Finally everyone was asleep in the house. He gathered his old cloak and wrapped it around him to ward of the dampness in the air. He walked out the back door and closed it quietly behind him. No sense in waking the sleeping people inside. Not tonight, especially tonight. He did not want anyone to know he had left and he especially did not want anyone to see him leave. They may try to follow.
The pathway was dimly lit by the moon that was out. He didn’t carry a flashlight or torches to help light his way. He knew the way though, walked it many times in the past. Would have walked it many times more if things hadn’t changed. But something had happened and he meant to put an end to it.
Finally he arrives at his destination. “Come out Dragon, I have need of you.”
I am here Old one
She saw you
Yes, she caught me – just like you did.
“I didn’t catch you and you know that – just like I know she didn’t catch you. But you promised me – you swore – she would not be The One.”
She is the chosen one just like you were.
“You have gotten forgetful in your old age, Wyrm, I chose you,” the old man shouts
No Old Man, you were chosen, just like your grandfather was and his grandfather before him. She is the one in line now. She will carry the burden for the next generation.
“No Wyrm, the burden was mine alone. You cannot take another, not of my kin. It will stop with me.”
The old man slips out the sword he had hidden behind him. He holds it up in front of him like he has so many times in the past. Its blade shines in the moonlight. The iridescent aura shimmers along its sharp edge. The dragon hilt pulses with the energy that is emanating this night.
“This is the mark of my burden that I have carried. The burden that was placed upon my family generations ago. That burden ends tonight Dragon!”
The old man slides one of his hands up the tip of the blade. He holds the Dragon sword by the hilt and the tip of the blade. Bending to one knee, he cries out. “The Burden Ends tonight!” He swings the sword down across his knee and breaks the blade cleanly in two. The pieces drop to the ground. Time stands still.
A thousand thoughts race across the minds of both human and dragon. Altercations and brawls, fights and battles. Some won and some lost, but through all of them, there was a bond that was shared between the human and dragon. Alliance formed so many years ago.
The old man looks down at those two pieces and fully realizes what he has done. He has broken a promise, a vow he made so many years ago. But the curse will not affect his beloved granddaughter, that much he knows. She will be spared the burden; it will not be placed upon her shoulders to carry. He stands and turns, never to look back again. A tear forms and runs down his cheek as he starts to realize what he has lost.
The old man is to far away to see or hear the dragon pick up the sword. He is too far away to notice the glimmer of light emanating from the two broken pieces as they are formed together as one.
As you wish - Old Friend – as you wish
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