28 Guilt

A few seconds later, a bright lightning lit up the sky. An idea suddenly took form in Brightise's mind.

"Rayvad!" she yelled over the loud sound of the lightning. "Use your new sword!"

Rayvad looked confused for a second. When he realized what she was referring to, his mouth dropped open in shock. Days ago, he had been looking forward to using the new weapon Larrysel had forged for him, but his brother's death had made him forget all about it.

Now was his chance to test it out for the first time.

Rayvad unsheathed the sword with slow, uncertain movements, his face a mask of doubt and expectation.

"Quick!" Brightise shouted at him.

Rayvad got off his horse with a swift move and landed firmly on the wet ground. His eyes closed as he stool still on the spot, lifting the sword higher in his hands.

When the next lightning came, he was ready for it. His eyes opened into small slits and flashed with a bright silver color as he turned the sword in the direction of the lightning. The blade captured it like a magnet and pulled it forcefully, as if wrenching it away from the sky. The lightning slowly wrapped itself around the sword, making it turn a brilliant white color. Then suddenly, the sword turned gray again, as if there was a light inside it that had been turned off.

Rayvad repeated this process three more times, until the sky quieted down and no more thunders announced the imminent arrival of another lightning.

Then he lowered the sword and looked at it in wonder. Brightise and Clober, who had also dismounted their horse, walked closer to him and stared at the sword speechlessly.

Brightise was almost afraid that she would upset the weapon if she spoke too loudly. "Is it... Is the lightning in there?"

Rayvad nodded uncertainly. "I think so."

Clober stretched her little fingers out towards the blade. "Can I touch it?"

Rayvad moved the sword away from her at the same time that Brightise pulled Clober back.

"Clober!" she yelled at her sister.

She knew Clober's recklessness was connected to her immunity to fire, but this was not the right time for her to explain to her that lightning was not the same thing. There were plenty of natural elements out there that could still kill them. All it would take was one second.

"We can't control this sword," she told Clober in the end. "Only Rayvad can."

"But-"

"No buts," Brightise said firmly. "We do not possess this kind of power."

She hoped that Clober understood, because she could not explain any more in front of Rayvad.

Clober nodded reluctantly as Rayvad lifted the sword carefully and put it back in its sheath.

"Aren't you going to use it?" she asked him hopefully.

"Not yet," Rayvad answered. "Not unless I need to."

A pained expression suddenly appeared on his face, as if he was angry at himself for some reason.

"I'm so stupid," he said through gritted teeth.

"What is it?" Brightise asked him.

"I've had this sword for days!" he yelled. "Days! I could have used it sooner. I could have stored lightning sooner. I could have used it against that demon!"

Brightise grabbed his arm in an effort to calm him down. "No, you couldn't have. It hadn't rained for days. If it had, then Syd would have been able to use his own powers too. Stop blaming yourself..." she whispered softly.

Rayvad shook his arm out of her grasp and walked away. Brightise knew that he was aware that there was nothing he could have done differently. This was just survivor's guilt clouding his judgment.

As she and Clober waited for Rayvad to walk off his anger and come back, she thought about how unfair this whole thing was. If there was one survivor that deserved to feel guilty about Syd's death, that was her.