The Invisible Tower by Nils Johnson-Shelton

practice, Kynder. We’re learning how to use our invisible sword, Cleomede.”
    â€œOh yes. I’m sorry, I’d forgotten.”
    Again Kay felt a little bad, but there you have it.
    On Thursday after breakfast Artie informed Kynder that he’d need to take them to Peebles, Ohio, early the next morning to visit Serpent Mound. Then Artie and Kay decided to try cutting some really crazy things.
    First they tried soft things like string, cloth, paper, and plastic wrap. All of them were cut cleanly, like Cleomede was the world’s sharpest razor.
    Cutting a piece of Saran wrap with a slow swing of the blade gave Artie an idea. He wanted to see if he could slowly push the sword through hard objects. They tried a log. It worked. They tried a cinder block. Ditto. Finally Kay got an ancient desktop computer from the garage and she very effortlessly and very slowly pushed their magical sword right through it to the hilt.
    Impressed, Artie said, “Nice work, Sir Kay!”
    Kay yanked Cleomede cleanly from the computer and said, “Sir Kay! I like that.”
    â€œSir Kay it is then. I shall knight you once we’ve procured Excalibur,” Artie said in his most kingly voice.
    â€œExcellent, my liege.”
    Kay handed Artie the sword, and he started to flip it in the air, catching it by the blade and then the grip. He felt great, and fearless, and powerful.
    â€œAhem. What is going on back here?”
    Apparently they felt so good that they hadn’t noticed Qwon standing at the open gate behind their house.
    Kay and Artie snapped around. Cleomede was in the air, and when Artie didn’t catch the sword, it righted itself and landed point down in the earth. It wagged back and forth as its energy dissipated into the ground.
    â€œQwon!” quacked Artie.
    Qwon Onakea stepped into the yard, a hand on her hip and a confused look on her face. She wore khaki shorts and an Amar’e Stoudemire Knicks jersey.
    Qwon was a huge Knicks fan.
    Kay tried to play it cool. “Hey, Qwon, how’s it going?”
    â€œUh, fine.” She took a few steps into the yard.
    â€œHow long have you been standing there?” Kay wondered.
    â€œAbout ten minutes,” she said incredulously.
    â€œWow. Okay.”
    â€œYeah, ‘wow’ is right. Wow is, in fact, sticking into the ground next to Artie.”
    Artie coughed. “What do you mean?”
    Qwon pointed directly at the sword. “That! That sword!”
    â€œOooohhhh, that,” cooed Artie.
    â€œDon’t play dumb with me, Artie Kingfisher,” Qwon said. “You have a sword, and from what I can tell, you … you … you look like you know how to use it!”
    Artie mumbled something, trying to play it off, but Kay figured what the hey and pulled the weapon out of the ground. She gave it a few whistling swings through the air. “Pretty neat, huh?”
    â€œI’ll say,” Qwon said. “Can I try?”
    Kay looked to her brother. Artie smiled at his sister and nodded.
    Kay turned back to Qwon and said, “Sure, Q, here ya go.”
    Qwon took the sword and held it in front of her. Then she dropped into an attack position and whipped it through the air.
    Artie shook his head and said, “You sorta look like you know what you’re doing there, Qwon.”
    â€œOf course I do! My grandpa is a kendo expert—that’s, like, Japanese sword fighting, except they use a bamboo sword instead of a metal one—and he taught me a bunch of stuff.” She swung the sword again and looked at it approvingly. “This is a good blade, guys.”
    Kynder came from the house carrying a tray with a pitcher of lemonade. He put it on the patio table and said, “Hey, Qwon!”
    Forgetting the weirdness of the situation, Qwon looked up and said, “Hey, Mr. Kingfisher!” Then she remembered that she was holding a sword. She looked at Kynder, who was pouring out drinks. Then she