The Adventures of the Barbarian . . . and Friends!
__________III The Sword and the Mage__________
The barbarian followed the little unicorn back to the great oak that the dwarves had been trying to chop down, and the man noticed the mother jay and the father jay making a fuss near one of the dead dwarves, and the grumpy badger was trumping about the pile of bodies as if it were proudly responsible for the carnage. Acrobatic squirrels in the trees halted their victorious chattering when the white beast approached, and all attention was on the unicorn and the man.
But quickly, the barbarian understood what the jay birds' problem was and he knelt down where they were squawking. Slowly, he stood up once more with a chirping chick cradled in the palm of his hand, then turned back to the unicorn again which was standing in front of the scene with a look of importance.
The unicorn, however, did not speak for a long time. Its shadowy-violet gaze swept over the scene slowly and carefully as the two parent jays swooped past the barbarian over and over again.
The badger clutched the hand of one dwarf in its mouth, clucking and hissing as it violently shook its head. The squirrels began to hop around the branches of the great oak once more. One of the jay parents returned to the nest to calm down the rest of the chicks that didn't fall down. And the barbarian stood there in the middle of it with a bird flying around his head and a chick crying in his hand as a pathetic look poured onto his face as if somebody'd emptied a bucket of water over his head, "Me sorry!"
Two pointed ears curled forward at the man's words as the unicorn's gaze sharply returned to the man, looking meekly startled once again, "S-sorry . . . ?"
"Yes," the barbarian miserably insisted as he bobbed his head up and down, holding the chick out and trying to keep his hand as still as it could while the cawing parent continued to flutter around him, "I make big mess."
"N-not at-t'all," the sweet, child like voice of the unicorn answered as it stepped in a slow, balletic fashion, "I wou-would have, would have to had b-battled them m-myself." Then the tip of the unicorn's horn motioned forward, pointing to the sword on the barbarian's back, "Th-that. That is wh-what I w-wish t-to ta-talk to you ab-bout."
Still holding the chick in one hand, he reached back with his wounded hand and unsheathed the sword. He planted the blade in the ground between himself and the unicorn.
The unicorn approached the blade cautiously and with horn lowered, and as it neared, the horn began to shimmer with a pale glow like that of the moon. With that, the unicorn tipped its head up and down, kind of nodding, "J-just as I th-thought . . . C-c-c-cursed."
The barbarian's gaze met the shadowy-violet eyes of the unicorn as it explained in its sweet, melodic yet suddenly solemn tone, "This bl-blade is t-t-tainted w-with magic. There is a sp-spir-rit, a spirit inside. Th-this ench-chantment m-might be the c-cause of y-your--your battle-rage, p-perhaps even--even a block on y-your intelligence," the white beast said very matter-of-factly.
The man listened intensely to the creature's words with out getting distracted by the crazy birds or hissing badger chewing on a dwarf's hand, and after a moment of letting the information soak in, he replied with an, "Oh."
"C-c-calm y-yourself, we m-must proceed c-c-carefully," the unicorn warned, then lowered its horn once more until the tip touched the blade itself. That was when the battle of magic began. The unicorn's eyes closed and it seemed to concentrate despite the crying chick in the barbarian's hand.
Watching the unicorn deal with his cursed sword, the barbarian lifted the little chick closer to his face so he could have a good look at it. He softly tried to hush it, and lifted one finger from his cut hand to gently pet the chick's head. As his hand cupped around the chick a little more, and it began to feel more secure and not quite so out in the open, it quieted a little even with him breathing on it with his "Shhhh" noises.
Then suddenly, as one cloven hoof lifted, the unicorn pulled away with a slight gasp and the air began to tense in that area of the forest. The parent jay that had been so busy fluttering around the barbarian immediately perched on his head and the squirrels froze on their branches and stared downwards. Even the barbarian himself felt a sudden change like a dark cloudiness lifting in a slow, swirling breeze.
The spirit that the unicorn had spoken of had emerged from the sword leaving the steel empty and plain once again, but it wasn't gone instead it wandered invisibly through the air until it found a sudden opening for it to slip inside.
Only the badger had not snapped to attention, and continued to viciously thrash the dead dwarf's arm about, that is, until the dwarf's eyes blinked open. Once that happened, the badger hissed and retreated back into its dark hole, deciding it had better things to do all of the sudden.
The barbarian took a step forward towards the dwarf he had chopped in half, feeling responsible for everything since it was his sword that was cursed, and he also began to notice his head clearing, as if a weight were taken from it, well, on the inside at least. The unicorn stepped nearer as well, and together they watched as the dwarf coughed a moment, began to breath, then started to speak in a raspy, ghost like voice, "There you are, my son--you do not recognize me, I know, don't be frightened! I've been with you your whole life and you never knew it, trapped inside of that sword. Yes, I am afraid I am the one guilty of enchanting your sword, but I assure you I felt it was in your own best interest! You see, in life, I was a mage, a very powerful one at that. But in my long pursuit of knowledge and power, I made many enemies and many mistakes. Anyway, I acquired great wealth as well, my own lands and castle, and even a beautiful princess who became my wife and your mother. But one day, it all ended in a fiery assault on our home when you were young, and as my enemies took my life, I realized how dangerous my life had truly been so I cast what last piece of energy of myself remained into this powerful sword with the intention of you taking it to protect yourself, and flee the danger. You were still too young for any one to see your mind, but I could not take any chances, wielding the sword and keeping it in your possession put a lock on your mind, blocking your great intelligence to prevent you from ever learning magic like I did. And likewise, the sword attracted your hand when ever danger was near--a protection I provided for you, incase any of my enemies drew near to you. But now I am freed from the sword, and perhaps we can start our lives anew together as father and son! Oh how I have longed for this day!" The possessed dwarf then attempted to stand up but noticed that the lower half of his body was laying some feet away and blood was pouring from his severed body. He began to choke a bit and sighed gurglingly, "Alas . . . I'm dying again . . . farewell! . . . " And then the dwarf died again.
Now, with the curse lifted from him and his mind free from its eternal idiocy, the barbarian stared at the dwarf in wonder, taking in all of his words and considering them long and hard. The jaybird on his head stared down as well, and the squirrels had been watching the whole time, in fact, even the badger was spying from his dark den on the actions taking place outside.
And after a long moment, the barbarian looked at the unicorn who looked back at him . . . and they shrugged to each other.
"I don't know . . . " the barbarian said as he formed a little nest in his thick, fur collar resting on his huge chest and placed the chick snugly into the little warm spot, "I don't feel any smarter, and some how I just don't believe a dwarf could be my father . . . " He shook his head and re-sheathed his sword.
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