The Tale of the Swords of the Ancients And Other Blades of Power

A Mythology

By

Kit Rae

 

Of the Fang of Baelin

(This is an excerpt from the full tale, ŇOf Luciendar and MorthosethÓ)

 

Many foul creatures were bred by the Dark One to do his bidding and wage his wars, and the fiercest of these were the Baelin, great fanged beasts the size of dragons that were unlike any animal yet seen in Ammon. They were black furred creatures with bony armor and spines like a reptile. If one bite from these black horrors did not defeat an enemy then the paralyzing poison within its fangs would render the attacker defenseless. The Dark One bred thousands of Baelin and placed them in the front lines of his army and they won him many victories, as they were very brutal and ruthless, capable of defeating innumerable soldiers in battle without being slain. The Baelin were also used by the Dark One as guardians of his magical talismans and treasure hoards, which he had hidden throughout the world. A Baelin could live for thousands of years and many remained in service to the Dark One even long after his death. It is said that no one other than the Dark One himself or one of his generals could command a Baelin. To this day the remaining Baelin still obey the last command of their master.

 

Barlodir had been told many terrible tales of these ferocious beasts and their deeds throughout the ages of Ammon, but he did not show fear now that he at last faced one, for Barlodir was also a mighty warrior having defeated many a foe. With his great battleaxe he fought and slew the creature, though the battle was long and BarlodirŐs wounds were many and deep, non were caused by those dread paralyzing fangs, which Barlodir had hewed from the great beasts head. While he lay in healing for many days thereafter, his company scoured the temple labyrinths until they had found the sword Luciendar. It was graved on the hilt with many sacred writings in the tongue of the Ancients. Whence the wielder spoke these words aloud he became invisible to his enemy; but the sword also held a lighted crystal in its clawed pommel, which gave the user vision to detect others that were also unseen or shadowed.

 

When fully healed, Barlodir took the teeth of the Baelin and forged a rare weapon of the old tradition, a Fang of Baelin. In the days of old when one of the great beasts was slain the fangs were removed and used as weapons, for they possessed great strength and paralyzing power. The handle for these fangs was formed from parts of the BaelinŐs armor and bones, for they held the unique ability to bind and grow themselves together, even after death. With the great armored plates of the beastŐs underbelly, Barlodir crafted a shield of impenetrable might.

 

 

The Tale of the Swords of the Ancients and Other Blades of Power and its previous versions, The Swords of the Ancients and its abridged excerpts, and other forms, are ©1997 and ©2005 by Kit Rae. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any other form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, computer networking, or otherwise without prior permission in writing by the copyright holder(s).