Ava could still remember the day she first heard the summons of Last Kiss. It had only been a few years after she started weapons training with Bryn.
"Ava!" whispered an unknown voice.
Startled, she looked all around and saw none of the chambermaids or other servants of the royal house. Ava continued walking, thinking that she must have imagined it.
"Ava, come to me!" the voice beckoned.
This time Ava stopped dead in her tracks. Now she was afraid, not knowing what to think, but she felt drawn to the armory's door, which she had passed many times. Ava opened it apprehensively, and peered inside the circular chamber of the royal swords of Articia.
"Hello," Ava whispered. "Is anyone there?"
There was no response, but the unseen force she felt drew her to the center of the room. The door slammed shut and the force of the darkness surrounded her being.
"Ava, we are predestined to be bonded!" Ava heard the musical voice again as she moved closer to the source "As it was at the instance of the forge, heart to hand and hand to heart, the soul of the sword chooses its wielder."
Ava found that she could not speak, she could not respond to the call of the sword, as no words would come when she tried to communicate with the unknown spirit of the blade. On the northeast side of the room, the bright light of a glowing sword flashed in her eyes and her soul. As the sword continued its song, Ava's feet continued to move toward the glowing object despite her fear.
"From warrior to warrior, heart to heart, and soul to soul I have passed. I am the last touch of the lovers and the first glimpse of fear in my foes. Mastered by none, and feared by most. Independent and free, our souls have touched queens and princesses but no man-child can wield or control our spirit. Behold Last Kiss! I am your confidant, your partner!"
At the last word, Ava grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of its stand, holding it up over her head, pointing to the ceiling of the chamber. Tears were streaming from her eyes as the emotion and power of the sword bonded with her soul. The power of the blade surged through her arm and into her whole body. Light flooded from the glowing sword and lit the room. It was then that she noticed the radiant glow of the other swords in the chamber.
"Today we stand in service of the goddess and the light!" exclaimed the spirits of the remaining royal swords.
When the sword paused in its message, Ava was compelled to turn its point downward as she dropped to one knee. Ava then bowed her head and reveled in the newfound union with the sword.
She was not sure how long she knelt on the floor as the sword communed with her soul, Last Kiss replaying its battles and glories and revealing the souls of the rare women warriors previously bonded to Last Kiss. Then the final statement from the sword came and it almost broke Ava's heart.
"From this time on, we will speak no more; it is now the time of Ava and the building of her soul bond. Though I will feel right in your hand, you will not hear my song again, for it is now your song that must be heard. No one should know of our bond, though the day and time of its revelation is not far from this moment."
Ava was compelled to return the sword to its stand.
"As it was from the first warrior, so shall it be with each to follow. Come to me when you can, and I will train your mind and your soul. You are still so young. The time is near when we will draw our first drink of blood, and that will be the day of sorrows."
The sword went silent, and the light disappeared from the room. Ava fell to the floor and cried herself to sleep.
…
Ava grasped the hilt of Last Kiss, feeling the silk wrap of its handle. She lovingly pulled it from its stand. The young princess started immediately into the drills that looked like an intricate dance.
Ava found her time with Last Kiss too fleeting; she was pleased that this time she would be able to stay and work longer than any time before and strengthen the bond with her sword. When an hour had passed, Ava realized that the midday was waning and soon she would have to ready herself for daily training. She loved to train, but today would be a short exercise. Later in the day would be the banquet.
Today's celebration was the climax of the summer festival. However, this year's festival was especially exciting because tonight's banquet would celebrate Dominic's First Excursion. It signaled the time when Dom, having reached the age of twenty-one passes of the four seasons, would first go out to travel and explore the kingdom on his own. How Ava wished she could travel the kingdom. Ava thought of adventure and how exciting it would be to leave the confines of Castle Articia.
As Ava started to put Last Kiss into its holder, she stopped. It was just a feeling; she was not sure why, but today she was going to bring Last Kiss up to her room. She sheathed the sword and headed out of the armory.
Chapter 3
A Deal with the Darkness
The dark citadel, hidden under Coal Mountains, was a remarkable structure. Even the goblins that occupied the caves above did not know of its existence. For more than a thousand passes of the seasons, the sorcerers of the darkness had been developing and perfecting their dark arts. Lately, the sorcerer master of the dark arts had been very busy building their plans of domination. In all that time, the only thing that had truly concerned them was the birth of the royal children.
"So the accursed offspring are fourteen now," the master of the darkness questioned the scribe.
"Yes, master, their day of birth has now had fourteen passes." The dark scribe responded. "It has caused quite the stir amongst all of the practitioners and the demons as well."
"Yes, I can see how the demons would be concerned. They do not like the balance that the children's existence represents." The dark sorcerer crossed the room and started turning the pages of a tome that rested on a stand in the middle of the chamber.
The chamber was the place where the citadel's master performed the strongest of the dark arts. It was a round room with obsidian black walls. For those who knew of their existence, the barely visible runes etched into the walls represented all of the classes of the dark arts. The runes circled the most powerful symbol of the dark deity, the head of a dire wolf.
The master of sorceries is the most powerful of the dark practitioners and occupies the chambers at the highest level of the citadel. Had the citadel been on an open plain, its four identical sides rising to a single point would have been observable, its form, and shape, of the dark citadel, known only by the practitioners who carved it out of the base of the mountain with their dark magic.
The master sorcerer flipped through the pages of the tome. "I remember a story in the archives about demons of significant power. Summoned to signal a catastrophic event, certainly an appropriate answer to the problem we have with the children. Those beasts would be a worthy match to their growing power."
"Have you the magic to summon such creatures?" the scribe queried.
"No, it is beyond my power. But I believe that if we align with the demons that have taken residence here on our world, we should be able to find a way to bring the demons through the rift between our worlds." The dark master turned to the scribe. "I have found this incantation, which may help to bring about the unbalancing." As he found the page, the practitioner stepped aside to allow the scribe to view the book. "What do you think?"
The scribe stepped up to the podium to read what the master had found. "Hmm, it is an interesting option. Clearly a good match for our situation, but can we control the beasts?"
Many years before the discovery of magic, demons had entered the world of Articia. They caused havoc wherever they passed. It was not until the elves of the other world arrived that Articia found some peace. The elves and the demons