No Good Deed (14 page)

“Ah yes, very unusual. The exact place where I cut my hand and Obidaan and I declared ourselves Blood Brothers opened up last night. My blood spilled on the floor and as well as the weapon. I wonder..”

“If the blood bond between you and Obidaan triggered this.” Zarinthis continued, “But that still doesn’t explain the initial attraction.”

“What’s the big deal?” Alister finally piped in. “Lots of staves are made to do that.” He was a bit late into the conversation but Zarinthis had no problem continuing.

“Our staves are made to bond and store in the soul. There is no need to make it so it would shrink and be storable, that would be pointless.”

“Oh…Oh!” Alister finally got what he was saying, “So, this is the first time someone has bonded with an unbonded weapon!”

“Exactly.”

“And I was here for it. Ha! The other bards are going to be so jealous when they hear this story,” Alister seemed a bit perkier now.

“Nice to see the center of your universe hasn’t changed,” Terry said as sarcastically as she could.

“Hey!” Alister retorted, “I cried as much as anyone last night. Let’s face it, this is a story and I’m a story teller.”

“Indeed you are my brother,” Relina said raspily. “And I think you should follow this story.”

“Thank you, sis,” Alister seemed full of himself now.

“You are correct,” Zarinthis said, “This needs to be investigated, but not today. Continue to eat and rest. Unfortunately, you will probably experience another outburst. We can wait.”

After breakfast everyone went about their business. Relina went to pray and practice, Terry to hunt, Alister began writing the story and playing his lute and Tomas went for a walk around the grounds before returning to Relina. Don trained and meditated with the staff. He also managed to get it down to lab 2 for analysis.

After applying every chemical, alchemical, and magical analysis known, the only conclusion they could reach was it was a very well made staff, designed to go into the soul. They asked Don a battery of questions and learned about his training. Their conclusion was that Don’s heightened mental discipline allows him to see into the weapon and interact with it. Somehow his mental fortitude ‘tricked’ the staff into believing it has been graphed to him.

Later that afternoon the others went through another emotional bought, but it wasn’t as bad as the first time. Obidaan was a mental, physical, and emotional wreck at this point; he was incoherent, unaware of his surroundings, and unable to even take a sip of water from a cup. He could not answer the simplest of question nor did he even know his own name. All he knew was he was in pain and wanted it to stop. As he screamed, the technicians continued to ignore him and proceed with the tattooing.

His mind was a whirlwind, bright flashes, flashbacks, and foresight. He could see himself with the sword, proudly displaying it to all. He saw his initial meeting when he first became a paladin. He saw Relina. In his mind he called to her and they danced. In reality, he babbled incessantly and attempted to move.

The next day was very unusual. The group woke up, feeling great. They were their old selves again, but happier. Hungry, they all bound down the steps like children and ran to the table. This time they didn’t even wait to sit before they started eating.

“What’s going on?” Relina said through a stuffed mouth. “For two days we could barely move and couldn’t stop bawling like babies, now all of a sudden I feel like I could single handedly take on the world.” She was wolfing down the food now, “As soon as I finish eating,” she added.

Even Don could not contain himself. If anything, he was the worst of all. He had two heaping full plates, a small loaf of bread under his arm, a biscuit in his mouth, and balancing a cup of butter on his head. They couldn’t eat fast enough and the slowness of utensils quickly gave way to hands.

“Well,” Zarinthis was his normal self, also with a heaping plate of food like the day before. It was a wonder he wasn’t fat considering how much he ate, or any of them for that matter, “you see, it seems Obidaan has made it to the acceptance stage.”

They all made an attempt to say acceptance stage at the same time, but with mouths full of food, it came out completely incoherent. Don ended up spitting more food out than words.

“Please keep eating and I will explain everything. There will be no need for you to talk for a while, so please, dig in,” and they did, “You see, there is something we don’t tell the recipients. ‘What’s that?’” He said in a different voice to simulate the group asking a question, “Glad you asked. The procedure is indeed painful, but only for a day or two, depending on the person, three if they’re really stubborn. But there comes a time when the soul accepts its fate and embraces the soul object being tattooed to it. It is at this point the soul comes to realize what it is truly getting, and it is very excited. From this point on the procedure will be painless. We also add more workers to the tattooing at this time. The soul becomes anxious even excited to have the final product graphed to it. So much so that it tends to not let the needles go. So we have to make sure there are a couple of needles in the soul at all times. Also, the person comes out of their incoherent state and is extremely hungry and thirsty. That is what you are feeling now. Still we cannot feed the recipient at this time, and can only allow them small bits of water. When you are done with breakfast, I suggest you go outside and play something. Tag would be appropriate.”

“Not it!” Tomas yells

“Not it!” said Terry.

“Not it!” said Relina and Alister almost simultaneously.

“Huh?” Don looks up, both hands holding food and he is still chewing.

“You’re it!” Tomas screams.

“Yeah, you’re it!” Relina says, pointing at him.

“Ok” Don shrugs his shoulders.

The only thing odder than the fact they were acting like children is the fact they seemed ok with it. Zarinthis engaged them in small talk about their adventures and skills and they excitedly answered them. There was not enough caffeine and sugar in the universe to give a rush like they had. After breakfast, they burst out the door, screaming like little children as they ran from Don and all around the yard playing tag, for the next four hours straight.

When Zarinthis called them in for lunch, they were completely worn out, and seeming back to themselves.

“Were we just playing. . . tag?” Don asked.

“Yeah,” Alister replied, “And we LIKED it.”

“More effects of the bonding?” Relina asked Zarinthis

“Yes. But by tomorrow, you should be completely back to normal,” Zarinthis said nonchalantly, “now please, eat.”

Lunch consisted of sandwiches, soups, bread, and drinks. Beer and wine poured freely that afternoon. Even though they had had a big breakfast, they dug in like they had not seen food for days, but utensils were used. By evening, they were completely back to normal.

Obidaan awoke from his stupor, feeling no pain. “Water” was all he was able to say. One of the workers went and sprayed his face, then another one cam along and offered him sips of water. “Slowly” was all he would say.

“You should be feeling a lot less discomfort from now on. We still have three days to go till you are done. We can not give you food but will continue to periodically give you water, as well as spray down your body.” Her words were methodical and unattached.

“What’s your name?” Obidaan asked in a raspy voice.

“I’m sorry,” still detached, “I can not reveal that to you.”

“Why?”

The lady was silent and continued to tattoo. Just before he was to ask again, she said, “Please refrain from talking, thank you.” Obidaan was silent for the rest of the ordeal.

The next day, after lunch, Zarinthis gathered the group. “We have done a full analysis on the staff and Don and the only conclusion is that Don’s monk disciplines along with the spilling of blood that allowed him to activate a soul rod, most likely amplified by jealously. Our guess is his jealously made him reach out to the staff and the staff responded. Are any of you jealous of Obidaan?” They all said no. “Still, I would like to try one thing. Follow me to the basement.”

A few minutes later they were in the basement, at the rack of weapons. “Now, it isn’t uncommon for us to give weapons away, especially to small groups. While you will have to come back to have it soul bound, we don’t recommend using someone else, but you can, we want to see if any of you can duplicate Don’s feat. So please, each of you, choose a weapon you would want tattooed to your body. Oh, there are corresponding sheaths for weapons that need them.”

“Even me?” asked Tomas.

“Yes, even you.” Zarinthis said.

“Be careful, Tomas” Relina said, “stick to a dagger or staff.”

They fanned out, touching weapons as they went by. The craftsmanship was unbounded. No one had felt weapons like these before. However, no one felt any of them calling them either. Relina chose a short sword, Terry also went for a short sword, Alister chose a rapier, and Tomas chose a finely carved dagger. Everyone admired the design, balance, and shear beauty of each weapon. The weapons seemed to be able to slice air. The balanced was such that it took no effort to hold them. Terry pulled out her bow and turn it into a bo staff. She went through several maneuvers with the stick and sword. Though she had been using the bow—staff for years, and it was of expert make, it now felt bulky compared to the sword. She tried her old short sword and now it felt uneven and unwieldy. She wondered how she had been getting along so long with such inferior products.

Relina spun the sword around and smacked it against her shield. It made a very nice resonance. She spun and flipped it through the air. Relina’s old short sword was one given to her as part of her vows. While hit had sentimental value, it was just a crudely made sword by comparison. She almost could not stand the sight of her old one now. She made a mental note to put her old one on a shelf somewhere and forget about it. This one, with its balance, weight, and sharpness was far superior to what she had before. She took her old sword off and quickly put this one on.

The dagger was finely carved and the carving on the handle almost looked like it was moving as you moved it. When gripped it felt natural in the hand as if there were no way to disarm you. Out of curiosity Tomas held the knife out palm down and opened his hand. To everyone’s surprise, except Zarinthis, the knife stayed put. He could still move it around and even switch hands, but could not drop it. It only yielded when Tomas put it back in the sheath.

“Form following function” Zarinthis said, “Some of my best work, that knife.”

The rapier was so fine you would think it would break, but when you pulled it, it barely yielded. Alister pushed it into a wall and it stayed straight, barely bending, regardless of the pressure he put on it. As he moved around with it, making whooshing sounds through the air. As he stared closer at the point he could almost swear that it kept going. Such a fine point could easily penetrate all but the finest of armors. Testing on some mannequins with pieces of armor on them he easily put it through every type, except plate, though it did leave a slight dent.

“So, how do they feel? How do your souls feel?” Zarinthis seemed anxious for an answer.

“There’re great weapons,” Relina said, “The best we’ve ever seen, but I feel no more a pull to this weapon than I do for any of my other ones.”

“Same here,” Terry said. “I love this sword but it’s just a well crafted sword to me, that all.”

“Sorry, nothing here either,” Alister said, “I can win a lot of bar fights with this, but I don’t think I’ll want to sleep with it.”

“The knife is cool!” is all about Tomas could say.

“Well, thank you. Please keep the weapons with you over the next few days, perhaps things will change.”

The next couple of days were uneventful and everyone seemed almost bored, but happy to be bored, compared to what they had gone through. They were sitting down at dinner when a familiar voice broke in.

“Boy, that sure looks good. I think I’m going to get a big whopping plate of everything.”

Everyone turned and stared at a man dressed only in a pair of pants. It was Obidaan.

Everyone turned
to see Obidaan, smiling and happy. They all began to get up to go hug him when he raised his hand to stop them. “Please, don’t get up. I couldn’t handle any physical contact at the moment, my back is very sensitive.”

“And it will be for the next 3 to 4 days,” Zarinthis added. “the ointments used only dulled the pain during the procedure. You’re going to have to heal on your own.”

“I noticed my healing spell didn’t work,” Obidaan said a bit puzzled.

“No healing spell will help. If anything, it will dull the pain for a second, nothing more. This must be done naturally, and over time.” Then, changing to a faux school girl voice, “now, before everyone bursts, let’s see the tattoo, turn around,” he made a spinning motion with his hand, “and please present your sword while you’re at it. We’re all giddy with excitement.”

Obidaan laughed, the slowly turned around. On his back was a magnificent tattoo, from the middle of his neck, where the hilt started, across his shoulders, down to the small of his back, where the point of the sword was, was one of the most glorious tattoos known anywhere. It was beyond a work of art. It was an exact scaled replica, down to the colors of his sword. When he produced the sword, the tattoo glowed slightly, then Mystic appeared in his hand. To see the tattoo was to see the sword. Obidaan continued to turn until he was facing the group again, “Everyone, I’d like to introduce the newest member of our group, Mystic.” He raised the sword.

Without missing a beat, the group yelled back “Hi Mystic!” and Obidaan, in a poor imitation of a ventriloquist said, “Hi everyone! I’m so glad to be here. It’s been such a soul wrenching experience. Let me tell you, I really love Obidaan, I’m just stuck on him.”

Through the groans and laughs, the group applauded and sent up a round of cheers as Obidaan came to the table. Grabbing a plate, he loaded it down with food, wedged his way between Relina and Tomas, proceeded to give his wife the biggest kiss she had had in years, and then dug in like a mad man possessed.

“So,” Alister asked, “what was the procedure like?”

Obidaan finished what he had. “It was strange and extraordinarily painful. At first the pain was excruciating, then as time went by it got easier. They constantly tattooed me, day and night. The most I was allowed at any time was just a few sips of water.” Obidaan grabbed a mug of beer and downed all at once, then went through half of another mug before starting again, “A few times I felt like I was going to die, but I was able to hold on. I swear it felt at times like someone else was taking the hit for me, it was a strange, yet gratifying feeling. Finally, it was over and they unstrapped me. There I was with my tattoo and there sat the sword. They asked me to go pick it up. When I did, I felt it, not only in my hand, but also in my soul. It was like I was staring at a sentient part of myself. It was very strange, yet exciting and pleasurable. Then they asked that I put the sword away. I asked ‘how?’ and they replied, ‘just do it.’ So I thought about sheathing Mystic, and it disappeared. ‘Now recall it please.’ She asked. I thought of unsheathing it and it appeared in my hand. It was interesting. Later on, as I was coming up here, I just thought about it, and ‘boom’ there it was in my hand. Then I though away and it disappeared again. By the time I got here, I was able to recall and dismiss it as easily as moving my arm.”

“Yes, it does not take much to summon a soul item. In essence, it is just another body part,” Zarinthis said.

“So,” Obidaan asked, “what have y’all been up to?”

The group spent the rest of the evening relating their experience and how they had sympathetic pains. They also told about how they each have weapons and how Don’s seems to have bonded with him. Obidaan was fascinated with the stories. He felt guilty about making them go through the pain and was about to apologize when Zarinthis stepped in, “Do not apologize for what happened. On the contrary, you should be honor by them. The fact that they have so much emotional attachment to you is a testament to the love you all share. By bearing their souls in such a way, it made the attachment of the weapon easier though I’m sure you would doubt me. Let me put it this way, because they shared your pain you were only in pain for two days. An army general once came here, with a regiment. Well, even though they ate as you did, they did not feel the same attachment, so he was in pain for four of the five days. He did go on to be a ruthless general after that, but that’s another story. Remember, the workers were cold and uncaring, and unaffected by your screams. Even I am touched, though not nearly to the extent as they were. That can’t be faked. It is an honor to be around such a group of people. They are rare. Treasure it.” He put a piece of bread in his mouth, which seemed to accentuate his point. They sat in happy silence for the rest of the meal.

A couple of days passed and soon Obidaan was able to wear a shirt. It wasn’t until the fourth day that he was finally able to put his armor on. During that time, he practiced with his new weapon and even spared with a couple of the workers. To him, the sword was weightless; an extension of his hand. He could even throw it and recall it. It even warned him when people were trying to sneak up on him and it moved on it’s own to deflect a sure blow.

Soon, it was time for them to leave. A party was thrown, much dancing was done, much wine was consumed and the finest foods were presented this time. Many hugs were exchanged and soon they were on their way back home.

The Vanguard had left the gates and everyone was still outside when a servant spoke up “I will miss them. I can’t believe they tipped us” she held out a hand full of silver, “I tried to give it back but they would have nothing to do with it.”

“Yes,” Zarinthis said with a cautious concerned smile, “such caring and love is rare in this world, I hope it is enough.”

“Enough for what?”

Zarinthis laughed, “You don’t know why we gave Obidaan that sword do you? Or why we let the group leave with those weapons?”

“Generosity? I didn’t see anything unusual; we give away weapons all the time.”

“Those?”

“Mmmm, no those are the ones reserved for bonding.”

“Exactly, and though they won’t be bonded, they do represent our finest weapons. Now, here’s the truth that the test didn’t reveal: Don was more correct than he realized. He was able to bond with the weapon because of his blood brother bonding with Obidaan. What they don’t realize is that when Obidaan passed, they ALL passed. Don’s monk abilities merely allowed him to be the first to notice the bonding. I knew that but couldn’t tell them. So I let the test results speak or rather not speak for us.”

“In that case, why didn’t we bond the weapons to each of them?”

“Because the invitation only went out to Obidaan,” he said matter—of—factly. “How would it look if word got out that 1 person in a group passed and everyone got a weapon?”

“Like one big …”

“Exactly. Besides, this is a very special group, the bonds between them are very strong. That’s what really allows the weapons to work. As long as they stick together, they’ll be fine. Hopefully, so will we.” They began walking back into the keep.

“Are they in trouble?”

“We all are. For them to do what must be done, they must feel they are unstoppable. That is the only way to stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“The coming darkness.” He was blunt in his words; the worker shuddered.

“How do you know this?” She gulped as he asked.

Walking back in, Zarinthis pulled out a chain with a holy symbol on it, “Let’s just say they’re not the only followers of The Seers, nor are they the only ones granted visions.”

Half way back, they were sitting around the campfire, enjoying fresh caught rabbit. “So, about the third day,” Obidaan began out of the blue, “I was screaming and wishing for death, when I had a vision. It was Relina. She was coming to me in a beautiful silver shimmering dress. Her hair was up and she was wearing a tiara. She walked, well actually sashayed over to me,” everyone was still listening to him, “I walked toward her and began to embrace her, and she embraced me. We danced cheek to cheek for a while, to music we heard off in the distance, finally I got up the nerve – why I had to in the first place I don’t know – to kiss her. Strange I thought. Here I am dancing with my wife and I have to get up the nerve to kiss her? Anyway I do and we have a deep passionate kiss. While I’m kissing her, she changes slightly, hair a bit longer, and deep red, and a slight change to her face and nose. Then she started to fade. With my eyes still closed – don’t ask me about how I knew about the changes, I was dreaming – I said ‘oh Relina’ and then the lady whispered back ‘Mystic’ and faded. It was moments after that that the pain went away.”

“You had an affair with your sword?” Alister asked, almost laughing.

“I’m shocked,” Relina said playfully, “I though I was the only one in your life, now you bring in this… this… hussy. I don’t know what I’m going to do?” she mocked crying in her arms.

“Ah honey,” Obidaan said, “you know you’re the only girl for me.”

Laughing, Obidaan and Relina ‘made up’ and began to hug each other. With her arms wrapped around him, she hugged him tight. Then she heard a voice in her head, almost ghostlike, all it said was “Hello, Relina.”

Relina jumped back, startled. “You’re sword, it talked to me. I heard it while I hugged you.”

“Yeah,” Obidaan said without flinching, “I asked it to. Neat, huh?”

“Umm, yeah,” she was still clearly shaken, “just wish you had warned me, I wasn’t prepared for that.”

“I’m sorry, won’t happen again, now come here.” He hugged her more passionately now.

Soon they arrived back home. Everyone, even the gate guards knew what was going on, so eagerly one of them shouted to him. “How’d you do?” Obidaan proudly presented his sword. The other guard opened the gate slightly and yelled in, “He got it!”

Within seconds the word a loud roar went up through town. The gates were opened and there was king and queen waiting to horseback to greet them. Behind them was a banner reading “Congratulations Obidaan and The Vanguard.” The people were out cheering and drinking and a band was playing in the background.

They were overwhelmed by the sight. Everyone in town was here. Slowly, Obidaan proceeded forward. He met up with the king and queen. He put the sword away before shaking their hands and greeting them. “Congratulations, Obidaan,” the king said. “What you have done is an amazing thing. We have declared a day of celebration in your honor. There will be much rejoicing! Huzzah!” and the crowd responded with a thunderous “Huzzah!” of their own.

“But what if I had failed?” Obidaan asked.

The queen snapped her fingers and now the banner read “Better Luck Next Time! We Still Believe In You!”

“Then, this would have been a pick up celebration, to lift your spirits and let you know how much you mean to this town.” She snapped her fingers, returning the banner to it’s original message.

Obidaan laughed. In his laugh was also a release of tension, frustration, and doubt. For the first time in a long time, he was truly relaxed. “Well then, let us not keep these people waiting!”

“One last thing, if you don’t mind,” said the king, “may I see your weapon again?”

“Hold out your hands,” Obidaan said. The king did as instructed. A moment later Mystic appeared in his hands.

“Amazing,” said the king, as he felt the sword. He looked deeply at it, studying it in every detail, “You’re going to have to show off your tattoo to the crowd.” He couldn’t keep his eyes off the sword. Deep down, well below everyone’s perception, including his own, a pang of jealously developed. Nothing he owned was as stunning beautiful as Mystic. Recovering, he gave back the sword. Rather than grab it, Obidaan simply made it disappear out of his hand. “This way”

They followed them to a large table, in the town square. There was Mordechi and his son, several church elders and Martha from the orphanage. The group dismounted, Tomas ran to his mother and they all sat. “Dig in!” was all that was left to say and people began to eat of whole pigs and chickens, bushels of corn, pints of ale, buckets of fish, shrimp, and clams.

The Vanguard sat at the head of the table as honored guests. People ate till they were stuffed. Later Alister told the story, much exaggerated. A few even cry when he told of the sympathetic pains. The highlight of the afternoon came when Obidaan removed his shirt and showed everyone the tattoo, and the sword. Silence filled the area as people marveled.

Before the end of the night, Tomas showed off his knife to his mother. While concerned about him having a weapon, she was exceptionally proud of him, especially after hearing Aliste’s story. He kept the knife with him at all times; she knew it was more a trophy, a rite of passage, than a weapon.

Before the happy crowd dispersed, a ritual spell was performed to clean the streets and put everything back where it belonged. That night, Obidaan slept deeper than he ever had since becoming a paladin. He woke refreshed and ready to take on the day.