The Ulangar: Book I, Part 6

This continues the epic I wrote between 1991 and 1996.

It was here that this one Lamaraz

sought to make a weapon

`I must make myself a talisman

One that can store the energies of magic

and one that can be used as a weapon

I shall make myself a sword

but this sword cannot be made from ferrus substance

for the waves of magic cannot mix with steel

only that stuff borne from seed

so the herbs shall be the medium of the sword

Besides herbs are far better than steel

if woven with knowledge and skill

They have magical effects themselves

so little energy of me is required for this rite

I must have one herb to use as the form

within it can be herbs with special properties

Around that form must be the green herbs of Hordac

these shall make a field of mystical energy

that makes it invulnerable to all physical attacks

They also make the blade

Sharper than the finest steel

able to cut through nearly anything

except the soul of the body itself

The mixture of herbs to make the main weapon

is to contain the fire root of Surthur

and his fiery kingdom of giants

The property of this potato shall engulf

the base weapon with a fiery tongue

The next herb is the blue leaf

of the Northern Barbaric regions

which gives the weapon a resistance

to the magical effects of other persons

The orange flower petals of the orchid

of the Brakenia the Desert Men

that sacred bloom which fills but one field

shall give this weapon the ability to

regenerate its magic

The main herb is the

Steel Stalk of the Islands of Iron

which shall make the sword as adamantine

The herbs then are separate in body

but must be forged into one

by the anvil of the earth

the fire of my soul

and the hammer of my mind'

These things having been thought Lamaraz sought those herbs

listed in his mind in a manner to not lose it

`The first Prize of the quest was will be

the orange orchid in the deep desert

where nothing lives save Men made from sand

This shall be the first for it is the most difficult to attain

the Brakenia the desert men take not lightly to its capture

for they have been known to slaughter

and scourge and mangle those who

seek to snatch these sons in bloom

Thus it is the first Prize

for if this is failure ending with final death

(as that is the true failure of a man

to die before his time has come)

then I need not toil for the others'