"It's broken," Nilor replied.

The wizard rubbed his temples. "Listen, I say, 'What's wrong with it?' You can't just say, 'It's broken.' How is it broken?"

"It doesn't work right."

The wizard imagined hitting Nilor with a slow disintegration spell. A very slow one. "Is it dull?"

"No."

"Does the flame keep going out?"

"No, that's the problem."

"That your Everburning Blade won't stop burning?" He tried to just focus on the fact closing time was nearly here.

"Yes! Do you know how many scabbards it destroyed? I can't put it down anywhere. I don't even know how much water I've had to drink to deal with the sweating!"

"Ah, so you turned down the sword and sheath combo. We can sell you a sheath now."

"I'm not paying extra for a sheath to make this sword usable."

Considering the quickest way to show how useful the sword was, and then deciding it was a bad day to murder someone, the wizard said, "Are you looking to sell it back?"

"You know what? Fine, yes. I want my money back."

The wizard summoned a spectral abacus and set to work. "Ok, one used Everburning Blade, no sheath, comes to 180 gold."

"What? I paid 500 for this!"

"Prices fluctuate, and I have no idea what you've cut or burned with it since you bought it."

"I only had it for a couple days!"

"Ok, then keep it."

Nilor gave a defeated sigh. "Can I get more if I do store credit?"

"Ah, what the heck, let's go 250 if it's credit."

"Sounds great."

It is a time of great drought and famine. People starve, or people do what they must. And this person is part of a group of bandits raiding a small village. The mighty sword of Peleus glows stately orange as its wielder weaves trails sprinting into battle. He wears the armor of the great warrior Peleus' line also, receivers of gifts, Gods favored, Athena Kissed.

His shield is made from the forge-flames of the God Hephaestus. Greaves, breastplate, and shinguards are made from the shed scales of dragons. His helmet is whittled skull of a titan. His sandals have the wings of Icarus on their heels. They flutter and he runs with the speed of the Gods and can fly great distances with a single leap.

Great were the warriors of the family Peleus, though he is not one of that favored lineage, however.

The last of them was the mighty Achilles, who wielded this very same flaming sword. Whose father was bestowed it as a gift by the mother of the Gods herself. The son of a sea nymph and a king was felled easily in battle by an errant arrow and was buried. He and his kin ended their family's long reign fighting for someone else's dowry. His body lay undisturbed under that ancient battlefield for almost a Thousand years. Until our fateless brigand literally fell into the crypt and robbed it blind.

Upon entering the town he spots a target; an old man shielding a young child from the mayhem, he takes aim and leaps. The leap was more than he intended and he misses the duo and lances through the roof of a hut.

The flaming shield and sword of Hepaestra immediately kindles the hatch roof. Baking in the equatorial sun the flames spread quick to the walls and jump to other huts. The maurader doesn't feel the heat, but one of his fellow raiders does as a wall collapses directly on top of him crushing him to death and beginning the slow process of roasting his body to ashes.

Our would-be maurader escapes roasting but finds himself no better off, as outside the quickly destroyed hut, the entire village burns. Villagers run screaming toward whichever direction looks the safest and the marauders stand still disappointingly watching what they came to steal go up in smoke.

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

Reminders:

>* No AI-generated reponses 🤖 >* Stories 100 words+. Poems 30+ but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* [RF] and [SP] for stricter titles >* Be civil in any feedback and follow the rules

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