Chapter 6 - The Awakening
The patrol barge closed the distance with terrifying speed, its heavy oars slicing through the river water like knives. Crossbowmen lined the rail, their iron-tipped bolts gleaming ominously under the red flare of the watchtowers.
"We are trapped," the boatman whispered, dropping his oars in despair.
The archbishop stood up slowly, leaning heavily on his staff. "Not yet."
Before the captain of the barge could give the order to fire, a blinding flash of blue light erupted from the bottom of Elise's small fishing boat. The old wooden boards splintered not from a blow, but from an internal, surging pressure.
From the dark water beneath the boat, something massive and ancient rose.
It was Aethelgard.
The six-foot blade hovered above the river surface, supported by a swirling vortex of water and blue fire. It did not sink; it glided across the current as if guided by an invisible hand, sliding gently into the boat and coming to rest directly at Elise’s feet.
The crossbowmen on the barge froze in sheer terror. Even the captain dropped his sabre, staring in superstitious awe at the weapon that had rested in stone for six hundred years.
Elise looked down at the blade. For the first time, she felt no fear—only a strange, deep resonance, as if the sword were a part of her own heartbeat. She reached down and wrapped her fingers around the hilt.
The blue fire did not burn her skin. Instead, it surged up her arm, enveloping her in a brilliant, protective shield of starlight that lit up the entire river valley.
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"In the name of Queen Selene," Elise said, her voice carrying a strange, resonant power that echoed off the canyon walls with the force of rolling thunder. "Stand down."
The knights on the patrol barge dropped to their knees one by one, their heavy armor clanking against the deck as the divine authority of the true bloodline washed over them. Even the war-vessel’s engine died, leaving the boat drifting helplessly in the wake of the starlight.
