Ridley, being Ridley, had fallen asleep by the fire. It was almost an irresistible sleep as he hadn’t received a proper rest in some time. He was stirred awake by Carl nugging his shoulder with his hand. Ridley sprang to his feet in an instant, his eyes wide open and alert. He whipped his hands around and brought them to a defensive position. Fear and terror reflected in his eyes.

“Easy, friend. The job is done.” Carl said as he held out one hand. Ridley paused for a moment, his brain was slowly processing the situation. Ridley looked at Carl and eased. Carl gave back a friendly smile and slowly presented the sword to Ridley. It had a unique shine to it that felt unworldly. Strange symbols were carved into the blade itself and along the hilt were several pieces of the shard. Ridley looked at the sword for a moment with amazement. “One or two things lad.” Carl said as Ridley took the sword. He could feel an energy flowing all through him. It gave off a funny feeling, the kind of feeling you get when a friendly voice says hello. Carl let out a sigh as he caught the gleam in Ridley’s eye.

“Ah, yeah. That’s kind of what I was going to say. First off the sword came out great. Here I’ll demonstrate.” Carl said as he took the sword from Ridley and took a few large steps back. “Now friend. Open your hand, hold it out and mentally call the sword to you.” Ridley raised an eyebrow but outstretched his arm anyway and held out his hand. In a flash the sword sailed through the air and collided into Ridley’s hand. There was a sudden snapping sound and Ridley’s face quivered a bit with pain. He slowly opened his mouth and let out a subtle whine. Along with pain Ridley also felt another feeling, one of a friend saying I’m sorry. The mixed feelings slightly confused him for a second.

“That baby will come when called no matter where it is in the world.” Carl said with a prideful smile. “Now number two,” Carl said as he held out two fingers. “It might have come out too great. Not sure what level we are talking here. You’ll just have to see for yourself.”

Ridley shook his head. “Wait, what? It’s alive?” Ridley said as he looked at the sword in his hand. Carl shook his head. “Not really alive. May or may not be more or less alive in a sense a sponge is.” Carl said as his hands danced a bit back and forth. Ridley gave him a blank stare and then it turned into confusion.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Huh?” Ridley said.

Carl waved his hands around. “Doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. Just...keep an eye on it.” Carl said as he turned around. Ridley took one last look at his new sword with curiosity and sheathed it.

“How far is the nearest village from here?” Ridley asked. Carl looked back with worry.

“Up the road a few miles. But I’d be careful if I were you. You may have dragon’s fire to keep you warm but that won't stop you from getting lost or slipping off the mountain.” Carl said. Ridley hastily packed his things and gave Carl one last wave before leaving.

The wind howled an unearthly cry around him as he stepped outside. A sheet of white snow covered the entire area. Nothing seemed to move. Ridley shuffled his way back to the road and continued to follow it. The sun was starting to set. He didn’t have long before night. Ridley took a hold of the lantern and held it out. The snow around the lantern melted before him and froze as soon as it left its warm radius. Ridley cocked a smile and continued to walk down the road.

“Don’t have to worry about ice if it's not in front of me. Stupid white bullshit.” He muttered to himself.

As the road started to tilt upwards and Ridley’s knees started to ache with pain, he started to notice a strange coloration in the snow. What was a white winter paradise with sheets of clear bright white radiance covering the land around him started to turn dull, and then grey and soon black.

Black snow started to cover the land around him as he continued his journey. Off in the distance he heard shouting and then the cracking sounds of a whip. As he got closer to the source of the sound he was struck with fear as he not only saw one or two but six large giant men. They were as big as Carl Withakay and they had thick leather straps around them on top of ragged clothes. They were dragging what looked like very large wooden crates. Behind them stood a man, an ordinary man with black hair and a long woolen winter coat. Gripped in his hand with ease as if he was holding a child’s doll, was a sinister looking whip and at the end of the whip Ridley could see little metal ball spikes.

The man turned towards Ridley and gave a friendly smile.

“So sorry about the mess. Beasts don’t know any better.” The ordinary man said as he gave Ridley a gentle wave. He then turned towards the six giants and a scowl laid across his face.

“Move.” He whispered in a harsh tone. The six giant men, with quickness, started to move faster. A look of terror and panic painted their faces. The giant men moved and dragged their heavy crates across the snow ridden floor. The man behind them, on their heels, every step along the way.

“Oh...shit.” Ridley said to himself as he was left alone in the snow.