Guardian

[aldersprig]

Marlin had made a promise.

It was the last promise she’d ever make, even if she were still capable of making promises.  She had learned, since, to think about the nature of the words she said.

But she knew, no matter how many times she cursed her impetuousness, that she likely would have ma

read on…

Comments

[sauergeek]

This feels like a far better version of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion. Is this reincarnation, or is the right wielder of the sword always going to be someone who answers the same physical description? The blade guardian probably hands off, though I'm also curious if the two women shared a physical description at matching ages.

Also, it seems like once she granted the sword, the oath should no longer bind her. Her followup request certainly looks like that's true. Is she now just as old as the previous old woman?

Even without the same physical appearance, I can see why this new knight would qualify for the sword more than most. Thinking of, and caring for, the guardian is an important virtue!

[aldersprig]

I have not read Eternal Champion!

It might just be a mental impression that LOOKS like a physical impression too.

[sauergeek]

Eternal Champion is, so far as I'm aware, not a book or a series. Instead, it's Moorcock's (to my mind, half-assed, and likely after-the-fact) explanation for why he keeps having the same sort of hero across many different stories and universes: they're reincarnations of each other or universal constants across universes.

[clare_dragonfly]

Oh, that's so sad. I'm glad it was her love again when the right one finally came--and that he was so sympathetic.

[aldersprig]

He’s a good man and the right kind of hero, after all.