Days 11 thru 13

Day 11:In the morning, we were treated to a large breakfast and two unusual gifts. A local weapons smith had seen Sloth and Vanity in their make-shift slings and decided that they would not do. While I was singing, he mentally measured both swords and us and made two sheaths, a belt and a baldric to hold them. He had a good eye. Sloth and Vanity slid snugly into the sheaths while the belt fit me perfectly and Anna strapped into the baldric with little difficulty considering she had never worn such a thing before. Callie said, when we found her sword, we may have to come back to get her's fitted.
We left town heading west. Apparently, Callie's sword was still aways off as she seemed calm and did not run or get far ahead of us. We continued on the road until it turned back north. Without pausing, Callie walked off the road and continued west. Looking at the map, we saw a valley directly ahead. The road we had followed went into the valley, but it would have added a day or two to our search.
About three hours before sunset, we were standing on a hill overlooking the valley. Callie went from calm to agitated as soon as we topped the hill. Sloth commented that there was a barrier around this place that had suppressed the sword's magic and made it feel far away. We continued over the hill and into the valley. The village lay almost dead center of this area, but that was not our destination. Callie led us west of the town towards a waterfall. At sunset, we were standing at its base. Callie was so worked up, we had to hold her to keep her from blindly walking around in the dark. We built a fire and lit our lanterns. Callie was turning this way and that, trying to find her sword. I took her by the shoulders, looked right in her face, and told her it was time to call for it. It took a moment for her to register my words. Finally, she nodded. I let go and she called for it.
"Ancient sword! Power sword! I am here! Lead me to you!"
Her head snapped towards the waterfall. With care, we found a way behind the water into a cave. We gingerly stepped around and over rocks, broken objects, and a few skeletons, I think. We reached the back of the cave and saw both the sword and why it was still here.
A dragon lay sleeping but Callie's sword was stuck in its leg. With care, we eased up to it. Callie grasped the handle of the sword and slowly drew it out. Just as the tip cleared hide, the dragon awoke. Frightened, the three of us scurried to the wall of the cave. We watched the dragon inspect the place where the sword had been, lick it a few times, then turned its massive head to look at us. Seeing Callie with the sword, it directed its question to her.
"You are the guardian of that sword?" it rumbled.
"Y...yes," Callie stammered, the sword shaking in her hands.
Looking at all of us, it asked, "You are all guardians, each with a sword?"
We nodded and confirmed that was so. 
The dragon laid back down and sighed, "That sword has been an irritation for a long time. I could not remove it no matter how I tried. I suspected that, since a guardian put it there, only a guardian could remove it. The barrier you crossed was to keep any guardians from finding it, placed there by the last one's enemy. She impaled me with it to keep him from getting it, a desperate act before she died. So, may I know which one was a literal thorn in my side?"In unison, we replied, "Wrath."
The dragon nodded, "Makes sense, with it burning and shaking every so often."
"I was responding to the lives and deaths of my would-be guardians," Wrath said in our minds.
"He was reacting to his far away guardians," Callie informed the dragon.
"Even so far, still sensing those to whom he should have been paired, interesting," the dragon settled as if to return to sleep, "You can stay the night in here or return to your camp. I do not have anything to offer humans other than a secure place to sleep."
Callie looked around, "This would be better than outside, less chance of unwanted company."
Anna and I went back to get our things and put out the fire while Callie and Wrath got acquainted. Anna asked me if I was surprised.
"Not really, Callie hardly gets mad. Even when she does, it is short-lived. She has always been a very easy-going person."
Anna nodded and we returned.
While we were out, Callie had cut herself on one of Wrath's many points. We felt the click of connection even half-way in the cave. She told us she didn't do it on purpose. We all laughed at the sheer emotion of her denial, even the dragon, who introduced himself as Mars-in-Leo, but we could just call him Leo. All of us, Wrath included, assured her that it was fine. Now all three humans could clearly hear all three swords. Leo found Wrath's old sheath and belt, but they were too deteriorated to be of any use. A search among the newer items of the cave revealed a belt still in decent shape. After a bit of fumbling and cutting, it worked well enough.
Before going to sleep, Anna reminded us that her uncle wanted to see the swords. We plotted the best route to get there then went to sleep.

Day 12:We awoke to a light breeze pulling at our hair. After a moment, we realized we were not in the cave anymore. All of our stuff was with us, but we were not where we had slept. Leo stood aways from us with a strange smile on his face.
"I saw where you were headed. I cast a spell to deepen your slumber, gathered you and your things, and flew you here. The village you were going to is a mile east. Consider it repayment for freeing me of that sword."
We thanked him and watched him fly off. Gathering our gear, we made out way back to Anna's uncle.
As we made our way through town, we watched the muted effects of our swords; small squabbles over who was best that simply quit for lack of energy. We reached Anna's uncle's house and was very warmly received.
"Girls! You're back so soon! Inside, please, we have much to talk about."
He ushered us inside. Once we got settled, he began questioning us. We laid Vanity, Sloth, and Wrath on the table for him to see. He tried to move them so as to look at all sides, but they behaved as if secured to the table. He tries several times before we started laughing.
"Something amusing here?" he asked, annoyed.
"Uncle, " Anna began as she easily picked up Sloth, "these swords belong to us in more ways than you can imagine. No one else can use them. If we didn't trust you, you couldn't even touch them."
Uncle nodded his head, then asked, "Is it true about the spirits? Does each sword have an entity?"
A quick mental conversation went between the six of us. We picked up our swords an motioned for Uncle to sit with us. We closed our eyes. That's when something amazing happened. We opened our eyes and spoke.
"Hello, Uncle, I am Vanity." she said out of my mouth.
"I am Sloth," a deep male voice sounded out of Anna's small frame.
"I am Wrath," a commanding male voice spoke through Callie's cheerful face.
Uncle was taken back. At first he thought we were joking around. Once he realized we were not, he launched into a barrage of questions. Most of them were misunderstandings of their abilities and their guardian gifts. We showed him the stone we had made to find others. The conversation continued until the house started getting dark. When it was evident that night was falling, our swords returned to themselves and we to ourselves. We informed Uncle that we had heard the entire conversation.
Uncle made a quick supper and, afterward, we all went to bed.

Day 13:
We sat around the table having breakfast and wondering where to go next. Since finding a sword without a guardian would be pointless, we discussed how to go about finding another guardian. We laid the stone in the center of the table. We made a triangle around it with the swords and laid our hands where each touched the other. Sloth and Anna began a chant. The rest of us joined in after they had repeated it a few times. The stone lifted off the table to eye level. It began to spin, gaining speed. A light formed inside it. All at once, it stopped and this light shot out from it. We saw it pass through the wall. Outside, it continued arrow-straight towards the eastern edge of town. Swords and stone in hand, we followed the light to a lone house outside of the town on the east. It pointed right at the plain wood door of a poor-looking house. Before we could wonder, a girl was pushed out of the door. An older man came charging behind her.
"Get out of here, you crazy bitch! I'm tired of this 'I have a destiny' crap. Get out of my sight before I kill you!"
He stormed back inside and slammed the simple door.
The stone glowed and pulsed, brighter and harder each step we took towards her. As she sat where she had landed, I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She jumped and tried to crawl away until she looked at me.
"You! I know you!" She looked at the other two, "And you two! I've seen you in my dreams. Have... have you...?"
"Yes," I began, "we have come for you to find your sword of power. You are a guardian and our sister. Get out of the dirt so we can get this task underway."
She scrambled to her feet and dusted herself off, "My name is Gretta."
We introduced ourselves and the swords. Gretta was ecstatic. She rambled about how she always felt drawn to something, but didn't know what and how it hurt to walk in the opposite direction. We let her talk, as it seemed she needed to express all these penned up emotions. We returned to Uncle's house.
He had just started looking for us since we left all of our gear. Looking at our things, Gretta's mood fell. She almost shrank into herself.
"What's wrong, Gretta?" Callie asked in concern.
We all looked at her curiously.
"I have nothing, " she began to cry, "My father just kicked me out with no away money, no change of clothes, not even a cloak for cold weather. Compared to me, you three are rich." Her voice broke into sobs.
As Gretta cried, the three of us huddled together with Uncle. We counted out our money and asked Uncle about the cost to get Gretta marginally outfitted. He told us to keep our money for now. He had friends who would follow tradition and see that she had things for her journey time. We consoled Gretta while he went out.
Gretta poured out her life story. Her mother died when Gretta was young, leaving her to take over the woman's duties of the house. She told how her father had been mean to her all of her life, taking anything she was given for himself or her three brothers, two older and one younger. By this time, her older brothers were married and moved away. Her youngest brother spent a lot of time away from the house. This left her to face her father alone. This was not the first time he had told her to never come back. Before, she would hide in the barn or shed until he sent her brother to find her. They would reconcile, live peacefully for a while, but it would always start up again at some small infraction on her part.
Uncle was gone for most of the day. He returned with a big smile on his face.
"Gretta, tomorrow morning we will send you off in traditional fashion. I have a spare mattress for you tonight."
Gretta launched into a fresh round of weeping, but these were tears of happiness. A lady from the inn brought over a sending off meal for us that night. We ate and discussed the route to take. Gretta said she felt she was being pulled east. We let Uncle know that we would be taking the eastern road out of town. Gretta shifted in her bed, still worried that she might be kicked out in the middle of the night. We assured her that we were now together for as long as we all still lived. She sighed deeply and settled into sleep.