Free Sword Bearer (Return of the Dragons) by Teddy Jacobs Page A

Now was not a good time to scratch.
    But again, time had stopped, hadn’t it?
    All that I was going through had seemed to last an eternity,
but wasn’t it all shorter than the blink of an eye?
    Back behind me, Kalle and Kara were frozen. The air around
them did not move; the silence was total.
    Do you have the sword, Anders son of Andrea? Are you the
Prince of the three Blood Lines, here united?
    I didn’t say anything. It turned out I didn’t need to. The
sky turned suddenly dark, and I felt a change in the air.
    I drew my blade, and suddenly the air moved again around me,
and the wooden blade went up high. I held it by the silver hilt that glowed in
my hand. The hilt grew hotter from moment to moment.
    The glow from the blade lit up the sky and the pavement
beneath me. Even the air seemed to buzz with energy and light and song.
    I couldn’t hold back any longer.
    The sword sang out in my hand. The vibrations shook my arm,
moved through my body and down my leg to the ground, to the pavestones that
vibrated beneath my feet.
    I’m a boy with a sword, it sang for me. Was I their prince?
Let the blood tell me.
    Then it was over, and suddenly dark ground rushed up to meet
my face.

Chapter IX
     
    I woke up in a bed. The mattress was hard and firm, made of
some kind of woven fibers. I felt exhausted but safe and, almost, at home. I
looked around: there was no one else in the room. The room was warm, but
comfortable. Next to my bed, there was a jug, and a glass.
    I realized suddenly how incredibly thirsty I was. I wondered
when I last had a glass of water. I filled the glass, and drank. It wasn’t
water, but juice of some unfamiliar fruit — very sweet, but maybe slightly
fermented.
    I wondered if I was going to get drunk. That was all I
needed. I did enough crazy things sober.
    I emptied the cup, and filled it again. I drank the second
cup.
    The moon shone through the window, and there were torches
outside too. I looked around the room, and felt very relaxed. Maybe the juice
was alcoholic. Or had I been drugged? I felt somehow safe. My lids felt very
heavy, and I lay back down.
    Again, I slept.
    And I dreamed.
    I was in my own bed, the sun shone through my room, and my
mother Andrea was calling me. No. That wasn’t right. Something was strange —
her voice sounded foreign. When I looked at her, her face was cloudy, blurry,
her features shifting. I shook my head to clear it and my mother was gone, and
I heard nothing but the echo of her voice.
    Was I awake, now?
    The dark and silent room gave no answers. Was it my room? I
had to do something. What was it?
    Wake up, maybe. I was floating on my back. The salt water
underneath held me up. I floated effortlessly, and I could taste the salt in
the air. Far away I heard someone calling my name. Was it my mother again? I
didn’t know. I felt unsure of everything.
    Where were my mother and father?
    Why didn’t they come wake me up? I had to get to practice. I
was making great progress with the staff. One day soon we would battle for
real. Giancarlo was kind to me, but vicious on the battlefield, people said. I
felt a shiver. I sank into the water, opened my mouth, and tasted salt. I felt
at home, and swallowed the water eagerly.
    No, that wasn’t right. I didn’t swallow the water. I
breathed it in. I wasn’t drinking it, I was breathing it, and the water was
going, where? My hands reached out and touched my neck. I felt sharp slits
there, and water rushing out through them, in my mouth and out of my neck.
    Was I a fish? A fish-boy? A mer-boy, rather?
    Why wasn’t I upset? I looked at my hands. They were
conveniently webbed. I swam swiftly through the water. Never before had I felt
so at home. The water was warm, or at least I felt warm in it. I twirled around
in the water, flipped, and swam farther. Far off I could see a light down deep
in the water...
    I wanted to go there, but a voice behind me was calling out
a name, my name, Anders Tomason.
    I awoke for the second time