Kaelen tightened his grip. “They say a Champion of the Fivefold carved the Oath of Service into its steel. That every Dagger user who carried it into the Depths came back alive.”
A knock came at the door. Three raps. A pause. Two more. The signal. champions dagger deepwoken
“No.” Theron reversed the blade and offered it back, hilt-first. “It is short so you cannot keep your distance. So you must step into your enemy’s reach. Into the certainty of being hurt. A champion is not one who never bleeds. A champion is one who bleeds and still moves forward.” Kaelen tightened his grip
Kaelen nodded. He felt no fear. He felt the weight of the dagger, and the weight of the words carved into it. Three raps
“I saw it parry a Mantra of Unmaking,” Kaelen shot back. “The Dagger didn’t break. The attunement did.”