Third blog in 48 hours! -gasp-
Well, they are fundamentally different >.>

Sorry for repost; I had to fix some inconsistencies.

Chapter 6

When a chief of blades must run
When he must himself conceal,
Clerics be not the only one
With a power to heal
When it may be your one last breath
Summon your energy flow
And it may thwart untimely death
With eight orbs aglow.

~ Skill Book 421, on Chakra

Lightning flashed across the plateau where the ten from El Nath stood surrounded by the Shadowlights. When the spike of ice skewered Lachie, Kandine Ricki jumped into immediate action. Summoning a shadow clone and withdrawing two Steely knives, he began attacking the Shadowlights viciously, not bothering much to aim. A bolt of purple light struck him, knocking him out of the air.

As he stumbled back up, he heard a shout of “Genesis!” and a great flash of light. Nice, priest. Ricki continued to hurl knives toward the enemy, in case any were still standing, knowing there were no close attackers in their group and thus less of a chance to hit his teammates if he kept them at his back.

The light began fading ever so gradually, then suddenly dissipated at once. Ricki found himself staring into the face of the lead Shadowlight, a Steely sticking out of his helmet and looking quite annoyed.

Oh, for cursed scrolls.

The Shadowlight yanked the Steely out, discarding it in the snow, and moved to attack. Ricki decided it was best not to stay around and see what it was about to do, so he turned and started running. Sensing an easy target, the Shadowlight formed a spell. “Void Arrow!”

Even before he released the ray of darkness, the mage felt a Steely knife bury itself into his back. Its concentration broken, the dark energy detonated in his face. He felt a boot kick him over, and Ricki, standing above him, remarked, “Might wanna watch your back next time.”

I can’t kill him though… not with that aura stuff. Come on, where’s that priest… He scanned the landscape, and spotted Anka teleporting away to the portal. He ditched us!

Too late, he saw another bolt of shadow coming towards him. It hit him squarely in the stomach.

~

Somewhere two rock golems wrestled, one the color of chalk, the other dark like charcoal. Each struggled against the other, trying to bring them to the ground, but they were equally strong. Suddenly the chalk golem gave in, catching the charcoal one by surprise. It fell over on top of the chalk one and smashed into pieces. The chalk golem rose, still in one piece, and began obliterating the charcoal remains.

~

Kandine Ricki opened his eyes. He was sprawled flat on the ground.

He heard footsteps and froze, holding his breath. Whatever it was inspected him. A foot descended on his ribs, and he let out a small cry, barely audible. The thing walked away.

He reopened his eyes. The Shadowlight had passed him for dead… and he very nearly was. His ribs felt like hell. He needed the priest.

A few seconds passed, or it may have been a few hours; he couldn’t tell. Silence. He picked himself up off the ground. No Shadowlights were in sight, nothing but a few bodies. He knelt down by a fallen mage.

No… Lynnelle…

He bent down and examined her. There were no wounds. He took her wrist and checked for a pulse. None.

“Lynnelle…”

Her left fist was clenched around something. He opened her hand; it was a tiny sliver of dark crystal. He quickly put it away. He checked the wrist again.

A shadow of a heartbeat. He wasn’t exactly sure. He felt it again. Had he been imagining it? No matter how long he kept his hand there, he couldn’t decide for sure.

Lynnelle, please be alive…!

Quickly examining the other bodies, Ricki determined that they were all dead, except the other mage—he thought his name was Valerin or something—who had a weak pulse. He gave him a shake. He didn’t move. He tried dropping some snow on him, as a replacement for the classic bucket of water, but to no avail. Then, he pricked his cheek with a Steely.

Wake up, dammit!

Alone, miles from El Nath, with the bodies of five of his slain comrades and two others that might make it alive, he didn’t quite know what to do. He couldn’t leave the corpses out here, but neither could he condemn them to an undead life by burying them among the Dead Trees. And he certainly couldn’t carry them very far. And then, Lynnelle and Valerin. They would need help somehow…

As if on cue, a mystic door appeared on the plain. Anka, with half of El Nath at his back, stepped onto the snow. He looked at the bodies and at Ricki.

“Uh… need a heal?”

~

Lughaid Ardonn and Kandine Shade waited in the shadows, each daring the other to move. Shade faked, making Ardonn guard, and then he dashed and cut a river in his skin, glistening red. Ardonn flinched, and Shade vanished from sight. The fighter watched for any sign of the other’s next move, detecting nothing. He stood still, reasoning Shade would go at his unattended backside, planning to trick him into doing so. Sensing the faintest of footsteps he whirled around and slashed in an arc, catching a concealed Shade off-guard. He followed through with a combination attack, finishing with the Coma Strike.

The Leaftain looked up from a page of Han’s A Blade and a Harp. He had found other scattered mentions of Ardonn in the numerous records of the Hero War, but still no concrete information. And nothing mentioned an authentic Soul Singer.

How aggravating.

He dropped the book into a box full of many other books and scrolls, and pulled out a very old journal, its pages preserved in clear Slime paste. He looked through it, scanning the dates, deciphering the old script.

Year 8, Day 239: Tuirill visited. He showed me his design for the new sword. I am still indecisive about what to call it. I wish it to be something related to Soul Singer.
Speaking of Soul Singer, it is no longer in my hands. I have given it to Neocora Camhin, my first apprentice and sword-pupil. As he accompanied me on many ventures, as well as being an invaluable asset in the war, I believe he deserves a gift, although he has given me far more.

Year 8, Day 240: Soul Rohen! That shall be it. Rohen, after the name of the great classic poet, who showed the world the songs of his soul through his works.
Tuirill says to expect the blade finished in three days.

Year 8, Day 244: I shall never cease to be amazed by the skill of Leafrean artisans. I am very pleased with Soul Rohen; it has evidently been made with great care.
On another note, a small issue has been concerning me. Lughaid, my second sword-pupil, met me at around the same time as Neocora did, and on many occasions they trained together. As he has been around as long as Neocora, I don’t think it would be fair not to reward him as well.
I know that Lady Gandiva has had a replica of her weapon forged for her sister to use, and Paladin Belchet always keeps a spare in case his breaks off, which has indeed happened on one occasion. Perhaps it would be possible to make another Singer.

Year 8, Day 251: I have neglected to write. Many things have happened during the past week, some of which I will undoubtedly forget to mention.
The almost-finished Soul Echo lies on the table next to me. I have yet to make some finishing touches to it. I formed it myself, just as I formed Singer, since—not to insult Tuirill’s ability, which I can testify is great—but even he could not be able to reproduce its unique feel. It is a very light sword, though strong, and can potentially strike with more precision and rapidity than other swords.
Both Camhin and Lughaid will be pleased. I know it.

There was more, but the Leaftain had found what he wanted, so he carefully closed the journal and placed it back in the box.

So Lughaid did receive a sword made by Soullohen the Blade. But the Soul Echo was most likely lost to history, since he had never heard anyone mention it.

Wait a minute… With surprising agility, he jumped up and went off into the forest, headed toward some destination.

~

Lynnelle’s chalk golem was losing. It lay on the floor of the temple as the charcoal one advanced, preparing to crush it into pieces.

She opened her eyes and stared at a distant gray wall. It felt cold. She wanted a jacket. In the distance she heard sounds of battle. Turning her head, her cheek met a wall of snow.

“Ricki?”

Sitting up, she brushed snow off her clothes and looked around. In the direction of the noise, a large group of people seemed to be fighting each other, spells and explosions lighting up the sky.

“So you’ve finally come around,” a voice behind her said. She turned around to see Anka, the priest in her unit.

“Ricki’s in there with them. I’d think you’ll want to join them, but you need some rest. You were stabbed with a crystal-tipped dagger. Even if one resists possession, it’s very draining.”

Suddenly, Lynnelle felt an inexplicable rush of fury towards Anka. Her vision started to blur, and her body acted of its own accord. Lightning energy gathering in her hands, she formed it into a spear and thrust at his chest, aiming to kill. He tried to teleport away but was not fast enough, and was knocked backward, stunned and dazed. She rushed forward, summoning an ice spike to impale him from above.

Anka summoned a bow of light, preparing to attack, but Lynnelle was faster. “Seal: Magic Lock!” Anka’s Angel Ray spell dissipated in thin air. He panicked for a moment, avoiding a Cold Beam. Then, acting quickly, he rushed up and hit her in the stomach. Summoning a pixie’s moon piece seemingly from nowhere, he pressed it to her heart and yelled, “Pixie’s Release!”

Like a rag doll, Lynnelle dropped to the ground, the aggression seemingly hovering above her. Anka cast his Shining Ray to dispel the energy, then began healing himself and Lynnelle.

Her vision cleared. “Sorry… I wasn’t myself.”

“I know, I know. Go join the others.” He tilted his head toward the skirmish. She agreed, and they made their way toward the light flashes with haste.

~

Ricki dodged a spear thrust, jumped on a Shadowlight, and stabbed it twice in a chest area where, as far as he knew, there were no vital organs. When he felt he had him sufficiently subdued, he whipped out the pixie’s moon piece Anka had supplied everyone with and held it to its heart. “Pixie’s Release!”

Valerin teleported to his side. “I don’t think we can keep this up much longer. All this negative energy hanging in the air… they’re just going to get repossessed.” Selecting a possessed crusader near him, he shot a combined fire poison arrow at point blank range and performed the Release.

“Yeah. We need a priest.” An arrow caught Ricki in the side. Cursing, he gave the ranger a Steely to the face before Pixie-Releasing him.

“Hah… well, they’re all off in Leafre fighting.” Valerin Pixie-Released a hermit for what seemed like the fifth or sixth time. “We’ve only got one priest in our unit.”

“And I wonder where he is.” Ice spikes jutted out of the ground, hitting Ricki and splattering blood. The impact shook him and caused his ribs to burn again, even after Anka had healed him before. “Urghh… Valerin, cover me, I’ll heal.”

“On it. Magic Guard!” An invisible barrier surrounded the pair. Ricki shut his eyes in concentration. An alchemic symbol formed in front of him, with a ring of eight blue orbs. Starting from the bottom, a glyph appeared on each one, written in white, and the orbs turned red. He opened his eyes and uttered some sort of incantation. A golden orb formed at the top, completing the array. A flash of light, and the pain diminished. Valerin lifted his barrier, and they viciously lashed out against the surrounding enemies.

~

It was right here all along, and no one knew.

The signpost was situated at the base of the Sky Nest and read “S. Echo”. Embedded in the sign, a sheathed sword pointed up toward the Nest’s peak. No one had ever thought anything of the sign. It was quite useless and the Council of Leafre had been intending to remove it, but never went through with it. And for centuries, everyone thought the sword was merely a decoration.

Ingenious.

The Leaftain examined it. The sword case was attached soundly, and the sign would be in the way of the handle if he tried to pull out the sword itself. How to get it out, then?

Drawing his own sword, he infused it with fire and made a horizontal slash at the sign. The fire dissipated, and he cut barely a centimeter into the wood.

I’m too old for this…