Page 34 of Shadow's Chosen

He tilted his head in a shrug. "I take what I need."

Elise watched as he took up his new canteen, unscrewed the cap, and drank. A spicy, strong scent struck her, stinging her nose. She eyed him and the canteen suspiciously.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Nezka took one more swig before setting the canteen on his lap. He didn't smile fully at her, but his eyes glowed bright enough for her to recognize his sly, amused expression. "What do you think it is?"

Elise stared into his eyes, and he stared back. "Care to share?" she asked at last.

Nezka hesitated, considering it. "It might be unwise..."

She rolled her eyes and reached out her hand. "I've eaten enough. And the painkillers are nearly finished."

He paused a second more then offered up the metal bottle. Elise took it and sniffed the top before taking a sip.

Yes, it was exactly what she thought. The spicy liquor burned as she swallowed, making her eyes sting. "Ah, who knew?" Elise choked. "The drogin are skilled in rum-making too." She took another drink despite the burn then offered the canteen back to Nezka. "I know it's super egotistical, but I never thought there would be so many things that were similar to Earth and here or anywhere else for that matter. Makes the universe seem...small." She watched him drink again then said, "Is it like that where you're from too?"

He set the canteen on one leg and looked up at the domed window above. "Yes, some." His eyes flitted back down to her. "Though things might be similar, they are still different—unique—in their way."

"Like what?" Elise asked.

He shook the canteen. "Our drink which is similar to this is called liquid bluym. It derives from a certain nectar in a plant. The actual bud can be smoked, and there are different breeds."

Elise smiled. "We have something of that kind too."

Nezka gestured to the window, to the bridges and towers above. "The city I live in is not so different from this one. There are more ships, and the cloud cover is thicker, foggier, but the lights are similar, though we have more tech, more bots. We also have more levels, and they are better sectioned off."

Elise could envision it well enough. She thought of home and knew it couldn't compare. "Earth's cities aren't nearly as impressive. We don't have an undercity like here, but we have bad parts that look just like it. Our buildings aren't so tall, and the cities aren't even close to as big." Elise shook her head. "I thought they were quite the achievement but after seeing this? Well, the higher city, anyway. Yeah, we still have a long way to go." Elise picked up her small gun by the chair and turned it in her hands. "Our weapons can't compare either. Kinda scary to think we are more behind than we thought. But it's good to at least know what we're up against. And some things you can only improve so much. I mean a gun is a gun no matter what it spits, and a blade is a blade no matter how it cuts, right?"

Nezka tilted his head, and she felt her face heat up. Maybe that drink was making her talk nonsense.

He set the canteen on the ground then took out, from one of the inner pockets of his armor suit, a set of blades. They shined with a dark purple that almost seemed to glow. She'd seen them briefly before when he had been practicing with them. He flipped one with ease in his hand, and Elise could see they were unbelievably thin and sharp, the handles cut with some complex symbols and designs out of a material that looked like black stone or metal. He threw one across the inner wall, and it was so fast Elise didn't even catch it, but it stuck true and deep into whatever material made up the wall. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the blade returned back to his hand. He threw it again, this time at the floor, and there, it struck deep also, only the floor was made of a far thicker material, maybe stone or marble. He flicked his wrist again, and there it appeared, in his hand.

"How?" Elise said after a moment of frustrated shock.

Nezka smiled. He flipped them one more time before they disappeared back into his inner pockets. "You remember the guns the Red Blades used," he said, "how we couldn't use them because they are locked to their signature?"

Elise nodded.

"My blades are the same in a way. They call to only me, to my pull. It may seem...fantastical."

"More like magical," Elise said.

"But it is an old tech. They are connected to me like another appendage only separated. The pull might be something magnetic or maybe of a more complex physics, but my cells lie within. Where I go, they go."

"So much for a blade just being a blade." Elise laughed softly. "Where did you get them?"

"I’ve had them since I was a childling. I don't remember a time I didn't have them."

Elise looked at him oddly. "So, as in, you were born with them?"

"I don't know. I don't remember that far back," Nezka said, his eyes glazing over for a brief instant. "I only remember them being in my hands as they took me from the ship, along with this." He brushed his fingers along the beaded necklace at his throat.

"And your parents were just cool with you having blades as a kid?"

"I didn't know my parents, so I couldn't be sure."

Elise opened her mouth in a silent 'oh.' "I'm sorry," she said and found she truly meant it. "What about others of your kind? Did they have blades too?"

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