I was afraid of so much before I found my true path. I always wanted more. I always knew that there was something more for me to do than build a simple, humble life.
My life truly began with another man’s death. It was a simple dispute, but after time it grew into a feud between me and my neighbor. I wouldn’t give ground and neither would he. He came to me one day when I was working and berated me. I yelled at him to stop and he did. He had never ceased talking in an argument before. Nothing short of sleep or drink could silence him for long, but this time he listened. He obeyed. He just stood there silently, blankly while I continued my work. After some time, he seemed to be back to himself. He hollered and complained again. I told him to go take a walk in the lake. He did.
The next evening, as I came in, my wife told me that our neighbor had died. Someone had found him early that morning in the middle of the lake. Word had gotten back to his wife and beyond. It shocked us all. The I remembered what I had said to him. My chest tightened and my eyes filled with tears. That blight had done exactly what I told him to. How profound.
I had to set things right. I sought out the Ancients at a hallowed site. There I spent days inquiring until I found that I was set apart from other men. I had to find my purpose. I exercised my gift to leave behind my home in the best way I could. I called together the widow and my wife so they could form an alliance. With the two lands united, they would have no problem supporting themselves and the children. I told my wife and child that I had to leave. She tried to get me to stay, but I could not deny my destiny. I needed to make myself ready to ascend to greatness.
Now I am so near the end and I fear that walking the path of greatness has left me where I don’t belong. Should I have stayed with her? Would we have been happy? What would have befallen the lands I traveled had I stayed? Would another have arisen to do what I had to?
-Broken Blade, weighing the cost of Greatness
“Pinnacle” is the working title for a Fantasy novel by Matthew Munoz. The speaker in this passage, “Broken Blade,” is the primary antagonist in the story.
MJ Muñoz 