After the grown-ups had left to get on with whatever they needed to get on with, Glynda was suddenly not at all happy with her new sword, in fact, she was quite upset by all that had happened. She wished now that she had never tried experimenting and wished she had not shown the others.
“What’s the matter Glynda,” Tom asked now they were almost alone together.
“It’s the sword, I don’t want it, I know I can’t change what has happened, but I really don’t. I want to be a healer and restorer not a mighty warrior with a magic sword.”
“But the sword can only be used for good, so don’t think of yourself as a warrior, think mighty defender instead,” said Tom.
Glynda smiled at Tom, he always seemed to know the right thing to say. She was beginning to like Tom.
“Come on, I know a really good leather-smith who will make you a beautiful scabbard of soft leather for your sword.”
So, Tom and Glynda set out for the town to see the leather-smith, or the cordwainer as he preferred to be known, as he also made the very finest and softest leather shoes.
“Well, you’ll have to leave it with me for a couple of days,” the cordwainer said, “can’t just produce one out of thin air. I’ll need at least two days.”
“But I can’t leave it,” protested Glynda, “it’s not possible.”
“Why not? It would be perfectly safe with me here.”
“It’s a magic sword and I cannot leave it anywhere,” Glynda answered, but really, she just didn’t want to let it out of her sight.
“Yes dear, of course it is, I don’t know, all you wizards are the same, not that you’re even one of them yet; you think everything’s magic.”
“Then I’ll go then,” she said winking at Tom, “I’ll leave the sword here and leave. Shall I shut the door on the way out?”
“Yes, and don’t come back for at least two days, maybe even three.”
The two of them turned and exited the shop, they were just a few yards up the road when….
“Dragon Slayer,” Glynda whispered.
There was an almighty crash. The sword had smashed through the door and was flying towards her hand, she caught it deftly, turned and returned to the shop.
“Now do you see my problem?”
“Your problem! What about my problem, that sword has smashed my door into matchwood, who’s going to pay for that then?”
“Here,” said Tom, “here is one gold coin for the door and another for the scabbard.”
“Well, that’s very generous young sir, but one gold coin should cover it all.”
“Yes, but we have to stay here while you work, so a little extra for the inconvenience,” Tom said with a smile.
“Where would a kid like you get two gold coins anyway? That’s several months wages for most.”
“My dad is Llewellyn the Brave, the Elder.”
“Okay, that explains it then, I’ll start work straight away, if I work only on your order, it might be a little quicker.”
Tom then emptied onto the workbench a small leather pouch full of emeralds, rubies, and other stones.
“Please can you work these into the leather as well, we want it to look pretty for the lady?”
“Oh Tom, please, you have already been most generous, please don’t give me your jewels as well.”
Tom dropped his voice to a whisper so the leather-smith would not hear. “Don’t worry about them, I have bucket loads of them hidden away.”
By the evening that day, Glynda had the most beautiful stone-encrusted leather and silver scabbard and a fine soft leather brace to support it on her back. She was delighted. They both thanked the cordwainer for his time and left for the place they called home.
When they arrived back, there was much celebration of the new scabbard, all except Samuel, who did not seem to care one way or the other.
“Well, I’ll be off then,” Samuel suddenly announced.
“What do you mean off? Off where? Where are you going?” Glynda blurted out without taking a breath.
“Up to now I have been your protector, I’ve been with you for many years, in fact ever since you were orphaned. But now your magic is under control, and you have the Dragon Slayer, I’m not needed anymore, so I might as well be off and back to my own kind.”
“No,” cried Glynda, “you can’t leave, not now, of course I still need you, you’re my friend, my best friend ever, I may not need protection anymore, but I still need you as a friend, you can’t go, I love you too much to let you leave, and I thought you loved me too.”
“Well yes, of course I love you,” he said awkwardly, dwarfs don’t really go in for mushy stuff, “I always have, you’re the little sister I never had.”
“And you’re the big brother I never had, please stay,” she said, tears running down her cheeks, “please.”
“Oh, alright then,” he said surprised, “sorry, I didn’t think you needed me now you’ve got your new family,” he said looking around at the others.
“We’re all family here,” said Gwen, “you as well, you great lump.”
“Right,” said Llewellyn, resuming control, he didn’t really like the soppy sentimental stuff either, “now that little drama is over, The Master has been seen in and around the old quarries, he seems to be mustering some sort of army out there. First light tomorrow, Flinty and I are headed out there for a recce. No one, and I repeat, no one is to follow. We will be back in a matter of moments, so there’s no need for any heroics by anyone. Once we know what’s happening, we’ll be straight back to tell you and then the council. Understood?” He then looked at each pair of eyes in the room as if to reinforce the point.
The next morning, by the time the boys had crawled out of their beds for breakfast, their dad and Llewellyn and Flintock had both been and returned.
“Good morning sleepy heads, and good morning to Samuel and Glynda. Gather round, it’s not good news I’m afraid. Our friend Muenda has indeed gathered himself an army. It’s made up of dissident dwarfs, sorry Samuel, Goblins, which are never good news and I’m afraid some of the Elven community who broke away from Govannon Staley twenty odd years ago in protest at his puritanical rule and another hoard of dissidents from Gwir. In total, he has about five thousand with him. Although our forces would outnumber him, he will fight dirty, and he has magic that is more powerful than any on the council. He also has fifty or so Blue Dragons, probably of the old guard who don’t appreciate the more forward-looking rule of their new king, Evon the First.”
“So, what do you want us to do then?” Tom asked.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing. You’re still only kids and shouldn’t be involved in a war.”
“Well, we did all right in the last battle with The Master,” said Jon, “sent him packing if I remember correctly.”
“And Jon saw off the Blue Dragons who attacked Blaenoraid,” added Tom, “and sorted out all the pure-bred Blue Dragons when they trapped us in the cave.”
“All right, good point, well made, but don’t make a move until we have reported to the council and set a strategy. Understand?”
“Understood,” the boys said in unison.
“And you Gwen, don’t you do anything either, you’ve become a loose cannon ever since you arrived in Trymyll, and that’s not much more than a week. Just stay here with the boys, Samuel, and Glynda. We’ll be back soon enough.”
He and Flintock disappeared.
“Right, they’ve gone. What we going to do ma?” asked Tom.
“This time, just to be different, we’re going to sit here until your father gets home.”
“Awwh!” was the collective response.
“Council in session, all rise for the Elder of Elders,” the clerk said.
Llewellyn didn’t sit down but gestured the others to do so, instead, he paced up and down while he talked.
“High Elders of Trymyll, first, may we congratulate our three new members of the council for their overwhelming victories in the elections this week.”
They all clapped politely to each other.
“Unfortunately, The Master is on the move and has mustered himself an army of about five thousand souls plus between fifty and sixty Blue Dragons. Although we would outnumber them if we called our forces to arms, The Master may not play along with a military style battle but would use his incredible magic force to simply slaughter any army before him. But we have some powerful friends with us….”
The elders all looked at each other smiling, thinking he meant them.
“No brothers and sisters, not you. We have Flintock, who is here, Faraji, his great uncle and Gwen, my wife. Yes, I did say Gwen. She and Faraji are the last of the Guardians, a most powerful group of wizards of whom both Songhai Chen and The Master were once members. They have been, for want of a better word, dormant, for many years and were acting as hidden wizards back in their respective homes of Wales and Africa. Plus, we have Samuel, a dwarf who has an enchanted axe and his friend Glynda, who wields the sword known as Dragon Slayer.”
“But that is not possible,” Aneta Stepanek declared, “Dragon Slayer has been missing for over three thousand years, surely it is just a legend.”
“No, it is not a legend and now it is found, and its rightful owner is Glynda Guilliams-Erwood, although only a slip of a girl a year in age under Jonathan, she is powerful in magic and pure in thought and deed. Also, just to make you understand how gifted she is, like my Gwen and The Master, she does not need the use of a wand or staff,” Llewellyn paused while the elders had a sharp intake of breath, “she does have a wand, but unlike us, she can just use her hands.”
“Guilliams-Erwood, you said,” Aneta interjected. “That is an anagram of the original owner of the sword Giamillus-Weorod.”
They all sat or stood for a few moments, rearranging the letters in their heads to see if it was true, before any had finished, the Clerk to the Elders spoke, “It is correct, the letters match exactly.”
“Well,” continued Llewellyn, “interesting as that may be, how does it help or hinder?”
“She must be a direct descendant of the Giamillus-Weorod who rid the land of the powerfully magic and treacherous two-headed dragons who came from beyond the mountains,” Aneta answered.
“And if she is, then she can only be a force for good. Once the sword was hers, her appearance changed, her dull and dusty clothing became white robes and her hair as fair as the sun. I believe that she could be the new generation of Guardian,” Llewellyn said. “her power glows around her, she doesn’t just have an inner aura, her aura is visible on the outside and plain to see for all.”
“Then what are you suggesting? That we just send her out to fight on behalf of us all?” Govannon Staley of the Elven community said with indignity, “I have the finest archers, swordsmen and horsemen and women in the land. Are you asking me to let them be idle?”
“No, not idle, there are plenty of dwarfs, dissident elves and goblins which will need to be cleaned up after the first fight, but the battle between us and The Master needs to be done first. So, muster your troops, we leave for the old quarries to be there at first light tomorrow.”