Fan Fiction ❯ Family Inheritance: The Sapphire Blade ❯ Chapter 2

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Once again, Aiden lead the way, this time to the temple at the very north of the town. They didn’t run into any resistance, whoever did this to their small town must have already left. Now there were citizens of the town pouring water from buckets onto their houses to stop the fire. No one paid any mind to the three teenagers walking through the streets in the middle of night.
They eventually reached the single stone path that lead up to the temple. They climbed the stairs, opened the large door, and stepped inside. Surprisingly nothing was wrong about the temple, it seemed completely untouched.
The temple was colossal. It was completely made of stone – unlike the houses in the town, which were made of wood – and it only had one room, one enormous room. At the end of the room was the statue of the hero that so many people worshipped.
“Where’s our hero now?” Aiden asked bitterly. He didn’t believe much in the legend of the hero ever rising again. It’s been over a hundred years, how would they expect someone that old to even be able to walk?
The three approached the statue and gazed upon it. It was a massive statue of a strong looking man wearing a long sleeved shirt with a vest over it, baggy pants, boots, and gauntlets. In the man’s hand was a sword that he held up to the sky.
“Why did dad tell us to come here?” Kilik asked confused.
“I was wondering the same thing…” Aiden replied.
“Maybe to keep us safe,” Brin suggested, “It doesn’t look like it was touched at all, something about it must have kept those raiders from harming it.”
“That is exactly why.” A voice spoke from behind. The three teens spun around to see an old man advancing on them slowly. He had messy white hair, close to what Aiden’s hair looked like – in fact if the old man was younger with black hair, you could probably say was Aiden’s twin – and he wore a dark blue cloak over some baggy clothes, he also had a walking stick in his right arm that was keeping him up on his feet.
“Who are you?” Aiden asked suspiciously.
“You mean to say that you don’t know who I am?” The man asked with a hint of shock in his voice.
“That’s the point of me asking.”
“Hmph, kids these days… I am Brayden, the guardian of the temple.”
“Brayden…” Aiden repeated to himself under his breath, noticing the similarity between their names.
“And you must be Aiden.” Brayden continued as he gazed at the teenage boy, seeming to ignore the other two, and not appearing to give any mind to the similar names. “You were sent here by your father’s dying words, I presume.”
Aiden and Brin raised an eyebrow at the old man, but Kilik seemed to be amused at how Brayden knew all of this.
“Yeah… I was.” Aiden answered finally.
“Right then, I understand that you have no clue why you were sent here.”
“No I don’t.”
Before Brayden could say anything, Kilik’s voice quickly cut in, “Dad said something about the legend.”
The old man finally turned from Aiden and looked at the younger boy, then back to Aiden before saying, “Yes, the legend: One day the hero would rise again to save us all.”
“Is that the legend he was talking about?” Aiden asked.
“Yes indeed, it is.” Brayden replied.
“What do I have to do with the legend?”
“Oh I think you’ll find out, if you’re meant to that is.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I think it would be in your best interest to examine the statue more thoroughly”
Aiden, Brin, and Kilik each had a confused look as all three of them turned to look at the same statue as before. And what they saw… was that the statue was the same as before, the hero holding his sword to the sky.
“Wha…?” Aiden turned back to Brayden, but the old man was gone.
“Where’d he go?” Brin wondered.
“No clue.” Aiden answered.
“He told us to examine the statue some more, so why don’t we?” Kilik suggested.
“There’s nothing to examine, it’s just a statue.” Aiden said sourly.
“Or maybe not.” Kilik replied, “Maybe there’s a secret passage under it!”
“A secret passage?” Aiden asked mockingly.
“Yeah, let’s try and push it.” Kilik went to the side of the statue and placed his hands on the pedestal it stood on, and pushed with all of his strength.
Nothing happened.
“Smart Kilik, I think you read too much stories.” Aiden teased.
“It was worth a try…” Kilik said disappointed.
“Well if there is a secret passage under the statue, we’d need a lot more people to help move it…” Brin said.
“Yeah…” Aiden verified half-heartedly, something caught his eye that caused him to lose focus on where he was or what he was doing. There was a gem on the pedestal where the hero’s statue stood, a sapphire gem. “How long has that been there?” He pointed to it for the others to see.
“I don’t remember seeing it.” Brin replied.
“That’s because it wasn’t there.” Kilik said, “I definitely would have seen it.”
Without thinking, Aiden placed his hand on the gem, and it started to glow. It was warm in his hand, and it made him forget everything for a second.
“Aiden?” Brin asked puzzled at her friend’s action.
But Aiden didn’t answer, he couldn’t hear Brin, the sapphire was impairing his hearing, and then his vision. All he could see was a blue light surrounding him, and all he could hear was a soft whirring noise.
Once it all cleared away, his vision and hearing came back. He was back in the temple with Brin and Kilik, but the statue of the hero was gone.
“What… the… hell… just happened?” Aiden asked completely perplexed. There was no answer, Brin and Kilik must have been as confused as he was, but they weren’t even looking at him. They were gawking at the disappearance of the statue, but also at what replaced the statue.
Blue light – the same kind that Aiden was engulfed in – was shining from above, and a sword was hovering in mid air, shrouded in the light. Brin and Kilik had no clue what was going on, they didn’t move at all either as they gazed at the sword, and then at Aiden.
Aiden turned to look at Brin, then at Kilik, then at the sword. For some reason, he wanted to grab the sword. Without his knowledge of it, his arm was rising, and in the next second, his right hand was grasping the handle of the sword.
The whole temple erupted into the blinding blue light, and then vanished – all of it. Now the three teenagers stood without knowing what in the world just happened. Aiden stood holding the sword in his hand, but as he looked at it he saw it for what it was, the blade wasn’t made of silver, but sapphire.
“The Sapphire Blade.” Aiden said in trance, his eyes transfixed on the blade, as were Brin’s and Kilik’s.
“You know what this means?” Brin asked. Aiden barely heard Brin’s voice, but he had no clue what it meant anyway. However another voice answered Brin’s question.
“It means that you are the hero, Aiden.”
Brin and Kilik were the first to turn their heads, but Aiden took a few extra seconds to examine the blade some more, noticing that there was a Sapphire jewel imbedded on the hilt. Then he turned around to see the old man, Brayden, standing in the same spot as he was before.
“Me?” Aiden finally asked, “How can I be the hero, I’m only seventeen.”
“Yes, you are the new hero; you can’t expect a man over the age of a hundred to be traveling the world fighting off monsters now, can you?” Brayden mused.
“So the old hero is still alive? Where is he? And how is Aiden the hero? Why can’t I be the hero?” Kilik seemed to be bursting with questions; it was probably hard for him to get them all out.
“Calm yourself, boy. I have the answers to the questions that I am sure are overflowing in your heads right now. Patience, and I will explain.” Brayden paused a minute to sit himself in a cross-legged position on the ground, “Now if you will join me, I have a lot to tell you, and I don’t believe you three will want to stand the whole time.”
They did as the old man suggested and sat down on the floor in front of the old man. Aiden was still holding the sword hilt in his hand as he rested the blade on his lap. They were settled and waited for Brayden to start talking.
“The first thing you must know is that Aiden here is indeed our hero. The hero before was the great grandfather of you two,”-he pointed to Aiden and Kilik-“he wielded the Sapphire Blade that you now hold in your hand, and used it to slay a powerful enemy that threatened the town. The legend has told of the hero rising again, but it was never specific on if it would be the same hero, or a new one. It’s obvious now, after a hundred years, here you are: the new hero.
“The old hero is still alive; although I’m sure it’s hard to believe that he’d still be living after a hundred years. I’m sure you’ll find that the Sapphire Blade is more than just a weapon; in time you will learn how to use it to its most efficiency. Make sure that you hold on to that sword at all times, even when you’re sleeping; take care of it as if it were your life.
“And about the statue, I’m sure you are wondering. The sapphire gem imbedded into the pedestal was never there before; it only appeared for you, Aiden. When you touched it, the gem reacted to you, and you were able to unlock the Sapphire Blade from its seal in the statue. The statue disappeared because now there’s a new hero, there’s no reason to keep a statue of a man that hasn’t appeared for a hundred years, now is there?”
“So where is the old hero now?” Kilik asked.
“Oh... he’s around...” Brayden hesitated, then continued, “More answers will reveal themselves in time, you just have to have more patience.”
Kilik gave a heavy sigh, “I hate patience...”
Aiden ignored his brother and spoke to Brayden, “You sure seem to know a lot, old man...”
“I’m required to know a lot about the situation, someone needs to inform you.” Brayden replied with a wry smile. Aiden felt that he wasn’t being informed on the whole truth, but he let it go for now.
“So what am I supposed to do as the hero?” Aiden asked.
Brayden’s expression returned to normal as he answered, “It is your fate to save the town. The man who ordered the raiders to invade our humble home was an evil soul by the name of ‘Kale’. It is up to you to destroy him, bring the town peace and avenge your parents.” He paused for a minute to allow Aiden some time to understand and accept his fate.
After a minute, Aiden said nothing, but he liked the idea of getting revenge for his parents. So he gave an expression that showed he accepted.. Brayden continued, “I’m not sure if you three know about the four castles?” He waited for an answer, which came in the form of a head shake confirming that the answer was no. “The four castles are home to the Overseers who watch over all of the land – North, South, East, and West. The Overseers normally fix a problem within his territory, but with our situation, since we’re a very small town in the middle land, they won’t find it necessary to even lift a finger for us.
“Beside that point though, the Overseer of the South was overthrown by someone else now, and that someone is Kale. He’s taken control of the South, the Overseer has been thrown into the dungeon and been stripped of all power. Aiden, you must travel to the South Castle and defeat Kale and return the Overseer to power, only then will we be saved. Do you understand?”
Aiden hesitated a second to think, then answered, “Yes.”
“Good,” Brayden began as he stood up, the others did the same, and Brayden continued, “You can sleep here for tonight, get some rest, and then you’ll be on your way tomorrow. There’s a huge forest that separates us from the South, so you’ll have to cut through that first.”
“What about us?” Brin asked, implying both her and Kilik.
“What about you?” Brayden asked unsure of what she meant.
“We can’t just let Aiden go by himself, I want to go to.”
“Yeah, so do I.” Kilik added.
“That is entirely up to you.” Brayden replied.
Before Brin and Kilik could say anything else, Aiden cut in with a serious tone, “I don’t want you to come with me.”
Brin looked at Aiden in disbelief, “Why not?”
“It’ll probably be too dangerous, I have to do this myself and not put anyone else I care about in danger.”
“What about me?” Kilik interjected, “I have no where to go now, and I can help you. If I can get a bow and arrows, you know that I’ve practiced a lot with a bow, I could be of some use.”
“How are we going to get a bow? The one you had most likely burned up in our house, and we have no money to buy one.”
“I think I can help with that.” Brayden chimed in, “I’m sure you’ll find that I can present you with many necessities that will come in use for you. First of all, you need something to carry that sword in, Aiden.” He waved his walking stick, and a blue sheath, with a darker blue outline, appeared in his hands. Aiden, Kilik, and Brin’s eyes all widened.
“How did you do that?” Aiden asked with disbelief.
“You’ll find that I’m capable of many things.” Brayden mused as he handed Aiden the sheath. Aiden deposited his sword into the sheath as Brayden added, “And now for a bow.” He waved his walking stick again, and a bow appeared that he handed to Kilik. Then with the next wave, a quiver of arrows appeared that he also handed to Kilik.
“Awesome.” Kilik said with an amazed voice as he slipped the quiver of arrows over his shoulder and held the bow in his left hand.
“What about me?” Brin asked, “If Kilik’s going, then I’m going too.”
“I never even agreed to Kilik coming with me, but he doesn’t have anywhere to go, so I have to look after him.” Aiden contended, “Besides, what will your parents think if you just leave?”
“My parents are on vacation, and they won’t care if I go with you.” She knew Aiden would still object, so she added with almost tearful eyes, “Please, Aiden. You’re my best friend, and I don’t want to have to stay here and wonder every day where you are, or even if you’re alive.”
Aiden took a minute to think, he would like to have her company, but he doesn’t want to put her in danger. Maybe if she had a weapon to protect herself though... “Fine, you can come.” He answered, “But on one condition.” He added before Brin got all excited, “You have to have a weapon to protect yourself with.”
Brin seemed to lose her spirit, “I don’t have a weapon though.” This brought a smirk to Aiden’s face, not of triumph though, more of an ironic smirk. He looked at Brayden, Brin followed Aiden’s gaze and did the same. The old man’s mouth twisted into a smile as he waved his stick once again. This time, a sheath holding a straight bladed dagger appeared in his hand.
“How’s this?” He asked as he handed the dagger to Brin.
“Excellent.” She replied as she took the small weapon from Brayden.
“It shouldn’t be too hard to learn how to use.” Brayden began, “With a little practice I’m sure you would be a deadly foe.”
“Thanks.” Brin said in gratitude.
“Alright, then I guess you two are traveling to the South with me then.” Aiden concluded, and he received wide grins from Brin and Kilik.
“Excellent,” Brayden commenced, “Now you three need to get some sleep,”–he conjured up three blue sleeping bags for the trio–“here you go, you can use these to sleep.”
“Couldn’t you have made some actual beds?” Kilik grumbled.
“Sorry, but those would be too big to conjure, I can only make small items…” Brayden replied.
“It’s fine, we’ll probably have to get used to sleeping bags anyway.” Aiden added.
“Why’s that?” Kilik asked.
“Because I’m sure the journey to the South will take a couple weeks…”
“Yes, indeed it will.” Brayden interjected, “I actually have some items that you’ll want for the trip, but I’ll wait until tomorrow to provide them to you. Goodnight.” He walked away and vanished through the temple door.
“Where’s he going?” Brin wondered.
“I don’t know, but get some sleep.” Aiden said as he spread his sleeping bag out on the floor, the others did the same.
Kilik fell asleep almost instantly, but it was obvious he wasn’t having a dreamless sleep by the way he was shifting around. Aiden sat up with his arms around his knees, he didn’t feel tired; even if he was, he probably wouldn’t be able to get to sleep.
“What’s wrong?” Brin’s voice whispered from behind. He turned to see Brin sitting up, her sleeping bag covering her legs. Aiden wanted to say that nothing was wrong, so that Brin would go to sleep without worrying. But she was his best friend, he’s always told her everything…
“I… I just can’t believe this is real.” He said with a gloomy expression, and not looking Brin in the eyes.
“What can’t you believe?”
“All of it. My parents are dead, I’m the legendary hero, I have to go to the South and kill an evil man who’s taken control over a quarter of the land, and avenge my parents.” He said in a rush, “I’m just findin’ it hard to believe that this isn’t just a horrible dream. And when I wake up tomorrow, I’ll be back in my house – in my bed – with my parents still alive and me being an average teenage boy.” He finished and looked down at the floor. All of the thoughts were straining his brain, he felt slightly relieved to get them all out.
Brin didn’t answer at first; she seemed to be thinking too. Then she finally said, “I know it’s hard to believe, I’m having trouble believing that my best friend – who I’ve known since we were little kids – could be the hero that the legend of our town speaks of…” She took a brief pause, then concluded, “But it’s true, all of it – it’s real.”
There was nothing that Aiden could think of to reply with; instead he just nodded his head. Brin was right, it was all real, and the next day they would leave the town – their home – to travel to the South and kill the evil lord who controls it.
“You should try to get some sleep,” Brin added, “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” Aiden said, knowing that it would be anything but a good night. As Brin fell asleep, Aiden laid there staring through the darkness. Several thoughts were still swarming his mind, but he needed some sleep. His exhaustion was finally catching up to him, he turned over on his side and saw his new sword resting in its sheath beside him. He rested his hand on the hilt, remembering what the old man told him about always keeping it safe, and sleep eventually crept up on him...