The Tale of the Swords of the
Ancients And Other Blades of Power
A Mythology
By
Kit Rae
(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).