C10

"I think that you might have some other choice if you will open up one of the boxes behind you," she said. "I believe that one of these would be suitable for you to carry." She did not mention that it was her belief only... for if she told him this, he might not take the sword at all. She had already found herself on the receiving end of far too many jokes because of the weapons that she carried upon her person.

She moved slowly backward away from him, so that she could look into the other wooden containers once more. She reached in one and pulled out the second helmet that was lying there. Its shape was almost exactly like the first... and though the metal that formed its hilt appeared much lighter than the metal of the one that she had picked up earlier, she knew that this metal must also be very light indeed. Yet when she set it aside, she saw a third helmet that she had not seen before among the ones that were left behind. Unlike the first two, this one had no holes cut into it for the wearer's eyes to see out of. "What do you think of this?" she asked the man as she held out the new object for his inspection.

He looked it over and shrugged. "I suppose it could be worth something as well... if you wanted to trade it with someone else." He lifted up the box where he had been keeping the swords and turned back to face her. "Or perhaps you could use this for a hat? It is much like one I used to wear."

"Perhaps you can trade your hat for it," she replied, trying hard to sound like the most casual trader in the world. "I think that it might suit me just fine. I am sure that my hat would get lost in any of those other boxes." Then she pulled it over her own head and stood up straight again. "If you are still willing to buy swords, then I will gladly trade this for the one that I have traded for already." She handed it over to him... but he did not seem at all happy with what she offered him. "It was quite an interesting thing," he muttered, "and I am sorry that I could not give you more for it. Perhaps you would be willing to trade this instead?" He pointed toward a box in the corner of the room, and inside was a very large axe whose shape and size made it appear far too heavy for any mortal man to lift. "That looks much like a sword as well," he explained, as he took the axe from its place and carried it over to the other man who stood next to her. The other man seemed equally unhappy with what he received... but he did not have anywhere near as much choice as she did. "I suppose that if you are looking for one of these axes, you could use it to split the heads off some of those guardsmen as well."

He put away the axe and reached back into his own box of weapons, this time pulling out another weapon. It looked very different than any of the others that were being used by either of the men... though she would have known that it was a sword without even seeing the hilt that rested against the end of its blade. This one had been crafted from the same smooth metal as the ones that she herself wore... and there was no doubt that this was something far stronger and lighter than any weapon that she had ever seen before. But this sword was different in other ways as well. Instead of having sharp edges that could cut into flesh or skin when the wielder drew it forth, this sword had many points of sharpness along its length, which would be useful if this sword was used to stab enemies as they attacked.

She held out her hand for this sword, and the other man who stood next to her handed it across to her. When she took the weapon from him, she realized that there were no fewer than a dozen different knives that were hidden in places along the length of its blade. "Do you see any of those guardsmen?" asked the man with the axe as he walked up beside them again. He was holding it now upside down, and she could see that the handle of this weapon was much longer than hers, though not so long as his own axe had been. "Perhaps we should start chopping off their heads just to make sure that they stay out of our way."

"It is too late for that," said the other man as he took his knife from its place. "There are dozens of them already lying on the ground behind us, and they will continue to pile up until every last one of those men has been brought down."

This is a Dragon story.

She felt very tired and sad all of a sudden. She had tried so hard to protect her people, yet there were still too many of the enemy who stood in their way... and they seemed to be growing stronger even as she grew weaker. How could anyone have expected that she and the rest of her army would be able to fight the entire city full of soldiers? The numbers did not seem to be in their favor at all, and the only chance she had had of coming through alive was to come upon some great weapon or magic that would turn the tide in their favor... but she could not sense any such thing among the things that she had seen before her. Yet if she were going to die fighting anyway, why not do something that might save some of the lives of the people whom she cared for the most? "I am sorry that I cannot trade you the sword that you want," she told the man as he held it out toward her. "But perhaps there is a better weapon for me to use."

"It seems as if your blade is quite long enough," he replied with a smile as he took back the sword from her once more. "If you would be willing to carry it into battle for us, I am sure that we would be very glad to pay you far more for it than you asked from us." He set the sword down on the floor by his feet once again and turned around so that he could face her. "You must fight for us," he explained as he reached up to take the knife that was still hidden along the length of the sword's hilt. "And you will certainly have a chance to kill as many of those men as you are able before they can even reach us... for they are much farther away now than when we first started. We are almost home free, I think."

"I wish that I could help you," she told him as he handed her the knife that she was to wield into battle. "But I am still no closer to finding what I need. If I had some magic that I could use..." She shook her head, and she wondered just how far it might be to a place where there was another great magical weapon waiting to be used... perhaps a weapon that might defeat the enemy in one stroke of its great hilt. But then she remembered the great magical axe that was sitting nearby. It would be difficult for any other weapon to slay hundreds of soldiers as easily as it might do so in one mighty blow. She picked up the axe instead, and carried it over to where the two men stood, both of whom looked pleased to see that this choice would please her so much. "Do you really think that this is a good weapon for me to use?" she asked them.

The man with the axe laughed out loud and swung the weapon upside down so that the sharp points of its blade would come toward his own hand. "Of course it is!" he said as he showed her the handle of the axe again. "It might not be as deadly as the blade that I used before, but it will certainly be much easier to carry into battle for us than my last axe. I believe that you will find it quite light once you have carried it all day long. And the fact that it swings upside down makes it far less likely to get knocked against something else or fall apart entirely." He reached back into his own box and pulled out another weapon as well. "This one is much larger than the ones we have already seen," he said as he held up the large spear for her to look at. "You see how thickly these metal rods are laid together here?" He ran a hand along the length of the shaft. "If you were to cut your way through even part of one of these, you would find yourself fighting your own way through more guardsmen before you knew it."

She stepped back and let him take the spear from her once again. "It seems too big for me to be able to use," she told the man as she set it down on the floor beside her. "But if I must fight with it, then I will certainly try."

"I hope that you do not find yourself regretting your decision," replied the other man. "For I should imagine that you will be carrying this around far longer than any of the swords we saw before." Then he reached back into his own box of weapons again, and took out yet another very different weapon that he was willing to trade her.

It seemed as if his eyes lit up when he saw her holding up the blade of the new object in her hand... for he was no longer able to hold himself back from showing his delight at finding a new toy. But there was nothing childish about his smile at all. "What kind of a blade might this be?" she asked him, as she tried hard not to appear as excited as he was about seeing this new thing.

"It is called a scabbard knife," he explained to her. "It has been designed especially for use by people who fight from horseback. You see how wide this knife's edge is? It can be used to slice off a horseman's reins so that he will lose his ability to control the creature, or it could even be used to slit the man's throat as he falls." He held the weapon out toward her, and she noticed how sharp the edge of this blade looked... but how much more delicate its appearance was than the one that she herself had seen earlier. "I am sure that this scabbard knife will serve us just fine against any horsemen that come upon our way... and if you ever find yourself in need of a new horse, then this one might make a perfect replacement for what you have lost."

He reached into his own box again, and took out yet another knife as well... though he was careful this time not to show his delight quite as much. This one was much longer than all of the other knives that she had seen so far, and it seemed to be designed for slicing through something like leather straps. If she were going to try and cut off someone's leg as he rode past her on horseback, then this would certainly do the trick. But she did not believe that she had much opportunity to use such a knife against anyone who might ride alongside her... so why would she bother with something like it at all?