text: "You must pick one and only one." I stared hesitantly at the two swords embedded in solid rock, one glowed with a heavenly pure white light, as its intricate design had an inlay of gold. And the other, seemed to pull light and color from its surroundings, it's cold blade seemed to pulse with a deathly intelligence. "So, has anyone successfully picked a sword?" I ask, eyeing the shadowy figure that hovered just beyond the rock. "Yes." "Ah, ok then." That was probably all the insight I'd get on this subject. "Can't you at least tell me about each one?" The shadowy form shifted giving the impression that it was annoying. "One sword is death incarnate, merely touching its blade will drain the life from every living thing in this forest, including yours." I shifted on my feet uncomfortably and inched closer to the bright shiny one. "And the other?" "The other is life incarnate, touching it will bring new life to the world and grant its wielder the power of a god." I now hovered my hand over the golden sword and I could feel it warming my hand softly. But what if the shade was lying, merely trying to get me to pull this sword and it turns out to be the evil one killing everyone and anything. I tore my eyes away from the golden sword, "Are you lying to me?" "No." "Oh." I reluctantly pulled my hand away from the sword and rubbed my face. I definitely didn't want to die, and I really liked the sound of me having godly powers but, the shade said it was lying to me. "And what if I don't choose?" The shade seemed to ponder for a second. "You will be allowed to leave, but you will never have this choice again." I walked up to the stone and scrutinized each blade carefully as I felt the shade watching me. Each blade resembled an English longsword though with its own carvings and etches. "So the death blade only kills? It doesn't do anything else?" "It is said to have the power to kill everything it touches, be it mortal, undead, or immortal." I took a deep breath, "Well I've made my decision." The shadow regarded me coldly. "Your fate is in your hands." I reached over to the golden sword and touched its handle. Nothing happened as I wrapped my hand around the grip and began to pull. My breath caught as the longsword slid cleanly out of its rocky sheath. *Shing* I stared widely at the glowing white blade, it was surprisingly light and warm to the touch. "You have chosen the blade of life, and have been imbued with its power." "I don't feel any different." As I uttered the words the sword pulsed and began to burn my hand, I cried out but couldn't let go. I pulled desperately as my vision began to become blurry and my mind was assaulted by millions, no trillions of voices, some in languages I knew and heard, and others that I knew couldn't be uttered by human mouths. My body continued to be burned from the inside as I screamed. My eyesight split into two different views: One of the sword burning my hand and another of a woman cradling a child in her arms. My vision multiplied again, and again and again. Until there was too much input and I closed my eyes. Only to be met with more views. My screaming had turned from a terrified human to the roar of wind tearing through a quiet farmstead. The burning intensified but I could no longer discern where my body was nor the sword. I tried to move my nonexistent arms but was only met with extreme resistance as if dragging them through thick syrup. I opened my eyes again and saw everything. Every face, every word, every thought, every lie. I could hear everything. A babies first word, a child promise, a sickening cry, and dying heart. And I knew everything. Secrets, lies, hopes, dreams, deepest desires. Everything. Everything. And nothing. I felt the pain of a dead child, the sadness of death, the hopelessness of suicide, the hatred of murder. All of it at once, from every direction, thoughts, feelings, words, all of it. "There's too much...make it stop..." The pain kept coming, I saw a parent hug their child as their planet was destroyed. I saw a person regret everything as they took their steps off a building. I saw a tortured persons last thought and heard their screams. I saw genocide millions of times and heard trillions cry out. "Please..." And then it hit me. I was responsible for all of this pain and suffering. I had the power to stop it all, but I sat and relished in my newfound power. Every second someone, somewhere, died. And I did nothing. I blinked. \### The shade floated in the vast darkness. In the mere seconds, the mortal had wielded the sword, they had erased everything. Of course, they lasted longer than the thousands of previous mortals who had tried their hand at immortality and omnipotence. It was refreshing to have a break between life and death. The shade floated for a bit in limbo, the sad thing was: None of it mattered. There would always be death and anguish, life was merely a means to an end. The few seconds of omnipotence he had gifted that mortal had hopefully shown him the truth in it all and had put their mind at ease. Time to start again. \### Stacey never noticed the two swords protruding from the rock before, and she had hiked this path a million times. "You must pick one and only one.