Jalia on the Road (Jalia - World of Jalon) (17 page)

The Magic Sword

There were two brothers who were traders

Since the day their parents died

They roamed the trade routes with two donkeys

While their feeble trade they plied

Yousef was very much older

Than Daniel who was still much a child

But it was Daniel who had to do all the work

And still Yousef he constantly riled

Whether loading up the donkeys

Or the meals he made for both

Yousef was never happy with Daniel

Said he was stupid and full of sloth

But Daniel was a happy lad

And never wished his brother harm

Just wished his brother didn’t beat him

And was just a little more calm

One day while gathering fire wood

He strayed near to a lake

And heard a pitiful crying voice

With pain you could not fake

He traced the voice to the side of the lake

Where a fairy he found in a web caught

With his rusty dagger he cut her bonds

She was weeping and looking quite fraught

When her hands were free she used her wand

Then she was free and whole and bright

She flew and kissed Daniel on the nose

Which was quite an amusing sight

She told him she would bless him with a gift

An exceptional one that would be true

She turned his dagger from rust to razor sharp

Told him it was now magic too.

If he ever needed it to come to him

The words “Magic Sword my hand” would do

Any word but ‘hand’ would be an instruction

To cut that thing right through.

But he was not to tell any one

Because then they the magic could also use

And a magic sword was a special gift

That an evil man might abuse

Daniel finished getting firewood

The magic sword back in its old leather sheath

Daniel wondered if he would ever use it

To protect a damsel or to catch a thief

Yousef was angry when he got back to the camp

As the morning was getting quite late

They had far to go before they could sleep

One more deed wrong on poor Daniel’s slate

The city was still a few miles away

When darkness fell as they rode

The hills were full of vagabonds

No one wanted to get caught on the road

As they were walking wearily on

A hoard of brigand jumped them so fast

They were trussed up to be sold as slaves

Their days as traders over at last

That night as everyone went to sleep

Daniel slowly worked his gag down to his neck

“Magic Sword my bonds” he whispered

They were sliced in two in a sec

He looked over to where his brother was bound

Counted the sleeping thieves who were many

“Magic Sword thieves throats” he said with regret

And then, of the thieves there were not any

“Magic Sword my hand” he said and it was so

He quickly cut his brother free

He sheathed his dagger before his brother looked round

Dumbstruck at the dead bodies he could see.

 
“How did you do it?” he wanted to know

“You could maybe kill one, two or three,

But to kill all seven without one getting you

That is just unbelievable to me”

Yousef kicked his brother when no answer came forth

His beating went on until the dawn

Till eventually Daniel told him the whole fairy story

He told it while stifling a yawn

Well Yousef did not believe a word of it

It was a story that just could not come to pass

He looked for something to whip his brother

Saying very unwisely, “Magic Sword my ass!”

Jalia Gets a Magic Ring

Jalia was travelling all alone along dangerous roads

With more money than most rich men ever earn

It was payment for killing a giant more than once

The sort of money that make even wise pockets burn

She met a lad called Daniel also travelling alone

A trader who still laughed and sometimes dreamed

He used to travel with a brother who had hurt himself with a knife

And could no longer walk any distances it seemed

Now Daniel traded for his brother between the city states

Brought him back money after journey long and tough

His brother couldn’t work or keep himself at all

He blamed Daniel for his accident which seemed rough

So she and Daniel shared a fire and food they cooked together

Life on the road seemed less daunting when there were two

Daniel never explained the accident that destroyed his brother life

Well, Jalia also had her dark secrets too.

They planned to part at the first city that they came too

An eastern place with tall minarets and customs very odd

Jalia would have to wear a veil to walk down the streets at all

While Daniel would have to worship another God

At the market place Jalia helped Daniel set up his stall

Selling spices and sweat meats that he had to trade

Jalia stayed just long enough to sell some of his wares

For twice as much as Daniel would have made

In a dark hot coffee shop she found what she sought

Men with rough voices playing games for money

For Jalia nothing sweeter than the clink of gold coins

This was her joy, this was her honey

There was no game on earth that Jalia couldn’t play

Better than the best player that ever has been

And soon those rough, touch men were cursing the moment

This female demon with the luck of the devil was seen

Only she and a young man were still in the game

Judging by his fine clothes and manner he was slumming

Only he had had the money to meet all her plays

But even he, now out of money was running

Jalia raised the stakes by more money than he had

By the rules of the game he had lost

Then he offered a ring, which sparkled so bright

That ring more than covered the cost

The cards were turned over and he had three swords

Very close to the best cards that could be shown

But Jalia turned over three towers which beat that fine hand

And all of their money, Jalia owned

The young man’s face turned ashen, he couldn’t believe he had lost

He faced Jalia and told her he would pay much more

For the return of the ring he had so foolishly bet

She said no and he called her a whore.

She kicked him in the groin and he fell to the floor

Then punching and fighting broke out

Jalia, with her money, crawled out of the place

No one noticed, not one point, not one shout

Within an hour there were soldiers all over the city

Apparently the caliph’s son had been mugged

Of a family heirloom reputed to be magic

Some people claimed he had also been drugged

When Daniel left the town next morning

His donkeys appeared to be overloaded or sick

When he checked their loads just out of the city

He found Jalia stowed away, very slick

She explained what had happened and what she had done

She would pay for the goods she had displaced

If he would take her and her gold to the nearest city

She would pay far more than the goods she’d replaced

That night, by the fire, under blazing bright stars

The ring they both examined and wondered

Could it really be magic the way it was claimed?

Or had the Caliph and son just blundered

Daniel suggested she ask something of the ring

Like ‘Magic Ring bring me water” for example

It was better than doing nothing, so Jalia tried

The three foot of water they were suddenly in, seemed ample

They reached higher ground and collected their goods

Drying out in the dry and hot dessert air

“I think, I had better be careful about using this again”

Said Jalia as Daniel dried his dagger and its sheath with some care

The sand fairies giggled as they hid in the dark

Drawn swift by the magic the two of them carried

When the two of them slept, the fairies would have both

And their bodies in sand would be buried.

The Sand Fairies

Sand Fairies are an evil breed that have no natural magic

But sense out magic objects whenever they are near

They will steal and kill given the slightest chance

Without remorse or guilt it would appear

Snicker-sneaking in the dark and on the sand

Their poison knives glittering the darkest blue

Towards the dark bulks where the humans sleep

Knives poised then plunge in and through

Again and again they strike the blankets

Beneath which the humans were asleep

But they make no noise, not even a groan

So quiet, no sound, not even the slightest peep.

"Magic Ring, sand fairies bind in rope"

A voice beyond the camp spoke

And all the sand fairies were bound in an instant

Suddenly looking a very sorry folk.

Jalia and Daniel entered the camp carefully

Carefully gathering the sand fairies into heap

Daniel shook his blanket out, in tatters from the knives

"Let's kill them, they held our lives so cheap"

"I agree.
 
They have nothing to bargain for their lives"

"We have!" A chorus of high voices began to cry

"We have treasure beyond the mind of man

We have much if you do not sentence us to die!"

Jalia smiled because she liked a real challenge

And getting treasure from Sand Fairies was certainly one

They were sneaky and clever and there were hundreds to fight

She was grinning as she realized the game was now on

"Your castles are filled with hundreds just like you

And they are far too small for us to get in

If we let one of you go you'd go back to your brethren

And they would overwhelm us before we could begin"

"The magic ring could make you small as us

And your magic dagger could kill us one and all

Our king will go with you to show you the way

You could take the treasure with no trouble at all

Jalia looked at the dagger sheathed to Daniel's belt

Daniel grinned in apology then said

"What is this treasure that you're talking about

I think I would prefer you all dead"

The King Sand Fairy raised he voice with a cough

"We have special treasures it is true

The greatest of which is the holy grail

Which can give eternal life to you"

"I prefer gold or gems to magical trinkets

There are easier to trade and much less trouble

I'm beginning to think that Daniel is right

Let's just slit your throats and bury you under this rubble"

"We have precious stones in aplenty of course

Gold coins and trinkets we have without measure

As well as magic objects of course

All parts of our hoard of treasure"

Jalia considered, then she spoke these words

"Magic ring bring the sand fairies treasure to me"

Knowing happened except that the sand fairies laughed

"The ring has limited range," they told her with glee

"If there hadn't been a river hidden underground

Just below where you had come to stop

Your wish would not have been fulfilled

And of water there would have been not a drop"

Jalia and Daniel conferred quite heatedly

It was clear Daniel just wanted to get away

But they made a deal of sorts and shook hands on it

What they agreed, they did not say

They moved the donkeys till they were well hidden

Gathered up the sand fairies and swords

The put them into a cage they made

They didn't want to face again this hoard

Daniel first cut their poisoned swords in half

His magic dagger shining so bright

As he sliced them into little pieces

They would never again be used in a fight

The Fairy king they separated from the rest

"We will take you and non of your other men

But first we need to shrink to your size

Magic ring shrink us to the size of a hen"

In a flash they shrank to nine inches tall

But their clothes didn't shrink at all

So they both stood naked facing each other

Feeling suddenly very, very small

"Magic Ring make our clothes so they always fit us"

Said Jalia after thinking it through

But putting your clothes on meant moving your hands

Which Daniel was loath to do

Jalia was used to using her body as a tool

And she had thought of Daniel as a lad

She noted that a part of Daniel's body was quite large

And for some reason, that made her feel glad

Daniel had never seen a girl naked before

His natural reaction had made him blush bright red

Jalia was better looking than any fairy queen

And her body stoked a hunger in his head

They dressed while Fairy King laughed at their plight

He himself had many reasons to be glad

He could feel the magic ring was pretty much drained

And a reversal of fortunes was soon to be had

They set off down the path that alone the King could see

And before long they saw a sight that filled them both with awe

A blue glowing castle set against the snow white moon

More beautiful than any building they had seen before.

As they entered into the castle standing quiet before the keep

Men surrounded and gagged them with fairy hands so small

"Magic Ring, kill them now" shouted Jalia breaking free

But the magic was exhausted and nothing happened at all

The Fairy king took her magic ring and tossed it in the air

"It will be fine when it has rested for a day

Take this woman to my room where I'll use her for the night

The boy to our dungeons, take him away

But before he goes take his magic dagger

Put it straight in my trophy room

We will torture him tomorrow to see how it works

Then we will throw him off the cliffs to his doom"