The Dragon Blade

by P D Atkerson

  Aroron looked up, just as someone came up behind the warrior and slammed the pommel of their sword into the back of the guard's head. The guard moaned and crumpled to the ground, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

  The person stepped over the guard, reached down and helped Aroron back to his feet. "The bigger they are, the harder they are to knock out," the man said, sliding his sword back into its scabbard. "I'm Fank, what's your name?"

  Aroron eyed him, then took his hand and shook it. "Aroron," he said, for the second time in two months he was glad to have a common Karlien boy name.

  "Aroron, huh? Nice to meet you," he said, glancing down. "I take it this is yours?" Fank asked, bending over to pick Aroron's sword up. He frowned at the rusty blade and held it out to Aroron. "Nice blade," he said, raising an eyebrow.

  "Thank you. It's better than nothing," Aroron mumbled, quickly taking his sword back and sheathing it.

  "Yes, I'm sure it is."

  "Well," Aroron said, glancing around. He realized they were further from the encampment than he'd thought. "I have to go find a friend," he said, swallowing as he felt a wave of nausea hitting him again. He forced himself forwards and towards the tents.

  Fank jogged to catch up with him and he drew his sword. "If your friend is in there, you're going to need my help."

  Aroron and Fank quietly worked their way towards the edge of the tents. Luckily, no one had noticed the two missing guards.

  As he stood next to one of the tents, Aroron grew dizzy and nearly fell to the ground. "I can't go in," he said, clutching his head.

  "Well then, let me go take care of them for you." Before Aroron could say anything, Fank winked and jumped into the tent.

  Aroron stood there, as still as a statue listening to the sounds of metal hitting metal, screams and yells. Then for a second, there was silence.

  "Alright, Aroron. It's safe!" Fank called out to him, and Aroron hurried inside. Three bodies lay spread around Fank. Who is this man? He'd taken out almost all of them in just a few minutes. Fank smiled to him, as he sheathed his sword. "They took him out the back of the tent. I believe there's only one left." Aroron nodded and the two of them hurried out.

  The second they left the tent, they found themselves face-to-face with the last Karlien guard.

  "Take another step and I kill the boy!" The guard hissed, pressing a knife against Brody's neck. Brody struggled against the man, but as he did, the blade scraped his skin and a small trickle of blood ran down his neck.

  "He's just a boy. Let him go," Fank said, stepping forwards. "Be a man and face me alone!"

  The guard glared at him, then he threw Brody to the side and quickly drew his sword. Aroron moved towards Brody, as Fank took on the guard.

  Fank blocked and parried, then dodged another cut. He brought his sword up, and caught the edge of the guard's sword, twisting it out of the guard's hand.

  Fank slammed his knee into the guard's stomach and shoved him back. He spun around bringing his sword down sharply. The guard moaned and was still. He wiped off his forehead and turned towards Aroron and Brody. "Well, that was interesting."

  "Fank?" Brody said, standing up. "Man! Am I glad to see you!"

  "Yeah, it's great to see you too. But what are you two doing out here?" Fank asked, glancing between the two of them. "Does it have anything to do with him being an Oddity?"

  Brody's jaw dropped. "How did you know that?!"

  Fank laughed. "It was really quite easy. I saw him struggling against his powers, when one of those men went after him."

  "See!" Brody said, elbowing Aroron. "I told you, you need help or you're going to get yourself into trouble."

  "Oh! That's rich, coming from the boy who just ran right into the arms of half a dozen Karlien guards!"

  "Brody is right, you should go to see his friend, and soon," Fank said. "It's almost nightfall and I must be headed back," he said, bowing to them. "It was nice meeting you, Aroron. But I didn't just come out here to save the two of you," he said, with a wink. "The Elders wouldn't be happy if that was all I did."

  Aroron and Brody both said goodbye to him, then went their own way, heading deeper into the woods in the direction Brody led.

  Chapter 21

  The 'Friend'

  Not long after they'd said goodbye to Fank, Aroron and Brody fell back into silence, both deep in their own thoughts.

  They were still walking in silence, as the sun began to slip back down towards the horizon. They only had a few hours of light left. Hopefully, the moon would be bright that night. If not, they were going to be stuck out there, in the cold, until morning.

  Aroron was starting to wonder if they'd ever get to the cabin, when Brody stopped in front of him.

  "There it is!" Brody said, pointing through the trees to an old cabin, nestled within the forest before them. The trees grew thick around it, covering it almost completely. Aroron wondered how Brody had been able to find it. It was almost invisible, buried behind the many tree branches and over grown plants. "Come on!" Brody said, motioning Aroron forwards and through the trees towards the cabin.

  As they moved closer, Aroron realized how run-down the cabin was. It was much worse than he'd thought at first.

  The shutters on the windows looked as if they would fall off if you so much as touched them. The roof had holes in it and part of the wall was caving in. The whole thing looked as if it had been alone in the woods for a hundred years. Left to rot and crumble back into nothingness.

  They were just twenty feet away, when Aroron grabbed Brody's arm and pulled him back. "Are you sure this is the right place?" He whispered, glancing towards the cabin. "It doesn't look like anyone lives here."

  "I'm sure!" Brody said, yanking his arm free from Aroron. "You agreed to come, no changing your mind now."

  Without another word, Brody marched straight towards the cabin's front door and knocked.

  At first there was only silence.

  Brody was just reaching to knock once more, when the door was yanked open, and a bald head popped through the doorway. The man's dark eyes darted around, until they rested on Brody.

  The man looked at Brody and eyed him. "What brings you here?" He asked, as he opened the door the rest of the way and stepped out.

  "Do you remember me?" Brody asked. "I came here for your help a few years ago. Help... with my gift."

  A smile spread across the man's face. "Of course!" He said. "Yes, I remember you. What brings you back?"

  "I've brought a friend, who needs help with controlling his gift," he said, motioning to Aroron. "Can you help him? Like you helped me?"

  The man's smile broadened. "Yes, yes! Of course! Any Oddity who needs help, I'm glad to serve. Come in!" He said, waving to Aroron.

  Brody moved towards the door, but the man barred his way.

  "Please stay outside, you know I work best alone with the Oddity," the man said, his smile fading slightly. Brody hesitated, then nodded and stepped back.

  Aroron felt strange being called 'Oddity'. But the whole thing felt strange to him. He pushed past Brody, stepped inside the cabin and the man closed the door behind him.

  The cabin didn't look much better inside than it had from the outside.

  Old, worn furniture lay scattered around the room.

  A chair sat next to the front door. One of its legs broken and chipped. To the right, stood an old fireplace, with a crooked chimney going up the side of the cabin. The same side of the cabin, he noticed, was falling in.

  The other side of the room looked like a science lab for a physician, in a rich nobleman's house. It was not something you expected to find in the middle of the woods.

  Shelves lined the walls, with jars and bottles, filled with all sorts of things. The labels that were big enough for Aroron to read from where he was, were all names of things he'd never heard of before. They were all very strange.

  For some reason, Aroron felt uneasy, as he stepped deeper into the cabin. The hairs on the back of his neck s
tood up, and his muscles tensed. He hadn't felt like this since he left the Dubh-Woods.

  "Sit," Brody's friend said, motioning to a tall wood bench in the center of the cabin.

  It looked strange, and very odd. A black cloth ran along the bottom of it and it looked more like a table than somewhere to sit.

  Aroron glanced around the room one last time. He hesitated, then sat, as the man went over to the fire place. A small metal grating sat over the fire, on top was a bowl of boiling water.

  The man knelt and poured himself a cup of hot water.

  Then he stood up and placed a small pouch of leaves into it, slowly stirring it around for a minute.

  Aroron was starting to wonder if he'd forgotten about him, when the man finally turned back towards him and smiled. The man sipped on the tea, as he moved back over to Aroron.

  As he drew nearer and stood in front of the bench, Aroron could smell how potent and sweet it was. He didn't know how the man could drink it! It was almost too strong for Aroron to even smell.

  "Oh!" The man said, his eyes growing wide. "I forgot to ask you if you wanted some. Do you?" He asked, holding out the cup to Aroron. "I haven't had any visitors in so long, I guess I've forgotten my manners!" He said, laughing.

  Aroron shook his head. "No thank you, I'm not thirsty," he said, smiling politely, even though the thought of drinking the stuff turned his stomach.

  "Alright. More for me then!" He said, chuckling. "How much do you know about Odditys?" The man asked, as he continued to sip on his tea.

  Aroron shrugged, sitting there on the bench, as he fought the urge to kick his legs back and forth like a child.

  "Only what my mother told me when I was a little boy," Aroron answered. "That they're gifted people who can do strange things. In truth, I never imagined I was one. I always just thought they were stories."

  The man nodded, as he did, his eyes got a hungry look in them, which made Aroron's skin crawl. In that moment, his feeling of unease came back stronger than before.

  "Just as a warning to you," Aroron said, gritting his teeth. "I wasn't the one who wanted to come here, so I won't be fooled if you're not who you say you are."

  The man laughed, as he placed his cup on the shelf behind him and crossed his arms. "Don't you worry, I know a lot more about Odditys than you do, and I promise I can help you with your... problem."

  Aroron didn't like the way the man was speaking.

  There was just something off about him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. But he knew he shouldn't trust this man. He was hiding something from him, and maybe Brody knew about it. Or maybe he didn't, it didn't really matter.

  The man cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. "Your gift is connected to your emotions," he said. "So, if you can't control your emotions, you won't be able to control your gift." He squinted. "But I'm guessing you already know that. Someone taught you that already."

  Aroron took in a deep breath and tried to relax himself.

  Maybe worrying about King Munay was getting to him. He was starting to think everyone had a hidden agenda.

  "My father," Aroron said, finally answering the man's question. "He always said, emotions were dangerous things and that it was best to keep them under control."

  "He was right," the man said, smiling. "This is good, then I only need to teach you one thing. How to control the gift itself. But first, I need to know what kind of gift you have," he said, stepping closer to Aroron. "Do you have any idea what it might be?"

  Aroron shook his head. "I don't really know. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't even know I was an Oddity, let alone what gift I was given."

  The man smiled again, but each time he did, it looked forced. He looked more irritated than happy, like he wanted to strangle him. "That's alright, I can help with that too," he said, moving back towards the shelves and began to search through them.

  All Aroron's senses were on high alert. Something wasn't right about all of this.

  As far as he knew, Brody wasn't a bad person. He just didn't know him. Would he send him somewhere to get rid of him? Aroron swallowed, as his hand slowly moved to his sword.

  "Ah!" The man said, as he grabbed one of the jars and moved towards Aroron.

  Aroron quickly released his sword and pulled his cloak forwards to cover it. If this man was there to hurt him, he didn't want him to know he was armed.

  He looked up, as the man stood in front of the fireplace again.

  Aroron watched as the man poured the contents of the jar into another cup of hot water. He stirred a pink powder in and placed the now empty jar in front of Aroron.

  "Now, please drink this," he said, holding the cup out to Aroron.

  Chapter 22

  Aliter

  Aroron hesitated, not sure what to do.

  The man might want to kill him! He wasn't sure he wanted to take the chance. But on the other hand, what if the man could help him? Was it worth the risk to drink the strange concoction the man offered? Yes. It was worth it, if he really could learn to use his gift.

  Slowly, he took in a deep breath.

  Without letting himself think about it any longer, Aroron grabbed the cup from the man and slugged back the hot tea.

  As he swallowed, the fruity flavor tasted good. Then, it almost instantly turned sour, his tongue and throat grew numb. For a second, he thought he might throw up.

  The numbness quickly spread from Aroron's throat to the rest of his body. Taking away all control he had.

  His eyelids grew heavy and he felt like he couldn't move so much as a muscle. He moaned, fell forwards and nearly fell off the bench.

  The man quickly stepped forwards and steadied Aroron.

  "Are you still with me?" The man whispered into his ear. Aroron's eyes grew fuzzy, but slowly, he was able to nod. "Good, then I want you to focus on that jar. Okay? Just focus on the jar."

  "Yes. Focus on the jar," Aroron mumbled, as he lifted his gaze up towards the jar. It took more effort than it should have to focus his gaze.

  For a minute, he just sat there staring at it.

  Then it happened.

  There was a bright flash of light, and the jar shattered.

  Glass flying in every direction. But Aroron hardly noticed, as he continued to grow dizzy. The whole cabin began to shake. The jars on the shelves clattered against each other, toppled over and smashed onto the ground and there was nothing Aroron could do about it.

  Strangely the man didn't seem to care. "Yes, yes! Good!" He said, a smile spreading across his face as he looked around the cabin. "Wonderful!" He said, holding out his hand to Aroron. "Give me your hand, please."

  Just as Aroron was holding out his hand, something on the edge of the man's wrist, caught his eye.

  It was a marking.

  Two overlapping circles, with the silhouette of a crow in the center of it.

  If he hadn't seen the symbol before, he would have thought it was just a tattoo. But he had seen it, on one of King Munay's spies. It wasn't a tattoo, it was a brand, and at the time, he'd asked what it meant.

  The man was an Aliter. A group of people who stole the gifts from Odditys and sold them to the highest bidder.

  Aroron looked up at the man, as he withdrew his hand.

  It was in that second the illusion shattered, and the numbness quickly left his body. This man wanted his powers! He wasn't there to help him! Aroron quickly pulled himself away from the man.

  "Aliter!" He hissed.

  The man's face morphed into a snarl, as he lunged at Aroron. But Aroron was already moving.

  He turned around to the other side and sprang up, so the bench was now between them.

  As the man moved around towards him, Aroron grabbed the edge of the bench and swung himself under it.

  Quickly, he scrambled to his feet on the other side of the bench. His heart pounding in his chest.

  "You and your kin are a disgrace to mankind!" Aroron spat. "You are worse than those who would sell us as slaves!"


  "And how is that, boy?!" The man hissed, his body tense and ready to jump the second Aroron moved. "Some of your kind are willing to give up their gifts so they can be normal. Why should I deny them their wishes?"

  Aroron glared at him. "I never asked you to take away my gift!"

  The man growled, drawing his sword as he moved after Aroron again. The man tossed his tea cup onto the bench and grabbed ahold of the sword with both hands. Aroron stumbled back, into a wall.

  The doorway stood on the other side of the cabin. There was nowhere for him to go! He was trapped.

  The Aliter was grinning, as he made his way towards Aroron.

  "I'm going to have fun taking your gift!" He hissed. "You don't deserve to have this power. You don't want it, not really! You're an idiot," he said, laughing as he stood before him. Then he swung his sword towards Aroron's head.

  Aroron bent back just in time.

  The sword sailed just a hair above his chest. It slammed into the wall behind him, digging deep into the wood. The Aliter yanked at his sword, but it wouldn't come free.

  Aroron seized his chance.

  He ducked down and dashed towards the door. Grabbing the latch, he yanked the door open and bolted outside. He was barely outside before the Aliter was on him again, sword in hand. He moved much faster than Aroron would have expected.

  Aroron stumbled towards Brody, who lay against a tree, his eyes closed.

  "Brody, wake up!" Aroron yelled, as he continued to run towards him. His feet pounding against the ground.

  Brody opened his eyes and looked towards Aroron. When he saw the man run out of the cabin after Aroron, with a sword, his eyes grew wide and he fumbled with something at his side. To Aroron's shock, he drew a sword. Aroron sure hoped he knew how to use it.

  "Watch out!" Brody yelled, pointing behind Aroron.

  Aroron spun around, just as the man came upon him again. Swinging his sword in the air, as he moved towards Aroron. A hunger for blood was in his eyes. Aroron had seen the same look in the two people he hated most.