I woke up on a beautiful Saturday morning, the best of all mornings, even a Sunday morning couldn't beat it. The birds were chirping with the joy of an early spring and I was in my bed staring at the ceiling, listening intently...
"Thy sword is near…" Every once in a blue moon, Dormin would most definitely talk, whether it was about the weather, or how to rule the world, and just about every topic in between…"Does thou intend to find it?..." The good thing about these guys is that I can telepathically communicate with them.
"Yes, I will find it and I will destroy it."…
"Thy sword cannot be broken, nor melted. It must be hidden, where no mortal besides you may find it… "
"Sounds like a challenge if you ask me."...
"An easy challenge it will not be, thou must find it thyself, we are just mere spectators… "
"And you guys have been spectators for thousands of years, why haven't you taken control yet?." Then, they shut up. "Ah, I see don't want to spoil the surprise, sounds fair. Besides… I love surprises."
I sat up in bed, knowing that Dormin was done talking for a while. I looked around my bedroom admiring my collection of rock band posters, hung up all over my walls. You had Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, Five Finger Death Punch, and even System of a Down. I grabbed my phone off of my counter to text Bradley to meet me in the local park. I wanted to tell him about my plans for this sword and this man who wanted my powers.
As I waited for a response I waded through the layer of dirty clothes on my floor and opened my dresser drawer, and found nothing. I spotted a pair of blue jeans in a pile of dirty clothes. I picked them up and took a whiff, they smelled fine to me. I started to put them on as I scoped for a shirt. I found one near the end of my bed, it was plain blue, it smelled a little rich, but hopefully it was a windy day out, should blow the smell away. My phone buzzed just as I got the shirt over my head, it was Bradley.
"Sounds good. I'll be there in 10." he texted. That means I would have to get there a little quicker. I grabbed two random socks off the floor and hurriedly slipped them on my foot as I hopped out of my bedroom. My mother was making breakfast and I could hear the crinkling noise of a newspaper from my dad. Who in the hell reads them things anymore? I waltzed through the hallway and into the kitchen.
"Good morning Jason, would you care for some bacon?" My mother said calmly.
"Nah, no thanks, I'm meeting Bradley at the park."
"Suit yourself, more for me then."
I slipped my shoes on and ran out the door and into the small woods and finally into the field. I put my hands together in a prayer fashion and focused my mind.
Avion, the Delta Phoenix.
The shadow surrounded my body as I changed into the colossal bird. Soon enough, The dark smoke was absorbed into my being and I was on my way, flying through the sky. I would make it to town in 5 minutes, but I needed to stop somewhere to change back into a human. Lucky enough there were fields outside of town, so once I arrived I landed and changed back into a human. Then, I sprinted to the park, hoping not to keep Bradley waiting. In another 5 or so minutes I made it to the park, huffing and puffing like a smoker. I noticed him wave from one of the picnic tables. It was a pretty active day at the park, considering that it was early spring, it was a normal day. I made my way over to the table as the cries of joyful children erupted through the park. I sat down as Bradley's eyes lit up with glee.
"I'm surprised to see you here and that the cops didn't get to you," he said with a grin. I sat down across from him as he finished.
"Whoever wants me obviously has the intent to keep it a secret, otherwise since they know who I am they would most certainly send the cops. They want me to themselves though, and they're going through a lot of trouble to get me."
"Very good analysis, I agree on that. If they're willing to go through that much trouble they're willing to go through more. Are you?"
"What do you think?" I asked him with a grin as he grinned back. "I'll fight to the death for the life I have. I'm going to let you in on my plan. When I find the sword, I'm taking it and hiding it."
"Art thou sure thou can trust this other mortal?"
Why would Dormin say something like this now? Do they not trust Bradley? I pushed them to the back of my head.
"Can't the sword be destroyed?" Bradley asked"No, it's a holy sword, there's no way it could be destroyed," I said as the conversation drifted into silence until Bradley gasped and took out his phone.
"The pictures you asked for!" He started to scroll through photos and menus until he came to a picture of Celosia. It was when I was doing my 180-degree spin around and Bradley's phone had captured all the detail in my armor and the stone scrapping the blacktop.
"No social media, right?" I asked him as he nodded.
"Nope, no media. I know that neither of us needs that type of attention. Besides I'm sure they're looking under every fence post for you." He said as he smiled and the conversation drifted into silence for another moment until one of us brought up the topic of school.
Most of which consisted of: if we completed homework, or what teachers were deathly afraid of me and wanted to quit or which ones would quit because of me eventually. I also asked Bradley how the family bank was.
"How's the bank Bradley?" he shrugged at this
"My father and mother spend too much time there if you ask me, but then again it's nice being the only one in the house. Gives me quiet time to catch up on reading." I laughed.
"What haven't you read?" Bradley had to think for a moment as he finally came to a conclusion.
"I've read everything except Darwin's theory on evolution. I can't remember what the book is called…. Wait! It's called something like Origin Of Species by Natural Selection."
"There you go."
"Speaking of change, a little birdie told me that we're getting a new student Monday," Bradley said as he gave me a little look. "We both know what this means."
"Civil war between all the cliques, fighting over the basic ownership of this person. Like a fish surrounded by hooks. Whoever they are, they'll be overwhelmed, and we'll have to approach them." I've thought this out before when every new student came and went. I noticed everyone seemed to rush for them. One good thing about new kids is that I can actually get to know the true them and they can get to know me. Not the monster me, but that normally doesn't last long, in the course of a day I could make a new friend and lose that friend. There's a lot of talking that goes on behind my back, but it doesn't bother me.
"This is why we get along," Bradley said "We over think things. All we need to do is be ourselves and get our names out there, maybe we'll get lucky. Speaking of luck, I'm sure we're not lucky enough to have Ms. Rubez quit on us, right?"
We spoke for what felt like two minutes, which ended up being the whole day. We said our goodbyes and headed home before dark.
I woke up Sunday morning with Dormin talking to me again.
"We thought thou would be wiser to keep thy thoughts to thyself."
"Since when did you guys have a say on what I can or can't do?"
"We are just merely warning…" Then they were quiet.
I had slept in my clothes from yesterday so when my mother starting yelling for me, I just hopped out of bed and walked out of my room.
"Jason!" she yelled as I got closer to the living room. "Get ready, you said you'd like to visit your grandfather today! I'll meet you in the car!"
"That's right, I nearly forgot," I said as I arrived in the entryway where I popped on my shoes and headed outside where my mom was ready and waiting for me in the car. I hopped in the car and buckled up, even though it wouldn't matter, I would live through a car crash either way.
"Dad doesn't want to come?" I questioned as she drove away from the house.
"Not exactly, " she said with her eyes on the road. "I'm going on a shopping spree after I drop you off. So, yeah, he definitely did not want to come with. Besides, there's a soccer game that starts at noon. He said he couldn't miss it."
"Alright, sounds good to me," I said as I glanced out the window and noticed the fields starting to grow crops. We drove for about 10 minutes until we reached a long driveway that reached way down to a farmhouse and a large white barn with a black roof. We drove down the driveway, in between two fields, one growing corn, and the other growing soybeans.
This is where my grandfather lives, he hunts, fishes, farms, and is retired. He's also on my mom's side of the family, so he's just like me and my mother. He was a monster. My mother dropped me off saying she'd be back when she'd be back, then drove off down the driveway again. My grandfather sat on the small porch on the house. He wore an old plaid shirt with a tank top that used to be white underneath. He puffed on a huge cigar that puts cigarettes to shame. He smiled when he saw me and motioned me up to the porch.
"Hey, Jason my boy," he said in a deep thick voice. "I'm very glad you stopped by this weekend. I have something very special to show you." I walked up and hugged him.
"Good to see you, grandpa," I said as I sat down in my chair beside him. He chuckled:
"Grandpa is right! I might only got a few years ahead of me yet." he sighed "But it would be a blessing, considering how bad the world has become. I pray for you boy. To survive in a world like this is to survive in the hell down there." he said as he pointed to the ground. He laughed "I'm sure you'll have no problem though, you are my grandson after all." he said as he held up his hands to show me the same sigil that me and my mother both have. He chuckled, "Well, I suppose if I'm going to show you what I intend to we better get to it." he said as he stood up and slowly stretched.
We walked across the driveway and to the barn, where inside it was dark and dim. Until my grandfather turned on the lights, the whole barn was lit up.
"Right on this last stall here." he murmured to himself as I turned to look in. "Had a beautiful colt born about a year ago. You remember, that pitch black one?" he asked me as I thought for a moment.
"Yeah, that pitch black one you said was going to be white," I said as he chuckled.
"Definitely not white, opposite. Except, one white diamond on the forehead. A goddamn beauty that's what. Thoroughbred, meant for speed and durability. Definitely, a horse that'll stay by your side." Then a head popped out of the stall. It was the horse we were discussing. A beauty he was indeed. He snorted as I stared at him and he stared at me. I lifted my hand to let him smell it and he immediately started sniffing. He snorted again and reached his head out of the stall more to smell my face. I pushed him away as he kicked against the stall door. My grandpa laughed,
"He loves you already! Good, because I'm giving him to you," he said as my jaw dropped in excitement.
"Thank you!" I said as I hugged my grandpa and he laughed.
"Sure, now you'll get to keep him as long as you pick out a good name for him." I thought for a few moments. I looked at the horse's head and size. Then I knew.
"Agro," I said with determination, as my grandfather stuck his hand out to me.
"You got a deal," he said as I clasped his hand and we shook on it. "Now you want to take him for a spin?" he asked as if Agro was a car.
"Yeah, let's see how he goes," I said as my grandpa went into the next stall to grab everything I needed for riding.
"I'll just give you a basic and lightweight setup," he said as I nodded. I watched him take the saddle and put it on Agro. I couldn't forget about the reins either, as Agro lifted up his top lip after the bit was in his mouth. "Let's take him out to the yard." my grandpa said as he opened the door. Agro stood slightly taller than me as he bit the hair on top of my head, I pushed him away again. My grandpa lead him by the reins out to the yard that the horses would graze in. Except now there were obstacles set around. "Go ahead and mount him, then I want you to go from a walk to a canter, then a full-on gallop. Just go around the fence a couple times, until you both get used to each other." I climbed on Agro's saddle, he turned around to look at me and snort. "Now," my grandfather said "let the legend come to life." as he extended his arm forward in a gesture.
I grabbed the reins, which seemed loose in my left hand as I pulled them to the right. I leaned to the right as well as Agro whined and carried on with my request. I kept him going for a full 270-degree angle until he jerked up and jumped a little way around, then I decided we would finally move. I lifted both of my legs on either side of the horse and threw them against Agro to get him moving. He started out at a walk, as I bobbed back and forth with his movements, I threw my legs against him again. Then he picked up the pace drastically, as I started bobbing up and down instead of left and right. I sat up straight and firm and the bouncing stopped a little. Then I was ready for a gallop as I tapped my legs against him again and we flew over the ground, everything around us seemed like a blur. Ahead of us though, we could see perfectly. A bar that Agro needed to jump over. We ran towards it getting closer and closer. I hoped the horse knew what he was doing because I didn't. Then as if time itself froze, we were in the air flying over the bar. Agro let out a loud neigh as we hit the ground and I pulled on the reins. He dug his hooves into the ground as all the dirt and mud flew into the air. Then we stopped moving straight in front of my grandpa who was smiling so sound and happy.
"You're a natural boy!" he yelled with pure joy "Just like me, just like me!" he laughed at this as I dismounted from Agro. I patted him on the neck and rubbed the top of his head. Then looked the horse straight in the eyes and said
"Agro, is your name," as if he was human and could understand what I said "You remember that alright." then like a miracle Agro bobbed his head up and down a little as if it was a nod. "Good boy." Then as if on cue, we heard someone come down the gravel driveway.
"Well," sighed my grandpa "Looks like your mother's here already. Don't forget to visit me next weekend. We'll work with Agro more, get you two more acquainted." he said as we walked out of the barn and noticed my mom sitting in the car. She smiled and waved, then rolled down the window and yelled:
"We'll have to talk another time grandpa!"
"We will, very soon indeed!" he yelled back as I opened the car door and sat in the passenger's seat. I waved goodbye as we pulled out of the driveway and headed back to town.
"I think I have a lead on who wields the sword." said my mother with excitement. "They had to be the ones who sent in the private eyes to question you. They must have someone inside the school, with you. A kid, that watches your every move, otherwise how would they know that you even had powers. What they were capable of, anyone come to mind?" she asked
"Dumbnuts," I said as she laughed a little "Although I don't think he'd go out of his way to get at me."
"Right, the stereotypical bullies don't do that kind of thing," she said with a smile. "You just remember to keep him in his place alright?"
"Oh, yeah," I said "it's hard being Robin Hood." my mother laughed a little at this.
"As it is for everyone, now how was your time at grandpa's?" she asked as I explained everything from my grandfather's predictions to Agro. Then by the time I had finished, we were home. I explained everything again for my father who said:
"I always thought you'd be good at horseback riding, considering you can turn into a giant horse. I'm proud of you son, don't forget that," he said as we all sat around the TV watching the soccer game. Then like the snap of a finger, the weekend was over. We were all at school again Monday.