Chapter 3 The sword

Archer wasn't the type to get worried easily, but the worry in him today was enough kill a man. Aldrich hadn't come home since the day before and still wasn't back, the fear of what may have happened to him was too much to bear for Archer, after pacing back and forth all morning he decided to go look for him. Just as he was about to head out, he saw a boy running towards him. The boy was about Aldrich's age and height and even from the distance, Archer could tell it was William by his unique white hair. He came yelling Archer's name with worry and lethargy in his face, Archer ran to meet him at the front of his house where William stopped to catch his breath. As the two of them met William tried to speak but couldn't the get words out of his mouth since he was too busy trying to breath properly, he muttered.

"Al... Aldri..."

"What is it boy?!!" Archer roared at him gripping his shoulders firmly. After a few deep breaths, William was finally able to gain a little composure. He brought out a small book titled 'tales of zolda' and handed it to Archer. Archer's hands began to tremble as he held the book, he looked at William who then said, "I think he might be in trouble".

Meanwhile, Aldrich was still trying to come to terms with what his eyes were seeing, there was no doubt about it. Her physique clearly showed that she'd been in battles, tied to her back was a peculiar thin and symmetric blade in its sheath, she wore on her hands what looked like a red leather armour which stopped a fair distance away from her elbows and exposed only her fingers. The most surprising thing to Aldrich was that judging by her looks, she was also his age if not younger. He had always assumed that her velvet red hair was just and overstatement to what it was, but looking at long flowing hair tied at the back of her head now was all the proof he needed that her very unnatural yet beautiful hair was real, and then her eyes, Aldrich couldn't help but feel they didn't look human as they were large as they were beautiful in their gleaming golden colour decorated with her slightly russet eyelashes. He became aware of how he must have looked staring at her when she returned the gaze with a rather disturbed look. He held back all the questions he had and thanked them for saving him. The weapons master replied in a calm and clear voice, "You only have her to thank." she said as she gestured to the other woman sitting near him, she continued. "Frankly I saw it as waste of time since I thought you were as good as dead." Aldrich found her way of speaking strange, there was no regret or harshness in how she talked to him, nothing but pure sincerity. There were no expressions in her face but he could still tell that she wasn't trying to act cold to him. She pulled a chair over to her and sat to face Evelyn her partner, she began.

"I lost it"

"You should worry more about getting sleep, the beast couldn't have gotten far"

"It has probably left the forest though" Aldrich then asked them, "What exactly is it?"

Evelyn turned to him to explain.

"It's called a nuruk demon, they are ancient creatures which has been known to exist since the beginning of time, once freed from their relics they tend to cause havoc in whatever way they can. This one in particular seems to enjoy dismembering its victims." Hearing that, Aldrich remembered the body of William's brother, he closed his eyes and shook his head trying to forget the morbid scenery. Evelyn continued, "its killings seem to be concentrated in your region which is very close to the central, so the king sent us to deal with it." The weapons master then said to her. "If the creature isn't far then we should still be trying to track it." "I'll go check if some of the residents around here have seen anything" Evelyn said in agreement. With that, she left the room leaving only Aldrich and her partner behind. After about a minute of silence she got up and said to Aldrich "let's get you home" Aldrich made no argument as he got up immediately. As they went through the forest, the autumn leaves shook as a gentle wind blew it, the silence in the forest played a strange kind of melody, the birds chirped on the trees in a song like manner. This put Aldrich in a trance for a moment until he noticed the sword sheathed behind his company, it had some of its blade exposed and it was unlike anything he had seen. Its blade lustred so much that it was almost glowing and its hilt was as red as her hair. He said.

"Um weapons..."

"My name is Lydia" she cut in,

"Oh...okay"

"And what might yours be?" she added,

"Aldrich, Aldrich slage" he said with his tone a bit too formal.

"Slage it is then."

The sword caught his eye again and he said. "Umm Lydia"

"Hmm?"

"What kind of sword is that?" She pulled out the sword to look at it, he notices a strange inscription written on the spine of the blade, she said.

"It is believed to be a legendary blade forged from the talons of a divine creature"

"And do you believe that"

"At first I didn't but after two years of using it I found out the blade is indestructible and exceedingly sharp"

"So how did you get it?" upon hearing that, her face turned gloomy. When Aldrich noticed this, he realized that he must have triggered a bad memory. He tried to go of topic, before he could say anything though, Lydia suddenly looked ahead with a questioned expression on her face. As Aldrich looked to see what she was looking at, he noticed two people at a distance coming towards him, as they got closer he saw that it was Archer and William. "Friends of yours?" Lydia asked, Aldrich replied with a smile on his face,

"Yes"

As they got closer Lydia lowered her voice as she told Aldrich.  "We need to talk later"

"Sure, but where?"

"Meet me...."

She was interrupted by Archer when he hugged Aldrich so suddenly, "Don't scare me like that" he said to him, Lydia cleared her throat loudly as an attempt to get their attention but received it only from William.

"Thank you" he said to her, she looked at him for a moment and asked,

"Who are you to him?"

"Why we are best of friends of course"

"That seems hard to believe." William took offence hearing that for some reason, but before he could say or do anything Lydia called to Archer and said,

"Well if you don't mind I have to go"

"I can't thank you enough"

"It's okay, besides, he held his ground pretty well to have survived against the beast"

"Perhaps he did" William said to her. She looked at him with a slight grin on her face,

"I hope I can see you again" she told Aldrich and left. As they got home, Aldrich couldn't shake an uneasy feeling in him, Archer would usually scold him for being reckless or just bother him about how thankful he is that his son is alive. But he did neither, instead, he stayed extremely quiet throughout their walk home. Even William was a bit bothered by this but didn't read too much into it. Could it be that something was on his mind? What could be so important that could silence him after this kind of incident? When they entered the house, William tried to make his way to sit down stopped when he noticed Archer's stare at him. He looked to Aldrich who was feeling nothing but anxiety and said,

"My mother is probably wandering where I am"

"Okay then"

Aldrich could easily tell he was lying, but who wouldn't in that situation? if he were honest he envied him for that moment.

"Sit down" Archer told his son. Silence filled the room for about a minute, Aldrich couldn't shake off the anxiety he felt at that moment. After a long time thinking to himself, his father finally decided to speak. He leaned forward to stare at the fireplace as though it were telling him something and asked,

"Did you really fight a beast?"

"Well barely"

"I guess there is no point" Archer said more to himself than his son, he faced Aldrich with an unreadable face and said,

"when you fought, did you notice something about yourself that wasn't normal?" Aldrich knew exactly what his father was talking about, the abnormal strength he possessed, he however didn't want his dad worrying too much about him and being an overprotective parent this will turn into a big deal for him. With that Aldrich decided to erase all suspicions,

"I was running the whole time, I didn't notice anything in worthwhile" he said. Hearing that, Archer leaned back to rest on his chair and smiled at his son, Aldrich was even more confused now than before. "What could be going through your head?" He thought to himself. Archer stood up without any more questions to head for his study, as he left the room, he patted Aldrich on his shoulder and said, "I raised a terrible liar, but if you aren't ready I can't force you to be." Aldrich felt a bit embarrassed and relieved at the same time, he looked back at his father who was almost gone. His father looked back and said, "when the time comes just know that I'll be here support you, so make me proud" with that, he left the den. The next day, Aldrich stood by the tree he read next to often. "This is where it started" he thought to himself. The leaves from the trees started to dance by the winds command and some on the ground were lifted up by it. As some of the leaves cleared, Aldrich noticed a small rock right below him. As he stared at it, he remember how he lifted an entire felled tree back in the forest. He picked up the rock and stretched his hand preparing for a throw. He took a stance and launched the rock high into the sky. The rock went on as far as Aldrich could see. He wondered how he didn't know about this before, he was never the athletic type but this kind of strength should have made almost any activity seem easier. Aldrich didn't think too much about this though, he was all kinds of exited by his new-found ability. He searched for larger rocks to throw and just behind the tree, there was a rock so large, he had to use his two hands to lift it. As he carried stood upright with the rock in his hands, he managed to balance the rock in a firm grip in his right hand right next to his shoulder. After three deep breaths he took a step forward and launched it into the air. Aldrich was amazed at how far the rock went into the sky. It was thrown so high that when it landed in the forest, all he could hear was a mild thud. Just then, he heard a voice behind him say,

"You know if you want to practice your throwing there is a great place in the castle for that."

Normally he would have assumed it was William but this voice was feminine. He whirled his head around to see who it was and surprisingly, he saw Lydia. She was dressed in a brown leather tunic with a black pair of fitted trousers. Aldrich was so shocked to see her there that he was dumfounded, she said to him,

"Do you know how hard it was to find you?"

"How did you find me?"

"Well at first I tried asking everyone around where you live, only to realize that people hardly know you"

"And then?"

"Someone told me about your dad who lived not too far away" Aldrich sighed and looked at her with a smile.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this." He said to her in a jovial tone.

"Just follow me."