Free The Sleeper Sword by Elaina J Davidson Page A

started beating unevenly. Torrullin’s tale ended with
‘Remember now, there is the legend of the Sleeper who will one
night awake to claim the sword of previous awakenings. We
await.’
    Literary
licence? Maybe.
    Yet everyone
awaited his return. There was indeed a sword. The pieces were
discovered in Menllik and it was re-forged and waiting upon the
familiar hand of its wielder. Torrullin’s sword.
    Caltian
admitted the real truth.
    I wander
because I await my Lord.
     

Chapter
11
     
    When the forces
of Darkness outnumber those of the Light, then goodness will flee.
And life will become as nothing. Hark, poet, to your actions, not
your words.
    ~ Taranis, Lord
of the Guardians
    His diary - a
note in a margin
     
     
    Samuel wished
he had a mobile to reassure his wife and son.
    While they
lived comfortably, his income did not allow the luxury, or a
telephone in the house. He never found the need; always thought the
shrill interruption would distract him from his labour. He was a
jeweller and worked under contract for one of the larger studios in
Galilan, from home. His needs were simple; he enjoyed the rural
lifestyle and saw no driving need to change.
    Samuel
wandered around Torrke and about Menllik and was unwilling to leave
despite his concern.
    Do you feel
the blood, kinsman?
    Who actually
touched him to set blue sparks alight?
    Torrullin, or
a vision that recognised Valla blood through the boundaries? That
would be astounding magic.
    Torrullin of
the past, an essence lingering, an essence that went beyond the
limitations of time? That was fantastical magic.
    Dare he think
it was Torrullin of the present, of the invisible realm, reaching
beyond those doorways into this reality? Was it possible he had
interacted with the Sleeper in the present? Now that was
frighteningly powerful.
    And terribly
exciting.
    He did feel
the blood, as if it multiplied cell by cell within, as if it
overpowered the limitations of his human codes. And what was most
surprising was that he could think this and remain comfortable with
what it potentially meant.
    His father had
not spoken of this happening. Either his imagination led him down
the road to fantasy or it never happened for his father in this
manner. Samuel wished his father was alive to compare experiences.
He wished he could share the wonder with someone who would
understand. What would this profound secret do to his marriage?
    He came to a
halt before Linir. The Place Where Stars Meet.
    Samuel looked
at it as one who knew. Would his life be like this now? Two
realities, two sets of measurements, two people? His marriage would
sunder under the pressure.
    He climbed the
stairs and entered through the doorway placed as a short passage.
In this way, the architect ensured no daylight would detract from
the interior atmosphere. It was silent inside, a kind of death, and
the only light was a single sunbeam that pierced the small,
circular aperture in the domed, octagonal ceiling.
    Another vision
came to him there.
    Two men facing
each other on the radiating star on the floor. They were so alike
they had to be twins. One grasped a scroll; the other appeared to
deliberately ignore it.
    Tristamil and
Tymall, the Enchanter’s twin sons.
    The one
without the scroll was Tristamil, his forefather.
    Samuel sat as
the vision dissipated. It was like looking at himself, two of him.
He possessed the same grey eyes, the same bone structure, features,
height and leanness. He was merely older, paler, and where the
twins were streaked auburn-fair, his hair was uniform brown.
    They were like
young gods - did he appear that way to others? No, he had not that
aura, that intensity, and he did not hate anyone as those two hated
each other.
    Still, and he
grinned; he was chased by everything feminine until Curin caught
his eye and heart. He was chased by the not so feminine also. He
chuckled and felt immeasurably better.
    Linir was the
temple where on one night in every year Nemisin’s Star was