CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Master. I thirst.
Ashiyn jolted awake at the sword’s demanding voice, and nearly dropped the heavy tome from his lap. He must have fallen asleep in his chair reading this last one. He scowled and closed the book with a cloud of dust and set it on the table next to his comfortable chair. Then he stretched slowly. How long had he slept? Soryn was nowhere to be seen.
He rose and walked into his bedroom. Seraphine was not in his bed. A glance out the window revealed it was late afternoon. He stalked over to the glass case where the blade rested and leaned on the glass. He folded his arms and looked in at it. "Do you?" he asked arrogantly.
It is the price of my power. You must let me drink of blood and chaos. I feast on death. This is the agreement you made. You have no problem with paying it. Pick me up and let us go.
Ashiyn watched the black lightning flicker over the deep obsidian of the blade. Even after all these years, the craftsmanship of the blade was ethereal. He had seen many sentient swords, but none like this. "What are you, Sihtaar, who makes the heavens weep?"
Clearly, I am a sword. You are neither blind nor stupid. You can see that.
Ashiyn stared for a moment at that response, then narrowed his eyes. "You are an incredible smartass for a weapon."
Intelligent, yes. I lack an ass though.
Ashiyn rolled his eyes. "Remember that I am your Master and speak to me accordingly. I asked you a question."
I gave you an answer. Are we going to kill now or are you going to stand there staring at me? I am well-crafted, but I do not need a master that will just admire me. I chose you because you are a man of action.
"I just fed you an ancient lich full of magic and an entire town full of monsters. How thirsty could you possibly be?" Ashiyn stood up and slid the glass open to retrieve the blade.
Absorbing magic is different. Your Master was a dry husk. Monster blood does not satisfy me as long. I want fresh blood to drink.
Ashiyn slid the sword's scabbard over his back then slid the blade into it slowly. He adjusted it until the blade lay just right, then he started out of the fortress. "I feel like I have a pet I must feed!"
He felt the blade's displeasure wash over his mind. Do not compare me to a beast.
"Why not? I care far more for my beast, Illusion, than I do for most people." Ashiyn stopped as he heard Soryn and Seraphine's voices from one of the rooms. He stopped to watch them. They sat together sharing a pot of tea and discussing a book. He watched, trying to decide whether he should be jealous.
Decide later. Action now.
Ashiyn started when the blade gave him a jolt to get his attention. He glared over his shoulder at it and continued down the hall. "Don't start with me. You saw the end that my master achieved for himself by getting on my bad side."
A goal you could only achieve with my help.
Ashiyn felt his skin crawl at the tone the blade used. It was not worried. Rarely had Ashiyn met anything with arrogance to match his own besides his Master. He frowned but continued outside to get Illusion. Once he was on the winged equine, he guided his mount to a nearby village.
Sej was so tiny that it barely counted as a village. It contained one ancient family of humans that had bred with each other until there were a few hundred of them. Filthy people. Personal hygiene was not their strong point. They carried plague and disease to other towns around them any time they traveled. The only reason he hadn't wiped them from the face of the planet before this was that he was hoping to feed them to an appropriately disgusting monster.
As he drew his blade, he decided that he had found a good enough monster. The blade sang with excitement in his hands as they approached the town.
They had no defense against him. They fought like ants swarming the foot of a great elephant. He picked them off like the insects they were. As he rounded up the last few survivors, he came to the edge of the town.
Somehow the trio of villagers there had completely missed what had just happened to their extended family. The grotesque man of the family was laughing as he dangled a cat in the air, held by its neck.
The little girl was screeching about the cat and fighting like a hellion, as her mother tried to hold her back.
Ashiyn tilted his head. The man was spouting threats of torture for the cat, as he carried it to a table full of knives. They didn't even see Ashiyn approach, until he knocked the man down and freed the cat.
The cat darted back to the girl with a terrified yowl, and she bent to scoop it up. Before the man could even register what had happened, Ashiyn crossed over, cut the mother's head from her shoulders with a swift strike, then buried the blade in her body as she fell. He let the blade drink its fill of her as he turned back to the man.
The man screamed and charged at him with a dagger.
Ashiyn rolled his eyes. Even in his heavy armor, he was much faster and more agile than this idiot oaf. He sidestepped, grabbed the man's hand, then yanked it back behind his back and pulled the stinking man close. "Enjoy torturing things, do you? So do I."
Ashiyn kicked the man's leg out so
