SUMMER SWORD
James Livingood
Copyright © 2015 James Livingood
To those that see the sky and can not fly, I feel this wind for them. I curl, I toss, I turn and I laugh as the summer sun brings me warmth. I was brought into this world last fall in a thunderstorm. The musical drumbeats were signaled my birth. I am a wind esper, a spirit, and I enjoy this blue sky. I am not the only wind esper warming itself on the upper jet stream today. Many of my family are here playing between the clouds. We talk and laugh in the whistle language of air spirits.
“Thunder Born, that was cheating!” said Spring Mist.
“You said, around the cloud but not outside the jet. You made no mention of going through other clouds!” I replied back. “Besides, this was just a friendly race. I wasn’t asking for pieces or anything.”
Spring Mist curled under itself. The human equal of putting her hands on her hips in disapproval. I could tell by how she curled wind that the disapproval was just for show.
“Besides, if I let you win then you would think I am flirting” I teased her. I focus the top of my wind in a cyclone, the signal of confidence and happiness. She began to stop curling inward.
“Flirting? You Thunder Born? You couldn’t flirt your way out of a human kazoo.” She begins to twirl the top of her winds, moving closer to mine.
“I hear your kazoo buzzing, but not your wind winning” I reply back inching closer to her pressure.
“It’s not a win if you always cheat” She moves closer to me, spinning her upper winds faster. We are near to kissing each other.
“So, if we race, but not through the clouds, you would count it as a win?” I asked as a subtle, devious plan started forming in my mind.
“Yes…” she starts to reply. I take off and hear her cursing in the background. She said nothing of when to start racing. I knew that with a head start I had a chance of beating her. Racing Spring Mist was friendly, so a bit of cheating was fine. To a wind esper, all is fair in flirting and flying.
As I twisted around the first cloud, I had a healthy lead. I stared back for a brief moment. I change my timing just a bit to slow down. I don’t want the movement to be obvious though. By the second cloud, she was catching up.
“You're slowing, Thunder Born. Are you going to let a little mist spirit beat you? Should we have bet pieces?” Spring mist forms small air pockets around her, collapsing them on occasion. These air pockets cause a slight pop. In our dialect, this is the equal of laughter.
“If I thought you were a real challenge, I would have put pieces on it!” I yell back, popping off some laughter air pockets of my own.
These pieces are actual small chunks of our bodies. Giving these away diminishes us temporarily. The winner of a piece gains a small boost that eventually fades away. These pieces allow a being to gain control of the surrounding wind. There is a dangerous downside to this practice though. Giving too many pieces away at one time can kill us. Pieces are the only form of currency we believe in, just like enjoying sunshine is our only job.
“Well, Thunder Kazoo, if you're so sure of yourself, I’ll wager two pieces,” Spring Mist said with playful glee. Her laughter air pockets coming in a steady stream. “Just keep racing and you’ll end up paying pieces.”
I round a third cloud and saw her even closer to me. It would be risky, but the day was starting to end. Soon the night would chill the streams, and I didn’t want to play in those.
“Three pieces it is!” I pop a large laugh in her direction. I ready myself to surge forward. I looked back to gloat when I see her fading away from the race. I slowed down trying to decide what she is doing. I stared at her trying to figure her out when I thumped into the main bulk of Tornado.
Tornado is an angry and old wind esper, born from a giant wind. As one of the most powerful among us, he is constantly being challenged for pieces. He often sticks to night winds so that he is left alone. While the day was getting old, I did not expect him to be out so early.
“Oops! Sorry Tornado” I sputter out, reversing my momentum.
“I knew you would be here Thunder Born, flirting with young mist spirits” Tornado snapped in my direction. He wanted my attention. “You’ve been taking pieces off them too. They think you are flirting, then leave broken hearted when you play with another.”
“It’s a sunny day, and I only race the mist spirits willing to race. They are the ones who always bring up pieces” I try to move away from Tornado, but he moves toward me. Behind me, Spring Mist creeps up.
“Today, Thunder Born, you’re going to give back all those pieces,” Tornado said with authority. He started popping off a chuckle.
“Yes you will, Thunder Kazoo,” said Spring Mist from behind me. I turned and saw her smiling and tapping her form.
“You both trapped me? That’s why you were so mad when I darted through the cloud.” I said in shock.
“Clever spirit, but not clever enough to not get caught. So are you going to give me all your pieces?”
“If I give you all these pieces, I will die. I didn’t even win that many from the mist spirits I’ve raced.”
“Don’t worry, Thunder Born” Tornado said with a further popping chuckle “We’ll leave you with one… maybe.”
The two began to rip and tear at my body. Each chunk a fluffy substance, which they then stuffed into their own. “Help! I am being mugged and murdered!” I yell, but no one hears. With night approaching, most wind espers have looked for shelter. The spot of this trap is far away from those warm pockets of shelter.
Soon, I am just one tiny puff, held by Spring Mist. I see the hunger in her eyes, wanting to eat every last morsel. I plead, in a tiny voice “please”.
She tightens her grip, squashing me into a tiny small space. She brings me close to where she likes to speak. “Goodbye, Kazoo Born.”
As she goes to eat me, I noticed she has squeezed me too tight. I whistle out of her grasp and start darting away.
“Get him!” Tornado yells and starts to chase after me.
I twist off into a cloud and do my best to hide through slight dispersion. I have to be careful with this technique. If I disperse too much, I will die. If I don’t disperse enough, they will spot me. I try to keep things at the right level, as I am shivering in the now cold night air.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Kindling
Chapter 2: Sparks
Chapter 3: Blaze
Epilogue
Meet the Author
Summer Sword Page 1
