Chapter 21 - A Bonded Named Rose
ogen led Danny to the southernmost part of the island, a series of steep stone stairs were carved into the cliff face. Peering down, Danny gasped in amazement. Below him, stretching out a good distance from the base of the rock, was a beach of ivory-colored sand. The glint of metal caught his eye as he spotted Sabrina, practicing her skill with a slender-edged blade, just beyond the reach of the lapping waves.
With an eagerness he hadn't felt for some time, Danny hopped down the stone steps with Rogen following behind. Taking the last two steps with a jump, Danny hit the snow-colored sand running. He slowed his step as he came upon Sabrina, not wanting to startle her.
However, if she had noticed his presence she didn't show it, as she continued her deadly dance with a grace unparalleled. Wearing the red robes of Dragon Army, the thin cloth caught the slender curves of her body; it failed to hinder her movement as it fluttered in the salty sea breeze blowing in from the open water.
Danny watched her movements with amazement, his eyes drawn to the slender rapier in her hand as the blade caught the sunlight and reflected the rays in a pinkish hue. The hilt ended in the form of a blossoming pink rose with two petals, creating the hand guards. Twisting before him, Sabrina dipped low and brought the blade before her, causing it to hum as it cut through the air. With her eyes shut, she continued her ballet with the blade, seemingly unaware that someone watched her with a careful eye. Danny stepped forward with the intent to interrupt and stir her from her trance. However, he stopped as he felt a restraining hand on his right shoulder. Turning, he met Rogen's eyes as the blond-haired boy shook his head.
"Let her finish."
Danny took a step back, allowing Sabrina to continue.
Minutes passed as Sabrina fought off invisible enemies, whirling the pink rapier in an intricate pattern of combat. Then, with one final attack, she sheathed the blade into a matching scabbard at her side, and opened her eyes. Turning toward both boys, she smiled.
"You found me."
"Yeah," said Danny awkwardly, returning the smile. Dumbfounded, he added, "Rogen helped."
"I can see that," she said with a laugh. "I have something to show you," she added, pulling the rapier free from its scabbard and presenting it before her. "Her name is Rose."
"Her?" Danny asked, confused as Sabrina personified an inanimate object.
Sabrina smiled. "I assume Professor Torjan has yet to cover the subject of Bondeds?"
Danny nodded.
"Every single Bonded was once a Knight of the Light," began Sabrina in explanation, slipping her own back in the sheath. "When a Knight of the Light gets too old or is mortally wounded, they are given a choice, to pass with honor or be reborn in the enchanted steel of a blade so that they may still serve the Light."
"You mean your Bonded was once a living, breathing person?"
"She was a Knight of the Light," clarified Sabrina, "just as I shall be."
"And someone trapped her in that sword?"
"She volunteered for the greater good, to serve the Light."
"Can it… I mean she . . . talk to you?"
"From what I understand, the transition is difficult."
"I'd imagine it would be."
Placing her hand on the rose-hilted Bonded, Sabrina continued, "I can hear her thoughts vaguely. It is said that once a Bonded awakens to a wielder, its mind is but a pale shadow of the person it once was. As the link between Bonded and wielder grows, the Bonded matures in intelligence and power. However, all Bondeds develop relationships with their wielders differently."
"Will it… I mean . . . will she remember her past life, before she was trapped within the blade?"
Rogen stepped forward, pulling his own blade free from its sheath with the singing of steel. The blade, a soft gold, caught the amber rays of the overhead sun, reflecting brightly. The hilt, also plated in gold, crafted in the shape of the sun at the base, seemed to absorb the light and hold it, glowing ever so softly.
"Try not to think of it as a prison," he said. "A Knight of the Light gives oneself freely. It is considered the highest honor to become a Bonded."
"...And that's your Bonded?"
"His name is Radian," presenting the golden blade before him.
"There is no guarantee that a Bonded will remember its life before," continued Sabrina, answering the question Danny had asked before Rogen interrupted. "Some do, remembering small portions of their lives, others do not. It is the risk a Knight of the Light takes when the life is given."
"What exactly is given?"
"You are referring to the concept of the soul or the spirit?" Rogen asked.
"Yes, what if, by volunteering to become a Bonded, you give up your chance of an afterlife?"
"Assuming there is an afterlife," said Sabrina.
"Well, becoming a Bonded, by definition, is a form of life after death," added Rogen.
Danny shook his head. "But what if there's more?"
"That is a chance that one takes in order to preserve the ways of the Light," said Sabrina. "Whether it is one's soul or simply their consciousness, without the Bondeds, the Light would have fallen to the Dark centuries ago."
Danny tried to imagine what it would be like, trapped within a sword with only his thoughts to comfort him. He concluded that it would be a very lonely existence.
"Enough of this talk," said Sabrina, interrupting Danny's dark deliberations. "How is it that you ran into Rogen?"
Danny dropped his eyes, "About that…"
"What have you done now?" Sabrina asked, reading Danny's uncomfortable expression.
Danny refused to comment and looked at Rogen.
"Don't look at me."
"One of you better tell me what's going on!" Sabrina yelled, taking turns staring at both boys.
Rogen sheathed his bonded. "Danny has challenged Lieutenant Rigil to a duel," said Rogen, unwilling to meet Sabrina's frightful gaze.
"What?" Sabrina asked, locking her accusing soft brown eyes upon Danny.
"I challenged Rigil to a…" began Danny, only to be interrupted by Sabrina.
"I heard that!" she yelled. "Why would do such a thing!?"
"He tricked me," regaining his wits, raising his head to meet Sabrina's unwavering gaze, an action Danny quickly regretted. "I thought I might challenge him to a game of Knights in order to find you. I just wanted to see you."
"How foolish," said Sabrina, her voice but a whisper.
"What's done is done," interjected Rogen. "We don’t have time to waste thinking about what should or should not have been done."
"When is it?" Sabrina asked, turning to face the crashing waves and toiling dark clouds beyond.
Danny followed her stare and found small comfort in the rhythmic sway of the sea. "At the seventh chime, I'm to meet Sir Syndil two hours before to prepare."
"I don't know if any amount of preparation will see you victorious before Squire Rigil," said Sabrina. "He is a third-year squire, a lieutenant at that, meaning that his Bonded has at least progressed to the first Awakening."
"…first Awakening?"
Sabrina allowed herself a heavy sigh as she sheathed her Bonded and turned toward Danny. "As I said before, as wielder and Bonded work together, a Bonded becomes more aware, as well as more powerful. Each Bonded contains its own innate powers, different from any other. There are three phases to mastering a Bonded, called Awakenings. The first Awakening grants the wielder the powers of the blade. One must master the first Awakening to become a lieutenant in any army. The second grants the powers of the blade to the wielder as both work as one in battle. One must reach the second Awakening in order to become a captain. The third Awakening summons the consciousness of the Bonded into our world to fight side by side with the wielder."
"I had no idea Bondeds were so powerful."
"That is why, as a first-year squire with a normal blade, you stand almost no chance against Rigil," Sabrina snapped.
"What's his Bonded's power?"
"I do not know."