The Hidden Way

Gus lost count on how many pawn shops’ he had visited in the last year or so. Often enough just to step in the shop would tell him it was the wrong shop. What he sought wasn’t there. It was hard to explain why, but the ring he wore was linked to the item’s he sought, and when he stepped into a pawn shop, the ring would let him know if it was the right shop. Many time’s the ring was uncertain, and Gus would take his time searching through every item in the shop. While waiting for that telltale sign, the usual sensation the ring would send through his hand that he was close to what he was looking for. All too often Gus was led to an empty case, where what he sought had been there at one time or another. After some discreet questioning of the pawn broker, Gus would get a story of how just a week ago, what was in the case was just sold to a stranger. Gus would take to the road again chasing some elusive stranger on the road. The ring as usual would lead him to another pawn shop where this stranger pawned off the item. Only to discover the shopkeeper sold it the next day to yet another stranger.
Today it was a small establishment advertising that it dealt in old and used weapons, more an antique shop than a pawn shop. With the many years of peace since the Wizards war, useless weapons were pawned and sold by the dozen. Ex Warrior’s turning their hands to different trades pawned their weapons to support their new endeavors. Today’s shopkeeper was no different than the many others Gus had toured in the last year of searching. He was not sure what drew him this time to the knife and sword in the display case. The price was right, but it was something else that caught his eye, or should I say inner eye. Gus stood there in the pawn shop staring at the display case, his eyes going over the knife first. The knife was 10 inches in length from tip to hilt. A Greek motif of silver and gold adorned the sheath. A sun burst over the head of a Greek goddess rested on the hilt Guard and at the top of the hilt it was adorned with a large moon stone. The knife was curved from tip to top of the hilt, like a scimitar with the edge on the convex side. The blade was inscribed with a flourish of vines. On the blade was a warrior maiden with a raised blade cutting her way through the vines. The ring on my finger was reaching an unbearable warmth. This Gus realized was an item of great interest to the ring.
The sword was 40 inches in length from the tail of its ornate hilt to its nose on the tip of the sheath the blade was encased in. The hilt was made of Silver, with a stylized wingless dragon figure where it’s eyes were, two rubies shone brightly winking at you. The sheath was an affair of stylized dragons in Silver. Where the hilt met the sheath, a wingless dragon appeared to look back at the dragon on the hilt where it appeared to be attacking the other dragon when the hilt was sheathed. A second dragon wrapped around the sheath mid-way down. A third dragon marked the tip of the hilt. The blade itself was unadorned, unlike the Scimitar, the blade held no etchings. The dragons were Silver while the rest of the sheath was Black inlaid Onyx. The knife and the sword were unmatched. None-the-less there was a feeling of oneness when Gus saw the knife and sword together. The ring confirmed this by nearly burning Gus’s finger off. Though in truth it was a pain felt only in his mind where physically his finger was okay. Gus had found what he was seeking that which the ring whispered to him since first putting on the ring so long ago when he started out his journey to the Wall Between.