Episode One Hundred and Sixty: Hungry Sword

I felt awkward.

“How much?” asked Kyra without missing a beat. “I unfortunately cut it recently, but I can totally pay that as long as I have enough.”

“It says several strands.”

“Not an issue.” Within seconds, Kyra separated out the longest strands she had left and braided them, before using her knife to cut the bunch near her scalp.

I didn’t know what to say as I took the bundle. Her hair tingled in my hands, like I’d touched a battery to my tongue.

“Do you have a tub I can use?” she asked, picking up the bag.

“Sure, I bet I have one…” I reached under the counter, unsure of where to place the hair. I set it off to one side and, behold, there was a tub long enough for her sword to fit inside. I pulled the plastic container out, careful to not squeeze the edges too hard.

“That will work.” Kyra picked up the sword and placed it inside, followed by opening all four bags and dumping them into the container. The silver shavings, amethyst dust and lightning glass all made sense. Though, the lightning glass looked like pebbles with sharp edges, and I wasn’t sure what it really was.

The crystalized Zephyr’s breath made absolutely no sense. A bubble floated out of the bag and shattered into what looked like little bits of glass when it hit the sword.

Kyra then used the same knife to cut the edge of her arm and drip some blue blood inside. 

I couldn’t look away as she pulled a water bag out of nowhere and poured water into the mixture.

“Hopefully it works,” she muttered.

“You don’t know if it’ll work?” I asked, grabbing Indigo away from the tub as she tried to stick her head inside.

The dragon glared at me.

“It’s not like it comes with much instruction. It only told me it needed to be fed, and then it wanted that when you brought it out.”

“So you talk to your sword?”

“You talk to your cat?” Kyra shrugged. “It’s a weird world we live in.”

Indigo chirped. “And dragons.”

“You are right…” I shouldn’t find it weird that she didn’t know how to do magic. I was still learning, and felt like I’d be learning more all the time. “It is a weird world… speaking off. Why does the pyramid look different in the sun?”

Kyra’s eyes flickered to me in confusion. “What do you mean? Sunlight doesn’t change…”

The sword started glowing again, this time a bright white, almost silver, as the liquid lowered in the tub. 

Magic tingled in the air, and I stepped back, pulling Indigo off the counter. The Cat jumped to the floor.

Kyra leaned in closer, and the light almost danced along her skin. The crackles glowed even brighter on her body, and she smiled. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as the light danced. Whispers tickled at the edge of what I could hear. 

“Daughter, keep… the path… truth.”

What I made out felt broken, but it wasn’t for me. It was for her.

I blinked as the golden shimmer of magic returned, connecting the sword and the strange woman. A feeling of rightness echoed through the room as all the things blinked out, including the golden shimmer.

Kyra wiped the tears away and swallowed hard before picking up the sword. She slung it into a hidden sheath on her bag and it vanished from sight. Her eyes met mine.

“I owe you way more than hair. If you need me, I will come. Just sing my name.” The next words she spoke felt more like lyrics dancing on the wind. Images flashed in my mind of a flower petal made of lightning dancing alone in a breeze. Then it stopped, and we were back in the shop. Yet, it felt like her name flickered in the back of my mind. I knew I could sing that if I needed to, even though generally I wasn’t a very good singer.

Kyra nodded at Indigo in my arms, then turned and headed out of the shop. The door shut quietly behind her, and it felt like all the energy left the room.

I sunk down to the stool and set Indigo back on the counter.

“What was that?”

“The last storm elemental, by my guess,” said the Cat as he leaped up on the counter. “I believe the souls of her ancestors are in that blade.”

“What did we do?”

“Not a clue, but it must have been important.”

Indigo glanced between the two of us, like we were dumb. “Family matters.”

“Yeah, her family is in the blade.”

“Magic added to bond.” Indigo frantically shook her head no. “She spoke to her mother.”

I swallowed hard at that, as understanding rippled through me. “Oh…”

Indigo crept closer to me and I patted her head lightly.

“Someday, I speak to mother.” Indigo said with full confidence. “When bigger.”

“I hope you get the chance,” I whispered.

“I will, Grandpa said so.”

This time I nodded. It must be a dragon thing, or a magic thing I didn’t know about. Especially since dragons returned to the tree when they passed away. I still didn’t really understand what the tree was, besides that the leylines led there and the leylines connected the worlds. Or at least, that’s what the books said. 

The whole thing felt so strange. Then again, magic existed, so what did I know? It felt like I couldn’t learn it all, and so I just went with the flow. My basic needs were met, and my life was so amazing. I could handle not understanding things most of the time. Other things, I wanted to know about badly.

My eyes flickered to the Cat, and back to the door.

“So what’s next on the docket?” I asked, thinking of the day we were originally supposed to have.

“I think we should call it a day,” grumbled the Cat.

“It’s still early!” Then I remembered what was missing, and twisted back to the espresso machine. “Cat, where is Betty?”

“Probably getting fixed. Did the steam go everywhere?”

“Yes, but that was only the steaming wand. It should…”

The counter rippled upward and the beautiful espresso machine slowly rose from the wooden counter back to where it was before.

“Okay, that’s better…” I mumbled before taking a deep breath. My shoulders felt like they were up to my ears. “Maybe you’re right and we should take the rest of the day off.”

“I am always right. The sign says so.”

By the time I glanced over, the Cat had vanished and Indigo was flying toward her hideaway. I guessed some relaxing time was needed after that event.

I needed to review my contract after all, and find out if I might order some food from that place without a strength boost. Maybe something that made me more flexible. Something I didn’t need to learn to use to avoid breaking the shop.