I had no experience whatsoever in wielding a sword. It felt clunky and old. I didn’t think anyone used this kind of weapon, before my brother proved me wrong. I was aware that the techniques used in handling such objects was complex enough to keep people practicing for years, but I didn’t think such knowledge had survived this long.

It was still sunny in the forest, and I was trying to figure out what was so special about a sword that my brother kept away from me for this long. It was also weird that he made me fulfil his promise. The handle was robust, and the hilt was heavy. Swinging it around wasn’t hard, but from my little knowledge I deduced it would strike hard in the right hands. The blade was double-edged, and it was about an arm long. Using its tip felt unpractical considering the weight, so it was obviously made to slash instead of stabbing. Its details in red made the blade look ominous but they posed no obstacle to the driving of the object. I was getting used to its shape and weight. Maybe it would be good to see it in action.

—Do you think I can try it on a tree? I’m scared of breaking it.

Syl was with me, legs crossed sitting on top of a rock, waiting to get a reaction from me.

—I don’t know. It looks robust enough, but I’ve never been involved in anything like that so I’m scared it might bend the blade.

I doubted. It was something I wanted to take care of. But leaving it in my room inside its box would be no use. I felt like my brother wanted me to try it. That might be why he wanted me to wait. To get old enough before using it.

I faced directly into the nearest tree. The sword to my side waiting to be unleashed at something. Walking straight and determined towards the plant I prepared my rudimentary fighting pose before striking hard on its side.

The tree didn’t move, but the weapon left a deep cut on its side. My imagination had predicted it to go completely through the trunk, but even if the cut didn’t go from side to side, it probably was more than a usual weapon, but it left me disappointed.

After pulling hard to get the blade unstuck, using my feet on the plant to get a stronger pull, my own strength sent the blade flying towards Syl. I fell, with the surprise strength the tree held the sword with thrusting me backwards. I was shaken. I hit the ground with my elbow, opening cut on my skin and covering it in dust. It hurt slightly. It was not the toughest fall I had along the years, but I examined the wound carefully anyways.

—Look! It’s shining! — with that, Syl pulled me out of my distracted self.

I turned around to get a better look at it. She was right. The red orb on the hilt had now lit up with light of the same colour. It lasted just a couple of seconds, but it was enough to startle me. I lift myself up and pulled towards the weapon, paying attention to anything unusual it might do after that. But it just stood there.

I picked it up, and examined it closely, with Syl’s footsteps rushing to where I was, likely as curious as me. It didn’t look like nothing changed at all. Not in the blade, not in the hilt and not in the handle. I was curious about the glass ball in the centre, still surrounded by red coloured strings of metal. There was no electric wire inside, just a plain red glass. It had lit up once, so there must have been a way to light it up again. It was just a question of figuring out how.

—Try it again, see if it does something.

It wasn’t a bad idea, so I rushed towards the tree again without a word, more determined than before. I charged my slash with more strength to see if there was any new effect.

This time, the slash went slightly deeper. My strength seemed to influence the cut itself, but not the sword. This time I pulled ensuring it didn’t throw me backwards as before. I held the hilt to my head, the red light shining in my eyes before quickly stopping.

—Did it work? — She asked from the distance.

I turned towards her, my happiness probably obvious on my face. She smiled too.

—Well, we still don’t know what it means.

—It’s still more than nothing — She said positively.

We progressed for a while after that. After throwing some empty swings to the air we deduced that the orb only lit up when striking a solid object since it did not when not hitting anything. Neither it did hitting something without cutting. It seemed that neither a strike with the side of the blade nor a direct hit without a cut lit up the orb. Also, the strength of the cut usually determined the brightness of each glow. I felt the strain of my muscles tightening as the day passed.

I decided to stop for the day when the sword cut straight through a whole tree. The loud thud resonated through the forest as I straightened my back after the strike. Syl closed her distance to me then, handing me a bottle of water.

—Here you go. I brought you something to drink since I imagined you would end up like this.

—Thank you.

I gulped the whole thing in a single go. I was indeed tired. I hadn’t exercised like this for a while, but it felt good. There hadn’t been a conclusion to our research. We knew when it lit up, but we didn’t know how or why. It was intriguing, I was excited to learn more about that item, there must have been a reason why Drest gave this to me. But it would have been simpler if he at least gave some hint of what it was. It was obvious it wasn’t an ordinary sword. But how unordinary it was, was still a mystery to solve.

—I haven’t seen you this excited for a while… — She paused —I’m happy you could get rid of your bad mood so fast.

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It’s true, I completely forgot about it. I am probably unable to develop an image. It had daunted me for a while, but I got rid of my uneasiness so quickly. This sword had removed me from my situation, relieving me from my own closedmindedness. Two days ago, I wouldn’t have thought things would have changed so quickly.

—I think that this might serve as a substitute. I’m not sure what my brother wanted from me, or how this thing works. But I think it might help me achieve my goals without the need of an image.

She just smiled at that.

—You told me he abandoned you, but it seems like he cared about you more than you thought.

It’s true. It felt lonely back then. Knowing our relationship would break so suddenly with no further notice. His present might have shaded some light into the matter. Maybe it would tell me what he did in his journey, why he came back like that and what he plans to do from now on. Maybe he actually thought things through. Did he do it because he could do anything else? Did someone threaten him, and he had no choice but to do what he did? My distrust in him slowly fading away and turning into the somewhat familiar faith I still held deep in my buried memories.

—Do you think he knew? — I said.

—He knew what?

—I’m wondering… It seems like this sword might do things we can’t even imagine. My brother seems to have left it specifically for me. So, he might have known I was not going to get an image and gave this to me as a substitute — it was confusing, but it kind of made sense.

She kept quiet for a second. Her finger on her chin, thinking.

—I wonder… I guess you’ll have to ask him personally.

She was right. But would that be even possible? He was in the capital right now, working as the Guardian of the city. I didn’t think he would pay any attention to me at all, but could I take that as an answer in itself? It was confusing, and I was tired. I did not want to think about that at all at that moment. But the time would have to come sooner or later. The moment where I would have to confront him for his own actions and ask for an answer.

It was already dark. The night had reached us without I even noticed, too absorbed on my own problems to notice the gradual change in lighting. The silence of the evening pierced only by the song of the cicadas. The light of the city in the distance.

The forest was a dangerous place at night. Many animals lurked in the dark looking for the meal of the day. We should have gone home earlier. And we soon realised to what extent.

A wild roar echoed through the trees. We quickly glanced around, scared from the sudden turn of events. The darkness didn’t let us identify the threat quickly enough, so we didn’t know where the sound came from. I stood in front of Syl, urging her to move slowly in the direction we had come from. I covered our backs, trying to not make any sudden movement as to not startle the wild animal wherever he was, while still holding the sword high and pointing forward.

Wild animals were not particularly common in the woods, and they were thoroughly controlled as to not cause any damage to the civil population. In the same way that us humans had developed images, animals had grown special abilities too, seemingly harder to identify as it was hard to work out with them to identify its specific characteristics. It was apparent though, that a same species of animal held the same or at least similar characteristics between its individuals. And we were not pleased to learn which animal we were specifically facing.

A wild bear had jumped on the rock Syl was using to cover herself from the sunlight. Now staring straight into us from atop the boulder. The animal did not seem to have the intention of wildly charging into us, maybe scared by the pointy weapon. But he did not have the intention of letting us go either.

Our small steps slowly becoming leaps as the rush of adrenalin and the building tension with the animal rose. Bears were not necessarily aggressive animals, or so I thought, but a hungry animal is always a dangerous one. He was slowly catching up with us, but a sudden speed burst would have done nothing but enrage the animal. Now that it was closer, I could have a closer look at its huge mass of muscle and fur, and it appeared as dangerous as ever. And the glowing eyes reaching straight into our most instinctive sense of danger.

So, I decided to step in.

I held the sword as hard as I could, thinking that its muscles would hold my weapon tight once in, as much as the tree did before. Every step felt important. A misplacing of my posture would only mean the animal got free space to hit me with its claws, I needed to avoid that at all costs. My inexperience and lack of practice slowing my movements to a great extent, and I was conscious of it. Maybe too much for my own good. So much so that I was already aware of my imminent defeat. But I wasn’t going to leave without putting up a fight.

The first cut landed on its front paw, quick enough to avoid the thrust of the opposite one. The orb glowed red again at that point, but this time more than it ever had. The red light lighting up the faces of both me and the animal for a second. The bear bulked up, trying to cover the side where he was hit. I quickly bounced the opposite direction striking to its right, aiming to hinder its movement.

The possible situation of me slaying the beast quickly passed through my mind at that moment, as the orb lit up again following the second hit. I didn’t want to kill it, but I was well aware of the chance of its possibly necessary death. I covered behind a tree as its paw struck the trunk, leaving a deep cut on the surface. I then jumped towards it. First laying low and then powerfully thrusting upwards, where the main body of the huge animal was.

I felt the blade going deep into the beast’s body, its movements trying to block the path of the weapon. But it was already in as the red light reflected again on the bear’s eye, reminding me of the imminent danger I was incurring in. It didn’t look like it was happy.

But I couldn’t move in time, its strong arm strongly swiping at me and sending me backwards into a tree. I lost my breath for a second, coughing to recover the oxygen I needed. But the animal grew even bigger at that point, its anger more than present in its menacing roars. Slowly walking towards me, knowing I wouldn’t stand up in time to avoid it, my death now feeling imminent.

It was then that the light struck.

The screams of pain the animal threw out lingering in my head for longer than it felt. Its big mass of animal muscle now on the ground to my right. I hesitated to move. I was supposed to be dead. Syl came running to me, the threat of the bear now a fading memory of the fight. She checked on me, but she didn’t use her Image. It was dangerous to numb my senses when the wounds could be so dangerous, maybe lethal. But it was just a bunch of contusions, it hadn’t hit me with its claws.

She checked every angle of my body looking for possible threats to my life, and I let her as I recovered my full consciousness. But before reassuring her that I was fine I gazed into the direction the light beam had come from, and I saw a figure against the moonlight.

—Kids shouldn’t be up this late.

Syl turned around at the sudden appearance of that man.

—It wasn’t our intention. We were just leaving — I said.

He didn’t reply to that, he just walked closer to us with a staggered pace.

—Don’t get any closer — She warned warily. Standing between me and the man.

—It’s fine, I just came to check what was going on — He stopped on his tracks though —You put up a good fight kid.

I meant to reply, but Syl gestured me not to.

—Where did you get that thing? — He pointed to the sword.

I then noticed he was wearing a belt with three sheaths attached. One of his weapons unsheathed and on his right hand.

t hand.