“What have you found out?” Sasha asked. she was curious; there were only a few documented cases in history of humans becoming Elves.
“Well there’s not a lot, but one thing that I have figured out is that your translation continues for a few weeks,” Iselin said.
“What do you mean?” Legon asked, dropping the bow to his side.
“Well, when you first changed, Keither said he picked you up and you were around 110 pounds, which is average for Elves. We just don’t need the muscle mass humans do.”
“Ok…”
“But here’s the thing: you are much, much larger than most, if not all, Elves,” Iselin went on.
“I don’t know. I seem to be pretty average,” Legon said.
“Your height is average, but not your muscle mass. you see, the only documented people who have changed said that they kept all their muscle mass but they weighed less. this doesn’t make any sense.”
Sasha thought she knew where this was going.
“These people reported that they continued to gain weight after they changed until they were closer to their old weight,” Iselin explained.
“But Arkin said that you Elves were made of different stuff than humans,” Sasha remarked.
“We are, and it is more lightweight, but Legon was very large before and it’s safe to assume that his weight will go up to 160 or 170 before long, and his strength should follow close behind.”
“160 isn’t that heavy for me,” Legon said.
“But it is for an Elf. you will be able to overpower any Elves and Iumenta you fight. they may be faster, but you will always be stronger, which is a big help in magic.”
“How big?” Legon asked.
“Big enough that you may never test your strength enough to ascend,” Iselin said.
Legon shook his head. “Ok, I don’t want to think about this now. Can I get a real bow please?”
Sasha started when she heard Sydin start to talk. she hadn’t even noticed him enter the room. he sounded amused. “Legon, she’s saying you’re stronger now. That bow is close to seven hundred pounds. It just doesn’t feel that way. you don’t know your strength yet.”
“It’s what?” Legon said
“Here, give it to Sasha. if it’s a hunting bow then she will be able to fire it without issue,” Sydin said.
Legon gave her the bow. if Legon said it was a hunting bow then that’s what it was. It was light. There was no way it was 700 pounds. she knocked an arrow and tried to pull back. The string didn’t move. she pulled harder. Nothing. It was 700 pounds. She felt her jaw drop.
“So, Sasha?” Iselin asked, smiling.
Sasha handed Legon the bow. “It’s 700 pounds.”
Sydin spoke to Legon. “Come, Un Prosa. I wish to test you myself. Iselin, if you will, Sasha.”
“Of course. Sasha, come with me; we will need to change before we begin,” Iselin said, gesturing her to follow.
Sasha felt trepidation at this but followed Iselin anyway. They changed into pants and regular shoes. Iselin took her to a large room which she had requested be stocked with weapons. Iselin asked Sasha if she remembered to bring her Faloon.
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I needed it,” Sasha said.
“That’s fine, we have others.” Iselin walked to a bench and picked up two swords, handing one to Sasha.
“Ise, there’s no way I can beat you. I’m terrible at this.” Sasha felt embarrassed. she saw Iselin as a friend and she didn’t want to look like a fool in front of her. She saw how fast Legon was, and even with magic she was no match.
Iselin spoke gently. “Sash, I’m not trying to embarrass you. This is just to see where you are at. don’t try and use magic; it won’t help you.”
Iselin took in Sasha’s stance, studying her and feeling bad. this one was so kind and gentle; the last few months must have been horrible for her.
“Don’t we need guards on the blades?” Sasha asked timidly.
“No. I don’t plan on hurting you, nor do I plan on you hurting me, but if you like I will guard the blades with magic.”
There was the telltale flicker of pink. Sasha had fought before; it was necessary when Kovos was killed. but she was using the Mahann then and she had to fight. Now that Sasha was among friends, Iselin could see that Sasha was not really able to handle it. no, it was Legon that had gotten her through the violence. Just as Sasha affected him, he gave her strength; he had a strong connection with her at all times.
Sasha was holding the Faloon in a ready position. a human wouldn’t have seen the slight tremble, but Iselin did.
“Are you connected with your brother?” Iselin asked.
“Well no, not really. Why, should I be?”
“Yes, open the connection just a bit.” The trembling stopped. Iselin breathed in deeply, fighting back anger.
“Iselin, I’m sorry. What did I do wrong?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Let’s begin.”
Legon stood across from Sydin, covered in sweat. they had been going at it with the fenrra for close to an hour, and he was finally starting to get tired. to his great pleasure, so was Sydin. he bested Sydin about half the time, which also made him happy. Sydin was six thousand years old and had a lot more experience.
“I can’t believe I’ve beaten you as much as I have.”
Sydin laughed. “Don’t be too proud, Un Prosa. I’ve been ascended for thousands of years, and we dragons don’t use swords as much as you might think.” He winked at him.
“Thank you for the motivational talk. That makes me feel all warm on the inside.”
“That’s why I’m here. now, I have something new to show you.”
Legon walked over to Sydin, who was picking up a blade in a sheath. The definition of broadsword was like its name: broad. there were small ones for close combat. these only needed one hand and were short. The most common in Airmelia was the hand and a half like Kovos used, and now Keither, but there were still more. some were six or seven feet long and used like an axe. Sydin was holding a sheathed blade that looked to be along the same lines as the fenrra, but it wasn’t.
“Take it out and have a look.”
The sheath showed that the blade, whatever it was called, was just slightly longer than a hand and a half, but it was significantly wider. Legon gripped the overly long handle and pulled. like the fenrra, the sword slid out silently. He held it vertically in front of his face, examining it. It was a match to the fenrra in all but the width, which was close to six inches. he instantly felt the balance. like the fenrra, the handle was a counter weight, but why so wide? It was also very light for a weapon this size.
“Is it hollow?” Legon asked, stunned.
“Very astute of you. in a way, it is. This is a fenna, or a Venefica Battle Sword, as some like to call them,” Sydin explained.
“A what?” Legon asked.
“You see, crystals break; they’re brittle, so you can’t make the core of a sword out of them. but there are some metals that hold magic, and those can form the core of a sword. Although the metals lose power much faster than crystals, you can still see the potential.”
“So you can use these to do magic. but I still don’t see what makes that so special. can you kill easier with them or something?” Legon asked.
“Well, yes and no. they give you a certain edge. what most do is imbue the blade with wards that affect only the blade. then if, say, a ball of fire is shot at you, then you can deflect it with the blade and not tax your own wards. They are impractical for offensive magic.”
“Why is that?” Legon asked
