Swords

Aeneas approached one of the swords. He bent down picking it up carefully so as not to break the sword. He turned his head around watching for anything suspicious. 

"You seek adventure so much when moments ago I thought you wanted death," A crow asked.

"I am allowed to want both," He replied. 

The crow hopped closer to Aeneas and started pecking at his face. He tried swatting at it but it kept biting at his face. Finally, Aeneas gave up. He held his hand up in front of it stopping it from pecking his face. The crow hooted triumphantly. 

"You are not my kind," The crow commented with a sly grin.

"Neither are you," Aeneas retorted.

"What is that supposed to mean?" The crow asked angrily.

"Nothing. Let me put these swords back," He replied. 

He gazed at the swords with a blank face. A sense of unease began creeping into his mind.

He placed the swords back into the graves carefully wiping off the mud and dust from them. He then closed the lid of a nearby coffin. 

Aeneas turned his head around and found that there was a tall slender man standing behind him staring at him intently with his dark gray eyes.

"Hello?" Aeneas asked. 

"Who are you?" The man said calmly. His voice resonated throughout the entire graveyard.

"I… I am from a world far away. My name is Aeneas," Aeneas said trying to remain calm.

The man remained silent as he scanned the area.

The man could feel an immense power from the crow perched on Aeneas's shoulder. He could feel the aura coming from it. The man could feel an overwhelming presence that radiated from the crow. It was a powerful and ancient force that he could feel even from far away, as well.

"Are you alone?" The man asked.

"Yea," He answered. 

The man nodded as his eyes wandered across the graveyard for any signs of movement.

Aeneas was unsure what this stranger meant by being alone. There was no sign of anyone else except himself. There were a few corpses scattered around the cemetery. There was no sign of anyone else besides the stranger. He wondered why he was in here.

"If we leave then this man will leave too," The Crow piped up flying down to land beside Aeneas.

"Why is that?" Aeneas asked.

"Because there is nothing here. We must return home to find our families," The crow said.

"He doesn't look like a bad man," He responded. 

"That is how you die before you finish!" She cawed. 

"He-!" Aeneas froze. 

The crow absorbed herself into his body leaving no trace of her presence whatsoever. He could feel his heart thumping rapidly. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. His chest began to hurt. He felt dizzy like there was someone pulling the strings on his heart forcing his heart to beat faster.

His hands became clammy, he couldn't breathe. He looked around trying to find someone to help but, found nobody. He looked down at his hands and his arms. They were turning black. Soon his arms were completely covered by black veins spreading throughout them. Suddenly the veins bulged out and shot straight for the sky while blood spilled out of his mouth as he collapsed to his knees. He couldn't breathe, the ravens circled overhead pecking at him while he screamed in pain.

Long claws extended out as he felt a sense of dread toward the man through blackened eyes As his scream echoed throughout the graveyard another crow flew up and landed on top of him.

"Now do you understand that I was right about the man and this whole situation? We need to go now," The crow said.

"Who…are…you?" He asked. 

Badb, but right now you're level!" She shouted. 

He could feel his body being readied through a chant. This was going to be painful,

but he knew what they needed to do. He was ready to take care of whatever danger awaited him. He wasn't afraid. Dark energy swarmed in his veins; he felt a strong force against his body pushing him backward until his knees hit the hard surface of a crypt. He couldn't move. It seemed as if someone was holding on to him from behind.

"I am a god," The man spoke from behind.

"You will never be able to touch me! Oh, ancient one please grant me Seeker of the Dark Wheel" The Crow shouted. 

From the sky, a spiraling black helm coming at full force smashed into the ground near him sending a great shockwave. When the dust cleared, his vision cleared. It revealed a young woman with bright red hair dressed in armor and holding tight to the helm as she quickly separated from Aeneas. 

"Do you think you can stop me? She challenged as she charged toward him.

Aeneas watched as she lunged toward him with a determined look on her face. He jumped to his feet and ran out of the way, only to see her swinging the helm toward his head. He brought his hand up to block the blow but the strength from her swing sent him backwards. 

"Stupid kid!" A voice whispered. 

His body reverted back to normal before he even realized what had happened. He fell to the ground looking around the graveyard. The crow perched itself on top of the headstone that had been set in the center of the tomb.

The tall man was already dead as Easton stood there shocked at what just took place.

Easton glanced around the graveyard for any more enemies but could see none of them anywhere.

"Badb, why have you brought Aeneas to the ancient ones' place of rest?" He asked. 

"Anyone able to cross the threshold is worthy of my power such as Yash who was also claimed, by a mighty lord," She cackled. 

"Wait…Yash did what?!" Easton laughed. 

Aeneas felt like his body had been purged of every drop of blood inside his body. His muscles relaxed and the adrenaline faded away from his body. He let his legs fall apart and slumped down onto the ground.

"Oh," was all he could say. 

"My name is Badb and there is no way I am going to give this boy up now!" She argued. 

"Fine…let's go to my boss," Easton replied. 

"Kraa! Kraa!" She crowed. 

Easton helped Aeneas to his feet. Aeneas leaned heavily on Easton's arm as they walked out of the graveyard.

"You seem rather tired, kid," Easton remarked.

"It's not just my physical exhaustion…something has really messed me up…" Aeneas noted.