Sword Bearer (Return of the Dragons)

by Jacobs, Teddy

  I didn’t know what else to say. Great food, a beautiful girl, and learning how to do higher level magic. What more could I ask for?

  “When can we begin?” I said, with a grin.

  “Now, if you like.”

  I looked at Kalle, and then at Kara, who nodded.

  “You practice now,” she said. “But at our midday meal we must speak of the book of Id, the book I took back from Gerard. He is a powerful wizard, and will be doing all he can to find us now. We are far away, and he is no Kriek. But there are other ways for him to get here, if he is powerful enough to scry out our location.”

  I shuddered. “I always knew there was something strange about him, ever since I was a little boy.”

  Kara put her hand up to my face and ran a finger along my cheek. “You are a little boy no longer, Anders Tomason.”

  I felt a familiar warmth in the face. It was embarrassing how just a small gesture from Kara made me completely lose control of my emotions.

  Woltan frowned, and changed the subject. “I would like to know more about this book of Id. We have heard the title, but its contents are a mystery to us.”

  Suddenly, Kara’s face changed. “I am sworn by my people never to let the book leave my hands.”

  “Surely your people would understand that we all face a common enemy,” said Woltan, his face taut.

  Kara shook her head. “That’s not for me to decide. I have to speak to the elders of my people, and most of all, to my uncle.”

  “Your uncle?”

  “Karl Gunnarson, king of my people.”

  “Please, speak to him, and explain that the book of Id could benefit both Anders Tomason and the fate of all three peoples. It contents should not remain a mystery. In these dangerous times, we need all the help we can get.”

  “I’ll show it to you as soon as I have permission. The book has been in the Kriek’s keeping for generations, but maybe it’s time for it to be revealed to those who help us in our struggle.”

  “And you say this wizard, as well as the dark lord, are hunting for this book, as we speak?” Woltan asked.

  Kara bit her lip. “I’m afraid so. They inhabit my dreams; I feel them pushing at me the moment I close my eyes. The book feels warm with their dark magic. I’m afraid they have put some kind of spell on it.”

  “No one could have put a deep and penetrating spell on such a great book as the one you guard. And yet, I fear they may have done some lesser magic to it, which will help lead them to you.”

  Kara looked stricken. “And to you as well. Oh, Woltan, I’m so sorry.”

  Woltan nodded. “I think it’s no accident that those keiler discovered you so easily. We must examine the book.”

  Kara shook her head again.

  “Not without the approval of my people.”

  Woltan’s face turned red. They seemed to have reached an impasse. For all his amazing calm, Woltan must be under a great deal of strain, in charge of protecting his hidden city from invaders. Invaders that we had brought with us.

  Kara broke the silence. “We’ll contact them today. We need to get in touch, in any case. My father will be so excited to make contact with your people, Woltan. He sent Kalle here to try to find you.”

  Kalle nodded. “I had been searching for two weeks without finding so much as a trace.”

  Woltan turned back, a thin smile now on his still red face. “How did you find us, anyhow?”

  Kalle shrugged. “We were fleeing the keiler that we knew were gathering. We came to a clearing and there was the gate.”

  Woltan shook his head. “It all seems too easy, somehow.”

  I was afraid I knew what Woltan was implying. I hoped I’d misunderstood, or he was just plain wrong.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Kara stealing the book,” Woltan said. “Her escaping to you. You escaping to us, and leading the keiler to us. And now the Dark Lord knows the location of the book, and of our city. I wonder if this is all in his plans.”

  Kara frowned. “This is the prophecy, too, remember, Woltan. The prophecy is greater than the Dark Lord.”

  Woltan shook his head. “Perhaps he shapes the way the prophecy will unfold, and we unwillingly, unwittingly aid him.”

  “I thought no one could change the prophecy.”

  Woltan sighed. “All prophecies are vague on the details. And the details are very important sometimes. But perhaps all this is nonsense, if the Dark Lord doesn’t even know the full text of the prophecy.”

  “Isn’t this prophecy in the book of Id?” I said. “And if it’s there, won’t the Dark Lord know the prophecy as well as any of us here?”

  Kara shook her head. “He didn’t have it in his own hands. Gerard had it, for a day, at most. Not anyone can read it. You must be initiated to even know how to open it, and it’s all written in a language that only a few of us can read. And even if you can read it, only a few of those who read it can truly understand it.”

  “What if he made a copy?” I asked.

  Woltan laughed. “I’m almost sure a book such as the book of Id can’t be copied. Right, Kara?”

  She nodded. “The magic is too powerful. It would destroy anyone who tried to copy it.”

  I looked at the two of them. “Even a wizard like Gerard?”

  Woltan sighed. “Unless the essential order of the world has changed — and if it had, I think we would all feel it, even the non-wizards — then even a wizard like the Dark Lord would be destroyed, or at least hurt if he tried to copy the book.”

  “But couldn’t one of them have put a spell on the book?” I said. “On the outside of it, like you said?”

  Woltan frowned deeply. “I’m afraid that’s exactly what they did. What kind of spell though, I can’t tell you without examining the book, and it appears that I can’t examine the book, at all.” He looked meaningfully at Kara.

  Kara’s face had turned scarlet red. “I will go now with Kalle back to my room, and we will try to contact our people. You are right, there is no time to waste. I didn’t think of the possibility that the book had been ensorcelled by Gerard. I have breeched not only the security of my people but of yours as well. I ask your forgiveness and your leave, Woltan. We will be back here in an hour or two’s time.”

  Woltan shook hands with Kara and Kalle in turn. “Go in peace and talk to your people. You two have brought us the three blooded prince. Do not be so hard on yourself. But do talk to your uncle and seek his counsel. I fear what may happen if too much time passes without action.”

  Kara nodded, and walked out, Kalle following right behind her.

  I was left alone with Woltan.

  Woltan took a deep breath, and let it out. The redness in his face seemed to drain out with his breath. “Are you ready to begin?”

  I nodded.

  “Then I’ll take you to the training room, next to our school library.”

  “You have a school here?”

  I realized I must have made a face, because Woltan laughed.

  “You don’t like school, do you, Anders?”

  I shrugged. “I haven’t been able to go to school since I was little. I’ve just had tutors. In general it’s been a lot of pointless work and almost nothing practical. Most of the real magic I learned from my grandfather, before he died, and from my great grandfather.”

  “Rest assured that here all magic is real magic. Whether it’s practical or not depends on the wizard or witch who uses it. For example, I can say a word like heiss to melt something, to warm something up, to burn the ground, to heat some water.”

  “To warm up on a cold night.”

  Woltan smiled. “To melt the ice around a frozen door.”

  “To cook food without a fire.”

  Woltan nodded. “What you do with a word, how you focus the energy of its magic, is up to the wizard. With just the word we described, a great wizard could heat up a whole city or could melt a great block of ice.”

  “He could kill someone.”
<
br />   I knew as soon as I’d said it, that I’d said the wrong thing, even if it was true.

  Woltan frowned. “This is not a strong word of magic, not a word of combat, but yes, in the wrong, powerful hands, even a word as simple and anodyne as this could kill.”

  Woltan made everything seem so simple. Hadn’t I killed the keiler with magic, in a way? And why had they called me Herr?

  Woltan smiled at me. “You have doubts. Doubts are normal at this stage, but they’re also a weakness, that can be exploited by your enemies. At times you must be sure of what you do, to do it well. Self-doubt will destroy your own magic and make your defenses worthless.”

  “What if I am attacked? Is it wrong to use a spell to defend myself? And if I kill something, using magic, to defend myself, does that make me evil?”

  Woltan suddenly looked much older. At first I had thought he was young like me, then I had figured he was much older, just very short, and now I didn’t know what to think.

  Woltan sighed. “Killing in self-defense is acceptable, with magic or without. But you must be very careful. When magic is employed to kill, it warps your mind and your spirit, and you risk succumbing to the quest for power that leads those to follow the Dark Lord. You would do better to trust in your sword, whose blade, though magical, will keep your mind clear with its bladesong.”

  “How can the sword sing to me? I mean, it’s sung to me already, even when it was just a magical wooden blade. But why? And how?”

  “The magic in the sword you hold comes from a pixie, housed in the pommel. Three thousand years ago, great wizards made pacts with the pixies, promising them riches in Faerie if they would house themselves inside the pommel of our swords, and sing their songs of battle through our blades. It might seem boring to be imprisoned for several thousand years, but many of the pixies have grown fond of their quarters. It helps that they still maintain a foot among the Fair folk. They can be two places at once, you see.”

  “Can we communicate with him? My pixie, I mean.”

  “First, of all, Anders, it’s not your pixie. And second of all, it’s a she. Most of the pixies are female, and most of the sword wielders are male. There were only seven original blade pommels and seven original blades three thousand years ago. Seven pixies who came into the service of humankind. Later, lesser blades were made with younger fair folk. But as to how many remain, no one knows. Perhaps the pixie in your sword knows, but you’d have to ask her. No one except the sword wielder can communicate with the pixie in his sword.”

  “I just talk to my sword?”

  “It’s simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Just like the words of magic are simple, but using them is difficult, it’s also simple but difficult to talk to the pixie in your sword. It will become easier with time, or perhaps it will be easy for you from the beginning...”

  Suddenly I burned with desire to speak, not sing to the pixie in the sword. “How do I begin?”

  “Do you really think this is the time, or the place?”

  I looked around. I was thousands of leagues from my parents, from my tutor, from everything I had known in my whole childhood. I’d become a man, in some ways, and remained a boy in others. I’d met a girl, who stirred up feelings I never knew existed. And now, Woltan was telling me I could talk to the sword that lay at my side. For some reason this filled me with a feeling of well-being.

  I smiled, then shrugged.

  “I doubt I will ever find a better teacher or more peaceful place. I’ve lived by my instincts the last few days, and my instincts tell me that this is right.”

  Woltan smiled. “But your instincts didn’t tell you how to talk to the pixie? If you follow your instincts, perhaps you should follow them further.”

  I looked at Woltan. Was this all some trick? Did Woltan really believe that I could do this, without his help?

  “I don’t have any idea how to begin.”

  “I will give you two starting points. Close your eyes. And put your hand upon your sword’s pommel.”

  I did as told.

  “Now open your inner eye, and your inner ear, if you can.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to do what I’d done when the sword had been forged, without covering my ears this time. The room was very quiet. Maybe that helped. Because I felt quiet and attuned, right away.

  I reached down and grabbed my sword.

  Were there explosions of light and color?

  Was there earsplitting song that blasted me to my very nerve-endings?

  Nothing of the sort.

  There was only a voice, feminine and small, but somehow strong, reassuring and vibrant at the same time. A small, strong voice, stating my name, and a title:

  Anders Tomason, the three-blooded prince.

  I felt kind of encouraged.

  But I still didn’t know how to say anything to her.

  Just think what you want to say, Anders, but think it thinking of me…

  Suddenly I saw a girl, around my age, winking at me. Her hair was golden blonde, her eyes green, her smile full of white straight teeth. What a beautiful girl. Wait, not a girl. Not a human girl, anyhow. There were wings behind her shoulders. Pointed ears. Then she was laughing, and the image was gone.

  Yes, Anders, I’m a pixie, not a person.

  I’m sorry.

  Nothing to be sorry about. But I’m glad you’re talking to me now, so I don’t have to pry into your thoughts. It’s a little strenuous, and sometimes it gives me a headache, plus I figure you might find it a little rude, if for example you were thinking about some other girl.

  I saw a flash of a smile again, and then the image was gone.

  Can I see you while I talk to you?

  The images you saw were me, of course. We could look at each other continuously, but it’s rather draining and neither of us has had practice recently. It’s not really very practical most of the time either: you risk getting killed while you’re looking at my beautiful face, or falling down, or bumping into something.

  I smiled. Her face was beautiful.

  Do you know anything about what I must do, now?

  I caught a flash of a smile.

  I know a great deal about you, Anders. I knew your grandfather well, and his father, and so on. Your father I never got to know — he never carried me again, after his sparring match with his blademaster.

  What happened?

  I can tell you it was complicated. But more than that I can’t say. I don’t understand myself.

  I will have to ask him.

  You would do well to talk to him. You should know, too, that my cousins in Faerie have been carried by many of your other ancestors — by the merpeople and the Kriek. They send their greetings. They’re a little jealous of me but proud too that one of their cousins would serve such a prince. I can tell you many things, but I don’t know what would be useful for you and what not.

  Can you teach me magic?

  I can, but magic is different for us, and pixie spells do not always work the same, or at all, with humans. I can pull you in here with me and hold you in my arms if you are hurt, but I might not want to let you go then, and you might not want to be in Faerie, inside your own sword. For the moment, I think you should try to find your own answers, and practice sparring and sorcery with Woltan. The blade of the three-blooded prince is made for war, but I will not let it hurt those who are your friends. At least not seriously.

  There was another flash of a smile.

  What is your name, then, so I can call you properly?

  There was a pause and then I looked her right in the face. Had I ever seen anyone so beautiful? Did it matter that her ears were pointed and her eyes a strange tint of green that I had never seen before? She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. If I hadn’t been confused about Kara, I might have fallen in love, right then and there.

  We pixies have many names. But just because we have many, do not think the names are lightly given, or one less true than the next. Call me Carolina, as my m
other did. No one has called me Carolina for three thousand of your earth years.

  I smiled.

  Carolina, then. How should I call you, if I need your advice?

  Put you hand on my home, here at the top of your sword, on the pommel, and say my name inside your head. I will answer at once, even if I’m busy somewhere else. Why don’t you try this: Open your eyes, talk to Woltan some, and then just touch me casually, and say my name.

  I opened my eyes.

  Woltan was smiling. “I’m pretty sure from what I saw on your face that you were successful. But appearances can be deceiving. Did you find what you sought? Were you able to communicate with the pixie?”

  I nodded. “She was very friendly, actually. She said she knew my grandfather, and his father, and his father and so on down the line, but not my own father. I wonder why that is?”

  Woltan shrugged. “We are very disconnected from the outside world here. I can only make guesses. These are things you would do well to find out yourself.”

  “She said she knew her cousins served my kin among the Kriek and the Merpeople, and they were jealous.”

  “She said they were jealous?”

  Woltan looked puzzled.

  I nodded and paused. “Maybe she was just teasing me.”

  “The pixies have a reputation for flirtatiousness. Did she give you any instructions?”

  I nodded.

  “Then what are you waiting for? Follow them.”

  I nodded again, reached my hand down to the sword and touched the pommel.

  Carolina.

  Anders! Long time no see.

  I grinned.

  Actually it was just a minute ago. Before that, it was forty years or so when I last saw your grandfather. Everything is relative, though. Even forty of your years are just a quick dip in the waters of time for a pixie like me. My grandmother lived fifty thousand of your earth years. I am a young four thousand.

  Young at four thousand? I’m only sixteen!

  Are you saying I’m old?

  An image of Carolina flashed in front of me, wrinkling up her face and stooping over, a cane in hand.

  Maybe I’d said the wrong thing. You sure look young to me. Pretty, too.

  Carolina smiled. Flattery will get you everywhere with us faeries… You know you’re not so bad yourself. Stop worrying about your skin so much. Although if I were you, I would listen to Kara. It sounds like she has some good beauty tips.