or an amulet. Something that could be lost or removed. And it would require perhaps six points? On the other hand, if you wanted something that could not be stolen from you, it would require eight to ten points. The easier it is to lose or misplace the protection, the cheaper things will be.”
“I understand. And would you be able to make an item like that?”
“Given time and materials, yes. But you would still need a ritual to free up points, if you did not have them already available. And you have to understand that an item like this would render you immune from even helpful spells while you were wearing it. If, say, something disabled your ability to fly, and Miss Mysterious wanted to catch you with a spell? The spell would fail, with predictable results.”
The magician frowned at Skytalon. “Skye, you can’t be thinking about undergoing a ritual to change yourself, right? There is no going back from something like that. Not without a great deal of work. And even if you do manage to undo it, the scars may be on your soul forever.”
“Hannah, I don’t think we have a choice. We have no clue who Chronos might be, and he doesn’t use minions, that we know of, so getting at him through his associates is not an option. That means that the only way we’ll ever catch him is if we lay a trap. And I would prefer if the bait in the trap could fight back.”
“Ahem,” I interjected. “Not getting caught in one’s own trap is important, but if you’re wanting the bait to actually be able to respond and capture Chronos, then you need someone who will be able to either take him out in an instant, or can prevent him from escaping. And, if I might be so bold, Skytalon, I fear that your mastery of the arcane is not sufficient to restrict Chronos, given what I have seen of your abilities, and heard of his.”
“Livingston is right, Skye. Without the sword, and his magical attacks, I have no doubt that you can beat up Chronos. However, I don’t think you can contain him if he decides to run. Especially if he has more time powers than we know of. Remember, we only know what he’s let us see so far.”
“Fine,” Skytalon sighed. “I’ll admit that I might not be the best choice. But if not me, then who? They’ll have to not only have the power to defeat Chronos, but would also have to submit to the ritual.”
“Someone with mental or magical powers would be ideal, I think. Mental powers would allow them to prevent Chronos from fleeing, and Magical powers could be used to disrupt his spells. Ideally, though, you would have a team, so you’re not relying on just one person.”
Miss Mysterious nodded. “Yes, but to get a team with the amulets, even if we didn’t count the cost in supplies and materials, we would have to all undergo the ritual. And that is full of potential hazards. If we make a mistake, and sacrifice something needed, or take on a curse that dooms us, then it would be worse than doing nothing.”
Skytalon frowned. “But can we really afford to do nothing? I mean, what then? We just sit around, every female super in the city knowing that, at any point, they’ll suddenly find themselves stripped, raped, and marked by that sick bastard as his property? And what if he gets bored, and starts going about the country? We HAVE to stop him!”
I figured now, the time was right to try and stir things up, and throw them off my track. I started to my feet, looking towards the door, acting as though I had just sensed something. As the heroines turned to look, I froze time, just within this room. Both of them were caught in the effect, and rendered helpless, as I had hoped.
It had been a while since I’d tasted either of these heroines, and I was eager for the repeat, especially given what I was going to have to do to sell the performance. Quickly, I stripped each one out of their costumes, taking care not to rip or tear anything. That would be rude, after all.
Soon, one lovely Latina flier and one black-haired spellcaster stood before me, in all their glory. I considered, for a moment, how I wanted to do this. I needed their first reaction to be looking at something other than me, which gave me an idea.
I laid Miss Mysterious on her back across the conference table, and took two of my temporary tattoos out. The first I placed on her chest, just between her breasts, so that it was easily seen if she showed any cleavage. Then, I positioned Skytalon on top of her subordinate. I opened their mouths and positioned them so that, when they came to, they would be embracing each other, and kissing. And then, of course, I placed the second tattoo on her upturned rear.
I took both of them in turn, filling their pussies with cum, as I always did. I considered going for more, but decided to save my strength. Instead, I reached into the pile of gear the girls had, and found several pairs of restraints. Each girl got a pair of restraints locking their hands behind the other girl’s back, once I made sure that their arms were entwined in such a way that they couldn’t easily just slip out of each other’s embrace. Two more pairs locked their ankles together, right to right and left to left, behind Skytalon’s back, further increasing the difficulty they’d have in getting away.
Next, I took one of the pens and a stationary pad that I kept the conference room stocked with, and wrote a simple message in block print letters. ‘Naughty, naughty!’ That ought to get them nice and infuriated. I folded the paper so that it hung out of my shirt pocket, so anyone could see it.
The next bit required some maneuvering on my part. I lay down on the floor next to the pile of gear, and used one pair of restraints to bind my ankles. Then, I fastened one side of another pair of restraints around my wrist, reached through my legs with that arm and around them with the other, grabbed the restraint, and fastened it around my free hand, making me just as restrained as the others.
And then I let time flow once more.
