The Sword

Oscar Manuel Lopez Camargo

11/7/25

Day 1

That blasted beast! Stealing our cows, scaring the townsfolk half to death, what does it think it is? Well, from me at least, it’ll be dead and gone so long as the blade I wield, found amidst the trees of the Great Forest and blessed by the gods, guides me.

And just like in the tales my mother would tell, I shall stand for the people. I shall slay this beast, and ensure my village stays safe from any and all threats!

Oh, how I imagine the tales told of my story. Hehe, I suppose writing it all down makes it quite a bit easier!

Day 3

The mouth of the beast stands before me at the top of the mountain. Ah, how the passage of time changes a perspective! I swear, just a few days ago, the church back home felt like the biggest thing I’d ever seen. Now, it all looks so tiny.

Still, I cannot get myself lost in such thoughts. That dragon still stands, and I must end this reign of terror once and for all.

For my family, for my village, and for the gods! Huzzah!

Day 4

Huh. What a strange turn of events, that was. One moment, I’m staring down the dragon, blade aimed and ready to slay it…only for a stray torrent of fire to reduce it to molten steel. I was mortified at the moment, yet the second it fell apart from my hands, things changed. The scaly beast staring me down was no longer primed and ready to slay me, instead, it looked quite…defensive.

Behind them, surrounded by bones of the cows they had stolen, were three of its kin, their golden yellow eyes staring directly at me. In the moment, the clarity hit me like a stray apple to the head (thanks for the experience, Donovan).

I talked to it for a while, and while it couldn’t respond, it seemed to understand me. Thank the gods it did, heh! I had managed to make an agreement with it. Following me, I’d introduce it to the village! I’m hoping we can strike a deal, feeding it’s young in exchange for protection sounds like quite the bargain, ha-ha!

And now, dear future reader of this tale, is my story. Also, why I know that you shouldn’t let a dragon kin sleep on your lap. My legs have been asleep for ages, yet I feel like that’s a sign to get some rest myself.

I just wish it could’ve been a bit longer…

Day 7

Well, now this is what I call a story! Not a hero's tale, unfortunately, but one of a strapping survivalist! Lost in the woods, forced to work with what he has to make it out alive. Well, my mother didn’t raise a coward, and there’s no way I’m letting a small detour stop me from introducing my new friend to the town!

It shouldn’t be long before I’m out of this predicament anyway!

Day 9

I’m a bit confused. I climbed a tree a bit ago to get a read on my surroundings, and I could’ve sworn the town wasn’t too far off! Yet as I walked towards it, nothing seemed to change. No clearing into the field my town sat on, no lumber mills letting me know I was heading in the right direction, nothing! Just…more forest.

Strange, to say the least. But I won’t let that stop me. I’ve read the tales of sorcerers before, and some simple trickery hex isn’t going to stop someone such as myself! I will find you, and I shall slay you instead! Haha!

Day 12

Hmph. Such a nasty trick from the sorcerer, thinking they can fool me with a projection of the blessed sword I had unfortunately destroyed. Such blasphemy only invigorates my drive to slay you, and if it has to be done with the bow I had brought from home, then so be it!

Day 14

…am I really that bad with directions? I could’ve sworn, everywhere I’ve gone, in any direction, it’s always been more trees, or the path leading down to the “sword”. Not even a hint of the sorcerer anywhere either. I should probably keep moving. There has to be some kind of hint or something to break this hex.

Day 15

I’m ashamed. All it took was a day for me to bite at the trick being played at me. I reached for the sword. And thank the gods I didn’t touch it. I could’ve sworn I was feeling less and less of myself the closer I got towards it, like it was sucking away my intuition.

Whatever it is, I WON’T stop trying.

Day 17

I’m seeing it everywhere. I walk for a couple hours, and all I’m at again is the sword this time. The same glowing golden light the first time I saw it, the same stone it was plunged into, the same everything.

Thank the gods there’s still animals around for me to eat.

Day 20

More trees, more of the sword in the stone. I…I cried tonight by the fire. My mother has probably been worried sick the entire time. Just the thought of it makes me want to break down as much as it builds the anger inside me.

Heh…ironic. Donovan was always criticized by Sir Henry about his tendency to let anger get the best of him while training his combat techniques. I bet he’d be sleeping well knowing how much of a mess I am right now.

I wonder how they’re all doing.

Day 24

Trees. More FUCKING trees. Okay, forget the stupid formalities I’m using in this journal. Every tree I climb, every step I take, every direction I look, from the look of it it’s all for nothing! NOTHING! And every time I look at that stupid bastardization of the god’s sword in the distance, I get a step closer to smashing the thing to bits with my bare hands.

I swear, whoever the hell is doing this to me will have a slow, PAINFUL death.

Day 27

There are markings on the trees. Carved in on wood. The exact same symbols lining the sword when I grabbed it.

Someone’s in here with me.

Day 28

I haven’t slept. Every root sticking out of the ground, every branch is now pointing towards the sword in the stone. Every animal I see runs in the same direction. The woods WANT me to look back at the sword every time I pass it, to give it more attention than the split second I see the damned thing when it appears in my vision again.

The very world around me wants me to grab that fucking sword.

Day 30

Another day out here. I can’t help but-

“W-WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!”

The figure was pale, humanoid. A black bar, dark as the night sky was covering its face. No fanfare, no warning, it just appeared. Slowly, it began to float into the air.

“ARE YOU THE ONE WHO DID THIS?!”

The sky grew to a blinding light. I could barely look at it now.

“ANSWER ME! FUCKING ANSWER ME!”

Silence. The sounds of the forest around us grew disgustingly quiet. It turned down to look at me before vanishing.

Cold as night. Silent as a mouse. Its words punched through my spine and straight into my brain as fast as the chill did.

“You failed your calling, child.”

Fire swept in on all sides. I couldn’t move. My body wasn’t letting me.

“I’ll enjoy watching you die trying to fight me.”

Noise flooded in from all sides. Smoke filled my lungs with each panicked breath, the sky black with smoke, blending in with the wild oranges and yellows of the fire around me.

Behind me, the earth shook. I barely reacted. Before I knew it, I felt myself getting picked up and placed on the back of the very dragon I rejected to kill.

Below me, the forest was on fire, the dragon only adding more to whatever wasn’t already incinerated. In the distance, multiple wagons and horses were already far from the town, which had caught a number of unfortunate stray flames.

Despite…everything happening, I couldn’t speak, barely even blink either. All I could feel was the smoke in my lungs, the heat drying my eyes…and the numbing of my leg as one of the dragon’s kin snuggled up against me, terrified, yet luckily ignorant to what I saw.

The dragon took off, aiming to land by the caravan. To reunite me with my mother, with Donovan, with everyone else in the village. Everyone I cared about was safe, for now. I looked back. The only thing I could imagine was that damned sword in the stone.

I hope it gets reduced to nothing.