Chapter Twenty-Five #2
After sparring for a fair amount of time, Edan finally stepped back and wiped the sweat from his brow. “I need a drink, if you don’t mind. Can we take a break? Then you can tell me about the sapphire sword.”
“Of course. You’re strong, Edan, but against an Unseelie blade, you’ll need more strength. The sapphire sword will definitely be needed if we can get it inside that hill.”
Grant ran inside and came flying back out with a skin of water and three bowls of porridge. “I’m starving,” he declared.
Edan set his bowl of porridge down. “I need the drink first,” he said. “You were going to tell me about this sapphire sword.”
John took three bites of his porridge, then sat down on a tree stump, waving for Edan to take the one next to him. “Morgan left these so we can sit out here. He loves to chop trees down. Then he uses the wood inside.”
Edan settled, then said, “I’d love to hear the rest of the story about the sapphire sword.”
John said, “Avelina came to Grandda Alex with the sword, saying it would be needed soon, and he was to choose who would guard it.”
Grant came charging back and interjected, “Whoever holds the sword must be married within a short time.”
John continued, “I had already chosen Coira as my wife-to-be, but we were too young, so Grandda gave me the sword with Coira by my side. Then we went to battle with Robert the Bruce and saved King Robert from certain death. We were instructed to hide the sword again. Erena said it would be many years before the sword would be needed.”
Edan asked, “And that time has come?”
“Aye,” John replied. “Lia told Dyna to have me bring the sword to Islay. Here we are. We don’t know who the evil force is yet, but we brought it along in case it’s needed.” He finished his porridge and handed the extra bowl to Grant. “He eats everything in sight. He may as well finish it now.”
“What exactly does the sword do?” Edan asked.
“It will overpower evil. Guaranteed,” John said. “When Grant or I hold it, it turns blue and it’s so easy to swing that it’s unbelievable, yet its strike is deadly.”
The thought of his own hand holding that weapon and cutting Gruin down so he could run inside the door to grab his daughter made him bolt off the stump, moving to the other side of the clearing.
The next vision was so strong that it nearly brought him to tears.
He bent over at the waist, closing his eyes.
He saw the door open, the warriors falling, his daughter and Milo leaping into his arms.
“Are you hale, Edan?” John called to him.
“Aye. Just a cramp in my foot.” The lie would carry. He wouldn’t admit how often his daughter clouded his thoughts, but he had one recurring idea.
He needed that sword. “Why don’t you practice with it?”
“No need. When I handle it, the hilt adjusts to my hold and my thrusts. It’s the easiest weapon I’ve ever used. And other than here, I wouldn’t use it because I don’t need others seeing it and trying to steal it. It’s happened in the past. When I need it, I’ll use it.”
“Can anyone else hold it?”
John shook his head. “Besides me? Only Grant can wield it effectively. If anyone else touches it, they receive a burn to their skin. In fact, about a decade ago, a man who sold bairns across the water made the mistake of coming for all the bairns on Mull, including Grant, Magni, Tora, and Sandor. He also kidnapped my father and me, hiding us in a cell deep in the ground. The man made the mistake several times of trying to touch Grant’s mother or Grant, and his skin burned instantly.
When he came after me, he tried to grab the sword, and the same thing happened to him.
It’s protected, and so are the three of us—Grant, Coira, and me. ”
Edan absorbed everything they told him. A sennight ago, he wouldn’t have believed a word of their tale, but now? How could he not? Then a thought struck him. “How old were you then, Grant?”
“I think barely a year old. ’Struth, John?” he asked, slurping up the last of the porridge.
“Aye. That’s what made it so remarkable. He was still an infant, yet he could lift the sword. The villain, on the other hand, tried to touch it and couldn’t.”
“You said you brought it?” Edan asked. “Aren’t you worried it will be stolen?”
John chuckled. “Nay. No one else can touch it but the three of us.”
“Not even your sire?”
“He’s wise enough not to try, though I doubt he could even if he wanted to.”
Edan stared at his hands, then boldly asked the question that weighed on him. “Can it kill Gruin so we can get into the hill? Can the sapphire sword save my daughter?”
Grant ran back inside and waved at the two of them. “I’m still hungry.”
John rubbed his hands together. “Possibly. I’ll speak with Lia about it later. If Erena were to return, she would be the best one to ask.”
“Erena?”
“She’s the queen of the faeries, the one who brought the sword to Grant’s grandmother and has guided its use ever since.
The weapon must be used strategically. Killing Gruin wouldn’t help us, he’s the key to opening the hill.
If we can’t get inside, the sword will do us no good.
Once inside, I would use it for protection against the Unseelie.
But I’m hoping Erena appears to give me more information on its proper use.
I need to know who the truly evil force is that we are fighting before I start indiscriminately killing everyone and everything I see. ”
“Isn’t it Gruin?”
“Nay. That’s precisely what we have to uncover before we use it unwisely. He’s merely a lackey for some overlord, I suspect.”
“Wouldn’t Gruin just tell us what we need to know?”
“It’s never that easy.”
“What if we hold the sword against his throat and force him tell us?”
“The Unseelie constantly employ trickery. You’ve seen it with Gruin and the banshee. When dealing with the fae, you must think differently. Identify the one thing you need most and focus on it. The fae will try to distract you in countless ways, and then you’ll fail.”
“So exactly what will you do when we get there?”
“Find my way inside the hill. That’s the only way we’ll uncover the truth.”
“Which truth?” Edan asked, so confused he couldn’t discern the best plan.
“Who is truly holding your daughter and the other bairns, and why?”