Dark Soul - Disrupted

Chapter 2-2

“It’s done. I can maintain it now, as long as I don’t get too distracted.”

“Great!”

Josef darted forward before he could think better of the idea and grabbed the sword. His hands passed through the protection Clara had conjured without interfering with it, but the moment he touched the blade it started to fight him. First it clung to the ground, then when he levered it up it tried to twist towards him.

He gritted his teeth and kept his arms locked in front of him, then started to move away from the doorway. He turned towards the back of the room, taking great care to turn away from Clara. He had no doubt the blade would lash out given the slightest chance.

By the time he reached the back of the room sweat was pouring down his body. He fought the urge to just drop the blade, certain it would take advantage of such movement, and instead lowered it gently to the floor. He tried to let go but it felt as if something was holding his hands in place, preventing them from opening. With a growl he managed to force his fingers up and dragged his hands away. As soon as they were outside of the shield Clara had created he was free, though sweat still poured down his face.

“Well done,” said Clara softly. “Let’s leave it there until Daniel turns up.”

Josef just nodded, breathing deeply to restore his strength. The blade was as out of the way as possible. That would have to do for now. He stood and turned as the yelling from the corridor intensified, drawing his own sword again. Several armed men reached the doorway, then stood staring at the bodies and at Josef and Clara.

“Put your weapon down!” one of them shouted.

“No,” Josef said.

His voice was calm but he put all the authority he could muster into it, and it had the effect he’d hoped for. The man who’d spoken frowned.

“What?” he said.

“I said no. I’m not putting my sword down. We have just been attacked by three men and I have no way of knowing you aren’t in league with them.”

“But… but we’re guards!”

“And we are part of the council.”

“I don’t recognise you. How do I know that’s not a lie?”

“I understand. It’s exactly the same problem I have — I don’t recognise you, and even if you are guards it seems three men somehow got past you to attack us. That raises some worrying questions.”

“What? Are you accusing us of…”

“No!” Josef’s voice cracked out. “I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m telling you that you need to find your captain and get him down here. It’s not like we’re going anywhere, is it?”

The guard stared back for a long time. Josef wondered if he’d attack, if he really was working with the three dead men, but eventually he nodded sharply.

“Alright. I’ll send someone for the captain. You can keep your sword, but we’ll be waiting just out here. Don’t try anything.”

The men drew back from the doorway. Josef allowed himself to relax a little, though he kept his sword out. At least the immediate danger seemed to be over. In the confusion he could easily have ended up killing, or being killed by, those on his own side.

Now he just had to wait for the captain to arrive. When that happened Josef was going to have a sharp word. The guards had been far too ready to start a fight, but then they’d backed off without asking the most obvious question… was Clara safe? She was in the room with a man wielding a sword and several dead bodies. The guards had assumed Clara and he were together, which they were, but he could as easily have been there to kill her.

Shaking his head he prepared to wait, listening carefully for any useful nuggets of information in the guards’ conversation, and especially for any mention of the Ghost.

Sarah blocked the first blow with her staff, turned the second towards the floor then swept the staff upwards, right between the legs of the closest attacker. He started to wince, but it was purely reflex. The staff struck armour with a solid clang.

Sarah jumped back as the man’s sword swept out toward her. He was grinning at her now, mocking her. Someone with a staff could hurt an armoured attacker, but it took precision and care. Fighting against three meant she’d never get the time for that.

He stepped in closer, sword held high, then brought it crashing down. Sarah used the staff to block, holding it above her head and feeling the strength of the blow through her arms. She moved back again. As she did so the staff started to split in half, one piece in each of her hands. The man laughed, then jumped forward, sweeping his blade in a nasty horizontal blow.

His sword stopped dead as the harsh sound of steel on steel rang out. His eyes widened in surprise, but that was the only chance he had to react. Sarah’s sword was inside his. She flicked it diagonally up, slashing through his throat on the way past. His eyes widened more… then he hit the ground.

Sarah stepped back again, sword held at the ready. Now she was tempted to smile. As if she’d trust Mary’s safety to a staff. Josef had found the specially designed weapon, a sword hidden within a staff, on the first day after Rafael had been defeated. He’d joked that she’d do less damage to people with the sword hidden inside than the staff. She’d smiled at that.

The other two assailants were far more careful now. The smiles were gone. They were watching her closely, and they were spreading out to either side. The implication was obvious… they were going for Mary.

The logical step would be to get close to Mary, to prevent them flanking her, but Sarah had never been keen on defensive moves. Instead she leapt towards one of the men, then threw her sword. It impaled his thigh, which was enough to stop him for the moment even if it wouldn’t put him out of the battle.

The other man sprinted towards Mary. Sarah had already reversed her direction. She swept up the first man’s sword as she went, needing a weapon. She almost stopped dead as a dark and aggressive presence leapt to life under her hands. Only the sight of the man baring down on Mary kept her moving.

The sword was alive! It was alive and it was evil. It was fighting to get free of Sarah and to corrupt her, all at the same time, and it hurt! She gritted her teeth and held on grimly.

The man was close to Mary now, and Sarah wasn’t catching him. She wasn’t falling behind, but she wasn’t catching him. She considered throwing this sword, too, but something told her it would find a way to miss. That left one possibility.

Not pausing to consider, Sarah threw herself forward at full stretch. She hung on to the sword with both hands, fighting it as it tried to twist free. She was stronger than the sword. Just. That allowed her keep control of it and to slice it across the back of the charging man’s ankles. Both Achilles tendons were severed, sending him tumbling to the floor.

Then she hit the ground. Still having to hold onto the sword in case it found a way to turn on her meant she couldn’t break her fall in any way. She turned her face to the side at the last moment, which saved her nose, but her body crunched down and her cheek followed a moment later. Pain lanced through her body, especially from her head. She wanted to pass out but she couldn’t. She had to make sure Mary was safe, and she had to get the cursed sword well away from both of them.

With a groan she dragged herself to her knees. The sword twisted under her hand, trying to turn toward her, but she kept her weight on it. Looking around she saw the man with the sword in his thigh trying to shuffle away, which was good. As for the man ahead of her… she let out a gasp. There was no man. Not any more. There was a blackened corpse, all signs of life sucked from it. Had the sword done that? Had the man actually been some creature of darkness? But he had been out in the daylight, that ruled out vampires at the very least.

She managed to stand, then walked towards the final attacker. He stared back at her, at the blade in her hand, shaking his head and silently pleading. Something about the blade seemed to terrify him. Before she could assure him he was safe, if he didn’t try anything more, he pulled a knife from his belt and slit his own throat.

Blood spurted towards her. The blade in her hand leapt for it. Some instinct made Sarah let go, and as the blood hit it she thanked the stars above for that decision. Darkness welled around the blade, flowing out several feet. She had to jump back again to avoid being caught in it. After a few moments it billowed and was drawn back inside the blade, but now the blade radiated even more menace than before.

“Mama, I’m scared!” said Mary from behind her.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder, then backed up to Mary, unwilling to turn her back on the sword. She reached Mary and pulled her close.

“Don’t worry about those men, my brave girl. They can’t hurt you now.”

“No, mummy. I’m not scared of them. It’s the sword! I’m scared of the sword. It wants to eat me.”

Sarah opened her mouth to tell Mary that was silly, but the words wouldn’t come. Mary’s description of the sword’s desire was actually very accurate. The sword did seem like it was hungry, like it wanted to feast on them. She shivered.

“I know, baby-girl, but I won’t let it hurt you. I promise!”

“I’m not a baby!”

Despite everything that made Sarah smile, though it was a smile tinged with sadness. “No, Mary, you really aren’t anymore. Come on. Let’s get away from that thing a bit.”

They started to edge to the right, moving along the wall behind them. To begin with that meant actually moving closer to where the sword had been dropped. The closer they came to it the more it seemed to pulse with malice, yet at the same time there was something seductive in its energy, something making Sarah want to move towards it, to pick it up, to…

“Mama! No! Don’t go near it!”

Sarah jerked from the trance she’d dropped into, finding herself halfway to the sword, with Mary dragging at her arm to stop her. She moved back so quickly that Mary stumbled. Only her hold on Sarah’s arm kept her upright.

“I’m sorry,” Sarah said, hugging her daughter. “I don’t know what happened.”

“I do. The sword is horrible. It tried to trap you. It tried to trap me, but it couldn’t get through my magic. That’s how I saved you. I used some of my magic.”

Mary’s final words sent ice through Sarah’s veins. Once she would have felt that way because she’d thought Mary’s powers were unnatural, but there wasn’t a trace of that left. Now it was because Mary using her powers, especially so close to the evil blade, meant Mary was putting herself in danger. The power for healing came from within her, used her own life energy, and Mary was still only a child with a child’s strength.

With Jon it had been different. He was an adult. He’d been strong enough to heal without risking his own life, except in the most dangerous of situations. He’d even learnt to draw some power from the world around him, from the trees, plants and animals. Of course it hadn’t been the slightest use when he’d been badly injured. He’d been unable to heal himself, when… Sarah wrenched her thoughts away from her late-husband. This wasn’t the time to dwell on that loss!

“Are you still using your power?” she asked.

“A little,” admitted Mary. “But I’d need to use a lot more if the sword caught you again.”

Sarah stood for a moment, part of her desperate to tell Mary to stop, a more rational part realising continuing might be the lesser risk. Mary looked pale but not yet dangerously so. Sarah made a decision. She scooped Mary up and started to move quickly, both away from the sword and to the side. Soon they were as far away as where they’d started, but now she could keep putting more distance between them and the blade.

“That’s enough, Mary. Stop now! I’ll be fine.”

“OK mummy. I am tired now.”

Mary let out a sigh then leaned in close to Sarah, who checked her with concern. Mary was pale, but other than that she didn’t seem to be suffering. Her breathing was normal, her pulse wasn’t especially high, and she wasn’t showing any signs of passing out.

Something was nagging at Sarah as she checked her daughter. Once she was done she still felt it, a nagging itch drawing her attention. She looked up… and felt the pull of the sword once more. Only now did she appreciate just how strong it was, and how much Mary had been shielding her.

Gritting her teeth she shook her head and started to move away again. At first it was a struggle, but the pull soon dropped away and she was able to move more freely. Another two dozen paces and the pull had almost disappeared. A few more steps and it was gone completely.

Sarah let out a deep breath. She felt drained, as if she’d been fighting in a long battle, but at least the blade was no longer nagging at her. She looked up, confirming it was still where it had fallen, that it wasn’t somehow dragging itself closer. It hadn’t moved. That, at least, was a relief. It needed someone to carry it.

But… it wouldn’t have any trouble finding someone, she realised. For the moment the area was deserted, but soon enough people would turn up, and she knew from bitter experience that the word of a woman wouldn’t carry the weight needed to keep people away, especially any bull-headed men. If anything they’d probably be more likely to approach the sword if she warned them, bull headed arrogance convincing them that she was just a weak woman and they could handle the sword easily.

If she still had her own sword it would be different. Having a razor-sharp blade waved under their nose could get the attention of even the most stupid people. But her blade was still in the thigh of the man who had taken his own life rather than risk being cut by the demon-cursed sword.

A sound she’d been hearing in the background suddenly became loud enough to catch her attention properly. A sound that froze her heart. The sound of running footsteps. Someone was coming! Just one person so far, by the sound of it, but this was how it would start.

Part of her wanted to run, to find Daniel and Josef and seek their help, but most of her refused. She couldn’t just leave people to stumble upon that blade. She had to at least try to stop them.

She could hear which alley they were approaching from. She moved to the side of the entrance and put Mary down behind her. Then she stood, muscles tight and ready to spring, as she heard the footsteps approach. She’d only get one chance to surprise whoever it was. With luck she could tackle them and grab a weapon, any weapon. That would give her a chance to hold back anyone following, for a while at least.

The moment arrived. She leapt forward as someone emerged from the alleyway, but they were too fast. Somehow they sensed her and swerved away. She stumbled and fell to the floor, and as she did all she could see was the metal sword plunging towards her throat!