The loss at first was great. A pain, a wound deep within. I tried to shield my hurt by making light, but poking fun at Telosh for losing.
While now I finally see it was just a sword. That is not what bushwacker was to me before it loss. It was The Treasure of all the treasures we had found. It was magic to me. It was what finally made me feel like I could be a Hero.
When Alexis found me in Aiger I was in the family rut. My path was set like a well made stone wall. All I had to do was stay and place each day like you place each brick. The world was out there, but it wasn’t a world I would ever see.
And then, quickly, that changed. Alexis spoke of the world outside my grove. He knew of lore and history never spoken in my family. And so I followed him beyond the wall of Aiger into the world about.
When we met with Gustav I saw someone so in his place outside. So able to move through the woods like one would move through a crowded market. His sense of where to go, when to stop and what was edible amazed me.
Quickly I found my footing and learned much. But still I didn’t feel like I had my place. Getting the mules into the Lost City was the first glimmer that I could be useful to this group.
But finding Bushwacker, that was when I finally started to feel like I could fight. The way it felt in my hand. The way it sliced. It was a sword that gave me confidence.
When we met with Telosh it set me back on my heroic feelings. This was a man that could fight, take a beating, give a beating. But I didn’t give up. Watching Telosh I learned that hitting something is important. But where you hit something is even more important.
As we traveled I took every chance to use the sword. This meant swing it at anything, even the underbrush. The group, Alexis in particular, gave me grief. But I needed the practice. With each swing my confidence grew. Each swing the sword felt that much more natrual.
The loss of that Bushwacker meant my journey to Hero had faltered. I felt a bit lost, unsure. At first I blamed Telosh. But truly it was not his fault. He desired the sword the moment he laid eyes on it. I took solace in how it was lost, heroically lunging onto the dragon itself.
Lost to he hero path without the sword. But I could not give up now. We were too deep into our mission. So I pushed on. Found what hope I could. And tried to learn to use new weapons.
Taking down that dragon with our minds., with a well oiled plan… without Bushwacker. That re-lit the spark in me. The sword was just a sword. Alexis was wrong no amount of sharpening could have dulled the magic in that sword. The magic of that sword was in how it made me feel. But what I have learned is that the magic of being a hero is within me, within us. And no single sword can make that big of a difference.
