17. Sword and the sword helix
Starting November 2023, The Korea Daily is excited to publish the fantasy novel series “Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years” on our website. This new captivating series follows a trio of young adventurers on their quest to uncover the mysteries of ancient civilizations, including the Maya and Inca. In an exciting development, Netflix is currently adapting the novel’s storyline into a film.
The ‘Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years’ is the latest novel authored by Jeeyoon Ha, who created the “Pangaea series.” Ha’s debut novel, “The Pangaea: Finding Xibalba,” was selected by the Korea Creative Content Agency in 2022 as part of their initiative to support the global export of fantasy literature.
Readers can eagerly anticipate the online publication of two installments each month, with new chapters appearing bi-weekly, offering a regular escape into this magical realm. *Mark Oh translated the Korean novel into English.
“I can’t believe my dad is being held hostage… It was just a few hours ago that I talked with him. I must save Dad. That’s the first thing to do. I was so focused on chasing other clues that I wasn’t really thinking about him.”
Suri was angry at himself.
The image of his father, a true king with the bloodline of an explorer, was imprinted in his mind. He held such confidence in his father that he completely overlooked the danger he faced. He was certain that his father was already being held hostage, and that was why he had suddenly disappeared from the Bolt Rider screen.
“I didn’t know until Black Panther told me that my dad is in danger… I’m an idiot. Such an idiot.”
Suri kept thinking of Eridan. The blue-eyed, brave Eridan would never have done anything so stupid.
“Suri… Hey…Suri!” Maru cried out, his face flushing red.
Not understanding why Maru was so upset, Suri frowned, because he was already feeling increasingly uncomfortable due to the guilt about his father.
“Hey…Suri. Helix. Where’s the sword, Helix?”
Maru now trembled with an ominous feeling.
Only then did Suri freak out. He quickly searched himself, but the sword Helix was nowhere to be found.
Truth be told, Helix wasn’t of a size that could be tucked away in his pockets anyway.
“What the hell? The sword aside… you’re always just words… A big piece of bullshit… And you worry about your dad? You? And you pretend to feel guilty about him? Is that just words also? Listen, we are surrounded by a bunch of unidentifiable wizards… And we don’t even know exactly where we are now. Given the situation, I can’t believe you’ve been so careless!”
Maru’s eyes were fuming with anger.
“Hey, that’s enough. It must have been dropped and disappeared when we were falling into the underground city. It’s not Suri’s fault, is it?”
Sabi stepped in and shouted at Maru.
“…You said the sword Helix recognizes its owner, remember? If that’s true, the sword will never leave me.”
Suri didn’t want to believe he had made a mistake.
But the three children couldn’t afford to waste time bickering.
Wizards burst through a lightning squall, shattering the transparent planetary barrier of the temple.
The sound of metal clanking from the wizards’ armor filled the air, accompanied by their mutterings of unintelligible spells.
The cacophony made Suri’s head start to ache.
He couldn’t think straight and found it hard to even breathe.
At that moment, someone broke into Suri’s mind.
Suri entered an illusion. He was walking toward the huge megalithic temples he had seen in his dreams.
He continued toward the temple until he came upon a new secret not seen in his dreams: the Prayer Tree spiked with Sirius lightning.
Dozens of people stood next to the Prayer Tree.
A man in the crowd, with eyes as transparent as crystal, spoke to him.
His words had no sound but were delivered to him as an echo.
Suri felt he could understand him.
“Suri. Wake up,” Sabi cried out, shaking him roughly.
Suri’s eyes snapped open.
Wide-eyed, he looked at Sabi.
“Wait, wait… Let’s calm down… We are our fathers’ blood. We have the blood of explorers flowing through us. Compared to the average person, our grasp on reality may be at the level of an amoeba, but when it comes to planning a reckless trip to an unknown civilization, we are braver, sturdier, and smarter than anyone else. We are the best there is. That’s our bloodline… From now on, let’s call ourselves a family of explorers… We will be the pioneers who turn a lost civilization into one Pangea. This isn’t nonsense. So, let’s not fight among ourselves.”
Suri’s voice soared like a galloping wolf.
Sabi kept gazing at Suri, mesmerized, then suddenly hugged him tightly.
“Quit it, Sabi. Don’t go nuts yourself, too. What a pathetic family of explorers,” Maru said, furious enough to hit them.
“…Let’s go inside the temple.”
Without hesitation, Suri started running towards the temple.
The deeper they went, the darker it became.
The area was strewn with half-burned tree bark, a few residual flames burning like blooming wildflowers.
Suri searched for the Prayer Tree that the intruder into his mind had mentioned.
He was sure that the Prayer Tree was the key to the location of the prophecy.
If lightning hadn’t struck the temple for the first time in 72 years, the answer might be at the Prayer Tree.
He had to solve the problem before the wizards broke through the temple’s barrier.
Only then did Suri realize the grave mistake of losing Helix, as it might be the tool needed to find the solution.
He only hoped that Helix would find him.
“Watch out! Hurry!”
A shout echoed from somewhere. Just then, giant beasts appeared, snatched Suri, Sabi, and Maru, and started running at full speed.
The three children were shocked to discover that half of their bodies were trapped inside the beasts’ enormous mouths.
These beasts were the lightning wolves, Torwaynes.
Lightning squalls, as hard as ice, were falling from the cracked ceiling of the barrier.
They were no different from weapons.
Clad in black cloaks, the Torwaynes looked truly magnificent.
Suri finally realized that the Torwaynes were guardians, there to protect them.
[To be continued…]
