Week of October 28th, 2013: Week 2 Excerpt from The Black Black by Jodi Ellen Hall Chapter One: Her mother sighed wearily. “Once, many generations ago, the sphere was used as a weapon.” “I have never heard that?” Sheba stared at her mother in wide eyed confusion. “No darling, because it is not true. At least not that I have ever seen. I think it was just an old wives tale.” “No,” she shook her head. “It was used as a locator…that was what he meant…but why create one to control the other,” Sheba mumbled to herself as she stood and moved away from her mother’s bedside. Shayleem must have heard because she stared intently at Sheba. “You know about the blade then.” Shayleem’s voice was a mere whisper. “Your father showed it to you, did he?” Sheba turned and looked her mother in the eyes. She could no longer keep her secret. “No, he couldn’t, he said it was under a powerful curse. He found it right after grandfather left. Father knew more about it then Jarik. Both our sphere and the blade were made by the Fennari, but not here. They were a special set used for trapping souls. One was for killing and other for healing. There is a bigger truth that he tried to convey but I was too young to understand.” “What truth, Sheba, tell me.” Her mother said sharply. “He knew one day they would come for the sphere, that it is the only thing standing between them and the Black Blade. He knew Triphika would move against us, or else push us to the brink,” her voice grew rough. “Perhaps the sphere will tell me what I must do to stop them.” Shayleem stared at her daughter, the rigidness of her body, the dark circles under her eyes, and the tightness of her once full lips and the edge to her voice. “Sheba,” she replied carefully, watching her daughter’s movements. “Your father told me that the blade cannot be controlled without the sphere.” “Why?” The queen shook her head. “That is the way it was designed, Sheba. Do you think that the glorious Fennari would leave an empty blade on some backwater planet for no reason? They are prisons, Sheba. Just as the sphere imprisons Lord Anatos, the blade imprisons another… a creature far more dangerous than your beloved teacher ever was.” “King Azar knows that the Black Blade remains on Ghalador then?” “I do not know for sure. Its history is hidden from the rest of Ghalador. Now my dear, you must not speak of it again,” her mother hissed. “I have forbidden the use of the Black Blade if it should ever be found. It will never be used as long as I am queen,” she sighed as she fell back upon her pillows, her face pale and drawn. “Why would you do such a thing, when we are threatened byTriphika?” “Because it is the most dangerous kind of weapon, it is alive and craves only death.” “Death, a fitting punishment for his crimes,” Sheba growled. “What else is forbidden in Corazan, mother? Are we not one of the only kingdoms in the realm who hang men along the borders as a reminder that no man shall touch us without consent?” Her voice so brittle it was near shattering.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 16:21:16 +0000