Day 9

Day 9:It would be morning before the other two spoke. They expressed their concern yet did say they were glad Vanity was able to get us out of a bad situation without too much damage done.
Anna said the pull was more easterly than northerly this morning. We looked at out map and saw there was a canyon to the northeast. We decided that it may lie there.
Leaving after breakfast, we witnessed Vanity's effect on more preening people. Even animals stood straighter, crowed louder, and groomed themselves more as we passed. Outside of town, Anna led us off the road almost directly towards the canyon. Through Vanity, I felt the presence of another sword. I could see that Anna was torn between wanting to be with the sword and afraid of it. I silently asked Vanity which one it was. She could only tell it was a "brother", not which one.
Before too long or too far off the road, Anna came to that point where its, his, presence was so overwhelming that she could not pinpoint his location. I nodded in response to her silent question of whether she should call for him. When she first tried to speak, nothing came out. She found her voice after encouragement and a few more tries.
"Sword of power, ancient spirit, hear me! I have followed your pull, but cannot locate you! Help me to find you!"
Suddenly, Anna took off like a shot towards the east. We followed her until we came to a set of monoliths. In the center one, deeply embedded in the stone, was a massive sword, nearly five foot long and a good four inches wide. Vanity would have disappeared behind such a monster.
Callie asked, "Which one is that?"
Anna and I both responded, "Sloth".
Callie nearly doubled over with laughter, "I knew it! Anna is so busy and industrious, both at her parents' inn and around us. How do we get it out?"
Anna looked closer, "He is covered in something. I think it is sap. He says the stone is the magic that is keeping him here. We should be able to chip this stuff away like any hardened sap."
While I could not hear Sloth's words, I could hear him speak. It was as if he was far away. Anna relayed Sloth's story of how he became embedded in stone.
"My guardian was praying here for guidance. A giant walked out of the canyon and saw her. Apparently these were 'his' stones and she was trespassing. Before she could explain herself, he punched us into the stones. She bounced off, but I hit hard enough to become stuck. He hit me again to embed me deeper. He smeared something on me to 'keep' me here. I was helpless to stop him from killing her and burying her under these stones. He left me here and this stuff hardened over time."
Vanity pulsed on my side. She was so emotional that she could not speak. The three of us were also upset, so much so that we worked in silence. The fire we built slowly turned the sap back into liquid. With sticks and leaves, we wiped and scraped layers of the melting sap. By mid-day, we exposed a length of the blade. Anna grabbed it and slashed her palm. Looking at the wound, she followed my lead and pressed it to the exposed metal. Her blood was absorbed into Sloth just as mine had into Vanity. All but Callie shuddered as that connection was made.
Sloth did not glow through the sap. He shook the entire monolith. The sap that was still hard cracked and fissured. Great chunks fell to the ground. Anna, hand still on the blade, caught him as he shouldered out of the rock. In the days since the three of us met, we had never seen Anna smile so big. She looked at this massive sword as if he were the most important thing in the world. Vanity found her voice.
"Sloth, can you hear me, too?"
Anna looked up at me, "Did you say something?"
"That was me, Anna. Does this mean he can hear me?"
"Yes, sister, I hear you."
"Brother, I have so longed to hear one of you again. I am so glad we are together again. "
Water began dripping from some of the small mirrors. I realized that she was crying.
Callie, being outside of this exchange, looked at us, "What is going on? Are you all talking or something? I feel really alone right now. Explain to me!"
"Sorry, Callie, Sloth and Vanity are talking. Anna and I can hear both of them."
"Great, I'm on the outside again," Callie threw up her hands and stalked away.
As we watched her, Sloth flooded a series of steps to include Callie. I ran to her and walked her back to Anna and the stones.
"Sloth says there is a way to include you. You have to do just what we tell you, alright?"
Callie started to argue, then she saw the sincerity in our faces. Looking at the ground, she shook her head. I removed Vanity from the sling she was in while Anna held out Sloth. I handed Callie a cup I had with me.
"Hold this under the point where the two swords meet, " I instructed her.
She held it under the swords with one hand. I took her other hand and pricked her finger on Vanity. I squeezed a drop of blood to flow over both Vanity and Sloth. Anna pricked her finger and I mine. We dropped the blood to follow Callie's blood. As all three blood drops mingled, Anna and I saw Callie's face show that she could hear Vanity and Sloth. The cup caught our mingled blood. To our surprise, it clinked into the cup like a stone. Putting the swords down, we looked in the cup. A small red pearl-like stone rattled in the bottom. Sloth explained.
"The stone will be a guide to your other sisters. Unbound sisters will cause this to glow. Obviously Callie should not hold it now as she is unbound. Once you have your partner, Callie, any of you can hold it."
The three of us looked at each other. Anna finally asked, "How do you know this?"
"I hold our wizard makers' magical knowledge. While I will share some with all of you, Anna will get the lion's share of that knowledge just as Kayla is the only one who will use Vanity's true seeing gift. Each sister will be the main receptor of her sword's gift."
We nodded in understanding. As it was too late to go to the next town or back to the last one, we made camp at the base of the monoliths. Sloth assured us that the giant was long dead and no other patrolled this area. Pulling loose threads from our clothes, we fashioned a pendant to hold our stone. Callie was beside herself, listening to Vanity and Sloth catch up. I tried to tune them out as I felt it was a private conversation. Anna whistled a tune as she set about heating up some of our travel food for supper. The novelty of talking swords wore off for Callie and she got up and walked around the area that the fire lit. She kept returning to the western side of the fire. I looked at her.
"Your sword is to the west, isn't it?"
Callie stopped, "Yes, that is where the pull is coming from. It still feels far away. Even though I'm in the group, I still feel outside because I am alone."
"I do understand. You will lead us now, to find your sword. We have been waiting all of our lives for this. I know it is hard, but be patient."
"We have waited nearly five hundred years to be together. We want to continue as badly, if not more so, as you to find the others."
"My siblings have been tugging at me for all that time, to give them the knowledge to free themselves. It tore at me that I could not help any of us."
We felt their heartbreak and loneliness. As we ate, Sloth told us ancient stories and both swords sang songs lost to our people. We all went to sleep feeling truly connected and mostly happy. The swords said they could watch for danger, as they don't sleep.