While we waited, we spent a week training what we could. We went over potential battle tactics, what positions we could take on a battlefield, and she also explained what combination magic was. Apparently, it was something we could still do, despite me not having any magic. It was performed by my lending her some of my “life force” as she called it, then combining it with her own to create a unique attack or effect.

“Are you ready Jake?” Suma asked as she prepared to perform the ritual to take some of my life force.

“Ready,” I said. A magic circle formed around the two of us, then slowly they warped to form a figure eight that connected between our bodies. I felt a feeling like a cold chill run down my body and a wave of blue traveled from my end of the circle to hers. As soon as it touched her body Suma began crying out in pain and fell to her stomach. As soon as she hit the ground the circle vanished, and I ran to pick her up. “SUMA!” She laid motionless and limp in my hands as I carefully picked her up and cradled her in my arms. “Suma! Suma!” I yelled, and after a moment she slowly opened her eyes. “Oh, thank goodness.” I sighed in relief.

“By the dragons, that quite hurt,” Suma moaned.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened.”

“No, it… it was my fault. I failed to realize how strong you actually were and tried taking ten percent of your life energy.” Her voice sounded as if each word was a struggle to get out. “It was a foolish mistake. I should have performed a free-flow technique rather than a portion one. It would have been safer, but I was overconfident; I thought I could handle it.” Suma explained in a pained tone of voice.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She took a few deep breaths, “I will be fine, I just need to rest a moment.”

Suma rested in my arms for at least thirty minutes before asking to stand up on her own again. “Are you okay,” I wondered.

“I am fine, I was simply knocked on my tail feathers for a moment,” she replied.

“Maybe we should try again later and take a break for now, it has been a couple of days, let’s go see if any of our order is ready yet.” I suggested.

“Yes, that is… a good idea.” She said sounding exhausted. I started walking towards the city, but when I looked over my shoulder, Suma hadn’t moved.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Um... could I… ride on your shoulder?” She asked meekly.

“Sure, no problem,” I chuckled slightly and carefully lifted her up and placed her on my shoulder. She was short, maybe a foot tall, but while she was perched, her head was above the top of mine by just a bit.

We made our way back to the metalworker’s shop, which was only about a ten- or fifteen-minute walk from where we had been training. Once inside, the nymph who we had spoken to a few days ago perked up and greeted us excitedly.

“Hello, my unusual friends, I have a part of your order ready for you! It was a fun and unique build. I all but needed to invent the tools needed to complete it, but I have it ready for you. It was the long one, with the wooden shaft.” He said and flew over to a table. He reached down and dragged the wooden end of the spear to the edge of the table, grunting as he did.

“Let me help,” I said and picked it up.

“Ah, thank you.” He said. The spear was genuinely nice, well-crafted, and sturdy, but thick enough that I was fairly sure it would do some damage. It was almost as tall as I was, from the tip of the sharpened metal cone which made the spear, to the base of the wooden shaft it was about five feet long and had a two-and-a-half-inch diameter. Normally, a spear would have a blade at the end, but I opted to have this one utilize a thin cone-like rod, rather than a blade, that way I could be sure it wouldn’t snap. It wouldn’t be slicing anyone up, but it will be one heck of a blunt force puncture weapon. “The rest of your order should be finished in four days. I must say, I have had great fun making such unusual things.” The nymph said.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Thank you,” I said. As we were making our way out, the nymph gave me a tool to sharpen the spear’s tip if it got dulled. It was some kind of stone with magic symbols carved into it. I thanked him, and we left to go back to training. During the walk back, I felt the balance of the spear, ran my hand over the sanded down wood, and examined the tip. It all seemed to be well made and ready for testing. Once we arrived back at the clearing we had been training in, I looked over at Suma, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine now,” she said and fluttered her way off my shoulder and onto the ground.

“Let’s see what this spear can do.” I said.

“That tree might make a good practice target.” Suma suggested. I walked over to a large blue barked tree with red leaves, and readied my spear. I gripped it tightly in both hands then thrust it forwards into the trunk of the tree. With a loud thwack, I chipped of a bit of bark and dug a full two inches into its side with the tip. I gave the spear a good jerk and wrenched it free. I examined the hole in the wood then glanced over the spear to check its condition. There was no visible damage on the metal, so I repeated the test a few more times until I was satisfied that the spear wouldn’t break during combat.

“I do not know much about this kind of weapon, but I must say, I am nonetheless impressed.” Suma stated.

“It did well,” I told Suma, “No scratches or dents, and the tip is still intact. I’d say it passed with full marks.”

“It seems to be a devastating weapon. Tell me, what monsters must reside on your world to have need of such a ferocious tool?”

“Um… well there are bears and wolves, beasts like the borogs, but I’d bet it was developed to fight other humans.”

“So, your species has many wars as well?”

“Oh yeah, all the time. In fact, I’m not sure there has ever been a time in our history when a war wasn’t being fought.” I said.

“…Never?” Suma asked quietly shocked.

“Not to my knowledge.” I answered. I looked at the spear and had a thought, “man, where am I gunna keep this thing? Your house can’t be big enough to store it.”

Suma shifted her weight on her perch, “yes, I am afraid my home is much too small, but storage should not be a problem. I know a spell that can help.”

“Really?” I asked. Suma flew over to me and landed on my shoulder.

“Bring it closer,” she said. I tilted the tip of the spear about an inch from her. A moment later a small magic circle formed around her, and then around my own feet, and then one formed around the shaft of the spear like a snake coiled around its prey. “You will need to name the weapon Jake.” Suma said.

“Name it? Okay...” I thought for a moment about what to call it. “Destiny,” I said, and the magic circles changed from a brilliant blue to a burning red, then faded away.

“Why Destiny?” Suma asked.

“There was a famous spear from human history called the spear of destiny. I thought it fit.” I explained. “Hey Suma, why did I just name a spear?” I asked.

“I used a similar spell to the one we bonded ourselves with, now you can summon the spear by calling its name, no matter where you are.” She explained.

“Oh… neat.” I said.

“Try it out,” she suggested. I stabbed the spear into the ground then walked a few feet away.

“Destiny.” I said, but nothing happened.

“You are not talking to the spear; you are calling for it. Do not simply say the words, mean them. Give them purpose.” Suma told me.

“…Okay,” I said. I cleared my mind and tried to imagine what she meant, calling Destiny with purpose, and meaning. “Destiny!” I shouted, and the spear blinked out of sight then, with a flash, it reappeared into my outstretched hand. “That... was… awesome!” I shouted. I threw the spear at the tree and sunk it several inches into its wood, causing it to stick straight out, then once again I called it back to me. I repeated this process several times, cackling like a madman while I did.

“It seems you are getting the hang of it,” Suma stated.

“I think so, but I wanna try something.” I said and tossed the spear a few feet away. “I wanna try summoning the spear without talking,” I told her.

“You wish to try shadow casting?” She sounded surprised.

“So, you’ve heard of it? I just saw something like it in a TV show and thought I’d give it a try.” I said.

Suma nodded her head, “It is an extremely difficult technique that takes even the best mages years of study to grasp. I doubt you will be able to get it.”

“Might as well give it a shot,” I said and closed my eyes to focus. I tried to focus on what Suma told me, about purpose and meaning, then I reached out with my hand and in my head thought… Destiny. I didn’t feel anything at first, but my mind started filling with images, like strings stretching out into infinity. I would reach for the strings, then draw my hand back if they felt wrong. Then I saw it, as clear as day in my mind, a red string. In my mind I reached out and grabbed it, then pulled as hard as I could. Once again, in my mind, I called out for my spear, and clenched my outstretched hand around a familiar wooden shaft.

“You… you did it…” Suma whispered.