Black Sword Saga

Black Sword Saga: 1

In the Beginning, there was only one supreme force in the universe. This force could control every world in existence. In the Beginning, the Council was created to find a being to control the force. When the first two beings were selected to wield it, only one was worthy to command it. The other, with darkness in his heart, was rejected. With jealousy within him, he forged his own sword with the darkness in his heart. The hatred so pure, it turned the blade white.



The being separated himself from the Council and took the name The Master. The Master started to spread his evil to all universes creating the first villains in the once peaceful universes. The wielder of the black sword could not destroy the evil in every universe: the worlds were forever tainted with the evil. Millennia passed and the black blade was passed on to new beings to protect the universes, but each fell to an evil in a universe and the Council would search for another. The cycle went on until a warrior grasped the blade and attacked The Master directly. The battle shook the foundations of all of the universes. When the dust cleared The Master was upon his knees, but the sword was nowhere to be found. With his last breath he said,

"I have sent my sword through space, until another is chosen and will continue my work."

Chapter 1

"Keith! Get out of bed! You're going to be late for school!" Slowly, he rose from his bed, cold and tired from the small amount of sheets on the small bed. "Keith! I will not tell you again! Get ready for school!" his mother shouted angrily. Keith Wode, sleep in his eyes and bed headed, shuffled his way to the dining/ living room of the apartment. He glanced at his father and saw that he was passed out on the couch.

"Probably drank too much. Again." He thought as he went into the kitchen where his mother, a large woman who looked like a child's play dough creation, stood next to the trash scowling at him.

"Keith Percival Wode." His mother snarled with a horrifying New Jersey accent, "Why is the trash still here?"

"Maybe it's because you forgot to take it out?" He snapped.

"Now, young man, you have no idea what I went through in my life. Having you, raising you in attempting to raise you right and this is the thanks I get. All I ask you to do is take out the trash." This was not a special rant; this was a daily rant that occurred nearly every morning. "Why didn't you do this" or "Why can't you act like a decent person." He tuned out his mother's ramblings, grabbed the bag, and walked out the door. When he dumped the trash in the bin, his half-asleep mind barely noticed the yellow object approaching his house. When it was about to stop he realized that it was his bus and ran into his house to pull on a change of clothes and bag before racing after it. He ran for what he thought was a half mile before it stopped. The driver, a fat man who looked like he could only use the emergency exit in the back to get out was laughing with the whole bus.

"Nothing like a run to wake you up, huh?" he croaked. Keith ignored him and walked through the laughter and taunts to the back of the bus. He sat there in solitude and wanted the day to end. He wanted his life to be changed by something. He looked out of the window thinking of other places. He grabbed his science notebook and started drawing what he saw. He could not understand physics or history, but he could draw anything, no matter how crazy the concept was. He wanted to be an artist, but his parents and teachers constantly put him down because of his grades and place in society.

"That's a cool dragon." A voice said, surprising him and pulling him from his own world. In the seat next to him sat his dream girl. Lana Sert. She was his image of perfection: brown hair that fell down past her shoulders and a figure that any guy would drool over. He wanted her more than anything, but he knew that it was next to impossible, because of them being friends since they first met in elementary school, he knew that she viewed him as a brother.

"Thanks." He looked at the dragon that he had been unconsciously drawing and saw patters of swirls and shapes to make the dragon on the paper seem to stretch through the paper, wanting to escape.

"Like me." He mumbled.

"What?" Lana asked.

"Nothing, just talking to myself." They talked about what was going on in the school and life. "Hey do you have last night's homework?"

"What? You didn't do it?"

"It was too hard."

"That's because you don't pay attention in class, or take notes, even the ones I give you."

"I don't understand physics. I know that gravity keeps me down and on the Earth, that's all I need to know." They laughed together and saw that they had stopped at the school. "Thank you for the notes and answers. I'll see you later?"

"Alright." They left the bus and Keith saw Lana go to her friends in the cafeteria while he made his way to the morning study to work on some of his homework, or draw.

Chapter 2

Keith did not belong to a certain group of people, unless the morning and afternoon study group was considered a group. He walked to the science classroom and was met with his teacher scolding him for being late and not completing his work from the last class. Like the rest of the world, he drowned him out, sat in his desk, and waited for the drone of the school day to begin.

He made his way from class to class, his mind in another world, one that did not have teachers or schools, but one that had armies clashing and treasures to find and take. He walked to his art class and was snapped out of his daydream by two of his classmates. The first was the regular bully of the school, Thomas Panton. Keith knew, personally, that Thomas was the stereotypical bully: six foot four, muscle bound football player. He thought that he could do anything and everything because his father was the school's principal. The other was Thomas' punching bag, Will Oswald. He was a normal teenager, he didn't have high grades or did anything to Thomas, he was just an unfortunate guy to step into Thomas' line of sight.

"Why don't you hit me?" Thomas sneered and pushed Will into the middle of the hall, "Come on, I'll give you a free shot."

"I told you, I don't fight. It is against my belief to strike at anyone."

"Awww. He's a little wimp. Well, you might not hit anyone, but you're pissing me off."

"And why is he, Thomas?" Keith said, mentally slapping himself for speaking up.

"What was that? You talking to me?"

"Well, I answered your question, so yeah."

"Listen you little shit, you don't speak to me unless I tell you too."

"Well, I learned that when someone is talking to you, you respond. That way a conversation can start." Thomas looked confused for a moment, then bellowing in a rage swung his fist at Keith. Keith ducked and tried to jab at his stomach but it felt like hitting a wall. Keith then felt himself being plucked up from the ground and slammed into a wall with Thomas holding him easily in one arm. "You've been taking the steroids again. Your boyfriend is going to be disappointed." He felt his head smack the wall and the first punch hit him on the side of his face and waited for the next blow. When it never contacted he opened his eyes and saw that the resource officer was holding back Thomas' arm and threw him across to the other side of the wall. Thomas glared at the officer and then back at Keith and stomped off.



"I don't need to go home." He told the nurse. "I just need to go to class."

"This is the fourth time this year that you've been here, and the principal wants to see you as soon as you are better."

"Great." Keith thought to himself. "Another person who wants me to die."

"I know why you do this Keith. You don't let others be bullied. You stand up for the ones who cannot fight and you take the blame. It is noble, but sometimes being smart is better."

"So, I'm just supposed to sit back and let Thomas do what he wants?"

"I didn't say that. Just..."

"No. It's always the same. 'Get an adult' routine. Sometimes you don't have time to think and go get help; instead you jump in and help them yourself." Keith swung his feet off the table and stomped out of the clinic and into the empty halls.

Chapter 3

The resource officer had caught up to him and after thanking him for stopping Thomas, and a small fit of struggling and complaining, Keith found himself in the office.

"Well, it could be worse." He mumbled to himself.

"Wode!" Mr. Panton yelled on a level that rattled the widows.

"I think my insides just turned to mush." Keith said as he walked into the devil's sanctum. The inside of Principal Panton's office looked like the same as any other principal's: family photos hung around and on his desk while books that looked like they haven't been touched in years, sat on shelves. Behind a desk littered with papers sat, the largest man Keith had ever had the chance of meeting. He knew that it was not fat, but pure muscle that the man was made of. Panton stared at Keith and tilted his head to a lone chair telling him to sit. Keith took the seat and sat on the edge if he needed to get out of the office quickly.

"Mr. Wode."

"Yes sah?" Keith responded in an obvious fake attempt of shame. Panton ignored it and continued.

"I do not want to have this talk. The last time you came in here, I had to go to the doctor because of the rise in my blood pressure. I am using all of my self-control to not yell at you and raise it again."

"Ah, that's what that was about." Keith mumbled.

"Mr. Wode, I do not think that you need another reminder about when an adult is speaking. It is very rude."

"Wow. You are trying to keep calm. You haven't yelled or screamed at me since I got in here." Keith saw the flicker of anger in Panton's eyes but Panton held it back.

"You will be serving a full month of in school suspension for fighting." Panton said to get to the point and get the meeting over with.

"What?" Keith exclaimed, jumping out of his chair, "your son was bullying a kid and fought me and he won't see an hour of suspension, but that's because he is your precious football star, your princess. And..."

"Keith Wode! You are hereby expelled from this facility and cannot return! Your high school career is over! Now get out of my office!" Panton screamed and blared.

Keith had no words and walked out of the doors. On the outside, he did not show emotion, but on the inside, he was crying. Those emotions flowed out of him when he reached the woods and there he cried, knowing that one man ruined his future. He ran in the woods and lost himself inside it's embrace.

Chapter 4

He did not know how long he was in the woods or how he found himself on a boulder, but he found himself on the top, staring out at the treetops.

"Keith!" A voice cried out. Lazily, he turned his head toward the sound. He saw a figure coming toward him, but he couldn't tell who it was. "Keith!" The figure saw him and ran toward him. He saw the person clearly. It was Lana. He didn't want her to see him like this. He felt weak, he felt like there was nothing for him in the world. "Keith," Lana panted, she looked like she had been running around town. Her face was red and her hair clung to her head as beads of sweat came up. Keith jumped down from the rock, "Thank God I found you." Before Keith could say a word, she gripped him in a fierce hug. He hugged back and the tears came forth once more. They stood there just letting each other heal. They sat down and leaned against the rock and stared out into the forest.

"Do you remember..." Keith said.

"This place?" Lana finished, "Of course I do. It's where we always went after school. Nobody to bother us, we just played. Sword fighting, pirates, space ships to Mars. I almost forgot about it. I guess you were drawn here. After..." She stopped and left it.

"I guess so." Keith looked at the ground and picked up a small pebble. "Ok. I'm done being sad." He tossed the pebble at Lana who jumped and threw one she had at him.

"That was sudden. What happened to the 'my life is ruined' attitude?"

"Well, I figured I should look on the bright side."

"What?"

"Don't have to see baldy again." They shared a laugh that eradicated the remaining negative tension. "And I could get a job.

"Where? You can't go to college and get your art degree or whatever."

"Maybe McDonald's or a gas station is hiring artist."

"I can see it now: 'Local teen makes smiley faces on Burgers'"

"Hey, if it makes money."