The Iron Badger

Chapter 16

Rye reopened his eyes seeing the dagger that he worked so hard in bringing to his chest. The dagger was gold with scales like that of a serpent at the handle. This aroused my father greatly as he forced himself to move from the spot he laid. Equinox laid under the shade of a tree watching his master from a short distance. Rye looked upon the dagger as he sat up. "By the gods! It was not a dream after all. It really happened! Tell me Equinox, tell me who placed this weapon upon my chest?"

Equinox snorted. He was hurt how my father had spoken to him earlier. "Will you believe me if I told you? A lady that was a bird then became a woman. Then after that, she became something different. Like her skin became like that of light. I do not need to tell you; I was scared for my life. I started to kick—"

"Alright, alright! But did she place this on my chest?"

"Aye! Then she placed her lips upon yours. I looked away of course."

"Thanks. I am beginning to remember now. The only thing I remember... And even then, it is still not clear to me... I remember having a dream repeating itself, over and over again. But then a black bird appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Just like you said. The bird took on a human form. On the blade it appears to have blood encrusted upon it. It must have been the woman that you had seen, Equinox. Perhaps the same woman that came into my dream."

"Perhaps. Do you know how the blood got on the blade?" Replied, Equinox.

"Nay!" Replied Rye.

Equinox came to the aide of his master and friend. Rye placed an arm around the neck of his horse and Equinox began slowly to raise his head helping Rye to his feet.

"Ahhhh!" Cried Rye, in pain. "It is no use. My legs are too weak for me to stand on. Drag me over there to that nearby tree. I need something to rest my back on."

And so, Equinox did what his master told him to do. It was the same tree that Equinox had laid under since Rye opened his eyes. My father's back softly hit the trunk of the tree, and it was there my father examined the dagger further.

He felt a strange, odd connection to the dagger as he examined it. Rye examined every line, curve, and detail, hoping for something to speak to him, hoping to find clues that he had forgotten.

The ruddy-stained blood only increased my father's frustration. But Rye looked past the unknowns of the weapon. He marveled at the beauty of the dagger. Either way none made sense as his eyes continued to search for a meaning behind the dagger.

The soreness of my father's body made it even more difficult to concentrate on what he wanted to remember. Equinox watched as he saw his master's frustration mount.

"You have been looking at the dagger and trying hard to remember. Do you think it is time to let go, and let yourself rest?"

Rye thrusted the blade of the golden dagger to the ground. "According to you I had been resting for seven years now. I do not know what to do. It is like, it is there... But I cannot touch."

"Like an itch you cannot scratch?" Said Equinox.

"Precisely! Like an itch in the brain. Ah! I suppose you are right, old friend. I am tired. My body is sore. I am very sorry that you waited for so long. After all this is done, we should retire. A warrior's life is for the young I am afraid to say. And I already missed seven long years of my daughter's life. She would be a woman by now. Or perhaps, she is still that child. What if seven years only happened to me and you of course, because we are here, and she was not here. What if she comes to find us? Would I see my daughter age right before my eyes? I had heard stories of ghosts. Stories of warriors seeing ghosts on the battlefield. The warriors that follow the ghosts were given weapons, but the weapons became old and tarnished, like time moved on. I do not want that for my daughter.