J. A. Holladay
Official Rewrite: August 19, 2022
- Clal’s Uncle (Aerol), Aunt (Willa), and twin sister, (Ansa) are all farmer peasants.
- They live in a 2 room cottage on a small 32 tree orchard of 3 kinds of apples.
- They are 16 years old.
- Do they go into town for another year of Apple Sales?
- Clal and Ansa are going to town to sell their apples at the market. This is not just any week, The Festival of Findaln Adventus
- They go alone, because they will be staying after wards to being an apprenticeship and indenture.
- Clal - Blacksmith at 16 years old
- Ansa -
- They go, stay for a week.
Chapter 1 - 2.0
A glistening sapphire sky yielded to the fiery orange sunrise as Clal fixated his gaze on the horizon. His long, blond hair whipped against his rough skinned face as he searched the onyx sea.
He squinted his crystal blue eyes, searched the Eastern sky, then bit his lower lip.
Looking down at the sand Clal stepped forward and approached the edge of the shore. He crouched down, then reached out and cupped a small amount of water in his hand. He watched it drip back into the sea letting the drops stream down and around his rough fingers and palm. Clal rubbed the water between his fingers. He looked again into the East, then sighed.
Today, he thought, lips curling into a brief smile. How could it already be, today? His smile faded.
Clal reached into the folds of his worn clothing and produced a small pouch. He scooped up a handful of sand and let it filter through his fingers. He extracted a pinch of sand then tossed it into his pouch, then continued to comb through the sand.
“Clal!” a girl’s voice echoed from over the hill directly behind him. “We’ve readied the cart.”
“Clal?”
He continued to forage around the area, first to where the grass was growing, then to a pile of odds and ends tossed ashore. He found a twig, a pebble, and a piece of a gray shell.
In the midst of his searching Clal caught a glimpse of a red bird from the corner of his eye flying toward him. It flew past then fell to the ground.
Clal leaned over and examined the place where the bird had landed. When he looked closer, it wasn’t a bird at all, but a mysterious red apple with one bite taken out of it.
Clal looked up and swung his head back and forth surveying the scene. He found no one, only the distant sound of giggling behind a trembling small tree.
“Ansa!” Clal said pounding his fist in the air, “I said I would be back in a minute. I’m just fin…”
Another apple flew through the air, this time almost colliding with Clal’s chest, a near miss if he hadn’t stepped aside.
The giggling continued.
“Alright. Alright. You’ve had your fun. Now…”
“Have I?” Ansa said, bounding from a tree. She wore a wide smile capped by two rosy cheeks on both ends. She was tall, slender, and her long sandy blond hair curled around her neck.
“Not as much fun as I’ll have racing you up ole’ Crescent-Keep and getting to the cart first, dear brother.”
Then Ansa added, patting her pocket, “And wait until I show you what I found a few nights ago when I went digging near the crescent hills.”
Clal’s jaw dropped. “Ansa, you’ve been holding out on me?” And with that Clal thrust forward laughing. Ansa plunged into the forest ahead of him.
Clal watched Ansa reach the top first, look behind her, then lean forward and race down the other side still giggling. Clal reached the top determined to catch her, but something caused him to catch his breath, and he whipped around and gazed into the East.
The sun had broken over the horizon and was steadily rising as he watched it. He had always wished upon the sky that the dragon of his dreams would emerge somewhere behind a cloud or between the sun’s golden rays and come to him; that it would carry him away to the places of valor, the places of yester-age that the songs were written about, places where he could show the world what no one really knew was deep inside of him.
Clal placed his hand on the place where his small pouch was layers beneath his closed. He smiled and nodded. Clal spun around and sped down the other side of the mountain they called Crescent-Keep because it was the tallest peak that was surrounded by a crescent arrangement of hills below.
When Clal arrived at the cart that was near the two room cottage, he found a hunched over Ansa heaving in each breath as she leaned on the large cart wheel. Clal joined her and they both recovered their normal breathing pattern in silence.
The horse whineid onces then stomped it’s left hoof.
“Ginger, you old thing.” Ansa stood walking to the horse patting her on the shoulder. “We’re leaving soon.”
The cart was filled with countless barrels, almost to capacity, except for a small space in the back. The wheels were taller than the wooden planked sides of the cart and there was just enough room for one or two small people to sit and guide the cart by horse.
“Well?,” Aerol said, stepping from the entry of the cottage, “I believe it’s time to go. There’s enough sunlight now.”
Clal’s older brother walked past Ansa, adjusted the horse’s gear then climbed up and sat with reigns in hand.
“Mina,” he said turning his head halfway behind him. “Come join me.”
A small child about ten years of age darted from the cottage and plopped herself beside him. She wrapped her arm around Turl’s elbow then looked up at him. Turl smiled then winked at her.
Clal and Ansa approached Aerol who was now joined by Willa.
“Uncle, how will you ever manage without us?” Ansa said, cocking her head to one side and putting her fist on her hip.
“Ansa, I don’t think we will.” He said, pinching her nose and smiling. “Hurry back, you two, but only when you’ve completed the time we’ve contracted for you to be there.”
Ansa gave Aerol a squeeze then hugged Willa.
Clal only looked into the eyes of the most wonderful people he knew, and gave a smile.
Willa chuckled and stepped forward putting her hand on his shoulder, “Now, Clal, my child,” She said, “You’re going off to those adventures you’ve always wanted to go on.” She held his face with her palm. “You’ll see.”
“Yes,” he said, “I suppose.”
“Well Willa, their sixteen and the twins are on their way.” Aerol shook his head. “Time, it moves so swiftly sometimes,” he said, scratching the side of his chin.
“Thank you so much, aunt and uncle, for all you’ve done for Ansa and I.” Clal said half smiling. “We are who we are because of the both of you.”
“You are who you are because of what you choose to be,” Willa smiled, her chestnut hair gently waving in the wind.
“Yes, thank you.” Ansa added. “And we’ll be back the very day we finish.”
“Yes,” Clal smiled, “the very day!”
Ansa turned to Clal with her mouth open wide. “That’s what I said, the very day. What’s wrong with that? It can be done.”
“Nothing,” Clal smiled as he walked toward the wagon, “It’s just that, what if we want to sleep first, then wake up in the morning and leave for home? Or, what if it takes longer than a day, or suppose…”
“We’ll miss you both,” she said colliding with her brother and both falling into the cart. “And don’t mind Clal, he doesn’t know what he’s saying half the time,” she said, pushing him back down. “I’ll be sure he doesn’t get himself into any trouble.” She turned to Clal waiving her finger at him as he sat halfway up now displaying a dirt smudged face.
Aerol huffed, then held his breath, then let out a loud laugh, “I’m not sure that’s possible. It might take a small army to accomplish such a task.”
Clal frowned then folded his arms. He shook his head then started laughing.
“Alright, Turl, move get going. You don’t want to be late. Adventus season yields quite a crowd,” Aerol said looking at Willa, “Stay busy!”
“And take care of each other. Stay together.” Willa said, raising her arm and waving. “We don’t want what happened last year to happen again.”
Mina turned around and smiled at her mother while Willa smiled back, wagging her finger in Mina’s direction.
“Okay father.” Turl and Mina waved as the cart began to creak forward.
“Bye, Momma!” Mina said.
As the cart rolled down the thoroughfare Clal watched Aerol and Willa who were frozen in time, embarrassing each other as they watched him. There was no possible way for Clal to have been prepared for what came the moment the cart pulled him around the first corner and out of sight of the world he always knew. He didn’t know when he'd be back, what would happen from now until then, and it didn’t quite feel the same as in years past when they traveled to Eldan Vyum as long as he could remember.
A small feeling started to grow within him as he watched Ansa slip into sleep and the sun reach higher into the autumn sky. The trees reminded him of the ocean everytime the wind blew, his ocean, his sea and the waves upon the shore. It was all so close, just a climb away across the Crescent-Keep pass.
Clal watched Ansa’s slow breathing as she leaned against one of the wooden barrels. And we’ve never been apart, Ansa and I, Clal thought.
He thought about this year when they thought they would lose the crop from the early freeze and how Mina tried to talk Willa into keeping the pig that showed up one day. And his stash of drift wood and things that he’d collected over the years. And Turl, he was so different now after his journey to the North, last winter.
Clal turned to steal a peak at Turl leading Ginger along the road. Then he looked away. We used to be so close, Clal thought. He didn’t understand it. Something had changed in him.
Ansa was stirring now, the sun light shining directly on her face. She turned over and nestled back into her fetal position. That’s when Clal remembered what Ansa had said about showing him something she had found a few nights ago.
“Ansa!” he whispered. “Can you hear me?”
Clal waited for a moment.
He watched his sister and smiled as she slowly rolled over toward him and gently blinked her eyes until their gaze met.
“What.” she whispered, “Clal?”
“Ansa, I can’t wait,” he said scooting closer to her as she sat up and leaned against him. “That thing.”
“What thi…” Her eyes popped open, “The--yes…” She padded her thighs then her hips. “It’s…” her hand stopped at her waist, “here, right here.” She smiled.
“But first,” she said, scooting away from Clal, “You must promise me, Clal Winden, to listen to me,” She watched Clal looking at where she’s rested her hand, “Clal, promise me that you’ll listen. I have a lot to tell you.” She smiled pulling a pouch out of her pocket. “Agreed?”
Clal broke his trance as he looked her in the eyes. “I promise, Ansa.” He smiled. Ansa had never talked to him quite like that before. She held him spell bound both by her well known art of suspense and by her suspicion of Clal.
Ansa looked up at Turl and Mina who were in quiet conversation. Mina giggled and Turl chuckled as he continued to drive the cart along. Ansa looked back at Clal, waved for him to come closer then untied the pouch.
They sat, huddled over Ansa’s cupped hand in front of her as she turned the pouch over. A smooth, blue stone slipped from within the pouch and rested in the center of her palm. It’s shape was perfectly round, and though it was flat it still held a measure of thickness as the edges were perfectly tapered. The surface with smooth like glass and the blue was pure and untained by any flecks of discolored stone for it was pure. And when Clal looked into the stone it seemed as though he could peer into the very depths of eternity.
“Clal,” Ansa started. “It was not two nights ago that I found this stone. I had been digging for some of those ginger roots as I often do this time of year…
Ansa’s voice trailed off as Clal continued to eye the stone. “May I see it?” he said.
“Here,” Ansa placed the stone in the middle of Clal’s palm. Clal lifted the stone up to the light of the sun and held it there trying to look through it. He squinted with one eye open and examined what he could find in the center of the stone. A dot, a small, lighter dot in the center is all he could decipher.
He lowered his hand and placed the stone back in the center of his palm. Both Ansa and Clal were looking down at the stone when Ansa gasped. Clal’s eyes got wider as the stone began to change.
The small point in the center of the stone had grown and now was pulsing ever so slightly. It began to fill the stone and reached it’s edges.
“Oh…” Clal said looking at Ansa. “What’s it doing?”
Ansa shook her head and reached for the stone. She held it up, level to her line of sight. But, by then the light within was gone and the stone had now returned to it’s original condition.
“Clal, look.” She held it out in front of him.
“It’s…gone,” he said.
her saying something about showing him something. the cart jostled along. Then Ansa leaned toward Clal and whispered. “I’ve been thinking, Clal,” she wrapped her arm around Clal’s elbow, “what if Gwynn doesn’t like the way I sew? What if I talk too much? And what if…”
“What if you worry about things that aren’t worth worrying about?” Clal said, “You’ll have her wrapped around your finger in a week. I’m sure of it.” Clal patted her head.
“I’m sure you’ll quickly be a favorite among the blacksmith’s customers.” Ansa smiled. “Is it true that Tallon is the very best blacksmith in all of Illia? Is it true because…”
“The very best,” Clal said nodding slowly.
=====
Clal walked slowly to the cart, climbed in, then caught a glimpse of Ansa still smirking. He shook his head and looked away.
When the cart started moving again they all returned to their own thoughts. The clip-clopping of the horse’s hooves on the wooden planks of the bridge that spanned the river echoed against the trees. They reached a clearing and the hot sun beat down on the three of them. The cart continued to climb and soon reached the top of a small hill.
“Eldan Vyum,” Nareete announced.
“Clal look,” Ansa said. “Eldan Vyum! It’s enormous.”
“Look at that,” Clal said, “it goes on for miles and miles and miles.”
Clal and Ansa had never set foot in the great central city of Eldan Vyum. They had never seen such a place. They had only pieced together in their minds depictions of what it might look like from stories and conversations over the years.
The sun sank lower and lower toward the horizon as they continued to talk about their plans while in Eldan Vyum. Rythe planned to head straight home after the examinations to care for his mother. He mentioned, though, that he promised to visit Clal and Ansa before he departed for home.
“I’ll be talking again to the blacksmith so I will most assuredly be visiting you Clal.” Rythe said.
They continued to talk and hardly noticed how dark it was getting. Though it was dusk, there were many people still walking along the streets who filled many of the buildings.
“It’s the examination,” Rythe said. “It brings people from every corner of Illia.”
Before they left the main road into the city, Dalbus stopped the cart then said, “Okay, children.” Both Dalbus and Nareete stood up then walked down from the front, onto the ground, to the back of the cart.
“This is where we say our goodbyes,” Dalbus said. “If you’ll walk the rest of the way, we have a long journey ahead of us before we sleep.”
“Mother!” Ansa hopped down and embraced Nareete. “I will miss you.”
Nareete smiled, “Ansa, you’re going to do wonderfully.”
Clal jumped down from the cart then Rythe did the same.
Clal turned to his Father. “Does this mean I’m finally a man, going to work in the blacksmith’s shop making swords and all?”
Both Dalbus and Turl burst out laughing. “Well, Clal,” his father said, “at thirteen I believe you’ll be there soon enough.” His father looked at Clal and winked.
“In fact, when I was your age I was…” his father started to say.
“...building one boat a week for the Illian naval fleet, living on my own, free as can be.” Clal and Ansa both finished his sentence in unison and they all four burst out in a fit of laughter. Rythe just watched.
After they said their goodbyes and watched as the cart turned a corner into the trees, Rythe asked, “Where to first?”
“To Gwynn the seamstress. It’s on the edge of town near Ordon’s wood works.” She said, “Do you know where that is?”
“Yes,” Rythe said, “I do.”
They meandered around the streets of the city, dusk having turned into night. They eventually stopped in front of Gwynn’s shop door.
<< left off here: 9/11 >>
Through the window two candles were burning on a large wooden table in the middle of the room. An old woman was needling away at some fabric. She looked up, noticed she had visitors, then stood from her chair and approached the door. She opened the door, then said addressing Ansa.
“Hello. Are you Ansa Winden?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I have been anxiously awaiting your arrival.” Gwynn smiled widely. Ansa hesitated.
“You’ll be fine,” Clal said as he embraced his sister. “We’ll visit each other often.” Clal smiled then winked. “I’ll be back in just three days from now to see how you’re getting along.”
Ansa looked up into Clal’s blue eyes, “Okay, Clal. That’s not too long from now, I guess.” Ansa said.
Ansa gave Clal another squeeze then walked toward Gwynn. She turned and waved to Rythe who smiled back.
“Don’t forget to come see me before you leave.” She said winking.
“You?” Rythe smiled, “I wouldn’t miss it, Ansa.”
Gwynn walked toward Ansa and wrapped her arm around her and said, “I have no doubt you and I will become fast friends.”
Ansa smiled, “Oh Gwynn, I like you already.” Ansa turned and waved again to Clal then she disappeared behind the shop door.
Rythe turned from Gwynn’s door and Clal followed. “So, you know where the blacksmith shop if from here then, Rythe?” Rythe nodded as he took Clal down a city street where many other boys were running rampant with laughter and great excitement. They turned down several streets and passed many short and tall buildings.
It wasn’t long before Clal said to Rythe, “I miss her already, Rythe. Can you believe we’ve never been apart until now?”
Rythe looked down and nodded slowly, “You are good to her, Clal. A true friend.” He smiled.
Then Rythe stopped walking and looked at Clal. “Something tells me though, Clal, that she’s made of iron, your sister. And that there’s more to her than what one might see from the outside looking in.”
Rythe clapped Clal on the back as they resumed their journey through the streets of Eldan Vyum.
As they passed by endless buildings and walked by nameless faces, all that Clal could think about was his beloved twin sister, Ansa, and how right Rythe was.
Ansa was an incredible individual and they were truly inseparable. Their days had been spent, not climbing apple trees in their orchards, surprisingly, but fighting dragons in the clouds and escaping shapeless thieves in the forest shadows. Sticks became swords and leaves became golden coins. And the great Crescent-Keep Mountain was their castle fortress.
They knew each other’s thoughts and often felt each other’s feelings. And, though he resented her for her witty ways and overly keen abilities, those really were the things he liked most about her. Clal smiled as he remembered the rock with the seaweed as hair, and how he had fallen for it.
“My, Ansa,” Clal whispered. He shook his head and chuckled.
A few more feet and they arrived in front of the blacksmith’s shop. “This is it,” Rythe said, “though it is all dark inside. I’m sure this is the place. I’d know it anywhere...”
Both Clal and Rythe stood in front of old shop with their mouths wide open. Clal walked toward Tallon’s shop and knocked on the door. They waited, then Rythe knocked, but the result was the same. Silence.
“I don’t think there’s anyone here, Rythe.”
“No,” Rythe said, “it looked so different from when I was here last.” Rythe looked through the dirt laden front window. Clal walked around the side of the building then came back in a moment.
“Rythe, I don’t know the last time anyone has been here.” Clal said. “What am I to do now?”
“You can stay with me at the inn until we figure out what you’re going to do.” Rythe said. “The inn, Clal?”
“I suppose,” Clal said reluctantly.
“Right then. The inn is this way,” Rythe said pointing.
Other parts of chapter 1
Clal had always wanted to be part of adventures in one way or another. Now, he would be forging swords, axes, all kinds of weapons for the castle men and others who wish to pay the high price that Tallon exacted for his wares. It was as if Clal’s very childhood dreams were being realized and he almost couldn’t wait the day and a half to get there.
Clal and Ansa remained silent for a long time, their bodies moving with the sway of the cart as it jostled over uneven ground. The aspen trees waved at them as they traveled through the forest. The autumn breeze carried with it the scent of vegetation in full bloom. The forest was bustling with the sounds of nature; crickets, birds, and the wind in the leaves.
Clal looked past their horse down the road and noticed that they were approaching the point at which he’d never trespassed before. As they approached Clal looked into the woods remembering when he visited last.
“This must be the place where…” Clal squinted then stood up, almost losing his balance. He walked to the side of the cart then gasped.
“Hey! Hey!” he yelled, waving. “Ansa, it's Rythe.” He turned to Dalbus, “Dalbus, there’s someone coming. Do you remember Rythe?”
Dalbus looked into the forest then slowed and finally stopped the cart.
In the distance a young lad with dark brown hair and a pack on his side was bobbing up and down through the forest. Rythe was running fast through a clearing between two thick sections of the forest. He was waving his hands up and down and calling out Clal’s name.
By that time Rythe had reached the side of the cart. He thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out a few coins. He gave them to the Dalbus who took them and nodded.
“Thank you,” Rythe said, tossing his pack into the wagon. He climbed in and sat beside Clal. Clal clapped Rythe on the back.
“I wasn’t sure when I’d ever see you again.” Clal smiled, “It’s been…”
“...too long, friend.” Rythe said with a smile. “What’s the news with you two?” he said, settling back against his pack, folding his arms. “You’re heading to Eldan Vyum too?”
“We are going to Eldan Vyum to learn a new trade,” Clal started. “I’ve been invited as an apprentice to a blacksmith that my father knew.”
“That’s a high honor, Clal.” Rythe said with raised eyebrows.
Clal nodded, “To think, making swords and armor for the finest men who walk this land.”
“Nails and locks, furniture and horseshoes too.” Rythe added. “It’s an important job.”
Rythe turned to Ansa, “And you, Ansa? What lies in store for you in Eldan Vyum?”
She hesitated, “Well, mending and sewing clothes.” She smiled only slightly. “That’s it, just a clothes shop.”
“I see,” Rythe said hesitating, “...which...” he leaned forward, “...means that you’ll be crafting enchanting dresses for royal ladies while Clal is pounding out iron swords for epic battles.” He smiled a wide smile. “Who could ask for a more exciting way to end the year?”
Clal had never thought of their apprenticeships in quite that way. It was just what Ansa had needed and Rythe’s presentation of their future appointed stations even brightened Clal’s spirits.
“It sounds like you two are off to new adventures.” Rythe concluded.
“Yes,” Ansa agreed. “Perhaps we are after all.” She smiled, “And what about you? What brings you to Eldan Vyum?”
“The examinations,” Rythe said, “I turned eighteen just three weeks ago.”
“It’s a tradition that’s been around since before the oldest man’s great grandfather's time.” Rythe said, “Some say no one knows when it all began. But I hear that every year they rehearse the reason why and conduct an examination because of it.”
“What kind of examination?” Ansa said.
“To see if one of the sons of Illia is the chosen one,”Rythe said.
“For what?” Clal said.
“Well, some believe that the evil in Illia will reach a tipping point, that a hero will rise up, and that by conducting a search to find the one early, the forces of good will again take advantage over the dark forces.”
“That’s incredible, Rythe,” Clal said, “but why fifteen?”
“I don’t know, really,” Rythe said.
“And what do they do to examine you? Turl never talked much about it.” Ansa said.
“How could someone possibly find out who the chosen one is?” Clal said, puzzled. “How would that work?”
“I wonder what it’s like?” Clal said.
“I don’t know much about it.” Rythe said. “I’m sure to find out soon.”
They were silent for a time, Clal was still trying to solve the riddle of how the chosen one was to be discovered.
Clal’s thoughts turned to Rythe and how they used to spend so much time together.“It’s been almost two years since we’ve spoken, Rythe. Tell us,” Clal smiled, “where have you been? We used to gallivant all over the countryside together.”
“Right.” Rythe said quietly nodding. “We did.”
Rythe looked down at his hands as he picked at his fingernails for a moment. Then, he breathed in and sighed, “I’ve been...around,” he said, “just staying closer to home.” He paused.
“I’ve taken trips to the sea and have visited the Eastern shores too.” He looked up at the sky and squinted, “And...there was a visit from my brother during hunting season. We cleared another section of our land for farming together. That was a chore.” Rythe was struggling to come up with something interesting.
“Rythe,” Ansa said, “you don’t sound like yourself. I don’t know what it is but you’ve changed. Is everything alright?”
Rythe’s face turned pale for a moment. He started to shake his head slowly. He was looking out into the trees. Sun rays streamed through the forest. His gaze was frozen. Clal knew that his friend was troubled.
Rythe heaved himself to his feet then called to Dalbus, “Dalbus, good sir, I’ve run a long way and would like to stop for water soon. Is there a stream near by?” Rythe sat back down.
“We’ll almost to one of the smaller streams that runs through these parts. It shouldn’t be long now.”
“Yes, yes, you are right,” Rythe said, “I have stayed away, hidden, I’ve become a recluse of sorts. And for that I am sorry.” Rythe said looking at both of them. “I would have liked to have come last fall to help with the harvest, in fact.”
“Rythe,” Clal said, “then what happened?”
He looked at Dalbus then leaned in close, “Earlier this year I took a trip to the North.” He pointed. “It was just me, through the woods, though I took the plain road most of the way. Mother and I had agreed that we needed a new ox to pull the plow. Migg was getting too old and wouldn’t be useful to us for next year’s working season.”
“It was on the second day, just a half a day’s walk, that I was walking along the road in plain sight. I had just passed an apple tree and had plucked from its branches one of the biggest apples I had ever seen. I thought of you two right then, I want you to know.” Rythe smiled.
“I was eating that apple, it wasn’t as good as the ones you grow, and walking down the wide road when I heard thundering behind me. Normally, I would watch whomever was on horseback, move out of their way, then continue on my way. But not this time.” Rythe shook his head, “No, this time I felt a fear that I had never felt before. The moment I heard their horse’s thundering hooves, I knew something that some great darkness was approaching.”
Ansa slid closer to Clal and clutched his arm.
The wagon halted abruptly. Ansa screamed. Rythe jolted. Clal grabbed the side of the wagon..
“Oh, well…” Dalbus said as he whipped around to see what was the matter. “We’re here. That’s all. I was just stopping like you said.”
Ansa put her hand on her heart then took a deep breath in.
Rythe jumped out of the wagon. “Thank you, Dalbus.” He motioned for Clal and Ansa to follow him. “We’ll be back after a spell. Please wait here.”
Clal and Ansa followed Rythe through some bushes and tall trees to the bank of a shallow river. They followed crossing over the water on a fallen tree then drank from the river until satisfied.
“Will you tell us the rest of the story?” Clal said to Rythe.
Rythe nodded then sat on the river bank where Clal and Ansa sat beside him.
===
Rythe trys to tell story be goes vague an d makes up ending........arrive..........then after coal or gallon can't be found sat. Morn.......rythe says go see ansa or the inn then changes and says to stay with him. He finishes the story...........gallon doesn't tell them much...mm..not even about the rishk
===
“I tell you only because you ask,” Rythe began to say slowly, “and only because I know you will keep what I’m about to tell you...secret.”
“Yes, Clal, you are right,” Rythe continued, “I have stayed away these past several months, hidden, I’ve become a recluse of sorts.”
“For that I am sorry.” Rythe said, smiling slightly.
He leaned in close, “Earlier this year I took a trip to the North.” He pointed. “It was just me, through the woods, though I took the plain road most of the way. Mother and I had agreed that we needed a new ox to pull the plow. Migg was getting too old and wouldn’t be useful to us for next year’s working season.”
“It was on the second day, just a half a day’s walk, that I was walking along the road in plain sight. I had just passed an apple tree and had plucked from its branches one of the biggest apples I had ever seen. I thought of you two right then, I want you to know.” Rythe smiled. His face, however, returned as if to stone and his eyes were still gazing into the forest.
“I was eating that apple, it wasn’t as good as the ones you grow, and walking down the wide road when I heard thundering behind me. Normally, I would watch whomever was on horseback, move out of their way, then continue on my way. But not this time.” Rythe shook his head, “No, this time I felt a fear that I had never felt before. The moment I heard their horse’s thundering hooves, I knew something that some great darkness was approaching.”
Ansa slid closer to Clal and clutched his arm.
“And so I hid as fast as I could,” Rythe’s voice got quieter, “behind some nearby bushes. In the process I dropped my apple. I had only taken a few bites.”
“They appeared in the distance almost as soon as I left the road. I watched them approach and thought that I could endure their passing and be on my way. But to my great alarm,” Rythe paused, “the large rider in front silently lifted his fist in the air and the riders slowed and stopped right in front of where I had found cover.”
“There were four riders in dark clothing. Two of them dismounted. I froze, barely breathing.” Rythe paused.
“It was hard to take it all in really.” Rythe continued. “Just moments ago I had been enjoying my apple, walking along the road, thinking about some of the best things in life. But now, I feared for my safety, my future, my very life.”
“They were all searching the surroundings, looking here and there. The rider who seemed to be the leader, the largest one, was standing closest to me. He searched the ground, spotted my apple, then picked it up.”
“‘What is it?’ one of the riders still on their horses said.”
“‘Must we delay?,’ said another.”
“‘Quiet,’ said the leader. ‘There’s someone here...and they think to hide from us.’”
Rythe laughed nervously. “Clal, these men were no ordinary men. Mind you, I don’t take to recoiling easily.”
“‘See here,’ the leader said, pointing to the ground. These tracks are fresh. And this apple here, not five minutes ago it was plucked from that tree over there. A few bites and abandoned on account of our arrival.’”
“‘A pity,’ another rider said. ‘It looks like a good one.’”
“Then the leader took the apple in his massive hand and crushed it in his grasp. He looked in my direction and started to inch his way toward me with the others close behind.”
“I wondered why four men would pay attention to and even torment one who was alone almost in the dark of night in the middle of the forest. I soon found out the answer to the riddle.” Rythe was talking faster now. “They had come behind and were headed north also and had seen my tracks for miles, I was sure of that. And when the tracks left the road, I’m guessing it was only because I heard them and could not be far, they probably guessed.”
“‘We know you are here,’ the large one said, ‘and we would have you show yourself.’”
“The other dismounted rider walked over to a rider on horseback and whispered something to him. The other two riders dismounted in a moment and I found no comfort in staying hidden any longer. And so I did what I thought would be the only reasonable option if I wanted to save my skin,” Rythe leaned back and threw his hands up in the air, “I leapt out of my hiding place and ran.”
“I jumped over bushes and darted past trees. Clal, you know how fast I am?!” Rythe added. “But it wasn’t fast enough. I figured they wanted money or information, but I didn’t know exactly.” Rythe’s fist hit his open palm, “I wasn’t about to give them anything, those sniveling thieves.”
“I must have only taken ten strides when I was hit from behind and tackled to the ground by one of them. It was like he had jumped from a tree the way he collided into me.” Rythe looked up remembering the details, “He wasn’t behind me, it was as if he had been in front of me, but that’s not possible.”
”I also noticed that one of the men had disappeared, the other two had grabbed their horses and were now dismounted and at my side. The other held me tight.”
“Why are you telling us this, Rythe?” Ansa said, shaking, “This isn’t one of your tall tales?”
“No. Sadly, it is not though I wish it was.” Rythe had that distant look in his eyes again.
He looked at Clal and Ansa then said, “I tell you this because this is a riddle half solved, and of all of the people I know, you two are fit to solve it.” Rythe sighed, “I never intended to tell a soul. But you asked why I have not been around, and I feel you ought to hear the truth. Nothing happens by chance.”
“So what happened next?” Clal said.
“With three of the men pressing in I couldn’t think of anything to do so I said, ‘Hello friends. It’s a beautiful night, is it not?’”
“I should have kept quiet because I was shoved to the ground with an incredible force. But, I continued, ‘Now really, this is no way to treat a complete stranger, or anyone for that matter. My name is Doren. Can I do anything for you?’ That didn’t work either. It just made things worse when I found a new pain in my ribs.”
“‘All we want to do is ask you a few questions…’ the large one said’”
“‘...and that shiny dagger dangling from your side, I’d like that too,’ another rider said”
“‘...then we’ll leave you to your journey,’ the large one said.”
“‘No,’ I said.”
“You told them no?” Ansa said.
“Yes. I wasn’t about to let them take anything from me without a fight.” Rythe said, shaking his head.
“But they could have killed you.” Clal said.
“‘No,’ I said, ‘you can’t have anything. I’ll be answering no questions...and this dagger was given to me by my father who died last year. It means a great deal to me.’ Then I pulled away from the rider who was holding me and yelled, ‘Why would you chase me and hurt me when I did nothing to you?! Cowards prey on the innocent. There are four of you and one of me…’ I said”
“I was shoved again but that time I shoved back. Then they closed in on me inching forward like before.”
“‘This young lad here, he thinks he’s brave.’ The leader said, then continued, ‘First I thought to find some sport, but here we’ve found the budding hero of Illia.’ He laughed a cruel and wicked laugh. ’It’s clear to me what we should do with one who thinks to grow so brave.’”
“‘Do you not know with whom you are in the presence of?’ the one holding me hissed.”
“‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I do’. I felt as if these were men whose hearts were truly black, and so I said these words to them.”
“‘You were men who were once noble and great, but who embraced the evils of this world and now are servants to it,’ then I added, ‘slaves, you are.’”
“Rythe, that doesn’t sound like you?” Clal said.
“Clal, I felt something there, like I was bigger than myself somehow.”
“Immediately one of them said, ‘Strike him down.’ The rider holding me released his grip, stood and drew his sword all in one movement then thrust it towards me.” Rythe leaned in again and the twins did too. “And here’s what happened next.”
“I hadn’t noticed but we were on the banks of a river, just a few feet away from the water. At that moment the river began to glow, a light deep beneath the surface started growing brighter and brighter eventually illuminating the entire forest, like it was day.” Rythe’s smile had returned. “The three riders paused, stunned by the phenomenon.”
“‘Renthar,’ my attacker, yelled out, ‘what is this?’”
“‘I...uh…’” Renthar said, then looked at one of the others, “‘Krothwing!’ The large one said motioning with his arm, ‘Lower your sword.’”
“I ran towards the water. The men didn’t follow. I felt free from their evil intentions for a moment.”
“‘It seems as if we’ve mettled with the wrong boy tonight.’ Renthar said”
“Then, they slowly walked toward their steads, all three of them keeping their eyes fixed in the direction of the light. They mounted, cracked their reins and disappeared into the forest shadows.” Rythe added, “I never did find out where the fourth rider had disappeared off to.”
“When they had gone, I waited and watched the light within the river begin to fade.” Rythe’s voice was quiet. “I knelt down on that river bank and spoke to the kind water that had saved me in that moment.”
“‘Thank you,’ I said, ‘I will repay you somehow, someday. Thank you.’”
“I ran all night. And though I knew somehow the keeper of the light in the river was still with me, I wrestled with the fear of the encounter.” Rythe shook his head. “I didn’t continue north but I retraced my steps, this time through the forest. I cut much time off my journey and soon, mid-day the next day I collapsed on the front steps of my home. Luckily my mother was still sleeping or else she would have been worried. When she awoke, I simply told her that I was unable to get an ox and returned home as fast as I could.”
Rythe held up two fingers, “For the next few weeks I had only two questions in my mind, who were those men, and why did that river shine its light when I needed it the most?”
“I found out a half answer to the first question only a few weeks later when I went to Eldan to finally buy an ox.” Rythe said. “They are known to some as” then he leaned in and whispered, “...the RISHK.”
Dalbus turned and looked behind him. “What are you three up to back there?” He said. The three of them jumped in surprise. Dalbus laughed a hearty laugh and wore a wide smile, “Telling tall tales, eh?”
“Rythe is always good for a story, father.” Clal said. Clal was still captivated by the story Rythe just told them. It was mysterious.
“I believe our horse is due for a watering stop.” Dalbus said. “There’s a stream just up ahead about a mile or two. We’ll stop there for a time if that’s all right with you lot.”
“Is anyone hungry?” Nareete asked, turning around. “I have some bread and cheese…”
“I am mother,” Ansa stood up then walked over to the front of the cart.
<< add - convo with Ansa’s mother
Nareete handed her some cheese and bread then Ansa returned, passing out some morsels to the others.
“Thank you Ansa,” Rythe said smiling.
“Wouldn’t it be great to be able to stop men like the ones you described, stop them from causing trouble?” Rythe said.
“I think so.” Clal turned to Ansa who frowned at Clal.
“So the RISHK you said?” Clal said, confirming what he remembered about their name.
“Yes,” Rythe replied, “that is their name.”
“And if they’ve given themselves a name they must have a purpose,” Clal concluded.
“Right,” Rythe said. “They must, and that’s what I thought.” Rythe smiled, “So I had to find out.”
Ansa shook her head. “You mean there’s more?”
“I mentioned that I traveled to Eldan Vyum a few weeks later,” Rythe continued, leaning in again and speaking quietly. “It took me that long to find my courage to venture out on my own. I traveled to Eldan and found where they sold oxen, which was what I was in need of like before. I purchased the animal and told the merchant that I would return in the morning to take the animal home with me.”
“I asked him where the closest inn was to which he directed me and I was soon at the inn paying for a room and a hot meal. I sat down at a table in the corner and was soon enjoying some long needed food and drink.”
“There was a group of men at a neighboring table who were boisterous and beginning to make much noise. One of them stood on his feet, wobbling and spoke.”
“He was large and rode a tall stead.” He burst out, holding his hand out high to the height of an imaginary horse.
“Sit down you old fool.” One of the other men laughed, “No storytelling for you today.” They all burst out in a thunderous storm of laughter.
But the man continued, “I’d never seen him or any of his kind before.” The man continued slowly sitting down in his chair. “He told me had just come from the North and that he and his comrades needed me to forge him some weapons as quickly as they could be pounded and proved.”
Clal gasped, “Tallon, the Blacksmith.”
“Yes, it must have been,” Rythe agreed.
“Then the old man told those around him that he kindly told the man that he would not be available for three months as he was behind schedule with requests for tools and horseshoes and some swords for the king, to name a few, and that he had no time for his request. Then Tallon said that the horseman pulled something from his saddle pack and threw it toward Tallon. He said it was a sack full of gold coins and jewels as big as his own head and that the man called this quarter payment for the job that he wanted Tallon to do.”
Then the man told his friends at the table that he did not agree to do any work for him and that he told him to, as he put it, “Please be moving along.”
“Then, Tallon told them,” Rythe continued, “that the man tossed down a second sack of riches as half payment and told Tallon that he would return in two weeks to provide the rest of the payment and to obtain his three weapons.”
“‘Then,’ Tallon said, ‘can you believe that he turned and up and left!’”
Rythe continued, “It sounded like the leader, Renthar from the description.”
“And one of them asked for your dagger,” Clal said. “Wasn’t that one of the weapons this man that Tallon was describing asked for him to make?”
“Yes,” said Rythe, “and I had to know more. So, the next morning I left the inn and went to the blacksmith’s shop in the city which was nearby. I could use a few new tools anyway and thought to trade some information for the purchase of a tool.”
“I found the blacksmith at his shop furiously working away. I could tell he was well into the crafting of a broad sword. I asked him for a few tools and he sold me one, but said that he did not have the other tool I asked for and would not be able to make one for me for some time.”
“You’re making the broadsword for that man, aren’t you?” I asked Tallon the blacksmith. Tallon stopped working and set the tool down.
“He looked surprised and asked me what I knew about it. I told him I was at the inn last night and that I had overheard his story. I asked him who I thought the man was. Tallon hesitated. Then he told me that he thought that the rider matched the description of what one of the RISHK might look like. Then he asked me what I’ve heard about the RISHK.”
“I told him that I thought that the man that he had encountered might have been one of the men whom I crossed paths with in the northern regions of Illia just two weeks ago. I told him that they cornered me, then attacked me and tried to take my dagger.”
“Then he told me,” Rythe said, “to stay away from any of them at all costs.”
Clal and Ansa remained silent for a time as the cart continued to creak and sway. Clal’s parents engaged in small talk now and again.
As Dalbus promised, they arrived at the watering place just before the bridge that spanned the river ahead. There they stopped.
Dalbus unhitched the horse and led him beside the edge of the lazy running river. Clal jumped out of the cart and helped Ansa down. Rythe climbed down slowly from the cart then motioned for Clal and Ansa to follow him up stream. Once closer to the river’s edge, Rythe knelt down and looked into the water.
“It was a river like this one,” he said, “where the light shined through.”
“It must have been so beautiful,” Ansa said she had also knelt down. She cupped one of her hands and dipped it in the water then pulled it out and let the water stream down her fingers and back into the moving water.
Clal was standing by a nearby tree. He leaned up against it and peered into the water. The trees in the distance reflected upon the water’s surface.
Rythe stood up and turned to Clal and Ansa. “It’s a strange thing what happened that night in the woods. I haven’t been away from home since returning from Eldan Vyum. How ever alarming it was, I’m going to find out more about the RISHK.”
Clal put his hand on Rythe’s shoulder and said, “If I can help you, I will.”
They heard Clal’s father’s voice in the distance for them to return to the cart. Rythe picked up a rock and tossed it into the water watching the rings spread then disappear. He walked through some trees and disappeared.
“Clal,” Ansa touched his arm, “I don’t want to hear anymore about the...RISHK. Can we try to find something else to talk about?”
Clal put his arm around Ansa as they walked back to the cart. “Sure, little sister.” Clal smiled. “The dark things of this world don’t deserve so much attention, anyway,” he said.
“No,” she smiled back, “I just don’t like to see you so scared when Rythe talks about them.” She winked at him, then ran to the cart and climbed in.
Chapter 1 - 1.0
Clal scanned the shore line from high upon Crescent-Keep Mountain. “Nothing,” he said whispering to himself as he shook his head of wavy, blond hair. Standing up, Clal put his hand to his forehead, squinting against the sun to get a better look.
“Ha!” Clal exclaimed as he dashed down the mountain and onto the sandy shore. He bolted towards the pile of rocks ahead where he had just spotted his sister, Ansa.
He poked his head around one of the large rocks, but there was no Ansa. He was only aware of the sound of laughing behind him.
“I warned you, Clal.” Ansa said between gasps and giggles. She emerged from a clump of bushes Clal had passed moments before.
“But I saw you, Ansa.” Clal said, now walking in her direction. He was scratching his head with a look on his face like he had eaten a mouthful of sand.
“Look closer.” Ansa said, pointing her thin finger toward the rocks.
He turned around then slowly approached the rocks. There, between two large boulders was a round rock propped up by two sticks. On top of the rock there was seaweed fashioned in the likeness of a young woman’s long head of hair.
“See?” said Ansa, now smiling from ear to ear. “It worked.”
Ansa put her hand to her mouth and attempted to control herself. But it didn’t last long. She burst out into another fit of laughter.
Clal rolled his eyes and marched past Ansa refusing to look at her. Ansa turned and slowly followed.
They both ascended the west side of the grand Crescent Keep Mountain mostly in silence. Clal’s heavy footsteps matched his heavy heart. His own sister, wiser and keener than he. Almost every time they played finders, she outsmarted him. His misfortune today only added to his ever vibrant losing streak.
He grabbed one of the remaining autumn leaves from a passing tree, tore it in half, then torn it in half again.
They had almost reached the top when Clal heard his mother calling them. “Mum’s calling, Ansa,” Clal said jogging to the top. Clal put his fingers to his mouth then whistled, signaling back to his mother.
“Come on!” Clal said, reaching the top then racing down the other side.
“Clal, wait,” Ansa said, “you know I can’t keep up.”
Clal sped down the mountain side dodging rocks and low hanging branches. When they finally reached the flat forest ground below, Ansa ran to Clal and grabbed his arm.
“Clal,” she said as Clal turned toward her. “We don’t have much time.”
Clal smiled. “They won’t leave without us.”
“I’m already packed.” She started to giggle.
Clal just shook his head, “Figures.” Then he smiled. “I bet I can beat you to the house,” and he bolted through the trees out of sight.
“Wait, Clal.” Ansa yelled after him. “Wait!” Ansa watched as Clal jumped through the front door and disappeared into the house.
Ansa entered the house completely out of breath. She retrieved her pack and belongings then went outside to put them into the cart. Clal was at her heels and they both tossed in their packs.
Ansa climbed the short ladder as Clal followed after her. They settled themselves sitting on the wood planks.
Their mother came out of the house shortly thereafter and climbed in at the front beside their father.
Their older brother, Turl, walked out of the small cottage, smiling and waving. “You take care of him, Ansa. He’s liable to get into trouble.” Turl smiled wide. “Oh and Clal,” He took a few steps forward, “you were born for this adventure. Never, ever doubt yourself my brother.”
Clal and Ansa's father cracked the whip, and the cart lurched forward.
“You're going to miss us twins, Turl.” Clal called out as he smiled and waved.
“By the time I see you again, I’m sure you’ll be reminding me of your names.” Turl retorted.
“Don’t eat too many apples, Turl.” Ansa said, standing up and waving with a half eaten apple in her hand and a mouth full. “And don’t get too lonely.”
“I don’t know how I’ll manage without you two.” Turl pulled an enormous, red apple out of his back pocket. “Good-bye,” Turl said waving, then walked inside the cottage.
Clal and Ansa watched as their home grew smaller and smaller. Clal knew the days and weeks ahead would be different from they had ever experienced. But, Clal was happy Ansa was with him, inseparable as they were.
The horse pulled the cart around their first bend in the road and the small cottage was no more. Ansa looked down at her hands picking at her fingernails.
“Father?” Clal turned to the front of the cart, “How many days till we reach Eldan Vyum?”
Dalbus turned to face Clal, “Only a day and a half Clal. It’s really not that far.” His father turned back around to face forward. “Now from Eldan Vyum to Reubis, that’s about a three day journey.”
“Even so,” Dalbus continued, “your mother and I may be coming into town for supplies and for other things. We’ll be able to visit you two then.”
“You’ll have nothing to worry about, going to two very good establishments and all.” Nareete remarked.
Clal and Ansa watched as they passed the forest by on as the cart jostled along. Then Ansa leaned toward Clal and whispered. “I’ve been thinking, Clal,” she wrapped her arm around Clal’s, “what if Gwynn doesn’t like the way I sew? What if I talk too much? And what if…”
“Ansa,” Clal said, “don't worry.” He reassured her, “You’ll have her wrapped around your finger in a week. I’m sure of it.” Clal smiled.
“I’m sure you’ll quickly be a favorite among the blacksmith’s customers.” Ansa smiled. “Is it true that Tallon is the very best blacksmith in all of Illia?”
Clal nodded, having heard this fact from his father only a week ago.
Clal had always wanted to be part of adventures in one way or another. Now, he would be forging swords, axes, all kinds of weapons for the castle men and others who wish to pay the high price that Tallon exacted for his wares. It was as if Clal’s very childhood dreams were being realized and he almost couldn’t wait the day and a half to get there.
Clal and Ansa remained silent for a long time, their bodies moving with the sway of the cart as it jostled over uneven ground. The aspen trees waved at them as they traveled through the forest. The autumn breeze carried with it the scent of vegetation in full bloom. The forest was bustling with the sounds of nature; crickets, birds, and the wind in the leaves.
Clal looked past their horse down the road and noticed that they were approaching the point at which he’d never trespassed before. As they approached Clal looked into the woods remembering when he visited last.
“This must be the place where…” Clal squinted then stood up, almost losing his balance. He walked to the side of the cart then gasped.
“Hey! Hey!” he yelled, waving. “Ansa, it's Rythe.” He turned to Dalbus, “Father, there’s someone coming. Do you remember Rythe?”
Dalbus looked into the forest then slowed and finally stopped the cart.
In the distance a young lad with dark brown hair and a pack on his side was bobbing up and down through the forest. Rythe was running fast through a clearing between two thick sections of the forest. He was waving his hands up and down and calling out Clal’s name.
By that time Rythe had reached the side of the cart. He thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out a few coins. He gave them to the Dalbus who kindly refused. “We’re going to Eldan Vyum anyway, Rythe. Why don’t you just join us?”
“Thank you.” Rythe said, tossing his pack into the cart. He climbed in and sat beside Clal. Clal clapped Rythe on the back.
“I wasn’t sure when I’d ever see you again.” Clal smiled, “It’s been…”
“...too long, friend.” Rythe said with a smile. “What’s the news with you two?” he said, settling back against his pack, folding his arms. “You’re heading to Eldan Vyum, though Turl isn’t here with you?”
“My mother and father are relocating to Reubis. Turl is remaining with the family farm.” Clal looked at Ansa then back at Rythe, “And we are going to Eldan Vyum for four months to learn a new trade,” Clal started. “I’ve been invited as an apprentice to a blacksmith that my father knew.”
“That’s a high honor, Clal.” Rythe said with raised eyebrows.
Clal nodded, “To think, making swords and armor for the finest men who walk this land.”
“Nails and locks, furniture and horseshoes too.” Rythe added. “It’s an important job.” Rythe turned to Ansa, “And you, Ansa? What lies in store for you in Eldan Vyum?”
She hesitated, “Well, mending and sewing clothes.” She smiled only slightly. “That’s it, just a clothes shop.”
“I see,” Rythe said hesitating, “...which...” he leaned forward, “...means that you’ll be crafting enchanting dresses for royal ladies while Clal is pounding out iron swords for epic battles.” He smiled a wide smile. “Who could ask for a more exciting way to end the year?”
Clal had never thought of their apprenticeships in quite that way. It was just what Ansa had needed and Rythe’s presentation of their future appointed stations even brightened Clal’s spirits.
“It sounds like you two are off to new adventures.” Rythe concluded.
“Yes,” Ansa agreed. “Perhaps we are after all.” She smiled, “And what about you? What brings you to Eldan Vyum?”
“The examinations,” Rythe said, “I turned fifteen in the first week of the first month.”
“I remember the year Turl went,” Ansa said, “he had some interesting stories to tell when he came home.”
“It’s a tradition that’s been around since before the oldest man’s great grandfather's time.” Rythe said, “Some say no one knows when it all began. But I hear that every year they rehearse the reason why and conduct an examination because of it.”
“What kind of examination?” Ansa said.
“To see if one of the sons of Illia is the chosen one,”Rythe said.
“For what?” Clal said.
“Well, some believe that the evil in Illia will reach a tipping point, that a hero will rise up, and that by conducting a search to find the one early, the forces of good will again take advantage over the dark forces.”
“That’s incredible, Rythe,” Clal said, “but why fifteen?”
“I don’t know, really,” Rythe said.
“And what do they do to examine you? Turl never talked much about it.” Ansa said.
“How could someone possibly find out who the chosen one is?” Clal said, puzzled. “How would that work?”
“That too I don’t know much about. I’ll surely find that out soon though,” Rythe smiled.
They were silent for a time, Clal was still trying to solve the riddle of how the chosen one was to be discovered. His thoughts turned to Rythe and how they used to meet up and spend so much time together. Then Clal turned to Rythe and said, “It’s been almost two years since we’ve spoken. Tell us,” Clal smiled, “where have you been? We used to gallivant all over the countryside together.”
“Right.” Rythe said quietly. Smile now gone. “We did.”
Rythe looked down at his hands as he picked at his fingernails for a moment. Then, he breathed in and sighed, “I’ve been...around,” he said, “just staying closer to home.”
“I’ve taken trips to the sea and have visited the Eastern shores too.” He looked up at the sky and squinted, “And...there was a visit from my aunt, hunting season, we cleared another section of our land for farming. That was a chore.” Rythe was struggling to come up with something interesting.
“Rythe,” Clal said, “you don’t sound like yourself. I don’t know what it is but you’ve changed. What’s going on?”
Rythe’s face turned pale for a moment. He started to shake his head slowly. He was looking out into the trees, sun rays poking through occasionally. His gaze was frozen. Clal knew that his friend was troubled.
“I tell you only because you ask,” Rythe began to say slowly, “and only because I know you will keep what I’m about to tell you...confidential.”
“Yes, Clal, you are right,” Rythe continued, “I have stayed away these past several months, hidden, I’ve become a recluse of sorts.”
“For that I am sorry.” Rythe said, smiling slightly.
He leaned in close, “Earlier this year I took a trip to the North.” He pointed. “It was just me, through the woods, though I took the plain road most of the way. Mother and I had agreed that we needed a new ox to pull the plow. Migg was getting too old and wouldn’t be useful to us for next year’s farm work.”
“It was on the second day, just a half a day’s walk, that I was walking along the road in plain sight. I had just passed an apple tree and had plucked from its branches one of the biggest apples I had ever seen. I thought of you right then Clal, I want you to know.” Rythe smiled. His face, however, returned as if to stone and his eyes were still gazing into the forest.
“I was eating that apple and walking down the wide road when I heard thundering behind me. Normally, I would watch whomever was on horseback, move out of their way, then continue on my way. But not this time.” Rythe shook his head, “No, this time I felt a fear that I had never felt before. The moment I heard their horse’s thundering hooves, I knew something that some great darkness was approaching.”
Ansa slid closer to Clal and clutched his arm.
“And so I hid as fast as I could,” Rythe’s voice got quieter, “behind some nearby bushes. In the process I dropped my apple. I had only taken a few bites.”
“They appeared in the distance almost as soon as I left the road. I watched them approach and thought that I could endure their passing and be on my way. But to my great alarm,” Rythe paused, “the large rider in front silently lifted his fist in the air and the riders slowed and stopped right in front of where I had found cover.”
“There were four riders in dark clothing. Two of them dismounted. I froze, barely breathing.” Rythe paused.
“It was hard to take it all in really.” Rythe continued. “Just moments ago I had been enjoying my apple, walking along the road, thinking about some of the best things in life. But now, I feared for my safety, my future, my very life.”
“They were all searching the surroundings, looking here and there. The rider who seemed to be the leader, the largest one, was standing closest to me. He searched the ground, spotted my apple, then picked it up.”
“‘What is it?’ one of the riders still on their horses said.”
“‘Must we delay?,’ said another.”
“‘Quite,’ said the leader. ‘There’s someone here...and they think to hide from us.’”
Rythe laughed nervously. “Clal, these men were no ordinary men. Mind you, I don’t take to recoiling easily.”
“‘See here,’ the leader said, pointing to the ground. These tracks are fresh. And this apple here, not five minutes ago it was plucked from that tree over there. A few bites and abandoned on account of our arrival.’”
“‘A pity,’ another rider said. ‘It looks like a good one.’”
“Then the leader took the apple in his massive hand and crushed it in his grasp. He looked in my direction and started to inch his way toward me with the others close behind.”
“I wondered why four men would pay attention to and even torment one who was alone almost in the dark of night in the middle of the forest. I soon found out the answer to the riddle.” Rythe was talking faster now. “They had come behind and were headed north also and had seen my tracks for miles, I was sure of that. And when the tracks left the road, I’m guessing it was only because I heard them and could not be far, they probably guessed.”
“‘We know you are here,’ the large one said, ‘and we would have you show yourself.’”
“The other dismounted rider walked over to a rider on horseback and whispered something to him. The other two riders dismounted in a moment and I found no comfort in staying hidden any longer. And so I did what I thought would be the only reasonable option if I wanted to save my skin,” Rythe leaned back and threw his hands up in the air, “I leapt out of my hiding place and ran.”
“I jumped over bushes and darted past trees. Clal, you know how fast I am?!” Rythe added. “But it wasn’t fast enough. I figured they wanted money or information, but I didn’t know exactly.” Rythe’s fist hit his open palm, “I wasn’t about to give them anything, those sniveling thieves.”
“I must have only taken ten strides when I was hit from behind and tackled to the ground by one of them. It was like he had jumped from a tree the way he collided into me.” Rythe looked up remembering the details, “He wasn’t behind me, it was as if he had been in front of me, but that’s not possible.”
”I also noticed that one of the men had disappeared, the other two had grabbed their horses and were now dismounted and at my side. The other held me tight.”
“Why are you telling us this, Rythe?” Ansa said, shaking, “This isn’t one of your tall tales?”
“No. Sadly, it is not though I wish it was.” Rythe had that distant look in his eyes again.
He looked at Clal and Ansa then said, “I tell you this because this is a riddle half solved, and of all of the people I know, you two are fit to solve it.” Rythe sighed, “I never intended to tell a soul. But you asked why I have not been around, and I feel you ought to hear the truth. Nothing happens by chance.”
“So what happened next?” Clal said.
“With three of the men pressing in I couldn’t think of anything to do so I said, ‘Hello friends. It’s a beautiful night, is it not?’”
“I should have kept quiet because I was shoved to the ground with an incredible force. But, I continued, ‘Now really, this is no way to treat a complete stranger, or anyone for that matter. My name is Doren. Can I do anything for you?’ That didn’t work either. It just made things worse when I found a new pain in my ribs.”
“‘All we want to do is ask you a few questions…’ the large one said’”
“‘...and that shiny dagger dangling from your side, I’d like that too,’ another rider said”
“‘...then we’ll leave you to your journey,’ the large one said.”
“‘No,’ I said.”
“You told them no?” Ansa said.
“Yes. I wasn’t about to let them take anything from me without a fight.” Rythe said, shaking his head.
“But they could have killed you.” Clal said.
“‘No,’ I said, ‘you can’t have anything. I’ll be answering no questions...and this dagger was given to me by my father who died last year. It means a great deal to me.’ Then I pulled away from the rider who was holding me and yelled, ‘Why would you chase me and hurt me when I did nothing to you?! Cowards prey on the innocent. There are four of you and one of me…’ I said”
“I was shoved again but that time I shoved back. Then they closed in on me inching forward like before.”
“‘This young lad here, he thinks he’s brave.’ The leader said, then continued, ‘First I thought to find some sport, but here we’ve found the budding hero of Illia.’ He laughed a cruel and wicked laugh. ’It’s clear to me what we should do with one who thinks to grow so brave.’”
“‘Do you not know with whom you are in the presence of?’ the one holding me hissed.”
“‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I do’. I felt as if these were men whose hearts were truly black, and so I said these words to them.”
“‘You were men who were once noble and great, but who embraced the evils of this world and now are servants to it,’ then I added, ‘slaves, you are.’”
“Rythe, that doesn’t sound like you?” Clal said.
“Clal, I felt something there, like I was bigger than myself somehow.”
“Immediately one of them said, ‘Strike him down.’ The rider holding me released his grip, stood and drew his sword all in one movement then thrust it towards me.” Rythe leaned in again and the twins did too. “And here’s what happened next.”
“I hadn’t noticed but we were on the banks of a river, just a few feet away from the water. At that moment the river began to glow, a light deep beneath the surface started growing brighter and brighter eventually illuminating the entire forest, like it was day.” Rythe’s smile had returned. “The three riders paused, stunned by the phenomenon.”
“‘Renthar,’ my attacker, yelled out, ‘what is this?’”
“‘I...uh…’” Renthar said, then looked at one of the others, “‘Krothwing!’ The large one said motioning with his arm, ‘Lower your sword.’”
“I ran towards the water. The men didn’t follow. I felt free from their evil intentions for a moment.”
“‘It seems as if we’ve mettled with the wrong boy tonight.’ Renthar said”
“Then, they slowly walked toward their steads, all three of them keeping their eyes fixed in the direction of the light. They mounted, cracked their reins and disappeared into the forest shadows.” Rythe added, “I never did find out where the fourth rider had disappeared off to.”
“When they had gone, I waited and watched the light within the river begin to fade.” Rythe’s voice was quiet. “I knelt down on that river bank and spoke to the kind water that had saved me in that moment.”
“‘Thank you,’ I said, ‘I will repay you somehow, someday. Thank you.’”
“I ran all night. And though I knew somehow the keeper of the light in the river was still with me, I wrestled with the fear of the encounter.” Rythe shook his head. “I didn’t continue north but I retraced my steps, this time through the forest. I cut much time off my journey and soon, mid-day the next day I collapsed on the front steps of my home. Luckily my mother was still sleeping or else she would have been worried. When she awoke, I simply told her that I was unable to get an ox and returned home as fast as I could.”
Rythe held up two fingers, “For the next few weeks I had only two questions in my mind, who were those men, and why did that river shine its light when I needed it the most?”
“I found out a half answer to the first question only a few weeks later when I went to Eldan to finally buy an ox.” Rythe said. “They are known to some as” then he leaned in and whispered, “...the RISHK.”
Dalbus turned and looked behind him. “What are you three up to back there?” He said. The three of them jumped in surprise. Dalbus laughed a hearty laugh and wore a wide smile, “Telling tall tales, eh?”
“Rythe is always good for a story, father.” Clal said. Clal was still captivated by the story Rythe just told them. It was mysterious.
“I believe our horse is due for a watering stop.” Dalbus said. “There’s a stream just up ahead about a mile or two. We’ll stop there for a time if that’s all right with you lot.”
“Is anyone hungry?” Nareete asked, turning around. “I have some bread and cheese…”
“I am mother,” Ansa stood up then walked over to the front of the cart.
<< add - convo with Ansa’s mother
Nareete handed her some cheese and bread then Ansa returned, passing out some morsels to the others.
“Thank you Ansa,” Rythe said smiling.
“Wouldn’t it be great to be able to stop men like the ones you described, stop them from causing trouble?” Rythe said.
“I think so.” Clal turned to Ansa who frowned at Clal.
“So the RISHK you said?” Clal said, confirming what he remembered about their name.
“Yes,” Rythe replied, “that is their name.”
“And if they’ve given themselves a name they must have a purpose,” Clal concluded.
“Right,” Rythe said. “They must, and that’s what I thought.” Rythe smiled, “So I had to find out.”
Ansa shook her head. “You mean there’s more?”
“I mentioned that I traveled to Eldan Vyum a few weeks later,” Rythe continued, leaning in again and speaking quietly. “It took me that long to find my courage to venture out on my own. I traveled to Eldan and found where they sold oxen, which was what I was in need of like before. I purchased the animal and told the merchant that I would return in the morning to take the animal home with me.”
“I asked him where the closest inn was to which he directed me and I was soon at the inn paying for a room and a hot meal. I sat down at a table in the corner and was soon enjoying some long needed food and drink.”
“There was a group of men at a neighboring table who were boisterous and beginning to make much noise. One of them stood on his feet, wobbling and spoke.”
“He was large and rode a tall stead.” He burst out, holding his hand out high to the height of an imaginary horse.
“Sit down you old fool.” One of the other men laughed, “No storytelling for you today.” They all burst out in a thunderous storm of laughter.
But the man continued, “I’d never seen him or any of his kind before.” The man continued slowly sitting down in his chair. “He told me had just come from the North and that he and his comrades needed me to forge him some weapons as quickly as they could be pounded and proved.”
Clal gasped, “Tallon, the Blacksmith.”
“Yes, it must have been,” Rythe agreed.
“Then the old man told those around him that he kindly told the man that he would not be available for three months as he was behind schedule with requests for tools and horseshoes and some swords for the king, to name a few, and that he had no time for his request. Then Tallon said that the horseman pulled something from his saddle pack and threw it toward Tallon. He said it was a sack full of gold coins and jewels as big as his own head and that the man called this quarter payment for the job that he wanted Tallon to do.”
Then the man told his friends at the table that he did not agree to do any work for him and that he told him to, as he put it, “Please be moving along.”
“Then, Tallon told them,” Rythe continued, “that the man tossed down a second sack of riches as half payment and told Tallon that he would return in two weeks to provide the rest of the payment and to obtain his three weapons.”
“‘Then,’ Tallon said, ‘can you believe that he turned and up and left!’”
Rythe continued, “It sounded like the leader, Renthar from the description.”
“And one of them asked for your dagger,” Clal said. “Wasn’t that one of the weapons this man that Tallon was describing asked for him to make?”
“Yes,” said Rythe, “and I had to know more. So, the next morning I left the inn and went to the blacksmith’s shop in the city which was nearby. I could use a few new tools anyway and thought to trade some information for the purchase of a tool.”
“I found the blacksmith at his shop furiously working away. I could tell he was well into the crafting of a broad sword. I asked him for a few tools and he sold me one, but said that he did not have the other tool I asked for and would not be able to make one for me for some time.”
“You’re making the broadsword for that man, aren’t you?” I asked Tallon the blacksmith. Tallon stopped working and set the tool down.
“He looked surprised and asked me what I knew about it. I told him I was at the inn last night and that I had overheard his story. I asked him who I thought the man was. Tallon hesitated. Then he told me that he thought that the rider matched the description of what one of the RISHK might look like. Then he asked me what I’ve heard about the RISHK.”
“I told him that I thought that the man that he had encountered might have been one of the men whom I crossed paths with in the northern regions of Illia just two weeks ago. I told him that they cornered me, then attacked me and tried to take my dagger.”
“Then he told me,” Rythe said, “to stay away from any of them at all costs.”
Clal and Ansa remained silent for a time as the cart continued to creak and sway. Clal’s parents engaged in small talk now and again.
As Dalbus promised, they arrived at the watering place just before the bridge that spanned the river ahead. There they stopped.
Dalbus unhitched the horse and led him beside the edge of the lazy running river. Clal jumped out of the cart and helped Ansa down. Rythe climbed down slowly from the cart then motioned for Clal and Ansa to follow him up stream. Once closer to the river’s edge, Rythe knelt down and looked into the water.
“It was a river like this one,” he said, “where the light shined through.”
“It must have been so beautiful,” Ansa said she had also knelt down. She cupped one of her hands and dipped it in the water then pulled it out and let the water stream down her fingers and back into the moving water.
Clal was standing by a nearby tree. He leaned up against it and peered into the water. The trees in the distance reflected upon the water’s surface.
Rythe stood up and turned to Clal and Ansa. “It’s a strange thing what happened that night in the woods. I haven’t been away from home since returning from Eldan Vyum. How ever alarming it was, I’m going to find out more about the RISHK.”
Clal put his hand on Rythe’s shoulder and said, “If I can help you, I will.”
They heard Clal’s father’s voice in the distance for them to return to the cart. Rythe picked up a rock and tossed it into the water watching the rings spread then disappear. He walked through some trees and disappeared.
“Clal,” Ansa touched his arm, “I don’t want to hear anymore about the...RISHK. Can we try to find something else to talk about?”
Clal put his arm around Ansa as they walked back to the cart. “Sure, little sister.” Clal smiled. “The dark things of this world don’t deserve so much attention, anyway,” he said.
“No,” she smiled back, “I just don’t like to see you so scared when Rythe talks about them.” She winked at him, then ran to the cart and climbed in.
Clal walked slowly to the cart, climbed in, then caught a glimpse of Ansa still smirking. He shook his head and looked away.
When the cart started moving again they all returned to their own thoughts. The clip-clopping of the horse’s hooves on the wooden planks of the bridge that spanned the river echoed against the trees. They reached a clearing and the hot sun beat down on the three of them. The cart continued to climb and soon reached the top of a small hill.
“Eldan Vyum,” Nareete announced.
“Clal look,” Ansa said. “Eldan Vyum! It’s enormous.”
“Look at that,” Clal said, “it goes on for miles and miles and miles.”
Clal and Ansa had never set foot in the great central city of Eldan Vyum. They had never seen such a place. They had only pieced together in their minds depictions of what it might look like from stories and conversations over the years.
The sun sank lower and lower toward the horizon as they continued to talk about their plans while in Eldan Vyum. Rythe planned to head straight home after the examinations to care for his mother. He mentioned, though, that he promised to visit Clal and Ansa before he departed for home.
“I’ll be talking again to the blacksmith so I will most assuredly be visiting you Clal.” Rythe said.
They continued to talk and hardly noticed how dark it was getting. Though it was dusk, there were many people still walking along the streets who filled many of the buildings.
“It’s the examination,” Rythe said. “It brings people from every corner of Illia.”
Before they left the main road into the city, Dalbus stopped the cart then said, “Okay, children.” Both Dalbus and Nareete stood up then walked down from the front, onto the ground, to the back of the cart.
“This is where we say our goodbyes,” Dalbus said. “If you’ll walk the rest of the way, we have a long journey ahead of us before we sleep.”
“Mother!” Ansa hopped down and embraced Nareete. “I will miss you.”
Nareete smiled, “Ansa, you’re going to do wonderfully.”
Clal jumped down from the cart then Rythe did the same.
Clal turned to his Father. “Does this mean I’m finally a man, going to work in the blacksmith’s shop making swords and all?”
Both Dalbus and Turl burst out laughing. “Well, Clal,” his father said, “at thirteen I believe you’ll be there soon enough.” His father looked at Clal and winked.
“In fact, when I was your age I was…” his father started to say.
“...building one boat a week for the Illian naval fleet, living on my own, free as can be.” Clal and Ansa both finished his sentence in unison and they all four burst out in a fit of laughter. Rythe just watched.
After they said their goodbyes and watched as the cart turned a corner into the trees, Rythe asked, “Where to first?”
“To Gwynn the seamstress. It’s on the edge of town near Ordon’s wood works.” She said, “Do you know where that is?”
“Yes,” Rythe said, “I do.”
They meandered around the streets of the city, dusk having turned into night. They eventually stopped in front of Gwynn’s shop door.
<< left off here: 9/11 >>
Through the window two candles were burning on a large wooden table in the middle of the room. An old woman was needling away at some fabric. She looked up, noticed she had visitors, then stood from her chair and approached the door. She opened the door, then said addressing Ansa.
“Hello. Are you Ansa Winden?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I have been anxiously awaiting your arrival.” Gwynn smiled widely. Ansa hesitated.
“You’ll be fine,” Clal said as he embraced his sister. “We’ll visit each other often.” Clal smiled then winked. “I’ll be back in just three days from now to see how you’re getting along.”
Ansa looked up into Clal’s blue eyes, “Okay, Clal. That’s not too long from now, I guess.” Ansa said.
Ansa gave Clal another squeeze then walked toward Gwynn. She turned and waved to Rythe who smiled back.
“Don’t forget to come see me before you leave.” She said winking.
“You?” Rythe smiled, “I wouldn’t miss it, Ansa.”
Gwynn walked toward Ansa and wrapped her arm around her and said, “I have no doubt you and I will become fast friends.”
Ansa smiled, “Oh Gwynn, I like you already.” Ansa turned and waved again to Clal then she disappeared behind the shop door.
Rythe turned from Gwynn’s door and Clal followed. “So, you know where the blacksmith shop if from here then, Rythe?” Rythe nodded as he took Clal down a city street where many other boys were running rampant with laughter and great excitement. They turned down several streets and passed many short and tall buildings.
It wasn’t long before Clal said to Rythe, “I miss her already, Rythe. Can you believe we’ve never been apart until now?”
Rythe looked down and nodded slowly, “You are good to her, Clal. A true friend.” He smiled.
Then Rythe stopped walking and looked at Clal. “Something tells me though, Clal, that she’s made of iron, your sister. And that there’s more to her than what one might see from the outside looking in.”
Rythe clapped Clal on the back as they resumed their journey through the streets of Eldan Vyum.
As they passed by endless buildings and walked by nameless faces, all that Clal could think about was his beloved twin sister, Ansa, and how right Rythe was.
Ansa was an incredible individual and they were truly inseparable. Their days had been spent, not climbing apple trees in their orchards, surprisingly, but fighting dragons in the clouds and escaping shapeless thieves in the forest shadows. Sticks became swords and leaves became golden coins. And the great Crescent-Keep Mountain was their castle fortress.
They knew each other’s thoughts and often felt each other’s feelings. And, though he resented her for her witty ways and overly keen abilities, those really were the things he liked most about her. Clal smiled as he remembered the rock with the seaweed as hair, and how he had fallen for it.
“My, Ansa,” Clal whispered. He shook his head and chuckled.
A few more feet and they arrived in front of the blacksmith’s shop. “This is it,” Rythe said, “though it is all dark inside. I’m sure this is the place. I’d know it anywhere...”
Both Clal and Rythe stood in front of old shop with their mouths wide open. Clal walked toward Tallon’s shop and knocked on the door. They waited, then Rythe knocked, but the result was the same. Silence.
“I don’t think there’s anyone here, Rythe.”
“No,” Rythe said, “it looked so different from when I was here last.” Rythe looked through the dirt laden front window. Clal walked around the side of the building then came back in a moment.
“Rythe, I don’t know the last time anyone has been here.” Clal said. “What am I to do now?”
“You can stay with me at the inn until we figure out what you’re going to do.” Rythe said. “The inn, Clal?”
“I suppose,” Clal said reluctantly.
“Right then. The inn is this way,” Rythe said pointing.
Rythe heaved his pack on his back then began to march down the cobblestone road. Clal was at his heels. There were less people now and more dark windows as they ventured through the city during the night hours. They soon reached the inn. Rythe turned the doorknob of the front door and they both entered.
They spoke with the innkeeper and purchased a room with two beds for the night. There were boys everywhere, in the hallways, on the stairs and in the dining area.
“We must have taken the last available room.” Rythe said.
Clal and Rythe reached the end of a hall and stood by a door. Rythe unlocked the door with the key the innkeeper had given him. He opened the door and they both entered the room. It wasn’t long till there was a knock at their door.
“Who is there,“ Rythe said.
“Morry, the innkeeper.”
Rythe opened the door to the room revealing a short middle aged man with a round face.
“Pardon the interruption sirs, but one of you dropped your pack when you came in a moment ago?”
Sure enough, Rythe’s pack was missing. He was the one who talked with the innkeeper. He must have set it down.
“Thank you, Morry.” Rythe said.
“My pleasure,” Morry said. “I’ll be off now. Good evening.”
The door had almost shut when Rythe shouted, “Wait, Morry!”
Morry’s head popped back in the room.
“Tallon the blacksmith, have you seen him? Has he come to your inn lately?” Rythe said.
“Old Tallon?” Morry said. “Oh, no. I haven’t heard a tall tale from him since…” Morry scratched his beard, “...since three months back. And he used to be my best customer, too.”
“Thank you,” Rythe said and Morry closed the door behind him.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Clal said. “It just doesn’t make any sense. How can I be an apprentice to a missing blacksmith?”
All Rythe could do was shake his head. He laid down, rolled onto his side and was breathing heavily in a moment.
Clal, on the other hand, refused to sleep. He remained sitting up on his bed looking out at the night sky. The crescent moon that hung from the star speckled sky reminded him of Lyrune, and he slipped away into dreams of Crescent Keep Mountain where the days were innocent and free.
Chapter 2: To the Examination
Clal awoke to Rythe shaking him vehemently. “Clal. Clal. I’m late for the examination.” Rythe said. “We slept too long and too late.”
Clal jumped from his bed, pulled on his clothes, then grabbed his pack. They were both barely awake when they exited the inn and ran down the city road. They zipped through the city as fast as they could. Before long they were standing in front of the gate of the grand castle of Eldan Vyum.
There were three guards. Rythe approached them.
“We are here for the examination, sire. Are we too late?” Rythe said. “May we enter?”
“It’s about to start,” the guard said. “If you hurry, you may be able to make it there before the opening ceremonies begin.”
Then a second guard said, “I will accompany you to the great hall.” The guard stepped forward and began to walk toward the castle.
Clal leaned over to Rythe, “Wait, Rythe. I’m not supposed to be here. What do I do now?”
“Suppose you stay with me,” Rythe whispered. “There will be so many boys that you’ll be sure to get lost among them. They won’t notice that you don’t go up to get examined, and by the time they might, we’ll be gone. I’m one of the first because of my birth date.”
Clal shook his head. “I’m supposed to be at the blacksmith’s right now, not here.” He whispered back to Rythe. “I’m also supposed to be asleep at the moment, not walking into the great hall of the castle to be examined two years too early.”
“Don’t worry, Clal,” Rythe said with a wry sort of smile, “what's the worst that could happen.”
“I don’t think I want to find out.” Clal said.
They followed the guard the rest of the way in silence after Clal and Rythe caught back up. Clal wondered why he hadn't thought to stay at the inn and wait for Rythe. They were simply in too much of a hurry to think responsibly. This was his only explanation.
The guard turned around a corner with Rythe and Clal close behind. They could see the giant doors to the great hall ornately decorated and as high as three grown men. Large frosted windows lined the long wall of the great hall. However, it was the group of statues that held Clal’s attention as they approached the place where they were positioned.
“Rythe,” Clal asked pointing, “do you know what those statues are?” He spoke loud enough for even the guard to hear.
“It’s our Seldinolum and his brave companions,” the guard said. “The great sculpture Bollono of the fifth age fashioned the final scene depicted from a prophecy, now lost to us, of the last days. It’s the great last battle when the dark one lurking will turn to ash, and when life will prevail over death forever more, or so the prophecy goes,” the guard concluded.
They passed by the statues, six distinct figures, all appearing to be in the middle of a great attack upon their foe. They were etched in pure white stone and strikingly alive in appearance. Each stood on a pedestal-like structure, square in shape with a string of characters etched on each of the pedestals’ four sides.
“Which one is Seldinolum, sir?” Clal asked the guard.
“It’s that one,” he pointed.
The statue was leading the others, Clal now noticed, and he held a two edged sword of magnificent size. He held it pointing down, his body twisted as if he had just motioned downward in a mighty blow. He wore a dagger by his side and strapped across his chest was a horn. Clal looked closer as he passed by. Etched into the horn’s side was a dragon that curved and wrapped around it.
“A dragon?” He whispered to himself.
Though Clal wanted to stay and study each sculpture in detail, he knew they must keep moving. It wasn’t long before they reached the grand doors of the great hall and the guard ushered Rythe and Clal in. The lurching sound of the doors on their hinges filled the hallway and they shut with a loud boom.
They walked under an archway then through a small throng of boys before finding an open area to sit on the stone floor of the hall. They had come late and so they sat in the very back of the hall. Clal looked behind him and saw that there was a doorway with one guard at his post. He found other doorways throughout the hall where there wasn’t a doorway without a guard. Rythe and Clal didn’t have time to discuss anything else because as soon as they were seated, the royal trumpet call began.
At the front of the hall on a stone platform rested a table with two chairs on each side. In the chair on the right sat, what must have been, the king, King Neldeer, who wore a crown and a grand robe. He held a golden scepter in his left hand. His face was smooth and his beard the color of sand but graying. He wore a smile and sat tall.
On the left sitting in the other less adorned chair sat a very old man, who Clal ventured to assume was the royal examiner. He’d never seen an examiner and didn’t have the faintest idea of what one would even look like or even really was or did.
The man wore a long robe, spectacles, and a strange necklace made of gold. As Clal looked closer he noticed the stone that was suspended in the center of a golden hoop that hung by a chain from the examiner’s neck. The stone, even from Clal’s limited view, was a deep blue that seemed almost alive to his keen eye.
The old man’s beard fell down his chest and onto his lap. He wore no covering over his gray locks. The man was surveying the crowd of young boys, his head moving back and forth slowly. His eyes were green and surprisingly aware given his age though Clal sensed within their depths that they had seen even the ancient of all days.
“Rythe,” Clal whispered and pointed, “is that the examiner on the left?”
Rythe didn’t speak but only mouthed the words, “I think so.”
The table was adorned with a scroll, a candle and a few other things which Clal was not able to decipher. When the silence began to give way to whispers, another royal official appeared from the side and stood in front of the table. The trumpets sounded again, then the man who just appeared spoke.
“I present our King, King Neldeer, son of Neldish, King of Eldan Vyum, High King and ruler of all Illia.” The trumpet sounded once more while the man turned and exited the hall.
King Neldeer arose and approached the wooden table.
“Welcome my young Illian youth, our future and our destiny, the great sons of yesterday’s youth and the youth of our time.” The king smiled and scanned the hall. “You have come from the four corners of our lands and have traveled long to answer the call and duty for your examination in this coming of age time in your lives.”
“Most of you know the history behind this most noble and honorable occurrence, however, there may be some who do not. I have asked our royal examiner, Morgrith, to instruct you in this matter.” King Neldeer turned around and took his seat.
Morgrith arose and approached the wooden table. “Greetings, to our noble sons of Illia.” His voice was deep and rang throughout the hall.
“I am Morgrith, son of Felsawn.” He paused. “Long ago this land was born and all evil had been remitted. The land grew older, and the people grew greater in number. Though the darkness had given way to light, the great orchestrator of this world knew that this would not always be the case. And so, a bloodline was marked, a path was charted, and the destiny of a great deliverer was sealed.”
Morgrith paused and looked over the vast group of boys. All eyes were upon him. The words he spoke held every boy spellbound. Many of this young generation had never heard this version of Illian history before, especially presented in this manner.
“And though our fathers of old were confident,” Morgrith continued, “that the great deliverer would emerge in his appointed time and place, they did not want to leave the future of our world up to mere chance. Neither the day nor the hour is known by any man and never has been known since this would come to be when this deliverer, the chosen one, Seldinolum, would take his place and lead our people home.”
“And so, our fathers thought to seek out this one, to name him and to train him, early, before the dark one lurking and the evils of this world gain the upper hand.”
He stood even taller then said, “I am the examiner. I have been tasked to find this one, our deliverer. And with this yearly officiation and sacred searching hour, we believe the one will be found while the final seeds, the greatest evil that will be sewn by the dark one, are yet in their infancy.”
Morgrith paused.
I will now read the Prophecy.
“Look to the East to find the one
Who only can unlock the sun
The powers of this world await
Who holds the key to open fate
And when is found this one to name
And take his place beside his fame
Remember this, that with his time
Comes danger, mischief, vicious crime
For not too far from this world’s birth
There was one who roamed the earth
Awaiting chance to stake his claim
Upon each heart that has a name
Yet if our one completes his task
The dark one lurking turns to ash
But if our one turns inward spite
All hope with fade without a fight”
Morgrith concluded and returned to his chair.
Then a woman walked onto the platform followed by a man carrying a lyre. This caused the boys to start to whisper, but they were immediately silenced by the beauty of the woman’s voice.
“O Seldinolum, O Seldinolum
The North Star calls for you
The leaves are falling for the good
That you will bring anew
O Seldinolum, O Seldinolum
The west wind calls for you
Your feet will shine above the land
Each step will bring the truth
O Seldinolum, sweet Seldinolum
The southern country sings
Of one who's task will save us all
Give place where new life springs
O Seldinolum, our Seldinolum
The eastern shores do hum
The tune of hope that truth prevails
By that Seldinolum”
When the two musicians finished their presentation, they exited the hall and disappeared.
King Neldeer arose. “We are pleased to have had our royal musicians present such beauty before us.”
“Now,” the King continued, “Each of you will be called to be examined according to your individual birth month and day. The following young men,” he said as he picked up a scroll from the table and unrolled it, “will approach this platform as your name is called.”
“Olios, son of Olioth. Neethum, son of Neethum. Sam, son of Arg. Rythe, son of Deamus. Tuloth, son of Tul…” King Neldeer continued to call the young men as one by one stood and walked toward the front of the hall.
“See,” Rythe said, “Your fortune is turning already Clal.” Rythe smiled. “The sooner I’m examined the sooner we can figure out a way out of here...quietly.” Rythe stood, then said, “Clal, I will be back soon.”
Rythe walked away just as the others were, through the mass of boys sitting on the stone floor and up the long aisle to the stone platform. He watched Rythe smile at another boy and begin conversing with him and the boy next to him.
When King Neldeer finished calling several of the boys’ names he then added. “No Illian boy is to leave until all have been examined, until the feast afterwards has concluded, and until you all have slept and are well rested for your journey home in the morning.”
Rythe looked at Clal who was looking in Rythe’s direction. Rythe raised his eyebrows. But as Clal was reminded by Rythe’s words he said earlier, who would notice them gone when there were so many boys to keep track of?
The boy in front of Rythe began to walk further down the aisle and Rythe followed, disappearing from Clal’s site. Clal returned his attention to his immediate surroundings. He fumbled through his pack to find something useful to do, to keep his attention off of the complicated plight he had put himself in. His hand slid across something long and slender. “My Mother’s scroll” he thought.
Clal quickly pulled it out and unraveled it until it was full length in his lap.
“Clal, I’ve always loved my twins, my Clal and my Ansa. And though I am far away, you are always with me. Take great care of Ansa. She needs you and you also need her. And above all remember the Winden Family Creed.
“Let all that’s said and done by you,
Be always done and said in truth.”
With all my love,
Your Mother”
Clal smiled, then slowly ran his finger over the Winden Family Creed and across his mother’s name. His smile faded, however, as he realized how very far he was from her side. She was good to him, to all of them. He’s never felt to want for a better mother.
Clal looked up from the scroll paper and heard King Neldeer, once again, begin to announce the names of the next set of boys. A few of the boys had started to walk back from their examinations and Clal expected Rythe to be returning soon and that their plannings for their escape would also commence. Clal looked down again at the scroll from his mother and skimmed the rest of the contents. It was the directions to their new abode in Reubis.
Clal was sitting on the hard stone floor of the hall like the rest of the boys, looking around and fidgeting. Since he was in the very back, Clal decided that standing up to stretch for a moment would be of no consequence to anyone around him. So, he rose and stood.
At that exact moment King Neldeer had announced another boy’s name and to those who were not privy to the details, it would have appeared that Clal belonged to that particular name that had just been announced. And so, when Clal hesitated to move and proceed up the aisle of the great hall, the guard who stood in the doorway just behind him coaxed him to join the others promptly.
Clal froze. “I, I…” was all Clal could utter.
The guard stepped closer to Clal then reached over and grasped the hilt of his sword. “No one has ever refused a king’s command to arise and approach the royal platform.” He growled. “Is this what you proposing?”
Clal stared at the guard realizing that he had once again brought another ill turn to his already destitute predicament. “No, sir,” he quickly said. “No.”
“Then take your pack and be on your way.” The guard said.
So, Clal turned around, picked up his pack, and like a scolded dog, slowly made his way up the great hall’s aisle and arrived in front of the platform, a place he had never intended to find himself.
Chapter 3: Ansa At the Shop
Ansa was awake before the sun had any chance to send its shafts of golden light over the blue mountains in the East. The morning sky glowed and she stood up from her bed to enjoy the scene from her window in her room. She knew where she was and her recollection of the happenings the night before were clear in her mind, however, her only uncertainty was the feeling she felt that Clal was somehow in trouble.
But, she was here, and Clal, he was at the blacksmith’s, and it would be three days until they would meet again. “I’m sure he’s fine,” she muttered under her breath. “What trouble could he possibly get into not even less than a day since they parted last?”
Having just made the bed, Ansa sat down, retrieved her pack from off of the wooden plank floor and pulled out the scroll from her mother. She opened the scroll and read it allowed.
“To my dearest Ansa,”
“How you’ve grown ever so beautiful and bright. And though we are apart, I will be with you, always. Your dear twin brother, Clal, needs you, and you need him. Take care of each other. If you are ever confused, afraid, or you do not know what to do next, trust the feelings you feel inside, and do your best to follow them. Last of all, Ansa, never forget the Winden Family Creed.”
Then Ansa looked up and out the window, no longer needing to read.
“Let all that’s done and said by you,
Be always said and done in truth.”
Her watery eyes returned to the paper.
“Let your path always lead you to the light, my Ansa.
With all my love,
Your Mother.”
Tears were streaming down her face now as she gently rolled up the scroll and tucked it back into her leather pack. Then Ansa spoke without even thinking.
“I’m confused, Mother.” Ansa whispered, holding herself with her arms. She then shook her head and said, “Oh, Clal.”
She slowly arose and stood, frozen, the feelings in her heart were so poignant. She walked to the door, opened it, then carefully closed it until the click of the latch could be heard.
As Ansa walked down the hallway and into the dinning area where Gwynn told her to meet her the night before, the feeling of alarm did not leave her. She sat at the table and waited for Gwynn, and determined that she would tell her about her concern for Clal.
After just a few moments, she had her chance. Gwynn entered the room with a smile.
“Ansa, good morning,” She said carrying breakfast for the both of them.
“How was your sleep?” Gwynn said as she set the plates before them and sat in a chair across from Ansa.
“Oh, fine, thank you,” Ansa replied.
“And do you like eggs and corn meal?” Gwynn said pointing with a fork to the food on the plates.
“Yes,” Ansa said. “We had chickens and plenty of eggs growing up.”
“Wonderful,” Gwynn said. They both began to eat their breakfast. After a few minutes of enjoying a very well cooked meal, Gwynn turned to Ansa and said, “Tell me about yourself, Ansa.”
“Well,” Ansa said, “my full name is Ansallia, twin to Clalion, who we call Clal. He was born forty-one minutes before me. We were born the only day of the year when the crescent moon shines blue.”
“The Azure Moon," Gwynn said.
“Yes,” Ansa continued. “And so, Clal and I, we’ve always been together, never apart, until last night.” She paused. “Our family, we’re apple farmers and have been for many generations. We grow the reddest apples and they taste like they are from the heavens themselves. I have an older brother, Turl who is so kind and who has just taken over our orchards after mother and father recently moved to Reubis. They just told us that our family will be relocating right before our journey to Eldan Vyum.”
“I see,” Gwynn said, “and how about you, Ansa.” Gwynn sat back in her chair. “I would like to learn more about who you are.” Gwynn was amused by her new apprentice’s youthful nature. Ansa brought a happy spirit into her life that was sorely needed.
“Me?” Ansa said, raising her eyebrows. “Well, I’m...a girl of thirteen, and my mother,” Ansa paused, “she calls me beautiful.”
“And you are.” Gwynn added.
“I love the sea, as I was raised swimming in its waves and running along its shorelines. I never did mind the sand between my toes after getting home.” Ansa continued. “I like sewing, but never did much.”
“Well,” Gwynn interjected, “that just won’t do. I’m here to help you mend your ways.” There was silence for a moment as they both looked at each other. Then Gwynn started to chuckle and Ansa burst out giggling and before long, they both couldn’t stop laughing.
They soon finished their food and Gwynn took the dishes into the kitchen. The front room was designated by Gwynn as her main work area. This was not customary as the workshop format of that day would have required all work spaces to be further into the house as some projects were private. The distractions of people walking by could also be a hindrance to the work she was about. But, this was the way Gwynn liked it, the ability to see the townspeople and they surely could see her through the large shop window in the front.
Ansa entered the front room and sat down on one of the few soft chairs. She surveyed her surroundings; piles of fabric, half sewn clothing, and a hundred spools of thread of every color imaginable filled one wall of the large room. There was a large table in the middle of the room almost overrun with various piles and half finished clothes. In the middle of the table was a large pin cushion the size of a bushel of apples. The walls were yellow, the light was dim, and by the looks of it, Ansa had arrived at an opportune time to help judging by the room being overrun with supplies.
However, Ansa’s heart wasn’t overjoyed like it was when they arrived yesterday. Part of her
However, Ansa’s heart wasn’t completely there and the excitement she felt last night had given way to the incessant feeling that Clal was lost, in danger, or worse, hurt. “I have to tell Gwynn,” Ansa muttered.
“Tell me what?” Gwynn said, walking into the room.
Ansa jumped and immediately stood up from her chair.
“Sit,” Gwynn ordered, eying Ansa. “Let me tell you something.” She said with a smile.
“I knew Nareete before she ever met Dalbus. The moment I saw you, Ansa, last night, it was like I was seeing Nareete again. The two of us were good friends and knew each other for a handful of years growing up.” Gwynn sat closer to Ansa. “She was special and I grew to love your mother and I believe that we were so very close because we were so very much alike. And when I got her letter that she wanted to you become an apprentice and that she chose me, I was so flattered.”
“Now, I knew when I saw you last night that you were just like your mother. I knew that you too were special and so I felt like you and I were already old friends. I felt like I knew you and I don’t think you’ll disappoint me no matter what you say or do. But there’s something else Ansa,” Gwynn said, now with eyes still bright but her smile had gone.
“I knew that when I was with your mother, things wouldn’t always go as planned, something I’ll explain to you when we have more time.” Gwynn said. “But, when I saw you last night, for that very first time, I knew my plan for you to work with me for several months, well, I knew it wouldn’t end up being like I expected it to. I didn’t understand why then, but now I think I’m starting to. So,” she sat straight up, “it's all right. What is this that you feel you have to tell me?”
“I don’t want to tell you, Gwynn,” Ansa said looking down at her lap, “but I will.”
“My brother, Clal, we’re twins. And though some do not believe it, we're…” Ansa hesitated, “...connected, though I’ve never fully understood how.” Ansa’s posture became less rigid and she felt better already.
“There have been times, many times through the years, when I’ve felt things, known things, well, about Clal and whether he needs me, you know, needs help at certain times. And when I’ve followed those feelings, I’ve always been glad that I did. And when I didn’t,” Ansa winced, “it's always led to disaster.”
Gwynn was watching Ansa and listening closely. But, Ansa stopped and took the opportunity to ask Ansa a question.
“So, is this what you wanted to tell me, about what it’s like to be a twin? Or…”
“Not exactly,” Ansa said.
“I believe you, Ansa.” Gwynn said.
“This morning, when I awoke, I had one of those feelings, a feeling that Clal…” Ansa said, “...that something’s wrong.”
Gwynn nodded, then leaned over and clasped hands with Ansa. “I’m glad you told me. This isn’t just you worrying or you being nervous in a new place. I believe this is real,” Gwynn smiled. “Trust your feelings. I will help you.”
“I know Clal went to the blacksmith’s, to Tallon’s. And Rythe went to the castle for the examination. He should be there now. But I can’t imagine what could have happened since last night. It hasn’t been very long at all.”
“It sounds to me like you are reasoning your way out of this.” Gwynn said.
“What do you mean?” asked Ansa.
“Sometimes, the things that make the lease sense are those things that are the most clearly understood later on.” Gwynn winked.
“So…” Ansa said feeling a sudden surge of courage, “Clal really does need me and I really am meant to find out why. Gwynn,” Ansa stood up again, “I’m going to the blacksmith’s shop to talk to Clal. And I’m going there right this instant.”
“Wonderful, Ansa,” Gwynn arose from her chair. “And I will come with you.”
Ansa immediately embraced Gwynn, “I’m so glad I’m not alone in this.”
“No,” Gwynn said, “you’re not alone. Even if you were, no one is ever really truly alone.
Ansa smiled.
“Let’s get going then, Ansa, right away.” Gwynn said. “I must gather a few things. You be sure to go and get your pack. Meet me here shortly.”
Gwynn left the room while Ansa returned to the room she had spent the night in. She grabbed her pack, felt the slender shape of the scroll then whispered as she turned around to leave the room, “I’m trusting those feelings, mother, and I’ll do the very best I can.”
Ansa entered the front room once again, but Gwynn had yet to return. When she did, she too was carrying a pack and simply said, “I’m a fish out of water when I’m not prepared.”
They were soon walking down the streets of Eldan Vyum, a sleepy town beginning to wake up. Groups of boys were running through the streets, some marching quickly along the road. Ansa knew Clal wouldn’t be among any of them so she did not pay any attention to them.
They turned a corner and there before them was a building with a large sign above the door that said, “Tallon the Blacksmith.”
Ansa knocked on the door. There was no answer. She walked over to the window, rubbed the film of dirt from the glass. There was no light in the window. They quickly walked around the perimeter and discovered that there was no light in any window of Tallon’s blacksmith’s shop.
“It looks deserted, Gwynn. Clal isn’t here, is he?” Strangely, Ansa smiled. Though it was an alarming realization, and she was almost overwhelmed with the shock of it, she knew that following her feelings once again had not led her astray.
“Where do you suppose Clal is?” Gwynn said.
Ansa didn’t answer right away. Gwynn’s question reminded her of something that Rythe had said during their journey to Eldan Vyum.
“The inn,” Ansa said. “How many inns are there here?”
“Two, and there’s one just a mile north of here.”
“Can you take me there?” asked Ansa.
“I will,” Gwynn said and once again they were off trudging through the city. They soon reached the inn and entered. Ansa and Gwynn approached the counter. The innkeeper was standing behind with his back to them.
Gwynn spoke first, “Pardon me Mr. innkeeper,” she said.
The innkeeper spun around, took one look at Gwynn then said, “Well, Gwynn, what a surprise to see you up this way.” He smiled. “I thought you had a room or two in that shop of yours. You haven’t come to stay have you?”
“Of course not, Morry,” she smiled. “We have a bit of an urgent matter and we need your help?”
Morry looked down at Ansa, then back at Gwynn. Then he whispered, “Follow me.”
When there were visitors, and there often were, who insisted on speaking privately with Morry, there was always a room he took them to where their conversations could not be overheard. Gwynn herself had been there before.
They sat down in the chairs that lined the room then Gwynn said, “Thank you Morry.” Gwynn turned to Ansa. “This is my friend, Ansa.” Gwynn said. “Go ahead, Ansa. Tell Morry why we came.”
“It’s my brother,” she began, “I think he and his friend might have stayed here last night.”
“Oh,” Morry chuckled, “there were many boys last night and who’ve already left this morning. Are you going to ask me to try to remember your brother by your description because…”
“No,” Ansa said, “but he was supposed to stay with Tallon, the blacksmith. We visited the blacksmith and…”
“Was he there?” Morry said excitedly.
“Tallon wasn’t there and it looked like the place hadn’t been visited or lived in for weeks or even months.” Ansa said.
“Tallon the blacksmith,” Morry said, scratching his beard. “Ansa, I remember two young men asking me about Tallon and if I had seen him lately, of which I replied that I hadn’t seen him for a very long time. Which has been strange because of his frequent visits to my in. He was very fond of our particular ale that we serve here.”
“What did these two young men look like?” Gwynn asked.
“One had blond hair and striking blue eyes. The other,” Morry thought, “well he had curly brown hair with a cleft chin.”
“Yes,” Ansa said, clasping her hands together. “Can you tell Clal that I am here to see him?”
“I can’t,” Morry said, “they left this morning like all of the other boys for the examination. I assume that’s where they were going when they left only an hour or so ago.”
“The examination?” Ansa said with a furrowed brow. “But why would Clal go to the castle for the examination? Rythe is of age. Clal is not.”
“Perhaps the only way to find out is to ask him yourself.” Gwynn said. “But, do we know that he’s there with him now?”
“I don’t know. But, if I were Clal, I would have decided to stick together,” Ansa said. Then she shook her head, “This doesn’t make any sense.”
Gwynn put her hand on Ansa’s shoulder. “I’m sure Tallon’s absence would have been very confusing being late and having never met Tallon or even been in the city.”
“But why didn’t they come back to your shop, Gwynn, when they discovered that Tallon wasn’t there?” Ansa asked.
“I don’t know, Ansa.” Gwynn replied, “They might have had a good reason at that moment.”
“They left in quite the hurry,” Morry said.
They must have gone to the examination, Ansa thought. But why? She didn’t exactly understand. All she knew was that Clal and Rythe must still be together, that they were at the castle or in route, and that some danger had or would soon befall Clal or the both of them. What now?
“Morry,” Gwynn turned to him, “thank you for your help.”
“My pleasure,” he said.
“I think we understand enough for the time being. I believe we’ll be on our way.” Gwynn concluded.
“Thank you, Morry.” Ansa smiled at Morry.
“I hope you find Clal and Rythe soon,” he said.
Ansa and Gwynn said goodbye to Morry then left the inn and stood in front for a moment to gather their thoughts. Gwynn looked around then motioned for Ansa to follow. They arrived at a quiet alleyway between buildings.
“I should go home with you, Gwynn.” Ansa said. “I should wait. Clal will be back.”
“What about the castle?” Gwynn said. “And your feelings? They haven’t steered you wrong yet, now have they.” Gwynn smiled. She really was a good friend.
“I can’t just walk into the castle and ask where Clal is.” Ansa said. “And if I find a way into the castle, which I can’t believe I’m even saying,” Ansa sighed, “where would I look for him without being noticed?”
Gwynn thought for a moment then said, “Ansa, what if walking right into the castle is the answer?
Gwynn put her finger on her chin and her other hand on her hip. “We’ll go to the castle together,” She announced. “I’ll tell them we are there to deliver some mended clothing from Gwynn’s shop.” Gwynn pulled out a large pile of clothes from her pack. “I will tell them that you will deliver the goods and that I must be back to the shop for more mending. You’ll enter the castle then steal away and the rest will be up to you.”
“Hmm,” Ansa said, “that might work.” After thinking there could be no way to gracefully enter the castle, Gwynn’s plan actually sounded believable.
Ansa smiled then said, “Let’s do it.”
“Here, take this.” She handed Ansa the pile of clothes as well as an apron. “These will help us look the part.”
They each tied their aprons around their waist, hands whipping back and forth. When they had finished Ansa asked, “Which way is the castle?”
“This way,” Gwynn pointed. They left the alley and disappeared down the city street.
They walked a ways, the castle growing closer. Ansa marveled at the scene, a silent, grey giant towering over an endless sea of colorful buildings and rooftops of the city below.
Ansa bit her lip wondering if their plan would work. She followed Gwynn until they both stood before the royal gate, three guards on the right. One guard walked toward them.
“State your business?” He said.
“I am Gwynn the seamstress,” she said. “We’ve come to deliver an urgent delivery.”
“There are no deliveries today,” the guard said. “It is examination day. Only a few are allowed in or out of the castle. Good day!”
“I am sorry but I believe you are mistaken,” Gwynn said, taking a step toward the guard. “This delivery is of the greatest importance.”
“I have not been informed of such a delivery,” the guard replied.
Gwynn thought, then dug into her pack and lifted out a small sack. “I have here, guard a pouch that might change the way you remember whether you were informed of our anticipated arrival.” She tossed the pouch, which landed at the guard’s feet.
The guard retrieved the pouch from the grassy turf, opened it up and poured part of the contents into his other hand. Golden coins glinted in the morning sun. The guard stared at Gwynn.
“Where did you come by such precious metals?” the guard said slowly. “How do I know you’re not some kind of thief?”
“A thief?” Gwynn said, cheeks turning red. “All you do is stand still in order to earn your wages. I on the other hand toil with my hands for hours a day. I’ve saved for months not knowing what I might use these golden coins for. And now, I offer them as payment to be able to make passage into the castle so that I can deliver a royal delivery that on any other day would not have been questioned.”
“Sire,” Ansa said, “we need to deliver these clothes...today.”
The guard looked at these two standing in front of him. He handled the coins for a moment then fed them back into the pouch. He tied the string and walked over to Gwynn.
“I cannot be persuaded by the contents in this pouch,” he handed it back to Gwynn. “However, you appear to be honest women, sincere in your desire to fulfill your duty. That is honorable. I believe there is no evil deed at work here.”
“She will go in my stead as I am behind which is why this delivery is late.” Gwynn said, which was the truth.
“What is your name?” the guard turned to Ansa.
“Ansa,” she replied.
“Ansa, you may enter the castle. If you are questioned, tell them Borrgof the guard allowed your entry today.” Borrgof turned, opened the gate, then returned to his post.
Another guard approached Ansa and said, “I will be your escort.” He started to walk toward the castle.
Ansa walked over to Gwynn.
“What now?” asked Ansa.
“Ask for Lyoria, the royal maiden. Then, make this delivery.” Gwynn embraced Ansa and felt as if she was her own daughter. “Then, dear Ansa, I believe you will know what to do.”
They released their embrace and Ansa said, “Thank you, Gwynn. Thank you for everything. I will return soon.” Then they said goodbye and both walked in opposite directions. Ansa turned and watched Gwynn disappear among the city folk busily passing through the streets.
The journey to the castle was short and Ansa found herself standing before one of the few castle doors. A guard standing nearby opened the door, then Ansa followed her escort into the darkness. The door closed with a loud “Boom!”
Ansa’s eyes only adjusted when they turned the stone corner of a narrow hallway. She followed in silence as she rehearsed in her mind what she would say to Lyoria. She still held her pack at her side, all of her belongings brought to Eldan Vyum, safely tucked away. A bit of home was a comfort to Ansa in such a time of uncertainty.
The guard led Ansa down a few castle halls and around several corners and even up a few small flights of steps. Finally, they turned and followed the length of a short hallway with a small door at its end.
The guard knocked. They waited, then the door opened partially. He leaned over slightly and spoke a few quiet words and pointed in Ansa’s direction. He paused, then directed Ansa to approach. He waved her into the room and the woman, whom Ansa assumed was Lyoria, guided her in as the guard closed the door to the room.
They walked to the center of the room and Lyoria turned around and addressed Ansa. “Greetings. I’m Lyoria, the royal maiden.” She smiled slightly. “What is this delivery the guard was telling me about on such a day as this?”
Ansa didn’t answer but handed her the clothing that Gwynn instructed her to deliver. Lyoria received the pile of clothes. Then, a flash of white fell to the floor. They both had seen it. Lyoria quickly snatched it up. It appeared to be an envelope. Lyoria looked at Ansa then turned and walked toward a table. She set the clothes down on the table, picked up her spectacles then sat down on a chair and opened the envelope.
Ansa walked slowly toward Lyoria and watched as she pulled out a golden token of some sort and a piece of paper. She unfolded the paper and began to read. Her eyes shot back and forth and down the page. Lyoria looked up from the paper as she folded it up and returned the letter back into the envelope. However, the golden item Lyoria had been holding in her hand she set gently on the table.
“Please sit down,” Lyoria said, who was now reaching for a silver platter which she placed in the center of the table. “That was a note from Gwynn.” Lyoria pulled a candle stick close to her which was currently lit and held the envelope above it. It took on the candles flames then Lyoria set it in the middle of the silver dish.
“Gwynn has told me that you are her new apprentice, but that you have become more than just a handmaiden. That you have bonded and that you are surely one of us.” Lyoria said. “And so, she is trusting me to divulge our secret to you...Ansa.”
“You’re secret? One of you?” Ansa repeated. By this time the letter was all but a pile of black and gray ashes.
“I am on the inside of the castle and Gwynn is without. The kingdom, the land of Illia appears to be at peace,but” Lyoria leaned forward, “But it is not.”
“Over many years there formed an underground force of men, women, and children, who bear this emblem as a token of their task,” she held up the golden token which bore a crescent moon and a cluster of stars encircled by a sun. “This force has no name but only this token. We exist to inform and to protect, and Gwynn said she knows your heart Ansa. And so, will you join us?”
“I will,” Ansa said without hesitation. “I will because Gwynn is right.” Ansa hesitated. Somehow she no longer felt like a girl in this moment, for she had put on her bravery earlier that day and her statured continued to grow.
Ansa felt free to speak freely to Lyoria. “I have heard of the RISHK recently, Lyoria, and feel as if there is something wrong with who they are. And though I am scared even to hear or speak their name, I too wish to do something about them.”
“The RISHK, Ansa, we have learned much about, a topic of which we cannot discuss here.” Lyoria spoke quietly. “But, may you know that they are always on our watch, and that they are not as keen and witty as they think themselves to be.”
“Now, I like you, Ansa. You remind me of Gwynn in her younger years.” Lyoria smiled. “Let us discuss your brother. I wish to help you find him. Gwynn tells me he may be in danger?”
“Thank you, Lyroia.” Ansa said.
“Please, don’t thank me yet,” she said, “I still have yet to think of a way for you to find your brother secretly. Is this what you wish?”
Lyoria looked at Ansa then arose. She spent a few minutes rummaging through piles of things and walking from one corner of her room to the other opening cabinets and drawers. It wasn’t until she picked up a white apron that she exclaimed, “Of course! The feast!”
She hurried over to Ansa holding the white apron up in front of her, “I believe this is our best chance. We’ll dress you up like one of the staff for the examination feast. You can casually find your brother, give him a note that you’ll write, then meet him in a secluded hallway for a brief conversation.”
“Do you really think that could work?” Ansa said.
“Am I not the royal maiden?” Lyoria said. “I too work my own magic here. Let’s get you into this apron and the rest of the staff uniform.”
Ansa slipped the uniform and apron over her own clothes. She kept her pack with her which was flat and couldn’t be detected from the baggy clothing she was now wearing.
“How do I look?” Ansa said.
“Perfect.” Lyoria said. “We should leave immediately.”
They left the room and Ansa walked beside Lyoria as they hurried through the castle halls.
“Now,” Lyoria said, “the feast begins when the great castle bell rings out its five great bellows. The great examination ends at different times each year since the number of boys varies. If the bell rings a total of ten times then this is the indication that the chosen one has been found ushering in a new Illian era.”
“I can’t even imagine such a day,” Ansa said.
“It will be a grand day, though not all things and people in Illia will rejoice.” Lyoria said. “The prophecy said that there will be days of danger, mischief, vicious crime.” Lyoria spoke as they continued to walk down the long halls and up and down stair ways toward the place of the feast.
“When I was a little girl, Ansa, I wanted to help make those dark days brighter. When I met Gwynn we became friends. Then I learned that she shared the same feelings. We organized a group and as the years passed on our group grew. We are now prepared to aid the chosen one in whatever is necessary to be done. And now you’re one of us.”
“Though I don’t know what to do.”
“Let’s find your brother first. Then, you can turn your attention to what this all might mean for you.” Lyoria smiled. “We are going to stop here before I take you to the kitchen.”
They approached two large doors. Lyoria pulled the brass handle and it swung open freely. A blinding shaft of light burst from behind. Lyoria walked through, then Ansa. It was the royal garden which was at the center of the castle surrounded on all sides by stone walls.
There were numerous bushes and flowers of all shapes and colors. Several wooden structures with benches beneath held tangles of ivy on top of them. Winding paths through a lush golden turf. And in the center of the garden was a tall hedge, three quarters rounded, that was as high as two grown men. White roses grew from the perfectly shaped hedge. The garden was half in shadow, as the sun had not yet reached its peak.
“We will select the best white roses from that tall hedge over there,” Lyoria pointed, then guided her in that direction. She handed Ansa a basket which she hadn’t noticed Lyoria was carrying. Lyoria handed her a set of golden scissors. Ansa found the flowers with the largest blooms and brightest white petals to be of her liking and she cut the stems of these one and set them in her basket. She was only working like this for a few minutes when something caught her eye.
Lyoria was gathering flowers several feet away and on a branch above her there was a castle sparrow. It was looking in Ansa’s direction.
Ansa smiled, then laughed to herself. She continued to collect flowers when she heard the castle sparrow chirp and chatter. So she looked in it’s direction once again. This time, she began to slowly walk toward it.
She was close to Lyoria now and said to her as she was clipping another flower, “Look, Lyoria.” she pointed above her. The castle sparrow was still eying Ansa though she had walked part way across the garden.
“A castle sparrow,” Lyoria said. “They come here often.”
Ansa continued to walk closer to the castle sparrow until she was almost right below it. It hopped from one twig to another now halfway down the hedge.
“Hello,” Ansa said.“ Aren’t you a sweet thing? “The castle sparrow fluttered it’s wings and hovered, then chattered and chirped.”
“Come boy. Come.” Ansa said, raising her hand in the air and extending her finger out.
To Lyoria’s great surprise the castle sparrow jumped from branch to branch then landed on Ansa’s shoulder. It paused for a moment then hopped down her arm and finally onto her outstretched finger.
Lyoria’s jaw gaped open, eyes wide. “How...did you do that?” She continued to watch as this abnormally rare phenomenon continued to unfold.
Ansa was smiling from ear to ear. She too was amazed at the behavior of her new found friend. In all her years in the woods, nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Ansa looked at the castle sparrow as he looked up at her.
“Hello,” she said to the castle sparrow. “What brings you to the royal garden today?”
The sparrow flapped its wings and took to flight only to hover in front of Ansa’s face then rest back onto her finger. Then, the sparrow began to sing a beautiful tune.
“Lyoria, that sounds like a song,” Ansa said smiling.
“It...is,” Lyoria said slowly. “I can’t believe it. He’s singing the song of the prophecy.”
The sparrow continued to sing as Ansa and Lyoria were silently listening to his high pitched whistle. When he continued, the castle sparrow rustled his feathers then hopped up Ansa’s arm and rested on her shoulder.
“So what does this prophecy say,” Ansa asked Lyoria.
“It speaks of the chosen one, and of the time when…”
“Dong!”
Lyoria’s voice trailed off as the sound of the great castle bell boomed and echoed throughout the garden.
“Oh,” Lyoria jumped. “It can’t be. It’s the feast…we must be on our way.”
“Where do we go?” asked Ansa.
“They’re early,” Lyoria continued to panic, “which means we’re late.”
“Dong!”
Then the castle sparrow chirped a few chirps and darted into the sky. When Ansa thought that her little friend had all but vanished, the castle sparrow reappeared, chirping and chattering and fluttering at eye level of Ansa.
“Dong!”
Then the sparrow did the same thing, up into the sky then down to Ansa, chirping and flapping vigorously. She put out her hand and outstretched her finger again, but the sparrow refused to come to her.
“He’s…” Ansa whispered to herself, “...trying to...tell me something?”
But Lyoria overheard, “Tell you what do you think?”
“Dong!”
“I...don’t,” Ansa too had the same question. She looked at the sparrow and nodded. “Yes? What is it, little sparrow?”
“Dong!”
As soon as Ansa said the words the sparrow shot off in a different direction. It was soon hovering in front of the doors that they both had first entered the garden through.
“He wants me to follow him, Lyoria.” Ansa said, starting to walk toward the doors. But, Lyoria didn’t move. Her hand was cupped to her ear and she was listening for something, unbeknownst to Ansa. “What is it, Lyoria?”
“It’s the bell,” Lyoria whispered, “will it ring a sixth time I wonder?” But, to her dismay the bell fell silent. There would be no displays of celebration heard from the castle bell to announce the finding of the chosen one this day. “No Seldinolum.” She frowned.
“He’ll come.” Ansa said.
Lyoria turned to Ansa and said, “We must leave and help for the feast. We must hurry.”
“But this castle sparrow, I must follow it.” Ansa then looked into her eyes. “It’s leading me somewhere.”
Ansa decided to leave Lyoria and ran to the doors to where the castle sparrow was now flying back and forth.
Once Lyoria caught up with Ansa, Ansa insisted, “We must open the doors.”
Lyoria moved to the doors and pulled open one of them enough for a person to enter. The sparrow dove in and disappeared behind it.
“Lyoria, I must follow where this sparrow takes me. I don’t know why but I know that I must.” Ansa said.
“May our paths cross again.” She walked over to Ansa and pulled something out of her pocket. “Gwynn wanted you to have this.” Lyoria took her hand and placed the golden token into her palm. “Safe guard this with your very own life, Ansa. Farewell.”
Lyoria ran to the baskets of flowers then off toward the other side of the garden. Ansa turned then slipped through the large garden door. She pulled it closed then spun around looking for the castle sparrow.
The castle sparrow was standing now in the middle of the stone floor. Once Ansa had entered the hallway it chirped two times then shot into the air and around the corner of another castle hallway. Ansa looked around, slowly inching forward then she leapt forward and followed. She turned the corner and watched the sparrow zig-zag through the air. It was flying so fast, Ansa wondered if she would be able to keep up with the little sparrow. Through the castle it led her. She did not recognize any of her surroundings. She was almost certain the sparrow was leading her into an entirely different part of the castle.
At one point Ansa heard some commotion ahead of her which caused heart to beat twice as fast. But the sounds of talking and footsteps didn’t linger and so she ceased from her worrying.
The sparrow would often pause, hovering in the air or would find a perch to rest on, then would dart into the air and fly at full speed. At last, they came to a complete stop and the sparrow stood in the center of the hallway. Then Ansa heard footsteps to their left. They were guards and they came around the corner before Ansa could hide from their view.
“A girl!” one of the guards shouted. “What is she doing in this part of the castle?”
Ansa gasped. The only option she had now was to run down the long hall in front of her. She darted forward.
“Halt!” said the guards. Then sounds of both squawking and yelling echoed through the hall. “Get rid of this rogue bird!”
Ansa had made her way down the hall and up a short flight of stairs. She thought she heard more voices and was about to turn down another hallway fearing that she was now surrounded.
Just then the sparrow zoomed past Ansa’s left ear. It flew for a moment then Ansa saw the sparrow swoop to the right and through a low archway in the center of the hallway. She followed the castle sparrow and ran through the archway. Ansa tripped on something right after turning the corner and slid face down along the stone floor. She looked behind her to where she’d just come.
The archway had now begun to close as one stone on the other began to materialize sealing her in. She heard the guards beyond the sealed wall run by and knew that she was safe there.
Prologue
The black waters raged below as a crescent moon hung from a silent curtain of stars above. The waves, like the great thundering of hooves, rolled in and waged war upon the feet of the cliffs that separated the land from sea. The night was heavy and the darkness thick, yet, the moon’s faint light was still useful to the distant traveler who scaled the cliff’s ridge high above.
Clothed in a dark, worn robe and with a large leather sack on his side he climbed over underbrush and fallen trees, for there was no trail. He wore no cap and his gray hair whipped back and forth against his weathered face. His pace was steady, but not hurried, though he knew that he was being followed. He wore a white signaling horn at his side with a creature etched into it
Hand over rock, foot over root, the figure continued to climb the steep side of the mountainous terrain. When he reached the pinnacle of the summit he moved surprisingly close to the edge of the cliff. The ocean hundreds of feet below could not be heard over the screaming sound of the wind. The man looked down and breathed in for a moment, then he turned and gazed in the direction that he had just come. He stood silent as a statue with the faint moonlight glimmering in his eyes.
A dark figure emerged from around the face of a large boulder. The figure stopped, and a few moments passed before the silence was broken.
“Felsawn,” the dark figure spoke, his voice deep and harsh. “Your intent is already well known. Why run? Do you think to hide?” He too wore a horn at his side, but it was black. The man stretched his hand out and retrieved a dead tree branch. He held it in front of him, waved his hand over the staff which instantly burst into brilliant red flames. The man thrust the burning torch toward Felsawn which landed on the dirt halfway between the two figures.
Felsawn and the man were instantly illuminated and there was no hiding their presence now. All who had a view of the cliff could make out two figures in close proximity.
Felsawn’s eyes remained fixed on the man as he remained still. He said nothing.
“My brother,” the man continued as he began to slowly creep towards Felsawn, “there is no power, no wizardry strong enough now that can waylay my efforts to obtain victory over your feeble attempts.” He chuckled, “You are a fool. You always have been, Felsawn.” He paused, then added, “We will find it!”
At that moment Felsawn began to slowly inch backwards keeping distance between him and the man, though closer to the cliff’s edge which was a few feet behind him.
“You are not my brother, Womlon.” Felsawn spoke, his voice calm like the ocean’s waters had been the day before.” And the power that you call great, will abandon you in that very hour when you need it most.” Felsawn was at the edge of the cliff now, heals over the edge, he leaned slightly forward.
Womlon waved both hands from his side up through the air. The flame of the torch grew rapidly and burst high into the sky. Womlon stepped closer.
“Where will you go?” Womlon’s lips curled into a wry smile. “What hope is there?”
Felsawn never let his gaze off of his foe. His blue eyes were glowing. “Farewell,” he spoke. “We will meet again.” Then Felsawn pulled his horn to his lips, blew, then paused, only for a moment. For he then leaned backwards, his feet left the edge of the cliff side and his body fell out of sight.
Womlon sprang to the edge of the cliff and yelled. He watched as Felsawn’s figure shrank rapidly as he fell. Almost out of nowhere appeared a massive, white figure heading straight for Felsawn. It swerved, flapped its wings to slow in speed, paused, then turned in the direction opposite the cliff.
Womlon watched as the great white dragon, Sedrak, carried Felsawn away to safety. The white dragon shrank far out to the horizon then disappeared.
Womlon, still laying on the ground over the cliff looked up at the sky for a moment, then looked at his own horn at his side. He pulled it to his lips then blew four slow times. He waited, then far in the distance, four horn calls returned.
The flame of the torch was still burning high. Womlon waved his hands from left to right, and with a deafening crack, the stick exploded and shrouded the surrounding area in flame. The wind quickly carried the fire down the side of the mountain.
Other torches could be seen across the mountain side and on the shores below. More horn calls were heard. The boats were readied hours ago.
Womlon reached the shore and approached one of the men standing near one of the hundreds of boats, “We will leave at once.” He said gruffly.
He looked at the cliff where he knew Felsawn had leapt from. Now, it was a blaze in red fire. He squinted and spoke through his clenched teeth, “The plan will fail.”
He turned, then announced in a bellowing voice, “Men...it is as I guessed.” Womlon turned to the men who were approaching on the shore in droves. “We sail west...and we will leave immediately.”