Book 7, Chapter 25 - Seizing the Sword (1/2)
Book 7, Chapter 25 - Seizing the Sword
The Sword of Sumeru was created by energy from the universe, gathered by the Temple. It was forged and further empowered by the will of six hundred demonhunters. Nothing could withstand its power.
Every passing second saw the sword gaining speed. The mortal men and women who watched were frozen by the domineering might it unleashed. They knew that when the Sword struck it would release all of its energy into the land. Everything around it would be forever altered.
Cloudhawk appeared before the superweapon, tattered cloak flapping. Floating there with his black sword in hand, buffeting winds threatened to rip him from the sky.
He was a small black dot, nothing more. The Sword of Sumeru closed in on him with all the size and inertia of an airship at full speed. The sheer difference in size was staggering. What would happen when they collided?
When the Sword first emerged it was almost ordinary, except for its size and the runes of the blade. It appeared to be covered in a layer of stone giving it a dull appearance. Yet shortly after it was released the weapon picked up speed. Cracks appeared upon the rugged exterior.
Crrrack! Snap! Chunks of stone started to fall away, revealing a dazzling body of jade-like material beneath. It was almost crystalline and the light that poured from it flooded the area with prismatic luminescence. Everyone held their breath.
Twenty meters. Fifteen meters. Ten meters!
It continued to pick up speed as though rocket engines were moving it forward. Even more frightening was the energy it released, enough to warp space around it. Cloudhawk felt like he was nailed in place.
To everyone who watched, his death seemed assured. The gods especially understood the power of the Sword. Where it struck the Sword released a zone of energy. Whatever was sucked inside and never escaped.
It was too close now, too fast. Cloudhawk couldn’t dodge if he wanted to.
Ting! A sound arose, as clear as a crystal bell. Soldiers below watched Cloudhawk thrust his black blade forward to meet the tip of the Sword as though trying to stop it with nothing but the strength of his arm.
A fool, tilting at windmills!
An indescribably surge of energy followed. It poured from the front of the superweapon and swallowed Cloudhawk up. He was dead, he had to be! Ground to dust!
A mayfly could not shake the tree. A mantis could not stop the rolling wagon wheel. Although Cloudhawk had somehow managed to ward off two gods, the Sword of Sumeru was another power entirely. Why was he so bent on self-destruction?
It was an impossible hope!
Indeed, as Cloudhawk connected with the weapon he felt a pressure more intense than anything he’d felt before. He felt his newly reformed bones bend and crack. He was pushed back at staggering speed, and the friction of the surrounding atmosphere caused everything around him to burst into flame.
One could see it from a great distance; an enormous sword wreathed in fire, descending toward the earth. Squinting, one might see the small black dot fixed to its tip, struggling in vanity and ignorance against the inevitable. Only one outcome was possible. What made this insect think it could change fate?
Grim certainty filled the ground. Yet…
“What? Look! The sword is getting smaller!”
“Nonsense. The Sword of Sumeru is crystallized energy. It wouldn’t just get smal-… hey, he’s right!”
As the crowd looked on they saw that the tip was gone, though the black speck that was Cloudhawk remained. Little by little they could tell – even from this distance – that the sword’s body was shrinking. It was slow but obvious.
What was happening? What was swallowing the Sword?
The superweapon was composed of unstable energy from the universe funneled by the Temple, in addition to the mental powers of many demonhunters. All of it was temporarily bound into the shape of a sword. It wasn’t strictly physical and there was no name for this energy in human scientific texts. Rather it was a complex state between energy and matter with properties of both. But one thing was certain to remain unchanged – its instability!
A flake of this energy no bigger than a fingernail could level mountains. How could it be depleted so rapidly without cause? The two gods understood immediately that Cloudhawk had to be the culprit.
Enveloped in fire, Cloudhawk focused his will on one of his relics – a long silver chain. It was joined end to end to form a circle. The area in the middle rippled with spatial energy to form a mirror-like surface. The Sword of Sumeru, massive and imposing, was slowly being devoured by the unassuming ring of dainty silver.