The sun sank further and further down in the Eastern sky. As it lowered itself away from visibility, the airs temperature dropped cruelly, causing me to shiver. It had rained recently and every cart that had passed by me had had the courtesy to make sure I got the best of their wheel spit and drenched me in mud. Thus I was caked in mud from head to foot, not to mention cold and hungry, tired and sore. I longed for my small bed and its thin cover. At least it was relatively clean.
I trod onward. The sky was threatening to rain and it was dark by the time I reached the school house. Of course the school was closed by the time I got there so I foraged around on the well-known school grounds, visiting the mushroom patches I knew of, as I had visited them often when I had been sent to school without lunch. I discovered a few mushrooms that I let rest in my growling stomach. I was used to not having meals periodically but I’d missed three meals, no four now, and had been walking the whole day. I sighed, placing my head in my hands before instantly regretting it as the mud shifted from my fingers to my forehead. The icy river was seemingly more inviting than ever.
I stood and went around to the back steps which provided a little shelter from the constant drizzle. Lying down on the hard door mat, I slowly shifted into a restless slumber.
Father and the others were probably enjoying a feast of dragon meat and I was glad I had left. Father probably would have made me gut the animal, de-scale her and cut her up. I would have rather died than butcher Kimberlina’s dead body.
I knew Father well. He would enjoy not having to deal with me for a few days before getting mad when something wasn’t done that needed to be done. He would most likely end up sending out a search party. If I didn’t move fast, he would end up capturing me soon. But first there was something I had to do here.
I slipped into unconsciousness, dreams and memories flitting through my mind as sleep claimed me.
Eight boys sat crossed legged on the hard wooden floor. Our backs were acutely straight and our gaze focused on Master Gordon.
“Good morning, Men.” He spoke heartily to us and we smiled up at him, his gaze flashing warmly as he inspected us.
“Good morning, Master Gordon.” Our voices sounded out together, eagerness playing across our faces. Master Gordon was the stuff of legends. He had never actually given us a lesson before and we knew this would indeed be a lesson we would not soon forget.
“I am here this fine morning to show you my first sword. How I was lucky enough to find such a sword in all my inexperience then, I still can’t tell you to this day.” He turned from us and reached to the glistening glass case above the chalkboard. He opened the case carefully and almost lovingly, before reaching up and withdrawing the sword effortlessly. I trembled in my seat, a feeling of power swept over me and I longed to touch the sword the man held.
I looked up and gawked. A long, long number was printed on a piece of blasted copper that was tacked up beneath the case. It wasn’t until later that I would be able to read the full length of the pricey sword.
Master Gordon turned and I gasped. He allowed his red cloak to fall in folds around his feet, revealing the leather bound dueling suit beneath. He was no longer the stooped old man that hobbled around the school house. As he held the bejeweled sword, power seemed to echo off of him, strength shone in his gaze and he looked like a great war hero.
And then it was all over. He sighed and bent back over, setting the sword reverently down on the table he leaned on for support.
“Weighed by our standards she weighs five dragon scales. That is far too heavy for a quick and effective sword. Perhaps that is why the man who previously owned her sold her to me. Anyway, no manmade scale could properly weigh this sword. It is known simply as a mountain sword, crafted by the strange beings that live in the mountains. Dragons.... They siphon in the Diamond Rhombus’s power into the sword and combine it with their own intense magic. It is believed that it makes the most powerful weapon in the entire universe.”
Master Gordon was staring at me intently. I longed to tear my gaze away yet I glared back, staring the man down. At last I looked away. He had won the silent battle. How could I stand to gaze into those watery grey eyes? They held so much mystery and ancient knowledge there. I suddenly became afraid.
“Zavier.” I looked up and was surprised to see that Master Gordon was the one who had addressed me.
“Take her. What do you think?” He held the sword out as I rose to meet him and he passed her to my trembling hands. I expected to feel a heavy weighted sword and braced myself. I was wrong. The sword seemed weightless in my hands. Power surged through my limbs and I felt invincible. I swung her in the path I had learned to wield my wooden stick; a defensive position.
No. Like this.
It was odd voice that played in my head. An image flashed through my mind. I was standing in a complicated stance, the sword held in an unfamiliar position; an attack position.
My body moved fluidly and quickly to the same position I had imagined. I was almost there when Master Gordon snatched the sword away from me. A strange expression played across his face as he stared at me.
He looked away in silence and passed the sword to Karl who dropped it.
“Why’s it so heavy?”
“Look here now, sonny, sleeping on door steps is bad manners, now shoo.”
I was awakened to a sharp kick in my back and I rubbed my eyes groggily.
“Master Gordon?” I asked sleepily.
The man leaned forward and inspected my face closely.
“Ah! Zavier. What in the world are you doing here!?” The elderly man stooped down to help me up. He let out a sigh of slight disgust.
“Well, Zavier . . . You’re quite a mess now.” He let out a soft sounded snort of disapproval and turned away from me. Hobbling past me, he pulled a ring of keys out from his long heavy winter robe, quickly unlocking the school room door.
Normally, since I was fifteen, I only came to school twice a week and today was not one of my class days. I knew that the Master was mystified about my being here but he said nothing.
Master Gordon was a quiet man and spoke only when he had something worthwhile to say. He was a retired Swords master and I respected him more than any of my other teachers. He was ancient, yet he still wielded a sword better than any man I knew. He’d trained me every once in a while when I’d begged him to, but he mostly did book work nowadays.
Pushing the door open, he beckoned for me to follow. “What do you need, Zavier? I have much to do today. You are one of many unwanted disturbances.” He spoke grouchily as I closed the door quietly behind me. I could tell he was sidetracked, thus offsetting his normally understanding mood.
“I’ve come to . . . to buy a sword, Master Gordon,” I said shakily, sure he’d announce that he was no longer selling her. When he’d first taken it down, I’d seen the number underneath it: a price. The school was constantly selling different artifacts and such, but this sword had been for sale for decades.
Master Gordon motioned for me to come into his study. He had lit the oil in the large lamp, filling the room with dim light.
“Close the door behind you. Old people like me get cold too fast.” He pointed at the brick fire place and issuing a spark of magic, set the fire instantly ablaze.
“Which sword is that, Zavier?” His eyes shone as he turned to inspect me. I could feel his gaze search over me and I knew I didn’t look an inch the part the bearer of the sword I longed for.
“I just got in a new set from the Kings Calvary. There’s one I think you’ll like, she’s light and quick, a good sword. I think Ravole is her name.” He limped to the back of the room where a large ornate table sat. I could see several swords laying across it and my heart fell as despair filled me.
He turned, passing me Ravole. She was a well built sword but next to Valsephony she was nothing more than ill-tempered metal.
“You might want to take a look at her.” He passed her to me before proceeding to stumble around the cold room looking for his cane which he must have accidently left behind yesterday. It was leaning up against an old book case. A childhood memory was aroused at the sight of the old book-filled shelves.
Iram and I were whispering quietly as we pushed the heavy red painted door open.
“You first, Zavier. This is your own fault.” Iram shoved me forward and I stumbled through the door into Master Gordon’s office.
“Stop shoving, Iram!” I shoved him back and he fell to the floor, a sour expression on his face.
“Fine, Zavier! You can go in by yourself!” Iram was on his feet and gone in an instant. I felt my gut drop. My moral support was gone and it was my own fault.
I had been discovered in the forest fighting Karl using sticks for swords. Karl was losing and his knuckles were bleeding. I had been surprised when Mistress Angela had stepped from the forest behind Karl. Karl, not seeing her, had bashed me across the face with the stick.
“Boys!” Mistress Angela spoke firmly yet savagely. Her gaze bore into me, a strange longing look there.
“Karl. I want you to go see Principle Brackenspool. Zavier. You go to Master Gordon’s office. Now!”
So here I was in his office and no one was there. I let out a sigh of relief.
“What do you mean? To say our school is not good enough!?” I jumped as the voice echoed through the room. My gaze darted around yet no one was there. The voice had come from the bookshelf.
“Never, Mistress Angela. I think this academy suits the needs of this backwards little town just fine. I’m just telling you the child has more skill in his little finger than ten of the kings own men! The only reason I have remained in this sleepy little town is entirely because of that boy! ” a stern voice replied.
I crept closer to the book shelf and gasped. One of the shelves was on hinges and slid back a few inches. I crept around it and peeked through the slit. Master Gordon stood in the lighted chamber beside Mistress Angela and a woman that looked slightly familiar. I could not place a name on her.
The old woman spoke, her voice was crackled from age and it was evident she had been a diligent smoker in her younger years by her wheezing breath that filled the room.
“I think that what Gordon has to say is true. I have seen the boy. He is indeed a skilled swordsman. I doubt that the man who claims parentage over the boy would allow it…especially after today.”
Master Gordon shook his head. “I have seen things about this boy that no other soul has. He needs to be sent away, trained at the finest schools. I believe that this boy could well be the man I’ve been searching for all these years.”
Mistress Angela coughed.
“You’re losing it, Gordon, if you haven’t already lost it. Anyhow, he’s probably in your study waiting by now.”
Master Gordon smiled slyly.
“I should hope so.” He turned and I froze. He was staring directly into my eye that had been watching the whole scene. And then he smiled. An odd knowing smile as his eyes gleamed with that chilling depth of knowledge and power that had awed me before.
I stared at the bookshelf. The memory had left me. I looked up and saw that the Master was looking at the bookshelf too. He saw me glance up and gazed into my eyes.
“Ravole then?” I was caught slightly off guard and for an instant I had forgotten why I was even there.
“N-no,” I stuttered, ashamed of myself, setting the sword onto the desk. “I. . . I wanted to buy Valsephony.” I blurted out as I felt his hot gaze on me, sizing me up.
“Buy her?” I almost detected a hint of anger in his voice. “Whatever gave you the notion that she was for sale?” His voice shook, caused by what suppressed emotion I didn’t know.
“The. . .” I cleared my throat and continued, knowing now that it was hopeless; the decision had already been made. “The price tag underneath her casing, of course. I’ve been saving up for her ever since I saw her and you lowered her down for us students to handle, Master Gordon.”
He shook his head sadly. “My dear boy. Valsephony is a relic, that price stated there is how much I bought her for when I was twenty. She’s probably tripled in value by now. She was never for sale.” My heart sank as he continued his wobbly circling of the room and smiled. “I’m sorry, Zavier, but she’s a very special sword and I don’t think I could bring myself to sell her.”
My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t breathe. What would happen now? Master Gordon smiled almost sadly.
“I see that your sights are set higher than anything the Kings Calvary would have to offer.” He turned towards a shelf to his right and I stood there feeling numb, wanting nothing more than to flee the scene of humiliation and bitter disappointment.
“Pepheny?” Master Gordon held out a beautiful sword, I couldn’t name the blue jewels placed in her hilt but she was narrow and feminine. As I grasped the hilt my heart fell, I couldn’t feel her the same way I could Valsephony, it was like holding a dead body.
“No,” I managed to choke out. I caught sight of an ancient sword lying in the drawer Master Gordon had opened. She resembled Valsephony to some extent though she was in much worse condition.
“Ah, Queleigh,” Master Gordon chuckled, noticing my point of attention. “I would offer her to you but I’m afraid she is useless, nothing more than an old relic.” His eyes were filled with remorse and I was surprised, it was almost as if he was as disappointed that he couldn’t sell me Valsephony as I was.
“I had best me leaving,” I managed to speak without too much emotion and sat the jeweled sword next to Ravole. Master Gordon was speechless as he nodded and I turned and left, hoping he’d call me back, but he remained silent.
I left the warm school house and sat on the chilly porch for a while, my dreams dashed in half. I let the rushing noise of the river wind itself through my head, cleansing my thoughts. Finally I rose. It was now or never, I needed to get clean.
I ran my fastest toward the stream. It spewed water up onto the bank as I neared but I refused to falter. It grew larger as I neared it, a gaping white maw ready to devour me.
“Zavier!” a voice hollered.
I skidded to a stopped inches from the rushing water but gravity pulled me toward the rivers icy depths anyway. I managed to fall backwards flat on my back. The breath was knocked out of me so I just lay there, panting heavily.
“Zavier!” I sat up and turned to see Master Gordon standing in the doorway. He waved at me, motioning for me to come. My heart sank; he probably wanted me to teach class today. I eyed the water once more, deciphering which would be worse before turning on my heels and running back to the school house.
“Yes?” I panted as I tried to catch my breath, my lungs burning from the cool air.
“Zavier . . . I. . . I want you to have this.” To my astonishment he pulled a sheathed sword from his billowing red robes and passed it to me hesitantly. The blue unicorn leather was soft yet old and there were a few bloody spots and scrapes too. I recognized the green jeweled hilt immediately. It was Valsephony.
“But, I could never have enough to pay for her,” I said digging into my heavy pocket. He reached out a hand and put it on my wrist, his other hand grasping the sword hilt.
“No, Zavier. I want you to have her; she wants to be wielded again. She’s tired of sitting and waiting. I would trust you more than any other man I know. Know this though, it is impossibly hard to bring myself to part with her after all these years. Bear her well and you will do great things,” he paused. “It is said, Zavier... that Valsephony is no normal Dragon sword... it is said that inside her beats a living heart. I never quite believed it until I saw you bearing her that day when you were just a small boy.” He patted my shoulder, grimacing.
“Lad; use that money will you? For a hot bath and a meal.” He smiled a small smile before he turned and returned to the school house once more.
I stood there speechless and stunned for a long moment before letting out a whoop as illation filled me, scaring a flock of wild mini dragons from a tree as they clucked loudly. I was the luckiest man in the Diamond Rhombus. I had a legendary sword and a pocket full of money. I smiled as I headed for the inviting Tideway Hot Springs and imagined what the future held in store for me.
He comes ever nearer. And yet I fear He will be too late. We must move on, staying in no spot for too long yet We are both reluctant to do so with Him so near. Why can not He hurry?
