The Story the Sword of the Father - Essay Example

Father’s Sword “There, my child, it is high time for you to go to bed”, a woman said. She was evidently about thirty years old and was wearing a beautiful kerchief embellished with gilt beads to cover long black hair luxuriating on her shoulders. She approached a bedside table intending to take away a carven candleholder that cast bizarre shadows all over the child’s room. “But mother, would you tell me the story once again?” “Oh, what a naughty child,” sighed the women and smiled condescendingly. “Alright, then make yourself comfortable and listen”, and she nestled in an armchair nearby. “A century ago, Maziland prospered and thrived, being among the richest kingdoms in Africa. Like nature divided the land between gigantic mountains and golden desert sands, two powerful clans shared it, each ruling its own territory and preserving tense but stable diplomacy with the other. The first clan, Kordz, dwelled in mountains in a great city of Mihabad, and their king was Xan. The other clan, Arboz, inhabited the land of desert with the capital in Sahod, a magnificent oasis amidst the sands, and their king, Azdahak, was young and hot-tempered, yet just and brave. All of a sudden, Maziland was attacked by a hostile army of Tataz, a people from the north. The warriors of Tataz were short and very strong, wearing red hair and long bosky beards. Like locust, these cruel people came in huge numbers, threatening Maziland. Being decisive about saving their land, kings of the two clans concluded an alliance to defeat the enemy and defend Maziland, even though they had always preferred to keep the distance between the clans. Yet, not only was the military alliance forced by the danger form the outside. Desperate and enraged by the blatant cruelty of the enemy, Azdahak, the king of Arboz, resorted to black magic to enter the Cave of Evil hidden in Sahara’s depths. There, he made a deal with the evil spirit Shetan who had been imprisoned in the cave for centuries. Shetan gave Azdahak an invincible magical sword possessing great power, which would help the king defeat Tataz. In return, Shetan demanded as much as five hundred young women to become his slaves for good. The price was enormous, but Azdahak was too desperate to chaffer. The sword he was given was truly invincible: its blade was of sheer steel glaring with its sharpness in the sunlight, and its handle was carved from the apple tree of the garden of Eden - that very tree that became a reason of Adam and Eve’s Fall – and covered with snakeskin. So, he carried this sword to Sahod and got ready for the battle with Tataz. The battle was severe and bloody, but Azdahak, feeling incredible power entering his arms as soon as he raised the sword, helped the joint army of Maziland to defeat the enemy and preserve their homeland’s prosperity. Yet, the sword had another hidden effect. The rising power it gave to Azdahak dazsed him and blinded him, and in the whirl of rage, he killed his ally, Xan, and overtook control over the entire Maziland, becoming the sole governor of it. A week after the battle, Azdahak woke up in pain in the middle of the night. He felt terrible pain in his shoulders and arms, and he saw two snakes coiling under the skin on his shoulders with their heads turned hungrily at his face. The king was tortured by pain, unable to rule the land and even to eat by himself. As he summoned the best sorceress of the kingdom to his palace for help, she looked inside her magic crystal ball and said: “Did you conclude any dark covenants, my lord?” And the king confessed to her of his misdeed committed out of the desire to save his land. The sorceress narrowed her almond-shaped eyes in a thoughtful manner and sat still for several minutes staring at the oracle. “Well, your majesty. There is the cure for your pain, but it will not be easy, it will be cruel. Every 14 days, as soon as the moon gets full, you must sacrifice the hearts of two youths, a boy and a girl, to these snakes to calm their hunger. Remember, you must kill two 18-years old children and extract their hearts, and then feed the snakes carefully.” Azdahak followed the advice, and the kingdom became engulfed by awe, for every fourteen days, two families lost their dear children for good, when the king’s soldiers came and took them to the palace for the sacrificial offering…” “But mother, wasn’t Azdahak a good person? Didn’t he regret killing children?” a girl opened her big eyes in a compassionate manner. “He did, Samira, he did regret. However, he thought that he did not have other ways out, and he feared death. One of the ministers of Azdahak’s court, Ermin, was sympathetic to the children and strongly opposed the ritual killings, but fearing to fall out of the king’s favor and be executed, he could only lessen suffering of people with artifice. As Ermin was responsible for the execution of the youth, he bribed the soldiers, who obeyed him, and asked them to kill only one of the children. Then, he mixed their heart with the hearts of the kettle and served for Azdahak’s snakes, while the saved boy or girl were sent to the Sepan mountains and hidden there to never come back home again. Twenty years had lapsed since the battle with Tataz, and Xan’s son Jan, who lived as an ordinary citizen in his native city of Mihabad in the mountains, was already 40 years old. He worked as a blacksmith and made swords and shields for the soldiers, entertaining himself with forging beautiful chandeliers and roses. He had lost four children to the cursed king and he remembered so well the day his father was killed by him. In 14 days, the soldiers were to come for his last daughter Gul and bring her to the palace for sacrifice. Jan was afire with despair and fury, but he knew that Azdahak would kill his entire family once he went to fight against him. Similar to a wild stallion violently trying to release himself from the fetters, Jan lashed around the house until his eyes caught the sight of the old chest standing in the corner: there, his father’s shield and sword rested waiting until Jan was ready to take them and fight Azdahak. He opened the chest and extracted a large oblong shield of white metal totally covered with dust – he thought: “Father’s pride and glory.” The sunray fell onto the polished metal, and Jan saw the words engraved on the reverse side of the shield: “Come to me any time, son”. Enthralled by the mysterious message, the man looked deeper into the chest and saw an envelope closed up with a seal. Jan knew: it was a seal of Sakra, the king of Elves. A map was enclosed in the envelope – it was a detailed map of the Sepan mountains with a path to a castle carefully marked with red ink. Jan was so inspired by the message on the shield that he decided to find the castle, as a gleam of hope to save his family appeared in his restless heart. The journey across the mountains was full of perils – unseen poisonous plants stuck their thorns into Jan’s aching feet, and wild winds gushed in his face. As he crossed one of the heights, a group of elves armed with spears and bows attacked him. As their commander was about to kill him, the man shouted: “Stop! I need to see Sakra!” These words produced the desirable effect, for the elves knew: very few people new the name of their king. And they took him to the castle. The king was so astonished with Jan’s visit that he couldn’t say a single word at first. Later, having wined and dined the guest, he commenced with his story: “Years ago, I served to the king Sileman, a very powerful sorcerer, who had a magic ring that allowed him to control winds, animals and elves. However, he was very supercilious and cruel. One day, he sent me and other elves far, far east assigning us to bring him 100 women as slaves. Yet, human feelings took over me, and I fell in love with one of them. Oh, what a beautiful woman it was… We decided to escape from Sileman and save all those forlorn women. And we settled here, amidst the mountains, and I married this woman. Unfortunately, she died giving birth to my dear son, Malik.” “Malik?!” Jan was “Yes, it is your grandfather, the father of Xan. He didn’t want to live in the mountains for the rest of his life, and I let him go to the kingdom of humans to start a new life.” Jan was appalled by this revelation. “The only way to defeat the snakes that drown your kingdom in the blood of innocents is something from God, for the curse of the snakes was put by the evil Shetan. You should go to Urfaz, a great lake westwards. The legend coming from the ancient times states that Zezafon put God’s prophet Ibraham into fire to destroy him, but God – defending his favorite – turned fire into water and wood into fish. The water filled the valley and it became a big magnificent lake. Go, son, and take the fish from the lake, then bring it to Azdahak and try to make his snakes eat it. This will break the curse.” The journey to Urfaz was hard and long, and Sakra gave a splendid companion to Jan: it was a beautiful white horse with glaring main and large silver wings. “This is Burak, my favorite stallion. Take him and you will come back to Sahod a day before the king sends his soldiers for your daughter.” Jan flew to Urfaz and took the fish from the lake. As soon as he came to Sahod, he met Ermin and revealed the plan to him. Ermin, who was exhausted by his grave duty of executing innocent youths, supported Jan ardently. At night, as the king was sleeping, they took the fish to his bedroom and offered it to the snakes, for they were always awake. As soon as they ate the fish, it turned into fire and set the snakes ablaze. The king woke up furious and gripped his sword. However, Jan was faster and beheaded Azdahak with the sword of his father. The cursed king was defeated, and noble Ermin took his throne, multiplying prosperity of Maziland, while all young people he had saved with his cunning were led back to their homes by Jan, who took Burak back to Sakra and asked friendly elves to guide them. Jan, in his turn, returned to his family and his daughter Gul, who grew up happily.” “Mother, what an exciting story! I can listen to it a thousand times more!” Samira said half-sleeping. “Exciting indeed”, replied Gul smiling. “Next ask your grandfather to tell it.” And she blew out the candle. Read More