Weavespinner

"What do you mean?"

"The sword was enchanted as well. It can cut through virtually anything, and the blade is made of Adamantite, which means that I don't think there's anything you could do to it to break it. That sword will go right through the magical defense of the bracers, so testing the bracers with it is not a good idea," she winked.

Tarrin looked at the sword in awe. It could cut through anything? Well, she said almost anything. It didn't seem that sharp, and it didn't really feel magical, not like the bracers did.

Or did it?

Tarrin held the hilt firmly in his hand and tried to feel the sword. He closed his eyes and tried to really feel it, to feel past what his fingers sensed, to reach beyond to where those ghostly images of strings were, always just on the edge of his vision but never intruding to the point where they interfered. He ignored that most of the time, but now he wanted to look into it, he wanted to feel what was on that other side.

It was there. He could feel it now. It was an exceptionally powerful enchantment, but it had been actively concealed so as not to give away the true nature of the weapon. It was almost like an army hiding in the fog, a tremendous force hiding behind a veil of ambiguity. The weaving was crisp, exacting, detailed, and it was absolutely flawless. It had Je

For the briefest fleeting of moments, close to the Weave, Tarrin almost felt like another person. He could feel something close to him, and he could feel the power of the Weave all around him, very strong, almost alluring in its enticing closeness. An entire lifetime of forgotten memories seemed tantalizingly close to him in that fleeting sensation, but they were like a cloud. Sharp and detailed from a distance, but hazy and indistinct the closer one got to them.

Tarrin nearly felt like his eyes were going to pop as a shockwave of pain roared through his mind. He had remembered! It was just a flash, but it was the most detailed flash of memory he had yet to experience! He absolutely knew that Je

"What did you remember?" she asked quickly.

"I recognized the style of weaving used on the sword, and I remembered that the concealing weave in the sword was based on the ones in the amulets back in Sha'Kari. I have no idea what half of that means, but I remembered it!"

"You did? That's wonderful!" Je

"I hope it happens again, but next time without the headache," he said, rubbing his temple delicately.

Je

"Well, I hope so," he said. "You said that the bracers do two things. What's the other?"

She gri

"I just don't want to sneeze and blow something up by accident," he warned.

Je

Tarrin looked down at the two black metal bracers. "Claws come out of them?" he asked. "From where?"

"It's a bit more involved than that," she said. "Let me show you." Je

Tarrin had had his hand out to look at the bracer, and he was amazed at what he saw. The metal of the bracer seemed to turn liquid, and it flowed over the back of his hand. It felt strangely warm as it did so, very quickly, like a black shadow racing down his hand, over his knuckles, and over his fingers. The metal encased the back of his hand and fingers and when it reached his fingertips, it kept going out, extending over his fingertips and forming very long, slightly curved and hooked metal claws. But where a cat's claw was thick, these metal claws were as thin as dagger blades, sharp only on the inside curve, and ending in a very wicked looking point. They were extending a good span over his fingertips, and they had almost no apparent weight.

"And that," Je

Tarrin stared at the weapon merged with his hand in awe. He had full flexibility in his hand, as the liquid-seeming metal moved with his hand. It didn't even pull at the hairs on his fingers. The metal was like a part of his skin, moving just as easily, and was not uncomfortable in the slightest. The metal only covered the back of his hand, leaving his palm clear. The four individual claws reaching out over his fingers seemed attached to the tips, moving with them. He turned his hand over and very slowly and carefull closed his hand, watching the claws fold over with his fingertips until the four inside edges were just barely touching the heel of his hand.

"Don't worry about these," she told him. "They won't ever cut you. If you close your fist, they'll simply bend around your skin. You can even make them release from your fingers and stick straight out from the top of your fist if that's what you want. These are Adamantite too, so I don't think anyone's going to manage to cut your hand off while the claws are active."

Tarrin looked down at it, amazed by it. What amazing things! And they were his! To own even one magical object was something the richest man could only dream of, but to own three! It was almost unreal! His amulet, the sword, and these amazing bracers! How much luck could one family have?

"Do you like them?" Je

"Like them? Je

"It's very simple, brother," she said soberly. "You can live. I made these specifically to help you. Don't forget what's out there. I think these will help you stay alive, and so I made them for you. I'll do whatever I can to help keep you alive, because you're my brother, and I love you."

It was said in a calm voice, but he could see the emotion behind her eyes. She meant every word of it, and for the first time, he saw how worried she was about him. He couldn't remember what had happened to him or what he was doing, but that one statement rammed home the fact that it was very dangerous more effectively than anything else ever could have. He had seen the waiting as a chore, something of an obstacle, but he saw that to Je