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Flaming Hearts {OPEN, PM to join}

Started by Celegwen, July 24, 2017, 02:53:13 PM

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Celegwen

Seeing the Devourer, the Maoin found himself nearly frozen. He had been put on the spot more times than he could count, as well as performed in front of thousands of people, but he had never frozen before that moment.

His mind flew back years, and suddenly, he was six years old again. This was supposed to be a scary story to tell little kids of a bad time long ago. None of this was supposed to repeat!

Rena's voice snapped him out of his trance-like state. The bombs, Exon thought, dropping the branch. Now, this was something he was good at. He reached into the neckline of his shirt, slipping his thumb into a coarse ring and coating his middle finger in a red powder. Taking out one of the bombs...

Snap!

Exon snapped his fingers together against the fuse with enough strength to light it. He hurled it towards the Devourer with perfect aim. "Get down!" He shouted to the others.

Wrathwyrm

The call went out to get down and they all dove for cover, even though Arrok didn't know why he was doing so.  Thing is, the Devourer also ducked into a crouch, 'looking' wary, which prompted Rena to shout "Not you!" before the explosion.  The bomb still hit it right in the face, since Exon had been basically aiming for center-of-mass.

POW!!

The blast flung it right back into the shack...and through it!  There was a nice gaping hole in the back, where the thing - looking burnt and pissed off - got up on its feet.  Rena, having seein the shack had been popping out boards from impacts, right and left, struck her sword in a gap and used it to vault to the roof, before a slice caused her to ride it down on top of the thing!  She had it pinned and stabbed down into the boards to get at its chest.  The Devourer roared and leapt straight up, some cuts visible on its torso as it came to grasp some branches and stay high in the trees.  Rena, herself, had been flung back by the sudden departure and tucked into a roll before unfurling near Exon, looking up at him.

"Well, it's going a little better than expected."

Really?  In comparison to what?

Celegwen

Yeah, Exon thought. At least we're not dead yet.

He helped her get back to her feet, looking at the Devourer as it tried to vanish in the treetops. Feldler raced after it, barking up every tree it moved to. Damn dog wouldn't give up!

Exon looked at what remained of the shack, thinking of how close they were able to get to the Devourer and how strongly the blast had effected it. He felt his heart start to race, and his eyes looked at his barking dog who was smart enough to keep a distance from the creature.

"Steel is barely doing anything," Exon thought aloud. "Rena, I can't believe I would even suggest this, but that thing has to be stopped before it reaches the city." He pulled out another bomb. "This thing blew it backwards with enough force to destroy the shack, but it did almost nothing physically. What if it explodes..." His voice cracked; the Maoin was far from comfortable in this kind of situation. "What if it explodes...internally?"

Wrathwyrm

The thing of the Devourer was that it was both very strong and very weak at the same time.  The power of the demon relic was to grant immense physical prowess, but at the cost of a voracious appetite and therefore the consumption of stamina at a higher rate.  In short, it was hungry, possibly always hungry.  It was like a Timelord burning its life away to perform great feats and endure violence.

Still, Rena was being optimistic here on the grounds - while ON the ground - that it was just a monster, and not something that thought like a human.  For instance, Maxton might've gone straight for the town or their horses by now, but this thing wanted to fight.  It was very confrontational.  Lethal, but more predictable, in a way.  As he helped her up, though, Exon said something that... that...  She couldn't help herself, and laughed!

"Hah hah hah hah hah!  I like it!"

She seemed genuinely pleased by the idea.  However, a second later, her merriment was cut short before one of the guardsmen shouted "Dog, move!" at Feldler before the Devourer leapt down and snap!  The guard's head disappeared and the demon was now on its feet, facing the others, the headless body falling to the ground.  The head was bitten clean off!  Just like that!

"Arrok, with me!  Exon, get ready!"

Both Rena and Arrok charged from different sides, leaving Exon a clear view.  It blocked Rena's sword with its arm and the arm seemed to cut and even break, but it had also turned to stomp-kick at Arrok.  The temple guard had blocked with his swords criss-crossing to force the leg down, but even after that, it was forced up and he was kicked in the face hard enough to throw him on his back!

"Throw!"

Celegwen

Exon enjoyed the reaction he got from Rena, but they were forced back into battle when one of the guards yelled at the barking dog. Feldler yelped and jumped away when the Devourer leapt down.

The man looked away from the image of the headless guardsman. He fought back the urge to puke. Special effects for shows were one thing, but seeing that kind of thing in person was just unimaginably awful.

At Rena's command, Exon put the red powder on his finger again and held another bomb. Please work, he thought, his heart racing. The Devourer just didn't seem to tire. Rena and Arrok went at it with everything, breaking its bones and cutting into its limbs deeper than it was feeling.

He lit the fuse and focused his vision. They had one shot, so he was going to make it count. Feldler raced away from the demon, and Exon hurled the bomb towards the open mouth. He'd learned from last time with his aim to not call a warning before the very last second. With the bomb barely an inch from its mouth, Exon looked at the girl.

"Rena!" He shouted, sweeping his arm to the side as a warning to get clear of the blast.

Wrathwyrm

She heard the call and jumped away as far as she could, not knowing exactly how this would play out.  The Devourer caught the bomb in its mouth without even thinking about it, since its attention had been largely focused on its attackers.  However, in the next min-

BOOM!!

Ewww...  Bits of head were raining down now, as there was barely a jaw attached to the neck-stump, which was burnt black.  Rather disconcertingly, though, the body of the thing just stood there.  Rena got up and saw this, and...she could see the flow of magic.  Just a little, though.  The Eye was in its stomach, and it seemed to be pulsing its energies out.  At least, that's how it was for her.

"Maxton definitely ate it, thinking he could forever merge the Eye of Hunger's power with him.  I guess he was right, but...it made this demon out of 'im."

Arrok: "I'm not sure he's dead."

"I'm sure he's dead, but not it.  Not yet."

Why?  Well, for one, the Eye appeared to BE the current Devourer's center of being, the source of all.  And for another, uhh...a headless body was just standing there!  You just don't DO that.  And sure enough, the thing still had a trick or two up its sleeve, or rather in its body.  Something black and tumorous grew out of the neck-stump.  It was essentially a new head with new teeth and still no eyes.

This was bad, but aha!  Look at it!  In order to create that head, it needed to draw on its body, which now looked thinner and more spindly in nature.  Also, there was an orifice opening in the chest - kind of like the mouth of a toothed worm - and sucking in loose matter, such as leaves and...bits of itself.  Rena stepped over to Exon.

"Let's give it one in the chest hole and one in the mouth again.  We still have six of the bombs.  I think we can-"

Her ear twitched and she looked back at the demon again.  Agh!  It was moving like a spider, right at them!

Celegwen

He got a bad feeling when the Devourer's headless body just stood there. The feeling got worse when it sprouted a new head. Exon had thought they finally had a leg up until that little surprise happened! Not only that, but apparently a second mouth had appeared in its chest. Super! Exon thought.

Something was different...

It seemed like that new mouth was keeping the demon alive by drawing the energy from...well, everything. Rena immediately came up with a plan; one bomb in the chest, one bomb in the head. She stopped in the middle of saying something, and Exon followed her eyes to - holy mother of Inima, what is that?!

The demon crawled horribly towards them. "You wanna finish that sentence?" Exon shouted rhetorically, jumping away from the thing.

Feldler ran over, a dog's protective instincts overpowering his own fear. Now that the Devourer was crawling, the dog saw it as an equal fight. Barking and snarling with his hackles raised, he ran over and bit down on the thing's arm. The pure pressure from the dog's bite at least fractured the demon's arm and giving Exon and Rena the opportunity needed. 

"One at the face," Exon said, giving Rena a bomb and taking one for himself. "And one at the chest. You call it."

Wrathwyrm

Rena gave a "Not really!" response to him as she backed away, even though it was rhetorical.  Feldler immediately acted in their defense, and it was a good and solid bite, but the thing was powered by an unearthly force.  It wasn't so much as pain as...merely damage...that was inflicted upon it.  It was angered, judging by the deep thunderous snarl it made, and either the dog was being dragged towards its mouth - kind of like a black tongue with a mouth full of fangs, that head - or it was moving towards the dog.  Either way, Rena was jumping in to put all her weight down on a stab into the 'neck' so it couldn't take a bite.  The thing forced her back with a slash at the legs, tearing the leather armor and scratching her legs.

"Agh!"

Fortunately, the three remaining guards - starting with Arrok - tackled it down so their collective weight was able to keep it from moving!  NOW, they had an opportunity, as Exon handed her a bomb.  Which mouth, though?  The Devourer was struggling to get up on all-fours again, its main mouth putting out a continuous rumble of a growl and...oh gods!  Its breath was rancid!  However, as it tried to raise up, the chest-mouth was on full suction.

"I'll shove it under there, and then everybody run!  Exon, you get Feldler loose when I do!"

Because the dog was going to have to immediately get out of the way, and it wasn't easy for one to fight instinct in a situation like this.

Celegwen

It was true that the dog's instincts were incredibly strong. That was the only reason Feldler had jumped at the opportunity to protect his master. Still, if nothing else could be said for Exon's relationship with Feldler, Exon had that dog trained perfectly.

The Maoin felt the pain Rena must have experienced when the Devourer clawed through her armor. It wasn't like she had especially thick armor, but the power the demon had to tear through it with its bare hands was...

He forced himself to stop thinking about powerful it was, focusing on how much energy it took to make itself so powerful. That survival mechanism was going to be its undoing.

Exon snapped his fingers on the fuses of both bombs, which began their time. He smirked at Rena without even realizing it and started running towards the creature. A sharp whistle from his master attracted Feldler's attention. The dog released the Devourer, taking off in a sprint in Exon's direction.

Glancing at Rena, he knew they had one shot at this. One at the face, one under the chest. Exon released the bomb he was holding. It was up to Rena now. Please, Inima, Exon thought, make this work.

Wrathwyrm

The pain was pretty bad in her legs, but she was currently hopped up on adrenaline, so she'd be alright for the moment.  However, there must've been some miscommunication, because Rena had been pulling out her own flint for fire-making when the Maoin simply whistled for the dog to get moving so he could light two bombs and use both hands to stuff 'em in both orifices.

This had an interesting effect.

You see, when Rena saw it sucking in at the chest and blasting out noxious breath from its mouth, she thought perhap the mouth and the chest were directly connected, like it didn't have any kind of traditional anatomy and could just suck an and blast out at will.  That was why she elected to stuff hers into the chest.  It would be sucked in and explode before it could come out.  Whether Exon had any similar thoughts on the matter, she didn't know, because he went for both at once, and then immediately the guards were getting the heck out of there, and so was she.  What followed immediately after was a 'Ptoo!' sound, and then...

BAM!  BAM!

The first blast was against a nearby tree, which immediately sent burnt foliage all over the area.  However, the second one was inside the chest of the thing.  The stronger form of the Devourer might've split open and repaired itself using its stamina.  The thinnger and more spindly version was a bit more frail...and blew apart.  Bits of demon flew this way and that, the two claws hands of the creature sticking into the trunks of two trees and the feet on the ground, smoking somewhat.  The forest floor was littered with its hardened flesh and branch and leaves.

"Okay, that was...a mess.  Is that tree on fire?"

"No, just smoking."

It had spit out the first bomb, of course, and the guard was just checking on it...when he noticed some movement in the branches.  He shouted "The rest of it's up here!", as he pointed his sword at...what looked like an octopus with a big toothy mouth  The Devourer was not dead!  However, they'd severely cut it down to size...  Truth be told, it was maybe about the size and threat level of a Vorpal...Rabbit...  Oh shit.

"Get back!"

"No, I got it!"

Well, he did and he didn't.  He was on target when he stabbed it, but that was because it had moved its mouth to point at him.  It was planning to drop down in an ambush, he'd caught it first, but there was a problem.  Namely, the sudden and rather shocking Nomnomnomnomom! sound in which it ate the sword with rapid chewing...right up to the man's arm!

Cue the screaming!

This was followed by the sudden chopping of the arm at the elbow, the arm plus Devourer going flying across the ground, and Rena cauterizing the wound with the flat of her sword, Spark having charged with lightning briefly.  Yes, she knew someone was going to look a bit unfavorably on that.  She didn't care at the moment, since the man might've bled out without immediate action.  The creature would've otherwise gotten him up to the shoulder and done who-knows-what after that, if she didn't!

"Are you okay?"

"That was my favorite hand!  He ate my favorite hand!!"

"I mean, if you're dying or not!"

"What?  No no...I'll be fine.  I'm just gonna have to do something embarrassing...and pass out."

Plop.  Yeah, he was in shock.  Arrok was looking for the octopoid thing now.

Celegwen

"Whoa!" Exon shouted. The bomb he had thrown was shot right back out. That was unexpected!

What followed was Rena's bomb blowing the demon to smithereens. The Maoin looked around at the pieces of the Devourer littered the surrounding area. It was disgusting. This whole ordeal was messier than Exon ever expected when he signed on.

The sudden screaming from one of the guards was horrifying. How is this thing still alive? Exon thought. He whipped around to see Rena cauterizing the wound. Her lightning charged sword was absolutely against Thanati rules, but Exon's lady played with elements. He decided not to mention it, unless Rena would bring it up.

Rena was definitely good in a fight, but Exon noticed Arrok suddenly leading the charge to find what remained of the creature. He jogged over to Rena, his hand ruffling his hair. "What the hell do we do?" He asked. "It was hit right in the center of its life force. How the fuck is it still going?"

He wasn't actually mad at Rena, though it might've come across like he was. Exon was afraid that his childhood horror story was coming back, and he just had no idea how to stop it.

Wrathwyrm

How was it still alive?  Err, magic, basically.  Magical beasts don't always operate by your esoteric rules of how a body works.  In this case, the demon used stamina and body mass as energy.  As it grows weaker or takes more damage, it reconfigures into smaller and smaller body shapes to remain operational on some level.  This made complete sense to Rena as soon as she saw it eating itself to grow a new head before.  For Exon, who would find all of it taboo and heinous, he wouldn't be able to have the same understanding.  Then again, neither would Yoreiqi, Essyrni, or many Connlaothians.  Why?  Because they just weren't immersed.  Rena was less panicked than she had been by it before, because now it'd been downgraded from a menace to everyone on this island to merely dangerous.

"Calm down, Exon!  Remember that the artifact itself is really durable.  It stayed intact and gathered whatever it could around itself to stay active.  We just need to keep up the pressure, because it has nothing to fall back on.  It must feed now or go back to sitting idle!"

Arrok: "What if it burrows into the ground to eat worms and bugs?"

"Can't be enough to sustain it."

Arrok: "What if it takes root in a tree like before?"

"Still not enough to make it a danger.  No one ever got attacked when you first found it."

Presumably, that meant that plants and little lifeforms were too weak in lifeforce to make much of a difference in its appetite.  Rena stepped closer to the area in which it was hiding.  Then, she pretended to be unaware, closing her eyes and keeping her ears perked.  When she heard the sound - that telltale sound of something small launching itself in a predatory fashion - she struck!  She hit it right in the teeth, and the creature didn't even nick her sword.  She followed quickly, wincing at the pain in her legs, whacking it around before finally stabbing it into a tree trunk!  There, it was pinned and stuck, even if she let the sword go.  The double-point had pressed far into the wood.

"There...  It's not going anywhere.  My sword is a durable artifact too.  It's one of the reasons Uncle Zan thought my father would be suited to this.  With his skill and Flint at his side, he might've taken it on himself."

The one remaining unharmed guard - ironically, the messanger guy - looked at it now.

"Won't it...take root in there?  Stick to the tree?"

"So what?  The flesh'll break down, it'll be a helpless artifact, and then we can deal with it."

Arrok: "I've yet to see a manner in which anybody can 'deal with it'.  I'd almost consider forbidden magic to destroy this forbidden magic."

Rena sat down and had a look at it.  The thing was durable as hell.  Then...she smiled.

"I know how to kill it.  It means taking it off of the island - which I know you'd rather happen, anyway - but we can do it.  We just have to take it to Connlaoth, summon an Adhara, and then anyone can smash it."

Celegwen

"Arrok, I might agree with you there," Exon said at the magic comment. He wasn't completely against that kind of magic, especially if it benefits them in such a major situation, but maybe Rena's Adhara idea was a safer bet.

At this point, Exon felt that nothing could genuinely surprise him, so Rena's sword being 'a durable artifact' wasn't as shocking as he thought it would be.

"Rena, believe me... I am all for getting that thing as far from Thanatos as possible." He glanced at the demon pinned to the tree by the sword. "Are you positive you would be able to control it until getting to Connlaoth. That's a long journey! It's not like traveling to the next town."

He shook his head, thinking about his - flamboyant - friend they had seen earlier; the one who had summoned the cat creature. He had some pull that Exon didn't know possible. He said he knew an Adhara pirate... Nah! After what they had put him through, that guy would never help them out again.

Exon rubbed the back of his neck. "At least tell me you aren't thinking of doing this alone..."

Wrathwyrm

Spark truly was artifice.  They happen without there having to be a god or a devil, sometimes.  The seven blades of the House of Alamar had three that were discovered, most-likely artifacts of the ancient age before Serendipity and Connlaoth were around.  The four that emerged from it, like Spark, were conceived of after intense study of the three.  Rena knew just a little of their true origin, as her father did, because of the golems which came out of the minds to claim the three.  That is, however, unimportant to matters at hand.  Right now, the demon is drying up, Rena is sitting on the ground and trying not to let her legs bother her, and they were deciding what to do.

"Arlius kept it quietly under his feet, dreading that something would happen.  The only real danger was the expertise of a cunning thief.  With that in mind, I'm more concerned over the length of the journey and my legs."

She'd been inspecting them while they were talking.  It made her wish she'd brough the mythril, after all.  These weren't deep wounds.  The demon had not been super-powerful at the time.  However, they hurt andt they'd bled.  Some bandages would help.  Getting their horses back for the ride into town would be even better.  She was more worried about immediate concerns than the far-reaching ones.  When Exon asked her if she was planning to take the Eye to Connlaoth alone, though, Rena sighed and looked at him.

"Honestly, I don't know.  How could I ask any Thanati to leave their home and travel among the people they consider invaders and blasphemers?  The quickest way to get to Reajh, straight to the Mordecais' tower, is to pass through the heart of Serendipity to reach the southern borders of Connlaoth.  The people there do not believe in Thanatos' god, they don't believe the magic you've forsworn is embarrassing or wrong, and said magic is all over the place, in great quantity."

Celegwen

Rena had a point. Despite his own tolerance for the magic that his people scorn, Exon wasn't sure how he would feel being surrounded by those kinds of people. On top of that, he had a life on Thanatos with a dog, a job, a lady, and a reputation. The woman had her plan, and it was a good plan.

"I'll pay for your passage back to the mainland," Exon said. "I won't take no for an answer. And you can barely walk. Just stay here, and I'll-" He stopped, hearing multiple hoofbeats. Grinning, he shrugged. "Never mind. Stay, Feldler."

The dog laid down next to Rena, his head resting on his paws. Exon parted from what remained of the group and jogged over. A young man sat atop one of the horses while leading the others. He dismounted, bowing politely to Exon, who returned the gestured. Nothing would have been heard of their brief conversation, but Exon simply told the young man that there had been an accident during a trail ride and that the horses were spooked. The young man took the unnecessary horses back with him, leaving four horses for them.

The Maoin approached the others with two leads held in each hand. "I may not be able to go with you, Rena," he said, "but I'm not letting you leave yet. You need to have your leg looked at. I'll cover any and all expenses. You saved my home and everyone who lives here from an unspeakable tragedy repeating itself. It's the very least I can do to repay you."

Wrathwyrm

While they had been talking, all those watching the thing in the tree would find that it had finally lost all of its demonic flesh and now was just a dark artifact with an open 'screaming' eye-mouth that led to blackness.  The Devourer was no more.  Only the Eye of Hunger remained.  It was at this time that Exon insisted on paying for her passage back to the mainland, and that she needed to get her leg - perhaps both legs - looked at.  No argument there.  He left Feldler behind, who lay down beside her.  Rena gave him a good pet while the Maoin was away.

"He's a good man, Feldler, but I would never inflict my world on his."

The guards were - by and large - standing guard, evne as Exon returned.  Looks like he got the horses back and - judging by rhe sound of it - didn't even have to explain what really happened.  Well, as was certainly understood by now, it was better that people didn't really know.  He was very grateful, to which Rena smiled and said...

"That's very kind of you, but we're not actually done yet.  Arrok, would you pry it out of there with my sword?  We can't let the thing out of our sight, not when there's a thief about."

Remember?  Maxton had help.  Arrok moved to pry out the Eye of Hunger from the tree.

"We can put it in the bomb bag.  Seems fair."

Celegwen

Exon had genuinely forgotten that Maxton wasn't the sole culprit in that adventure. He'd gotten so wrapped up in stopping the Devourer and getting the Eye of Hunger back to where it belonged that what actually caused this to begin with escaped his mind.

Arrok moved toward the Eye of Hunger, and Feldler jumped up from Rena's side to go running at the man with his ears pricked. The dog barked once, which drew Exon's attention, but didn't hold it. Feldler started sniffing up at the object, hoping Arrok would let him explore the different smell.

The Maoin shifted a bit uncomfortably at the thought of the Eye in the bomb bag. "It's a good thought," he started, "but might I improve it?" Exon knelt on the ground, dropping the horses' leads. They weren't going anywhere unless they were spooked again, which Exon didn't think was likely at that time.

He opened the bomb bag and removed the remaining bombs. Taking the scarf off from around his neck, he laid it out and placed the bombs on it, then tied it like a bag. Glancing at Rena with a slight smirk, he shrugged. "Call me paranoid, but I don't like the thought of that thing near four bombs while traveling."

Wrathwyrm

Arrok didn't interfere with the dog, but just the same he needed a moment to familiarize himself with this unusual sword and how to use it as - essentially - a prising tool.  As he managed to pop the thing free, Exon was improving their bomb and bag situation.  The guard held the artifact in his hand and felt its throbbing forces.  Men of knowledge would find the thing intriguing, intoxicating.  Perhaps ordinary men too.  However, as much as its power would be an interest to anyone, he himself found it unnatural and sick.  He placed it in the bag without a word.

"Well, I was thinking that if anything were to happen - thief or strangeness with the Eye - we set the bag on fire and throw it away, then wait for the explosion.  It doesn't matter, though.  As long as we're more than a match for the thief, in case he gets any ideas, we're fine."

That said, with a little assistance, everyone got onto their horses.  The guy with only one hand was riding with the messanger, as he was {A} still a little shellshocked and {B} one-handed.  Rena could ride, well enough, on her own.

"Hey, umm...messanger guy."

"Yes?"

"Maybe you should ride ahead to get that guy help and tell Arlius what happened."

Arrok: "And get us more men.  I'll take no chances here."

"Yes, sir!  Uhh, ma'am!  Err, both of you!"

He rode off at full gallop.  The rest would be proceeding with greater care, just in case.

Celegwen

Following slowly after the messenger, Exon set the pace at a slow trot. Of course he wanted to be careful, but as Rena had mentioned, there was still a thief out and about. Better to have a slightly quicker pace than a simple walk. Feldler had returned to Exon's side as soon as the artifact was wrapped in the bag. The dog trotted alongside the horses, tired from the exhilarating ordeal that had just taken place.

As they approached civilization, the Maoin assessed his traveling companions briefly. "Could've been worse," he mumbled to himself. They had suffered casualties, but it could've turned into something far worse than what happened. Exon was just grateful that it was pretty much over.

"Rena, how does that sword work?" He asked finally, genuinely curious about the weapon. "We hit the thing with bombs, yet your sword was what finally got it truly under control. It's a marvelous weapon, and I've never seen one like it."

It wasn't the topic of conversation Exon had expected to turn onto, but they had a little time before reaching town, so he decided to go for it. Besides, what good would it do to dwell on the fact they were traveling with an ancient artifact known for corrupting souls?

Wrathwyrm

Exon was right, of course.  It could've been worse.  They could've died fighting and feed the demon, before it surged over the island and ate of every last living thing...and then perhaps took a dip in the ocean.  There's no limit to the food down there.  That's for sure.  Now, without any immediate attacks coming about, they had a moment to converse.  However, Rena shook her head at Exon's words.

"You're wrong, Exon.  The bombs did a great deal.  I didn't use any magic on the thing.  I just figured one artifact could withstand the teeth of a creature born of another.  Maybe you recall that it failed to lop off any part of its body?"

A fair point, and she hadn't used Spark's real power against it because - and this was the most important piece of information - she suspected it to be useless against the beast.  That said, she didn't want to deny him an answer, per se.  Spark was impressive, as far as swords go.

"My sword is like this, however, because it was formed into a new material from a particular metal, called Mythril.  This one, Spark, was created - like Flint, Flood, and Swift - after one of the Alamars, Goldswiths' predecessors, examined three ancient blades of a similar quality.  Those three were from the previous civilization.  Discovering a method of full element infusion is what changed the materials, and what made the blades what they were.  Spark IS lightning, in a way.  It's very strange, and Lord Alamar deliberately chose not to pass on the method of element infusion.  It became just a legend that happened to be true."

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