by Katie Pottle
“Yes, we can stay with Grandpa Marvin and you can get a feel for how things are done on a blue cloud-land!”
CHAPTER SIX
Blue Cloud-land
Cadin could not believe his eyes as they approached the cloud-land of Air. They had rented a new distance airship from Sun’s dad which even had seats and storage compartments for all of their stuff. Tal was excited to see the compartments when Sun’s dad was showing them the airships. He asked how much weight they could carry back and Sara had to stop them from talking about cloud-stones and Marvin's weapons the whole day by reminding Tal that they had a trip to prepare for. Sun was sad Cadin was leaving for a week, but helped him make a secure leash for Gur which latched to the dashboard. Cadin had promised his team he would be back in time for the second Qualifier, which was set for the first day back from break. He felt bad leaving his team to train without him, but knew it was important to get a handle on his personal abilities.
They had been flying for a few hours when they finally entered the Arkta Quad and Cadin started to see angels with blue Auras zooming around a long, skinny cloud-land. The differences kept catching Cadin’s eye and he would point them out to his parents with genuine enthusiasm. Tal and Sara smiled indulgently as their son took in a new cloud-land.
“Wow, look—no one has Veretal wings! Look at how fast she is flying!” The metal coating that protected feathers also hindered rapid, agile flight. A large building emerged from the fluffy cumulus clouds. “Is that the Town Hall?”
“Yes,” Sara answered. “And the open cloud-land in the back is where we are going to park this airship. Your Grandpa Marvin does not live far and he really doesn’t have any room in his yard which is jam-packed of scrap metal and extra accommodations for his apprentices.”
Right when Tal landed the airship Cadin unhooked Gur and hopped down on the ground. He wanted to check out the Town Hall, but his mother asked him to help her unload as they waited for her father.
Cadin finished unloading their last when he heard his mother call, “dad, over here!”
Cadin poked his head around the corner of the airship where his mom was hugging his grandfather. Both were smiling from wing to wing. He had not seen Grandpa Marvin in years and was a little bit nervous about the reunion. Tal joined them and shook Marvin’s hand before giving him a big hug. Cadin took a steadying breath and then walked over.
“Oh, Sara—he looks like you, except for Tal’s strong shoulders. It is so good to see you, Cadin,” Marvin said, the wrinkles around his eyes folded up by his smile. Cadin was truly joyful to see his grandfather again and told him so.
“Oh, I’m glad to have you here, kid,” Marvin said as he messed up Cadin’s hair and pulled him into a big hug. “I have a present for you that I have been working on since your mother told me about your apprenticeship with Master Emilio.”
“You know Master Emilio?”
“Oh, yes. Most of us older angels know each other. You picked quite a man to apprentice with. I was a little surprised to find out he had accepted you. Last I knew he was doing everything he could to avoid contact with others. What did you do to make an impression on him?”
Cadin thought back to their original encounter. “Well, first I entered his room without him inviting me. He told me later that he had a fog up to discourage people from entering. He was impressed that I had found my way through the confining pressure of the haze.” Cadin paused and then remembered something else. “Oh, yeah—and when I introduced myself he recognized that I had broken into the Glade Palace.”
“That would do it. I heard about that all the way over here. You must have caused quite a commotion.” Marvin chuckled. “Do you want to head over to my place and get your gift?”
“Oh, yes please!”
“Alright, grab your bag and follow me.”
They took a path that led behind Town Hall and through a copse of trees. When the branches thinned, they stepped into a valley with a small house situated near the middle of the cozy opening. The house had beautiful cloud-features with rounded edges juxtaposed by solid metal flashing lining all the door jams and window sills.
To the side of the house were a few shelters and a large metal-smith work area which took up most of the valley. As Sara had said, the rest of the open area was filled with scrap metal, a couple of storage sheds and a side dwelling that Marvin told him was a bunkhouse for his apprentices.
As they approached, Cadin saw a few young men and one young lady working on various weapons. Two of the men had blue Auras, one had a white one and the young woman had a bright green Aura. Marvin waved them over and for introductions.
“These are my wonderful apprentices,” Marvin said as they approached. “These two are Bran and Jory, twins from here on Air.” The two shorter boys waved. They looked around the same age as Cadin as neither had their wings yet. “This is Gram from Ansford and he has almost completed his apprenticeship and returns home in a few short weeks.”
“Hi, everyone,” Gram said. He towered over Cadin with gangly limbs and large wings.
“And this is Yes,” Marvin said as the young woman with the green Aura stepped forward. She had her wings, but Cadin noticed they were quite new as many feathers still curled around the ends.
“Your name is Yes?” Cadin asked.
“That’s right. My parents thought it would keep me on my toes to always hear my name in everyday conversation.”
“Oh. Hi, I’m Cadin. Are you from here or are you from a green cloud-land?”
“I’m from Galen. I came here specifically to apprentice with your crazy grandfather,” Yes said with a smile. “He has not stopped talking about you since he received the falcon informing him you were coming. Ha, falcon,” Yes scoffed. “How old-school. Why didn’t you just electro-graph him? It would have been way faster…unless—Marvin, have you still not replaced your broken electro-graph?”
“I haven’t had the time. Alright, back to work, everyone.” Marvin said. “And, let’s get you settled.”
“You two can bunk in Sara’s old room,” Marvin said as they followed him into the house. “And Cadin can have the sofa in my office.”
Once they dropped their gear in their rooms, Marvin approached Cadin with a wooden box. The box looked old and well taken care of. If gave off a stirring smell of spring cloud flowers and salt—it smelled like adventure.
Sitting across from Cadin in the office Marvin pulled the box into his lap. “I was extremely lucky to come by this some years ago. I knew this was meant for you the moment your mom told me about your gin training. I have been working on restoring it ever since.”
He handed the box over to Cadin. Tal and Sara had joined them and were standing in the doorway when Cadin lifted the oiled lid. Both Gur and Cadin peeked inside before opening the old box all the way to reveal the most unique sword that Cadin had ever seen. Gur suddenly hissed at the sword and ran up Cadin’s shoulder where he continued to growl. Cadin put his hand reassuringly on Gur and took a closer look at the hilt. It was a beautifully crafted dragon head. The handle had the dragon’s body etched into it and the tail emerged to swirl around and form the tsuba.
“Wow, this is amazing,” Cadin said as he inspected the blade a little more closely.
“Now, the dragon handle was an addition I made after hearing about Gur. I had Yes mold the dragon head and tail and I added them as I was restoring the sword. Now let me tell you all about this blade because my guess is that you have never seen another like it.”
Cadin reached in to stroke the handle and the strange dark metal blade. As he touched the handle, the gins in his dragon skin bag began to buzz. They had activated and Cadin jumped up in alarm. Gur hissed again before settling down.
“Perhaps I should tell you about the sword before you pick it up.”
Cadin smiled in anticipation. What kind of sword required an explanation?
“This is an ancient weapon called a gin-blade.”
“Wow, really?” Tal cut in.
“Where did you get one?” Sara asked.
“Why don’t you two sit down as well?” Marvin said, waving them into his study. “Now, as I was saying—not only is this an ancient weapon, but it is an exceedingly rare one. The blade, tang and original handle are made from a metal called zeronium that is no longer being formed on any known cloud-land. In my life, I have only ever seen two gin-blades besides this one. One is fully intact and on display in the Glade Palace.” He gave Cadin a knowing wink before continuing. Cadin felt his face burn red, but did not turn away. He was trying to remember if he had seen it. “The other was in pieces and belonged to an ancient angel from Ansford. This one was given to me as payment for making a modern ‘proper’ blade for the son of a wealthy entrepreneur that had inherited this beauty from his grandfather—a well-known Gin Master of his time.”
“How is it different from a normal sword, besides being made of a different metal?” Cadin asked.
“Oh, well that is the special part. You see it is a gin-blade because zeronium is the counter-part to gin-stones. They interact with each other in ways that I don’t fully understand. I do know that they energize each other and can do amazing things when a complete set. Because gins and Gin Masters are so rare these days, gin-blades have been discarded in favor of modern weapons.”
“Okay,” Cadin said, not quite sure what he would be able to accomplish with an antiquated blade. “Do you know how the blade connects to the gins?”
“While I was restoring the blade and adding on the dragon head, I found a small compartment in the handle here,” Marvin said as he reached for the hilt and released a latch which allowed the dragon head to flip back, revealing a hollow handle that looked to be the perfect size for his gins. Again, his gins hummed.
“Can I try to put them together?” Cadin asked.
“That is what a gin-blade is for.” Marvin picked up the sword and handed it to Cadin.
Immediately a tingle from his hand rushed down his spine. Before he reached for his gins which were madly bouncing in the pouch at his side, Cadin just held the sword, feeling its unique energy. The blade felt ancient and wise, yet fully functional.
Gur was silent, but digging his claws into Cadin’s shoulder.
“It’s okay Gur, this is not a real dragon; it is only our new gin-blade.”
“Should I take him?” Sara asked.
“I think that would stress him out more.”
“Okay. I am here if you need me to take him at any time.”
“Thanks, mom. Let’s give this a try.”
Cadin hesitated for a moment before reaching for his gins and then looked to Marvin.
“Is there any sort of proper ritual to introduce them?”
“Not that I know of—it’s usually a simple process, though I have heard of blade and gins not liking each other a couple of times,” Marvin admitted.
“What happened?” Tal asked, worry in his voice.
“They reacted poorly. I heard a story of one slight explosion and another story of them reacting like magnets opposing each other and flying in opposite directions. That time the gin-blade was lost but the gins were recovered.”
“Maybe we should do this outside,” Sara suggested.
The apprentices gathered around alongside Sara, Tal, and Marvin as Cadin picked up the gin-blade. Cadin hesitated for moment, wondering if they would react poorly to each other, but decided that if he never tried—he would never know. As Cadin opened the dragon head hilt and brought the gins close, the gins slid into the handle as if being sucked up by a cyclone. Cadin peeked in after the last gin. Satisfied they were not going to revolt, he snapped the dragon head closed. Cadin took a quick step back in anticipation of a large transformation or release of energy, but the blade sat very still.
“The blade is no more than a weed-whacker without your guidance,” Marvin said as disappointment crawled across Cadin’s face. “Try picking the blade up now that the gins are in it.” Cadin did as he was told and knew instantly that his grandfather was right. The blade emanated energy; thought it was not overwhelming. It had the flavor of his gins, but wasn’t the same.
For the first time Cadin felt a defined grip on the handle and saw it had several thin holes. Cadin smiled and called for his white slice-gin. Gins bumped around within, and then the slice-gin flew through the hole between his middle and ring finger, hovering at the ready. With just the thought of the gin getting bigger, it reacted and ballooned out.
“Whoa!” One of the apprentices let out from behind him.
Cadin smiled. Retreat, he thought calmly. The gin returned to its normal size and continued to hover at the ready.
“Return,” Cadin said, holding out his hand. The gin did not return to Cadin’s hand but rather to the hilt of the sword where it disappeared into the dragon’s mouth. Looking closely, he saw a hole in the throat. Cadin shook the sword to see if he had to worry about any of the gins falling out through the access holes, but they stayed secure. The gins would have to reduce their size or elongate their shape in order to emerge from the handle.
Holding the sword in front of him, he examined the refined edge more closely. It was entirely unique and lightweight, though he didn’t think that the blade would be big enough for a full battle. As the thought crossed his mind, the blade began to warm to the touch and both blade and the handle elongated until it was nearly a full-sized katana.
“Wow!”
“Oh.”
“Did you see that?”
Cadin almost forgot that he had an audience.
“Oh, so you found its true form,” Marvin said, voice hitching. “The last bit of information I have about this gin-blade is that it was modeled after the famous human Japanese katanas. Katana blades were revolutionary swords and made for true slicing rather than just hacking. They are traditionally two handed blades for this reason.”
“This is so amazing! Thank you very much!” Cadin said as he gave Marvin a one-armed hug.
“You are very welcome, Cadin. In the bottom of the box is an old leather sheath for the sword in the form that you first saw it in. If you prefer to carry it in an altered form, you will need to have a different sheath made.”
Cadin enjoyed his mom him showing him around where she grew up, though some of the cloud-land had shifted and they often got lost. Cadin had finished a tour with his mom through the Town Hall of Air when Sara had started talking to the Cloud-Creature Division Head.
“Can I go find Grandpa Marvin?” Cadin asked, knowing that his mom could talk forever about cloud-creatures.
“Yes, go ahead. I’ll be back soon.”
When he made his way through the trees, he found Marvin and Yes working on a set of decorative metal arrowheads. Marvin and his apprentices had been great about letting Cadin help with their projects and teaching him little tricks about weapon making. He was good with working the metal from all his experience with his dad, so Marvin had agreed to let Cadin undertake a few projects of his own.
He had promised his friends gifts and so he decided to make a weapon for each person on his team. He had already finished the blade of the dagger he had chosen to make for Lep, and both Bran and Jory had been helping him make a spear-like weapon for Bart. After watching Bart with the spear in the first Qualifier, Cadin knew that Bart could handle a large weapon well, but the traditional spear was not quite right.
After talking to Brian and Jory about Bart’s fighting style they had suggested a long but light double ended spear that had one end with the traditional pointed edge, and the other with a curved scythe-like blade. They had worked a little on it each day, and Cadin was amazed how fast the brothers were, even with all the joking in between. It also helped that Marvin had pre-made end-pieces.
Now however, Cadin was pleased to be asked to join Yes and Marvin. He had been struggling with figuring out what to make for Sun. He could not build a bow better than she could, and though he had thought about making her a dagger, after seeing the arrow points, Cadin knew Sun would be
grateful for a couple extra. Sun rarely lost an arrow, but when she did, it was quite upsetting to her.
“We have a fine mold for several different size points that was commissioned by a friend on Lavine. He says that he would not trust anyone else to do his metal work, but I think it is just an excuse to travel across the entire Calvarian System to get a break from his very needy wife,” Marvin rambled as he worked to set up everything for Cadin.
“The friend I want to make these for is from the Lavine Quad. Her name is Sun and she transferred to Glade last year. You should see her with a bow, she is amazing!”
“Have a little crush, do ya?” Yes asked with a nudge to Cadin’s shoulder.
“I…what?” Cadin said, face flushing red.
“Enough you two, it is time. What size points does she prefer?”
“Actually, I have no idea.”
“Does she hunt with them at all?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Then I suggest one full set for her of all five sizes, plus three extra of the two recognized competition points. What do you think?” Marvin said.
“That sounds great!”
“Good, then help me pour, and be careful.”
The points turned out amazingly well, though one had a bubble in the center. Yes was about to throw the mangled arrowhead into the scrap metal pile before Cadin caught her. He had carved out spaces to inlay cloud-stones in the dagger and spear so far.
Cadin informed Yes and Marvin about inlaying cloud-stones and the advantages that they gave to each piece. “Though I can’t inlay stones in most of the arrow heads, I think that I can fit one in where the bubble was on the flawed point. She may never use it, but at least she will have it.”
“I’m in need of more cloud-stones myself. Maybe I can visit Mira with you. When are you going again?” Marvin asked.
