The King and the cluxtch (part 3)

I learned much in the time I spent with the king. He was strangely compelled to teach what he could, mostly about survival, or as he refered to it longevity. Once he sat me down and gave me this warning. “There are many types in the see Salt, you must be aware. I know that soon you will grow bored with the safety of the kingdom and leave us. There are those in the see that will be drawn to you. Some will be great allies those that hold you up and whom you can trust. However there are also those that would take what you have like this one you’ve told me of in Loocodar. The see is ripe with these mercenaries and bandits out only for themselves. Your best weapon is your head, If they are following you then they are always one step behind you, you must use your head to stay focused on what truths you can find.” I remember thinking that it was a waste of time to try and track down this imposter in Loocodar. To what end? There was a wise rhetoric to the King’s words. I knew it was there but it took me a while to notice it. Put simply don’t give the negative attention, if you do it takes away from the attention you give the positive. The day that I left, the king repeated these words to me with a noticeable amount of concern. “Trust only those who earn the right and none other. There will be many challenges and foes but the see has much to offer you Salt, Farwell.” And at that I left. I wandered in a direction that I had not gone in quite a while, down………

The sore flesh surrounding the worste of the small bites on my left arm woke me. I could feel the dagger still in my hand. The smooth ridges of the clutcherouxe flexed slightly as I regained consciousness. They had been after the blade,I had heard one call to the other,"get the blade". The cluxtch blade knew that I was awake. This was because it was no ordinary blade, a cluxtch blade was alive. The Kings wisdom echoed in my memory, “A clutcherouxe is a creature that usually only grows to the size of large splitter. Normally a clutcherouxe will attach itself to another creature or plant and feed off that creatures waste and life force for survival. Long ago the earliest know natives of the see had discovered that the clutcherouxe that lived down near where the new rock was made, grew larger and that if caught just as they are hatched could be attached to a shard of the extremely hard new rock. If taken care of properly they would grow onto the rock at the molecular level creating an un paralleled bond, and a blade. A cluxtch blade, also called a stoned dagger, was virtually indestructible and light weight, the cluxtch blade was a formidable tool, however the real secret to the power of yielding a cluxtch blade was that the clutcherouxe still needed to feed off the life force of another being namely the owner of the blade. So, over time a symbiotic relationship between the blade and its owner could be cultivated and result in an inexplicable increase in ability and performance. It was said that a skilled warrior with a well seasoned cluxtch blade fought as if in a trance with a clam intensity and an unyielding stamina, falling foes of much greater size and number. These warriors were long since lost to time and only tales of their way survived as artifacts. The words of the king rang still in my mind as I thought what had happened. The king’s words already had proven to be as much a gift as the priceless cluxtch blade and together they had probably saved my life. I took my time carving the letters into the blade.