When I was small I had loved my brother most of all. He was kind and patient but over time I grew jealous of him. I always used to play with him as a child but once I reached a certain age I learned that Raylin was adopted. My father told me that meant someday I would be King. This didn't matter to me at first because I loved him all the same but one day I overheard the discussions of our subjects.

They thought great things of Raylin. His magic that had always entertained me was of great importance to them. They thought that even though he was not the heir he may someday be given the crown because of his powers and accomplishments. After that, I became cold to him. Thinking he had always been using me or was going to betray me I distanced myself.

The truth is though that he never betrayed me. He never wanted the Crown or fame. All he cared about was keeping me safe.

I acted out against him for decades and he must have thought me a fool. The day he died was when everything changed because I learned what had been kept from me all these years. When they brought my brother's broken body home. When I saw the wounds that made me vomit and gag it was like everything in the world stopped moving. His limbs sliced and ripped apart and much of him burned and cooked. Worse yet was not the fresh wounds but the old ones.

He was covered in scars all over his body. For years now he had worn leather armor that covered from the neck down but it hadn't stood out to me. It was stylish looking armor that personally I thought looked cool. Why hadn't I noticed he never took off his gloves? When I asked my father about the scars I learned that most of them were from near-death wounds Raylen acquired over the years protecting me from the shadows. It was a tapestry of scars that told a tale to bitter for me to handle.

Thinking that he died not knowing the cost I questioned my father. Only then to learn that Raylin knew he was going to die. He had known since he first held me as a babe. That for me to have a chance to survive he would have to give up his own life. Even the will my father had shown me told of his doom. He had intended to leave me his powers after he died. Having devised a way that would have worked if only his soul had not been shattered. He had intended to give me that which he thought I had envied most.

He had gone to his death to prevent our enemies from acquiring a weapon that could have destroyed us instantly. The fact we were still here meant he had succeeded but at a horrific cost.

I yelled at my father "How could you do this to him?".

I saw my father cry for the first time in my life as he said," I could never ask this of one of my sons. It was he that put himself in this position so that I would never have to ask." Seeing my fathers sorrow left the matter be. Being angry at him would not bring my brother back and if he were here would have made Raylin sad.

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He had even left behind his steed so that it would not die with him. It was a dark element demonic beast three times the size of an ordinary horse. Its fur has a dark metallic sheen. The beast to this day had never let anyone other than Raylin get close to it. The stable boys had nicknamed this creature "Bane" as it would crush anyone who got near it. 

I remember the day it followed him home. I asked Raylin," How did you tame such a beast?"

He simply said," I didn't, he just follows of his own accord".

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   For over a hundred years I served the same family. At first, I was just a tool made as a gift from one brother to the other. Then I was handed down from parent to child for generations. I was even wielded in an unlikely battle by one of the greatest unsung heroes of his time.

Orlen was a sailor that saved a dozen ships full of refugees from a leviathan attack. He bought them time by charging his ship staffed with only a few good men and one cannon at the beast. using a clever rope set up the moved the cannon around the deck to combat the beast. Their battle lasted only a few dozen minutes or so but was a thing of legends. Orlen even managed to jump from his ship as it crashed against the leviathan and slash me through the creatures eye.

It was then I truly became a magic artifact. That was when I first gained awareness right before my master was eaten by the beast. I fell back from the scene to be embedded in a part of what was once Orlen's ship. Once recovered I was given to Orlen's recently orphaned son Raylen. Everyone had known Orlen and recognized who I had belonged too and once recovered felt I should be given back to his son as a keepsake.

The boy, however, awakened magical powers and was taken into the king's castle to be trained into a great general. He even became the prince's blood brother. To protect this new family Raylen trained harder than I had ever seen anyone work. His will was a thousand times what I had seen of other men. Even his father at his last moments couldn't compare. This was a man I was proud to follow as he wielded me into battle. From a fisherman's tool to a heroes blade. I took great pride of my master and that was why I wished to perish with him when he died.

In his last battle, my master used his magic to remove a dangerous item. Instead of using his magic in the last battle it was me he wielded. As the battle neared it end and Raylen's life faded I used most of my power sealed within me to break into pieces and kill most of our remaining attackers. With this, I thought I could die content but I was wrong.

Those sick freaks shattered my master's soul! Most magical weapons are normally void of negative emotions but I felt true rage. I hated them beyond what could be imagined. So I cursed everything. I even cursed myself. Using my pieces that pierced our enemies flesh, I drank their blood and life force. With this new power, I pieced myself back together as the first magical weapon to also be a cursed weapon.

So it was that history repeated itself as once again I was left by one brother to the other.