BLADE OF THE FALLEN

Chapter 2 – The Blade Beneath the Water

The canal water hit him like a wall of ice, It forced the air from his lungs in one brutal rush, the shock stealing even the will to kick. The current was stronger than he’d expected, dragging him sideways into the shadow of a bridge.

Move, the goddess’s voice hissed in his skull. Or they’ll pin you like a fish on a hook.

Axel fought to surface, his boots tangling in something slick and unyielding beneath him, ropes? Nets? Panic flared. The water pressed in from all sides, muffling the shouts above.

Arrows hissed into the canal, sending violent ripples through the water. He ducked under again, kicking free from the ropes. His lungs screamed.

The sword was still in his hand, impossibly, it didn’t feel heavy, even submerged. The runes pulsed faintly, the light cutting through the murk in thin crimson lines. Down, she ordered.

“What?!” His voice was nothing more than a muffled roar in his own head. Trust me, It was madness, but he followed. The sword’s glow illuminated the canal floor and there, almost hidden beneath the moss and silt, was a rusted iron grate.

The water pushed at him as he grabbed it. It wouldn’t budge. He planted his feet, shoved, nothing. Allow me, The blade’s edge met the bars. With a single swing, the iron dissolved into shadow, the pieces drifting apart like smoke. The current yanked him through the gap into darkness.

He surfaced in a smaller tunnel, gasping for air, the ceiling so low it almost scraped his head. The smell hit him next, damp stone, rot, and something metallic that wasn’t water, Welcome to the undergut, she said, almost playfully. The city’s veins. This is where the blood flows.

“Smells like it too,” Axel muttered, coughing up water.

He followed the tunnel until it widened into an underground channel lined with stone walkways. Lanterns hung at irregular intervals, their light revealing graffiti, rotting crates, and the occasional rat the size of a small cat.

Somewhere deeper in the tunnels, footsteps echoed. Not soldiers this time, lighter, faster, accompanied by the metallic click of something small and precise.

A shadow moved into view a figure in a hooded coat, their face half-hidden by a bronze mask shaped like a fox’s snout.

They stopped at the sight of him. “You’re far from where you belong, stranger.” The voice was low, sharp, and female.

Axel hesitated. “I… fell.”

The fox mask tilted. “And you just happened to fall into the most restricted part of the city’s underbelly?”

She knows, the goddess murmured. About me, The masked woman’s gaze dropped to the sword in his hand. Even in the low lantern light, the runes’ faint pulse was unmistakable.

Her voice lowered to a near-whisper. “Do you have any idea what you’re carrying?”

From behind them, the sound of boots splashing through water grew louder, the soldiers had found the grate. The woman swore under her breath, then turned to him. “If you want to live, follow me.”

Axel hesitated. “Why should I trust you?”

She didn’t look back as she took off down a side tunnel. “You shouldn’t. But you’ve got about ten seconds before you drown in arrows.”

Go, the goddess urged. Axel followed.

The chase twisted through a labyrinth of dripping tunnels until the sound of soldiers faded to a distant echo. They stopped in what looked like an abandoned maintenance room, broken furniture, a table piled with tools, maps nailed haphazardly to the walls.

The woman pulled back her hood, revealing black hair tied in a rough braid, her sharp eyes glinting in the lantern light. She removed the mask, setting it on the table.

“Name’s Kael,” she said, still watching him like a hawk. “And you, stranger, are either the luckiest idiot I’ve ever seen… or the most dangerous.”

Axel caught his breath, still dripping canal water onto the floor. “I’m Axel.”

Her gaze flicked to the sword again. “Where did you get it?”

“I didn’t exactly… get it. It summoned me.”

Kael’s expression didn’t change, but something in her eyes sharpened. “Then the rumors are true.”

He frowned. “Rumors?”

Kael leaned in slightly. “They say the Blade of Cindral has awakened again. That whoever wields it will either burn the world to ash… or save it from the shadows. But I didn’t think it would choose anyone.”

Blade of Cindral, the goddess purred. I haven’t heard that name in centuries, Axel’s grip on the hilt tightened. “So what now?”

Kael’s answer came with the weight of inevitability. “Now, Axel… you decide who’s hunting who.”

Kael paced the narrow room, dripping water in her wake. “You need to understand something, Axel. That blade in your hand isn’t just dangerous because of what it can do, it’s dangerous because of what it means. The moment anyone sees it, they’ll know exactly who you are… and they won’t stop until you’re dead.”

Axel frowned. “You make it sound like there’s no way to hide it.”

Kael stopped pacing and met his gaze. “There isn’t. Not from the people who matter.”

She’s right, the goddess murmured. There are eyes in this city that can see magic as plainly as the sun. And they’re already looking for us.

“Then why save me?” Axel asked.

Kael’s lips twisted into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Because I don’t like the people who are hunting you. And because I think you might be useful.”

Before he could respond, she crossed the room and began rifling through a pile of maps. “The Inquisitors won’t stop at the canals. They’ll lock the city down before dawn. If we’re getting out, we have to move now.”

“Out of the city?” Axel asked.

She glanced at him, her eyes flicking to the sword. “You’re not going to last three days here with that thing on your back.”

Axel hesitated, then lowered his voice. “What do you know about the one who put me here? The one who… ended my first life?”

Kael froze. For a fraction of a second, her mask of composure cracked. “You think someone sent you here?”

“I know they did,” Axel said. “And if they’re in this world, I’m going to find them.”

Kael looked like she was about to speak, then the air shifted, The goddess’s voice sharpened instantly. Behind you, Axel turned just in time to see the blade of a dagger glint in the lamplight.

The man holding it had stepped silently from the shadows, tall, wiry, his face obscured by a scarf, his other hand reaching for the sword. Kael moved at the same moment, but instead of attacking the intruder, she snatched a small pouch from the table and shoved it into her coat.

“You set me up,” Axel said, realization hitting like a punch.

Kael didn’t flinch. “I set you up to live. You just don’t see it yet.”

The intruder lunged. Axel barely had time to bring the sword up and the moment steel touched steel, the goddess’s power surged. Darkness exploded outward, swallowing the walls, the floor, the air.

When the black faded, the intruder was sprawled against the wall, his dagger lying in pieces on the floor, Kael stared at Axel, her jaw tight. “Damn it. You weren’t supposed to”

From outside, voices shouted. The sound of boots and clanging armor closed in.

“They know where we are,” Axel said.

Kael moved to the door. “Then we move. Now.”

They spilled into the street above, the night air thick with the smell of smoke and the sound of chaos, soldiers shouting, bells ringing, people scattering, Kael led him through a twisting market street where stalls stood half-collapsed and vendors shouted curses at the disruption.

And then Axel saw them, a squad of Inquisitors at the far end of the street, their glowing visors turning toward him in perfect unison. Kael swore. “Too late.”

The soldiers began advancing, weapons drawn. The crowd between them and Axel panicked, screaming and shoving to get away. The street was too narrow, there was no escape without cutting through the people.

Do it, the goddess whispered, her voice curling around his thoughts like smoke. Let them see. Let them fear.

“No,” Axel hissed under his breath. “Too many people”

They’ll all be dead if you hesitate, The soldiers raised their weapons. Arrows nocked. Axel’s heart pounded. He could run. He could hide. Or he could raise the sword, The goddess’s voice was almost a purr now. Choose, Axel.

And with the Inquisitors closing in, the market in chaos, and the weight of every eye on him, Axel lifted the Blade of Cindral, The runes flared and the street erupted in screams.