A.J. Walker

writerer

The Sword of Yneros

Sword of Yneros
Mid Week Flash Challenge: Week 264

The Sword of Yneros


There are few who have seen Yneros properly and lived to tell the story. It’s not to say that she has anything to do with their passing. For she is the guardian of the mountains and protector of all who travel through them. Her benevolence is unbound and yet most do not know when they have been saved. She cajoles the winds and the snows. She can stop ice melting or cause it to form a bridge for those in desperate need. If you’ve counted your blessings and crossed your head and heart in a thanks to God, it is more likely your thanks should be aimed at Yneros.

It wasn’t always that way. She was a God with meanness and cunning to go with it: and most impressively unequalled skills for the battle. She had beaten many a God and their lower cohorts for the best part of a millennia. Her prowess in battles with her equals led her to be feared and respected: some would say in equal amounts, but in fact she was mostly feared.

When she defeated the errant Sea Gods of Lancia she was viewed as the most mighty warrior of the heavens and for this she was gifted by those who thanked her for defeating them The Sword of Yneros. It is the most mighty of swords and unlike most great swords it was never named. The Gods told her that no name could do it justice more than being named as hers.

In subsequent times no-one sought to threaten or even irk Yneros. It would be the very definition of foolhardy. And in these quiet times she began to consider her existence. She’d always fought and fought well. But why? Was there no other way? To be gifted a great – maybe the greatest – weapon clearly illustrated how she was seen. She was a God who was feared, not one that was loved. As time passed she considered the sword less and less as a weapon, but more as a symbol of what she was. What she was… before.

Slowly but inexorably she grew into the benevolent God of the mountains. The one who’ll protect those in need. The Sword of Yneros has still never been used in anger. Sometimes when you're high in the hills you may see a glint in the sky. A reflection of the sun on the sword. If you do you will likely see the red of her dress in the same sky. Some say this is a sign that you have just been saved and may not even know you had been in danger. Count your blessings there and then, and when you get home safely raise a glass of wine to Yneros in this phase of her existence. Pray that you never see the sword blooded, for the world will then be in a most desolate time.