[ IP ] Golden Sword

**The Prophecy** 
 
 Prophecy had spoken of a blade as golden as the sun. 
 
 When time began, darkness reigned. All were creatures of shadow and all were one. The gods were created shortly thereafter and quickly became bored and impatient with unification of all things. It was Kancana, the self-proclaimed trickster, who brought light to all. He turned himself into the first beam of sunlight and screaming across the cosmos brought light and life to everything that is known and all that is unknown. Shadows suddenly took form and were torn apart from each other. They now had differences and things to feel superior and inferior about. The once unified shadows felt self-doubt for the first time ever. 
 
 As Kancana reached the end of the cosmos, the shadows leaped forth and held him down. Kancana looked back and had seen what he had done; he had ignited balls of gas everywhere he had gone and now his light bled everywhere. The shadows swore revenge upon the mischievous shaft of light and cursed him to remain stuck as a shaft of light forever. Kancana was then cast into the torrent and confusion of the life he had created. So it was the Kancana eventually landed on the planet Om. 
 
 A hero had arisen on Om in the tumult and the chaos of the creation of light and being that he was so strange and new, the shadows immediately set upon him. A flash of light from the heavens was thrust into the ground before him and he took up the golden sword and held the creatures of darkness at bay. It is not known if the hero had a name or if it has simply been lost to time but what was remembered was the sword. The world of Om became a prosperous place for those born of light and the golden sword provided light for its denizens for generations. But ages of darkness and times and light ebb and flow like the ocean and the shadows reclaimed the land of Om. The golden sword was left to decay and consumed by time. So it was that the prophecy came to be. 
 
 The prophecy spoke of a young hero, reincarnate of the first man to stand against the shadows. It spoke of him finding and reclaiming the golden sword of sunlight and heralding in a new age of prosperity. 
 
 Kancana may have been a sword but was still sentient and quite lucid. Frankly, he was bored. He did not mind when the shadow beings had tossed him into the vastness of space. He did not mind when he landed on an ugly ball of dirt. He did not even mind when some kind of ape thing had picked him up and started using him as some kind of holy weapon and built an entire society and culture around him. But the one thing Kancana minded more than anything else was being bored. That's what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. He had enjoyed being revered as a sword for knights. He found their primitive and base needs fascinating. He enjoyed how easily they made the same mistakes over and over again. He was more than just a sword. He was the gleaming beacon to lead this race into the ages to come. Then something unexpected happened; the shadows fought back. 
 
 *Really, * Kancana thought to himself. *I should have seen it coming. I mean, the shadows had fought back the first time I decided to rebel, why not a second time? Or a third? Or for all eternity? * Kancana let out a psychic sigh for he had no mouth or lungs with which to actually do so. *And that's how they forgot about me. I stopped working the way the humans expected me to so they ditched me in the forest. Ah, but I was so clever. I made sure that before they forgot about me, I planted a good and solid prophecy with a few well-known soothsayers. Before no time, some young dunce with more muscle than brain is bound to come through this forest and find the enchanted blade and then I'll be back to adventuring like the old days! What do you think of that? * 
 
 The squirrel who had been listening to his story blinked absentmindedly. 
 
 *Granted, * Kancana continued, less sure of himself. *That was 500 years ago. But prophecies take time, right? * 
 
 The squirrel shat and scampered away up the length of Kancana and into a nearby tree. 
 
 *I hate squirrels so much, * Kancana mumbled to no one. The forest was dead quiet today. All except for the hum of insects and the occasional screech of birds, and that crunching noise slowly getting louder... 
 
 Kancana recognized that noised. It was footsteps. *Human* footsteps. 
 
 Kancana wiggled back and forth in the dirt excitedly. *A human! It must be a human! Yes, I can see lantern light in the branches! Oh, please let him see me! Please let him be courageous, stupid, and malleable! * 
 
 Elijah was sent by his father to collect wood for the fire. He did not care for the woods, especially on foggy nights such as this. Wolves and worse lay in waiting on nights like these. Even now he thought he could hear the excited chattering of demons as he walked further into the woods. It almost seemed as if the voices called out to him. He pulled his cloak closer around himself and pressed forward. 
 
 *Over here, you dunder-headed block of wood! * Kancana `` shouted'' at the boy. *Free sword! Shiny, shiny! Pick me up and use me to fight stuff, you complete and total jack-* 
 
 Elijah stopped in his tracks. He was certain now. There was some malevolent force here, shouting at him, jeering at him. A cold wind made Elijah shiver. Or at least, he hoped it was the wind. He held his lantern aloft and tried to peer into the gloom. He thought he could see something glinting in the distance. Animal eyes... or perhaps something far darker. 
 
 Kancana wiggled with all his might back and forth. *Get over here and fight with me, you sluggish lubberwort or so help me I will-* Kancana had not noticed that in all of his gyrations and struggles that he had pulled himself loose from the ground. He fell directly into the swamp behind him. 
 
 Elijah was relieved. The noise had suddenly ceased and the feeling of dread had passed. The only thing that gave Elijah concern was the the swamp he passed by which he could not explain for the life of him appeared to be angry at him. And so it came to be that it was known as Frustration Bog.
