A Tale of a Sword

The Illusion

“I reached down and plucked Khalazdad’s sword from the Earth. Pain coursed through my hand as the handle shredded the bare skin there.

I swore and dropped the blade, but not before it told me a story…

An enemy is the maker and marker of a warrior. In a place far and far from this, two warriors met on the field of battle. The strove against each other for hours, and then for days, each growing mightier in the sight of the other.

Strength was taken for strength. Neither warrior was prepared to die, only to grow greater and greater.

Witnessing this battle, and revolted by the glory obtained in life by the warriors, the High Priest Cattarh ordered a blade made – a blade of poison and potency. Wrapped around the handle were barbs of lead and metal found in rocks that fell from the sky.

To one of the warriors he presented the blade. He told him that to defeat his enemy, he must wield the blade against him.

This was done. The two rejoined in battle one day on the road to Jodpur. The battle ended quickly, with Cattarh’s champion falling in pain and madness.

But his enemy fell, also: when it was shown that Cattarh’s champion had fallen by his own hand, not by fair combat, his enemy’s reputation was ruined. He became an object of mockery, and could not find decent employment even as a caravan guard.

The greatest victory of all went to Cattarh, who no longer had to witness such ostentatious self aggrandizement.

I picked up the sword by the blade, carefully, and sheathed it. I was ever careful thereafter not to grasp the handle. “

Many wondered where the blade went to, but only I knew directly afterwards. How it spread was unknown to me. I always suspected the blade to have some sort of substance on the hilt which induced hallucinations or madness…I never knew, for I never wished to try. What I only know was that the sword emitted a vile aura, while the silvery sphere just emitted a mysterious one. It seemed harmless, and I still don’t know the properties yet.