The Spark

by Taylor Gibson

  “What are you-?”

  “Come with me, Sui,” he said, hastily, “and show me where that sword is.”

  “But I just don’t-”

  “Come on, Sui!”

  Surprised by his shouting, I just ran in front of him and led the way to the outskirts of the village, where the sword was left by Molli and me. In the rays of the sun, it glowed with a vivid radiance. I looked back at the old wizard and saw an open smile above his thick beard. He ran right past me to touch the massive blade and marvel at its divinity.

  “This, Sui,” he said, trying to compose his excitement, “this is the sword of the chosen one. This is your sword; the only sword that can kill Jobik.”

  “How?” I asked bewildered, “I can’t even lift it, let alone wield it against a foe like that!”

  “Relax, I shall show you in due time. First, let me do some testing with it back in my laboratory.”

  “You have a laboratory?”

  “I study the art of sorcery. Not a day goes by when I don’t make use of my laboratory underneath our home. I can show it to you, if you’d like.”

  “Why couldn’t you have shown it to me before?”

  “Because, I didn’t feel like it,” he said, coldly, “I don’t have to show you all of my personal dwellings, do I, Sui?”

  I shook my head and told him we should get going. He nodded, lifted the sword with levitation, and made it disappear. Before I could express any signs of shock or confusion, he reassured me.

  “I sent the sword to the lab safely on top of my examination desk. We must go there now to conduct research.”

  We then turned homeward bound to his secret laboratory. When we reached our property, I followed through the back door into the kitchen. My mother and father were sitting at the dining table, eating brunch with my sister and a late-rising George. He smiled at me and rubbed his drowsy eyes. I returned his expression with a grin. I followed Äbaka down the hallway. George was probably wondering what was going on when I didn’t stop to join him in a bite to eat. Äbaka opened the door to his bedroom and allowed me to come in.

  The room held ancient artifacts older than the wizard himself, and paintings from various artists. A pile of books sat in the corner next to the bed, which was covered in animal pelts and wool. Mixed in with all this, was a pile of old robes lying on the floor, needing to be washed. He lifted the rug to reveal a wooden trap door with steep stairs leading to the laboratory.

  When I climbed down those steps behind him, I saw alien technology and incomprehensible material spread throughout a broad room as large as, or maybe larger, than the entire house above. The sounds of beeps and chirps from machinery echoed in the bright white laboratory. I was speechless. I saw my astonished face in the mirror above the sword, which was lying on a table close by the entrance. Äbaka spoke to himself as he usually did, but I think that in this room he spoke much more often.

  “What to do? What to examine first? Is it damaged? No, it is not, good.”

  He stood over it, rubbing it with his hands and facing it quite keenly. He took his wrinkled finger, licked it and spread his saliva near the sharp point of the sword. Watching him was interesting. He seemed to be mad; out in another world.

  “What is this? Is it a- no? It cannot be.”

  “What is it, Forefather?”

  “I seem to have found an ancient symbol indicating that it has never been used by anyone ever before you. It is a virgin of blood and you shall be the one to shed it upon this blade. This is your sword, Sui. You must learn the equilibrium augment. It helps those smaller beings, like you or I, to carry cumbersome objects, such as this weapon.” He paused, looking back at the sword on the table. “Now, let me show you how it’s done.”

  He cleared his throat and shouted, “Clear!”

  Everything in the lab, from the machinery, equipment, and experiments, suddenly vanished. Without all of the clanking of contraptions, beeping of strange devices, and bubbling potions, the room became terribly quiet. When all of the desks were removed, the great sword collapsed to the ground, causing a clanking sound that echoed throughout the depleted, completely white room.

  He steadied his breath and put his palms together for the equilibrium augment demonstration. He had a bright yellow light glowing around his right, dominant hand. He bent down to grip the hilt, and came up with it as effortless as a regular one-handed blade. To observe him holding this weapon larger than himself was extraordinary. For him to lift this thing and swing it around, like he was cutting down jaqae, seemed out of all natural order. But when you come to think of it, it really isn’t as abnormal as most other magick.

  “That’s quite incredible.” I said to myself, unable to take my eyes off of the wizard swinging the sword around.

  He continued to flip and swing the great blade around using no muscle, just pure mystical energy from the atmosphere surrounding us. He eventually stopped and looked directly at me with a serious expression. I walked toward him, assuming he was about to teach me. But he laid his hand out to stop me, nearly touching my breast with his sweating palm.

  “I’m getting too old for this, my child. As much as it pains me to say, I can merely teach sorcery, not delve into it as I have been these past couple of months. I’m far too weak, far too slim, and I surely don’t have the same spirit I once had. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry to disappoint you Sui, but-”

  I stood there, pitying him as he fell to his knees, holding the blade up at his side. He gradually let the sword to the ground. One of the rarest things escaped him when I kneeled down to face him closer: a tear. I could hear small little whimpers escape his lips. His wet, bright-green eyes faced me, and without control, I began to cry. We sat there and hugged, and I eventually settled it all with these words, “I promise you, you’ve been the best teacher for me, and everyone else you’ve taught. Just because you’re too worn out to use higher level magick, doesn’t mean that you’re not a great mentor. There’ll never be another man like you, Forefather. You’ve opened up my mind to the truths of life. Now it’s time for me to use this knowledge you’ve given me to teach myself and others. I can find that augment. If I can learn all that I’ve learned thus far, I can learn the rest on my own. I love you, Äbaka.”

  After a short moment of silence, the wizard shook his head and got to his feet.

  “No, Sui,” he said, forlorn, “I am ashamed of my crippling body. Take these notes about the equilibrium augmentation. Thank you for your kind words, though.”

  I didn’t know what to say to him. After all the encouragement I put forth, he was still deeply depressed. After I left the lab, I went to my bedroom to study the notes Äbaka had given me. I spent many hours of the afternoon alone to concentrate. I thought about the nightmare and kept my bravery about me.

  Chapter 4

  Parties are always the same; there’s music, there’s dancing, there’s food and drinks, but there’s no denying that the worst of social conflicts can happen during them. A bit of mead can go a very, very long way for some people.

  ~Sui Bane Ozborn

  A few weeks after discovering the sword, I learned how to wield it with exceptional skill. During this time, I thought of a name for it. I named it Soba after the Imgan god of warcraft. George was still in need of a good blade or two, in order to fight at my side. Iron daggers simply wouldn’t do in the middle of a battlefield with demons, so Äbaka set up an appointment for the family to take him to a smithy. There was a fine forge over on the west side of Rïdoranna, across the Bald Sea, so that was where we aimed to go in a few days.

  Things seemed to be going fine, as there was no sign of Jobik’s return. Since the nightmares had been following me for three months, I couldn’t help but consider that maybe the enemy was following me through my dreams, tormenting my mind before he got the chance to strike at me. These constant visions made me anxious to fight, but I dared not be irratio
nal and fight when I wasn’t ready. If I did, I would be risking my life as well as the rest of The Fancore. That would be a dishonorable action for which I would never forgive myself. Where and when I would fight him was the question, but an even more important thought in the matter was how I would be able to prevail.

  I had the sword and the ability to use it: I had the knowledge of magick and enough strength to smite my enemies, but I still had the uneasy feeling that something was missing. Despite my worry, there was something inside me that kept burning; forcing me to concentrate on facing the evils yet to come. If it was not for George, I would not have been able to feel as confidant during my training with my forefather. He was the reason that I was able to pull through with my lessons so swiftly.

  On a nice, warm spring night, at the end of March, my family and I were celebrating Wizard Hero Day with friends and neighbors. It was a holiday in honor of the date that Äbaka saved Rïdeneer, and perhaps the entire Fancore, from Jobik’s first global invasion. Everyone in Rïdeneer was preparing for the special, annual event. It was like a second birthday for my forefather because not only was he the one who created it, but he defeated Jobik the last time he rose up, creating history that I was destined to make. His Elvish friend Stella arrived wearing a nice, pink dress and a beautiful set of silver earrings. When she was around, she was always so distant from us. The only person in Rïdeneer that she would have a full conversation with was Äbaka. They spoke in front of the tavern while setup was being done; trying to find out if they were truly looking for a steady relationship. They had been on and off for months. Like I said, I knew little about her, and Äbaka wasn’t sharing anything about her with me.

  Years ago, when my mother was just a little girl, Jobik and an army of jaqae attacked Rïdeneer so that they could find my mother and kill her. Jobik knew that she would be the mother of the chosen one. He searched with all his minions to find her, but they were unsuccessful. My grandparents locked her away in the cellar. Our forefather was still able to tell the entire story from start to finish. He used his staff to fight the beast in a bloody battle. It was the most vicious fight he had ever experienced. Äbaka weakened Jobik, and opened a portal that sent him and his army of demons to the void, until the rise of the chosen one. Before I learned about the prophecy, I thought all of this was just one of my forefather’s ways of gaining a reputation. Needless to say, I was proven wrong as soon as he trained me and broadened my perception.

  At the festival there were fireworks, singing, dancing, drinking, feasting, and most important of all— Äbaka told the story in dramatic detail, bewildering the minds and hearts of all who heeded his words. Nothing is ever left out of his story, as he tells it every year. It was always the grand finale of the party and everyone looked forward to it, especially my family and I, since we were the blood kin of the hero. To the starry night sky I looked, while everyone else feasted and drank mead and wine from their frothy mugs and goblets. I did not drink because I plainly did not feel as though I was ready for it. The men and women among us, around my age, or older, all understood my avoidance of alcohol, and so I was at ease without the hassle of peer pressure. My friends were quite impressed with the man I found. They told me that his quality was enough to be envied by many women in the village. I tried to not seem too proud while they insisted that he was the greatest-looking man in the village. I simply told them that I didn’t care about his handsome physique. It was his personality that had me hooked on him like a bee to a flower. His bravery and interesting history is what kept me with him.

  A boat arrived, carrying passengers from the west division of Rïdoranna. Some of them were around back when Äbaka worked his magick of salvation. Many of those people were elderly, of course, and most of these Westerners were complete strangers to me. The elderly sat at picnic tables and sipped on honey tea or lemon water; whilst the young people drank mugs of mead, over and over again, singing old songs with catchy tunes. The picnic tables were fixated around a stage, which was set up tonight for the bands who played their music by lute, drum, flute, harpsichord, glass armonica, and many other types of instruments.

  My friends eventually went off to socialize with mutual friends of mine, some of which were from the West. I was silently standing in the dim light of the stage, where forefather was to make his appearance, with the story, near the final hours of the party. At the moment, he was probably courting Stella somewhere in the rose garden or by the oak; telling his life story. I was watching George speak to a Western woman by the barrels of mead, next to the tavern stoop, dimly lit by orb lanterns. Nothing about their movements or facial expressions suggested that they were having any sort of ‘interest’, but I had an eye on her just in case.

  A few minutes later, they were still chatting, but nothing in their actions was crossing the line. During this time, my mother came up to me holding a small, wrapped box in front of her. She held it out for me to take, and as she smiled at me, she began to cry tears of joy.

  “Your grandmother wanted you to have this when you were old enough, Sui. It is your birthright. It skipped me because she wanted you to have it first.” She allowed her tears to fall. “Go on. Open it.”

  I realized that it was fairly light when I took it from her. Something small inside of it slid around as I tipped the package to the side to take off the paper wrap. When I removed the paper and opened the mahogany box, I found a beautiful necklace with an incredible amulet at the end of a long, dark chain. It was an expensively-made charm fashioned of ruby and gold, forming a beautiful picture of a fall leaf covered in flames, with a circular frame. To look upon this piece of jewelry was a real honor because it was a gift from my grandmother, Graci.

  She and my grandfather, Azki, fought Jobik with Äbaka on that day, but Graci died in the fight and Azki lived on, scarred inside and out. He had to live by wearing a mask and having many life support gadgets connected to his vital organs. He eventually passed away when he was visiting us. I was four when he had that awful heart attack and I’ll never forget how depressed I was for so long after. My grandmother, thinking of me before I was even born, it made me feel especially unique and highly loved. My mother always told me that Grandmother Graci was a sweet, gentle, compassionate, and hardworking woman and a powerful mage in her time.

  The lanterns decorating the houses around the stage set the jolly mood, and also gave me a way to spy on that woman while she spoke with my man. As long as they kept it as a friendly conversation and nothing more, I had no problem with letting them speak and get to know each other. Paranoia was a weakness that my grandmother and mother had before me.

  My father appeared beside my mother with a great bow and a long, thick, single arrow behind his back that more resembled a throwing spear. When he brought it before my eyes, I saw that it was no ordinary bow and arrow. This bow was also a twin headed blade. My father told me it was a magickal bow that only needed one arrow. I put the amulet, given me by my grandmother, around my neck and held the long bow and arrow with a grin.

  “This is a gift from me to you, Sui,” my father said, handing me the weapon. “All my life as a boy, I thought about having this bow for myself. But when I met your mother, I decided it was best to hand it to our first born. You see, this bow blade is called The Loyal One because this one arrow returns with every shot. It is made to be used again and again, without ever running out of arrows. It was my mother’s magick bow. She was an archer, and a bloody good one at that. I never told you much about her, but, she was a faithful woman. I expect you to take good care of it, Sui.”

  “I shall take care of it with my life, Dad, just as I shall hold dearly to this amulet and to Soba, my holy sword.”

  I recall the way my mother and father nodded at each other and winked, appearing as though they were keeping something else from me. They looked back at me and told me to put the bow in my bedroom before they merrily continued to party and drink with old friends from the West. I glanced back
over at George to find the girl starting to press up against his leg with her own. Before I even thought about putting my new gifts away, I laid them down, marched right over to her, and put her in her place.

  “Oh no, you don’t! George, you better back away from her this instant! Why are you trying to rub on his leg, huh? Are you trying to piss me off?”

  Everyone in the area watched as I approached her.

  “Excuse me?” she said, playing innocent, “I don’t believe George ever told me that he had a girlfriend! Do yourself a favor and leave us be, at once! You’re embarrassing this handsome man!” she said, sliding her fingers across his face and staring deep into my scowling eyes.

  I couldn’t control the rage that was about to leap out of me at that point. I threw three solid punches at her face, knocking her straight to the ground. While she was out cold, I picked the bow back up and realized that almost everyone in the gathering was looking dead at me, wide-eyed and surprised at my rash action. I didn’t pay them any mind; at the time, I was simply too frustrated to do or say anything. That girl tried to get a rise out of me, and she got the result she deserved; a swollen cheek and a black eye.

  “Come here, George,” I demanded, “I need to speak with you privately.”

  I took him by his fearfully, shivering hand and led him back to the house so I could drop off the gifts and speak with him about that girl. I knew he hadn’t started all of it, but it was clear that he was not being straight forward enough about being in a relationship. It was a short talk; just about how he should tell a woman that he’s taken, before she rubs her filthy, little hands all over him. He listened to everything I had to say and kissed me on the cheek. This was a warning for him, and the girl outside had been made an example of my fury for those who try to seduce my guardian. It was also a demonstration of how much I loved George. No one could touch him like that, except me.

  The two of us walked into the quiet house and muffled the sounds of the crowd with the front door. I got myself a quick snack to calm my nerves and went to my bedroom, with an edgy George beside me. I looked at him with a tear in my eye. I regretted punching the girl; my reputation with some of my friends was possibly ruined from it. I was sure that most people didn’t see the whole event as it happened. Judgment would be implemented on my actions. Before he could say anything, I interrupted by nodding and giving him a hug. I was completely aware that he had no intention of betraying our relationship. I wrapped my arms around him until he stopped shaking, showing him we understood each other. No words were wasted in the house that night. Sometimes, there is just no need to question a partner if you have true, honorable trust.