The Cursed Sword

Isabella sat on a chair beside her and I made myself comfortable on the ground.

"Adrian, I never saw my mom or my dad. I am in this valley since my birth and I have never seen the outside world. Hecate raised me like her child but she refuses to talk about my parents. She says that they died. I knew she was hiding something so I decided to find out myself. I listened to the voice and found this place." she said. I could see the struggle in her eyes. She was struggling to know the truth. She was struggling to find... herself.

I was silent the whole time. After all, what could I say. I knew that my words won't be enough to heal her soul.

She stood and walked to the book rack at the corner. She took out a book and began turning it's pages.

"Adrian, I have spent so much time here, in this library, reading these books. And I am sure of one thing; that sword, the sword of Peleus, it's bad news." she said and showed me the page she was reading.

I looked at the crinkled page and was surprised. It had a painting, quite beautiful, of a sword. It was... my sword, the one I found in the armoury. "Is it... "

"Yes, it is the same sword." Isabella said. "Everything about the sword's original owner, Peleus, is written in this book." she said and then started to read aloud the contents of the book.

"Peleus was the king of Phthia. He married a beautiful sea nymph, Thetis. Actually...Thetis was courted by both, Zeus and Poseidon. But one day, Themis, the titaness* of divine law and order, gave a prophecy that the son of Thetis would become greater than his father. So Zeus planned to marry Thetis off to a mortal so that her son can never challenge the gods." Isabella turned the page.

"Peleus fell in love with Thetis but she had the ability to change her form. Whenever Peleus tried to capture her, she would change her form and escape."

"He wanted to capture her? No wonder she was running away from him." I said and Isabella looked at me with disbelief.

"Concentrate here." she scolded me.

"Okay." I promised

"Peleus went to the great centaur Chiron, who told him how to win Thetis' heart. She agreed to marry him. A grand wedding feast was organized and every god was invited...except Eris, the goddess of discord. This angered the goddess. She decided to take revenge. Eris arrived at the banquet with a Golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides*. She said that the Golden apple was for the fairest goddess of all. "

"Three goddesses claimed the apple : Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They asked Zeus to judge which of them was fairest, and eventually he, reluctant to favour any claim himself, declared that Paris, a Trojan mortal would judge their cases."

"While Paris inspected them, each attempted with her powers to bribe him; Hera offered to make him king of Europe and Asia, Athena offered wisdom and skill in war, Aphrodite offered the world's most beautiful woman. This was Helen of Sparta, wife of the Greek king Menelaus. Paris accepted Aphrodite's gift and awarded the apple to her, receiving Helen as well as the enmity of the Greeks and especially of Hera. The Greeks wanted their queen back and this resulted in the Trojan War*."

"On the other side, Thetis and Peleus had a son, Achilles. Thetis was determined to make him invulnerable. So, she dipped him in the sacred River Styx, but Peleus stopped her. Achilles' heel was the only part of his body that hadn't touched the water and also so the only vulnerable part." Isabella closed the book and put it back.

"Okay great story and all that... But what it has to do with my sword?" I asked, still in great confusion. And then, Isabella picked up another book from the same row and opened it.

"When Eris arrived at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, she had come with a plan of the death of Peleus' future child, Achilles. Achilles' death...was her revenge."

"How?" I asked.

"Her Golden apple started the cause for the Trojan War. And she knew that Peleus' son would fight in the war. She also made sure that Achilles actually gets killed in the war."

"She knew that Peleus would give his sword to Achilles. So, Eris cursed... the sword of Peleus. Achilles fought the whole battle using his spear but he did the mistake of taking the cursed sword with him and that day... became his last." when she was done with the story, I felt the ground slipping away from my feet. What? I claimed a cursed sword!!!

Calm down Adrian, there has to be a way out.

"What... what was the curse?" I hesitantly asked, not sure whether I wanted to hear the answer.

"Umm... that part." she paused and then handed the book to me. I looked at it. The right page of the book...it was torn. Why?

"What... "

"I know. I tried to find the missing page but... " she lowered her face and I understood what she was saying.

I wanted to know what was the curse.

"Where's the sword, Adrian?" Isabella worried asked for she was not able to see the sword.

And for a fortunate second, I, too, forgot about where the sword was.

"Oh... actually," I imagined the sword in my hands and it appeared, just like it had when I was in the armoury.

"Wow! How did you do that?" Isabella's eyes widened in surprise.

"Umm... it's just that when I imagine it to disappear it does and when I imagine it, it reappears." I said and she looked impressed.

"Looks like it's... it's enchanted." she took the sword and examined it like it was some sort of diamond.

But I didn't want to be a sacrificial lamb so that Isabella can examine a historical weapon.

I took the sword from Isabella's hands and looked at her with unyielding determination.

"I want to get rid of this problem."