Ravens of Eternity

119 Rough Edge

Daylight spilled across Lacroseth City as Taloren’s sun crested over the horizon. Life all over the city began to stir and wake up for their day. A flock of vicious Avicii Raptors took to the skies inside the dome, and circled around in search of prey.

As a wing of them flew around, they spotted some movement on a small patch of land near the edge of the dome. It was simply a glint of metal accompanied by a blur of shadow.

They swooped down closer to the movement, drawn to the promise of a tantalizing morning meal. But they knew that simply diving down was unwise, and that watching their prey was best. So most perched themselves on nearby trees to watch, while others stayed in the sky to keep a wider view.

Eva breathed heavily as she stood in her favorite sparring circle and worked on her bladedancing technique. Clothed in her black workout gear and wielding her practice beltknife, she tirelessly practiced her footwork.

Sweat poured down her face in streams as she worked every muscle in her legs. With deft, precise movements, she moved across every inch of the sparring circle with great speed and elegance.

And though the knife was in her hand, she wasn’t swinging it around or thrusting. Instead, she simply kept it aloft and in a guard position. Sometimes, she would switch which hand was holding it, to match with the stance she was using.

But otherwise, she concentrated the majority of her effort laying down all of the movement techniques Talyss had taught her.

“They say being an expert of the knife requires skills in calligraphy,” Talyss had said. “But they’re wrong. If you want to fight standing still, then go ahead and write your best epitaph. But if you would rather win your fights, then you need to learn how to dance.”

And just like its namesake, it really was like dancing. Eva had always considered herself to have two left feet, but the guidance of someone as talented as Talyss had changed her for the better.

.....

Eva took Talyss’ words to heart, and worked herself sore for hours, long after their actual practice sessions ended. Her only focus was on the efficiency and power of her movement, and she worked tirelessly to ingrain it in her muscle memory.

She learned to bring grace and precision to her movements, yet retain the power and endurance hammered into her at the Naval Academy.

The Avicii Raptors realized that there was no prey to be found here, only another predator. So most flew off to continue their search for breakfast, though a handful stayed to watch. They found themselves mesmerized by her dance.

After another hour of grueling practice, Eva eventually stopped and collapsed down in the sparring circle.

Because the sparring circles had all seen increased use over the past week or so, the grass inside them thinned greatly. The dark brown soil underneath began to show through in large spots.

The one that Eva used most often – her favorite – had seen so much use that it was almost completely bare. The soil had also been tamped down and compressed, thanks to her footwork practice sessions in particular.

As her stamina filled up and her breaths normalized, a voice suddenly shot through the air. It startled her slightly, as she was typically the only person that was here around this time.

“Well, you’re certainly an early bird,” said the voice.

Eva angled her head to the side so she could take a look, then kicked herself up back on her feet the moment she recognized who had spoken.

“Good to see you, Master Alevos,” she replied. “You know this makes you an early bird yourself, yeah?”

Alevos walked into the sparring circle and up to Eva. He was wearing his smithing gear, which was smudged and dirty from forge work.

“Been working on your beltknife pretty much nonstop the past couple of cycles,” he said. “Finally got it polished up about an hour or so ago, and was so excited for you to see it. So I couldn’t help myself but come on over to deliver it personally.”

“Damn, well, I’m honored! How’d you even find me in here anyway?”

Alevos pointed back behind him with a thumb.

“Ah, I asked the guards about you, and they mentioned something along the lines of ‘that madwoman is only ever at the sparring rings’.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Alevos simply shrugged in response before he slung a pack from his shoulder. Inside was a canvas roll which he set down on the ground in front of him and unrolled it carefully. Just like Talyss’ blade roll, this one had multiple pockets inside.

Except it was almost completely empty. Only one of the pockets held a sheathed blade, which he pulled out and handed over to Eva.

“I know you said you wanted your first to be a practical, hard-use blade, and it is... But I just couldn’t let it go plain. I might’ve taken it a bit far, but I hope you like it anyway. I’ve made it to your proportions, but kept the length standard.”

Eva took it from his hands, and wowed as she pored over its details.

Like he had said, it was just like a regular Drogar beltknife, and held more length than the children’s training blade she had been using. But the grip was still small, which made it much easier for her to hold.

The length made it seem more like a shortsword rather than a dagger, but that suited Eva just fine.

What really stuck out to her was the design. Most of the beltknives she had seen were styled in a sort of traditional sense. The grips were typically made of wood and most often wrapped with leather, metal, or fabric cloth.

The blades themselves often had etching or held interesting patterns in the metal, like the waves on Severa’s personal beltknife. Some had phrases or their personal logos engraved on their blades.

But what Alevos had made for her was completely different from the typical Drogar beltknife.

While sheathed, it looked like a curved rod of raw dull grey iron that looked as though it had been beaten by a hammer from all angles. Its corners and curves were faceted and somewhat angular, as though it was a blade still in the process of being hammered out.

And because the grip and the sheath aligned perfectly, as though they were made of a single bar of metal, she could barely tell where the seam actually was.

But when she tugged on the grip, the blade slipped out beautifully.

The aesthetics of the beaten iron continued unabated along the length of the blade, mostly around its spine. That beaten look eventually tapered out and smoothed into the actual edge of the blade itself, which was polished to a mirror shine.

The perfect and pristine edge was a perfect contrast to the rough and raw aesthetic the rest of the blade held.

Not only that, but all the lines were different as well.

There was still that wicked beltknife curve, but the blade itself was twice as thick and far wider than a normal one. Although the width tapered as it reached the tip, it did so with a wider curve, giving the edge more belly than was standard.

This had a tip that more closely resembled a sabre or a shamshir, where the normal beltknives tapered to a needle-like tip. Eva wasn’t a fan of the curved rapier look, so this was far more attractive to her.

Although its design had Drogar origins, it hinted at a wielder that was different from that. What Alevos had made felt much more ‘her’ than any other beltknife she had seen so far.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s just about perfect. In fact, I know I asked for two, but I’d wear and wield this one every single cycle. Not even lying about that.”

Alevos laughed heartily in response, and his belly jiggled to match.

“Well, you’re still getting two,” he said. “Tell me, it’s not too heavy is it? I tried to rebalance it as best I could, but it’s got more tungsten, carbon, and onmitronium in the formula. I tweaked it for absolute toughness, to be honest.”

Eva swished it in the air a few times. She even switched hands to test it. Unlike her training blade, she could actually feel the weight on this one. That heft gave her confidence in its cutting power.

“It’s balanced well,” she replied. “I think the point of balance is right in front of the grip, right? Yeah, it’s good. I like the weight of it. Better than the child one I’ve been using – it’s like wielding air.”

“Good, good. I wanted to make sure you got a durable blade, but didn’t want to stress out your muscles. Beltknives can get pretty damn heavy sometimes.”

“Definitely makes it feel more durable, and I like that a great deal. The regular ones feel like they’d snap or bend in the middle of a fight.”

Alevos sighed.

“Most shouldn’t, but it happens,” he said. “But I mean, I made it thicker since, well, I don’t know how long you’re gonna be here for. And I so I wanted to make you something that’ll last a good long while. I’ll teach you how to keep it sharpened and oiled, too.”

She then sheathed the blade and slung it on her belt. It looked a little large on her in comparison to the Drogar but she didn’t mind it. In fact, she felt a little more imposing because of it.

“I’ll treasure it forever,” she said.

“Not gonna practice with it?”

Eva shook her head in response.

“I wanna save that edge for when I’m in the Pit. I only want to draw it when it’s absolutely necessary. Otherwise, there’s no need to wear it down for any reason.”

“Wise,” he muttered.

The only others who held that viewpoint were the Justicars. They only drew their blades when necessary as well.

“Hey, can you do me a favor?” she asked. “I hope it’s okay for me to ask, actually.”

“Name it.”

“The balance on the beltknife you’ve given me is actually perfect. I’m wondering if you can make me a plain, unadorned, blunted training version? It’s so I can practice my swings with the right weight.”

A grin crept across his face.

“You’re already talking like a Pit champ,” he said. “Of course I can get you that. In fact, heavens bless, I can whip one up within a cycle. I’ll bring it over here. Same time, same place.”

Eva nodded, then a thought struck through her head.

“Hold on, how’d you even get in here? I thought everyone needed special escorts to travel between zones and whatnot? You definitely don’t have an escort with you, so what gives?”

“Oh, see this big fat tail of mine? It’s filled with all sorts of boring clearances. I can go pretty much anywhere I want!”

His chest puffed out with a little pride as his tail swayed in the air behind him. He clearly looked pleased with himself regarding his status.

“Even Red Zones?” asked Eva.

“Even Red Zones,” he answered. “At least, on certain occasions. But it’s not a big deal regardless. I’m just a harmless bladesmith.”

“A weapon maker that’s harmless? There’s no such thing.”