When Tiama opened his eyes, everything seemed blurry. A faint light illuminated the rough ceiling of a cavern where he and Astrid had spent the night. He was lying on a blanket spread directly over the rock.
A silhouette leaned over him. Warm hands it was Astrid.
— "You're finally awake," she whispered.
He tried to speak, but his throat was dry. She handed him a flask. He drank slowly, his eyes still fixed on her. A sharp pain pierced his side when he moved.
— "I did my best to heal you all night; you were covered in burns. I don't know how they appeared."
— "Thank you," he replied.
He searched his memories. He remembered the fight… an explosion of flames… the demon's name…
Arch-Vel...
— "Elira," he murmured. "Did I say anything while I was asleep?"
— "You repeated a name. Several times. Adelie."
That name echoed in his head… He knew it. He was sure of it. But… nothing else came. No image. No face. Just a void. He sat up with a start, breathing fast.
— "Who is Adelie?!"
The panic in his voice chilled Astrid.
— "I… I thought you would know," she said softly.
Tiama pressed his head in his hands. The name burned in his mind, but he could no longer reach it. And then, a voice rose inside his head. Deep. Dark. Yet calm.
You've lost her. That was the price you paid for the technique you used against the two men yesterday.
— "Arch-Vel…" he breathed.
The black blade lying beside him vibrated softly. It had no mouth, yet it spoke to his mind as if it were alive.
You called my power. And I took a memory.
Tiama clenched his fists.
— "You stole that memory?"
I do not choose, I do not steal. You give it to me. It is the price of the pact we signed.
His heart tightened. He had just forgotten someone precious. Someone irreplaceable.
She was your sister, Arch-Vel added. She used to sing to you when you were little. You were very close.
A blurry image flashed in his mind: two silhouettes, a soft voice, laughter by a fire. Then it all vanished. He couldn't even remember her smile. The next day, they left the cavern. The world outside was grey, covered by low clouds. The rain had stopped after an entire day of downpour.
— "You don't have to keep fighting," said
Adelie as they walked. "You could throw that blade away. Forget it."
— "I don't know if I truly want revenge or not, but… I feel compelled to. As if I'm being guided, or controlled, by someone or something."
She stayed silent.
— "I have nothing left, Astrid. Nothing but this. If I must lose who I am to take revenge, then so be it."
After two hours of walking, they reached the ruins of an ancient temple. White stones, worn by time, were covered in moss and faded symbols. It was quiet. Tiama stopped. He felt something. And he was right three silhouettes emerged from the shadows. Men in dark cloaks. Their faces were marked with three runes. Hunters.
— "The revenant," said one. "You reek of death. They described your blade well. It's worth a lot we could make plenty of money selling it."
— "Step back," Astrid warned.
— "And what if we take everything, girl? The blade… and you along with it?"
Tiama stepped between them, slowly drawing Arch-Vel.
— "Leave while you still can."
— "Oh, he still speaks well for a dead man…"
They attacked without warning. The first hunter used a speed rune, rushing at Tiama like lightning. Tiama barely managed to parry. The second unleashed a fire rune blue flames burst from his arms, surrounding the temple. The third stayed back, preparing a binding rune. A trap.
Call me, said Arch-Vel. Or you will die here.
Tiama hesitated. But he had no choice.
— Let's go !!!
The blade lit up. Black smoke seeped from the guard, coiling around him. Everything around them slowed. And then everything exploded. Tiama leapt forward. The blue flames died at his passage, smothered by his magic. He cut down the first hunter in a single stroke. The man screamed, his body twisted by an invisible force.
The second tried to ignite the air, but his rune turned against him. His skin cracked, burning from within. The third tried to flee, but a black flame shot from the blade, caught him, and consumed him.
When the fight was over, Tiama fell to his knees. A dull pain hammered his skull. He closed his eyes. And understood. Something was missing. He searched his memories a fire, songs, warm hands. He couldn't remember anymore.
— "No… no, not that…"
You gave it yourself by using my powers, murmured Arch-Vel. It was sweet. It was old. It was important. So I took it.
Tiama screamed. He felt hollow. Astrid ran to him and held him.
— "What did you lose?" she asked.
He trembled.
— "I… I don't even know. I feel like it was beautiful. Precious. But it's gone."
She held him tighter.
— "Then I'll stay here. To remind you that you are still you. Even with holes in your memory."
He wanted to believe her. But it was getting harder to recognize himself.
Night fell. They took shelter in a cave. Tiama stayed alone by the fire, his sword lying before him.
You already hate me, and yet you're not even halfway through your quest for vengeance, said Arch-Vel.
— "Of course I hate you."
And yet, you signed the pact and you still call on me.
— "Because I have no choice. Because without you, I'd already be dead."
And without you… I would return to nothingness. I am your blade. But I feel because of you. And I am afraid.
— "Afraid of what?"
Afraid of losing you. If you fade…
— "If I fade, what?"
…Nothing.
Arch-Vel continued:
Afraid of being erased as well. So I consume your memories. I keep a trace of you in the ones I take.
Tiama frowned.
— "You mean you keep them inside you?"
Yes. They're there, somewhere. I don't erase them. I hide them. Like a locked chest.
— "And the key?"
I don't have it. Maybe one day, you will find it.
Tiama stayed silent for a long time. Then he asked:
— "Tell me one memory you've taken from me."
A brief pause.
Your sister… She sang to you when you were afraid. She stroked your hair. She said you were the light in her night.
Tiama felt his eyes fill with tears.
You cried. You loved her so much. You promised to protect her. But that day… she fell. And you screamed my name. To avenge her, and your clan. That is how our pact began.
The fire crackled softly.
— "Can I see her again?" he asked, his voice breaking.
Not yet. Not now. You're not ready.
Tiama closed his eyes.
— "Then keep that memory. But don't forget it."
The next morning, the sky was clearer.
Tiama and Astrid set off again. Far behind them, the temple ruins were nothing but dust. They walked side by side. Sometimes, their hands brushed. Tiama said nothing. But inside, something had changed.
He had lost a part of himself. But he knew that part still lived, somewhere, in the black blade. And as long as he kept moving forward, as long as he fought, there would be a chance to reclaim it. Not now. Not yet. But someday.