Serrah

Arthus lies with his back on the bed which is rather too small for him. Thank the gods, the man named Seymour took him out of the burning forest after he fainted from exhaustion. Even better as to kindly attend to his wounds for a little while.

At present, I'm in my blade form. Whenever I'm not summoned by Arthus, I take on an astraphantasmal entity that permits me to interact with him, but not with my surroundings. Astradhel and the other worlds just don't coexist.

To put it simply, I'm a soul.

When I Lazaddon was still my master, he wouldn't permit me to maintain an astral form. In other words, I was unaware of what was happening around me.

Arthus suddenly jerks, supplemented by a soft grunt. It must probably be caused by the strain on his body. No matter how much I want to nurse him, I can't wrench myself to materialize. The last battle certainly drained a lot of my mana. My head still stings horribly from exhaustion. He must be dealing with the same circumstances.

Vladimiria trots towards Arthus and licks his face. His lips curve into a weak smile as he rewards her with a gentle pat before averting his attention to me, or should I say, the dagger.

Pieces of his thoughts commences through my mind. For some unknown reason, since he became my master, some sort of broken empathy link was established between us.

Prominence on the word, broken. It's because the link doesn't always work most of the time.

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Serrah's Narration from a Memory

Arthus kept wandering around the dusky forest, calling my name once in every while.

"Serrahfina! Serrahfina! Please, speak to me!" he cried.

I ignored him for I was extremely displeased by his actions. But in reality, truth spilled, my loyalty was still with Lazaddon and seeing myself in the hand of a cocky brat had me digging my nerves in dander.

The wilted bushes and shrubs wriggled into life. Corpseweeds were becoming rampant at chasing the child.

Trolls were springing from every nook and assaulted him, greedy for his flesh. It surprised me at first when he fended them off, producing magic in the form of elemental manipulations. He had mana just like me and Lazaddon. But he manifested it in a different way.

I also noticed that he never used the dagger to slash his foes open. Nor did he slay them even when he got a chance.

I concluded that maybe he wasn't adept in the use of weapons, being as young as he is. If only he knew how much I love the savory taste of blood.

Despite his efforts to keep himself alive, the truth was clear. A child like him would eventually run out of energy. It wasn't long before he'd be food for the abominable creatures.

Ironic as it sounds, I was secretly wishing he'd be killed by one of them. I didn't know how I could return to Lazaddon but one thing was for sure. I wanted to get away from the possession of this worthless tyke.

The fighting and consumption of magic finally took its toll on him. He was no longer able to create fire, or move the earth. His actions became slow and predictable.

The trolls realized this and closed with frenzy upon him. They had him completely surrounded.

A huge, brawny one with iron piercings on his deformed face stepped up and swung his wooden club on Arthus's chest.

The brute force sent him flying for a few feet. The other trolls laughed excitedly. Their mouths bubbled with nasty, green saliva. Although they were disgusting, I was rooting for them.

"Not bad," the troll who hit Arthus growled. "Child of Merlins knows fight."

There were prevalent whispering as most of his kin nodded in agreement. Arthus was half unconscious but managed on his knees. He coughed heavily and spat crimson on the barren ground.

"I want Child of Merlins for dinner," he stated, motioning slowly towards Arthus. The other trolls were cheering with enthusiasm. "But I has a better idea, brothers. We no kill the youngling."

The merriment was shushed. More whispers invoked. Some of the trolls were clearly not happy about their leader's idea.

"All of us are starving, chief. This is the first meal we're going to have in weeks," a scrawny troll shakily declared. The other ones mumbled while others remained silent, fearful of the chief's wrath.

The troll who questioned was answered with a mocking snort.

"We no kill him...Yes. But we take his dagger. Then sell dagger to the witches of Endorf. Witches of Endorf be happy. Happy witches give trolls food and money. Thank you food and money and trolls live happily ever after!" he exclaims with joyous passion. This made the crowd go mad with delight once more.

"But why don't we take his dagger then eat him after, my lord?"

"Because...stupid! He touched the cursed dagger. He cursed also. You want curse? Go ahead. You go enjoy your eat!"

Arthus smirked. All the attention averted back to him. The leader approached him. 'Great', I thought. He wanted this to proceed quickly to his death. Less hassle for me.

"What you laughing at, Child of Merlins?"

There was silence.

"Okay. I want easy for you. Give me useless dagger and I let you go. No give dagger and we no eat you. Just kill you."

The trolls snarled, wanting to intensify the threat. Arthus just stared at them with determined eyes. I felt his grip on me getting firmer.

"No. This dagger is mine." he said it with such defiance that made the leader spat on his face.

Liar. I scowled. I was not his. I was Lazaddon's.

"I give you last one chance. Give dagger or die."

"Die."

That was it. Trolls were disreputable for their small amount of patience. Arthus just popped it, locking himself in a futile situation.

Without bothering for a reply, the troll leader raised his club, charging power to the upcoming blow. The blow came down in a mighty bash several times more powerful than the first one.

It knocked Arthus in the face. I gasped. Even though I was used to witnessing more violent scenes than this, but he was no more than a mere child.

"Is that all you got, ugly?" A meek voice emerged.

The chief, me and every troll were surprised to our very eyes. Any regular mortal would have had their head crushed by such force.

I realized what saved Arthus's life. On the side of his face was a coat of ice that was gradually melting off.

He had covered his face with a sheet of ice and just in time the blow landed, he tampered it with fire which immediately melt the frost. The abrupt conjuration of water on his face acted like a cushion and he would only have felt being splashed with water when the club slapped his face.

I had to admit I was impressed. That was definitely an ingenious decision within split of a second in a life-and-death situation.

Unfortunately, the chief was the least bit of fascinated.

"Hah! Lucky human! Just give me dagger fast!

"No," was Arthus's defiant reply.

I felt a warm sensation slithering from inside me. Why was he so determined to keep me? Even at the cost of his life? Argh! Mortals and their rationality! I exasperated.

"Why you no hand dagger to me already? I give you another chance or I really angry!" the chief was enraged now. So were his brothers.

"Because this dagger is mine! It was almost the worth of my life when I stole it. I'm not giving it up so easily. Not to the likes of you!"

A tingle shot up my spine.

His reply unleashed all the remaining fury within the troll. He swung his club without stopping. Every strike stronger than the last one. Arthus had to use his ice-fire technique again. It was effective at first but I knew he wouldn't be able to keep up.

The troll maintained his brutal barrage. I didn't understand why but every blow was crushing my heart.

I couldn't stand the sight anymore.

Even if I didn't want to, I had to do something.

Arthus Narration from a Memory

I was sure the ugly troll would only stop the moment my skull cracks open.

Blow after blow, I took every single one of them. I swear, those were not the usual painless, blunt hits you get to receive from a mortal enemy. Trolls were notorious for their brute strength and I had to learn the hard way. Every swing came with such speed and  packed with inhumane force, I was barely able to coat my body parts with ice on time.

"Release me, child! These abominable creatures are going to rip you to pieces!" Serrah kept shouting in my mind.

As much as I was tempted to call her once more, I didn't because it would make me look weak and needy. Besides, her prior actions provided me with second thoughts. What if she'd kill me this time?

"Bogus Child of Merlin, trying to act tough!" The troll roared as it slammed the club to my side. A small pang of pain erupted somewhere around my rib cage. I can't keep this up forever. The fellow trolls were wild with frenzy, howling their cheers louder than ever.

"Hurry, child and abandon your foolishness!" Serrah was screaming with panic now. She was acting ironic. From the looks of our first encounter, she surely didn't give a damn about me. I wonder why she was too concerned all of a sudden.

The troll raised his fissured club high up in the air, grinning like a mad beast, about smash it to my head. My thoughts raced. Even with a coat all over my face, a bash in the head would no doubt leave my skull severed.

In a blink of an eye, the club volleyed down.

"RELEASE ME!" Serrah's voice boomed across the dark forest.

The next thing I knew, I was panting like crazy beside a grown troll. A pointed mass of earth was pierced through its forehead. Slimy, green blood that look like phlegm dripped from the hole on its head. Mouth open, shock and pain was painted on its hideous face and the club still fixed on its brawny hand. I thought over what just happened.

My reflexes had kicked in. The moment the chief troll tried to smash my head, I quickly rolled over to the side, smacking the earth with the palm of my hand. That was when the spear-like object shot off from the ground, stabbing the chief and killing it in an instant.

The other trolls had all fled, afraid to suffer the same faith as their repulsive chief.

Serrah's soft voice reverberated from the blade. "Why didn't you attempt to use me?"

Because I was scared that you were trying to trick me again then kill me right after you're free. I whispered in my mind. But I knew I had a better, more honest reason in my heart.

"Because I see you not as some cursed tool just to be used as a weapon. I see you as a person," I reply, holding the dagger in my hands. It was glowing with a faint white light.

There was sedative silence. She didn't talk for a while, making me think that I said something wrong.

"Very well. To get outside of this forest, we need to keep walking until we come across a fork in the road. After then, we should tread the middle one. It will lead us through a tunnel of vines and to freedom," she finally declared. 

I was surprised when she used the word 'we'. It was the first time I saw a different nature residing within Serrah.

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Hello guys! This is the the final installment for Chapter 6: Meeting Serrah!

Here's another early update for y'all since we got past the 2K threshold :)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a bit painful for me to write this one, having Arthus being beaten and all :'(

Wish you learned a bit about Arthus and Serrah's history! More will be unraveled later.

Merry Christmas everyone! God bless us all :)