Several hours passed as the Team Yet To Be Named practiced team tactics in the open area of the warehouse. Sometimes one on one, two on two or three on one, Roland kept watch offering encouragement or tips from the safety of the conference table. At the end of the practice a very tired, sore and sweaty group sprawled about the rec area on the couches and floor treating their bruises and rehydrating.
Betony looked over at a clock on the wall. “My mom’s going to be here soon to pick me up. We have a ritual tonight up in the Cascades. I’d better go get cleaned up. I wish I could hang out but this is kinda important. There is a focusing of the Nexus with the rising of the new moon. And that means lots of energy leaking from the aether which can cause all sorts of problems. The local druids need to perform a ritual or two to contain it. And I get to be included this time. It might be fun.”
As she stretched and walked back to the changing areas Grande called out to her with a grin, “A ritual out ein the woods huh? You gonna be all sky clad with the other druid ladies?”
She paused and looked back at the impervious pervert with a slightly incredulous look on her face.
“Did you just ask what I think you asked?”
“Maybe...”
She rolled her eyes “No Carlos we will not be sky clad. That is Wiccan practice, I am a druid. This is a druid ritual. Did you look up magic on some lame website on the internet just so you could harass me?”
“Would I do something like that?” He paused a beat “Si, I totally deid. It was worth it to see the look on your face though.”
Everyone chuckled at that, including Betony as she finally went back to change.
Betony’s mom came and went right on schedule. The other four cleaned up the area and their gear, which for Grande and Sun Wolf just consisted of putting their clothes in their respective laundry bags while Crusader polished his magic blade with a rag from his duffle bag. Roland meanwhile watched Aaron with interest, paying close attention to the sword.
“Aaron,” he projected after a few moments, “May I ask you a few questions about your sword, if you do not mind. I would like to confirm a few thoughts that I have developed going by the bits of information Sun Wolf had relayed after your encounters.”
“Not at all Roland. What do you want to know?”
“Does your sword have a name and how did you acquire it?”
Aaron looked at the long sword. It did not look like all that much. The handle was well wrapped and sweat worked leather while the pommel and the cross guard were lightly patterned dark heavy metal. The only truly special thing about the sword was that the edge of the blade looked infinitely sharp and that it seemed to be glowing, a blue so faint that you could barely see it in its otherwise bright mirror finish. It looked like a highly functional finely made warrior’s weapon.
“I have been told that the blade’s name is Arondight. It is really not much of a story on how I got it. No dramatic quests, no saved princesses, no buried treasure. I was coming back from a long delivery and I saw an old guy in a stained t-shirt selling swords out of the bed of his beat up pickup on the side of the road in a gravel lot with a cardboard sign that just said ‘Swords For Cheap’. I had just gotten a nice tip and felt like splurging, so I pulled into the lot.”
The others paused what they were doing and listened in to the story.
“Well the old guy seemed kinda pleased to be seeing a customer so late in the afternoon and he was all smiles. He told me to pick the sword that I thought was right for me. There were only four swords there, not much of a selection to be honest. It was slightly creepy the way he stared almost intently at me as I looked at each one. There was a really gaudy sword in an ornate sheath with two three headed dragon things for the cross guard, he went a bit pale and looked like he might pass out when I picked that one up. It was really weird. Another one was a cool sword that was shaped like a wavy triangle; it didn’t fit right in my hand. He had a samurai sword too, it also had a nice sheath, but I am not a fan of those, so I didn’t bother with it.
But this sword, “He said gesturing to Arondight “felt perfect. Just the right weight, it wasn’t gaudy and it felt made for my hand. He seemed surprised that I chose that one out of the four there. He quoted me a price, which happened to be the exact amount my big tip was. I didn’t find that strange at the time, I did a few days later. I paid him, got in my car with my new sword and drove off. And that is my sword’s dramatic comic book origin story.”
“Fascinating” projected Roland “You bought a magic sword from a man on the side of the road. And if he was who I think he is...“his thoughts faded out as he sat on the conference table. Images rapidly flickered in the holographic display as Roland dove deeply into a search through various databases and files.
“If you think who is what?”
Carlos sighed “Don’t bother, he zones out some times. When he gets like that eit eis best just to let heim go and find what he needs to find. Let’s watch some TV while he does heis theing. Hey deid you go back to see eif the old man was there after you figured out that the sword was magic? ‘Cause I might be interested in getting a magic sword too.”
“Yeah I did to get some answers, but by the time I got back there he was long gone.”
“Lame.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
The group sat down on the couch for an hour or two with Grande flipping through the channels looking for something to watch when Crusader spoke up. “Hey stop there, the old Thundercats cartoon. I loved those growing up. They seemed so crazy unbelievable even when I was little, they are so much worse now as an adult.”
They watched chuckling at the show for a while before Tasha made a comment. “You know these are based on the Thundarkus right?”
Grande and Crusader both looked at her with skeptical expressions, neither saying anything.
“I’m serious.” She went on “The Thundarkus live in an underground jungle cavern warmed by deep magma chambers and steam several hundred miles across at the South Pole. They were discovered back in the early eighties. The explorers who found them studied them off and on for years. They tried to make a profit off of their findings and ended up selling to a cartoon studio because they offered the most money.”
“Nope,” Grande butted in “I don’t believe you. You had me going for a second or two. But no. There is no way there is a race of cat people living in an underground cave fighting an ancient necromancer mummy who lives in a black pyramid living under the south pole.”
“Oh it is all true. Rahm-hoteph is a powerful ancient Egyptian sorcerer. The Thundarkus and their allies do manage to keep him contained.”
“This is pretty hard to believe Tasha. So there are cat people with names of surface cats, driving cat shaped vehicles and living in cat shaped buildings.” Scoffed Aaron “Next you will be telling me He-Man and Scooby Do are also based on real events.”
She sighed “No the cartoonists and writers took some liberties with the names and other stuff like that. It was a cartoon and they had to sell toys to kids after all. And no I am not going to tell you that He-Man was real. Scooby Do on the other hand…”
“Really? A bunch of kids rolling around in a van with a talking dog? That has got to be one of the stupidest...“ Aaron paused and looked over at Roland sitting over on the table “Ok, you know what, that is a bit more believable to me now that it was twenty four hours ago.”
Natasha and Carlos both laughed a little at that.
“That show was based on the adventures of the Groovy Mystery Society a group of twenty somethings in the late sixties who drove their van around the Deep South while experimenting with recreational drugs. Although it was toned down a bit for the cartoon, most of those shows were based on real events. Not every villain was a guy in a mask. They did encounter some very disturbing and unnatural things from differing planes of existence, which they managed to stop time and time again, against all odds. It is suspected that the drugs somehow helped them not go insane from some of the things they saw, due to the fact that their vision of reality was altered to begin with.”
“So a bunch of drugged up hippies and a talking dog in a van stopped an invasion of the earth from creatures from another plane of existence in the sixties. And they made a cartoon about it.”
Natasha nodded “Yep that about sums it up. You can read about it in one of the memoirs that was put out.”
“The world is so much weirder than I thought it was.
Another half hour or so passed while the three remaining members of the team watched TV, or tried to as Grande kept flipping channels and asking Sun Wolf about each cartoon they came across to see if they had any sinister or amazing history, and waited for Roland to let them know what he discovered.
A polite mental cough got their attention.
“Lady and sirs, I believe I have gathered all the information that I am likely to on this subject. If you would please join me at the table I have some fascinating information to share.” His mental voice contained a hint of excitement which seemed out of character for him.
Tasha and Aaron sat in a pair of chairs while Carlos flopped bonelessly into his in a very relaxed sprawl. He spoke “What deid you learn while Tasha ruined childhood memories?”
“Quite a bit Carlos. Aaron before we begin, you said your sword’s name was Arondight. How did you learn that information?|”
Aaron looked a tad uneasy. “I was told that in a dream.”
Tasha looked at him and raised one eyebrow “A dream?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
The small white cat nodded, choosing not to pry. “Very well. Arondight is the name of the sword carried by Sir Lancelot, one of the Knights of the Round Table. It is one of the Eight Swords of Power. The Eight Swords of Power are swords that originate from all over the world and were used by historical figures.” Everyone could hear the capitols in their heads as he spoke the title. “Aaron's sword Arondight is said to be able to only be carried by a noble honorable soul. And that it will be used by a champion in defense of the weak and helpless.”
Everyone except for Aaron looked in silence for a moment at the blade resting on the table in front of them, Natasha and Carlos spoke in surprised shock at nearly the same time.
“Impossible! They existed too?!”
“Seriously?!”
Roland interrupted them again. “Yes, it is the blade. It has surfaced several times over the centuries since its first appearance in history.”
Several images of various knights, warriors and soldiers flashed in the holographic projector. Some in paintings, some in photographs, but all bearing a sword that matched the one before them. You don’t seem too surprised to find that out Aaron.”
“I know a bit about that. I did get a bit of the history when I learned the name of the blade.”
“But that is not the important part. What is important is that using Aaron’s descriptions I have figured out which of the Eight Blades are currently active in the world today. Unless the forge master has given out another one, there are five in circulation.”
As he spoke the names of the blades images popped into view.
“From news and other reports I knew two swords were being used but the other two surprised me. The first blade Shén zhī jiàn, also known as the Sword of God, was first used by Attila the Hun.” A very fine looking scimitar that had a bronze pommel and etchings along its blade hovered in 3D in front of them slowly rotating “It is being used by a man of the same name in the far east.”
A vicious wooden blade with studded obsidian chips appeared and spun next to the first image. “The Hungering Tooth, is a Macuahuitl belonging to Tlacaelel a legendary figure of Aztec mythology. It and its bearer have been spotted on the east coast.”
“The next two I could not locate any photographic images of. But l do believe they are somewhere in someone’s hands, based on your information and other sources. They are the Crocea Mors, the cestus owned and used by Julius Cesar during his conquest of Europe and Heaven’s Gift, the arming blade of Joan of Arc. Both of which are said to be powerful. The Crocea Mors gives the bearer great charisma and the ability to influence people. While Heaven’s Gift gives control of fire and heat to its bearer. Those are not subtle weapons. And the fact that they and their owners are not immediately known of makes me somewhat nervous.”
Aaron swallowed nervously. “I am almost afraid to ask about the other three.”
“You should not be. If your descriptions of them are accurate, and I am not doubting that they are, two of the other blades not in use are the Taming Sari of Hang Tuah, which is the wavy bladed kris sword you described as a triangle. And the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, also called the Grass Cutting Sword, which first belonged to Yamato Takeru a famous historical samurai from Japan.”
Roland paused a moment. Grande butted in. “That is only two. He saw three. What was the third one? Theis is really kinda cool, like the part before a commercial in a TV show. I gotta know.”
“If I may, could I read something to you first before I tell you what the last one is?”
Everyone nodded silently.
“This is an excerpt from the Dream of Rhonabwy ‘...with a design of two chimeras on the golden hilt; when the sword was unsheathed what was seen from the mouths of the two chimeras was like two flames of fire, so dreadful that it was not easy for anyone to look. At that the host settled and the commotion subsided, and the earl returned to his tent.’ Chimeras are three headed dragon like creature. Does that somewhat describe the sword you saw?”
“Yeah that seems about right.”
“That sword is Caledfwlch.”
“Caledfwlch? That doesn’t really mean anything to me. Should it?”
“Caledfwlch is more commonly known as the sword Excalibur.”
Aaron paled instantly and seemed to shrink in on himself in his seat as he muttered quietly to him sear with a mixture of fear and reverence. “Excalibur, oh crap. I touched Excalibur.”
Aaron sat quietly on the couch his head spinning with all the news that he had just received from Roland. He sat there trying to work it out in his head. His sword had belonged to Lancelot, the most famous knight of The Round Table next to King Arthur, which he already knew. But that lead to another part of the legend that he was not prepared for, King Arthur. Lancelot existed which means that King Arthur existed. And so did his sword. And by chance he got to hold it, just a moment or two, but it was still Excalibur. This was simultaneously the coolest and scariest thing he had ever done.
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