Jumping sword failure

Rushing to the edge of the trees, Cole pointed his sword and said, “Away,” keeping his voice low. Nothing happened. “Away!” he repeated, a little more forcefully, but he didn’t even feel a faint tug.

Cole studied the blade. There was no hint of the fire he had seen earlier. Those flames had faded once he’d started jumping. Why had the Jumping Sword stopped working again?

He had been really desperate when he’d run after Mira. Maybe the sword had reacted to his need. Cole pictured the Rogue Knight riding away with his friend. He had to help her! Back in Sambria, flames had never flickered along the blade before. Staring at the sword, Cole willed the flames to return.

No spectral fire appeared. The hilt didn’t hum or vibrate.

Holding his breath, clenching the muscles in his gut, Cole mentally commanded the sword to work. “Come on,” he muttered. “Away! Away!”

Still nothing happened. Cole slapped the hilt the same way he used to hit a faulty remote control. Nothing. Feeling frustrated and confused, Cole pointed the sword out into the field and growled the command with all the emotion he could muster.

Again, there was no sign that the sword was anything more than a length of sharpened metal. Cole began to feel foolish. If he hadn’t helped the sword work, then what had happened? Had it just been a freak accident?

No. He remembered how it had felt when the sword hummed to life in his grasp. Energy or passion or something had flowed from him and into the weapon. But now that feeling was totally gone. Some of the same emotions lingered, but they were not connecting with the Jumping Sword at all.

Chapter 16