Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 34 Bane

Isaac hadn’t let go of Lenna since he had first embraced her. His touch was deeply comforting for Lenna and it was keeping her grounded. When she had started subconsciously flexing her right hand in his grasp he had switched which hand he was holding so her sword hand would be free. They weren’t actually in any danger but he understood how being in a state of readiness for combat would help her in the short term. She was used to fighting under extreme circumstances and even though she was not fighting at the moment her mind was very much aligned as such.

Isaac was only a little concerned for Lenna. He had been watching her like a hawk and he was looking for any signs that would cause him to truly worry. Most of her defense mechanisms were activated but that was fine as long as they deactivated with time. As far as he could tell she wasn’t doing anything self-destructive and that was good enough until she had time to process what had happened.

The pair walked into Jala’s Inverted Tower. The guards nodded to them but Lenna hadn’t even noticed. Everything that wasn’t directly involved with her plan was barely on the periphery of her awareness. “Auntie,” Lenna began as soon as the pair entered the room she was in. Right after the words left her mouth she realized that Jala was out cold. She was sitting at a desk that was made of stone that neither of them had noticed before. She had a blanket tossed over her shoulders and her face was lying on her arm which was across the desk in front of her.

“She can’t hear you.” Fen commented from his seat halfway across the room. He was sitting casually with his legs crossed and a book in his hand. In his other hand was a steaming cup of tea. “Hello, Lenna, Isaac.”

“Fen.” Isaac said with a nod.

Fen looked up and saw the look on Lenna’s face. The barest hints of shed tears and the single minded ferocity of a rabbit who decided to bite a lion even if it cost it their life. “What happened?” Fen asked Isaac.

“Long story short; We captured her first friend during the battle, he took some convincing but finally decided to switch sides, he broke his oath and both Lua and Dri’El showed up to fight over him, Dri’El threatened to destroy his soul if Lua didn’t let him win, Lua let him win.” Isaac started his one hundred word or less summary. “Lenna said something about bringing his body here and that she wanted to talk to Jala so now we’re here.”

Fen nodded slowly. “I see.” He replied. “Lenna, why are you here? The one best suited to comfort you is already right next to you. Jala is not in a place to offer comfort right now, even if she was capable of such a thing.”

Lenna shook her head. “I want a weapon.” She spoke with certainty.

“A weapon?” Fen parroted.

“A Bane weapon.” Lenna informed him. “There should be enough of Dri’El’s power still in his body to make a Bane weapon.”

Fen’s cup shook slightly so he slowly reached over and set it down on the stand next him. He took a calming breath as he marked his place in his book and the book soon joined his tea. He shifted in his seat so they could get a better look at each other. “Lenna,” Fen began. “my niece, the person who brought about the largest change in the region since the founding of this very city, a woman who I did not think to be insane nor stupid, explain to me why you want a weapon specifically designed to hurt deity that is older than every living elf on the planet combined.”

“I’m going to find a way to kill him.” Lenna stated evenly.

Fen sighed and rubbed his eyes. “There are so many things wrong with that.” He grumbled under his breath. He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. “If he projects his power then a Bane weapon won’t help you, though a necklace with the right enchantments might. If you are planning on stabbing or shooting him then I am afraid my impression of you was greatly mistaken. He is a god and he would crush your soul into ectoplasmic paste if you somehow found a way to meet him face to face.”

“I… but…” Lenna began with wavering conviction and growing panic on her face and in her voice. “Then what am I supposed to do?!” She demanded. “He just showed up and killed him and I couldn’t do anything about it!”

Fen sighed and for the barest of moments a flash of empathic sadness crossed his face. “Lenna, gods are not mortals. Even demigods, because they are still at least partly mortal, can die by mortal hands. If one of the demigods killed him then I would help you get your revenge but this is Dri’El we are talking about. There is simply nothing that you can do that would hurt him. You can’t even take anything worthwhile from him as he doesn’t give a damn about any of us.” Fen explained to her calmly.

Jala sat up and turned to face her niece. No one there knew how long she had been awake but the bags under her eyes and half open eyelids suggested that it hadn’t been very long. “If that is what you want me to do with his body, I will do it.” Jala told her niece. “Though under one condition.”

Lenna nodded. “Okay, what is it?” She asked.

“You don’t let this consume you.” Jala told her calmly. “Having a weapon, even having a weapon and being prepared to use it, is very different than throwing your life away to hunt down the one you want to use it on.”

Lenna hitched slightly. “I… uh…” She started stumbling over her words as her brain tried to work.

“Your mate is clearly concerned about you.” Jala continued. “He is right there, don’t throw him away to chase vengeance for someone that is gone.”

Lenna swallowed and then sniffled before she nodded. Tears started rolling down her face. “Alright.” She agreed. “Thank you, auntie.” She said and turned away enough that she could bury her face into Isaac’s shoulder.

Isaac gave Jala a warm but sad smile and mouthed: ‘Thank you.’ He then enveloped Lenna entirely in his embrace and let her cry out everything that she was feeling.

Jala nodded and then yawned loudly. “Fen, can you make more tea?” She asked her mate.

Fen nodded and rose from his seat. He walked over to a tea kettle that was resting on one of the stone countertops that looked mostly clean. He refilled it with water and fresh tea leaves from a nearby cabinet. He held the kettle aloft with one hand and snapped his fingers on his other hand. A small flame appeared over his touching thumb and index finger. His thumb almost seemed to do a backwards flick and the small flame impacted his upturned palm. It was at that moment that Isaac realized that Fen’s left cuff was nowhere to be seen. The small flame grew to the size of Isaac’s fist and hovered in Fen’s now open palm. He held the kettle over it and started counting quietly to himself.

A little while later, Lenna and Jala were sitting across from each other. Lenna was using the chair Fen usually used and Fen had taken the desk where Jala had once been. Isaac was leaning against the chair Lenna was using with his hand resting on her shoulder. Fen had only made enough tea for the women as the kettle was only big enough for two cups of tea and he was not trying to be a hospitable host. Around that time a small contingent brought Macken’s body to them. Michael was there as well but he mostly stayed out of the way. Jala directed them to place the body, stretcher and all, onto a stone table that didn’t have anything on it. When Lenna turned to see it Isaac shifted slightly so she couldn’t.

“Isaac, I…” She began and looked up to see his comforting smile and she felt his hand on her shoulder squeeze slightly. She swallowed and turned back to her tea.

Michael approached Isaac and said in a low voice: “I would appreciate it if you kept me informed, at the very least of anything that might affect anyone else in the future.”

Isaac nodded in confirmation to him. “I will.” He told the magistrate. Michael gave him a curt nod in thanks and then departed with his men. After a moment Isaac turned to look at Jala. “What exactly is a Bane weapon?” He asked her.

Jala looked contemplative for a long moment. “At its core it is a weapon forged of magic and witchcraft.” She began. “It involves the fusing of the latent energies of a being, or type of being though those are less effective, into a device of violence, most commonly a sword or arrows.” Jala rose from her seat and strode over to one of her cabinets. She started withdrawing various instruments that Isaac assumed she was going to use to analyze the energies that she was talking about. “The energies make it so the target’s natural energies won’t interfere with the attack. It will be as if the target was always meant to bleed or as if there had always been a slice through their mana pathways because yes, the weapon will cut through the intangible.”

“That sounds extremely specific.” Isaac replied. “The creation conditions make it sound like it is impractical at best.”

Jala shrugged. “It isn’t when there are a few thousand lightning dragons pouring out of rifts in space to wherever the hells they come from every Dragon Surge.” She explained. “Like I said, Bane weapons work on creatures that are similar enough to the original but to a lesser extent than they would to their origin.”

Isaac nodded. “I see.” He said thoughtfully. “You know, no one ever properly explained to me what a Dragon Surge was.”

“It isn’t something you will ever have to deal with.” Jala replied simply. “Unless you somehow find a way to live another thousand years.”

“So I’ve been told.” Isaac grumbled.

Fen sighed. “Every few thousand years the mortal population hits a tipping point. Once that point is reached gates to wherever dragons are from appear and dump hoards of them into the world. Dragons fight, both mortals and each other, a lot of people die and then things slowly go back to normal as the dragon population is culled. No one knows why it is this way but it has always been like this.” He explained to Isaac simply. “That is the only reason there isn’t a demigod hunting squad in the empire. We need your demigods to kill dragons so less of them come to fight us.”

Isaac nodded along but it would take him a while to properly understand all of the implications of what Fen had just told him. For now though, Lenna needed more of his attention. “Thanks, Fen.” He told the shadow sorcerer before he turned his attention back to Lenna. “Lenna, why don’t we head home, it’s getting late and some sleep will do you good.”

Lenna nodded absently and set down her now empty teacup. “Alright.” She agreed. “Auntie, will you tell me if it is possible?”

Jala frowned down at her collection of magical tools. “There are a lot of different energies still inside of his body. I think I found the ones that are from our two sides of the moon. I might not be able to separate them though.” She said and looked up to meet Lenna’s gaze. “If I made a sword with this, like I assume you want, it wouldn’t just be for killing one side of the moon.” She warned her niece. “It would be a moon-slaying blade. Is that really something that you want to exist?”

Lenna knew that she wasn’t thinking straight so she made the best decision she could have. “Can I let you know when I’ve made up my mind?” She asked her aunt.

Jala shook her head. “No, the energies are quickly bleeding off and mixing together. I need to either get to work right away or not at all.” Jala explained.

Lenna just stared blankly for a long moment before she let out a long and empty sigh. “Can you make him into a shield? That was always what he was, first and foremost.”

Jala thought about it for a long moment. “Do you want his ashes used in the treatment or a bone armament?” She asked.

“His ashes, please, I couldn’t bear to use his body any other way.” Lenna replied.

Jala nodded. “I’ll get it done.” She told her niece. “Now get some sleep.”

Lenna nodded. “Thank you.” She said and turned to leave.

“I’ll have them bill you for anything I need.” Jala told Isaac who nodded.

“I assumed so.” He told her before he too turned to leave.

“One last thing,” Jala called out to them. “Everything about this conversation stays between us. This is heresy of the highest order.”

Isaac nodded. “Understood.” He replied. “I’ll keep it to myself.”