Connor Evans and The Binding Scrolls

Stand Up

Stephanie set down her book on a table and sat down in an old, probably stolen couch sat in the back of the room. She leaned back, resting her arms out behind her head and casually grinning at me. 

"So, what's your first question, Evans?"

"My first question was how to turn off the sword."

"And we established that I have no idea how to use that thing, only you can use it."

I huffed in annoyance, sarcastically shrugging with sword in hand, "and I don't know how to use it, don't you have like, a manual?"

She raised her eyebrows, giving me a smile that said 'you are literally so dumb, how do you remember how to breath in the morning' and retorted with "a manual? You think we kept instructions on how to use a legendary sword, handed down from generation to generation over the past millennia?"

We stared at each other for a moment, "no," she finally said, a harsh bite in her tone, "no we don't. You can fiddle with it while you ask more questions, come sit."

I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly sat down next to her, laying the golden blade across my lap as I ran my fingers over the smooth silver edges.

"How do you know who I am?" I asked vaguely, entranced by the blade.

She crossed her legs, before plainly saying "Scrolls, they've kept a record of every person destined to hold the sword for over a thousand years, it was only a matter of following the visions until I ended up at your door. You have a nice house by the way."

"Visions?"

"Mmh, due to my family's interactions with magic, I sometimes get really vivid dreams that a seer or oracle might have, I can also see a lot of things that no one else can. At least, no one else that I know."

I nodded slowly, still trying to take all of it in. "Magic, magic is real?" I questioned, this time lifting my head to face her.

She turned to face me as well, "Yup, it used to be used quite widely back in the early days of knights and castles. Many families practiced magic professionally, but most used it in everyday life as a simple tool. Then, as you may have already guessed, disaster struck. Zak and Harla, two spawns of darkness feeding off of the evil in mortal hearts, ravaged the world we knew. Two craftsman, the most brilliant sorcerer of their time and the greatest blacksmith the world had ever known, came together and created the divine weapon, Fortis. It was designed to bind itself to a warrior of pure and noble heart, then slay the two evils, effectively saving the world."

She stretched her back, yawning in boredom as if this was simply common knowledge.

"Unfortunately, they didn't die, but were seriously maimed and the world's mages sealed them away by the magic of Scrolls. Seeing as these beings arrived from the wide use of magic, the highest of the high councils decreed to rid of all magic, sealing away every aspect of arcane power within the Scrolls and clearing the trace of magic or magical entities ever existing."

I looked to her,  tilting my head curiously. "And you?"

"My family were the only ones able to use magic, we kept the Scrolls and cared for magic while serving the wielder of Fortis. One day, the last wielder vanished and left only the sword, it took on a dormant form of a quill, but has since evolved to match the times. We've since ensured it's upkeep until it would need to be used again." She took in a large breath, smiling at me, "and here we are."

This was... a lot. So, magic is real. Everything I've seen in my video games and movies, all real. I'm the Chosen One in a fantasy adventure with Stephanie as my wizard sidekick. The whole scenario nearly left me lightheaded. I gripped my sword, grasping at anything I could to keep me grounded in reality. It felt like I might simply float out of my seat, I felt sick and weightless, an unnerving sense of dread washing over me.

I had to fight ancient evils, they were taken down by people who had trained their whole lives to fight. I'm just some kid, what am I supposed to do? Should I have let her wipe my family's memory... Could I have just gone home? I didn't know, I felt my stomach turn in knots as I thought about it. 

I shook my head, Stephanie giving me a concerned look as she put a hand on my shoulder.

"Too much?" She asked, her voice sounded muffled and distant, like I was submerged six feet under water with led tied to my feet. I fluttered my eyes, my head spinning and vision beginning to blur.

Stifling a gag, I managed to choke out a meager "yeah, a little..." before leaning back into the cushioned embrace of the old couch, grateful for something to catch me.

"I know I'm throwing you in the deep end, but there's still one more thing I need to do with you before you become the official 'leader' of our little duo,"

Duo? Other thing?

"Zak and Harla's dark energy was great, very great. It often seeped from their bodies through dead leaves, drying streams and chilled winds into creatures of everyday life, turning them into terrible monsters called Belus."

Oh God, I know what's coming...

"If we kill enough of them, I can gather their essence and we can track down Zak and Harla. I know the possible location of a minor Belu, come with me, fight it and then we move at your pace."

"I don't get to decide if I even want to do this or not?" I managed to get out, wanting to bark all sorts of protest, every piece of me kicking and screaming to drop the sword and run. I hadn't even meant those words, I had made my choice when I totally erased my self from the lives of people I've known for the entirety of my existence.

I just couldn't let go, my hand remained gripped around the hilt of the sword like an iron lock.

"I'm sorry, but you really don't..." Stephanie said rather harshly, "you were just born into it, you either fulfill your destiny or we all die, Connor."

I nearly vomited. 'fulfill your destiny or we all die'. Everyone I've ever known was at stake, I was stupid to follow her out the door. I was stupid to listen to a word of any of this, stupid to take this sword, stupid to think even for a second I could do this. I swallowed, time seemed to slow into a thick jelly as my body felt crushed by an invisible weight, constricting every limb. 

It was pulling me, down towards the blade in my hand. Mustering the energy to even turn it was a task in of itself and my eyes seemed to blur anything of value. I scowled, my chest tightening as I grit my teeth in anger. A foul smell filled with air around me, I cringed as the terrible stench swarmed my head and overpowered my senses.

I recognised the awful scent, it was the evil and wrongdoings of human kind I had sensed when I first held it, yet the tang was different. This was my impurity, my own aggravation to a task I had to complete. Yeah, I was being told off by an ancient, semi-sentient piece of metal.

"Well?" my mind went blank as Steph's voice echoed around my empty head, her voice a radiant beacon for my lost conscious to follow back to the stable ground of reality. "Are you just going to sit there, or are we going to hunt ourselves a Belu?"

I'm not sure what it was that pulled me from my seat.

It could have been instinct, could have been magic, Fortis, or maybe God. But I stood up.