The Three Swords

"Long ago, Feros was under attack. A huge black being began devouring everything. It was known as the Shadow. No one knows the Shadow's true shape, for it becomes whatever form is most destructive. Sometimes, it will be a monstrous spider, other times an enormous spiked tiger. But it's favorite form is the fifty foot tall dragon. It would reduce entire villages to rubble with it's tail. Fire would rain from it's mouth and destroy anything in it's path. It would throw it's claws to the ground and create earthquakes. The Shadow was unstoppable.

But when it seemed all was lost, three warriors rose from the carnage to challenge the Shadow. Each had an invincible sword. The yellow sword of strength, the blue sword of swiftness, and the red sword of power. They attacked the beast. A forty year war followed. The three warriors seemed to never tire, and neither the Shadow. The warriors would charge the Shadow, but they would be knocked aside by it's swinging tail. They traveled across continents in an endless battle. Pain and death followed wherever they went. But the warriors would not stop until the Shadow was gone... or until they were dead.

At that time in Feros, magic did not yet exist. People knew only the power of steel weapons, not of the power that flowed around them. Unfortunately, the only thing that could really defeat the Shadow was magic. But magic had existed before. It had been wiped out in the Great War five million years ago when all the Magic Men had been killed. The Magic Men that had created the three swords. That was the reason why the warriors were still alive after all this time. The swords were keeping them alive.

The swords were losing power. The Shadow was wearing them down. If the warriors died, there would be no hope for Feros. Everything would be consumed. The most powerful of the three warriors, the one that held the red sword, once again unlocked the magic. The sword had been trying to tell him how to use it's power, but the warrior would not listen. But as the giant claw of the Shadow came crashing down, as the warrior knew he was about to die, he listened to his sword. He lifted his sword and a word escaped his lips. The sword began to glow. The red glow was so bright it illuminated the entire planet. The Shadow froze. The warrior who held the blue sword saw the red light. He knew at once what he must do. He too lifted his sword, and the blue light joined the red light. The Shadow was began to fade. Black tendrils of smoke lifted off it. The Shadow was almost dead.

The two warriors turned to the third warrior. His yellow sword was pointed towards the earth. He saw the magic destroying the Shadow, and he was frightened. He didn't want to use that. He didn't want to embrace magic.

The Shadow was breaking free. Soon, the sword magic would run out, and the Shadow would win.

Finally, the warrior lifted his sword. But is was too late. The Shadow lept forward as the yellow light collided with it. The Shadow became it's true form. The warriors were sucked in, and the Shadow exploded. Blue, yellow, and red light rained down on Feros. The Shadow had been destroyed. But because of the foolishness of the warrior of the yellow sword, the warriors had died warriors were all brothers. Two of them had never had any children, but the first warrior, the strongest, had one child. The line of the warrior still lived.

Throughout the years, the line of the warrior began to be forgotten. No one knows what became of it. It could have died out centuries ago, or a descendant could be living among us right now. But now, most don't believe. They think the Shadow is just a myth. It's not though. Be warned, one day the Shadow will rise again. And if the warriors are gone, then we are doomed. Now go to bed. You've got to get up early tomorrow."

All the children groaned and stood up on their shaky legs. They wandered of into the darkness, only thinking of their warm huts and comfy beds. Yura got up to leave too, when he noticed there was still one child sitting by the fire. Yura sighed. "Oh, come on Gray, you have to get some rest too, it's almost time for exams."

Gray seemed not to hear that. He looked up into the cloudless sky, staring at the stars spread across above the land. He turned to Yura. "Do you really believe that story?" he asked.

Yura bent backwards, creating a small symphony of creaks and cracks. "Aaaaaaah. Well, it doesn't matter if I believe it. I'm old and wrinkly. I'm going to die soon. No, it only matters if you believe it, Gray, you and all the other kids."

Gray moved closer to the heat of the fire. It seemed to dance side to side. Eventually, his eyes couldn't take it any longer. He turned away from it and glanced at Yura. He was a tall man, nearly seven feet tall. He had a long black beard that stretched down to his chest. It was beginning to get flecks of gray. His shoulder-length hair was completely white. He had large bushy eyebrows and dark eyes. Wrinkles did cover his face. He always wore a long brown cloak. No one really knew how old Yura was. He seemed extremely old and young at the same time. He was very graceful and agile, yet he looked older than anyone else in the village. He had been there for as long as anyone could remember.

"Okay Gray, we've talked long enough. Now get to bed."

Gray stood up and shook the dirt off his pants. He said goodnight to Yura and started walking down the familiar path, and soon the fire was no longer visible. Gray was a small kid. He had a mop of tangled brown hair that usually hung in front of his eyes. When you could see them, his eyes were a dark green. He was the only one in the village with green eyes. He had a small round nose, and a little mouth that was usually hung open. Gray was very quiet. He was always lost in thought about what was next, or what he could do. He wore a button-up yellow shirt that was never tucked in. He got unapproving looks from the village mothers quite often. He kept his long sleeves rolled up so they wouldn't hang past his hands. He was often tripping on his long brown pants.

Gray tripped on a vine and started to fall. He caught himself with hands. As Gray stood back up, he noticed he had walked right past his house again. Gray reprimanded himself. You need to stop getting daydreaming! Actually, it is night so wouldn't it be normal dreams? Or can you only have those when your asleep? But what if... Oh stop! Stop! Gray managed to stop himself right as he got to his house. It was exactly like all the others. The front was covered in all different kinds of flowers. It had a silver gate that started the walkway that led up to the house. Gray opened the gate and wandered up the path. He stopped in front of the door. It was made out of smooth wood. A small metal plate had their name on it. Gray looked at it. "The Stars" was what the nameplate said. Gray sighed. Star was a perfect last name for a family that always had their heads in the clouds.

He opened the door and walked inside. His mother was sitting at the round table reading one of her books. As he walked in, she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. Like Gray, she had brown hair. She had it lying straight down her back. She was only a little taller than her son.

She looked exasperated. "Gray! I've been waiting an hour for you to get home. What took you so long?"

"You know how far the Storytelling Fire is from the house!"

His mom looked at Gray with her eyebrows raised. "You could have ran."

"That would have taken even longer! I would have tripped every five steps. You know how clumsy I am, Mom."

She stood up and gave her son a hug. Most people in the village complain because the ceilings are so low that they have to bend when they stand up, but that's not a problem in the Star family.

"Yes, you remind me of your father," Mrs. Star told Gray. "He's very clumsy too. Gray looked at her knowingly.

"What about you?"

Mrs. Star laughed. "Okay, I'm clumsy too. I guess we're just a clumsy family. Oh, and by the way, your father is coming tomorrow after classes.

Gray pulled away and started jumping. "Yay! Dad's coming!" Mrs. Star smiled and shook her head.

"Okay, now go to bed. You have to be rested for magic class."

Gray suddenly looked very depressed. "Fine. Whatever."

Mrs. Star was surprised. "Gray, I thought you loved magic class. And don't you like your teacher- Ms. Tehy?"

Gray sat down and started pulling his fingers through his hair, which was a sure sign that he was sad. He looked up at his mother, and she was surprised to see that there were tears in his eyes. "I love magic class!" he told her. "And Ms. Tehy is great! It's just that, that, I'm, I'm bad at it! I can't do anything! I can't lift up a pebble, I can't push water, I can't even move dirt! It's terrible!"

Mrs. Star lifted Gray up off the ground. She wiped away his tears, and looked him in the eye. Gray looked back into his mom's deep brown eyes. "Gray, your very good at magic. Just because you haven't shown it yet, I know you have a talent for magic. Now run off to bed." She ruffled Gray's hair and he stumbled down the short hallway to his room. She heard his door slam shut. Mrs. Star sat back down at the table. She looked around the room. Paintings hung around the house. Some had colorful flowers. Others depicted cheerful soldiers standing on fields of victory. But her favorite had the legendary Angeils. There were dozens of them, all flying around a beautiful mountain. Their wings ranged from a bright perfect white, to a dark brown. They all seemed so perfect. A waterfall flowed down the mountain. Some of them were playing in the water, splashing it on others.

Of course, people knew Angeils exist. Occasionally one came down to visit. But that was very rare. Usually they stayed up on their mountain. People always talked about one day visiting that mountain to see all the Angeils. But no one ever did.

Mrs. Star put her head in her hands and sighed. Why is Gray so bad at magic? she wondered. When both me and my husband are experts at it? She worried about her son. There seemed to be nothing he was good at. He was very bright, but he always got lost in thought. Mrs. Star just sighed again and picked up her book.