Chapter 28: "The Sword of Ranul"
"What? Wait, no!" he cried out softly behind me, but my attention was focused elsewhere. It didn't take long for the dragon to notice me. Its eyes stared at me in contempt as I was slowly brought to a halt in awe. If it could, I was absolutely sure it would laugh at the pathetic threat I made towards it. A voice popped up in my mind.
"Now you've done it, Rose," it sneered. "Your friend was right; you don't know how to use the sword! Even if you did, it won't do much good against a dragon! What were you planning on doing, stabbing it in the toe before it burnt you to a crisp?!"
"Well, I have to try something!" my will retorted.
Just then a soft humming vibrated through me, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. I was dimly aware of the sword pulsating in my palm, glowing with an interior light, for everything began to slide out of focus. Slowly the humming grew in strength, and I could sense that a word was forming. Finally I understood what the mysterious voice was singing to me, and as if someone were controlling me like a marionette, I lifted the sword high at the dragon and shouted the word aloud.
"Stupefy!"
A strange sensation, like a mysterious energy, seeped in through my toes and coursed through my veins. As it passed through into the sword itself, the singing reached a crescendo. Just as my body felt ready to be ripped apart by the trapped power, a huge explosion of light and magic erupted from the tip of the outstretched sword, aimed straight at the dragon's cold gray eyes. The spell had been so powerful, in fact, that my hands were seared with a hot flash of pain. The voice suddenly ceased, and there was a moment of absolute silence.
Then the earth rumbled beneath my feet as the air buffeted around me, whipping my long black hair away from my face. The sight of the fallen dragon's head only meters away greeted me as I reopened my closed eyes. As a wave of warm air hit me as the dragon exhaled, I backed away instinctively, stunned at the stunt I had managed to pull off.
"Rose!" a voice cried out, but this time it came outside my mind. "Rose, are you okay?" It was Kari, who had abandoned her post and was now staring mouth agape at the dragon. I looked around for the guidepost, but then I observed that when the dragon had fallen, it had crushed the post beneath it. Kari must have gotten out of the way just in time.
"Yeah, you?" I replied, still bewildered.
"I'm fine," she said as we continued to look at the dragon that was now snoring peacefully, sending up little curls of black smoke each time it exhaled. I noted out of the corner of my eye my friend who had come running up to us. He, too, looked just as surprised as we were at our encounter.
"You two all right?" he asked at last.
"We're peachy," Kari answered. She was the first to regain her senses. "Rose, do you realize what you've done?!"
"Er, no..." I said rather uncomfortably.
"This is a full-grown Appalachian Smokesinge!" she cried. "When I was in the circus, I heard about these things; they were usually really tame, and so they could be used. Only you needed forty or fifty wizards too, because if one of those dragons were provoked, there's no stopping it!"
"F... f... forty or fifty?" I managed to croak out incredulously.
"Fully trained!" added Kari.
"Rose, look..." my friend said, pointing at the sword in my hand. We all turned to look.
"So that's what it's supposed to look like..." Kari stated slowly. The sword had transformed itself back into all of its former glory. The blade gleamed such bright silver that it had the luster of moonlight and looked as if it could cut through diamond. The hilt had magically bound itself anew, now tightly wrapped with hardened black leather. On the pommel stone was a flawless cut of a quarter moon in translucent white pearl and rays of crystal-clear diamond. The Sword of Ranul had truly been claimed once more.
"What? Wait, no!" he cried out softly behind me, but my attention was focused elsewhere. It didn't take long for the dragon to notice me. Its eyes stared at me in contempt as I was slowly brought to a halt in awe. If it could, I was absolutely sure it would laugh at the pathetic threat I made towards it. A voice popped up in my mind.
"Now you've done it, Rose," it sneered. "Your friend was right; you don't know how to use the sword! Even if you did, it won't do much good against a dragon! What were you planning on doing, stabbing it in the toe before it burnt you to a crisp?!"
"Well, I have to try something!" my will retorted.
Just then a soft humming vibrated through me, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. I was dimly aware of the sword pulsating in my palm, glowing with an interior light, for everything began to slide out of focus. Slowly the humming grew in strength, and I could sense that a word was forming. Finally I understood what the mysterious voice was singing to me, and as if someone were controlling me like a marionette, I lifted the sword high at the dragon and shouted the word aloud.
"Stupefy!"
A strange sensation, like a mysterious energy, seeped in through my toes and coursed through my veins. As it passed through into the sword itself, the singing reached a crescendo. Just as my body felt ready to be ripped apart by the trapped power, a huge explosion of light and magic erupted from the tip of the outstretched sword, aimed straight at the dragon's cold gray eyes. The spell had been so powerful, in fact, that my hands were seared with a hot flash of pain. The voice suddenly ceased, and there was a moment of absolute silence.
Then the earth rumbled beneath my feet as the air buffeted around me, whipping my long black hair away from my face. The sight of the fallen dragon's head only meters away greeted me as I reopened my closed eyes. As a wave of warm air hit me as the dragon exhaled, I backed away instinctively, stunned at the stunt I had managed to pull off.
"Rose!" a voice cried out, but this time it came outside my mind. "Rose, are you okay?" It was Kari, who had abandoned her post and was now staring mouth agape at the dragon. I looked around for the guidepost, but then I observed that when the dragon had fallen, it had crushed the post beneath it. Kari must have gotten out of the way just in time.
"Yeah, you?" I replied, still bewildered.
"I'm fine," she said as we continued to look at the dragon that was now snoring peacefully, sending up little curls of black smoke each time it exhaled. I noted out of the corner of my eye my friend who had come running up to us. He, too, looked just as surprised as we were at our encounter.
"You two all right?" he asked at last.
"We're peachy," Kari answered. She was the first to regain her senses. "Rose, do you realize what you've done?!"
"Er, no..." I said rather uncomfortably.
"This is a full-grown Appalachian Smokesinge!" she cried. "When I was in the circus, I heard about these things; they were usually really tame, and so they could be used. Only you needed forty or fifty wizards too, because if one of those dragons were provoked, there's no stopping it!"
"F... f... forty or fifty?" I managed to croak out incredulously.
"Fully trained!" added Kari.
"Rose, look..." my friend said, pointing at the sword in my hand. We all turned to look.
"So that's what it's supposed to look like..." Kari stated slowly. The sword had transformed itself back into all of its former glory. The blade gleamed such bright silver that it had the luster of moonlight and looked as if it could cut through diamond. The hilt had magically bound itself anew, now tightly wrapped with hardened black leather. On the pommel stone was a flawless cut of a quarter moon in translucent white pearl and rays of crystal-clear diamond. The Sword of Ranul had truly been claimed once more.