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The night was young, but already the star’s shine could be seen in the dusk sky. I had never seen anything so bright and majestic! The celestial wonder looked ready to jump off its black canvas and place its luminous body onto the Earth. We had been tracking the star’s position for several days, and we decided it was time to follow where it would lead. I placed my bags over my camel. It was going to be a long journey, and so I packed a double portion of food and drink. As I finished my preparations, my three colleagues arrived on their camels.
“Good evening, Dabir.” Melchior greeted. Caspar and Balthasar followed closely behind him.
“Are you ready to go?” Caspar asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“What about your gift for the Child?” Balthasar inquired. “You are taking a gift aren’t you?”
“Of course,” I grinned. “Let me go and get it.” I walked behind my home to my small outdoor workshop. My gift lay covered with a linen cloth on top of an anvil. I carefully picked it up.
“Here it is, but before I reveal it to you, let me see what each of you is offering.”
Caspar climbed down from his camel. He pulled a small, wooden chest from his pack. He opened the chest, revealing a large mound of bright gold coins that shimmered in the pale moonlight.
“Only the finest gold pieces for our King.” He said with pride.
Melchior dismounted his camel and pulled out his own box. As he opened it up, the pungent aroma of frankincense permeated the evening air as fragrant chunks lay heaped up inside the box.
“The savory aroma of frankincense will surely please the King Child.” He said with an ear-to-ear grin.
Balthasar pulled a bottle from his pack and poured a tiny drop of oil from it onto my skin. I recognized the fragrance as being that of Myrrh.
“I too bring an aromatic fragrance to his Majesty, only I chose to present mine as an oil. Now what about you, Dabir? Are you going to keep us guessing about this gift of yours?”
I pulled back the linen from the gift, revealing a long curved sword with a golden handle adorned with fine jewels that had been passed down to me from my ancestors. On the handle was an inscription that read, “King of the Jews.” The tempered blade curved out and around, glimmering as I held it up high into the air.
“It’s a scimitar blade!” Melchior said in amazement. “It’s the most beautifully crafted weapon that I have ever seen!”
“I present to this child a blade worthy to be wielded by a king!” I shouted.
“Who crafted such a masterpiece?” Caspar asked.
I laughed. “Silly, Caspar. Surely you knew that your old friend Dabir had been practicing the art of blacksmithing in between all that studying of the sky and ancient texts…I forged this blade.”
Balthasar ran his finger along the blade’s edge.
“It is indeed sharp! What a marvelous gift!” He said while looking at a small drop of blood on his fingertip.
I placed the weapon inside a leather sheath and secured it to the side of my camel. I hopped onto the beast’s back, letting it lift me up as it stood off the ground. I turned around to look at my three friends.
“Well now. Are you all going to just stand there with your mouths gaped open, or are we going to follow the star and find this child? We haven’t any more time to spare!”
Each of them stared at me for a moment in disbelief and then silently proceeded to mount up. The silence continued for a while as we headed towards the direction of the star.
***
A day had passed since we started on our journey. The wind began to pick up as we crossed the desert. Grains of sand blasted past me, stinging my cheeks. A terrible sandstorm was brewing, and we were in the middle of it. I called out to my three companions who were behind me.
“You alright?” I shouted.
Only the wind could be heard.
“Caspar! Melchior! Belthasar! Are you there?”
A hard blow hit my side, sending me flying off my camel and onto the bed of sand beneath me. A large figure, draped in black, stood over me.
“I found you! Now where is the sword? Hand it over to me at once!”
Author’s Note: This is a small snippet of a larger work that the author is currently working on. It is completely fictional and is in no way an accurate reference to Biblical events.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
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