Housekeeping
There’s been a lingering question in the back of The Errant Apprentice. What’s the deal with Terry’s sword? I think it’s time we find out.
Axis Mundi
Terry was still recovering as his group made their way beside fenced off fields that lined the road. His back still hurt, even healing as quickly as he did. He felt Arthur watching him for a long while until he slowed Aloysius, allowing the man to catch up on Ed.
“You didn’t fare so well in the fight, Terrance,” the old man was still watching him.
“Yeah. I don’t fight enchanted monsters often. I’ve gotten too used to being the strongest thing in the room. I need to be more careful.”
Gella sat at in front of Terry in the saddle and looked up at him. “Are you ok? Really?”
“I will be.” He really was feeling better. He looked at Arthur. The man was obviously thinking something. “Ok. What?”
“Terrance,” the old man said quietly, “I know you’ve denied being a Paladin, but you make me wonder.”
“Can you explain what that means so I can deny it more correctly then?” Terry asked.
“A paladin is a holy warrior, charged by the One with the blessings of the Greenman to fight in the name of justice.”
Terry blinked. “That’s just a knight where I come from. Or it’s supposed to be. We’re meant to be holy warriors for our God.”
“And who is this god of yours?”
Terry gestured vaguely all around him. “You know, just, GOD. I don’t know how else to explain it. I guess He’s like the One, but our version? He’s the God of everything.”
“Is that why lightning obeys you?” Arthur asked. “Is that the blessing of your God?”
Terry blinked. Everything he did was lightning. When he was growing up everyone had said that God would strike you down if you were evil. But this was his thing. No one else did this.
“No. It’s way less literal than you’re implying. Why are you making such a big deal out of it, though? You said Spell Blades were a thing here.”
Arthur faced forward and took on the distant look that Terry had come to recognize as him searching his Stonus for data. There was a faint clicking sound. The old man began to speak.
“Before the Sin and before the Sundering, there was the Oak King and the May Queen. The King protected the Queen, the Axis Mundi, and all the worlds connected to it. To aid him in his sacred task, men and women of renown were selected to join him. The finest of warriors. They were given a holy quest to defend the All from injustice and malice. They were granted power and wisdom by the Greenman, and they became the Paladins.”
He came back to himself and Terry shivered. He didn’t like things like this being even implied to be related to him. He was an Errant Apprentice. He was supposed to help people. That should be enough.
“What happened to them?” Gella asked. Strangely, Aloysius answered.
“They left. All of them. Their power failed them and they vanished.”
Arthur stared at the horse for a moment and seemed to store something away for later in his mind before he spoke.
“Aloysius speaks the truth. When the Oak King committed the Sin and the Greenman performed the Sundering, the Paladins were betrayed. They forsook their vows and gave up their charge. The order was disbanded and their powers were forfeit because of the Sin. They were lost. That’s why they’re now known as the Lost Paladins.”
“So there’s none left?” Terry asked. “No one even uses the name?
“No one worthy does. It’s a joke in story and song for someone to claim to be a Paladin. It’s always the worst person in any given tale. The Lost Paladins are a mirror to reflect our own failures now. But sometimes a hero truly rises. Sometimes people ask the question. Have the Paladins returned? But they never have.”
Terry kept a tight reign on his emotions.
“Arthur, I’m an Errant Apprentice. Maybe I’ve got this whole magic thing I’m still learning about, but that’s all that I am. It’s all I want to be, and all I want in life right now is to find Delores. I’m a farm boy that’s in way over his head. I’m not here to bring back some mythical order of yours.”
“Sometimes we don’t have a choice in what the world means for us. We seldom choose our roles in the Great Tale,” the old man said.
Terry sped Al back up. He didn’t really want to hear anything else about Paladins.
That night, at a warded place Arthur called “Paul’s Stand”, the company set up camp for the night. Small canvas tents were set up that they’d purchased in the capital, and Arthur volunteered to cook for the night. Terry stood a short distance away from the fire and pulled his sword out. It didn’t glow now. It was only a white metal, beautiful though it was.
“Gella? It’s time for your first lesson.” The girl looked up from the flames nervously, but went and retrieved her sword from her tent and brought it over.
“Does it matter that we have two different kinds of swords?” she asked.
Terry considered that. His sword had changed shape and size over the years as he’d grown up. It extended during fights. He wondered if it could change now, just for this. He held it in front of him and as he reached his left hand up to join his right, the handle extended as it always did. He knew what kind of blade he needed for this and, sure enough, the entire weapon seemed to extend and broaden into a much more grand version of the blade Gella held, just scaled up for him. It was a massive two handed Claymore now. Terry smiled.
“What in the nine hells?!” Terry looked over at Arthur, who was staring at the sword in shock.
“It’s enchanted,” Terry said. “I thought we’d been over that.”
Arthur ran over and began examining the blade as Terry held it in front of him. He was sure the old man was recording again. He looked the blade up and down, and walked around Terry as he spoke.
“Terrance, if you can find another enchanted blade that changes form at its master’s will, I will quit the Guild of Tutors right this minute and become a cheese monger.”
“Please don’t start on Paladins again,” Terry sighed.
Arthur looked at him seriously. “I wish it was something that simple. If I’m right, I know why the Plague Doctors hunt you. I know how you came here.”
Terry lowered the blade and nodded for the man to continue.
“I believe this may be the Axis Mundi.”
There was silence in the camp for a long moment until Aloysius spoke.
“Does that mean Terry keeps the center of the universe in his pocket?”
Gella laughed. Terry wished he could. He looked at the sword and his mouth went dry.
“That would be a good reason for Jack in the Leaves to want it,” he swallowed, trying to work moisture back into his mouth.
Terry had said on several occasions that he would hand the sword over once he reached Tir-Na-Nog, but he suddenly thought better of the idea. He didn’t think anyone should have it. Probably not even himself.
Arthur was watching him. “Jack in the Leaves?” he asked.
“Yeah. Why. Who is he? And before you ask, no. I only recently became aware of him so I have no idea who the man is.”
Arthur nodded. “That is fair. Jack is the only true child of the Greenman. He was created as the Oak King of Tir-Na-Nog and protector of the Axis Mundi. That blade was his charge and his personal weapon. It was Jack who committed the Sin with that very blade. He killed the May Queen to take both thrones out of pride and nearly killed the Everywhen, and with it, all the worlds.”
Terry had to keep his hands firmly on the handle of the sword. He wanted to drop it right there. He looked at it again. A sword given to his father by elves from Tir-Na-Nog on a tourist route in the wilds of the poorest area of the United States and kept in a pile of junk in a trailer after his death. Picked up by Terry because people needed help.
“So this is the thing the Many sang the world around?” Terry asked nervously.
“I believe so. As I told you, it is the Stairway to Heaven and the Gate to the One.”
Terry thought again about dropping the sword and wandering off into the woods. “That’s how I was able to come here,” he said instead.
Strangely, Arthur smiled and put a hand on Terry’s shoulder.
“I can’t think of anyone whose hands I’d rather it be in. You have kept it safe since you were a child. I believe you will continue to do so.”
Terry blinked. “But…”
“Do not,” Arthur interrupted, “allow yourself to see this as a burden. Not now. You have carried it through your life and never felt the weight of the yoke you bear. Don’t start chafing now.”
Terry nodded slowly and looked down at Gella, who was now staring at the sword in awe. Arthur may be right. Nothing had actually changed. He just needed to hang onto the sword, like he always did. Maybe it WAS this Axis Mundi, but it was HIS sword. He felt it in his bones. He thought it might be bound to him now. Besides. What was one more burden if it meant protecting people?
He took a deep breath before he spoke. “Well, if it’s good enough to be some holy stair, it’s good enough for training Gella.” He smiled, and the girl grinned.
Arthur sniffed and shouted, “MY STEW!” and ran back to the fire.
Terry shook his head and began teaching Gella sword handling as Arthur stirred furiously.
Aloysius was a smart horse. He didn’t need to be tied to anything to keep from wandering off, so Terry never bothered. Al also didn’t sleep. He could keep walking for days and days and never have to rest. The only reason he stopped was he knew Terry and Gella needed to. He was smart enough to look after his riders. The only down side to being this smart and never sleeping was the boredom. He wanted to fill his time with learning and conversation. He swung his head over and spoke to Ed the Donkey in the language of horses.
“Hey! Want to play Eye Spy?”
The donkey turned and regarded Aloysius with contempt.
“I would kill you all if I had hands.”
Aloysius winced. This had been the way of a lot of conversation with Ed, especially at night. He’d warned Terry, and Al was still trying to puzzle the donkey out. He was afraid there wasn’t much to puzzle besides madness.
“You should get some sleep, Ed. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
The donkey fixed Aloysius with a single eye, full of malice.
“No gods, no masters.”
Ed then seemed to drop straight off into slumber. Aloysius shivered.
He glanced around the Stand and it was dark, with the fire beginning to burn low. Terry still sat there with his friends asleep in their tents. He had that rectangle thing with his pictures out now, so Aloysius ambled over and craned his neck over Terry’s shoulder.
“What’cha doin’?” he asked sweetly. He knew his questions could get annoying, but so far Terry had been very tolerant of them.
When Terry looked up, Al could tell the man had been crying. He wasn’t at the moment, but he had that look to his face.
“I was sending a text message to Delores,” Terry said.
“What’s that?”
“Well,” Terry said as he held the device up, “we both have one of these and normally we can send little text messages to each other as a way to communicate.”
“But not here?” Al asked, looking at the funny characters on the glowing part.
“No.” Terry’s shoulder slumped, but he laughed. “I’m out of my service area. But I sent it anyway. Just on the off chance it worked somehow.”
“What did you say?”
Terry held the rectangle up and read.
“I don’t know that you’ll ever see this. If I can ever reach you, I promise I will never leave your side again. I love you, Delores. - T.”
Al leaned his head against Terry’s, and the young man reached up to pat Al’s cheek.
“I’ll get you there, Terry. Even if I have to walk all the way to the gates of Tir-Na-Nog. I promise.” And he meant it. Aloysius had always wanted to go on a quest or an adventure, and Terry’s was fine. But Al needed his own goal. This would be his. He silently took a vow that he would see Terry to the gates of Tir-Na-Nog or die trying. The wind picked up suddenly and ruffled both of their hair.
“Terry?” Al asked as a thought struck him.
“Yeah?”
“If you cut a hole from your world to here, why didn’t you get closer to Delores?”
Terry laughed quietly. “Al, I never have a plan. This wasn’t even on purpose. I have no idea what I’m doing most of the time. So long as I helped people and I did what’s right, that’s all that mattered. Then I lost her. I had just kinda given up and was considering wandering off when the sword opened the gateway here. It took my best friend to get me to come here, really.”
Al lifted his head in surprise. “You gave up?”
Terry turned his face away. “There’s a sadness in me, Al. It runs in my family, I guess. I try to fight it as best I can. Lately, it wins more often than not. Or it comes close to winning.”
“But you’ll keep fighting?” Aloysius asked. He nudged Terry’s shoulder with his muzzle, and Terry turned back. The smile there was genuine. It felt like the sun breaking through the clouds.
“As long as I’m alive, I’ll keep fighting and I’m not dead yet.” He looked at the rectangle again and squeezed the side. It suddenly stopped glowing before he stuck it in his pocket.
“I should get some sleep.” He stroked Al’s neck, and Al leaned into it with a smile. “Thank you for checking on me, Al. You’re a good friend.”
Al nodded and Terry stood. As he walked to his tent, Al shouted in a whisper.
“Ed’s freaky, man!” Terry just chuckled as he crawled inside. Al shrugged in the way of horses, and walked back over to his spot to start grazing.